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Road Trip Cincinnati - Part 2

6:33 AM | Labels: Cincinnati restaurants, Findlay Market, Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse, Nicholson's Pub, Road Trips

On our second day in Cincinnati we had a busy day—food wise and otherwise. We started in the morning at the Findlay Market which was a place I had always wanted to go and hadn’t. I loved the energy of it—it was jam packed with people. The neighborhood around seems a little deserted, but I really enjoyed the market itself. We had a nice breakfast at one of the vendors—A Taste of Belgium. Egg, gruyere and thin ham wrapped in a crepe. It was a perfect thing to grab for breakfast.

After some wondering around, we met up with hubby’s good fried at Nicholson’s. It’s a gastropub, and has a very pubby looking exterior—although I was surprised at how new it looked both inside and out. Our friends were running a little late, so we went ahead and ordered the Scotch egg appetizer ($8). They were good, although not the best I have had—I liked that they served them with some dressed greens on the side and I liked the drizzle of mustard sauce, although I would have liked a little more for dipping. I do think mustard and eggs is a good combo.

Hubby and I decided to split the mussels for our main dish ($12). They were really, really good—the broth was described as white wine, garlic and herbed butter—and those ingredients were definitely there. Pretty sure based on the creamy color that there was cream in there as well. But the mussels were some of the best I have had in awhile. Super tender and the broth had a ton of flavor. Oh yeah, and they came with duck fat frites. Those frites dipped in the broth were amazing. I have had duck fat frites before and have enjoyed them, but these had a lot more flavor than any of the others. The only downside with the mussels is it really was a portion for one. Normally with mussels you get so many that we always share, but this was a very reasonable portion. In other words, I was annoyed I had to share. So we added an order of the poutine ($7.50) on and I was really glad we did. Man, this was really good too (and apparently completely distracting because somehow I took no pictures after the Scotch eggs). The poutine was more of those duck fat frites topped with truffled mushroom ragu and fresh cheese. I loved this—I loved that they used mushrooms instead of the rich meaty gravy I usually see (and often pork, etc). It made it feel not so heavy and greasy. The fries in general stayed pretty crispy too which was nice (maybe it was just because we ate them so fast). I would so order this again.

All in all, a great lunch and base for preparing for the Reds’ game we then went to after lunch (the Reds won) which was good because hubby and his friend, shall we say, enjoyed their beers. After the game was over, we just sort of started walking toward downtown with the intention of a few more drinks and more food. We didn’t have any plans, and weren’t dressed particularly well but ended up randomly walking into Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse and scoring a table in the bar. Even though we looked like we had spent the afternoon at the game, I appreciated the professionalism of the staff—they were really nice (and we weren’t the only ones for sure). Turned out to be a good choice too because after an hour or so all the baseball players from both teams started filtering in which was kind of fun to watch.

We just got a bunch of appetizers from the menu to share—and I have to be honest, I wasn’t wowed by any of them. Probably my favorite thing was the barbecued shrimp and grits ($21). The shrimp were New Orleans style “BBQ” which is more of a butter and Worcestershire type of sauce. The grits were nice and creamy and buttery and the shrimp wasn’t overcooked. We also had a chophouse salad ($8) which had all my favorite ingredients—blue cheese, egg, bacon, and red onion, but something about it seemed flat to me—it had a Parmesan dressing but it just didn’t have a zip that I wanted. Hubby liked it quite a bit better than me though.

Sadly, the beef tartare ($13) was a letdown as well. The beef was clearly good quality and fresh, but there just wasn’t much seasoning at all—a cute little poached quail egg that gave it a teeny bit of extra richness, but it was really calling out for some mustard or something salty. The crab cake ($15) didn’t fare much better. It was a little dry, even with the dollop of crème fraiche on top. The pommes Anna ($8) were beautiful, and were a nice side to have with everything and had a nice buttery and crunchy exterior. Not sure I would order them again, but I enjoyed them at the time.

Honestly, we were having more fun hanging out with our friends, drinking some nice wine and enjoying the Reds’ win, so we didn’t mind, but this meal was in retrospect very disappointing, particularly compared with all the other wonderful food we ate in Cincinnati. But I would highly recommend Orchids at Palm Court (see my last Cincinnati post) and Nicholson’s.

