Best Cup of Tea
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Photo By: Joe Lamb
Best Thing Under Gravy: While the sausage gravy itself is quite tasty, dig deep for those buttery, flaky biscuits at Paula’s Café. You’ll be sounding like Homer Simpson after a doughnut in no time. Best Goetta Fix: The Goetta Avalanche at Mokka. We keep telling ourselves, “Try the pancakes,” but the avalanche owns our soul. A stacked-up mess of English muffin, eggs, cheese and that mighty fine goetta. Best Exotic Appetizer: Cumin’s Papri Chaat hands down. Topped with glistening beads of pomegranate seeds and micro cilantro, it’s as much of a work of art as an appetizer. Luckily it’s edible art, and you dig down into the crunchy wisps of a phyllo-like substance, chunks of red onion, potato and chick peas. Best Potato-Related Appetizer: Open mic night? Please. Pool tables and darts? Nope. While Habit’s offers plenty of entertainment, these qualities take a back seat to their delectable potato rags. Each order starts with a mound of deep-fried, crispy hash browns topped with three layers of cheese, bacon, fresh tomatoes and onions. Served with a side of ranch, this heart-attack-on-a-plate appetizer can easily turn into an obsession. Best Deep-Fried Pickle: The Crooked Nail is a perfect little hole in the wall. Their menu is full of tasty dishes, but we love them for their beer-battered pickles ($5.15). Served with ranch dressing, these deep-fried pickles are a junk food lover’s dream. Pair them with a famous fish sandwich and waffle fries ($7.50) or try their house side salad ($3.65) if you’re feeling a little more health conscious. Best Way to Put Your Dentist’s Children through College: Trader Joe’s Caramel Macadamia Nut Popcorn. Like crack, only legal, and comes in a more attractive container. Take it away? You’ll pry it from our cold, dead fingers.
Best Sake
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Photo By: Graham Lienhart
Best Reason to Go off Your Diet: If you’re going off the diet, make it worth your while. And there’s no better cause than the Belgian chocolate, homemade puff pastry and croissants that line the Frieda’s Bakery display cases. Best Heart Attack on a Plate: May we recommend the Frito Pie (Fritos, chili, cheddar cheese, onions and jalapenos) followed by a deep-fried Twinkie that’s topped with powdered sugar and strawberry sauce? Yeah? Well, you’ve gotta check outDink’s for lunch! Best Service (Formal and Casual): Pigall’s has whatever alchemy it takes to produces the grace of fine dining. Servers dressed in business suit attire perform their well-oiled dance, their eagle eyes not missing a thing. Jean-Robert at Pigall’s, 127 W. Fourth St., Downtown, 513-721-1345. On a more casual note, Khaled Atallah, owner of Café de Paris greets his guests with a hearty “Bonsoir!” and remains as charming and French as you could ask for throughout the meal. Cafe de Paris’ newest location: Best Turnaround: The Hideaway, formerly known as Potluck, is now a full-service restaurant. Tucked away behind Northside Tavern’s courtyard, the restaurant’s interior has transformed into a kitschy garage sale. Don’t leave without trying the Wild Mushroom Risotto Cake and Beef Brisket. Best Community Spirit: We have ourselves a three-way tie: Melt (4165 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-681-6385) is a strong advocate of investing in the local economy, offering bread from Shadeau Bakery, coffee from Sidewinder and desserts from Take the Cake. Madison’s Market (4172 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-542-4222) carries soup form Myra’s Dionysus and several deli case items from area restaurants like Tuckers. And finally, Maribelle’s Tavern (2062 Eastern Ave., East End, 513-861-2484) honored the area’s local history by naming the establishment after Mary, a woman who tended bar at the many businesses that occupied the location over the years, and Verdin Bells, which is just across the street.
