Yearly Archives: 2010

Lalibela

Posted on March 26, 2010 by | 11 comments

Cuisine: Ethiopian
1111 South Hamilton Road
614.235.5355

Click here to map it!

You might, at first glance, take Lalibela for a Mexican cantina based on the exterior decor. Upon entering, pool tables and a large bar suggest little more than neighborhood watering hole.  Look (waaay) back to the right, though, and you’ll see a fairly large and ornately decorated dining area.  Beyond that lies a performance stage.

If the above, and the flyers at the entrance promoting DJs and musicians performing there, are any indication, Lalibela is something of a small entertainment hub geared towards our city’s Ethiopian population.

During lunch, though, it’s all about the food.  We settled on hot spicy lamb (lamb sauteed in jalapenos and spices) and quanta firfir (beef ‘jerky’ mixed with strips of injera in a sauce).

Every time we’ve had Ethiopian food, the presentation has never failed to impress.  Lalibela is no exception.  Both of our orders were served on a single large (probably close to 2′ in diameter) plate set within a covered woven basket.  The cover is removed (with a flourish) at the table by the server, and basket of injera strips is provided on the side.

A little bit about injera -it’s unusual stuff, and is an essential part of Ethiopian cuisine. It’s very thin, curious in its spongy texture and appearance, and is made from a flour/water mix that has been left to ferment so it has a sourdough-like tang to it. Injera is used as a ‘plate liner’ for most dishes (to sop up sauces from saucy foods above), in lieu of utensils (use strips of it to pinch food from the plate and bring it to the mouth), and is even occasionally mixed in with the dishes themselves (as with the quanta firfir).

The hot spicy lamb was pleasant enough – the lamb cubes were tasty (though perhaps a bit overdone), and the peppers, sauce, and onions rounded it out nicely.  Don’t take the name too seriously, though.  Our server went to great lengths to verify that we were OK with hot spicy food when we ordered this, but only the most meager hint of heat made it into the dish.

The quanta firfir was difficult to parse.  It seemed to have two different components from two different worlds.  The beef ‘jerky’, while conspicuously cured and dried, wasn’t especially tough (our server told us they cure and dry it in-house).  The flavor was spectacular – beefy, ‘woodsy’, nutty, and mushroom-like were just a few of the words used to describe it.  The injera and sauce, though, were puzzling as they seemed to almost cancel each other out, flavor-wise.

Another oddity was the tanginess of the injera provided on the side – it was far beyond that of any other injera we’ve tried.  Since you get some of it with each bite, this is more important than it might seem.  Perhaps we just got a bad batch?

Lalibela gets good buzz from the people we’ve talked with, and in spite of a few of the hiccups we encountered it’s easy to see why that might be.  At under $10/dish, it’s worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Vegetarians should be happy at Lalibela as there’s a significant meat-free offering.

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Posted in African, Ethiopian

Safari Coffee

Posted on March 24, 2010 by | 8 comments

Cuisine: Somali
3414 Cleveland Avenue
614.262.2811

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We visited Safari Coffee late on a “school night” which made the majority of the Somali portion of the drink menu off limits, as they were mostly caffeinated coffees and teas. This was just a small speed bump in experiencing the wares of the brightly-lit joint; while drinks were a no-no, desserts were totally okay. Which is good, because I like desserts.

Four unmarked desserts were available for my consumption, and as we were a small army of what our previous restaurant referred to as “Caucasians,” there was a high probability that we could try all in one sitting.

As far as ambiance goes, Safari Coffee, at the corner of Cleveland Ave. and Innis Rd., has the looks of many Somali places throughout the city: fluorescent lighting, a television showcasing Al Jazeera, bright colors and a very clean feel.

Throw in smoothies and all sorts of western soft drinks, and you have a comfortable stepping point into Somali cuisine for the cautious-yet-curious.

Two of the dessert offerings, pictured above, were quite “safe,” even for the non-adventurous. To the left is qumbe, a close relation to the macaroon. This moist bar cookie is made up of coconut, sugar, milk and flour. On the right is a lightly sweetened cookie, subtle in flavor and similar to a biscuit one might have with tea in England. The antithesis to overly-sweet American desserts, this cookie was a tiny bit dry, meant, of course, to go with the caffeinated drinks that I didn’t order.

And then there’s this. When I first saw it in the dessert case, I thought it looked like some sort of animal part – a liver or a heart, perhaps – served in a ziplock bag. I kept this opinion to myself and strongly lobbyed for someone else to order it, so that I could try it, yet not feel obligated to finish it. Halwa, as its called, is like a hardened jello without with gelatin. (Vegetarians, this dessert is likely safe!) The dish is made up of sugar, cornstarch, peanuts and spices like nutmeg, cardamom and saffron. I found that it tasted a little like ginger snaps, and nothing like animal parts.

