Day Trip to Cincinnati OH

I've never thought that in the winter, we are able to have a day of spring-like weather. However, while I was venturing into Cincinnati today, it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. The temperature reach above 55 degree. I been to Cincinnati once and figure it will be great to revisit the city again. 

My first stop of this road trip, started out with a tour at the American Sign Museum. Their vision is to promote and preserve the history and culture of the American signage. I am not a big fan of museum, but this place gave me a different perspective about museum. It is open to public, but you can either purchase the ticket on site or online. They do have tours twice a day, and it is included with the admission. The tour guide is super informative and the tour is just about an hour long. So don't forget to reserve a spot for it.

After some educational museum tour, I stopped by Sushi Kingdom to enjoy some All-you-can-eat sushi. If you like to see more detail review for this restaurant, Click here ^^

They provide a pieces of paper that you can order from. From appetizers to desserts, they do have some variety of choices to choose from. 

Next stop is Ikea. Super busy on a Saturday afternoon and there are quite some people waiting at the check out line. I always like to browse around Ikea and love to see different showroom for furniture display. One of the amazing features is their own restaurant. Their prices are very reasonable for a decent quality of food selection. I would recommend their Swedish Meatball if you never try them. 

Before heading back to Columbus, I took a quick coffee break at Cavu. I like the atmosphere of this cafe. They are very spacious, so you can choose to relax in variety of seating; from comfy coach to office desk to bar table. Their Iced Mango Tea is super refreshing. Also, the Iced Hazelnut Mocha have a unique favor from the patch of coffee that were brewed exquisitely by the baristas.

In the end, thanks to the sunny, spring-like weather, another successful relaxation mini-road trip is accomplished. Couldn't ask for more during the winter time! 

Info:

American Sign Museum

1330 Monmouth St,

Cincinnati, OH 45225

Sushi Kingdom

12140 Royal Point Dr,

Cincinnati, OH 45249

IKEA

9500 Ikea Way,

West Chester, OH 45069

Cavu Coffee

7755 Cox Ln,

West Chester, OH 45069

Sushi Kingdom

Located in Cincinnati OH, there is an All-you-can-eat sushi restaurant, called Sushi Kingdom. You have the option to order from the regular menu or choose to pay for the buffet. As being a sushi lover, all-you-can-eat sushi is my first and only choice. They have a list that have all the items that you can order, from appetizers, entrees, sushi, and desserts.

They do have a little appitizers bar that you can get your own miso soup or clear broth. I like that they have little self service selection for miso topping. So basically, there is a bowl of little tofu pieces, seaweed and green onions. You can get the appropriate amount for each ingredients, and pour over with a spoonful of broth.

Fried shumai and Gyoza

Kani Salad

Plateful of different sushi rolls

Hibachi Shrimp, Shrimp Tempura Undo, Teriyaki Shrimp and steak with rice

Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream

Speaking from a All-you-can-eat sushi restaurant, they did a decent job on food quality. All the food items are made by order, which make the sushi fresh and kitchen entree hot. I really like their mini bowl of undo, but the broth is a little bit too salty for me. If you are craving for some sushi badly, this will be one way to go without empty your wallet.

Restaurant Info:
Sushi Kingdom

12140 Royal Point Dr,

Cincinnati, OH 45249

Hass

Beside Chipotle, Hass is the first Mexican restaurant that I visit in Columbus. The style of Hass is similar to Chipotle. You order and pay your food up front, and the cashier will give you a number tag to put on your table. Then you just sit back at the table and they will bring out the food. 

Starting out with chips and salsa. Never can go wrong with fresh and hot chips plus cool salsa. Along with two bottles of hot sauce, different level of hotness.

Half way finish up the chips, they bring out the food. Shrimp taco plus Burrito Percheron plus Tortas is on the table. 

Shrimp taco is my most favorite food of Hass. Seasoned buttered shrimp mix with cabbage and carrot salad and thousand island sauce are the prefect match with the corn tortilla. 

For the burrito percheron, it is filled with super juicy steak, mushrooms, onion, avocado cass... Even though I consider myself as a "meat-eater", but I think this burrito have too much steak that I can handle.

Steak Tortas is a kind of Mexican sandwich. The aroma of the guacamole and the steak is really strong and rich. The taste of the bread is very crunchy and soft at the same time. The steak is perfectly cook, chewy and juicy.

