Author Archives: tacodrew

Helen’s Asian Kitchen

Posted on March 26, 2012 | 13 comments

Cuisine – Chinese

1070 E. Dublin Granville Rd. 43229
614.987.5121
website

Click here to map it!

In a nutshell, there are 3 things worth knowing about Helen’s:

1) They serve some great Chinese dishes including soup dumplings, the first we’ve encountered in Columbus.
2) As good as Helen’s is, it promises to get better in some interesting and exciting ways.
3) Well… we’ll leave #3 to the end of this write up.

Regarding point #1 – Dumplings are a distinct specialty of the house. There are quite a few on the menu – shao mai (AKA shu mai),  boiled pork, shrimp, and vegetable varieties, and steamed beef.  All of these were enjoyed, with special nods going to the boiled beef dumplings and the Shanghai style shao mai.

But the dumpling we came for was the xiaolong bun (aka xiaolong bao, and spelled either way they’re the aforementioned soup dumplings). They’re the rage in Chinatowns all over the US, and some in our group of 6 had been craving them since visiting China and trying them there. An uneasy mix of anticipation – I want a good soup dumpling! – and dread – these are going to be a disappointment, aren’t they? – lingered at the table.

Xiaolong Bao - Soup Dumplings

And then they arrived. To my eye they didn’t look like anything special, but then again, from my perspective Chinese dumplings rarely do. They’re delicate, and partially filled with a broth, so great care is required in moving them from the steamer basket to your plate without puncturing the wrap and creating a leak. The pros in the group took a small bite out of the wrapper, slurped from the rich broth contained within, and… declared Helen’s soup dumplings a winner.

It’s easy to see why. The broth is unfathomably rich and delicious, and the experience finishes with eating the wrapper and the pork-sausage-like nugget within that’s been marinating in the broth. Absolutely memorable, and a steal at 10 dumplings for $7.50.

Having more than satisfied our dumpling desires, we moved on to a few of Helen’s other dishes. Her crispy pork pan-fried noodles were deemed an excellent example of the genre, and the Chinese broccoli dish made for a satisfying counterpoint to all of the richness that came before.

On to #2 – Good as it already is, Helen made a point of letting us know that her restaurant is a nonetheless a work in progress. House-made noodles are an anticipated addition, Chinese hot pots are a promised future offering, and even dim sum may be in the cards. Some of these additions sound as though they’re related to the impending arrival of Helen’s husband from China.

Alright, now for #3. It a point that seems silly to make much of, but once inside it’s something that’s hard to ignore. Helen’s occupies a large and meticulously clean stand-alone space… that clearly was previously a strip club. Mirrored walls, a stage, and some curious lighting are clear indicators of the building’s previous purpose. Once seated, this may strike you as curious, entertaining, or perhaps even vaguely unsettling, but it won’t go unnoticed and it’ll very likely lead to some lively dinner table conversation.

At least until the food comes out, at which point I feel confident in saying that Helen’s kitchen chops will quickly become the focus. We’re thoroughly enthused by her current offerings, eager to see what’s to come, and highly recommend checking Helen’s Asian kitchen out.

13 Comments

Posted in Chinese, Restaurant

Tagged , ,

Freshstreet Yakitori

Posted on December 28, 2011 | 9 comments

Cuisine: Japanese

482 S. Front St.
Columbus, OH 43215
614.531.0023

Open  Thursday through Saturday, 6:30pm – Midnight

Click here to map it!

There exists, in the Brewery District, a bar with no signage. The owners seem to do little in the way of self-promotion, and the lights are dimmed to the point that you might not even think they’re open. They occupy the old Gibby’s building on Front St., and call themselves ‘Double Happiness’.

Once inside, you’ll not mistake them for Gibby’s, or for that matter, any other Brewery District watering hole past or present. Huge red lamps hang from the ceiling, and a strong East Asian vibe permeates. DJs spin on some nights, live music occurs on others. Asian beers and sake-based drinks are the bar’s specialties. The place aims for and hits ‘cool’ dead center.

