Hillsborough Street is a multicultural thoroughfare with restaurants that will take your taste buds everywhere, especially around Asia. Students can have a hard time deciding where to go with all these available options, especially in a group of people. Below is an overview of local Southeast and East Asian restaurants on the western side of Hillsborough Street.
Mama Jee
Mama Jee is a new restaurant on Hillsborough Street that is less than a year old. Entering the restaurant, there is a noticeable warm ambience with its mix of reds, dark wood and low lighting. Mama Jee offers a neat and accommodating bar as well as BOGO sushi rolls, sashimi and nigiri. There’s a variety of Thai entrees from panang curry and hot pots to drunken noodles and tom yum soup.
There was another restaurant called Thai House before Mama Jee that has been open for thirteen years now. Jeerawan Bessinger, or Mama Jee, is the owner of Thai House and Mama Jee. Irene Peebua, the manager of Mama Jee, tells the story of how Bessinger started the restaurant.
“She emigrated from Thailand to New York back in the 1970s — came here with $30, lived the American dream, built her own restaurant which is Thai House and then we brought a new dream alive and that was Mama Jee,” Peebua said. “We decided to expand. We built a full bar. […] We built a sushi bar.”
Mama Jee serves lunch and dinner and is located between Zaxby’s and CVS on Hillsborough Street. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays.
“What it has to offer Hillsborough Street — pretty much nice atmosphere with good prices,” Peebua said. “Nice ambience to where college students or anybody really can come and have a good time and not expect to pay for like a $50 or $60 meal.”
Pho Vietnam
Pho Vietnam is an airy, clean space with dark wood contrasting against light walls and tabletops and a lot of natural light coming in through the big windows. The restaurant offers a variety of Vietnamese food like pho, banh mi sandwiches and vermicelli noodle dishes.
Anirudh Bhateja, a fourth-year studying mechanical engineering, talks about eating at Pho Vietnam.
“I liked the decor and food there,” Bhateja said. “The portion sizes are great. However, there could be improvement in the service and handling of checks — having to pay at the desk takes away from the fine dining feel despite the high quality food and portion sizes for the reasonable price.”
Pho Vietnam is located on the corner of Dan Allen Drive and Hillsborough Street and is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day except Sunday.
Oishi
Oishi has a cozy feeling to it and has contrasting green, yellow and red walls against the dark floor and furniture. There is a space near the front of the restaurant with a lot of natural light from the windows.
Oishi offers Japanese cuisine that includes foods like sushi, sashimi and nigiri, hibachi entrees and different kinds of Asian noodle dishes. The restaurant also serves bubble tea, a Taiwanese tea-based drink that has a tea base mixed with fruit or milk to which tapioca balls are often added.
Claire Christopher, a fourth-year studying computer science and Japanese, describes the experience at Oishi.
“I enjoyed the food I had there,” Christopher said. “I’m not sure on the authenticity, but it was tasty and decently priced. They used to be one of the only places on Hillsborough that had bubble tea so that was a huge plus for me. Plus, it is in walking distance from central campus — one of the only ones, unless you’re determined.”
Oishi is situated between Wells Fargo and Target and is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
