Seekh The Unique: Everest Cuisine (Worthington, OH)

Lithopolis, Ohio and its roughly 1,600 people have a pretty nice
Mexican restaurant within city limits in El Pedregal

Almost every small town seems to have at least one.

One what, you ask? In this case, I refer to the random international restaurant or two that provides a prospective diner a break from the plethora of fast food, diners, and pizza joints that tend to dominate the landscape. The food, when judged by other similar eateries in bigger cities and towns, may not match up. But as a resident of that town, you take a bit a pride in knowing that something is your hometown Chinese, your local Mexican, or even something even a bit more uncommon.

Life Is A Big Steaming Bowl...Of Home

Fancy and oats, such as this McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal, weren't
a thing for me until much later in my life

Growing up, oatmeal was neither fancy nor glamorous. Soup could be sublime and occasionally spectacular, but generally wasn't the headline grabber either. But those two items remind me a lot of home in the olden days, because they were family staples in one fashion or another.

A lone familiar aluminum pot on the stove accompanied with a set of bowls on the counter top beside it became the familiar sign that oatmeal was available.  Sometimes, I would venture into the breakfast cereals, or I knocked out a grilled cheese when I felt ambitious. However, despite not being a fan of mushy textures (like many others), I grabbed a bowl of steamy oatmeal more often than not.

Nothing Can Take Me Away From Wor Sue Gai: Rice Bowl

While Almond Boneless Chicken (aka Wor Sue Gai) is a huge
Michigan cult favorite according to this Eater.com article,
its origins apparently go back to right here in Columbus, Ohio

As I have written before when it came to my saga when it came to Downtown Columbus-based Ho Toy Restaurant, American-style Chinese food is something I don't generally seek much these days. However, it did and does fill an important role at my family gatherings, so it will no doubt continue to hold random craving status for the rest of my dining life.

Of course, a little bit of history and circumstance can overcome the random craving frequency, as it did with a dish I've generally seen as Wor Sue Gai on menus here. Frankly, I didn't know what that exactly was and had no desire to ask, until I stumbled upon the Eater.com article linked in the photo caption above. As explained in the article, this dish, which has acquired a cult popularity in Southeast portions of Michigan, has its roots in Columbus, Ohio, with old school places like Ding Ho and Wing's (via Bexley's Far East Restaurant.)

When I saw that the dish was essentially "fried chicken and gravy", that struck me as an ultimate kind of comfort food, maybe even something like Jollibee's Chickenjoy.  Add in a cold day filled with constant snow flurries and the possible indication that a restaurant that I had always wanted to visit might be on its way out, and I figured it was time to proverbially kill the two birds with one stone.

Kahiki Kookaburra: Fukuryu Ramen

For those unfamiliar (or even semi-familiar) with the Columbus ramen restaurant Fukuryu Ramen, the restaurant's name translates to "lucky dragon".

If you look closer at how this restaurant's origins, you might think the name translated to "lucky kookaburra". Most people dropping by for a bowl of ramen these days probably don't realize that Fukuryu originated in the "Land Down Under" in Melbourne, Australia (one of the lands that are home to the previously mentioned kookaburra bird.)  Maybe even fewer realize that it wouldn't even have been a dining option here if it weren't for an individual with strong ties to a fondly-remembered Columbus dining institution.

South x Southwest (Pt. 2): Creme Clouds and Gringas

A metal die-cut plaque details the family roots of Columbus' Merion Village

As mentioned in my previous post, my coffee at Das KaffeeHaus was meant to put some caffeine into the system to get me fully awake for the day. It also had a secondary purpose of slowing me down so I could digest the rich Beehive Bite sweet treat that I had acquired from My Old World Bakery, an old-school neighborhood shop located in Southwest Columbus. By the time I departed the space, I was ready for some more exploring the city's south and west sides.

