Mini Review: Yagoot

On Saturday, our only free day, Terry and I decided to wander around Rookwood: Sur la Table, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Joseph Beth, Dog About Town (though neither of us has dogs...). We noticed "free sample" and saw that Yagoot was open! So we went in and got two samples: coffee and regular.

The coffee was OK-- nice coffee flavor, not too sweet, with the Yagoot trademark tang. I preferred the regular-- not too sweet, tangy-- and I really liked it more and more the closer to the bottom of the bowl I got. I hear it's like Pinkberry, but without the artificial stuff they were recently revealed to contain. I'll go back and maybe try the salad, which sounds pretty cool. Any way to make ice cream seem healthier.

I tried to take some pics, but found out that my battery had died. Oops! I'll be back to take some pics this week.

I will post reviews later, but for now, links!

I'm a real fan of Orville Redenbacher's Naturals popcorn, particularly the individual serving bags that I grab from costco (with no funny chemicals, thank goodness). However, I don't know why I didn't think of just brown bagging it-- literally. Mark Bittman writes today about how easy it is to make your own microwave popcorn. Why didn't I think of that? I have some garlic-macadamia oil that needs some use...

I'm hoping I can drag Terry to Findlay Market early on Saturday morning so we can pick up some Ramps at Madison's. I really, really want to make Ramp Compound Butter. I have no idea what I will do with a huge log of ramp compound butter, but how can I resist?

And in case you're wondering, my next reviews are Habanero, Via Vite and a full review of The Quarter Bistro's menu (not just sandwiches). This weekend, I'll do a special dinner theater review and Chalk (finally), with special blog guest, My Mom!

Shameless Plug: Hair!

While you're in Newport, perhaps checking out La Mexicana or York Street Cafe, check out Falcon Theatre's production of Hair, which opens tonight. We're sold out for tomorrow, but all of the other nights still have seats available. The show is great-- lots of fun, and a few very moving moments. And the costumes are fantastic.

Review: Arnold's

Arnold's is Cincinnati's oldest operating bar, dating back to 1861, back when bier halls ruled the Cincinnati landscape. It's a cool place-- if you squint just a little, you can almost see how it was back in the 1860s, with the original, intricately carved bar and green and white awning. It has great atmosphere, that's undeniable. And the courtyard, on a nice spring evening like we had last Saturday, is the perfect place to have a few drinks with friends. This was my third visit. The first was a date back in 1999, with a guy who just moved here from Chicago, and though born in Mason and raised Catholic, fancied himself a sort of Woody Allen in training. I remember I had some sort of vegetarian pasta (I was in a brief vegetarian phase) and my date requested that the piano player play a song for me. It was, I remember, "The Way You Look Tonight", which is still one of my favorites. I was also easily impressed. I'm pretty sure he dumped me shortly thereafter, and I think it had something to do with "not being over" his last girlfriend. I used to get that a lot. The second time was last summer and it was average. This time, it was selected based on proximity to The Blue Wisp, where a few friends and I had decided we needed to go to the last time we all went out for dinner.

Our friends, Tracy and Ted, were running late, so Jay, Ron, Terry and I had drinks and ordered an appetizer: fried green tomatoes. We were hungry, and they were pretty good-- cornbread crusted, served with a spicy mayonnaise.

Yes, kids, that's all that was left before I realized that we needed to take a picture.

Arnold's has a new chef, so she has been putting out a "weekend" menu to accompany the regular menu. Tracy and Ron ordered from the regular menu, and Ted, Terry, Jay and I tried some selections from the new menu. I didn't ask each of them their opinion, as I think I weirded them out enough by taking the pictures (and none, except Ron, are into blogs), so you'll mostly get Terry and my opinion on this dinner, but pictures of everything.

Each of the new menu items was served with "Italian Slaw". I have no idea what was italian about it. It was decent-- a very vinegary dressing served over cole slaw mix-- but tasted pretty much like a cold hot slaw, without the bacon.