Nicholson’s

625 Washington Street

Cincinnati, OH 45202

513/564-9111

www.nicholsonspub.com

Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

700 Walnut Street

Cincinnati, OH 45202

513/ 784-1200

www.jeffruby.com

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Road Trip- Orchids at Palm Court - Cincinnati

2:51 AM | Labels: Cincinnati restaurants, Orchids at Palm Court, Road Trips

Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary recently with a trip to Cincinnati—well, we were celebrating our anniversary and visiting with some friends. The first night (on our own) we went to Orchids at Palm Court (this was the big anniversary dinner).

First of all, wow, what a cool space—hubby and I have a soft spot for deco things-- décor, buildings, whatever-- and this place is deco to the extreme and just overall impressive. The restaurant and bar is set in a huge two story room that just transports you. The whole hotel is like that actually. You can really feel what it must have felt like to stay in a place like this back in the day. And it makes you grateful for keeping historic buildings and rooms true to their original character.

They first brought us out bread service with butter and olive oil with big chunks of soft, rich roasted garlic and an amuse bouche. All were outstanding. As soon as I saw the little egg shell the amuse was served in, I was already pretty sure I was going to like whatever was in there—and I did. It was a cauliflower and saffron custard that was baked in the egg shell with a little piece of house made bacon. That bacon was really good, and the little crunch was awesome. I would have loved more of it.

I started with the sweet corn soup ($11) with polenta angnolotti, summer truffles, and roasted corn. It was a very nice soup, with a nice flavor of truffle (although I think it was coming from truffle oil)—the dumpling was maybe a little dense for me, but it was nice to have something in there to give some texture to the soup. The corn was also interesting—it seemed almost freeze dried and then slowly rehydrated as it sat in the soup.

Hubby started with the sweetbreads ($12) which were some of the best I have had. The sweetbreads (which were thymus) were lightly fried and were nice and tender, but what made them shine was the sauce and accompaniments. They were served with chanterelle mushrooms and little fingerling potatoes and the most amazing sherry vinaigrette. It wasn’t just a standard vinaigrette either—there was a little bit of chili in there giving it even more flavor. I thought I really liked my soup and then I tried this dish—it had so many layers of flavor, it made my soup seem kind of boring. This may have been the best dish of the night.

For a second course we shared the blue cheese beignets ($8) with tart greens, apple, almond tuile and spiced honey gastrique. This was also a great combination of flavors—I love some sweetness with blue cheese and the tartness of the apples and greens made for a wonderful mix. The little beignets were crisp and warm and very blue cheesy. The little bits of almond tuile added a little crunch factor too. It was a great salad course (the picture is a half order, because the kitchen split it before bringing it out).

For my main dish, I had another appetizer, the lobster salad ($13). This one was really good as well. There was a lightly seasoned lobster salad at the bottom topped with a fried egg, and served with crème fraiche and caviar cream. There were also some little dots of caviar around the plate and some crispy phyllo-type “noodles” on top. I liked it when the yolk broke into the lobster salad giving it extra richness—my only complaint here is that the egg was fried a little too hard and there wasn’t much runny yolk there. I would have preferred a softer egg overall. I did like the crunch from the ribbons of phyllo on top—gave it the right variation in texture. Hubby would probably say this was his favorite.

Hubby had the lamb loin with parsnip puree, maitake mushrooms, onions and a mustard sauce ($38). Again, very good. The sauce had a nice mustardy flavor and the entire dish tasted like fall. The lamb was very tender.

They have an old school dessert tray that they wheel over to show you all the desserts, we went with a chocolate banana combo that was very, very good (and you always gotta love when they write things on your plate). It had an intense dark chocolate filling that was delicious. And the caramel ice cream on top was really good too (if there is a dessert with chocolate, caramel and bananas, it is almost a sure bet with hubby and I.)

Top to bottom, it was one of the better fine dining experiences I have had in awhile. The food, the atmosphere, the service—all of it was very, very good. Exactly what you want in a fine dining experience, and exactly what we wanted for our anniversary.

Orchids at Palm Court

Hilton Cincinnati

35 West Fifth Street

Cincinnati, OH 45202

513/421-9100

http://www.orchidsatpalmcourt.com/restaurants.html#anchor1

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Road Trip: Boca--Cincinnati

3:15 AM | Labels: Boca, Cincinnati restaurants, Road Trips

Wow. So, you know how I am always bitching about how Indy has no good Italian places? Well, this restaurant, this one right here, is the reason why. What I wouldn’t give to have this restaurant, or one like it, in Indy. And it is in Cincinnati people, it isn’t some fancy East coast or West coast spot, so it is possible to pull it off in the Midwest.

