Best Asian Cuisine on the East Side of Cincinnati

I started this post months ago and totally forgot about it. But I found it and decided to finish it today.

Once again, "Best" really means "our favorite". Another quick disclaimer, Asian is a really broad category. For purposes of this post, "Asian" means Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. It does NOT mean South Asian (e.g., Indian- that gets its own post.) For better or worse, "Asian" gets thrown into one category for the purposes on this post and in American cuisine generally. At every Thai place, they have curry on the menu, at every Chinese place, there is sushi. It makes me wonder, in Tokyo is there a Italian restaurant that also has Greek Gyros and German sausages on the menu? I hope not.

BANGKOK BISTRO, Hyde Park: Probably our personal favorite, and likely the single restaurant we miss the most from Cincinnati. The biggest reason is that we simply don't have much Asain variety up here in Northern Ohio, especially in our small town of Sandusky. Bangkok features Thai food. Some great Pad Thai and varities of spicy Thai flavored noodle dishes. If you ask for 10 of 10 on their spiciness scale- you'll get it. Hit my threshold pretty spot on, in a good way. Erin enjoys a seafood noodle soup with a wide assortment of whole seafood in a perfectly seasoned broth.

DOODLES, Hyde Park: A chinese place that specializes in noodles. I enjoyed the Fiery Flat Rice Noodles and Cantonese pan fried noodles. Not nearly as spicy. Unlike generic chinese Restaurants, everything tastes so fresh and seasoned to order.

DANCING WASABI, Mt. Lookout: Little sushi place within walking distance from our old apartment. I enjoy sushi, but more as an appetizer than a meal. Although I never did it, I liked the idea that I could walk to a Sushi place from my apartment and order a spicy tuna roll at 3 AM. Just made me feel like I lived in a vibrant area; which Mt. Lookout was.

TEAK, Mt. Adams: Another Thai place. It is a little more pricy and elaborate than Bangkok Bistro. And their menu is even more vast and "pan-Asain" than the others.

Wild Ginger, Hyde Park: I think it started as Vietnamese, but has added dishes from all over Asia, especially Japan. They have also expanded since we left Cincinnati, I believe they now have Japanese steak house style seating along with a bigger sushi bar in addition to their normal seating.

Best Burger on the East Side of Cincinnati

A good burger is one of those foods that I just crave sometimes. I have a couple of favorites in my little corner of Cincinnati. I think they are the best:

- Zip's Cafe, Mt. Lookout Square. They have won Best Burger awards from all the local publications several times and for good reason. Their burgers are simple and delicious. Not too big, not too small. The toppings are pretty standard: lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, catsup, mustard, mayo. I get mine with everything except the mayo. There isn't a lot of variety: Zip Burger, Zip Burger with Cheese, Double Zip Burger. They also have a girth burger that includes a split mettwurst with the burger, I haven't gotten that one... yet. (I think they have some sort of veggie or turkey "burger", but I don't count those as burgers, they are more like gross sandwiches). Anyway, with such a high quality of burger you don't need much else. It is my favorite burger in Cincinnati, hands down and thats mainly because of its taste and simplicity. Also, they have great chili and you can wash it all down with good selection of beers on tap. Usually a Great Lakes variety and a 7 or 8 English or Irish beers. Or cheap megapitchers of Bud Light. Zip's has a great atmosphere. Its a dark tavern, casual place. There is a toy train that goes around the restaurant along the top of the walls. There is a small bar in the back, "The Code Room", that you might not even know was there unless you are from around here. In the bar there is a huge plasma tv with HD service- seems out of place in this comfortable place- but I love it. When I first moved out to Cincinnati, before I had cable, I would hang out with the bartenders and watch baseball all day and night there. Zip's is one of the places I will miss the most when I leave Cincinnati.

