Close readers, who made it to the end of last weekend's post, may have picked up on the subtle reference that I had a date on Friday night. I met Roger in Durham and we had a rather wonderful dinner at Palace International on Broad St. The restaurant specializes in Kenyan style food. The atmosphere is quite casual, the service was very nice, the prices were reasonable ($12 - $18 entrees), and the dishes we tried were very yummy. We started with Beef Samosas, which are like small meat turnovers. Roger had a chicken stew with cauliflower and vegetables. I was feeling a little adventurous, so I ordered the bone-in, goat curry with collard greens and basmati rice.
I have never had goat before, but I have also never been to a Kenyan restaurant, so when opportunity knocks... The meat was very tender, and the curry was amazing. The goat had the consistency of mutton, but without the gamey taste. It was quite rich. My friend Arjay, just informed me that goat is the most eaten red meat in the world. Now I know why. I will definitely give it another try when I run across it again. Apparently, not all cultures cook their collards down to a mushy green mass. These were very green and crisp, as if they had been quick fried or sauteed. All in all, it was a very nice meal. Well played Roger.
On Saturday, my father's extended family had their quarterly reunion dinner at Golden Coral. I have been to two of these dinners now and don't know anyone beyond my aunts and uncles. So, generally I sit with my closest relatives, crack a few jokes, and be generally charming when my dad introduces me. It is obvious that he has mentioned me, because when he introduces me, they all ask, "is this the one who lives downtown, or the one who lives in China?" Each of the distant cousins take turns planning the dinners, selecting the locations, and communicating with the attendees. I am often a bit overwhelmed by the number of people who I apparently am related to, but really have no idea who they are.
For those folks who know me well, you may guess that Golden Coral is not my first, second, or 75th choice for restaurants when I think about feeding my temple. But, I had not been to this restaurant in over 15 years and I was not paying. Thanks Dad! Love you man!
And it was just as I remembered. Lots of tepid food, without much flavor, that a lot of people had already stirred and dipped portions from. Not nearly as good as the commercials would lead you to believe. It was a bit like Thanksgiving, but with soup and salad. I will give props to the dessert bar. The cherry cobbler, fudge, and no-bake oatmeal cookies were delish. And, to be honest, the buffet was not horrible. It was a bit like going to Sam's club. It would have been a much more enjoyable experience if all the other people had not been crowding up to the trough - milling around without purpose. I am definitely losing the tiny bit of patience I was born with, but that is for another blog post.
It was great seeing my Dad, sister, aunt, and uncle. We had a nice time, but I was miserably stuffed when it was time to go home. I certainly got my Dad's money's worth of buffet style goodness. Hopefully those stretch marks will be gone by next weekend.
See ya later!
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