Penn Station East Coast Subs

Unless you're new to Cincinnati I'm sure you know about Penn Station. I'm sure you also have an opinion either way. I really love Penn Station. I've been going to the one in Newport for years. It's very convenient for work lunch for either dine in or take out from their drive thru window. I'm not sure but they may be one of the very few, if not only Penn Station with a drive-thru window.

Lately I've been leaning on the classic Philly Cheesesteak with mushroom, onion, peppers and mayo. The skirt steak chopped with the ingredients and the provolone cheese are really tender and delicious.



Another great part of PS is their fries. Fresh cut potatoes fried in peanut oil. They're crisp and delicious with malt vinegar.



Other fine sandwiches are the Italian (cold cuts and red onion, oil and vinegar toasted), Reuben (classic reuben). I ate those two sandwiches for years before I even tried their cheesesteak and I've been hooked ever since.

Mom's Shopping List: 4/23

Sprite

Cadbury Eggs

Peeps

Acid Reflux Medicine

 

Guru India

I was having a craaaaaaaving for Indian food the other day. I conned Ann into coming back to Guru with me. We've both had independently bad experiences with their services but it was the closest Indian restaurant.

Here's my beef. This restaurant has glass coverings on their table tops. The reason for this is clear, (no pun intended) Indian food is messy. It's easier to just wipe down a glass top than to remake the table and have the added expense of laundering the linens. Here's the problem with that, the noise that it makes when you set plates down on the table top is just loud and off putting.

We ordered the vegetable samosas which were a nice size.When they and their chutneys (my favorite is the green) arrived she may as well have frisbeed them over to us from the kitchen with the clang that they made on the table.

I'll add that I finished my samosa and while Ann was still eating hers they took my empty plate and all of the chutneys. I guess no more chutney for Ann.



And with another plate slammed to the table comes our nans. One garlic and one with almond and raisin. I guess it would have been too much trouble to have separate plates for the two because hers is under mine.



She and I both ordered Saag Paneer at about a spice level of 6 out of 10. Saag paneer is a homemade cheese cube in a spinach cream sauce. It really hits the spot sometimes and today I was craving it bad. It was delicious and spicy. I love the creamy, buttery spinach and cheese cubes that somehow never melt.

Don't think for one minute that she sweetly brought it to our table. She set it down like I had asked her to bring me a plate of lead. At some point a very friendly man who works there came out and inquired about the food. I don't know why he can't just be a waiter instead of the person we had to deal with.



I do like Indian food, it is just one of those things that my body does not tolerate sometimes. I would LOVE to keep coming back to Guru but with the way we are treated I'm not sure I will bother.

Arthur's

After Cirque du Soleil oVo we had reservations for Cumin but it let out way too late for us to make that, so we had to cancel and then find something open at about 11pm for dinner on a Wednesday. After driving around endlessly in what looked like Hobb's End we found Arthur's and mercifully their kitchen was open until 12am.

After a few minutes of waiting in a not-full bar we were seated and drink orders were taken. I was in no mood because of the failed reservation, and then they didn't have a beer I preferred from their menu. It wasn't all bad though, they had Unibroue La Fin du Monde. That helped.

We ordered the baked mushrooms, which were good. Not as bacony as I would have liked but the boursin cheese was good. It was a generous helping of 6 big button mushrooms.



I got a custom burger with goat cheese, caramelized onion and their chipotle mayo on the side. Very tasty, the beef was seasoned and cooked perfectly and very juicy. I had a side of the sweet potato fries with their curry ketchup. I think that might be a misnomer because it looks an awful lot like orange mayo. It wasn't that flavorful anyways. Whatever I don't care about ketchup anyways.



Ann had the black and bleu burger which she really enjoyed. This is a huge helping of fries for just a side.



Ann ordered the pecan pie which was good, not overly sugary and very tasty. It reminded me of a walnut tart recipe that I used to make for St. Patrick's day.



I ordered their bread pudding. If you know me, you know I love bread pudding. If you've had Bella Luna's bread pudding and liked it then you will like Arthur's. I like Bella Luna's but if possible I think that Arthur's is better. It still has the same "bread sponge" consistency but it tastes more cinnamon-y than the former. The sauce on it was really, really good too. I have had bread pudding sauce that tastes like diabetes sauce. Not this one.



I have been weary to try Arthur's because of possible wait times and other reasons but I'm sure glad they were open. This is definitely good news that they are cooking until midnight on a weeknight.