Best Soul Food Meal
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Best-Looking Restaurant Dining Room: Step into the newly expanded and decorated Cumin, and you’ll think you’ve magically stepped into a sleek, trendy Tribeca bistro in lower Manhattan. A small statue of Sri Ganesha, a Hindi god of wisdom, is the only obvious decorative element indicating that intelligently made, beautifully presented and unerringly delicious fusion Indian cuisine is being served. Best Reason for Covington to Fly the French Flag: Jean-Robert de Cavel relocated Pho Paris a block from his Greenup Café this winter and was talking about a third venture just across the street in the former Donna’s Diner. Vive la France! Greenup Café: Best Soup of the Year: First, we’re big fans of well-made soup. And hands down, our “soup of the year” for 2006 is the homey and satisfying chicken matzoh soup at Avari’s Kosher Bistro and Deli. Overflowing with shredded chicken and thickly chopped carrots, this rich bowl is guaranteed to satisfy. Best Pumpkin Soup: With a choice of 24 or so at Myra’s Dionysus, it’s hard to pick a favorite, but we’re going to go with the Thai Pumpkin. Made with coconut milk and laced with sultry spices, you might need to get a pint to go for later. Best Mad Burrito: The burrito market has exploded in Cincinnati, with chains like Chipotle and Boloco rubbing elbows with old timers like The Comet and Burrito Joe’s. But our money is still on Habanero’s Mad Max burrito stuffed with batter-fried tilapia, pinto beans, rice and cabbage. Best Vegetarian Lunch Deal: The Vegetarian Plate at Total Juice Plus is a heaping plate of hummus, lentils and rice and salad with briny kalamata olives and piled high with Feta — all for just $5.50.
Best Sensory Overload
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Photo By: Graham Lienhart
Best for You: Fresh, brandishing the motto “you pay for what you don’t get,” might be the only restaurant in town that advertises what it doesn’t sell you. Check out their Web site (www.greatfoodgreatlife.com), for a list of unacceptable and unpronounceable ingredients like acesulfame-K before heading in for sandwiches and salads made with fresh, organic ingredients. Best Reason to Go the Extra Mile: Keep driving past the pale imitations at Crestview Hills Town Center and have real Mexican food at Taqueria Mercado. The Torta con Carnitas, a warm sandwich packed with juicy pork roast and sliced avocado, will make you a true believer. Best Strip-Mall Mexican: If your idea of Mexican food is a Taco Bell chalupa, then Taqueria Maya will be an eye-opening experience. With truly authentic options like beef tongue in your taco and tripe in your gorditas, not to mention birria de chivo (goat soup), this strip-mall cantina will transport you to Mexico City faster than you can say, “Think outside the bun….” Best TV Dinners: Aunty’s Homemade Food sells gourmet all-natural frozen entrees like lasagna and chicken alfredo. Tennel Bryant offers these and other time-saving treats at Findlay Market. He rarely forgets a face and he loves to get feedback. Best Place to Get Watched by Your Dinner: At King Wok, you can sit and eat your Chinese hot pot next to a wall of fish tanks filled with glum-looking fish, crab and shellfish that certainly seem to have memories longer than three seconds. Best Burger Deal: If it’s Wednesday, then it’s $3 burger night at the Brazenhead Pub in Mason. The half-pound of beef comes on an oversized Kaiser roll with lettuce and tomato, a side of addictively delicious house-made chips, a pickle and can be topped with your choice of cheese, onions or mushrooms. Pair it with an ass-kicking 22-ounce Arrogant Bastard Ale, and it’s the best burger meal deal in Greater Cincinnati. Best Free Food Samples: Bigg’s in Hyde Park Plaza. If you see the corn-dog lady, give her a hug from us. Best $6.50 Glass of Wine: Among its many well-priced offerings, Polo Grille is serving a 2005 Terrazes de Los Andes Malbec from Argentina that’s full of dark fruit and milk chocolate. Think of it as a Cadbury Fruit Bar for grown-ups. Yum! Best Local Wine Made from Local Grapes: Chip Emmerich makes some delicious wines at his Burnet Ridge Winery in North College Hill, though the best — like his Purple Trillium — are made from grapes grown in California. For a great wine made in Cincinnati from local, Midwestern grapes, look for the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve from Henke Winery. Best Bar Beer Selection: Everything about the Beer Sellar, floating on a barge on the river in Newport, is no-frills — except for the one thing that matters: the beer selection. With 60 beers on tap and another 120 available by the bottle, they will have