Three Strikes You’re Out

What: Chicken Red Curry and Lardna
Where: Nida’s Thai on High in Columbus, Ohio
Cuisine: Thai food
Affordability: $15-20

During my 6 months in Columbus, Ohio, I’ve had to privilege of dining on an expense account on a weekly basis. Some people may immediately think “Wow I can order filet mignon everyday!”, but the truth is, nothing beats home cooked meals, even if its just boiling plain broccoli.

One of my first meals in Ohio was at Nida’s Thai on High. (It sounds like a funny name for a restaurant, but its actually quite clever because the restaurant was located on High Street). They offer thai food, sushi pho, and Thai inspired cocktails. We ordered the Lard Na – vegetable and tofu stir fry with a gooey sauce on top of wide clear noodles (top picture), and the classic thai red curry (bottom picture). We all agreed that the food was delicious and that we would definitely come back again.

So we went back a second time. Although the food wasn’t as good as it was that very first time, it was still good enough to make us want to go again. So we went back a third time. Unfortunately the service was really slow, and the food wasn’t good at all. I recently learned to cook thai curry at home, and I feel like I can cook a better curry than the one I ordered that day – it was super watery and bland. As a group, we decided that that would probably be the last time we visited this place.

Side note, every time we went to this restaurant, there would always be a table next to us where the people seemed to be on their first date. So perhaps its a good place to take your date? Just be prepared for the usual bit of awkwardness or great eavesdropping, depending on which table you’re at!

 

This Piggy Went to Kinton Ramen

What: Pork Ramen
Where: Kinton Ramen on Queen Street West
Cuisine: Japanese
Affordability: $12-$15 per bowl

We decided to check out Kinton Ramen’s (sort of) new location on Queen Street (and Spadina). The location on Queen Street is particularly busy for dinner and by the time we got our orders, a line has formed all the way outside. Set up like a community dining room often found in tragically hipster grubs with long tables, be prepared to sit and dine with strangers on the same table. But what’s the harm? We are all here for the love of Ramen so at least there’s that, that can spark a conversation if you choose to. Fortunately, there’s enough of us in our group where we can keep the conversation to ourselves.

The menu is pretty simple and straight forward. It’s actually written in steps from selecting what broth you want to the toppings you want. Interestingly, as pork eaters, we all picked the pork broth with pork belly (I had extra pork belly on mine), egg noodles (recommended for the pork broth), a few toppings including sheets of sea weed and a hard boiled egg. The other option was chicken meat and chicken broth, but we’re here for the pork.

It came fairly fast that it actually arrived before our app. We also ordered Karage (deep fried chicken), which we enjoyed well. It was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. We just love Karage, so no complaints there. However, I found the ramen a little bland while the others found it salty and the noodles a little too “al dente” for this kind of soup. We think of it sat in the broth a little longer, it would have been better. Perhaps we should have waited for our soups to cool down, but then what’s the point of having hot soup on a winter’s night? The pork belly was cooked well and we really enjoyed that.

Overall, a good treat during the cold winter months but I fear Kinton Ramen has become a little more commercial that the once flavourful ramen I remember is long gone. I get it. The turn over of tables are fast, but let’s not skimp on flavours. Will I visit Kimton again? Sure. But it’ll have to be on rotation with the other ramen houses in T.O.

VIP Vietnamese Cuisine

What: House Special and Deep Fried Tofu
Where: VIP Vietnamese Cuisine
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Affordability; $7+

Pointers:
– I admit there are lots of Phó choices in Markham, but VIP is kind of a regular spot for us. I used to work in the area and we’ve always called this place J6…J6 being one of our picks on the menu. It looks like, however that they changed it, so J6 is no more.

– I decided on the House Special since it’s 20 minutes before closing and I can’t make up mind. It’s the perfect Phó if you can’t decide. It has all your meat basics including tripe and tendon, noodles and beef broth. You can’t really go wrong with that. And VIP doesn’t disappoint either. Our Oder came really quick as usual, and flavourful. I didn’t even add hoisin sauce in mine. Quickly dug into it and gobbled up the Deep Fried Tofu, which is also a favourite.

