why study when there's indian buffet to be had?

it was a dark and relatively stormy afternoon. four pharmacy students hunch over a table, studying furiously for their last final before graduation. a low rumbling begins, and blood sugars are plummeting. strange things erupt from mouths, impossible mnemonics that are completely illogical.

jenn, heather, and matt; studying furiously

the first attempt to ward off hunger is a visit to the vending machine. peanut m&m's. matt tweets "i just had a dark chocolate peanut m&m-gasm". apparently blood sugars are back up, but focus is not what it should be. discussion of neurosyphilis and ibsen's ghosts ensues. clearly time to break for lunch.

what would be a better treat than indian buffet at amol india?

the legend behind amol and ambar's proximity and similarity is that two brothers feuded and the result was the competing restaurants.

don't park here unless you are going to amol or habanero. NO PARKING for ambar.

hungry pharmacy students enter via the back door. there is a vague odor of something unpleasant (urine?), but it quickly passes.

steaming indian buffet awaits

matt heaps spoonfuls of indian delights on plate #1

i load up my plate with round one. onion nan! today is a fabulous buffet day.

my plate

the problem with indian buffet becomes quickly apparent: no individualized spice levels. everything is prepared level 1. after sampling a number of dishes, chicken vindaloo emerges as the winner, despite mysteriously shaped chicken pieces. the vindaloo has a little more flavorful spice to it than the others. the saag paneer, usually a great favorite (um, ok, one of the greatest foods ever), is a disappointment when compared to ambar's offering next door.

on to dessert. some of everything, of course. the yellow is a custard with nuts, kind of a vanilla pudding without the sweetness. in the white is kheer. think tapioca with a light, refreshing taste (possibly cardamom?). the fried spirals of dough coated in crispy sugar are delicious javeli. (i am not sure where this name comes from; when i google it, a weapon used for hunting in portugal comes up most frequently.)

a trio of desserts

$30 (including tip) for three grossly full stomachs is not unreasonable. overall, the students are satisfied with their meal. perhaps a nap is in order rather than more studying. only time will tell.

three well-fed and happy students, eager to get back to not studying

cactus pear

all the food at cactus pear is fabulous. i have never had a bad meal there. their mojitos and margaritas are equally outstanding. the atmosphere is friendly and the service (usually) stellar. it is another pharmacy student favorite, along with mecklenburg gardens.

but my point today is to rave about their salsa. it is the most unique chip accompaniment i have found. first, it's black. second, it's cilantro free (as far as i can tell). it has a roasted tomato taste and i suspect a recipe that includes crack. the nomerati mentioned recently it did not have enough of a kick, but i think the flavor is complex regardless. plus, less spicy equals more consumable to my bland midwestern palate. smoothly textured, the salsa can be amply heaped on a chip. my only complaint is they now charge $1 for this savory perfection.

mmm...makes mouths happy

so, go today for margaritas and chips and salsa. your tastebuds will dance and sing.

habanero

after driving around clifton trying to decide what ethnic taste sensation we should indulge in, my friend jessie and i settled on habanero. neither of us had ever tried it before, so we thought we'd give it a go.

waiting in line, i glanced around and saw the banner broadcasting them as the best burrito in cincinnati, as determined by citysearch. that was promising. they were also cooking up some chicken on the grill and hand slicing it. very nice touch.

i ordered the tofu tango burrito and jessie the chicken quesadilla.

my burrito was stuffed with pinto beans, rice, and fire-roasted corn salsa, sprinkled with the occasional eggplant or tofu. it was spicy, but all i tasted was heat, not flavor. i ended up dumping out the contents and eating them with a fork rather than maintain the burrito wrap.the plate was overflowing with chips, and the chips were quite tasty. however, the salsa was, well, weird. i can't put my finger on the flavor - maybe it was the smoky tomato? it wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't exactly good either.jessie, a self-proclaimed avid quesadilla eater, rated her dish a "c". she said it tasted dry.

our favorite thing? the gucamole, not pictured because it was quickly consumed.

i think i would go back for some chips and guc and to give one of their margaritas a try, but overall it was not a meal i am eager to repeat.

good friday at dewey's

somehow, it has become a good friday tradition that we eat at dewey's; two years in a row constitute a tradition, in my opinion.