Fatty Patty's

Love the name? Me too. Fatty Patty's opened last year in Main Strasse and I finally got everyone at work to put in an order. If you are familiar with Main Strasse you'll know that parking is an issue. Fortunately FP's has a small parking pad directly behind their restaurant for dine in or pick-up orders.

Some people split a meatball hoagy which was good. Great bread, toppings and cheesy goodness.



They also split the stromboli which is like a calzone but with the sauce inside. They really liked it and the bread again was really good. They got the stromboli with bacon, onion and pepperoni which did taste good and spicy.



I got a side order of the garlic fries. They were okay, I couldn't really taste the garlic flavor. Maybe it was because they were seasoned fries and shaken in a garlic seasoning. They were okay.



I got the toasted ravioli which was really good. They weren't burned or greasy. They were lightly breaded and toasted with a generous portion of marinara for dipping.



Patti got the loaded french fries. She thought they were just okay, this is perhaps because they were takeout or perhaps because they were from seasoned fries.



I ordered the Hawaiian pizza which was good. Fresh bacon pieces on the pizza, the crust was really fluffy and tasty and the sauce was good, not too sweet or salty.



This might go into our regular lunch rotation, even if only for take out. If you're looking at their menu I will burst your bubble right now, they no longer serve the Hershey's ice cream. They only have soft serve.

Chan's Asian Wok

At one point this was owned by the same group that owns Hot Wok. Not sure if it still is. I would eat here when my husband worked in the same plaza. This is some good American-style Chinese. I have had the Mongolian Beef (oniony and tender), General Tso’s chicken (consistently good each time). And Pat loved to get the chicken on a stick which is his favorite. The crab rangoons here are pretty good, a touch sweet but good. I do love their hot and sour soup, which is a favorite of mine with the crispy noodles. I don’t get out to Cold Spring much but if I were there now, I’d probably be heading to Chan’s. It really hits the spot if you’re in the mood for nice Chinese food.

I was surprised on their website you can actually order online and they will deliver with a minimum order of $25 in the area. Not a bad deal for hot Chinese food and you don’t even have to get out of your pajamas.

Hot Wok

Pretty straightforward American Chinese café. This is a newer restaurant in the Ft. Plaza behind Wal-Mart. I have been to dine in only once but have eaten their food many, many times via takeout when I worked at Fidelity Investments. They can really do a take out order! I’ve had my favorite dishes there like Mongolian Beef (very oniony and tasty tender bits of beef), sesame chicken (crunchy tender chicken and a thick savory garlic sesame sauce), General Tso’s chicken (very tasty and spicy chicken), bourbon chicken (bone in chicken with a bourbon sauce that might have some crack in it) and of course all the wonderful appetizers crab Rangoon (theirs are on the sweet side, but good), egg rolls (hearty and tasty, taste house made), chicken on a stick (Pat’s favorite), and of course my hot and sour soup (good, hearty and right flavorings of hot and sour).

They also do a good pad Thai, Thai basil chicken and a few vegetarian dishes. They also have a very limited selection of sushi, which I have not tried.

If you are looking for an American Style Chinese restaurant this is a good one. If you’re close by they will deliver to you with lots of extra cookies and tea treats.

Crawfish and Seafood Bayou Extravaganza sponsored by New Orleans to Go

My friends over at the New Orleans to Go food truck are sponsoring a big crawfish boil on May 6^th. Not a fan of crawfish? No problem, they’ll be having shrimp and other items. The cost will be $25/per person and will be held at 7pm until gone at their home at 2005 Thornwilde Dr Hebron, KY in the Thornwiled Subdivision.

I’m really looking forward to it as I’ve never been to a crawfish boil myself. I have had their other food offerings at their food truck and was not disappointed. Fresh food served by some really sweet people.

You can RSVP on their Facebook page for more information and to discuss the festivities!

May Vacation Plans - Input Needed!

I am so looking forward to my vacation next month to Chicago. I’ve carved out some plans for our 4 day trip which mostly involves food. A girl’s gotta eat, right? I’d love any suggestions from you guys out there on top notch restaurants or activities in the Windy City.