The only reason we know of this place is because we know Kenny Kim and Misako Ohba, owners of Fresh Street. They have struck a deal with Double Happiness, and now serve kushiyaki (and more) out of the previously dormant kitchen within. They call this new endeavor ‘Freshstreet Yakitori’.

Yakitori, literally translated from Japanese, means charcoal-grilled chicken on skewers. In the US, it’s often (mis)used to refer to anything Japanese-inspired that is charcoal-grilled on skewers, which is a range of offering that should technically fall under the umbrella term of ‘kushiyaki‘.

I mention this only to underscore one point – Freshstreet is serving far more than chicken. In addition to chicken thighs, skin, wings, and meatballs, they’re also serving pork belly, pork cheek, beef short ribs, bacon-wrapped mushrooms, beef heart & kidney, and on and on. As of our last stop in, they had perhaps 13 unique skewer options, with more to come.

I fear I may have objectivity problems – I’m thoroughly enamored with Kenny & Misako, and I’m a sucker for charcoal-grilled meats. When I walked in, it went something like this:

So it made for a good reality check when I happened to talk to a local restauranteur who is well versed in Japanese street foods, and had just been to Double Happiness. They said that Freshstreet’s kushiyaki was about as good as any they’d had anywhere.

Freshstreet also offers ramen and rice balls, and both are seriously good. The ramen’s chicken broth sets the standard in town, and the subtle spicing and crusty grilled exterior of the rice balls make for an edifying experience.

Expect the menu to change somewhat due to availability of ingredients, time of year, and the whims of the kitchen. This has long been a big part of the charm of Fresh Street, and our general advice would be to roll with it – you might not necessarily get the thing you’ve been craving from last time, but you’ll probably discover something new that you’ll end up craving next time.

Please note that Freshstreet provides vegetarian and vegan options. Skewers generally run between $2.50 and $4.00 each, and cups of ramen run $4.00 apiece.

9 Comments

Posted in Japanese

Tagged , , , ,

Chuchay’s

Posted on November 18, 2011 | 8 comments

Cuisine: Filipino

6099 McNaughten Center
Columbus, OH 43232
614.566.1501

Click here to map it!

The first time we ate here, it was called ‘Noni’s’ (the sign out front still reads as such) and, to be frank, we felt ourselves to be unqualified in trying to evaluate a cuisine (Filipino) that none of us had had much experience with.

We had, however, been to our fair share of small ethnic start-up restaurants and have had the opportunity to observe the ways in which they typically succeed and fail early on. From that perspective, Noni’s was off to a good start. The space is bright (think acid green with electric orange trim), clean, and well sorted, and the service was solid. Perhaps even more impressively, when our large group ordered all of the most unusual sounding dishes off of their huge menu, we didn’t hear ‘we don’t have that today’ once. For a restaurant that was all of a couple of weeks old, that’s no small feat.

But still, what to think about the food?

Upon finishing our meal, we recalled that we had a resource in Carl Acampado, owner of Rogue Bakery and beneficiary of many a home-cooked Filipino meal. He agreed to accompany us on our next trip, though not without perhaps a slight hint of pessimism about the venture.

The oddness of returning to find a restaurant of a different name (now Chuchay’s) with a somewhat different (but still Filipino) menu didn’t add exactly serve to brighten the outlook.

Fortunately, most everything that followed that did. The space was unchanged, and the service was equally competent. Everything that was on the menu was available, and we suspect that access to the Filipino grocery a few doors down (also called Chuchay’s) is no small part of that.

We started by browsing the menu items with the suffix ‘-silog‘ – which simply means ‘with rice and eggs’. Anything before the suffix indicates the accompaniment – cornsilog is corned beef with rice and egg, longsilog is longaniza sausage with same, and if you want it with a hotdog you’ll order… you guessed it… hotsilog.

At Carl’s suggestion, we selected the longsilog. It was a great choice. My first taste of the longaniza reminded me of a perfect bite of pineapple-topped Los Guachos al pastor – Sweet and salty, porky and garlicky, and with just a hint of char. Unsurprisingly, eggs and rice accompany wonderfully.