Ice Cream Chronicles (Yr. 4): The Perfect Matcha

Perhaps due to its reputation as a fast-food haven and test market, Columbus finds its ethnic eats remaining a bit under the radar. I sure did not expect the large number of Mexican markets and food trucks in Columbus when I initially moved to the Buckeye state, much less the number of African restaurants that are just waiting to be discovered by locals and out-of-towners alike.

I was pleased to find out early on about another somewhat unexpected Japanese presence, something that made me feel a bit more at home early on. While this particular scene has gotten a bit more publicity than some of Columbus' other hidden culinary treasures (as in this 2016 NPR article spotlighting the scene), it still turns out to be a pleasant surprise for newcomers to the metro. A great place to start exploring this scene is the Japan Marketplace, which lies in the Northwest neighborhood in the Kenny Centre Mall.

Sandwiches Around The Statehouse: Elia Athenian Grill

In the early days of my blog, I did a small little series about the sandwich options around the Ohio Statehouse in Downtown Columbus. Unsurprisingly, the sandwich is a pretty popular lunch vehicle here, as major chains like Subway and Potbelly Deli battle locally established eateries to attract the numerous hungry workers employed in the area.

Perhaps as a testament to that steady demand, many of these places are still plying their trade in some form or another, though in some cases with a twist. For example, social-mission based Freshbox seems to do all its business these days by catering. Meanwhile, Milo's Capital Cafe, located deep within the Ohio Statehouse, has refreshed its concept into the farm-to-table focused Graze.

One thing that this very distinct subset of eateries has been a bit short in is a touch of a worldly element. AJ's Cafe had been a favorite of mine with its grab-and-go creations with a touch of Indian flair, but their departure in September last year left the excellent Peruvian sandwich offerings of Si Señor (which has since expanded into Grandview) essentially all alone in this world.  That's why the arrival of Elia Athenian Grill and its Greek-oriented quick grab options perked my interest initially.

Modest House: Bangkok Grocery and Restaurant

As regular readers of my blog may note, my spouse and I have no hesitation gravitating toward spicy hot dishes and cuisines. Add to that a relative of ours with roots in Thailand, and we do like to keep a specific eye out for some good Thai cuisine.

Columbus isn't really what I would call a Thai cuisine hotbed, and it became less so when one of our favorite restaurants overall, Westgate Thai and its collection mouth-burning heat combined with multi-note flavor profile dishes, decided to call it a night. We still miss Westgate terribly, but thankfully Southeast Columbus' Bangkok Thai has helped soothe our loss a good bit.

The Persian Version: Jeddo Kebab

If you look closely enough, you can trace a similarity in base food items from places like Greece and Turkey eastward into China and its environs. This is hardly surprising, considering the history of the famed Silk Road, a network of passages and roadways that helped foment the trade of spices and other goods from China to Syria and everywhere in between, as well as the number of empires which once claimed this vast geographical area.

Despite the turmoil and the wages of time, the cuisine of the Persians (now modern-day Iran) stood the test of time and the changes in area rulers. Back in the Bay Area, there are several Persian eateries of note, but I admit the cuisine was not on my radar as I beginning my area explorations. It wasn't until I got to Columbus when I started digging into this tasty word via the metro's one and only Persian eatery: Jeddo Kebab.

Mother Approved: Amul India

Recently, we had the chance to meet up with a long-time Indian-American friend of ours, who had dropped by town with his wife and two very young children to visit family. With the limited time we had to meet up, we determined it would be easiest to meet up at his parents place to watch some football, eat, and just hang out and enjoy each others company.

As the night went on, the conversation somehow turned to the Indian restaurants around the Columbus metro. Our friend's mother asked us what our favorite places in the area were. When we mentioned Amul India, she nodded and smiled, saying that was one of her favorite places.

It's always good to get confirmation from someone who should know their stuff.