 

Restaurants:

 

Hot Doug’s

Le Colonial

Toplobampo

AI Japanese

Quartino

Goose Island

Naha

Rebar – for drinks

Sprinkles

Vosges Haut Chocolate

 

Activities:

 

Chicago Art Museum

Farnsworth House

Architectural Boat tour

Oak Street Shopping

Dao Modern Asian Cuisine

My hairdresser and pedicurist is in Deerfield Township. Naturally after visiting them I need to have something to eat. I've tried Taz which is very close. I ventured out to the shopping center area and decided to try Dao.

It's one of those very large restaurants that could probably seat 1,000 people if needed. The manager greeted me and sat me immediately. I looked over the lunch menu which had many options from dim sum, lunch sushi, entrees and more.

I chose my favorite thing a hot and sour soup bowl and at $2 it was double the amount and half the price of other Asian restaurants.

I had the Thai Blazing Noodles which were "hot/spicy". They were hot only by way of jalapeno and black pepper. Big rice noodles in a chili pepper sauce with tomato, green pepper, scallion and your choice of meat. I chose shrimp and I was really impressed that they took the time to take the tails off of the shrimp before stir-frying.

With all of that and iced tea my bill was only $11. If you're in the area, it's a great spot for lunch. Next haircut I'm going to try Polo Grille.

Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken

I know, it's fast food chicken. But it's really delicious! If you can stand the interior which is lackluster, then you can eat anywhere.  There were open garbage bags on the floor when we went but I was really hungry. Appearances aside, the food is delicious. I am not a huge fried chicken fan because I don't really love eating meat off of the bone. I prefer boneless chicken breasts.

But how can anyone not love a big plate of fried chicken? Sometimes it just hits the spot. Their mashed potatoes and gravy are pretty good and I'm a big fan of the green beans with bits of hammy goodness. Their biscuits are reason enough to go, soft, tender and flaky. They have other choices of nuggets, boneless wings, chicken fingers, even pot pie. Sometimes for a quick lunch I will just get potato wedges.

If you're in the mood for fried chicken give it a shot, maybe via the drive thru. 

Miyoshi Japanese

After my lackluster experience with another sushi restaurant this month I decided to try another. We went to Miyoshi which is in Florence.

We ordered the shrimp shumai dumplings. I love how they arrived in the steamer container.



These were very good, however it was my big pet peeve. Don't bring me 3 dumplings when I'm sharing them with another person. Bring me 2, bring me 4. Bringing me 3 is just irritating.



My meal came with the salad, which I am usually not a fan of. I enjoyed this salad though. The ginger dressing wasn't too overpowering. It was a perfect small size.



I also typically do not like miso soup. This was much better than others I have had. Pat nailed it when he said it tastes sometimes like bologna water. This one did not. It was light, warm and salty.

I had the Kurobuta Shougayaki. Yea, I copied and pasted that one. Anyhow, it was sautéed, thinly sliced Berkshire pork marinated with light ginger sauce. It was very good and light. They did mean business when they said thinly sliced.

I was perplexed by the side items. On the left you have what appears to be some sort of potato salad. Um, okay. And then on the right you have shredded cabbage. I am not sure what I was supposed to do with either of those. The potato salad was good though. 



We ordered several sushi rolls, a spider roll, ikura (seriously Ann has a problem with Ikura), the charley roll (the one with the salmon), Napoleon roll (fried oyster), the multi-colorful tuna roll was called the crunch Hawaiian roll.

Charley roll was the best one, there was seared salmon on top and scallion which made it tasty a pricey roll at $15 which I guess I can see because of all the salmon. The napoleon was okay, I guess I am not a huge oyster fan. The crunchy Hawaiian roll was pretty good. There were 3 different types of caviar on top to account for the "crunchy" green, black and orange with layers of white and regular tuna underneath, a bit pricey at $15. The spider roll was pretty tasty but not the best I'd ever had.

They have a really nice traditional Japanese private room with the screens and the whole lot. I liked Miyoshi but I am not sure I'd make it my regular spot.

Cosmo's

Cosmo's is under construction but don't let that deter you. It can be quite cramped on the weekends but is a great choice for a weekday lunch or dinner. We went because I had a restaurant.com coupon that I wanted to use.

We got the quesidilla rolls which were okay. Tasted like they were frozen. I'd get something else for the appetizer instead of this one next time.



My boss and I split an order of the fish and chips. I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was. Since the rolls were from frozen I kind of expected these to be mediocre as well. I really liked this though. 2 big chunks of white fish in a a nice crunchy batter. The fries weren't too bad either. They were crisp and there were plenty of them. This was a good portion to share or to have as one big meal.



