One of my favorite things in this area is Triangle Restaurant Week! TRW happens about 4 times a year and it’s a great way to get to experience some great local restaurants. Participating restaurants offer a prix fixe menu of three courses that is meant to showcase all that the chef and that restaurant have to offer. I try to visit at least one but sometimes two or three new places each restaurant week.

The last TRW happened back in June. My friend, Kelly, and I went to Plates Neighborhood Kitchen. This actually wasn’t the first time I visited Plates but I was happy to go again. Their tag line is “Globally Inspired Locally Produced” so all their food has an international origin but uses local produce and sometimes a slight southern spin.

Plates is located in the Glenwood South district of Downtown Raleigh. There are a lot of cool restaurants and bars in that area so its a fun part of town to walk in the evening. The people watching is also great! Across the street is a motorcycle shop/bar/coffee joint and there may or may not have been some hunky looking dudes we got to admire. I digress…

I don’t normally drink much when I go out to eat but TRW is an exception. I think its a great chance to see what cool cocktails the bartenders can mix up. There were a lot of really neat cocktails on the menu but I was really feeling the sangria. I must admit that I was a little disappointed with my choice. It wasn’t bad per say but it wasn’t very strong and I have definitely had better glasses of sangria.

Once my whistle was wet I took at look at the menu. I thought it was pretty cute that the menu was put on a clipboard. While the restaurant week menu is a three course dinner, the server takes your order for all three courses at once. I decided on the ceviche, the catch of the day, and the blackberry chocolate torte. Before we ordered, the server did tell us about some of the specials they had that weren’t part of the TRW menu, one of which was gazpacho. I asked if I could have that as my first course but they don’t allow substitutions. So, I decided to splurge and order a cup anyways. I definitely went the all seafood route and Kelly went the all beef route with the tartare, steak, and toffee pudding.

My first experience with ceviche was in San Diego and was outstanding so this dish had big shoes to fill. This particular ceviche was pretty interesting as it had sweet potato chips and corn nuts. It was fresh and had a nice, clean flavor but I think I prefer the more traditional version of ceviche.

Because the ceviche was a little disappointing, I was excited for my gazpacho. Lucky for me it did not disappoint! It honestly was the best gazpacho I’ve ever had! The server told us that the secret was that they put some of their homemade focaccia bread in the soup – who knew?!

Kelly’s first course was the steak tartare but this particular version was the coolest tartare I’ve ever seen! It was Big Mac Tartare! The plate had basically a fancy, deconstructed mini Big Mac, all the way down to the tiny fries, pickles, sauce, and sesame seeds!

Our entrees came out shortly after and looked delicious! The catch of the day that I got was Mahi-Mahi, and it was cooked perfectly. The fish came with a romaine salad wedge with a corn salsa, which tasted a lot like the ceviche so that was a bit of a bummer. I would have preferred some different flavors but I knew the dishes would be similar when I ordered so that’s on me.

Kelly’s steak was perfectly cooked as well and the loaded baked potato cakes looked yummy!

I think we were both more excited for our desserts! Kelly’s toffee pudding reminded me a lot of a salted caramel bread pudding. It was a little too sweet for my liking but the fresh whipped cream was a nice balance.

The blackberry chocolate torte that I got was the perfect ending to our meal – it was rich but not heavy, I think because of the fruit mouse. Next to the gazpacho, it was my favorite.

While some of the food was a little lack-luster, the service was great! Our server was very attentive and funny. I also love the ambiance at Plates, particularly their patio area. Overall it was a good dinner and I will definitely go back.