Happy Holidays!

Hello Everybody!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Holiday season.  I know I am!  Once again I must apologize for the lag in posts - this time it's not my job that's keeping me busy (although it still is, thankfully) but rather the fact that I found out in November that we are expecting a little chef sometime next summer.  We're happy to be pregnant but definitely weren't planning for it!  That being said, I have extra days off work (due to working ALL the holidays this year: Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day) so I should be able to catch up on posting.

Coming up in the next week: Petti's of Cleveland, Piada of Upper Arlington, and an Asian Buffet I never knew existed!

Happy New Year Everyone!

~Chef Kelly~

Economico e deliziosa!

Location:

Morone's Italian Villa

1490 Bethel Rd, Columbus, Ohio 43235

(614) 457-7444 ‎

Where do I begin to sing the praises of Morone’s?  I guess I’ll just dive right in and start describing everything that is wonderful about this random Italian restaurant.

Dining Room

Located in the Bethel Centre at Godown & Bethel Roads, Morone’s is truly a hidden treasure.  In the same centre there is a Cosi, BW3, a couple bars, and a Panda Inn.  Way in the back nestled between a hockey store and another bar is this delicious treat.  There are three areas at the end of a long foyer, the dining room, another dining room (which I believe is reserved for parties) and the back area for picking up pizzas (where the bar is also located).  The whole place smells delectable, and as the server takes you to the table your brain is already contemplating what kind of Italian meal you’ll be feasting upon today.

Giant Lasagna

The menu is simple, featuring pasta, pizza, sandwiches, salads, and dinners.  There are a few appetizers, desserts, and drinks.  Very easy to read, very easy to choose from.  They even have an a la carte section for people like my mother who like to order chicken fingers, two meatballs, and a side salad.  My favorite dish, if I had to pick, would be the lasagna.  I am a HUGE lasagna fan, so I am very picky, and I could literally eat Morone’s lasagna three times a week.  It is tall, filled with cheese and meat sauce, but not too saucy and runny – it stays in “loaf” form and that is what I love.

Complementary Bread

Mom's Chicken Fingers (note bowl of meatballs on right)

The one thing I dislike about Morone’s is the service.  Most of the servers are teenagers, and while I was a teenager working in foodservice once, I can only excuse so much.  They tend to only check on you once or twice, and if you ask for something, such as more butter or bread or whatever, more often than not you have to flag down someone else to remind your server of the request.  The most annoying thing to me, having also been a server, is an empty cup.  This is a problem at Morone’s as well.  On a trip to the restroom I think I figured out the cause of this neglect – in the back, where the bar is, I came across four servers just hanging out, talking, waiting around for who knows what.  One of them was my server, and I had been out of pop for at least ten minutes.  Perhaps they should hang out in the server station adjacent to the dining room, where at least they can keep an eye on the tables… Just a thought!

All in all, Morone’s is a great place to go any night of the week if you are hungry for good, comforting, stick-to-your-ribs Italian fare.  It’s good for families, dates, business lunch (they have a buffet during the week), or any other reason to go out!

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 5

Value: 5

Accessibility: 5

Friendliness: 3

Menu: 5

"Authentic" New Mexican Food? Hardly.

Location:

Chile Verde Cafe

4852 Sawmill Road, Columbus, OH 43235

(614) 442-6630 ‎

I have eaten at Chili Verde a dozen times in the last ten years, and each time I go I wonder why I came back.  The food isn’t horrible, the service isn’t horrible, but there is just something about the place that gets on my nerves.

Expensive Chimichanga (mostly sauce)

Crazy Confusing Menu

They claim to serve “authentic” New Mexican food, meaning less of a Mexican influence and more of a Native American influence.  In my opinion, it’s really more of a tiny Don Pablo’s without the lavish décor and giant margaritas.  The food tastes good, but I can’t put my finger on what’s missing… well, in some dishes I can – salt.  A lot of their plates would be much better if they just added some seasoning, and didn’t try so hard with the condiments. There are too many wacky “salsas of the day” and about five different sauces to choose from (none of which are New or Mexican, at least not to my knowledge).  On this trip, I ordered a chimichanga ($11.99, about $4 more than any other restaraunt) and the mango salsa (complementary), which contained not mango, but cantaloupe, and I wondered how many people they tried to fool with this concoction.  The portions are a good size, comparable to most Mexican restaurants, but even so the price just makes me cringe.

