Archira Thai & Sushi - AVOID!

We had previously had relatively good experiences at Archira (3 to 4 star)- but maybe it was too early on a long weekend, or just something has gone horribly wrong with the restaurant. Clue #1 should be the shredded menus... to make some wholesale edits to something.

Everything we had was disgusting. We have high standards for sushi and Thai food (don't get me started on the embarrassment Thai Palace caused me for visitors from the DOJ in DC a few years ago).

The sushi we were served though visually appealing (and the fish was fresh), was made with some of the most disgusting rice I've ever tasted in sushi. Even Harris Teeter sat around all day rice is better tasting. Clearly, some kid mixed it up with his playdough; they had the same consistency. I felt sick for hours afterwards. Even the salmon skin roll - below - was as if someone had scraped paint chips off the wall. I think one is supposed to REMOVE the scale.

Well, it doesn't end there. Next, insult to injury - the Tom Yum Kai tasted as if someone had simply used some random mix - actually, the majority of store bought mixes taste better. It had no of the breadth or subtleties that I would expect.

Lettuce wraps? No sir, I didn't ask for a wedge. I want lettuce to WRAP things in. Too salty, etc. not even worth discussing.

Thai Iced tea? Would you like some orange food color with your condensed milk? What tea flavor?

Coconut Shrimp - can you say undercooked? The batter inside was still runny.



The waiter was at least trying to helpful - to his credit. But so is my son when he is serving his pretend playdough and plastic food.... and I still only pretend to eat it. Best part is, he knows the food he is serving is fake. Sorry Archira, we are never going back... maybe with a new sushi and kitchen chef? 

Archira Thai & Sushi

East 54

2110 Environ Way

Chapel Hill, NC 

Mall Food in Flushing New York.

Flushing is best known for its Taiwanese centric food, with a healthy portion of other Asian specialties. These are some random shots from a food court from one of the malls to inspire you to take a closer look. 

Hampton Chutney - New York City ( West Side)

This is one of the places which wouldn't have been high on my places to try list - but I'm very glad I did - Thanks AJ! Basically, this "dosa" is a huge crepe with a moderate amount of mostly indian themed filling. The Uttapa is a pancake form with the same batter.  We had the tuna which included some avocados which wound up being perfect for lunchtime. The cilantro and mango chutneys were delicious, with some mild heat. The cheese filled was a great hit with the kids, and for the adults too. We didn't have enough stomach to try some of the other options, but everything looked great!

Watch out for the kids stuff in the window area... a couple of friendly creepy crawlies wandered out. 


Hampton Chutney

464 Amsterdam Avenue

New York, New York

212-362-5050 

Other locations in SOHO and Amagansett Square.  

When life gives you lemons (or hurricanes)....

Heading the other direction, we thought we'd try Phillips for a near side-by-side comparison. Bottom line - Obrycki's >> Phillips.

When life gives you lemons (or earthquakes)....

So, what would you do if you were stuck in an airport due to a 5.8 magnitude earthquake? Eat of course? Due to the see-saw changes in our flight schedule, we had no idea of when we would eat next... but deviled mini-crab cakes from  Obrycki's Crab House in the airport really hit the spot. Tons of horseradish in the seafood sauce; full of crab and straight out of the frier. Yum!

Chirba Chirba - Food Truck - Chinese Dumplings

Imagine if Din Tai Fung was shrunk into a food truck - and that food truck landed in NC, and that you could get those delicious soup buns in NC. Unfortunately, you will need to keep on imaging. We had high hopes for Chirba Chirba - and though the idea is great, the execution is reasonable, I think the cost is just too much. At basically a dollar a bun - it simply is too expensive. Food truck food is supposed to be CHEAP and DAMN GOOD. They have the good, but with competition like Li Ming's grocery (in a fixed location, no less!), they will have a tough time satisfying my tastes.

 http://www.chirbachirba.com/

Chocolate Fetish - Asheville, NC

Chocolate Fetish

36 Haywood Street
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 258-2353