Terry got the Mediterranean Chicken, which was chicken in a tomato and cream sauce with some olives. He said it was okay, but nothing he couldn't have made at home. The bite I had seemed a little uninspired.

I got the Java Pork. I really like the trend of coffee and pork. However, this tasted like someone took day-old coffee grounds and rubbed it all over the pork tenderloin, then tossed it in the oven and forgot about it. Is that harsh? I could overlook the far too coarse grind of the coffee and just scrape it off if the pork hadn't been like shoe leather. I ate about two bites of the pork and concentrated on the horseradish mashed potatoes (which were not horseradishy) and the green beans, which were garlicky and not overcooked, thus good. The dijon sauce that tops the pork was also okay, if a little too creamy in an artificial, out-of-the-jar way. I also thought the plates were huge-- which lead to a pretty unattractive presentation. I'm also not a fan of the ice-cream-scoop school of potato portions, as it reminds me far too much of high school lunches. That's the last thing I want to be reminded of on a Saturday night.

Ron got the Greek pasta, a favorite of his. He deemed it good.

Ted got the salmon en papillote, which he said was nice-- the salmon wasn't overcooked, and the vegetables were nicely done. So far, we're a sad 1/3 for the "new" menu.

Tracy really liked her muffaletta, but could barely finish it-- it was huge!

And Jay said that if he was going to appear on a blog, he'd better do something memorable. He ordered the fish sandwich, which seemed sort of lackluster. I didn't get his opinion of it, but on appearances, it didn't impress.

Arnold's still has great atmosphere. It seems like the best option, if you're going to eat there, is to order off of the "old" menu. It's nothing fancy, but it's certainly not bad. I'll go back for drinks and appetizers -- how can you pass up having a drink at a bar that outlived Prohibition?

Review: Apsara, Blue Ash

5chw4r7z, Mary, Steve, Pablo, Terry and I trekked to Blue Ash for dinner on Friday night as prelude to seeing Ms.5chw4r7z's show at Tri County Players. After much email haggling, we decided on Apsara, which is in Watson Brothers Brewery's old location.

Terry and I were the first ones there, so we grabbed a drink at the bar-- I had a pineapple vodka on the rocks, and he had a Blue Moon. They have an extensive bar area-- pretty sure a reworked version of the original-- and a very extensive draught beer selection, particularly for an Asian restaurant. They had Kirin on tap, as well as a bunch of microbrews and some popular imports.

We all grabbed appetizers-- Steve and Mary had frog legs (which, I'm told, did indeed taste like chicken), Pablo had some gyoza, and Terry and I picked some tempura and gyoza. The tempura was perfect-- light, crunchy, not a bit greasy, and the dipping sauce (which I'm pretty sure was ponzu) was a light, salty compliment. Plus, there were slices of sweet potatoes, my favorite! The gyoza were a touch watery, but had a nice flavor. They were not exceptional.

Terry saw their monstrous sushi bar (see 5chw4r7z's pics!) and decided that he wanted sushi. Smart guy. He chose a Playboy Roll, which was the biggest sushi roll I've ever seen. I figured, as it was a Playboy Roll, that it would be somehow silicone enhanced, would serve me drinks, and perhaps have a fluffy bunny tail (which I know from the Kirstie Alley TV Movie version of Gloria Steinem's A Bunny's Tale that you were NOT supposed to touch! The bunny tail is sacred! Anyway, you now know what I watched on cable as a kid, and I think it explains quite a bit), however, it did not. It DID, however, have spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, mango and asparagus topped with cooked shrimp, sriracha, mayonnaise and furikake finished with eel sauce and, according to the menu, "all wrapped in foil and barbecued at table". It was wrapped in foil. It was not barbecued at the table. This is okay-- it was pretty darn fantastic. I have no idea where they got the name, except perhaps that it was probably the most excessive sushi roll I've ever eaten-- it had a blend of flavors, was a little messy and was falling all over itself. In retrospect, I suppose it IS a bit like the stuff I've seen going on at the Playboy Mansion. Creative!

