Eating some chicken-chili momos and onion samosas at Chai Fresh in Morrisville. Photo: Zachery Eanes/Axios
👋 Zachery here. One of my goals for the rest of the year is to eat at more strip malls.
The simple reason: That is where some of the Triangle's best food is being made — and at a reasonable price.
State of play: The Triangle's rapidly diversifying population is being increasingly reflected in the restaurants popping up in its suburbs, and you could find a new cuisine to try every day, from regional Indian food and Burmese to Uzbek and Guatemalan.
Zoom in: My latest obsession has been Indo-Chinese food — a fusion of dishes that Chinese immigrants in Kolkata were making using ingredients available in India.
Hakka noodles — think lo mein using Indian spices — are perhaps the signature dish, but the options are plentiful.
What we got: A reader recently directed me to the menu at Chai Fresh, a shop in Morrisville known for its teas, which also serves Indo-Chinese.
The menu includes several noodle dishes, but what caught our eye was the chicken-chili momos ($12.99) — a basket of chicken dumplings smothered in a spicy chili sauce.
The sauce was good enough to be eaten by the spoonful. We also got a cup of masala chai ($3.99) and some delightful onion samosas ($4.99).
🗣️ Let us know which strip mall we should go to next.