And so. Somali food isn’t all just goat meat and unfamiliar spices, especially when you start with dessert.

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Posted in African, Somali

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Lee Garden (Dim Sum)

Posted on March 23, 2010 by | 10 comments

This restaurant closed at the end of 2011.

Cuisine: Chinese
2685 Federated Boulevard
614.764.1525

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When I caught wind of a group of Columbus Undergrounders plotting a trip to Lee Garden for dim sum, well… it didn’t take much arm twisting.  Dim sum is an exceptionally unique experience, and a regrettably rare offering in Columbus.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, there are (to my mind) two basic ideas to build on – brunch and selection.  Brunch, in that weekends between 11am and 2pm are the traditional time to take dim sum (some believe that the very concept of brunch in the US was derived from dim sum’s introduction here).  Selection, in that the format is small plates (think Chinese tapas) and there are something on the order of 50+ distinct options on offer.

I’m tempted to add ‘instant gratification’ to that list – these plates come out on a series of carts that circulate around the dining room.  When one comes to your table, the cover is lifted and you may choose as you please.  Each cart has around 4-8 options, and carts swing by frequently enough that you’ll rarely be left wanting.

Our group of ten was seated at a large, round table conveniently topped with a lazy susan.

With guidance from DavidF (the trip organizer and a veteran dim sum enthusiast), we filled the lazy susan with a wide assortment of small dishes.

Pictured above is a portion of our meal, including pork and shrimp shu mai, potstickers, shrimp har gow, and chicken feet.  This represents perhaps a third of the total number of dished ordered.

From here, things become a bit of a blur… the lazy susan spinning, chopsticks snatching bites, people trying to reconcile their desire to share with wanting just one more taste of… that (or was that just me?)  To try to recount the whole experience is beyond me, so I’ll just hit on a few of the more memorable bites:

Pork shumai – A mix of pork, onions and mushrooms filling what is essentially an open-ended steamed dumpling.  That these are delicious is no surprise, as they’ve achieved such a level of popularity that they can even be found in the freezer section at the supermarket.  Skip those, and eat these.  You’ll be glad you did.

BBQ Pork Buns (char siu bao) – These are snow white steamed buns filled with a lurid red BBQ pork.  The bun texture is somewhat dense and chewy, and difficult to describe save to say that its entirely unlike anything you’d expect from a wheat based bread (which it is).  Get a bite of it with some of the sweet and garlicky BBQ filling, though, and it all makes sense.  This was the dish that DavidF craved the most, and it was easy to understand why.

Chicken Feet – a hell of a lot of work must’ve gone into turning the raw feet into what made it to my plate – these were the complete opposite of tough and chewy, almost unnervingly so.  Each bite, for me, equated to one ‘toe’, and became a mouth exercise in separating gelatinous flesh from bone.  The flavor of the black bean sauce was enjoyable, and… I guess I can say I did it.

———————-

Eventually, the ordering slowed down and the slump of satisfaction set in.  We ate a lot… what’s that going to set us back?

$9 and change per person.  All dishes cost between $2.95 and $3.95.  Quite a few of the dishes appear to be vegetarian, though I’d suggest asking about the sauces to make sure.  Pescetarians should be fine.

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Posted in Chinese

Dominic’s Jamaican Restaurant – Closed

Posted on March 20, 2010 by | 12 comments

Cuisine: Jamaican
2458 Cleveland Ave (On the intersection of Myrtle and Cleveland)
614.725.4735
Website: http://www.dominicsjamaicanrestaurant.com

Click here to map it!

Island cuisine isn’t something we run into often in Columbus. When someone brought in some Dominic’s takeout into a bar I was at a few weeks ago, I promptly attacked the poor man for more information and the take out menu. I was also trying hard to charm him into sharing some of his food with me, but all the winks and offers of free beer went unanswered. After eating at Dominic’s, now I know why the stranger refused to share.

TacoDrew and I ordered conch fritters for starters. (Conch in Columbus, we thought? It is a menu item not easily found fresh in Cbus) Our instinct were correct, the chef came out and apologize for the lack of conch and offered us cod fritters ($5) instead.

These fritters were similar in execution as hush puppies. Instead of cornmeal, we have a batter of salted cod, pickled onions, scallions and a small amount of flour. The accompanying sauce was freshly made with lots of the usual salsa like ingredients. However it slightly more tart due to the vinegar and it was a great counterpoint to the fried fritters.

For our entree, we ordered a medium sized curry goat ($8) and jerk chicken ($7). The entrees comes with two sides. We picked fried plantains and pasta olivonge for the goat, rice and peas and fried dumplings for the jerk chicken.

