Himalayan in Cary

We've been to Himalayan Nepali Cuisine I don't know how many times.
It's always good, and not quite as spicy-hot as Indian food.
Plenty of vegetarian options, and a few vegan ones too.

This establishment has been open in Cary for over a year now, and was the only Himalayan restaurant in the county (or state, as far as I know), but just recently a Tibetan restaurant opened up in the same strip mall! Very odd.
Coincidentally, this Himalayan restaurant now seems to have all new management and waitstaff.

We ordered the usual Veggie Pakora appetizer this time, and it seemed possibly even better than usual.

The Himalayan Lentil Dal Fry and Onion Kulcha were also excellent as usual.
So we'll keep this as one of our regular faves.

New Tibetan Restaurant

I've been waiting for weeks for this Tibetan Restaurant to open. Not to be confused with the Himalayan Nepali Cuisine place two doors down that has been open for over a year now...

Very veg-friendly. "Tibetan Restaurant" has plenty of appetizers, main courses, drinks, and desserts to satisfy the hungriest of patrons. (I didn't notice the Thai Iced Tea until too late. )

We ended up ordering three entrées (each at regular prices) to make a nice full meal for the two of us. A bit more expensive than the local competition, but still a fair deal.

Filed under "Momo", the Veggie Baklap (5 Pcs) was a good random choice today. Definitely not a main course you'd want to eat all by yourself; it makes an excellent side dish for 2-5 people. Deep fried (but not terribly greasy) pastries filled with cauliflower and chives (that's our guess). Good, but one is enough to satisfy that craving.

We ordered the Tofu and Veg Soup, but somehow ended up with the Sweet Corn Soup instead. Still quite good; a nice hominy & black bean base with potatoes and cauliflower, carrots and a nice broth. This bowl was just large and hearty enough to justify calling it a "main course".

Lastly, the full Tse Khala Nazom comes in a tray. This was my favorite. It has a little bit of everything, and makes for a perfect one-person meal.

As usual we said "not spicy" to our waitress, and luckily everything was just that: very flavourful, but not hot-spicy at all. There were side-cups of extremely hot Sriracha-style dip, but we didn't touch them.

Next time, we might get a drink &/or app and dessert rather than an extra entrée.

Another plus: they're open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. Yay!

Overall, a good meal. We'll definitely be visiting again sometime. Since this restaurant has just opened, they may even change a few things in the near future.

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Update 7/20/2015:

Went back a second time and remembered to order the Thai Iced Tea. It was fine, but unfortunately mostly just sweet cream with a splash of tea in it. Not quite as nice as other Thai teas in the area.

C & T Wok

One of the more seemingly authentic Chinese restaurants in the area, C&T Wok has never disappointed us. Although seating isn't great, it's otherwise a nice place to try "family style" dishes. While you might not want a whole plate of nothing but bok choy and mushrooms, it makes an excellent side dish when you can share with others.

This time, we tried ordering one spring roll and one vegetable roll, but what we got was three deep-fried veg rolls. Not particularly good, just your average greasy cabbage-filled appetizer.

Unless you speak Mandarin, this restaurant can be a bit difficult to navigate.

Luckily, we did an excellent job of ordering our entrées.

Vegetables with tofu, and Chinese Mei Fun. (We forgot to tell our waiter to leave off the egg in the Mei Fun.)
Both were very fresh and tasty.

As always though in Cary, your experience may differ if you're trying to eat strictly vegan.

Bocci in Cary

Hands down, Bocci makes the best Chicago-style deep-dish pizza in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area!

You'll need to swing by Hemlock Bluffs park afterward to walk off these calories though.

Maybe not quite as awesome and authentic as you'll find in Chicago, but their pizza will surely satisfy your craving.

Their smallest, the 12", should easily feed 4 hungry people.

We two, however, only made a dent in it tonight:

Bocci has plenty of other excellent Italian dishes, too, but we always order the Chicago pizza since no other restaurants in the area make one. It's easy to order vegetarian here, but to eat purely vegan might be a bit of a challenge.

From the location and ambience, you might think this would be an expensive restaurant, but not so. Bocci is casual, comfortable, and an excellent value-for-the-money no matter how you measure it.

Two thumbs up, as always!

Ruckus Pizza

Simply because it was geographically convenient tonight, we landed at Ruckus Pizza again.

This time, not wanting the usual heavy calzone or pizza, we opted for a big salad and veggie-burger wrap.

The salad was very yummy. The veggie-burger wrap was a little too spicy, but still edible, and the side of pasta salad was very good.

Ruckus has a decent beer selection also...

Overall: not bad for a chain restaurant.