- Arthur's Cafe, Hyde Park Square. Arthur's is a great place to go with a group of friends for food and drinks. They always have cheap pitchers of beer. The outside patio is perfect for a summer evening, but be prepared to wait for a table outside. Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays are Burger Madness nights. You can get a burger with any and all toppings. The options include jalepenos, grilled onions, mushrooms, a bunch of different cheeses, chili, and anything else you would normally put on a burger. Its a good deal. The atmosphere, inside or outside is very casual. I don't know what a "neighborhood bar" really means, but this is it.

- Terry's Turf Club, Linwood. I've only been to Terry's once, but it is in the running for Best Burger on the East Side. The atmosphere is like a weird 50's diner with all kinds of neon signs and decor. It tries hard to be overly casual with overly exotic, yet small, menu. I like the concept, and I think eventually it will get better. I got a burger with burgundy wine with wild mushrooms and truffles. It was tasty, very home-made tasting. Very greasy. I liked it fine. I would like to try the foie gras on my burger and maybe the goat cheese. The beer selection was great. It included a small variety of Bavarian-style brews. I forgot the name brand, but I had a light wheat heffeweizen style. There was a lot of texture and flavor. The burgers were served on a paper plate and the only knife was a large chef knife borrowed from the kitchen. This is why it seemed to be trying too hard to be casual. A real plate and silverwear would have been better. Overall, I will go back, and probably soon. After writing this post, I'm hungry for a burger.

Runners Up:
- Hyde Park Tavern, Oakley Pub and Grill

Stay away from:
- Mt. Lookout Tavern, Mulligan's

Busy Foodies

hey all, we have been super busy these days!! Between working and wedding planning and studying for the bar, it's been eating out and quick meals for us.
Don't fret...We've got some great posts in the works including some fine dining in our hometown of Sandusky, OH and tonight we are having a dinner party with some of Ryan's classmates! Should be a great night and I will definitely post about our dinner.


FYI- for all Cinci people- every Tuesday at Fountain Square there is a really great open market!! I went during my lunch hour today and it was a great way to spend my lunch. There were about a dozen booths set up and the vendors ranged from fresh lunch choices, bakeries, African Shea Butter, goats milk products, flowers and fresh produce! There was also a wonderful herb booth where I got some great herbs- Herbs De Provence, a Tandoori spice rub, and a Moroccan spice blend. The vendor was so knowledgeable and very friendly. He was even wearing a t-shirt that said "Foodie." on the front which won me over right away. All of the fresh produce were well-priced and looked very tasty. I came back to work with a few ears of sweet corn, my 3 herb packets, and fresh sugar snap peas..All for about $7. Not bad.

Tuesday is normally not a very exciting workday but now it can be!! I believe the market will be going on every Tuesday from 11-2 until the end of August.

Have a great day everyone, stay tuned for photos from the dinner party.

Come on Erin and Ryan, be bold...

This is what I said after our dinner we had tonight at Wild Ginger.  This is our second time at Wild Ginger, a great Vietnamese bistro in Hyde Park in Cincinnati.  I have been really craving Asian food lately, I think I've had it 3 times this week so when Ryan asked where I wanted to go for dinner, I decided on Wild Ginger.  The place is always busy and the decor is very modern and "green." For example, our chairs are woven with recycled seat belts and bamboo.  

Ok, back to our dining experience.... The menu at Wild Ginger is really large so it took us forever to decide what to eat.   My method for deciding what to eat is to pick my top 2 or 3 favorites and then close the menu until the server comes back. When they ask me I want I just decide spontaneously between my choices, that way I feel like I get what I really wanted all along.  I had my choices narrowed down to vegetable stir-fry with shrimp, Pho or the fisherman's hot pot.  Pho  (pronounced F-uh) is a Vietnamese dish with white rice noodles in a light beef broth with thinly cut steak garnished with onions and bean sprouts and other seasonings.  I've not had it, nor am I very knowledgeable about Vietnamese dishes, but I read a post on Amateur Gourmet  about his experience with Pho and I was very intrigued.  I was very close to ordering this, but I chickened out and ordered the vegetable stir fry with shrimp.  And don't get me wrong it was good, but pretty standard.  The same with Ryan's dish, he ordered the spicy shrimp stir fry (with a 10 spice level) and it was good, but pretty standard.  And, according to Ryan, not spicy at all (the plight of the white man continues).   So when we got home I kept thinking, "I should have gotten the Pho or sushi, or something new!"  I was getting angry at myself for not being more adventurous.  Especially in light of the fact that we do blog about food and it would have been a much more interesting post if I talked about a new dish or a new sushi roll I tried.  blah.  Next time I vow to be more bold!!  What have I got to lose!?