"Mango" Salsa

Regular Chips & Salsa

Overall, for the price, it’s not worth it.  If you want great food at a fair price, this is not the place for you.  If you would rather have mediocre food at a steep price, then by all means head over to Sawmill Road and hit up the Chili Verde!

 

Is this what New Mexico looks like?

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 5

Value: 2

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 3
Menu: 2

Leftovers

There are two kinds of people - Greeks, and everyone else who wish they was Greek.

Location:

The Gyro Shoppe

2061 Henderson Rd

Columbus, OH 43220

(614) 442-1200‎

Located on Henderson Road in Upper Arlington, just down the street from Neighbor’s Deli, is a sweet little gem of a place located in an old Taco Bell.  The Gyro Shoppe has been on this corner for as long as I can remember, and I’ve been getting their amazing gyros and fries for at least ten years.  Finally, I decided to give them a shout-out on the blog.

 

To be generic, everything they serve is delicious… I’ve had the gyros, the Greek salads, the baklava, stuffed grape leaves (see photo above), you name it.  But my favorite meal is a super gyro and fries (and pop).  The gyro meat (lamb, traditionally) is tender and peppery, and cooked on a vertical spit to ensure maximum deliciousness.  A nice amount of meat is stuffed into a pita and topped with onion, lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce.  Oh, the tzatziki sauce – a yogurt based cream sauce involving cucumber, dill, garlic, and lemon juice (among other ingredients) – is to die for.  I’m not sure what they do to make it so tasty but the creamy zing of the tzatziki cuts through the density of the lamb-pita combo perfectly.

The fries, which I believe are fried in peanut oil, are breathtaking.  They come in a little wax bag, always overflowing and leaving those renegade fries at the bottom of your brown paper bag.  I love those renegade fries.  But I digress… the Gyro Shoppe’s fries are thick cut, but not steak fries, giving them a super-crispy outside and perfectly potatoey inside.  They offer “Greek seasoning” to shake on them, but I don’t think it’s necessary, and besides I’m pretty sure the “Greek seasoning” is really just Lawry’s seasoning salt.

All in all, a spectacular place for Greek food.  The service is fast, the prices are cheap, and now you can even find another Gyro Shoppe in Dublin on Woerner Temple Road!  The only downside to the Gyro Shoppe is that they close kinda early, so if you get a late-night craving for lamb, you’re s.o.l… at least if you want good lamb!  I used to be a big Yanni’s fan, and then I moved on to loving Gyro Express.  Now that I’m a grown-up, I love the Gyro Shoppe and that is where my devotion will remain!

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 4

Value: 5

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 5

The Little House

Location:

La Casita

1355 Bethel Rd

Columbus, OH 43220

(614) 457-0823

Another Mexican Restaurant?! Is this girl crazy?!  No, folks, I’m just in love with Mexican food.

In the style of Mi Mexico, El Vaquero, and other popular chain restaurants, La Casita provides a fairly accurate representation of Mexican food.  The servers are mostly Hispanics, the décor is sunsets and palm trees and large colorful birds, and the beer selection includes both Dos Equis and Negro Modelo.  It’s the food, albeit an almost line-by-line recreation of any other menu, that sets it apart from those chain restaurants.

