Humble Pie

Late at night last week, we were a-wondering through parts of downtown Raleigh. We had no real direction, but our motivation was growling stomachs. After scoping out a couple menus, we ended up at Humble Pie. The restaurant has a huge letter H sign out front (which really just says H Pie). Inside is a casual, cozy atmosphere. The food overall panders to no one particular cuisine. We saw hints of Southern, Gulf Coast, Asian, Mexican, and others. This is what I think of as modern American cuisine: no flag-waving burgers or fireworks-shooting apple pie, but rather an amalgamation of the best of what the world has to offer. Pan-global would also be an apt term I suppose, but it's just not as catchy.


I ordered the oven roasted mahi mahi. The fish was cooked perfectly with a relish made of roasted red peppers and capers for that nice touch of brininess. It's odd that we don't want fish to be too fishy but we don't mind when it is salty like the ocean. As a more mellow accompaniment, there was a side of smoked gouda potatoes au gratin. I absolutely adore smoked gouda. I almost ordered this dish specifically for that cheese. And these potatoes did not let me down. They were creamy and buttery, with that smokiness perfusing every bite. I had a lot of fun eating this dish, bouncing between the smooth and the sharp flavors until it was all gone.


We also ordered the grilled andouille sausage. The sausage was very good with that fiery fattiness that we expected. Grilling the sausage brought out more of the smokey flavors. The roasted corn sauce helped you soothe your pallet a bit before biting into the surprisingly delicious jalapeno-cheddar bread pudding. My only minus for this restaurant is that the portions were a little small. We left feeling just about sated, but that soon passed as we walked around in search of dessert. We certainly enjoyed everything we ate at Humble Pie, though, and think it is a great restaurant that fits right in in downtown Raleigh.