Sunday, February 10, 2008
Yesterday, Gary and I tried out a new restaurant that opened up just a couple of blocks from our house: La Fogata Grill at 1175 Worthington Woods Boulevard, which describes its cuisine as "Authentica Mexicana". We were all kinds of hopeful, because the restaurant that previously occupied the space was La Costa, a seafood-oriented Mexican restaurant that was really damn good and sadly only open from 2002-2005; the space has been empty since they folded. So, with savory memories of La Costa's mole chicken dancing in my head, we went inside. And were greeted by a smiling blonde waitress standing beside a t-shirt display under glass. Uh oh. Clearly this place was not run by the La Costa folks, and a quick glance at one of the business cards by the cash register confirmed my suspicion. The proprietor is Jeff Rinehart, and this is the third of a citywide chain he's founded. Restaurants are a hard business to be in, especially in a market with so much competition like the Columbus area. So clearly the La Fogata Grill chain has got something good going on, right? So we took our seats and started browsing the menu. Let me back up just a minute for a disclaimer: when a Columbus restaurant claims to serve authentic Mexican food, I try not to take these claims very seriously. Really, I do, because I am inevitably disappointed. I grew up in San Angelo, Texas, which when I was a teenager had no Thai, no Indian, no Korean, no sushi, and the best we had for Italian was an Olive Garden. What we did have were legendary steakhouses like Zentner's, Zentner's Daughter, and the Lowake Steakhouse. And we had a bounty of Mexican restaurants I didn't truly appreciate until I moved to the midwest. Holy mole, does San Angelo have Mexican. There's Fuentes Cafe downtown, and Mejor Que Nada, Henry's, and Rosa's, home of excellent tamales. If a Mexican place lasts in San Angelo, you know that either the food is really, really good, or they've got an exceptional bar. The cuisine is a cardiologist's nightmare all the way around, but you'll die a happy diner. The Mexican restaurants I grew up with are better described as "Tex-Mex" and will not seem authentic to somebody who grew up in Baja or Mexico City. There's a subjectivity to the whole authenticity thing that I try to set aside in favor of a simpler question: does the food taste good? When Gary and I have gone out for Mexican since La Costa failed, our default restaurant has been El Acapulco at 7475 Vantage Drive. I suppose El Acapulco serves as our baseline comparison these days; it's not the best Mexican in town, but it's a short drive, tasty, and inexpensive. Foodwise it's probably on par with the local El Vaquero chain. But I digress. Back to Fogata Grill. Gary and I ordered the deluxe nachos as an appetizer, and for the entrees I got their Plato del Mar (shrimp and scallops in ranchero sauce) and Gary fell off the beef wagon and got a fajita quesadilla. Those three items plus drinks ended up being about $33, which seems par for the course The first thing we got were the old standby chips and salsa. The chips were tasty, and not too greasy. The salsa was on the thin side and surprisingly hot. The nachos were piled high with refritos, beef, shredded chicken and lettuce; what they did not have was much cheese. The nachos were tasty, but there was just a bare whisper of melted queso blanco on them. Gary reported that his quesadilla was also tasty, but once again, it had just a token amount of queso blanco on it; my plato del mar was similarly lacking in cheesiness. I like cheese, and I expect to see it on Mexican dishes that incorporate it. I wondered if the kitchen had run out. We may have to go a second time to see if cheese is still skimpy. If it is, and if you're lactose intolerant, this may be the restaurant for you; it sadly will not be the restaurant for me. My meal was good. The seafood sauce, rather than being the chili-based sauce I expected, was a kicky tomato sauce that struck me as being more Italian in flavor despite the heat. The shrimp and scallops were plentiful and flavorful. The "Mexican" rice alongside was cooked up with corn, peas, and lima beans -- in short, it was screamingly unauthentic but it was tasty and my favorite part of the dish. The plate also came with some sauteed veggies which I got too full to do more than sample, but they were nicely cooked and attractively presented. So, in summary, was the food good? Yes. Although the nachos and quesadilla needed more actual cheese, I certainly appreciated the emphasis on meat and vegetables; I've been to more than a few Mexican joints that offer only sad little iceberg salads and overcooked bell peppers, and this place was leagues better than that. If you're concerned with a healthy diet, you can probably safely eat here as long as you avoid the chips and refritos and other fried items. Was the food authentic? Not so much -- I wish it had been billed as Mexican fusion rather than authentic Mexican, but I may be nitpicking. We'll be giving them another try to see if they might become a new go-to Mexican restaurant. The restaurant scored well on other measures: the facilities were comfortable and clean, our waitress was attentive without being intrusive, and the food was served very promptly. For more information about the La Fogata restaurants, visit http://www.lafogatagrill.com/. Labels: restaurant review
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Sunday, March 26, 2006
May 2008 Update: The Amazon Grill is dead, or at least in a coma ... their website seems to indicate they may reopen, but their phones are disconnected.