La Casita is a small place with limited parking.  It’s best to go around three in the afternoon to ensure you get a parking spot and a table with no wait.  The best thing about La Casita is that aside from Fiesta Jalisco, they have the best English-speaking staff I’ve encountered. And they’re friendly!  When I went the last time with a friend of mine, we got there when it was a peak time, but our waiter was still attentive.  I ordered the chimichanga (of course) and he got a seafood burrito of some sort.  Most entrees come with beans and rice, and they start you off with chips and salsa.  My favorite part about La Casita is that if you ask, they will give you the spicy super hot salsa.  Mix this with their house salsa and yum yum yum you’ve got yourself a winner.  I enjoy their chimichangas more than most other places because they make two mini chimichangas and serve them side by side on a bed of lettuce and drench them with queso blanco.  There’s nothing like cutting through a film of melted cheese into the crisp shell and releasing the flavorful meat on the inside of a La Casita chimichanga.

In general, La Casita is a nice place to go if you’re tasting for some Mexican food on a Tuesday night.  The prices are fair, the atmosphere is nice, and the food is great.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 4

Value: 4

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 3

iMe encanta este lugar!

Location:

La Michoacana Market & Restaurant

Corner of Bethel & Sawmill Roads, next to J. Lindsay’s

Columbus, OH 43235

Being a chef, I am very interested in trying new cuisines from different cultures.  If you couldn’t already tell from previous posts on this blog, Mexican/Hispanic food happens to be my favorite.  One day I decided to go into La Michoacana and check out their grocery selections, and I was pleasantly surprised by what awaited me inside.

When you walk into La Michoacana, you are instantly transported to a different space, a different time, a different world.  There are piles of fresh produce to the right, and aisles upon aisles of Hispanic foodstuffs to the left.  I had to walk through twice just to look at everything before I even started to consider what I might buy.  They have spices, candles, statues, cheeses, a meat counter complete with pig and chicken feet, funky pops and candies… simply amazing.  In the corner near the front is the jewel of La Michoacana – the restaurant or “taqueria”.  I didn’t try it that day, but I took my boyfriend back later that week to see what it was all about.

 

We were clearly the minority here, even though there was only one other couple in the tiny restaurant.  There was one waitress to serve the 15 tables, and I’m pretty sure she only spoke enough English to get by.  I ordered a chimicanga, of course, and he ordered the quesadilla.  Oh my god, were we in for a treat!  The food was ever so marvelous, and for once I was at a loss for words.  They served us chips and salsa, but not salsa like you would think of – it was actual salsa (most restaurants serve “salsa” that is actually a juicier form of pico de gallo).  There was a green flavor and an orange flavor, and honestly, despite my super tasting powers, I could not decipher the main ingredients in either sauce.  Either way, they were freakin’ delicious.  My chimichanga was covered in green chile sauce, grated queso blanco, and sour cream and served with a side of rice and beans.  The quesadilla, which was enormous, was served plain, also with a side of rice and beans.  As you can see from the pictures, my poor boyfriend struggled to get the last bite of his quesadilla down the hatch… but he triumphed finally and we asked for our check.

All this deliciousness only cost $15, and along with the bill came two Mexican suckers!  Awesome!  Overall, I would say that if you are looking for a truly authentic Hispanic meal, La Michoacana is the place to go.  Obviously I feel that other restaurants offer a bona fide experience, but La Michoacana is run by Hispanics for Hispanics and that means they don’t change anything up for the gringos!  Go here as soon as possible.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 3

Value: 5

Accessibility: 5

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 5

Update

Hey Folks, I realize it's been over a month since my last posting.  Fortunately for me andunfortunately for my readers, this is a good thing!  I got a new job and it's been kicking my butt, hours-wise.  Hopefully I will be able to put up some of the reviews I've done in the last month, I have about three or four, and we can get this party started once again.

Thanks!
Chef K.

Kould Do Better

Location:

KDB

Easton Town Center

Columbus, Ohio

(no phone number available)

My little brother recently got a position as server/bar back at the new KDB at Easton.  He was given passes for family & friends to go and check it out before they opened to the public, so my mother and I took the chance for a free meal & headed out that way.

