J Gumbo's

I received a gift card to J Gumbo's for my birthday from my wonderful husband. He is however not someone who would be a fan of most Cajun foods. I somehow talked him into trying it with me. I especially love J Gumbo's because you can try samples of everything so you can find something that you really like. Last time I had the Drunken Chicken which is delicious.

Pat ordered the Bourbon Street Chicken which he LOVED. So refreshing that he likes more ethnic foods than pizza. I tried a bite and the chicken is so moist and tender with the buttery bourbon street sauce.



I had the Voodoo Chicken with is the spiciest dish they have. It basically burned my mouth as soon as I took a bite, but in a good way. The sauce was thick and rich and full of delicious chicken. The rice underneath gave a wonderful texture.



They serve wonderful cornbread here also which is moist and sticky, one of my favorites. Now I can drag Pat here whenever I want which as soon as I go to working days might be more often than he thinks.

Dilly Cafe

I had a long overdue lunch with a friend from work who I haven't seen in way too long. Lisa and I went to Dilly Cafe and had a great time. Our server was friendly and helpful with the menu. We decided to stay light and have some salads. Their salad portions were very generous. Note to self: must go back for crab cakes.

Below you see Lisa's Chef salad minus dairy. There was a copious amount of ham and turkey with hard boiled egg. The lettuce was fresh and crisp. Nothing is worse than a soggy salad!



I ordered the seared Ahi tuna nicoise salad which was good. The picture indeed shows only 2 little slivers of Ahi tuna which was good. It might have changed the salad for the better if the tuna was warm instead of cold. But the flavor of the tuna was delicious with a sesame seed crust. Also in the salad was hard boiled egg, green bean, and chilled boiled red skinned potatoes and kalamata olives. The salad came with a shallot vinaigrette which was more vinegary than I expected and I can't say I could taste any shallots. Aside from that, it was delicious.  Okay, maybe one more sliver of tuna would have been good.



I took the opportunity to peruse their wine store and made some purchases for home. I am becoming very fond of these restaurants with wine stores attached. Dovetailing interests.

Enoteca Emilia

Yum, yum, yum! Enoteca Emilia is very similar to my favorite restaurant in Chicago, Quartino which is a salumeria/charcuterie and Italian restaurant. And actually, if you compare the two menus they look almost identical in format and content. We waited for a table for a bit and had some of their house wine at the bar. I'd love to try their pizzas but this day was meant for pasta.

We settled on some proscuitto di Parma, tartufo, robiola and pecorino. They served quince paste and sage honey with the toasts. Delicious!



Then we ordered the stuffed figs. These were so, so delicious. Beautiful figs stuffed with nduja and wrapped in bacon in a delicious red sauce. I could eat an entree of just these.



I ordered the garganelli pasta which had mushroom, truffle, oregano and parmegiano. I would have liked this more if the pasta was filled in some way.  It became a bit dry. The truffle and mushroom combo was a great flavor, very classic.



We ordered sides of the roasted cauliflower with lemon and anchovy and the Brussels sprouts with pancetta and balsamic. I could eat a whole plate of the cauliflower and if they wanted to put a big spoon of the sprouts on there, I wouldn't complain.



Ann had the squid ink pasta. I tried it, it tasted good but was a bit bland in my opinion. She enjoyed it but probably would order something else next time. I at least appreciate the idea that I can ORDER squid ink pasta in Cincinnati. Very special.



We split an olive oil cake after dinner. This was dee-licious. It was a little cake with a cherry sauce.

Love, love, love EE. I want to go back more often but not sure I can withstand the wait if I'm really hungry. I recommend you go, very hungry.

Celestial

We went here for a special night out and our friend works the bar here. I do not know why I haven't been here before. The Celestial is such a beautiful restaurant. We ate at the bar and it was gorgeous.

We started out with lobster bisque and their scallop appetizer. The lobster bisque was delicious, very creamy and velvety. Pat loved the scallops. He had never actually had scallops before and loved the flavor with the lemon.

I had the regular filet which was amazing. Beautiful presentation, cooked just right and just delicious. My steak came with onion straws and the creamed spinach and mashed potatoes.

Pat had the NY Strip Oscar style but not just plain old Oscar. They made it with a crab cake. Yeah. Serious business. I had a bite, Pat's steak was so rich and delicious it was something you for sure couldn't eat every day.

I would definitely make this a spot for a special occasion or just a nice dinner for the two of us.

Yat Ka Mein Noodle House

 I have driven past Yat Ka Mein for years and never been inside. When I used to go to Aveda to get my hair done it would always smell so good.

We went on a cold Saturday evening. We had egg rolls to start, standard fare nothing special. I had the Cantonese Pan Fried noodle with beef which was good. I like the crsip noodles and I love water chestnuts. The beef was pretty tasty with the brown sauce. It tasted really good as leftovers.




I was a little disappointed that it wasn't really fantastic. It was good but just middle of the road. No wow factor here. But based on what we ordered it seems like it has some pretty standard quality making it a reliable choice.

Goodie's Southern Style BBQ

I had a groupon for Goodie's. We went on a weird evening. It was one of those wintery nights that was kind of like fall, kind of like winter and raining. Thanks Cincinnati.

I ordered a brisket sandwich. The brisket itself was tasty but I did not care for the soggy bun. I'm not sure there's any way around that though with a sandwich. The brisket and sauce were very good, tender brisket and sweet tangy sauce. I had a side of their greens which were delicious.

Pat ordered the pulled pork sandwich which he enjoyed. He had the macaroni and cheese on the side which was good. I gave Pat my cornbread because it was way too dry.

I liked Goodie's but I'm not sure I'd make a special trip back. We have a lot better places that are closer to my house.

Sankalp

I wanted a quick lunch and wanted to check out Sankalp for a while. I was seated pretty promptly for a quick buffet lunch. I must say this is the first buffet I have been to since I had lapband surgery and it went okay.

They brought a basket of complimentary naan which was good.



I am no expert on Indian food for sure but I have never seen anything like this before. What is it you guys? Indian crepe? It was good whatever it was.



I had a little bit of everything I think my favorite was the chicken tandoori. I do think it's some sort of Indian buffet law that they must serve Saag Paneer. Sankalp didn't find it necessary to do so.

 

The food was good but at $10 for a lunch buffet I coulda done without the naan and the weird Indian crepe and they could have knocked off some of the price.