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- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 am - 2 pm
Mon-Fri 4 pm - 2 am
Sat-Sun 11 am - 2 am
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Music:
- Karaoke
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
9 reviews for Able Bar & Grill
9 reviews in English
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Review from Julia B.
Bethesda, MD
2/26/2012
Definitely a hidden gem. I've never been there for karaoke, I just go for the food.
Go for the dumplings and lamb. I like the beef/cabbage and pork/cabbage versions the best for the dumplings. Get the lamb medium rare. They also bring krupuk crackers to the table if you eat there.
Other things I've tried are: chinese salad (not bad tofu salad), eggplant dumplings (they are fried and have pork - YES), spring wrap (nothing special), chicken hearts (really good, once were a little overdone), tofu/cabbage dumplings (no meat = not great), seafood hotpot bowl (good), wonton (stick to the dumplings).
Don't bring vegetarians, their options are lacking. Bring all your cool meat eating friends instead. -
Review from Nancy Y.
I feel like this place is very "in" in the Chinese American Triangle community. This is based on speculation of the authenticity of the menu options and feel of the restaurant rather than actual eye witness of the bumping-ness of the joint on a Thursday night. While the atmosphere is almost nonexistent ("street food"), this restaurant does serve some legit authentic Chinese food.
Raves:
1. Try their dumplings. They are incredible. Handmade skin (pi) and filling (xian). They tasted like my mom's and my mom is an excellent cook. I was slightly disappointed that they only offered dark vinegar as dipping sauce. For a place that serves such superb dumplings, I would expect them to pay a little more attention to sauce options. Some fresh pressed garlic and spicy soy sauce mixtures would have taken their dumplings to the next level.
2. Get the spring (mushu) wrap. You get 4 large wraps for $7 - marinated chicken, lettuce, and oyster sauce(?) all bundled in a flour wrap. It was awesome.
Rant:
As Christina G. mentioned, they refuse to serve tap water. We had several dehydrated ladies in our party and we were forced to pay $1 for bottled waters that we had to nurse because clearly there was not going to be a refill. Not ok.
In conclusion, I'll probably come back for their dumplings, but it'll probably be a take-out scenario rather than dining in. -
Review from Jan N.
Raleigh, NC
1/31/2011
What a hidden gem...this is a karaoke bar with Chinese street food. Currently, the menu is from the northeast region of China, though I hear that they change the menu seasonally. It is delicious.
To start, our waiter brought us a sample of a couple of the appetizers - seasoned peanuts and a chinese salad. The salad was carrots, tofu, bean sprouts and green beans and it was a delight. The peanuts were great too...imagine a Carolina boiled peanut gone Asian.
We tried the pork and cabbage dumplings, which were excellent. The sauce is a vinegar soy...they also gave us chili oil. Next up: lamb kebabs. Tender lamb, good and spicy seasoning...divine.
After that we got our hot pot in a bowl, which is hot pot for lazy people who don't feel like doing the cooking themselves. We ordered the lamb and it was amazing. Enoki mushrooms, bok choy, napa cabbage, cellophane noodles, tofu and lamb...it was a flavor explosion. My favorite part about it was that it was seasoned with sichuan peppercorns, which gives you the most interesting mouth tingle. It was HOT, y'all. And it was good. I sweated out a few poisons and felt somehow purified.
Somewhere in here I decided we needed more kebabs, so I asked for the chicken hearts. I think the staff was surprised to have an American ask for that, but heart is tasty - it's simply lean muscle, for those that haven't tried it. They were awesome!
During this fun gastronomic adventure, all the staff were friendly and enthusiastic. I felt a lot more like an unexpected friend who dropped by for a snack than I did a customer. They even gave us some homemade sweet bean pasted stuffed bao (buns) that weren't on the menu. They were, of course, divine.
Stuffed like monkeys, we toddled off, promising to come back and check out the karaoke. While I have no real complaints, my half joking one is this: Able, put more items on the menu! We need more of this goodness! -
Review from Christina G.
Durham, NC
Aside from the horrific story yelper Jane Y shared (about a Chinese music video wherein a girl loses her eyesight to an accidental darkroom acid spill, and then her photographer boyfriend donates his eyeballs to her, only to mysteriously disappear afterward...), I rather enjoyed our meal here.
You'll find Able in a shabby, aging Cary strip mall. The walls are red, and the lighting is fluorescent and harsh. Until they dim them for karaoke at 9pm.