Horchata is my favorite Mexican drink. I always like to let it sit for awhile and let the ice melt into the drink. That way, the strong cinnamon taste will dilute a little.

The restaurant is very spacious and staffs is very nice. I would say their portion is quite big. For a little girl like me, half of the food will be my left over for lunch.

Restaurant Info:

Hass

7370 Sawmill Rd,

Columbus, OH 43235

Vietnamese Rice Paper Salad [Banh Trang Tron]

Ingredients:
Beef slices
Eggs
Chả lụa [Vietnamese pork roll]
Green onion
Fried shallot/onion
Lime juice
Soy sauce
Sugar

Steps:
1. Cut the rice paper into small stripes and put it in a big bowl. Set aside.
2. Chop green onion into pieces and cut Chả lụa into stripes.
3. Boil the egg and cut it into little pieces.
4. Mix lime juice, soy sauce, sugar in a small bowl. Set aside
5. In a pan, slightly saute the green onion. Then put it aside.
6. In the same pan, stir-fry the beef slices until they turn slightly brown and set it aside.
7. In the big bowl with the rice paper stripes, put in the sauce [4] and the sauteed green onion. Mix it well until the rice paper get soften.
8. Add in beef slices, eggs, Chả lụa, and fried shallot/onion. Mix well and serve.

Oscar's

It's Restaurant Week in Columbus!!! From January 18th - 23rd, more than 100 restaurants present their food into a special pricing three course menu, which range between $15 to $35. After going through a tough selection progress, I decide to give Oscar's a try.

As a starter, I decided to order a cup of cocktail pairing up with my entree. This is a cup of Caramel Delight. I like the creamy texture with a hint of caramel favor. To me, this drink is like Irish coffee.

One of the first course option is Black Bean Chili. A touch of sour cream give the chili a different favor compare to other chili that I have before. However, the proportion between the black bean to other ingredients is not balance.

 

Another option is the Thai Stir-Fried Calamari. This includes lightly deep-fried calamari combine with mix of julienne snow peas, carrots, and red peppers. I would say this is my favorite appetizer compared to other hors d'oeuvres. To me, it look like a calamari salad topped with crushed peanuts, cilantro and the sweet and sour sauce. All the favor of the ingredients balance out the oiliness of the deep-fried calamari.

Filet Mignon is the main course for the night. The meat was medium cooked. It was topped with stilton cheese, along with a sprayed out honey-garlic yukon potatoes and port wine jus. The crust of filet mignon and the potatoes create a mix of soft and hard texture. I would say the filet is a bit over done for medium and the favor of the stilton cheese is too strong for me.

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee and Chocolate Silk Explosion is the selection of dessert of the night. Nothing too fancy about the creme brulee, the taste is very common and smooth as always. As for the chocolate silk explosion, it is a big cylinder block of chocolate topped with whipped cream. The base is nuts crumble, with raspberry sauce. To me, it was too overwhelming as a dessert.

Overall, the restaurant is very busy on a Friday night. Maybe it is because of the restaurant week as well. I made reservation the night before and luckily that i took the last spot that they have available. I guess I underestimate the popularity of the restaurant week. But I am glad to have this experience tonight and will definitely be a part of this next year.

Restaurant Info:

Oscar's

84 N High St,

Dublin, OH 43017

Sushi Ko

Throughout the weekdays, different restaurants have varieties of happy hour specials. Sushi Ko have their specials on Monday night.

Ebi Shumai come with ponzu sauce

Soft Shell Crab Hand Roll, Spicy Tuna & Avocado Hand Roll, California Dreaming roll

Spicy Tuna & Avocado Hand Roll, Shrimp Tempura Hand Roll, Samurai roll

Seating at the bar for the first time, I enjoy watching the sushi chef make sushi. All the server is very nice and attentive. I would say Sushi Ko do have a variety of selection in term of both appetizers and sushi. The ingredients that they serve is pretty fresh. I would recommend the Spicy Salmon & Avocado Hand Roll to you if you never try a hand roll before. 

Restaurant Info:

Sushi Ko

122 Hutchinson Ave,

Columbus, OH 43235

Edamame Sushi & Grill

Another day off from Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and it is another opportunity for me to sneak out from the world of leftover food in my fridge. Recently, my craving for hot bowl of noodle soup increase dramatically. I figure that is cause by the winter weather here in Columbus. Wind chill always make the temperature drops unexpectedly.

