Twisted Noodles

I keep talking about it, so I should probably blog about it.

I should preface this wild endorsement of Twisted Noodles on University Rd in Durham NC with the fact that I live walking distance from Thai Cafe and Pao Lim. Yet, rather than walking to one of these establishments, I consistently make up excuses to pick up dinner or go out to eat at Twisted Noodles. It is fair to say I am obsessed with Twisted Noodles.

One of the reasons for that is that even though I go, I say "Tofu (insert dish name here), vegan, no fish sauce," and my waiter answers, "Tofu has NO FISH SAUCE. No fish sauce in any tofu." And we regard one another strangely and then they go make my curry and I relax a little.

I am a bit of a creature of habit. The fried tofu appetizer is really really yummy. The drunken noodles are just the right amount of greasy and spicy for those hungover weekend days. My old standby is a house salad (sans egg, dressing on the side) and an order of the tofu red curry. I usually prefer green curry, but the red curry here is so good I've been converted. Again, always forgetting to take pictures before I start eating, but here's some of the tofuliciousness. Best part for me? Tofu chunks, sweet and mildly spicy coconut curry with bamboo shoots. Yum yum gimme some.

It's not Xanadu, though. I have been accidentally served a curry with chicken in it. It's more reasonably priced than Thai Cafe, but at $9-20 an entree, it can still be a little steep. Their pad thai is kind of forgettable (if you really love pad thai, you might be cool, but the fish sauce kind of made that flavor combination for me) and their spring rolls are reportedly gross. Saddest of all, although they claim all menu items can be made vegan or vegetarian, that's not entirely true, and the greatest victim in that case is the unavailability of Thai Iced tea, something I've sort of been in love with since my last trip to NY.