something you haven’t tried before. Best White Guy Sushi: Chef Josh Sweeney at South Beach Grill at the Waterfront turns rice and fish into edible art. Best Place to Gorge on Sushi: Kyoto Japanese Restaurant. The bill runs just $40 for a wooden boat filled with sushi rolls. Ahoy there, stomach ache! Best Reason to Love Toyota: The excellent restaurants that have come to Northern Kentucky to feed homesick Japanese executives. Two that you’ll love are Miyoshi (8660 Bankers St., Florence, 859-525-6564) and Aoi (Newport on the Levee, Newport, 859-431-9400). Best Inexpensive Middle-Eastern: Mirage at Harper’s Point takes its inspiration from the varied cuisines of the turbulent region stretching from Greece to Armenia to Russia. For our money, the kabobs are the best in the area. And you can bring in your own wine or beer. Why go anywhere else? Best Cuban Sandwich: There’s nothing as homey and satisfying as an authentic Cuban Sandwich — grilled ham and pork loin, melting cheese oozing from the sides, pickles and mustards as garnish. It’s like an infinitely more complex and delicious version of those grilled Velveeta on white toast sandwiches you used to eat as a kid. And the best version in town can be found at Paula’s Café. Best Place to Sip Wine, Eat Pizza and Play Bocce: Twenty-five years ago, we’d have given this award to our Uncle Jack’s backyard. Instead, it goes to Bravo! Cucina. Sure it’s part off a mini-chain and is located smack in the middle of what could be pretty much any suburban outdoor mall in America, but they make a surprisingly decent pizza and offer some good, cheap Italian red wines to go with it. And who doesn’t love playing Bocce on a warm summer night? Best Grilled Cheese: The homey Clearview Tavern is famous for tasty fish sandwiches and a wide array of mouth-watering breakfast entrees. But we predict their addicting $1.75 grilled cheese will soon be on that must-try list. The Texas-sized buttered toast is just crunchy enough on the outside, and the layers of cheese on the inside are warm and gooey. Best Local Food Entrepreneurs: With three stores, a 100-acre organic farm and an ice cream business, the Madison family wins the award. Be sure to pick up a pint of Madisono’s Chai Tea ice cream or Lemon Ginger sorbet the next time you’re at their places. Findlay Market, Over-the-Rhine, 513-723-0590; Best Reason to Do Poppers Since Disco Died: Meshed Potato Poppers at Mesh. The white truffle oil makes these the most decadent tater tots you’ve ever tasted. Best Local Answer to Emeril: Take a cooking class at the Oriental Wok. Mike Wong is every bit the showman, you get to eat the lessons and it’s all delicious! You’ll pick up some useful tips, too — like how to dredge tofu cubes in cornstarch before frying. It works! Best Pressed Ham: Definitely not your cousin Earl mooning you out the car window. It’s the sopresata and fresh mozzarella panini at the new Pike Street Press. Melty, cheesy, subtle salami goodness in a hot new see-and-be-seen coffee shop. Best Meat-tastic Restaurant in Town: Gauchos walk between the tables at Amor de Brazil offering cuts from large juicy chunks of meat. There are side dishes but, really, why bother? Best Vegan Dish: The Hideaway serves a delicious, hearty chick pea soup ($4/bowl) that’s loaded with finely chopped celery and firm chick peas. Try it. You might never eat meat again. Best “Over the Rainbow” Dining Experience: When the food arrives at Daveed’s, you experience Dorothy’s Technicolor sensation that “We’re not in Cincinnati anymore.” It’s good to get away every once in a while! Best Reason to Eat in MainStrasse: Otto’s Deli. There is an Otto but there’s no deli, since the coldcut case moved out to make way for fans of Paul Weckman’s excellent food. And in the summer, try Toot’s, Otto’s inside outdoor patio. Best Dinner With a View of the River: To get a Rock star dining spot right on the river without the wait, try Drew’s River Saloon out west. Their small indoor bar area opens up to a large patio with a full view of the Anderson Ferry. The casual atmosphere makes this the perfect spot to grab a beer with co-workers or bring the family for a relaxed Sunday dinner. Best Happy Hour Deal: Seafood headquarters McCormick and Schmick’s offers a nice Happy Hour deal featuring half-pound burgers for $1.95 as well as lots of other deeply discounted items. And they make all of their drinks from fresh-squeezed juice. Best Outdoor Dining: Enjoy Indonesian recipes and refreshing lychee martinis al fresco at Gajah Wong during weather-friendly months. The restaurant’s back patio garden is a veritable urban oasis, complete with tiki torches, voluptuous fountains, plants and some lush foliage hanging overhead. On a mild