Takoyaki is my all time favorite Japanese street food and not every restaurant in Columbus have it available. If I see it on the menu, I will for sure order it. I really like the presentation of the Takoyaki being plated, along with the wavy movement of the bonito flakes. When you eat the takoyaki in one bite, u will feel the crunchiness from the outside and the softness filling from the inside. To top it off, little pieces of octopus in the middle release the sense of freshness.

There are several places locally serving ramen and this restaurant is another one on the list. I would say one of the traits to distinguish this Tonkotsu ramen to others is the big portion size. In addition, one thing to be caution is their braised chashu is a little bit too fatty for me.

During lunch hour, it serves in a food court setting. You will need to order food from the front counter. Then, the cashier will give you a letter tag to put on the table, and the server will bring out the food for you. I really like the set up of the restaurant and their second floor seating. So if you are a fan of Takoyaki like me, you should come and enjoy a few!

Restaurant Info:

Edamame Sushi & Grill

3946 Morse Crossing,

Columbus, OH 43219

Cup O'Joe

There are quite some cafes around Columbus. Each of them have their own specialty of coffee selections.

The environment in Cup O'Joe is very comfy. It is a good place to get some work done over the weekends. They do offer free Wi-Fi with a pretty good connection. As shown above, it is an Iced Mocha Joe and a Minty Mocha Freeze. They also have different kind of bakery items to choose from. As an ending note, finding a parking space could be tricky due to their small sharing parking lot. 

Restaurant Info:

Cup O'Joe

2990 N High St,

Columbus, OH 43202

Huong Vietnamese Restaurant

Yesterday I talked about Buckeye Pho, which is a modern Vietnamese restaurant. Today, I will talk about a mom & pop place called Huong Vietnamese Restaurant. It looks like a rundown joint from the outside, but don't judge the book by its cover! 

Every time I go out for a food exploration, I always order something new. This time is no different, I tried Vietnamese-style iced phin coffee. I was surprised, when the owner served me a brewing metal drip filter on top of a small ceramic mug, and a cup of ice. He said let the coffee sit in the cup for about five minutes. Then, take the cover up and make sure all the coffee done dripping. After that, stir well to mix the coffee and sweetened condensed milk. Once that done, pour the coffee over the cup of ice and stir. This is a pretty interesting experience to me, since I got to brew and make myself a Vietnamese coffee. I really like the combination between coffee and condensed milk. As you sip in the coffee, you get a favor of condensed milk, along with a strong aftertaste of the coffee.

Here is the spring roll with pork patty. The pork patty gives a rich grill favor to the spring roll. Along with the lettuce and basil, it balances out the oiliness from the pork patty. When I have spring roll before, it usually come with peanut sauce. But this time, it come with fish sauce. I do think fish sauce differentiated the rolls from other restaurants.

Pho is my must have item for Vietnamese restaurants. Each restaurant have their own recipe for pho, and I would say this is one of my favorite pho by far. The broth is very savory and the ingredients are undoubtedly fresh. Like all pho-lovers, bean sprouts, lime juice, hoisin and siracha sauces cannot be missed in a bowl of pho!

Overall, I am very satisfy with the experience in this restaurant. The home style atmosphere, kindness of the owner, along with the authentic food make this one of my favorite restaurants in Columbus. 

Restaurant Info:

Huong Vietnamese Restaurant

1270 Morse Rd,

Columbus, OH 43229

Buckeye Pho

Located in the same area of CAM International Market, it is a convenience restaurant to go for a quick fulfilling meal before grocery shopping. The environment of the restaurant is very clean and bright. It has an open kitchen, and on top of it, were three big-screen TV's! Which makes it seem like bar setting.  

As a starter, I ordered the Shrimp and Pork Summer Rolls. The rolls come with a little bowl of peanut sauce. The very first bite of the spring roll, I feel the tenderness of the shrimp, combine with all the juiciness from the crunchy lettuce, cucumber and basil. However, I am not able to taste the existence of the pork, due to the overflow of flavor of other ingredients.