Longsilog

The chicken adobo, often considered the national dish of the Philippines, was also thoroughly enjoyed. Soy, garlic, vinegar, and peppercorns gave a nice, slightly tangy flavor to the tender chicken.

Chicken Adobo

The lechon kawali (fried skin-on pork) was reasonably good, but may have suffered in comparison to the big flavors that came before. The skin was crispy and a bit tough, while the unadorned pork flesh below was notably mild in flavor. Not bad by any means, but a bit of a wallflower in this party of type-A tastes.

Lechon Kawali

Which brings us to the crispy pata, described on the menu as deep-fried pig knuckles (pig knuckles, the small end of the ham, are also known as ham hocks). There was no mistaking this for anything other than pork – deeply gamey pork – and it was so intense in flavor that its potency became divisive. There was very little in the way of actual meat, mostly crispy fried skin… which was OK by me.

Crispy Pata

Finally, for dessert, we tried the halo-halo, one of the few Filipino dishes I’d actually heard of before coming here. ‘Halo’ means ‘mix’ in Tagalog, and that’d seem to refer equally well to the mix of unusual ingredients and the act of mixing this layered treat up before eating it. The specifics of the ingredients themselves seem somewhat open to interpretation, but it’s fair to say that one should expect at minimum, more-or-less, the following: shaved ice, evaporated or coconut milk, tropical fruit, sweet beans, and ice cream (often a brilliantly lavender ube ice cream, not unlike taro in flavor).

Halo Halo

And that’s exactly what you’re getting at Chuchay’s. And it’s good. And sweet beans and ube strike some as unnerving ingredients… and they shouldn’t. Simply put, if you have a sweet tooth, you want this.

So, once we had chewed the last pig knuckle and slurped the last of the halo-halo slush, we asked of Carl the question that was on everyone’s mind: “Would you bring your mother here?”

“Yes”, was his unhesitating response.

8 Comments

Posted in Filipino

Tagged

Buckeye Pho

Posted on September 13, 2011 | 18 comments

vietnamese food columbus761 Bethel Rd., Columbus, OH 43214
614.451.2828
Open Mon-Thurs 11am – 10pm, Fri-Sat 11am – 10:30pm, Sun 11am – 9pm

Click here to map it!

Buckeye Pho is one hell of an interesting experiment.

As the name might suggest, the interest comes from how they wed an ethnic cuisine (in this case Vietnamese) to resolutely Ohio-centric branding. A few have gone down this path before – the ill-fated Buckeye Sambusa, to name one – but none have committed to the concept so completely.

And by commitment, I mean investment. Few new independent restaurants in recent memory have debuted with such a bright and shiny interior space, and I can’t think of any (true) ethnic restaurants in town that can boast of such refinement. A brilliant glossy stainless-steel kitchen gleams from behind a glass-tile-clad kitchen bar counter. Three large flat-screen TVs above the kitchen show a mix of news and sports. Rich red wood tables gleam with multiple coats of lacquer. Earth tones and OSU crimson adorn the walls, as does a stripe comprised of hundreds of real buckeyes. We were seated by a tie-wearing host, and the rest of the front-of-house staff wore customized black Buckeye Pho polo shirts. Kitchen staff wore strictly chef’s whites.

The effect, in sum, is that of a small localized Champps – not a whiff of ‘ethnic hole in the wall’ vibe anywhere and nothing so much as a nod to the culture that spawned the cuisine.

columbus vietnamese restaurants

At least until one opens the menu. As we waited for our food, we felt a gaze upon us. A group of six men, by appearance probably construction workers, peered in through the window… and apparently liked what they saw. They entered and were seated next to us, and began perusing the menu. We’re not above listening in and observing, and what we heard and saw was puzzlement. The server walked them through their options, they ordered, and cracked self-depricating jokes regarding their cluelessness about ‘Oriental food’. Their food came, they ate, they seemed to enjoy.

This is clearly the idea behind the place – to entice those who are unlikely to try Vietnamese to feel as comfortable as possible in doing so. Like I said, a bold play… and one that might just work.

