Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC
A quick trip to Raleigh before the Renfest to see son PJ rewarded us with some real discoveries! We met at The Flying Saucer, a pub specializing in beers from around the world. A menus listed drinks by category: dunkel, lager, barleywine, wheat beer, and so on. Alcohol content and place of origin are shown. Non alcoholic beer, root beer, cider and water are offered, too. There’s a UFO Club: drink 200 beers and you get a plate with your name on the wall or ceiling and become immortalized in the Ring of Honor. Fun! Flights from around the world are offered. For three way sharing, we chose one flight from North Carolina, and one we built ourselves. Yes, you can do that! Flights are 5 beers of a generous 5 ounces each. Their flights are $8.50. Build your own are $10. We were bold and adventurous and chose beers from all around the world, including a cider from Vermont. We had fun tasting all the beers and deciding which we liked best. One, Foothills Seeing Double IPA, was very hoppy, but had a hint of citrus which was refreshing. Another, Big Boss Bad Penny, had chocolate, which we liked. The décor was plates and saucers all over the walls and ceiling. Very flying Saucer-ish! Monday night is $3 a pint night and every day has a Fire Sale brew for $3. Everyone there seemed to be having fun, and one UFO member got his plate. It’s on Morgan Street. http://www.beerknurd.com/
Dinner was at Abyssinia, an Ethiopian restaurant. (Abyssinia refers to the Ethiopian Empire) What a treat! We aren’t familiar with Ethiopian food, but this was delicious! We shared an appetizer called Sambusa, a lentil filled pastry. Yummy! The food is served on a huge piece of spongy flatbread called injera. PJ and I shared a beef dish – Beef Tibs, $13.89. Greg had Yebeg Wat, lamb dish with red pepper sauce, $16.29. It was so delicious! The only utensil you’ll use is your fingers! We drank a spicy Ethiopian tea. Our server, Genet, was excellent. She was friendly and helpful. The décor featured the Ethiopean flag colors of green, yellow and red. There are vegetarian dishes, chicken, and deserts. A full bar offers cocktail, beer and wine. We fully enjoyed our food, and PJ had injera to take home later. We’ll return to Abyssinia, on Avent Ferry Street, the next time we are in Raleigh. http://abyssiniarestaurant.net/6.html
We took a walk around town to see the Old Market and Tobacco Auction House and some of the old neighborhoods and churches. Very historic. We went to the newer part of town, too. Dancing fountains, rickshaw rides, and crowds of people were the scenery. It was a lively area. Two squares are left in town. One features a beautiful garden with huge old trees, and lots of benches for people watching. We felt safe, even in the dark.