evening, you can be transported to another, more relaxing place. Best Quick Lunch: The friendly folks at Sunshine Fine Foods consistently offer up solid soup and sandwich fare — along with a daily special or two — that won’t deplete your wallet. Helps with Poppies withdrawal on the west side of downtown. Best Way to Fill up on the Cheap: Say it with me now: Hallelujah, there is good cheap food! Just stop by Clifton Heights for two excellent examples. Cilantro Vietnamese Bistro (2616 Clifton Ave., 513-281-1732) offers meal-sized soups, noodle bowls and stir fry bowls with fresh ingredients all for under $7. Myra’s Dionysus (121 Calhoun St., 513-961-1578) has a bevy of sandwiches salads, entrees and rice dishes. The most expensive dish (chicken served with brown rice and vegetable) is just $7.50. Best Weekend Wrap-Up: Sure, the dinner prices at York St. Café ain’t exactly cheap, but their Sunday special — buy two entrees at regular price and get selected bottles of wine for only $1 — cuts a great deal of cost for folks who like bemoaning and/or boasting their weekend exploits over great food and an upgraded “hair of the dog.” Our recommendation? The conversation platters. An explosion of baked brie or a pile of spicy hummus are, alone, enough to rave about. Plus the delicious salads (which qualify as an entrée) are only $11 … but don’t tell ’em we squealed. Best Surprise at the Cookie Stand: Empanadas at Adrian’s at Findlay Market. A savory treat among the sweets! These handmade Mexican delights aren’t always available — check the whiteboard propped up against the wall. Best Unusual Dessert: Maybe the Northern Italian food smells will draw you into Biagio’s Bistro, but the dessert case will keep you coming back for more. One of the most distinctive desserts in the city, Biagio’s Balls ($5) are mini cream puffs encased in luscious dark chocolate, topped with more chocolate sauce and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Best Place for Fancy Desserts: Located in the old Rookwood Pottery restaurant, Porkopolis Tavern & Grill has taken fine dining to new kilns, er, heights. Their strawberry bourbonase ($6.50) is delectable for fruit lovers, and choco-holics can indulge on the triple chocolate mouse cake ($5.95). Their drinks are also acceptable accompaniments to dessert; they have a wide range of beer, wine, champagne and martinis. Best Kick in the Ribs: While Montgomery Inn is rightly praised for its ribs, the strawberry shortcake there is amazing. They make it only when strawberries are at their prime — so it’s a seasonal item. Like nothing you’ve ever tasted. Best Desserts in a Different Location: Following a recent move from Main Street in Over-the-Rhine, Take the Cake boasts a shiny new retro-looking storefront in Northside. They also boast the most amazingly scrumptious coconut cupcake ever (also possibly the biggest). Among other treats, they offer crisp cookies, custom wedding cakes and delectable delights worthy of Marie Antoinette. Best Artsy Cup of Joe: Equal amounts homey atmosphere and delicate artistry went into the design of the Speckled Bird Cafe. The coffee and food has a West Coast character – latte art (i.e., making shapes out of the milk that sits in the espresso) is norm here. The atmosphere is gourmet, too. A bank vault turned into a lounge, bamboo floors and a pair of tiny caged birds all craft the unique character of caffeinated serentity. Best Espresso: Les Stoneham brews a great demi-tasse at the non-profit Roh’s Street Café. He starts by using high-quality, fair-trade beans roasted to his specifications by local micro-roaster, ChuckRoast Coffee. The imported Italian espresso machine that’s nearly as large as a Hyundai (and probably cost more than one) finishes the job with panache. The results, as the say in Rome, are molto bene! Best Post-Party Food: After a night on the town, try a Camp Washington Chili fried egg and goetta sandwich. We’ve nicknamed it the Midnight Rambler. Want to know why? Hopple and Colerain avenues, Best “Brown” Food Selection: In addition to offering a 24-hour sit-down dining experience for the revel-weary, the Pepper Pod boasts a wall board of urban delicacies like fried pickle spears and chili cheese tater tots. Elevating the grand tradition of greasy spoons, these low-cost items accompany everything from spaghetti and meatballs to baked cod and onion rings. Psh, who needs White Castle at 2 a.m.? Best Hangover Cure: If there isn’t a Frisch’s big boy and onion rings handy, try one of Chez T Cuisine’s omelets with a cup of joe. Top it with a little Tabasco, and it’s sure to chase away those critters circling around what was once your brain.
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