Uye: Dinner At Thaiphoon and Cocktails At C Grace On S Glenwood

I went to Thaiphoon on Ron’s UYE, and was definitely pleased with the Thai food out in Raleigh!
We discussed the fact that there really aren’t too many options for ethnic dining in the Chapel Hill area, and that I was happy to get off the hill for some good Thai. I was definitely happy with my Thai iced tea, and even happier with the Pad Woon Sen. The bean thread was of good quality, and the sauces tasted authentic. Everyone else’s dishes looked scrumptious as well, and I tasted more than one to see what the hot level was like. I love spicy, and my dish was not spicy at all — but after a sample of Ron’s dish, I know this place can put the spice on it!
I also tasted a few of the appetizers and the Tom Kha, and I can confidently say that I’m definitely going to be a repeat customer the next time I’m looking for a thaiphoon of tasty.

Unilocal Adventures on S. Glenwood on November 30^th
I’ve only been actively participating in the Unilocal community for about 6 months and the more time I spend getting to know the local Unilocalers, the more I like them and their penchant for fun! In case you are unfamiliar with Unilocal acronyms, UYE stands for Unofficial Unilocal Event. Any Unilocal member can plan a social event and any Unilocal member can attend regardless of Elite status. Row W, who is a very active Unilocal member of our community, organized a night out on Glenwood South. We started with dinner at Thaiphoon. We were a large group of 21 Unilocalers with 20 locals from around the Triangle but mostly from Durham and Raleigh plus a Unilocaler hailing from Columbus, OH who joined us for dinner while he was in town. The more, the merrier! I don’t know about you but I think it is so cool that someone from out of town, a total stranger, was able to have dinner with 20 local food and drink enthusiasts? Awesome! Ron ordered several rounds of appetizers to get the party started. Before I wrote this review, I asked him for the number in our party and if Thaiphoon donated the appetizers. Ron replied that he had all the appetizers put on his bill. He said that is not required when organizing a UYE but that’s just the way he rolls. Wow! That is so nice and very generous! Thanks Ron! Of the 8 people sitting closest to me, one was my husband (so I already knew him before the event) and 2 are my friends on Unilocal and we have communicated on Unilocal but I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting them face-​to-​face. I’m glad I was able to finally meet them in person. I greatly enjoyed meeting the other people at dinner. Susan shared her ‘fish sauce’ secret with us so we can add some serious spicy heat to our Thai food. Besides food secrets, we shared a lot of laughs during the evening while chowing down on the delicious Thai food.
After dinner, we walked less than a half a block to C. Grace to sample some of the handcrafted cocktails at the relatively new speak easy lounge. Our group did our own «occupying» of the tables in the ‘stage area’ of C. Grace. I love all the little nooks and crannies at C. Grace, very intimate allowing different sized groups their own private spots. I tried the Grace + Grateful and the menu just lists punch as a description. Yummy, it was very tasting… don’t know what was in there but it was very good. I also had an oldie but a goodie, the Cosmo. When the waiter put the martini glass in front of me, I told him that I ordered a Cosmo and he said that’s the Cosmo. Umm, it was yellow. What no red or shade of pink? Well, wait for it… it was FAB-​u-​lous! Our group had a lot of fun sharing sips of the unique cocktails and swapping stories as well as the latest news on what is happening over the weekend and the newest restaurants to open their doors. Let me tell you, this group is definitely ‘in the know’, a great resource! Well, since it was a ‘school night’, our party began closing tabs around 11 pm.
What a great group of nice, very welcoming, and fun-​loving individuals! Dinner and drinks were awesome! Thanks Ron for a wonderful night on S. Glenwood.

Not the best Thai food I’ve had; not the worst. What makes this place stand out is definitely the décor. They’ve got a neat space that comes off kitschy-​cool with large colored Christmas bulbs running above the bar, menus on records and in DVD cases. Ron W organized a UYE for a large group of Unilocalers, and was awesome enough to start us off with some apps. Hubby and I split a spring roll (too much veggie filler, not enough meat); a wonton (lots of breading); and a crispy cup (the consensus on our end of the table was that this was the best of the three). Half-​price wine on Wednesdays, which is a great deal. But I opted for just a glass (moderately sized wine menu, most glasses between $ 8 – 9). Hubby had a local beer for $ 5.
We were seated on the upper loft, where they pulled a bunch of tables together banquet-​stile to accommodate our group. Our entrees were unfortunately slow and unevenly spaced as they came out — mine was the first to arrive. And I was long done when the last one was delivered to our table about thirty minutes later. Again, we were a large party. But the discrepancy was pretty bad; I wouldn’t recommend it for groups.
I had the Beef Penang, the best part of which was the 1) tender stewed beef and 2) the large portion. The curry itself was pretty good. I asked for extra spicy, and it was kind of moderate in my opinion, but good flavor. The worst part of the meal was definitely the length of time it took to get our checks. I think this was partially due to the fact that their POS system was down and they had to separate/​calculate our tabs by hand. But from the time our plates were cleared to the time I actually paid was literally an hour. You always expect hold-​ups when you have a big party — 2.5 hours spent there on a Wednesday night was a little excessive though.
In summary, I recommend for lunch or a small-​group dinner setting. It’s a pretty cool and tasty choice for dining on Glenwood.