two years in a row, brian and i have arrived first at dewey's.

maybe since its a holy day is how things like that actually happen. if you note in the previous post we were just as shocked.


as you may guess from the picture above, i find the green lantern to be a pizza far superior to mere mortal pies. look at the crust, brimming with delicious artichokes, pesto, and goat cheese. phenomenal. behold the power of the green lantern.
dewey's salads

candied walnut and grape. i didn't care for the dressing. much too thick.
i had the peppercorn ranch. sometimes (often times) i tend to get what i know because i like it. this salad is something i order every time i am at deweys. i see everyone else order the Greek/Mediterranean and it always looks so good. but every time i still order the peppercorn ranch. its good. it does have bacon (as you can see) and friends have ordered it without it and also liked it. the dressing is the right consistency and good flavor.



eric and i split a small make your own pizza. we like things spicy so we have jalapenos with chicken. simple, spicy and tasty. this is something else that i order often (not every time) as pizza toppings.

that's a spicy pickle!

some of my fellow pharmacy school classmates and i went on a field trip to the lloyd library, which is a super cool one-of-a-kind collection of botany and herbal texts.
on our return to clifton, we stopped for lunch at spicy pickle. i was pleasantly surprised with its unique sandwich combinations and tasteful deliciousness. the corn and green chile bisque was quite good; flavorful, not overly spicy, with a touch of cilantro. my sandwich, the yard bird, was chicken, bacon, spinach, green apples, and bleu cheese with honey mustard. unexpected and very fresh, and on ciabatta! quite gratifying.
i even tried a bite of the "soon to be famous" spicy pickle, which tasted like...a pickle. unexceptional pickle aside, spicy pickle may be my new favorite chain sandwich shop, trumping potbelly.

the decision

we decided. we went to mecklenburg gardens for new years eve. here is the featured drink, champagne and chambord and maybe something else. i drank, like, 5 of these. the dd's na warsteiner is in the background.

below is the sausage plate (the terminator and bratwurst) that terminator was a kick in the pants. wow was it spicy.

the chicken schnitzel with hunter sauce, sides of cabbage and apples and spaetzle. i had actually ordered the weiner and beth the chicken, but they gave us the wrong ones and we didn't realize it until we were almost finished eating. so i guess really there's not that much of a difference between the two. (ps. doesn't my bracelet look fabulous?)

the goettawurst with a side of kraut

and the weiner schnitzel, cabbage and apple slaw, and spaetzle. nothing on this plate is good for you, but it sure is delicious.

cream puff!

wait! who in the hell ordered jager bombs? oh yeah. that was me.
happy new year!

"i think this would be a good time for a beer."

anyone who ever reads this blog knows that mecklenburg gardens is one of my favorite places in the universe. so what better location to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 21st amendment and the end of prohibition?it definitely wasn't as happening as grammer's (check it out at 5chw4r7z), with just us, one other table, and a guy with an accordion. but we still had fun and enjoyed some $2 pints of franziskaner hefeweizen, along with mecklenburg's superior pretzel with bier cheese and slightly-out-of-focus sauerkraut balls (half price for happy hour, of course).

