New Favorite Restaurant in the Triangle

Last month my team at work got to go to a fancy team dinner at my favorite restaurant in Raleigh- 18 Seaboard.  There are a ton of restaurants in the Triangle that I still have on my list to try, but they are all the types of places you need to save up for.  18 Seaboard has topped my list for the past few years though.

That night I got this:

Cracklin’ pork shank with blue cheese grits, spinach, and apple-onion compote

It was good, but not my favorite thing I've had there.  I also had a mojito which was delicious!  The atmosphere there is nice and I  found out in the summertime they have outdoor dining that I might have to try!

But last night we went to a place in downtown Durham for my boss' boss' birthday- 604 West Morgan.  First of all this place is not easy to find.  It is in an old warehouse district and the signs are hard to see and then parking is impossible to find and then you are confused about where to go in because it is the same building as some fancy loft apartments, but you can't enter through there and have to walk around to the back of the building.

But once you get in, it is really pretty.  It would make a great romantic date night spot.  And the food...OMG.  Everything I had except for the bread was so good!  The bread was just blah.  We had the crab cake and the tomato & mozzarella appetizers which were both good but I did not get a picture of. 

For my main course I had this:

Lobster cognac sauce- scallops, crabmeat, shrimp, mussels, cream, black squid ink pasta

It sounded weird and might not have been my first choice, but I had seen it mentioned in some good reviews of the restaurant and after I tasted the crabcake, I knew they could do seafood well.  It was sooo good!  Almost everyone got something different and all their plates were practically licked clean so I take that as a good sign that everything else is pretty good too.

But my favorite part of the meal was this:

Apple Cake with Vanilla Bean Gelato

I splurged and got dessert and I'm so glad I did because this was freaking heavenly!  I ate every last bit of it.

It's not cheap- my bill was $61 including the 2 glasses of wine, main entree, dessert, and tip.  But I definitely want to come back here again soon!  I think it has outed 18 Seaboard as my new favorite.

Some of my other favorites around here are:
The Flying Buiscut
Tasu
The Peddler
Firebirds
Twisted Fork

Places that get a lot of hype that I wasn't impressed with:
Angus Barn
Poole's Diner
Gravy
Humble Pie

Places on my ever growing "have to try list":
Magnolia Grill
Nanas
Four Square
Vivace
An
Flights
Coquette
Bloomsbury Bistro
Watts Grocery
Toast
The Federal
The Peidmont
Elmos Diner
Guglhupf
Bella Monica

Any other suggestions?

What is your favorite restaurant and why?  Is it the food, the atmosphere, the drinks, the service?

In other news I have been in bad form this week.  I have been moody, gossiping, putting my foot in my mouth left and right, lazy, down, thinking if only I were super skinny and super rich I would be happy (seriously what do skinny rich people have to complain about?)  I know this sounds so hypocritical from my Sunday Snippets post, but I am merely human and struggle with a lot of the same things we all do so, don't judge mmmkay?