Mo' Momos? Who wouldn't go? (Momo Ghar Ohio)

With the recent influx of immigrants from Himalayan countries such as Nepal and Bhutan into the Central Ohio area, it's probably not too surprising that restaurants specializing in the cuisine are coming into the fore.

Perhaps the most signature of these items is the momo, which essentially is a Chinese-style dumpling with various fillings. Momo Ghar Ohio, located in a cozy little kitchen space inside Saraga International Market (perhaps the most diverse of its kind within the Columbus metro, has gained acclaim as one of the best purveyors in the area of these bite-sized treats.

One and Not Done: Indochine Cafe

Typically, I like to try to get in at least two visits to an eatery before I attempt to do a writeup. There are exceptions to this rule: one lies in giving a little love to new eatery that shows a lot of promise (such as the newly opened Leone's Pizza, detailed in my last blog post.) Other exceptions to this rule lie on places that are noteworthy but aren't likely to get back to soon through distance (e.g. eateries visited during vacation travels) or a combo of special occasion and cost (a place such as San Francisco's Boulevard, where we had a special Christmas dinner a few years back.)

One last exception is sort of a gut call, and in this case it's mainly due to one dish that just simply knocked our proverbial culinary socks off. This dish has guaranteed we'll be back soon to this relative veteran of the area's culinary scene: Whitehall's Indochine Cafe.

The Capsaicin Chronicles (Pt. 1): laa gòn and chôhk dee, Westgate Thai

Alas, the spicy and delicious concoctions of Westgate Thai are
soon to disappear to the public at large in a matter of days

As one may have figured out from other posts on this blog, my spouse and I do have an appreciation for hot and spicy foods. We feel fortunate that we have been able to seek and find plenty of opportunities in the Columbus area to push our abilities and test those tolerance levels. Even more rewarding is that many of the dishes we have sampled have not simply been one-note heat bombs but rather flavorful, well-made preparations.

Such is the case with Westgate Thai, a little eatery hidden in the back of a market which was written about just a few months ago in this blog post. Similar to Hot Chicken Takeover, a place also known for their spicy fried chicken (and written about in this blog post), Westgate Thai's dishes come at adjustable spice levels. Gary, the husband and co-owner of the restaurant, makes sure everyone knows that these levels go from one through twelve, and that most people find level four a bit too hot.

We had no such compunctions, so we asked for a nine on our dishes. However, we suspect that we may not have received that heat level based on some reader feedback which stated that Gary usually doesn't give you the requested burn level until he gets to know you better. Even with that possibility, the burn level on these dishes was still quite pleasant; however, the play of the heat with the sweet, sour and tangy profiles we received in our dishes was the real revelation here. These dishes were definitely a step up from dishes from other Thai restaurants we've tried so far here, thanks to the expert hand of Gary's wife, Westgate co-owner and chef Mali,

I figured I would be writing a revisit post a couple years from my original writeup, but alas, the march of time leaves no one behind, and Gary and Mali have announced their retirement from the restaurant business come the end of this week. We made sure to sneak down there at least once again on what seemed to be a sinfully slow Monday evening business-wise a week ago or so.

 

Perhaps the little insider's info we received about toning down spice levels was confirmed on this visit. Despite us saying we had done a level 9 on our first visit and were ready for the proverbial full monty of 12, Gary gave us a little bit of a wondering stare and marked down a level 10 on our orders of Pad Thai and Yum Woon Sen. Mali herself came out during the middle of our meal to check how we were doing, encouraging us to up the spice level with the assorted chili oils on our table if we felt like adding some heat (and who are we to say no to the chef?)

Again, we received a pleasant burn with these two dishes, and the fresh ingredients and seesaw of flavor profiles that were evident on our previous visit's dishes were present here as well. My spouse's Yum Woon Sen, with its bean thread noodles and hunks of protein (here, beautifully cooked shrimp and ground pork) reminding a bit of the mish-mash of ingredients that go into Filipino pancit and its bihon noodle base. The Thai fried egg rolls we ordered as an appetizer also reminded me quite a bit of the Filipino renditions, save for the nicely spicy dipping sauce.