This evening, Gary and I tried out a new Brazilian-style steak house that opened near our house recently. It's called the Amazon Grill, and it's located at 245 E. Campus View Boulevard. It occupies a niche between casual and upscale, serve-yourself buffet and full-service restaurant. Nobody will look twice if you wear sneakers, but it's nice enough to take a first date. There is no menu -- when you arrive, the hostess will hand you a card; one side indicates that you'd like more food, and the other side indicates that you're full. Keep this on the table to let the wandering cowboy-attired meat runners whether or not your plate needs refilling. Yes, I just said "meat runner". The cooks grill up a variety of meats -- strip steak, pork ribs, lamb, beef kabobs, chicken, turkey, and chorizo sausage -- on steel spits around an open fire. When a spit of meat is cooked, one of the runners will take a spit and carry it around the room, asking patrons if they'd like to sample what they've got. So, while a vegetarian can likely get a meal out of the small but well-stocked salad bar, this restaurant definitely caters to carnivores who aren't worried about keeping kosher -- the tasty smoked turkey I had came wrapped in bacon. All the meats I tried were tender and well-seasoned. I didn't sample much of what they had at the salad bar, but at each end they had warmers for hot foods such as meatballs, seasoned rice, fried squid, and fried bananas. The restaurant is all-you-care-to-eat, and the quality of the food is higher than that of your standard buffet restaurant in Columbus. This is reflected in the price -- dinners, not including drinks, are $22 per person. Expect to spend about $30 per person for dinner, less for lunch, and more if you're having alcohol. Also, try to sit out in the main dining room -- you're more likely to be seen by the runners than if you sit in the booths off to the side. Gary and I were overlooked for a little while, but once the runners realized we were there, we had plenty of service. The only letdown was dessert. The flan seemed very average, but cost twice as much as the somewhat-better flan one can get at the little Mexican place on the other side of the shopping center (El Acapulco at 7475 Vantage Drive). The Amazon Grill is open 7 days a week. Lunch is served 11 am- 2:30 pm Monday through Saturday, and Sunday brunch runs from 10:30 am through 3:00 pm. Dinner is served from 4:30 pm until 9:30 pm (10:30 pm on Friday and Saturday nights). For those who are more interested in drinking than eating, they do feature a bar that's separate from the dining room. Happy hour runs 3-6 pm every weekday. Update: Someone pointed me to the universally-negative reviews of this restaurant on AOL CityGuide; it sounds like the restaurant staff didn't have their act together the first couple of weeks after they opened. The restaurant was maybe 25% full when we arrived late in the evening (close to closing time is usually when buffet food takes a serious downturn). There were plenty of clean plates, and the waitstaff seemed attentive -- we didn't have any more of a plate pileup than I'd expect at a restaurant of this sort. The food was appropriately cooked and seemed on par with what you'd get at midrange steakhouses. It did take a while for the main-course meat to make the rounds -- this, to me, didn't cause a problem because we were there to chat and weren't concerned about how long we'd be there. As to it not being authentic Brazilian food -- yes, they likely have a point. Speaking as a person who grew up in Texas, none of the Mexican restaurants I've tried in Columbus have seemed authentic, either; I have yet to find a tamale that I've liked. In general, though, ethnic authenticity is not a big deal to me -- my main interest is, does the food taste good? Last night, it was a "yes". I can't say how the service/food would be if the place was in the weeds, but in retrospect it did seem to me that they were trying to address the criticisms leveled at them in the CityGuide comments. As always, your mileage may vary. The one night I went to Asian Cuisine, the restaurant was packed to the rafters and my dinner was undercooked and underwhelming, but obviously others have had a far better dining experience because the restaurant is well-respected. So, it's possible that we hit Amazon Grill on an unusually good night, or they're turning things around. However, it's impossible to know whether this restaurant will continue to improve and survive, or if it will go under as so many restaurants do in this competitive city. Labels: restaurant review
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Monday, February 20, 2006