We were visiting friends in Cincinnati and decided to pick one of the many places on my “list” to try—there are so many places in Cincinnati that I want to go to. We had a hard time narrowing it down, but ended up choosing Boca. On the weekends they have a prix fixe menu where you get 2 courses plus dessert for $57 or 3 courses plus dessert for $69. I really wanted to try several of the lighter first and second course items though, but thought I might be getting ripped off since I wasn’t getting the bigger main dishes. I asked the waiter and he said they would happily just charge me the a la carte prices for whatever I wanted (which is how they charge during the week).

So I started with the wild striped bass crudo which was amazing ($14 a la carte). The raw fish was thinly sliced and so delicate in flavor. It was topped with some quartered cherry tomatoes, a bit of cantaloupe and pickled eggplant and just a tiny bit of heat from some chilies. The eggplant was understated, but balanced the sweetness of the fruit. It was drizzled with olive oil. Seriously, it tasted as good as it was lovely. It wasn’t a huge portion, but just the right amount for a first course.

My second course is something I have been dreaming about ever since I ate it. It was “capalleacci di mais tartufo nero” ($12). Holy moly was it good. It was housemade pasta stuffed with sweet corn and mascarpone (think sort of like flat tortellini) and topped with a brown butter sauce and shaved summer truffles. That’s what I’m talking about. It was rich, but with a sweet, slightly tangy taste from the mascarpone (and intense creaminess) but the pasta wasn’t so full that you only tasted the insides. The sauce was light, with deep earthy flavor from the browned butter and the truffles. I seriously wanted to order another dish of it for my dessert. Again, the portion was not large, but just enough to leave you wanting just a tad more. And looking forward to what was next.

For me, that was a seared day boat scallop with caramelized Brussels sprouts, a brown butter truffle vinaigrette and shaved Parmigiano reggiano on top ($16). This dish fairly blew my mind as well—I loved the combination of the brown butter with a vinaigrette—tasted like aged balsamic vinaigrette—I mean the Brussels sprouts were so caramelized with such a distinct balsamic flavor, at first you almost forgot what they were. But the vinegar taste with the sweet, buttery scallop and a nice slice of Parmigiano on top, and just a hint of truffles…well, it was seriously delicious.

Just to quickly hit on hubby’s dishes, his panzanella was the only thing that was a little disappointing throughout the evening. The bread tasted a bit like croutons, not the ripped up pieces we both like. But his second course, the “Bavette con Bottargo” was really good. And another really good example of something different done with pasta in a classic Italian style that ISN’T MARINARA OR CREAM SAUCE. (It really does exist). So it was linguine pasta mixed with some roasted tomatoes and little bit of chili oil and topped with breadcrumbs and cured tuna roe. Bottarga is basically the roe pouch of a fish (tuna here) that is cured and then grated over the top. The flavor is of the sea, but not super fishy. The bottarga was mixed with breadcrumbs adding to the texture. Hubby had seen Anthony Bourdain rave about it at some point and couldn’t wait to order it. He loved it. His sous vide wild salmon was also perfectly prepared. “Sous vide” means the fish was slow cooked sealed in a plastic bag at very low temperatures. Everything I have ever had cooked this way (will never forget the lamb at The Fat Duck in England. Never.) has been so good—super tender and even though it is cooked for a long time, remains rare in appearance, but the same from the outside in. This salmon was super tender and I loved the sherry vinaigrette over it and the accompanying beets and haricot vert (fancy French word for green beans). There were some bits of hazelnut throughout as well adding a nice little crunch. Salmon is not my favorite fish in the world, but I would eat this again in a minute.

We also got our desserts as part of the prix fixe dinner (although by the time we got there, we could have easily skipped it). I had a perfectly nice cheese board with the right simply toasted bread, and the perfect accompaniment of quince and melon (I love some sweet with my blue cheese). Hubby had the dark chocolate pot de crème which I thought was well done for what it was, but he was just so-so on it (he isn’t a big dessert person). But overall I left this meal with mixed emotions. I was really happy because we had an amazing meal with good friends. The staff is also really down to earth and friendly and the restaurant has a nice buzz to it without being too noisy. I was a little sad though that it seems impossible for Indy to pull off an Italian place like this. But I can keep hoping….