It may have been a brief flirtation (we ourselves will try to get down there one more time), but it was a fruitful one for us with Westgate Thai. We both wish Gary and Mali the very best, and encourage anyone who can to make that trek down to their back-of-the-market eatery to pay them one more visit for delicious Thai eats.

Westgate Thai
3201 Sullivant Ave (Westgate/Hilltop)
Columbus, OH 43204
(614) 725-5660
Facebook     Google Plus    Yelp

Ice Cream Chronicles (Vol. 15): Todos Gritamos para el Helado - Diamonds Ice Cream

With a series like the Ice Cream Chonicles, you figure this blog would have a write-up on an ice cream experience on the proclaimed National Ice Cream Day, held on the third Sunday of July.

Never fear, because you've struck gold here...or would that be Diamonds?

In many ways, the feeling in visiting Diamonds is a lot like my last visit to Young's Ice Cream in Yellow Springs: in both places, I found out that there was a lot more to the place than just the ice cream.

In Diamonds' case however, the more proper term would nieves or helado, depending on whether they are water- or milk-based. Diamonds offers the Mexican-styled version of this frozen confection and offers a variety of flavors, from the standards (vanilla and strawberry) to more novel flavor variations like Piñon (Pine Nut), Queso (Cheese) and Tuna (Cactus Fruit.)

Diamonds throws south-of-the-border flavor combos into the
mix for their solidly made ice cream scoops

I started off with the standards for me: Mango and Nuez (Butter Pecan) - the flavors were both fine, with big chunks of nuts in the Butter Pecan and a pleasant fruit flavor in the mango (not quite enough to supplant Mardi Gras for my favorite mango in the area, however.) Both scoops had a chewy texture right out of the case, but acquired a more smooth mouthfeel once they warmed up.

You could go here strictly for the ice cream, but you would be missing a lot. In fact, this place reminds me of a place I liked to frequent back in California in Vallejo's La Michoacana.  This paleteria and panaderia (which is NOT related to the Columbus-area La Michoacana Markets or the paleta brand originating in Mexico (for a fascinating side story, this Wharton School of Business article has a nice summary on the attempts to trademark the brand name)), as detailed in this Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper story, offered delicious paleta popsicles that, similar to their ice cream, are both water- and milk-based. These paletas generally put most typical American-style popsicles to shame with their intriguing flavor profiles and combos and large and often visible ingredient chunks.

In Diamonds' case, we've had a chance to sample their Nuez, Fresa (Strawberry) and Mango con Chile paletas so far. Interestingly, as much as we like spicy items, the latter flavor turned out to be merely okay in our books with a one-note spicy heat and most of the mango fruit  chunks concentrated on the bottom. Much better were the Fresa (nice refreshing berry flavor) and the Nuez (big chunks of nuts in a creamy base.) Other than the plethora of flavors, a frequent buyer card should be more than incentive for anyone to continue exploring Diamonds' paleta inventory.

Diamonds matches its unique ice cream offerings with an equally
novel flavor collection in its paletas, a selection of aguas frescas
and horchatas, and other unique-sounding edibles.

While La Michoacana back in California had bakery goods (including excellent bolillo rolls) to complete its trifecta of offerings, Diamonds adds a trifecta of other product offerings to inspire future visits for us to their Northwest Columbus location. These items include various flavors of horchatas and agua frescas, elote (flavored grilled street corn) and a menu of fruit and vegetable-oriented "Specialties."These items basically consist of chip-based dishes (nachos and potato chips with hot sauce, for example) as well as intriguingly prepared fruit and vegetable salads that fuse sweet, sour and tangy profiles in various blends depending on the main focus of the dish, whether that be Piña (pineapple), Sandia (watermelon) and Pepino (cucumber.)