KDB is located in the old Game Works on the 1^st floor of the inside part of the mall between AMC and the Funny Bone.  When you walk in, the atmosphere is nice, not crazy like Game Works was, and you can tell that a lot of work, or at least a lot of money, went into revamping the area.  Upstairs is the kitchen, where there are booths, and the bar, which is 21 and over.  The bar features cyber bowling, some old-school video games (like Pac-Man), pool tables and a few couches.  Downstairs is where the party really gets started, and that is where we were seated.

Unfortunately, our server, Jeff, was an ex-boyfriend of mine and we had not parted on spectacular terms, so I was hoping that 5 years later he wouldn’t recognize me.  He came over and took our order, explained the concept of the “den”, and got our drinks.  We had received a ticket saying what we would be eating (yes, they chose for us) and the “choices” were nachos with chicken and BYO Pizza.  I mostly despise chicken so I asked if I could substitute nothing or beef instead, and my mom got the BYO (Build Your Own) Pizza with bacon, pepperoni, extra cheese, tomatoes, and light sauce.  Jeff was kind enough to get my nachos with steak, and the food arrived in a fairly timely fashion.  I had expected quicker turnaround but I supposed if the kitchen staff wasn’t used to being on full-service and this was their first time, I could give them a break.  My mom loved her pizza, raved about it, and I thought it was mediocre.  No better than any random pizza at any random non-pizza establishment.  The nachos, however, were freaking HUGE and topped with lots of stuff, which made me happy.  Black beans, jalapenos, sour cream, cheese, cheese, cheese, green onions, tomatoes… yeah, they rocked.  I even had to take some home and three days later when I microwaved them, well, they were chewy (haha) but they were still delicious!

Along with the free meal (more on that later) we each received a 120 token game card.  I played a few games for tickets and got jypped so I headed over to the football game (you know, where you toss the not-fully-inflated football into a too-small hole) and won a bunch of tickets there.  My mother found some kind of spinning dino game & made out like a bandit on tickets.  The games might have been more fun if they were all in working order, but for free what could we expect?  For all the tickets we won, the prizes were shit... Christmas pillows and stuffed animals from the “Grinch” movie, or a dolphin.  I HATE DOLPHINS.  I took one anyway and gave it to the cats to play with.  I also took a “Grinch” dog, the one with the antler tied to his head.  So lame.  My mother, being the hoarder that she is, took one of everything and two of something else.

Overall, I was not impressed.  For being a chain restaurant, this place has no website, no information, and no history to be found anywhere.  When I Googled the name, all that came up were a few profiles on arbitrary review sites, and they all linked back to a Gary Danko of California.  Supposedly he’s the owner… we may never know for sure.  On top of that, our meal would have cost $28.00 (without tip).  The pops were $2.25 each and both of our meals cost about $12.  For the amount we got, $12 was ridiculous.  Yes, the nachos were huge and yes, it was a whole pizza (remember when Pizza Hut had small pizzas?  That’s how big it was, 6 slices), but even so I don’t think it was worth $28 total.  Besides that, if we had had to pay for two 120-token cards, how much would that have set us back?  $40 more dollars?  The prices of cards weren’t listed anywhere, so I had no idea how much they were.  My mom wants to go back when my dad comes to town, while my brother is working, so she can harass him like a good mother.  If she’s paying, hell, I’ll go.  But I would never waste my money on a place with mediocre food just for the “atmosphere” of “fun”.  That being said, if they have a deal where it’s food & game combo, I might go – if it’s $15.99 or less.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 5

Value: 2

Accessibility: 5

Friendliness: 5

Menu: full menu: unknown, happy hour menu: 4

Some Good Luck

Location:

Sun Tong Luck

2500 Bethel Road

Columbus, OH 43220

(614) 442-3375

Sun Tong Luck, opened by Chef Frank Louie in 1982, has a long history in the Columbus area.  Frank and his wife, Helena, have owned spots in Reynoldsburg and Columbus alike, always with amazing results and loyal customer base.  Within a year of opening their first restaurant, the Louies had received a great review from the Dispatch’s Grumpy Gourmet, and every year after that they have been written up or reviewed with the highest of praise.