Guest Blog, the Little Sister: What I ate in Cincinnati

So, I came to Cincinnati from Colorado for the weekend for our (K and me) Dad's 60th birthday party. I miss the Cincinnati cuisine, though Colorado Springs has many delightful restaurants including a Moroccan place that I've only been to once, but it may be my favorite.
After a string of debacles at various airports across the country on my longer-than-necessary journey, I arrived at the party to surprise my dad with my presence. He said, "What are you doing here?" I had several drinks and found that I am a champion in alcohol consumption at sea level, which is a huge elevation decrease from the 6100-6300 feet I usually drink at. If you ever want a particularly cheap night of drinking, go up a mile or so and have two beers, you'll probably be lit. But I digress. The bar tenders were awesome (and they did all the clean-up, super awesome), the ambiance was lovely (because of k's decorations), and the food was provided by Catering Excellence, specifically a guy named Joe Whitton. Joe attended the party as well; I found him to be a very cordial fellow. There were finger foods like cocktail sausages, meat wraps, cheese, a broccoli salad and pasta salad. It was all quite delightful, especially the meat wrapped around horseradish cheese. I didn't eat much however, in anticipation of Skyline later that night!
Having been born and raised in the Nati, I simply cannot express my love of Skyline in mere words. It is the whole reason I visit Cincinnati instead of having my family come to Colorado to see me. Skyline is just not the same when you have to eat it from a can with Kraft 2% Milk sharp cheddar cheese as a topping and Oscar Meyer turkey dogs for the dog part of the coney. Apparently Skyline has expanded their menu in a significant way since I last lived in Cincy, but I always stick with the traditional coney and 3-way to get my annual fix. Needless to say, Skyline = heaven...in fact I think that's what the angels serve as a snack in Heaven.
I did the rounds, I ate at LaRosa's. Still delicious as usual. I even drank the tasty draught root beer, though I normally don't drink pop. I wanted to get the full effect.
Saturday night we ate at Mecklenburg Gardens, a Cincinnati staple...probably even more so than Skyline. Because the place has been there since the Cenozoic era of Nati-time, it has the coolest atmoshpere, fun German beers and food. We ate: Saurkraut balls, potato pancakes (my favorite), pretzels with beer cheese (also favorite), Mecklenburg pie, German chocolate cake, and a bavarian cream puff (the tastiest dessert). My entree was the Portobella Spaetzle. It was good, the mushroom was the best part. I thought there was a bit too much cream sauce that ended up overpowering the fun of eating spaetzle. The waiter was not the best, he didn't even bring the dessert tray over, which the most fun thing about eating out. But overall, Mecklenburg Gardens rocks.
Next, we ventured into downtown to check out the revitalized night life. Very swank, never thought I'd see people out in downtown Cincy on a Satruday night. Palomino was the first stop, which is a great place to eat also, but we only had Lavendar Martinis there, which are pretty much the best martinis ever. I've never found them anywhere else, not even California (and they are supposed to be hip out there). Our friend Melissa works there and she is the best server they have.
Last stop of the night was a bistro a block from the Palomino that started with a J and is a hard word to remember, especially if one was drinking that night...which this one was. K can provide the name. The bar tender, Jen, is the greatest. We let her decide our drinks and they were excellent. A Washington Apple Martini and another Martini that had pineapple and was equally well-made and delicious. Totally recommend this cool locale for a stop on the downtown bar circuit. See Jen, ask her to make something up for you, she'll know exactly what you need!
The whole Nati experience seems to have changed since I last lived there, almost a decade ago. The westside is still, mostly, delightfully unchanged (still lacking in stand-alone Starbucks, WTF?), but it looks like the city is becoming more metropolitan and sophisticated. I even saw a Brazilian Steak House dt, excellent work with the revitalization, city council!

pho food - mini review

jenn and i decided to try cilantro on clifton ave. yesterday for lunch. it was my first foray into vietnamese food. i asked the server about the different alternatives, and opted for the pho with thin rare beef. it was pretty delicious and i liked the sidecar of cilantro, basil and bean sprouts to add at my discretion. the saltiness of the broth was just to my liking and i finished almost my whole bowl, which was a huge portion. lots of noodles. i thought for sure i would not be hungry for dinner, but of course i was. jenn got the vermicelli bowl with veggies and tofu. she said she wished she had ordered one of the soups instead because it ended up being too many noodles when she ran out of veggies and tofu.
the price for my pho and the lime drink (which i don't recall the name of) was great - only $9.28+tip. for such a large meal, it was definitely a deal.
by no means am i an expert on vietnamese food, but i absolutely liked it enough to go back again.

any other suggestions for vietnamese in cincy?

olives

last night i ventured to olives. enough time has passed and i am ready to move on after the destruction of one of my favorite undergrad/grad school hangouts, uno's. (it seems like i've had to let go of a lot of them, including inn the wood) without describing the dynamics of the group in too much detail, i went to celebrate my friend's dad's birthday and to watch him drink his first irish car bomb. i myself do not partake in car bombs. i have an unreasonable fear the shot glass will hit me in the teeth and i will, for the rest of my life, look like i should be feuding with the hatfields.

