A variety of cuisines and flavors with Dishcrawl Durham

Durham's first Dishcrawl event was a walking tour through the Five Points area on Wednesday, July 10. 2013.

Posted 5:45 p.m. Jul 11, 2013 — Updated 6:35 p.m. Jul 13, 2018

Caitlin Zanga

DURHAM, N.C. — Durham's first Dishcrawl event, Five Points Feast, offered a wide variety of cuisines and flavors for guests. During the walking tour we visited Pop's Trattoria, Taberna Tapas, Revolution and The Parlour for small plates and conversation.

We started off at Pop's Trattoria, an Italian bistro with a clear focus on using fresh, and when possible, local ingredients. Luckily, the rain held off, because we were all enjoying sitting outside on their patio!

We were quickly served three small dishes: fried okra hash, NC-sourced shrimp risotto and penne pasta with a summer herb pesto sauce. All three were delicious and Pop's proved a great location to kick off the tour.

Penne pasta with summer herb pesto at Pop's Trattoria during Dishcrawl Durham.

As a girl who doesn't even like fried okra, it's a big deal for me to say that Pop's fried okra hash was my favorite dish of the entire tour. The seasoning was just perfect, and the sweet corn balanced out the saltiness. The risotto was also very good; rich and creamy, with perfectly cooked rice and shrimp. The al dente penne was yummy, and the tomatoes and pesto tasted light and fresh, but it just didn't wow me.

Next up was Taberna Tapas, a Spanish tapas bar. It was muggy outside, and after sitting in the heat and walking to the restaurant, I cooled off with a refreshing cocktail. The pina sandia, a mix of fresh watermelon juice, pineapple juice and rum was just what I needed! It was fruity without being overly sweet.

Our small plate at Taberna was a trio of tapas – smoked salmon with goat cheese on toasted bread, a chicken and bacon croquette and Spanish chorizo and avocado on toasted bread. The chorizo was my second favorite dish of the night; pairing it with avocado was unexpected but delicious. You still tasted the spiciness of the chorizo but the avocado slice mellowed the heat.

A trio from Taberna Tapas during Dishcrawl Durham: smoked salmon and goat cheese, chicken and bacon croquette, Spanish chorizo with avocado.

The croquette was good as well, but I didn't get any of the smoky bacon flavor; however, that didn't stop me from eating the whole thing! I can't really comment on the smoked salmon, because I'm not a big fan of the fish.

Our next stop was Revolution, which draws inspiration for its dishes from around the globe. I had heard good things about Revolution, so I was excited to finally eat there, but unfortunately for me it fell short. Our small plates there, compared to our other stops, were more like bites.

The first plate was a goat cheese crostini with a cherry tomato on top. I'm typically iffy about goat cheese because it's so strong, so I felt like I needed more than just a tomato to balance out that overpowering flavor. I was excited for the beef tartare crostini – I haven't had beef tartare since I was in France over a year ago, and it brought back some good memories. However, it just wasn't living up to the beef tartare I had in mind. My table agreed it was extremely salty. I could see some herbs or spices in the beef, but couldn't even decipher what they were because the salt was overpowering.

Goat cheese mousse with cherry tomatoes on crostini at Revolution during Dishcrawl Durham.

My favorite dish at Revolution was the tuna tartare on a cucumber slice. Like the beef, the tuna was salty, but the cucumber was cool way to balance the flavors.

It was time for our last stop – The Parlour for dessert! They served us a cup of blueberry buttermilk ice cream, topped with blueberries and whipped cream. I'm easy to please when it comes to dessert, so I really liked the ice cream. It wasn't too heavy or rich from the buttermilk, and it had a nice, smooth consistency.

Blueberry buttermilk ice cream from The Parlour during Dishcrawl Durham.

I had a good time exploring new restaurants at Dishcrawl's Durham event! They are hoping to put together another Dishcrawl in Durham next month.

If Dishcrawl sounds like your ideal restaurant experience, check out their Taste of Moore Square tour in downtown Raleigh. Tickets are on sale now, and the event is Wednesday, July 24.

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