Our server was very helpful and attentive. I didn't like Cosmo's as much as I like Zola's, but it's still a fine choice.

Rascal's NY Deli

Rascals! Dangerously close to my house, we ended up here for dinner. I was slightly disappointed to find out that they would not accept my restaurant.com coupon any longer. But we were already there, it seemed a shame not to stop in and eat.

Our server was incredibly helpful with the menu which I must say I only understood half of it's contents. She explained foreign concepts to us like kreplach, rugelach, knishes etc. 

I was greeted with a bowl of house made kosher pickles and tomatoes. MMM! Don't be fooled these were 1 - 2 inch chunks. Very large pickles.



These were the corned beef/potato knishes. They were delicious. Doughy yet flaky pastry with yummy potato/corned beef. Hearty little meaty potatoey biscuits.



Here's Pat's turkey and corned beef on challah bread. On the side you get 2 delicious latkes (potato pancakes) with house made cinnamon applesauce for dipping. The bread was great and soft, the meat is almost too good to be true. Possibly the best corned beef ever. The latkes and the cinnamon applesauce go together very well.



I had the Reuben. If you know anything about me, you know I love a good Reuben. I've even had Reuben soup. This was the best Reuben I've ever had. Seriously. I loved that the sauerkraut wasn't too pungent and tangy, it was mild and tender. The Swiss cheese was buttery and velvety. The corned beef I can't say enough about, delicious, tender, flavorful. Just top notch all the way.



Pat had a side of a cheese blintz. It wasn't too sweet, not too savory and served with tasty sour cream.



I had a side of the cucumber salad which was great. Don't let the onion and garlic fool you, it was delicately sweet with vinegar and sugar. Reminds me of the cucumber summer salads we would make from our garden. What a great thing to eat in the summer.



Here are Pat's rugelach which are apparently little croissant type dessert rolls with a sweet filling. He had some chocolate, some apricot filled. He really liked them.



And here you have the world's largest eclair. Very tasty, rich, decadent and as big my 7 year-old friend Lilly's shoe. Seriously.



Here's a picture of it next to the salt shaker for scale.



Why yes doctor, I am following my diet to the letter. This will probably be my lap-band "before" picture.

Sugar Cupcakery

Cupcakes? Yes please. I am not a cake fan. I don't dislike it. But I also don't eat it every time it's near. I went out of my way to drive to Sugar for vegan cupcakes for a certain vegan's birthday. Wiser folks would have ordered ahead of time and secured a flavor of their choosing. Not me, I left it all up to the last minute and all they had left was lemon. Which were delicious and received no complaints.

I got some regular cupcakes for myself and my husband. Chocolate coconut and vanilla bean. The vanilla bean was delicious and the icing was my favorite part. Buttery and creamy. MMMM! I can't wait to try their chocolate pancetta. Yes I am serious.










They will set you back about $3.25 a piece and it was worth it for the city's only organic bakery with vegan flavors. 

Lime Taqueria

Good stuff! Lime is a small restaurant in Main Strasse Covington that boasts fresh burritos. Really fresh tasting food near my work always grabs my attention. I stopped in on a Saturday for a burrito and chips. They have a few bar height tables for you to sit at.

I was greeted immediately with warmth by the woman making the burritos. She asked me if I lived in the neighborhood while she made my burrito.

I ordered the braised beef burrito which came  with mango salsa, black beans, cheese, cilantro lime rice and chipotle sour cream. It was very, very tasty. The sweetness of the mango salsa went really well with the tender bits of beef.





Each type of burrito has it's own complimenting salsa and sour cream. They have a delightful vegetarian burrito with tofu which can easily be made vegan. (good news for the ravenous vegans I know!) I also ordered an iced tea which they brew with mint. Very refreshing!

I tried their chips and salsa, the chips were warm but did not immediately strike me as house made, maybe they are, maybe they aren't. The guacamole with the chips was very good. I like mine a bit creamier though, there's was more on the chunky side with bits of tomato.



Parking can be kind of an issue because it's street parking or if you can find a space in the lot across the street next to Bouquet. I parked, perhaps illegally, in the old Skyline lot.

They said that in the future they want to be open on Sundays but can't do it right now.

This is a welcome addition to Covington in general and certainly for my lunch options. They are open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays ensuring that no person who goes pub crawling in Main Strasse will be without delicious booze-soaking food before they turn into bed.

All in all it was a pretty good meal for $11.