The Blue Danube (or The 'Dube as it's more commonly known) is a wonderful eatery and bar that has been a fixture north of the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio since 1940. The excellent jukebox blasts tunes ranging from Johnny Cash to Tom Waits to Massive Attack to ABBA to Bjork to AC/DC. The single pinball machine by the front door is garish. The water- and smoke-stained ceiling tiles are decorated with amateur paintings that are by turns juvenile, funny, and disturbing. The tattooed waiters and waitresses are surly and efficient. The clientelle ranges from young, snotty punks and goths to starving college kids to aging professors and townies. Everybody in town goes here because the drink selections are good and are served up strong, whether your drug of choice is caffeine or alcohol; people keep coming back because the eats are cheap and range in quality from decent to good. If it's beer you seek, it's beer you shall find. Give their draft Newcastle a try. And if it's great greasy plates of savory bar fare your heart desires, you will not be disappointed. Carnivores will be well-pleased by their burger and sandwich selections (be sure to try the Dube Melt, their gyro, or their Reuben). Vegetarians will probably be even more pleased, because the menu has an unusually large variety of meat-free dishes. Try their lentil soup or their hummus platter. If you're short on cash and unconcerned with cholesterol, they also make a delicious grilled cheese sandwich. One of the main attractions of The 'Dube is the fact that it avidly caters to us night owls. Columbus has a sad lack of late-night dining options; it seems as if the entire downtown rolls up its sidewalks after sundown. But The 'Dube keeps the grills smoking past 2 a.m. If it's conversation you seek, be aware that they crank up the music pretty loud for the dinner and late-night crowd, so don't sit by the back wall where the speakers are. If you do and you try to talk, you'll be hoarse by the time you leave the restaurant. Better to drink your beer and stuff your face and groove in your own private Idaho and save conversation for the ride home. The 'Dube is located 2439 N. High Street. To reach it, head up or down I-71 and take the Hudson Street exit west (you'll be turning right onto Hudson if you're heading from the north). Go down Hudson until it intersects with High Street, then hang a right on High. You'll soon see The 'Dube on your left; it's right beside Campus Video. Labels: restaurant review
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I found Yellow Springs to be a very pleasant, very arty little community. It has about 4,600 residents and is home to Antioch College. Apartment rental and real estate prices are on the high side because so many people working in Dayton want to live in Yellow Springs. It's also the home-away-from-Hollywood for popular comedian Dave Chappelle, who was spotted there after his 2005 nervous breakdown and flight to South Africa. The village really reminded me a lot of parts of Bloomington, IN and Portland, Oregon. (Presumably, it would remind me even more of Eugene, Oregon, another city that has been accused of being stuck in the sixties, but I have not been there yet.) While we were there, we stayed at the Morgan House Bed and Breakfast, which is within walking distance of practically everything you'd want to visit in the town. The location is the major advantage to Morgan House; while it is far less expensive than most B&Bs, it's not ideal if you're looking for a getaway with your significant other. The rooms don't have private bathrooms, and the accomodations are more rustic than romantic. You also can't lock your room when you leave, and although I was assured my belongings would be safe, I still found it a bit offputting. Yellow Springs' downtown is nice, but it's small, and the village rolls up its sidewalks fairly early; if you're out and about after 8 p.m., the only food you'll be able to find is at the Sunrise Cafe, which looks from the outside like it might be a greasy-spoon type diner but which is a more formal restaurant inside. The food there is good, but perhaps a tad overpriced. If you're willing to drive a bit north out of town, a very good place to eat (if you're a carnivore) is Young's Jersey Dairy. They offer excellent burgers and real fountain Coca-Cola made with syrup and soda water that taste much better than the bottled kind. The food is fresh and inexpensive. If you're a book lover, you should check out Dark Star Books while you're there. The front of the shop has a very decent collection of comics and anime; my first impression was that this was entirely a science fiction book shop, but when I went toward the back of the store, I realized most of their stock is used books on a wide variety of subjects. Labels: bookstores, restaurant review, travel review
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