 

Ryan's Restaurant Review: Via Vite

Last night Erin and I went to see Wicked, the Musical. It was really good. Before the show we wanted to eat a Palomino downtown because we had a gift card. However, we didn't make reservations and they wouldn't have been able to get us in before the show. So we decided to go across the street to Via Vite. The restaurant is located in Fountain Square, downtown Cincinnati and was opened by the owners of Nicola's, an Italian restaurant in Over the Rhine.
Erin has been to both Nicola's and Via Vite, but this was my first experience.

As you walk in there is a beautiful open bar area with views of some of the kitchen. We were seated immediately in the small, very modern (post-modern?) dining room. I was surprised to see that we were one of only 4 or 5 tables seated, but by the time we left the restaurant was packed and there was a wait for tables (to the extent that I heard a host tell the bus staff to "clear this table immediately and set it for two!" right as we stood up from our table). I had the feeling that we were about to be treated to a fun dinner with creative dishes and presentations. The waiter lost a little bit of the atmosphere as he stumbled through reading his spiel about the specials. Plus, he quickly got on my bad side when he forgot my vodka tonic for several minutes.

We decided we didn't feel like a heavy dinner so instead decided to start with the "Assortment of bruschettas". It was 6 or 7 toasted crostinis with a different topping on each one. They were all delicious. There was a traditional basil and tomato; crab salad; pesto with an anchovie; olive tapenade; chicken liver patte; and roasted pepper and garlic. Erin liked the traditional the best. The crab salad was clean and amazingly fresh. The pesto one was very good with the salty anchovie. The olive tapenade was hearty and delicoius. The chicken liver patte was good and, well, it was liver. My favorite was the roasted peppers. The meal was off to a good start.

For our next, and final course, Erin decided on the Inzimino described as a traditional Tuscan stew of calamari and spinach. I went with a salad with Boucheron goat cheese, spring mix of greens, raspberry vinaigrette and pistachios. We also shared the mussels alla marinara with garlic crostone. The Inzimino, was, in a word, bad. It was cooked in a dark sauce(?) and came in one mushy dollop in the middle of a bowl. The calamari was almost nonexistent, just one step away from mush. It was incredibly overcooked and lost all flavor of the octopus. Both Erin and I are big fans of calamari, and I have never seen it prepared in such a way to make it totally lifeless and bland. The spinach was also cooked so much that it tasted like nothing.
Erin actually asked our waiter what sort of "broth" it was cooked in and he said it was prepared for hours with a lot of red wine. Well, the lesson learned here is that calamari should NEVER be slow cooked for hours and that it is crucial to let good, fresh ingredients shine.

My salad, on the other hand, was very good. The pistachios added a perfect contrast to the yummy raspberry dressing and the creamy, melted goat cheese. It also was a nice compliment to the mussels which were prepared with a light, diced tomato sauce with just a touch of garlic. The mussels were perfectly cooked, not too mushy and not too rubbery. I thought the sauce could have used either some more garlic or some lemon. Near the end of the meal I actually asked for some lemon, but I never got it.

All in all, the service was disappointing, but it was noticeable that the waitress taking care of the table next to us was much better prepared and professional. As Erin said, we were 3 for 4 in good dishes. And even though that stew was almost unforgivable, I would be willing to go back, if for nothing else to try some of their bigger entrees. Grade: B.