for a place called olives, the pomegranate martini i ordered was a nightmare. sickeningly sweet cough syrup with a cherry. i almost sent it back, but i try not to mess with people who prepare food. there was also some confusion by the bartender on how to prepare car bombs. the car bombs eventually came out alright, but i chose not to tempt fate and switched from martinis to blue moon.

we sat in the bar area, which has a pleasant atmosphere and interesting metal sculptures. this was fine until the premier of 'the turtle' let out from the esquire and the bar was bombarded with the after-party. the cacophony rendered conversation impossible. i would probably eat downstairs next time.

for an appetizer, my mom and i shared the mushroom and artichoke strudel. my mom liked it very much, but i found it to be a little flat. if there had been salt and pepper on the table, i would have been happier.

the crabcake sandwich i had for dinner was much more flavorful (surprising) and had a great crispy outside. it was served with red cabbage (i think. that's what it tasted like.) and kitchen chips. the kitchen chips had a good balance of crispness and softness. my meal was pretty yummy overall. my mom had the cobb salad, which was somehow devoid of avocado, but she said it was good.

my friend's dad enjoyed his first car bomb experience. he had three of them.

plus an extra shot of jameson. and some beer.

tink's cafe

here is my review of tink's cafe in clifton as posted on yelp.com:

"i can hear what whoever reads this is going to say - you shouldn't have gotten the tofu. but i like tofu. it can be quite good if prepared a certain way. unfortunately, i was disappointed.

let me start by saying the atmosphere at tink's is great- sophisticated but casual. the service was also very friendly, although a little slow (we were on our way to a show at the playhouse and were late). for an appetizer, i had to have the fried green tomatoes, a particular favorite of mine, and they were great. the dressing and goat cheese garnish were the perfect complement. for the entre, i did order the tofu, but i can justify it. first, it was described, i believe, as cinnamon crusted. it was served with shredded and lightly fried beets, parsnips, and carrots. finally, it was promised to be tied together with a pumpkin cream sauce, which was at the very least intriguing. i imagined this flavorful, sweet and spicy, kind of moroccan inspired, light dish. what i got was flavored so subtly, it was bland. the best part was the fried beets/carrots/parsnips. the pumpkin sauce wasn't even as whimsical and wonderful as i had imagined. all around disappointing, especially after all the rave reviews i had heard.

i know, i know. i shouldn't have ordered the tofu."

good friday

last night we were meeting friends for dinner. we had just had larosa's thursday night, so that was ruled out. john, who was joining us, said he had no desire to be around a bunch of screaming kids at a fish fry, so that was a no go as well. we settled on dewey's in clifton, home of my favorite pizza, the green lantern. we were actually almost on time, arriving before jenny and john. this made beth and eric believe the apocalypse was upon us. no matter.
eating with me sometimes resembles dinner with sally from 'when harry met sally'. on the side is a very big thing for me. i ordered the peppercorn ranch salad, sans bacon, dressing on the side, followed by a calzone with artichokes, pesto and tomatoes. i have been trying to cut back on the food intake, because, unlike my husband who can maintain his girlish figure (6'1", 165 lb) even though he is consuming an entire pizza and two beers for dinner, my ass continues to expand. i ate half the calzone. my weakness is dessert, especially opera cream torte from the bonbonerie. i did give up dessert for lent, but that pretty much went to hell the last couple weeks of the quarter (sorry, jesus). i had introduced brian to the opera cream torte on one of our first dates, and he has been obsessed ever since. it was even our wedding cake. we each had a piece. i didn't want to have food envy. and i didn't mean to eat the whole piece. but it was right in front of me.
after dinner we debated about where to have more drinks. several clifton bars were eliminated because of an unacceptable level of dirtiness. as one approaches 30, dirt is suddenly visible that would never be noticed by the average college-aged cliftonite. and, as my friend beth so eloquently stated, now that smoking has been banned in the bars, you can smell what they really smell like, and you almost wish for the smoke. divine inspiration led brian to suggest cactus pear. margaritas...mmm. the perfect ending.
eating in clifton is enjoyable because the restaurants are small, good for the most part, and the crowd is diverse. you'll see as many lip rings as business suits. it was a sad day when they tore down blocks of what i remembered from my undergrad days - how i mourn the loss of inn the wood!