While I am still enjoying the rolls, the server bring out a hot bowl of pho along with the side vegetables (bean sprouts, basil, limes, jalapenos). The one I ordered, was the small size signature noodle soup. It has all kind of beef parts in it, such as meatballs, tendon, and tripe... You can't go wrong with pho by adding bean sprouts, it brings in refreshment flavors to the noodles. Squeezing a hint of lime juice can enhance the flavor of the broth as well.

Their Strawberry smoothie is really refreshing.

Overall, the atmosphere and the service is very nice. Even though they are quite busy during dinner hour, the food come out fairly quick.

Restaurant Info:

Buckeye Pho

761 Bethel Rd, Ste E195,

Columbus, OH 43214

Asian Buffet

   

The restaurant is pretty empty around dinner time on a Monday night. Service is pretty good and dinner price is at $7.99 per person. They have descent amount of food items to choose from; however, the foods are not as fresh as I am expected. If the food can be hotter, everything will become better taste. 

Restaurant Info:

Asian Buffet

 8633 Columbus Pike,

Lewis Center, OH 43035

Lotus Pork Ribs Stew [蓮藕炆排骨]

Ingredients:
Pork Ribs
Lotus root
Bean curd stick
Dried mushroom
Tofu Puff
Chinese cooking wine
Soy sauce
Oyster sauce
Water

Steps:
1. Let the bean curd stick and dried mushroom sit in water for couple hours until soften. Set aside.
2. Rinse and drain the pork ribs. Marinate it with chinese cooking wine and soy sauce.
3. Peel and rinse the lotus root. Cut into medium-size pieces. Set aside.
4. Cut the bean curd stick, dried mushroom and tofu puff into medium-size pieces. Set aside.
5. In a pan, heat up the oil on high heat. Add pork ribs and saute until the surface is slightly brown.
6. Add in dried mushroom and saute about 3 minutes.
7. Add in bean curd stick, lotus root, and tofu puff. Saute about 5 minutes.
8. Add in oyster sauce, soy sauce, and water. Stir to mix well.
9. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes on medium heat.
10. Add in the thicken sauce [mixture of corn starch and water] and stir well until the sauce thicken. Serve.

Swiss Chicken Wings [瑞士雞翼]

Ingredients:
Chicken wings
Soy sauce
Dark soy sauce
Rock Sugar
Chinese cooking wine
Water

Steps:
1. Rinse and drain the chicken wing. Marinate the chicken wings with chinese cooking wine and soy sauce.
2. In a pot, pour in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rock sugar, and water. Bring it to a boil until the rock sugar is completely dissolve.
3. Add in chicken wings and the sauce should be complete cover all the wings.
4. Cook the chicken wings for about 8-10 minutes in medium heat. 
5. Turn off the heat and let the chicken wings sit in the pot for 15 minutes. Serve.

Recipes of the week - 1/10/2016

Today in Columbus is super cold. Snow plus strong windchill make a perfect excuse for me to stay home. I figure I will share the recipes of the dishes that I made today. And here is the sneak peak of the dishes. 

Menus:

Swiss Chicken Wings [瑞士雞翼]

Lotus Pork Ribs Stew [蓮藕炆排骨]

Menya Noodle House

I been to Menya Noodle House couple times before and their foods are always good with reasonable pricing. They recently moved from the Powell location to Dublin.

The menu selection is quite small, but that is perfectly fine for an indecisive person like me. I ordered a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen. Compare to the one that I enjoyed previously, the broth tasted plain. It could have been better if it can still be as rich as flavorful like before the relocation. As for the presentation, minimal amount of broth will be better in contrast to an excessive load of soup; just to make the other ingredients visible at first sight. In addition to the toppings that showed in the picture, there were also bamboo shoots and pork bellies.

To accompany the bowl of ramen,  a Seasoned Pork Belly Rice were included in the lunch combo meal option as well. It was a white-rice bowl topped with a mixture of little pieces of seasoned pork belly. For me, I think this dish is a bit too dry, but I did enjoyed it! By using a small spoonful of the ramen broth, everything tasted better.

Here is a hot bowl of steamed rice, topped with Mapo Tofu. The sauce is over powered by the spiciness and the favor of star anise. Plus, a little more seasoning is needed as it's compliment with the rice.

Restaurant Info:

Menya Noodle House

331 W Bridge St,

Dublin, OH 43017