If you wanted to eat nothing but crab, chicken, steak and noodles doused in teriyaki sauce served with a side of rice, then Crazy Fire Mongolian Grill is the place for you. It’s a nice little restaurant just outside of Raleigh and has a unique way of serving food, similar to a buffet style. However, you make your own stir fry.
You start off with getting a bowl, or up to three, and filling said bowl with raw ingredients. It’s up to you what you want to put into your bowl. Whatever you can reasonably put in one bowl is the meal you’ll be eating.
The raw ingredients you can pick up range from: bean sprouts, peppers, crab, chicken to pineapples. Then there is the option of various sauces and vinegars you can douse your ingredients in. This results in many different combinations for your possible meal.
After you’ve got your full bowl, you bring it up to a counter that separates the buffet from the kitchen. There, you receive a number from a chef, and they put your bowl onto a large circular grill. They cook everyone’s food in different sections of the grill, and you can even watch your food get cooked in front of you. Then after it’s cooked you get your choice of fried or regular rice as a side.
Unfortunately, due to the way the buffet is and how everything is cooked, it doesn’t appear all that vegan friendly. There is no guarantee that some meat or meat byproducts wouldn’t find its way into your meal. However, if this does not bother you, then I suggest giving the restaurant a shot. The taste of the food is entirely up to what you put into it, and I’ve always come away with a happy stomach.
You pay by how many bowls you’ve brought up to the counter. Therefore, the amount of what you can fit into one bowl does not affect the price. You can have a bowl that has two eggs in it or a bowl filled with a pantry of ingredients and have them cost the same.
I like Crazy Fire because of this as it allows freedom to create a meal to your liking. Personally, I really enjoy pineapple in mine because it adds a pop of sweet flavor to my stir fry.
I’ve been there more than five times now. My family and I really enjoy it and make the trip out there every now and again.
Crazy Fire Mongolian Grill is located on 1270 Buck Jones Road. It’s open from 11 a.m. and closes around 9:30 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. depending on the day. Go visit the restaurant and give it a try!