The goat was tender and falling off the bones and lightly season with curry powder. It can be made spicier upon request but we were told by the waitress that they eat it on the mild side in Jamaica. They really know what they are doing with goat here as it is devoid of the usual musky and uric properties that goat tends to have when handled improperly. The plantains were sweet and fried with skill as it was not greasy. The pasta was a nice surprise as it was refreshingly light and healthy with lots of veggies and the use of sun-dried tomatoes was lovely.

This is a jerk I would be happy to see. The chicken was tender, had a great smoky flavor and was well seasoned with jerk spices. There is an option for white meat for an additional $1 but we stuck with the recommended dark meat and did not regret that choice. The fried dumplings that came with it was a cross between a donut hole and a biscuit. It would have been best eaten for dessert with some jam. The rice and peas were amazing! I couldn’t stop eating it, then again I am a sucker for rice cooked in coconut milk. It was rich without being cloying and made the rice very fragrant.

Marlon and Andrew runs Dominic’s which is named after Marlon’s son. They were very friendly and hospitable and went out of their way to educate us about Jamaican food and showed us how they made jerk chicken out back. It is slow roasted over charcoal embers. Andrew told us that the secret to jerk is freshly ground pimento (allspice) and black pepper. The menu has quite a few vegetarian items but Andrew said that he has a longer list of vegetarian dishes in his head. So if you want vegetarian Jamaican grub, just ask Andrew for some suggestions. He does vegan too by request.

Needless to say, we will be back for more as there are some other traditional Jamaican dishes to explore like ackee, saltfish and oxtails. Dominic’s may be new to the restaurant scene, having recently opened in Feb 2010, but there are some old hands back in that kitchen brewing some island magic.

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Posted in Jamaican

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Bangkok

Posted on March 20, 2010 by | 17 comments

Cuisine: Thai
3277 Refugee Road
(614) 231-8787

Click here to map it!

Thais love food. A lot.

When amongst a group of Thais who find themselves in Columbus, try asking about their favorite place for (insert non-Thai Asian dish here). Don’t be surprised if this spurs a passionate 20 minute discussion of the pros and cons of any of a variety of options.

Now, try this – ask about their favorite place to go when they’re homesick.  Odds are, discussion will begin and end with a single word: Bangkok.

This is not surprising, since Bangkok (the restaurant) is nothing less than a slice of Bangkok (the city), that’s been picked up and plonked down on Refugee Rd. in our fair city.  A place where decor is reserved for expressions of respect for Buddha, king, and country, and service is leisurely and charming… Bangkok is pure Thai through and through.

This, of course, extends to the menu offering.  While Bangkok carries an abbreviated menu of Chinese-American dishes, to order one is, at least in my opinion, to entirely miss the point.  Who orders Tex-Mex in Rome?

Certainly not Warren Taylor*, owner of Snowville Creamery, who we (purely by chance) ran into during our visit.  As soon as the wait staff saw him, a series of nods back and forth indicated that he’d be having ‘the usual’.

In his case, this meant pad hoi (mussels in red sauce) and pad puck boong (watercress in a garlic sauce).  When this arrived, along with our pork pad ka pow (ground pork with basil and garlic) and pad thai, Warren suggested eating ‘family style’.

Our kind of guy, that Warren.

I tried the pad hoi first.  This was something special – a generous portion of some of the plumpest mussels I’ve ever seen, served with vegetables in a red sauce.  The red sauce was fascinating – almost everyone at the table thought tasted like a Thai interpretation of a tomatoey marinara sauce that had been pureed.  Delighted but slightly confused, we asked the waitress about this. Turns out, we were comically off – the red color came from a mild chili paste (no tomatoes whatsoever). Fish sauce, garlic, and basil rounded it out.  A dish worth plotting a return trip around.

pad ka pow (front) and pad hoi (back)

The pad ka pow was also very well received.  The ground pork hit the sweet spot between too lean and too fatty, and the sweet basil, garlic, and chiles asserted themselves in no uncertain terms.  A great dish that effortlessly balances big flavors, pad ka pow is often eaten by Thais with kai dao (a fried egg).

The pad thai – I almost hesitate to even mention it.  Not because it wasn’t good (it absolutely was), but because people’s opinions about it are almost as divergent as their take on, say, pizza.  Suffice it to say that everyone at our table enjoyed it, with several suggesting it was their favorite.

Beyond what we tried, Bangkok’s Thai selection is substantial – from yum nuea to tom yum to curries, they hit all of the high points and then some. They also have a reasonable selection of vegetable dishes, though strict vegetarians may want to inquire about their use of fish sauce.

Regrettably, the majority of the photos from the evening were lost to faulty technology.  Guess we’ll just have to go back sometime soon (such a hardship!).

*Warren Taylor, aside from being a hell of an interesting character, oversees the production of a product is perhaps worthy of an alt.eats post of its own. For the time being, though, if you haven’t tried Snowville’s milk or cream I highly recommend you do.

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Posted in Thai

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