Since I moved back to the Bethel Road area almost three years ago, I have frequented Sun Tong Luck on a monthly basis… sometimes weekly.  Their food is just fabulous.  You can call in any time and when Helena asks for your phone number it will pull up your name and ordering history – but more than that, Helena will remember you by name and face.  It’s like having a little Asian grandmother who loves to feed you and have you come to visit!  When you go in she will ask you about your day, your job, your kids, and make suggestions on what to order if you are just so lost in the extensive menu.  Sun Tong Luck is a very friendly place, and Helena is the main ingredient of the wonderful harmony that lies within.

On this trip I ordered my usual, 2 crab Rangoon, 2 egg rolls (which Helena changed to vegetable spring rolls for me because she knows I prefer them!), and added a small vegetable lo-mein.  I called while I was on 315 just south of Henderson, stopped at the bank, and then headed to Sun Tong Luck.  When I walked in there was one woman ordering, and when she was done my food was ready for me in a bag.  Helena reminded me of the sauce selection in packets or cups, and when I mentioned that I love the Chinese hot mustard, she told me I should try it on the noodles.  (I didn’t, but it probably would’ve been good.)  Helena asked me about my job, because I was still wearing my chef coat, and I told her about my new position at my new job, how much I loved it, and she welcomed me to the area.  I laughed and told her I’d been living here for a few years, but that I just now finally got a job close to home.  She said congratulations and good luck, and I left.  So nice!

The vegetable lo-mein was exactly what it was supposed to be, nicely cooked and not mushy spaghetti noodles with the right amount of sauce and a whole mess of steamed veggies.  The crab Rangoon was perfect, as always; crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside, with just the right amount of filling to dough ratio that makes it perfect for scooping up Chinese hot mustard.  They come with some kind of sweet red sauce, similar to sweet & sour sauce but not exactly the same flavor.  Then, there were the spring rolls.  I always thought I hated spring rolls because when I’ve gotten them from other places they tend to be soggy.  Not from Sun Tong Luck!  The outsides were perfectly crispy and flaky, an amazing feat given that the veggies inside were bursting to get out.  Dip those babies in some Chinese hot mustard and yum Yum YUM!  I was totally satiated by the last bite.

All in all, Sun Tong Luck never fails to deliver high quality and super delicious food.  We’ve eaten there plenty of times, and ordered everything from Szechwan Beef (spicy!) to Shrimp Singapore noodles and there has never been a moment of disappointment.

Click here to visit Sun Tong Luck’s website.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 5

Value: 4

Accessibility: 5

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 5

Like the moon hitting my eye...

Location:

Dough Boy’s Pizza Co.

4658 Kenny Road

Columbus, Ohio 43220

614-459-4400

Dough Boy’s is located in an old “strip mall” next to the Kenny Road Market (yay exotic beers) and U-haul rental spot.  We ordered delivery, so I never saw the inside, but peeping in through the windows a couple times led me to believe they were straight on the cleanliness – and they had a green sticker.

The man was tasting for pizza, and I had a flyer. “Anniversary special! One large pizza any way you want it with an order of cheesy bread only $9.99!” WOW! What a great deal!  They had left the door hanger about a week before that, so we called up to take advantage of the bargain… and that’s when my unhappiness began.

Upon ordering this super-awesome “Anniversary Special”, my man was told that it had ended on Memorial Day.  Wait – didn’t Memorial Day happen in May?  Why were they putting door hangers out almost two months after they expired?  So we ordered a large pizza with five toppings – extra cheese not being included as a topping but rather costing $1.50 extra, was skipped – bacon, pepperoni, tomatoes, green peppers and onions.  No cheesy bread because that was $4.95 extra and we weren’t trying to spend a whole lot.  They quoted us 45 minutes to an hour (at five o’clock on a Sunday… apparently this is prime pizza time).

