Bosphorus Restaurant
329 North Harrison Ave
Cary, NC
I drive past Bosphorus restaurant every week on my way to teach at Chinese school, but it was our first time eating there. Inside, Bosphorus is decorated with posters of Turkish landscapes and artwork, painted pottery and blue-and-white glass evil eye medallions. (Being classicists, we joked about how to warn off the evil eye.) The coffeemaker and a silverware caddy are visible to patrons, like a diner’s prep station, and you can also also peek into the spotless kitchen.
Our area of North Carolina is mostly chains, convenient at times, but facelessly interchangable with everywhere else. Bosphorus, with its mix of diner efficiency and cheerful exotic decor, stands out with of character and warmth, amid mandatory flair and planograms from corporate office.
We ordered a mezze platter,which came with delicious warm bread. It reminded me so much of the grilled bread from Muslim Noodles. The main difference was that Muslim Noodles bastes the bread with a tasty spicy oil concoction, but Bosphorus serves a tasty spiced oil as a dipping sauce. I spent so much time in China cooking Western food, but there are a few Chinese dishes I miss, and grilled bread is one of them.
I really like vegetarian choices that are filling meals, not token salads or the old replace-meat-with-a-portabello-mushroom standby. Also, there were no stupid artichokes on the menu!
Sounds interesting! If I can ever drag your cousin down that way to visit, maybe we should go there. Of course, he’s a pretty picky eater, but if nothing else he’d like the bread. 🙂
Oh, and because the Lit major in me winced and I can’t let this go…
“with it’s mix … ” should be “with its mix … “
haha you’re right! I think I originally had “it’s a mix of…” and then cut it down to be less wordy.
There is also an Outback steakhouse, just in case you + Ian ever come to visit!
PS I remember when Ian only ate noodles and hot dogs so I suppose he can’t be THAT picky anymore!
He used to eat hot dogs? Huh. Of course, I hear he actually used to eat veggies too (aside from potatoes and broccoli). I don’t think his tastes expanded, just changed. 😉
Meg,
Isn’t it refreshing to break away from the chains every now and then and go to a real restaurant with some real character?
Also, you mentioned that you teach Chinese. I would imagine that there would be considerable demand to learn to speak Chinese given the growing influence of the country. Is this indeed the case?
@Andrea I don’t remember Ian ever eating a vegetable, in fact, I distinctly remember telling my mom how UNFAIR it is to make me eat my veggies when Ian doesn’t have to. Nothing like being a little jerk over nutrition!
@Andrew I actually don’t teach Chinese, I teach SAT vocab and essay writing in a Chinese school. My students are (almost all) really smart kids who don’t speak English at home, so their vocab is not even close to college level, even though they’re bright. I try to think up fun ways to learn new words and make the definitions stick. After teaching ESL in China, I think I’m uniquely suited for this because I can spot grammar errors that come from Mandarin and I can hear a whispered “shao bi” across the classroom! This is my school’s site: http://www.racl.org/
Hi Meg.
Sorry for the misunderstanding, and thanks for clearing that up.
I can see how you would be in a unique position to help the students, particularly with your background understanding of Chinese language and culture.
I had a quick look at the school photo gallery – it looks like you all had a blast at the Chinese New Year celebrations.
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