NoDa? More like YesDa!

Today I made the spur of the moment decision to eat another dish off my list. I had to travel to the new Banfield in Cotswold, so I wanted to see what was in that area. I ended up going to Crepe Cellar Kitchen and Pub in NoDa. This pub is on North Davidson (hence the NoDa...maybe trying to be a bit NYC here guys?). I had heard a lot about this area but hadn't been there. I was a little apprehensive driving in and parking as it doesn't seem like the safest part of town for a single girl to go visiting - very glad I went during the day. Maybe that's too quick an assessment, so sorry for offending anyone in that area!

After looking at the menu, I didn't want to JUST eat the pesto and brie fries (my goal dish) so I opted for the clam chowder as well, which the waitress (who was very good, other than assuming I wasn't just eating by myself at first - yes ma'am, I know it's hard to believe I'm single) assured me was delicious. Here are the pictures of my meal:


Pesto and brie goodness




Clam-a-licious

 Oh my goodness, this was WONDERFUL. I think it's in my top dishes of the Top 100 dishes. Part of it was the ambience - this is a little place with dark wood, small tables, and you can see right out onto the street - but the food would have been wonderful anywhere. In addition, it was pouring outside and  the perfect place to be was in this pub eating warm comfort food.

The menu at this restaurant is pretty intriguing. They serve crepes, which I would definitely like to try at some point. The Charlotte magazine extolling the virtues of the fries said they were enough to share (or enough to polish off by yourself if you haven't had anything to eat since breakfast) and warned diners against using the ketchup as it would "tarnish" the fries. I don't agree. I think the pesto and brie and potato needed something to cut that and (my Top Chef training) ketchup added a nice acidity to it. The clam chowder was indeed delicious. My aunt makes wonderful clam chowder but this stuff.....I'm ashamed to admit may have even been better. It was so thick and creamy, I could have eaten a bigger bowl in no time. What was EVEN BETTER about this restaurant is that it's right next to the other location of Tasty-Yo (remember my previous blog?), so I headed over there and got some more peach mango. I've been craving that stuff since my last visit. I will eventually get the blueberry acai that I was supposed to, but the peach mango with their homemade granola made this day 110% perfect.

All in all, NoDa has won me over and I'm a little afraid my dreams will be filled with the pesto and brie fries, which I'm sure are NOT good for you. Oh but they ARE delicious!