– Overall, a good meal. Check it out when you’re in the area. They have lots of different soups and the old J6 is the curry. If it is back on the menu, get that!

– Thank you to the staff for not kicking us out even tho it was way past their open hours. Much appreciated.

Waterloo’s Fine Dining

Where: Bhima Warung
Cuisine: Indonesian
Affordability: $20 – $50

Pointers:
–  Although the outer exterior of the restaurant looks a bit like a run down shack, the interior is beautifully decorated and whisks your mind to somewhere exotic in Asia.

– The daily specials were oyster shooters which came with a shot of vodka infused with chilies. The oysters were small but fresh and paired nicely with the spicy vodka.

– We ordered the guay toew – fresh wide rice noodles pan fried with vegetables. The noodles were the perfect consistency and the dish was packed with so many different flavors that I didn’t even notice it was vegetarian. It was getting a bit too saucy at the bottom of the bowl was sitting in a pool of sauce, but the cherry tomatoes and pineapple chunks helped reduce the saltiness. We also ordered the khao soi – thin egg noodles fried in a chaingmai yellow curry. It was also very flavourful but was unexpected because other thai restaurants serve this as a soupy curry noodle dish.

– For drinks, we ordered Thai Iced Tea and mango lassi. Both were beautifully presented with slices of pineapple, orange and lemon, but the drink itself lacked specialty so it felt a bit overpriced.

– Definitely worth checking this place out, if you have the money to splurge, their main courses are pricey but each dish consists of at least 10 to 20 ingredients that all somehow work together. Overall, a great dining experience if you’re sick of the fast foods in the area!  They even wrap up your leftovers into a cute little swan 🙂

Filipino Food in Windsor

What: Crispy Pata (Deep Fried Pork Hock)
Where: Tropical Hut Philippine Cuisine
Cuisine: Filipino
Affordability: $15 per meal

A new Filipino restaurant opened in Windsor this month located downtown across from tunnel entrance to the US (the old Beer Store location). Armed with the hopes of surpassing the limited success of previous Filipino restaurants in the city, which has since closed, Tropical Hut offers a 5 table dining room and a small kitchen masked by trellis walls. The family run and owned restaurant is still finding it’s groove; they have just been opened a week, so definitely pack the patience as service tends to be slow. They offer a small menu of typical homemade inspired dishes you’d find at a Filipino home and in dishes that can be found in typical Filipino canteens in bustling cities and towns in the Philippines. They offer multiple Filipino breakfast favourite combos like “Tapsilog”, “Losilog”, “Tosilog”, which includes a protein choice (for example, “Lo” for ‘longanisa’ or sausage in English) with rice (“Si” for ‘sinangag’ or fried rice) and fried egg (“log”). They are offered all day and a common favourite among Filipinos.

I had the deep fried pork hock – a personal favourite next to deep fried pork belly. It is just pork hock deep fried to a crisp served with a vinegerette on the side for dipping; best enjoyed with a cold light beer. But I was here for lunch and I don’t think they had a beer license yet, so I had plain rice with mine. I enjoyed it immensely as the outside is fried to a crisp yet the inside is soft and juicy – perfection by my standards of pork hocks. The pieces were chopped well except the bone had been removed. It’s often served with the bone so you can tell how “fall off the bone” it truly is, but they chose not to serve it with it. It didn’t alter the taste, just the presentation.

Overall, a good meal and no complaints other than the slow pace of the service. Filipino food takes longer to make and you often have no opportunity to prep the ingredients. The goodness of the food is often from its freshness so it is hard to gauge how early you can prep the ingredients. I hope they do get their groove soon as it seems to a be an okay spot for the locals. There are some parking spaces available but it is shared with the other establishments in that corner. They need to improve on receiving the customers, hosting them to the table and taking the orders fast. The wait to put in the order adds to the wait of getting the food, which may be seen as bad service. But do check it out. There’s not that many food choices in Windsor that offers good food – taste or otherwise. Tropical Hut can be your food adventure when you tire of fast food joints.