Diamonds Ice Cream
5461 Bethel Sawmill Center (Northwest)
Columbus, OH 43235
(614) 718-2980
Facebook     Yelp

Goes Up To 12: Westgate Thai

Within this unassuming market front lies some seriously
delicious Thai home cooking

While my spouse and I have been seriously upping our tolerance for heat-laden foods, we both acknowledge the king of this particular culinary talent in either of our immediate families lies with my Thai brother-in-law. One of these days on a return trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, we vow to go out to a Thai restaurant of his choosing to see whether we've moved to at least a stone's throw of his ability to handle the heat (not to mention grab some very tasty Thai eats to boot.)

Were he to venture out here to Columbus, there was a time we weren't sure we could find a Thai restaurant that could meet his standards based on our experience...that is, until we found ourselves on Columbus' west side one weekend and walked into the Westgate Import Market.

Westgate Market is truly a mom and pop business, owned by a Vietnam-era veteran and his Thai-born wife. Like many of its fellow smaller Asian markets in the Columbus area, this market stocks items centered toward a particular country or select set of countries. Not surprisingly, Westgate's products are geared toward the country of Thailand, from music CDs to household products to culinary staples and more.  If you can't find a particular Thai-oriented product here, you may not be able to find it elsewhere in the area.

The bonus aspect of this market, however, lies toward the back where you'll find a small collection of tables and chairs and a picture menu of various Thai dishes. Yes, Westgate Market also has a small restaurant space that serves up Thai specialties.

Westgate Market provides the customer not only a plethora of Thai-oriented
products, but also a menu of that country's dishes.

The "pop" portion of the market's ownership duo takes your orders, while the "mom" cooks the dishes back in the kitchen. He warned us, along with another group that had wandered in just after us, that they served their dishes on a spice scale from 1 and 12, and that most typical Americans would feel uncomfortable with anything 4 and over. Our fellow diners took that advice to heart, keeping the spice levels pretty low, but we were game for something more. Perhaps with a little wary eye from our host, we ordered our dishes at a good solid 9 on their spice scale to test the waters.

Pictures of Thai dishes also dot the paper menus at Westgate and
include such dishes like the Khao Kaphrao Khai Dao (upper left),
Spring Rolls, and the Pad Prik Khing

We started off with some nicely prepared spring rolls and then proceeded to the mains. My go-to choice at Thai restaurants is generally the Pad Prik Khing, which Westgate happily had on their menu and who am I to break with tradition? My spouse, on the other hand, took the advice of Alt Eats Columbus in their writeup of this restaurant and went with Khao Kaphrao Khai Dao, a dish we never recalled seeing at other Thai places.

As promised, our food came out with the requested heat quotient, giving us a pleasing burn that many other claimed "Thai spicy" dishes at other restaurants failed to deliver. But these creations weren't just pure heat bombs: both dishes were scrumptious, with hints of garlic, fish sauce, basil and other flavors darting within and among the dominant veggie and meat taste profiles.

Westgate's version of Pad Prik Khing was the best I've had at least in recent memory; with that said, I think my spouse's dish was actually better.

The topper to the experience are the prices, which were quite inexpensive for both the quantity and the sheer taste factor of the dishes we ordered. Our only regret at this point is now we live farther away from this part of Columbus after our recent move. Perhaps this just means my spouse and I will have to find more excuses to get down to this part of the city more often.

(Note: Westgate Market is actually owned by a Cambodian couple, who had run the uniquely combined Cambodian-Mexican eatery Lindo (the sign for which was still viewable at the time of our visit) at a prior time. The market's kitchen space has since been leased to the couple who runs Westgate Thai. Thanks to the folks at Alt Eats Columbus for the clarification!)

Westgate Thai
3201 Sullivant Ave (Westgate/Hilltop)
Columbus, OH 43204
(614) 725-5660
Facebook     Google Plus    Yelp