Because I am a lemming and Liberal Foodie told me to, I ordered the duck. Mmm. Duckiness. It was indeed crispy, and the sauce was great-- it was sweet, then salty, then packed a really spicy kick. The vegetables were all delicious and crisp-tender. The duck itself was a little dry-- a hard thing to do with duck-- but not bad. I preferred the vegetables and the jasmine coconut rice with the sauce. Yum.

Though I rarely go up to Blue Ash, Apsara will definitely become a favorite when I'm in the neighborhood. It's a far more upscale Asian experience than most restaurants around here, the atmosphere is killer, and the sushi was great. In fact, the next time I go, I'll probably skip the entree and just do sushi and appetizers. It's a great value and a great experience.

New blogs (take a peek)

Seems like there are a few more foodies on the Cincinnati wagon train!

Restaurants and Reservations Two people, one blog. Always liked that idea.

West Side Foodie Wannabes Two people, Catholic West Siders. I probably know them-- we should play west side bingo sometime! And it looks like they were inspired by Cincinnati Magazine, too.

Interesting scuttlebutt over at the Foodie Report

Seems like there's a divorce in the works in the Jean Robert group. What do you think? I haven't yet been to Chalk-- though I've heard mixed things. I would hate to see Lavomatic be run into the ground, and I admit that I prefer Greenup for breakfast or lunch and not dinner. JeanRo Bistro has left me unimpressed. Opinions?

Review: Great American Ball Park

Ah, it's baseball season. Who cares if the Reds aren't doing very well (okay, we care, but I think that we in Cincinnati are pretty used to losing pro sports teams), it's still fun to go to the ballpark, grab a hot dog and a beer, and sit back and relax.

Problem is, the Reds ballpark has the worst traditional ballpark junk food ever. The "regular" hot dogs, Kahn's, are tasteless-- they're slightly more moist versions of the bun they serve them on . In the Club Level (we had free tickets that came with Terry's season ticket package), the food is pretty much the same as the rest of the park, except that it's even more overpriced-- adding insult to injury. I realize that I'll pay too much at a ballpark for food, but does it have to be tasteless?

You do have other options: Penn Station is a nice choice, and as Veggie Option noted, you can get vegetarian hot dogs. You can also have a La Rosa's pizza delivered to your seat, or buy it and other La Rosa's products by the slice.

My favorite thing about the ball park?

Oh, yes. The onion machine. That and some brown mustard are the only thing that can rescue those hot dogs. And they don't even sell fresh nachos with that nasty cheese dip anymore! It's all prepackaged, except at one stand (and I have no idea where it is).

The Club seats really aren't worth the extra money, except perhaps on a hot day when you'd like a mixed drink (gin and tonic is my choice) and some a/c or some healthy options, like fruit or chicken. It is really pretty, and the bathrooms are really clean.

Sometime, we'll try to make it to The Machine Room before or after a game. We ended up going to Rock Bottom for a beer in the seventh inning-- the score was 9-1. But it was a beautiful night for a ball game.

Mini Review: Lavomatic's Brunch

Does Ohio realize how much more revenue could be produced at restaurants if we could just have a stinking Mimosa on a Sunday morning? I do not understand why we have such anachronistic alcohol laws. Particularly because there's nothing that goes better with eggs benedict than a mimosa.

Conversation between the waiter and me:

"Would you like some dessert, ma'am?"
"No, I'm pretty sure I just ate it..."

(Cherry cordial french toast: tart cherries, brioche, chocolate ganache. Heaven.)

A quick hello!

Hi, everyone who's reached me via What I Wore Today! Kasmira wrote for me last week, so I wrote for her, this week! And thanks for all of the compliments. I hope I can come up with a few more good outfits to send Kasmira's way.

And for proof we actually hang out together:

Kasmira, our friend Julia, and me. We played Joanne, Kathy and Mary (respectively) in Vanities together about a year ago, which is how we met.