The menu consists of apps (chicken "hands"), kabobs, mushu, hotpot bowls and traditional hotpot, and dumplings. So of course our group ordered one of everything! Nancy Y attests that the dumpling wrappers are handmade and very much like her mom makes, and Susan Z was impressed that they're boiled rather than steamed. Our table tried beef & cabbage, tofu & cabbage, and pork & bean, all served with vinegar. I think I favored the beef & cabbage which was filled with juicy meat. You get 12 dumplings for about $6, and they're a respectable size. The lamb hotpot bowl had some good heat to it, but unfortunately we all felt it was oversalted. The broth was undrinkable, and even the noodles were soaking up the salty flavor. But there was a good bit of meat, and mushrooms and greens mixed in. My favorite thing of the evening, hands down, was the mushu wrap -- fresh and so tasty. Even the wrap shell was de-licious.
Although our waitress was very sweet, she was a little forgetful (requests for water and ramekins of vinegar had to be made more than once). One of our dumpling plates came with 11 instead of 12. And they simply don't serve tap water (wha?), so bottled will cost you a buck.Listed in: The Asian Invasion, Cheap Eats, Cary-land, Karaoke: The Great Equalizer
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Review from Joy Y.
Wake Forest, NC
4/16/2011 2 Check-ins Here
If you want to try some northern Chinese street food, this is the place.
I was a little disappointed when I walked into this restaurant, they had those fluorescent lights on just like the ones in offices or stores, and there was only one table customers at the time on a weekend dinner time, made me wondering about the taste of the food, but it turned out to be pretty good.
They don't have a big menu - several appetizers, hand made dumplings, hot pot in a bowl, and Chinese kabobs. We ordered almost everything on the menu, other than the real hot pot . Boiled peanuts, lamb and chicken kabobs, roasted corn, hot pot bowl, and of course hand-made dumplings are all worth to try.
What I don't like is the plastic utensils and paper plates, feel like eating at a takeout place. But I would go back for a lunch or afternoon snack in the future. -
Review from Tricia Y.
Carrboro, NC
4/25/2011
I went to Able's with a group for a birthday dinner this weekend, and everyone was very pleasantly surprised by what had originally appeared a hole-in-the-wall in a strip mall. The food was delicious (and SO filling), at ridiculously reasonable prices. The staff was very friendly, and Able made sure my vegetarian husband didn't miss the fun, bringing him out tofu dumplings and corn skewers along with the rest of our meat-heavy foods. And when the karaoke kicked it, the fun got even better. The place started crowding up around 10:30, and we ended up being the only table singing any English songs. I would definitely recommend Able's and look forward to going back there soon! Oh, and the lamb kabobs, beef dumplings and especially the spring rolls were to DIE for!
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Review from Daisy J.
Morrisville, NC
2/13/2011
Wonderful service and pleasant atmosphere. Love the place. He is true to his food. He insists on the size of the menu since that's the only way he can ensure quality of food and service personally. I believe in what he believes. Also very rare to find northern Chinese food around here. This is a must try!!
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Review from Michael t.
Durham, NC
3/3/2012
I wouldn't necessarily say this restaurant is a 2 star, but it is definitely a 2 and 1/2 star restaurant. After reading the reviews from the other yelpers, I felt very hopeful of finding a decent Asian restaurant. When I came in I was really excited. Looking at the décor, it reminded me of places back home. We ordered the roasted chicken hearts, beef tendons, and pork and cabbage dumpling. The chicken heart's seasoning was a little bland. Beef tendon tasted only of double soy sauce. The dumplings that others have raved about seem to be homemade, but the taste does not differ much from store bought. Styrofoam plates at a restaurant are an "interesting" concept. On the other hand, the service was great. The waitress was very attentive granted we were the only people there. Overall, it was another disappointing experience. I wouldn't recommend coming here for a good dining experience, but I could see where this would be a decent place to have drinks.
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Review from D C.
Cary, NC
2/11/2011
I went there last night and it was amazing. Able, the owner, is as nice as of a guy as you can get. The food is so authentic and brought me back to my times in China. The kitchen is open and you can watch them prepare your food. The bar is great and the karaoke is so much fun. The atmosphere is extremely friendly and you feel like you belong there. It is a great restaurant and a great late night spot. Definitely something fun to do in Cary. I will most definitely be back...a lot.
