Ayden, NC: Bum's Restaurant from country cooking and veggie goodness (collards to die for)
Headed east yesterday with my final destination being the coast to catch some wind and wave action from the offshore tropical system. Decided to take somewhat of a detour through Ayden, just south of Greenville, to try Bum's, which has been mentioned previously as being a great place for eastern-style BBQ and awesome veggies. The place is cafeteria-style, and although my intention was to try the BBQ, the fried chicken caught my eye and mood so I went for that, plus the famous collards, and some green beans as well. The chicken was as good as fried chicken comes - very fresh, thin, crispy crust, juicy and tender meat underneath. The green beans were great as well - they were the thick, flattened variety, clearly fresh. but those collards, man those collards. There's a reason that Bum's provides the collards for the Collard Festival - these were the best collards I've ever had, which I wasn't expecting considering how they are chopped very fine (almost a puree) - but wow, explosion of flavor. Now I understand why people from out-of-state have reportedly taken a couple quarts of collards back home with them. So meat, two veggies, cornbread + stick, and sweet tea for $6.50.
Good country cooking, all fresh ingredients, perfectly executed. Why doesn't the Triangle have something like that?
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/80...
Next time, I'll actually try the BBQ.