The one good mark Dough Boy’s gets is in time management.  The pizza arrived within 20 minutes.  I was thoroughly shocked.  Bill: $11.49 - $9.49 + $2.00 delivery charge.  Not bad, but not as great as that tantalizing Anniversary Special that had lured us in.  The slogan at Dough Boy’s is “We load on the toppings!!” and in all fairness to my readers, don’t believe this false advertising.  If by “load on the toppings” they mean toss them about randomly in a haphazard fashion so that only some slices have 2 toppings and some have 5, well then fine.  But in my book, “loading on the toppings” means having lots of each topping on every single slice across the entire pizza.  Ugh!  There were no more toppings than any other pizza I’ve ordered from any other place.  As for the size of the large, well, it was actually the size of a Pizza Hut medium.  Seriously.

Overall, I was quite disappointed.  It was a fine pizza, not great or spectacular, and I’d really like to know exactly who voted them best new pizza in Columbus.  The menu is fairly extensive, with wings and Italian dinners and salads and all that jazz, which might be the reason why they can’t focus on an awesome pizza.

To learn more about Dough Boy’s, click here to visit their website.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: unknown

Value: 2

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 3

Menu: 5

High on the Hog

Location:

Hoggy’s (Grandview)

1416 West 5th Avenue

Columbus, OH 43212

(614) 485-4647

Last Sunday I met up with a friend from culinary school, Rich.  He had been raving for a few weeks about Hoggy’s in Grandview, specifically their gigantic mountain of onion rings that I just had to try.  We met around noon on a hot and humid afternoon, so of course the first action was to get some cold beer in our systems.  Blue Moon draught, one of my top favorites, was the choice for both of us.

After sipping the suds and catching up, we finally took a glance at the menu.  One legal-sized back and front menu held a plethora of options, from ribs to wings to brisket and chickens – yes, chickenS, for the Hoggy’s challenge involved a half chicken (and other goodies) and there is also a half chicken meal available.  We opted for a sort of sampler, with Mt. Onion Ring as our starter and Rich getting the brisket dinner and myself getting a ribs/wing combo.

Let me tell you, Rich was not kidding when he described the onion ring starter.  This beast cast a shadow over the bar as it was being carried out, and people turned in awe as it was placed in front of us.  I believe there were some tumbleweeds involved as well as the whistling of an old prairie song… or maybe I just imagined that part… either way, this thing was huge.  The onion rings were piled almost a foot high, and each ring looked like a donut.  A donut!  Made of battered onion!  It was like heaven.

I’ve been on a mission to find a tasty super hot wing here in Columbus, and Hoggy’s presented me with an opportunity to try their “hottest”.  Unfortunately, the “Texas Pete Hot” and Cajun sauces left much to be desired in the fire category; however, they were awesome in the flavor category. My combo came with five wings and babyback ribs (in original Hoggy’s BBQ sauce) and a side of celery & bleu cheese.  For $10.99 I would have liked at least one more wing, but it was filling.  As I said earlier, Rich got the brisket dinner, which was a half pound of sliced brisket and two sides – he chose tomato cucumber salad and coleslaw.  The brisket was absolutely butter!  He literally cut it was a spoon.  The coleslaw was fine, we were both a little “meh” about it because it just seemed to be lacking something, whether it was salt & pepper or some red cabbage, we just couldn’t decide.  I didn’t try the tomato salad, but Rich said it was crisp and refreshing and a good contrast to the heaviness of the brisket.  Oh! There was cornbread too.  I ate mine for dessert.

All in all, even though Hoggy’s is a chain restaurant (which I normally wouldn’t cover, but I’ve got a soft spot for franchises), it has the neighborhood feel to it.  Our barmaid/server (for she performed both duties with ease) was very friendly, prompt, and attentive and the management was helpful as well, running food out to us when the barmaid was busy so that we didn’t have to wait.  The value at Hoggy’s is fair, but in my opinion they could offer a little more food for the cost.

To learn more about Hoggy’s, click here to visit their website.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)                    

Cleanliness: 5

Value: 4

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 3