And it’s a worthwhile introduction to make, as Buckeye Pho’s owners are related to the owner of Mi Li Cafe. It shows in the food – the banh mi rolls have the same satisfying crunch, and the pho comes with a similarly rich and satisfying broth. This is true, unadulterated Vietnamese cuisine done well.

vietnamese restaurant bethel road columbus
Pictured (clockwise from top left): signature pho; grilled beef banh mi (Vietnamese sub); Saigon soup (wonton like chicken broth with shrimp, crab sticks, chicken, chicken liver and roast duck) and bun thit nuong cha gio (vermicelli with grilled pork and spring rolls).

Interestingly, on a strip that has long been known for its many Asian restaurants, this is the first Vietnamese Restaurant on Bethel Rd. It makes the strip all the more compelling as a destination. If you’re into pho and the like, Buckeye Pho is a great new option. If you’re saddled with ‘that one friend’ whose lack of adventurousness limits your dining options, tell ’em you’d like to try out ‘a new restaurant’ and take ’em here. They won’t know what’s you’ve done until it’s too late, and they might just like it.

In spite of the spiffy atmosphere, prices are entirely reasonable. Apps start at $3.00, banh mi sandwiches run from $5.00 to $6.00, and larger dishes range from $4.50 – $10.50. Vegetarians will likely have a tough time here.

18 Comments

Posted in Vietnamese

Tagged ,

Westgate Thai

Posted on July 12, 2011 | 14 comments

Cuisine: Thai

3201 Sullivant Ave., Columbus OH
614.458.1165
Open 10am – 8pm, daily except Tuesday.

Click here to map it!

Thai restaurants have been found in and around Columbus for quite some time, but… ummm, how should we put this… unadulterated Thai has been thin on the ground with Bangkok as the only game in town. But with the recent opening of Erawan, and now Westgate Thai, the full flavors of Thailand are steadily working their way into the city’s consciousness.

Westgate Thai operates out of the Westgate Import Market, and occupies the kitchen and dining area that previously hosted the lovably improbable ‘Lindo Mexican/Cambodian restaurant’ (the signage for Lindo is still up, if you find it you’ve found Westgate). Accommodations are basic, with perhaps 16 seats in total, but service is consistently kind and thorough.

The entirety of the staff consists of a husband and wife duo, with the wife in the kitchen and the husband manning the front of house. Given the small size of the operation, this has been more than adequate, and wait times have been entirely acceptable.

Pad Phrik King

The food’s been great. From the yum woon sen to the pad phrik khing to the nice selection of curries, we haven’t found a bad pick in the bunch… and we’ve probably eaten more than half of the menu. They’ll adjust for your taste in spicy heat, which is to say that if you like it truly hot they’ll be happy to take that as a challenge.

If, among the fairly wide selection available, you’re looking for a place to start, I’d recommend the khao kaphrao khai dao (my preference is with pork) – a potent shot of Thai basil mingling with garlicky porky goodness, served with an egg that’s been fried until crispy around the edges (but still maintains a runny yolk) and rice. Try it as the Thais tend to do, by constructing bites with pork, egg, and rice all on one spoonful (yes, Thais mostly use a fork and spoon at the table).

Yum Woon Sen

Prices are notably wallet-friendly – apps start at $.50, and entrees are generally between $5.99 and $6.99. Entrees are discounted by $1.00 for lunch business. We had a group of 5 eat to contentment and beyond, and walked out with leftovers on a $32.00 bill. A few vegetarian and pescetarian options are available.

We’d be remiss in neglecting to mention that Westgate Import Market itself is a worthwhile destination. Southeast Asian staples and curiosities make for great browsing (we rarely leave without buying something), and the family that runs it is friendly and welcoming in the extreme. They offer a variety of prepared foods near the checkout – we’ve particularly enjoyed the mildly sweet sticky rice desserts packed in lengths of bamboo.

14 Comments

Posted in Asian, Grocery store, Restaurant, Thai

Tagged , , ,