Skillet

Holy wow. This was honestly one of the most satisfying meals I've had in a while, and it may have had something to do with the fooding format my friends and I experimented with:

As an indecisive table of four, we decided to order four dishes, set up 3-minute timers and pass our plates every time the buzzer went off; when we had all tried all the dishes, it was agreed that we could grab our favorite and finish it.  Somehow, someway, no two people went for the same plate and we all lived happily ever after. Yippee!

The menu is constantly changing, but here's what I think we ordered (in dulled terminology), ranked my from my very favorite to my fourth favorite:

(1) mac and cheese from the gods
(2) fish sandwich. long and lovely
(3) raspberry and cheese pancakes. Salt and sweet makes quite a treat
(4) Stinky cheese omelette. Smells delicious.  

Our waiter did give us a hard time about having to swipe four separate credit cards, and considering there was nobody else in the restaurant (kitchen had already closed for brunch), this did seem unnecessary. Still, I've only been once, so don't want to let that one customer service experience be representative of Skillet's typical customer service.  

Anyway, if you believe that ingredient quality and chef innovation can boost your brunch party, then take your tummy to Skillet and fill-it!

Oriental Wok

1) I love finding good Chinese food
2) I've lived within a five-minute walk of Oriental Wok for the past ten months
3) It took me ten months to make the trip

There are a few reasons for this, all overshadowed by my pure laziness. First of all, Oriental Wok is a fine-dining establishment; consider it the Chinese equivalent of a high-end steakhouse.  Such fine-dining establishments typically attract my company for special occasions only. And because of the casual reputation of most OTHER Chinese restaurants, I was never previously willing to spend one of those "special occasions" by potentially getting handed some boxed Chinese food. Secondly, the location is strange - on the ground floor of a condo building, which itself is not close to any other buildings.  This kind of gives the surroundings a strange energy.

Nonetheless, within those eerie woods and uninviting condos is an oasis of a chinese restaurant.  I'm typically not a sucker for niceness (a lot of times people can misrepresent themselves as being "nice" merely by being quiet. The less you say, the less chance you have of saying something you shouldn't). However, I was overwhelmed by how kind the hostess was and how keen she was on making sure our first Oriental Wok experience was wonderful.  And it was.

Keep in mind that there are two types of people in this world: those who order Egg Drop soup and those who order Hot 'n' Sour (guess which group is more fun). Oriental Wok's Egg Drop soup is the best I've ever had, and it's tough to really stand out in a dish that only requires a few ingredients. But trust me, it's special. 

The rest of the Chicken dishes we ordered could've used a few more vegetables to break up the predacious portions, but I did appreciate the quantity of meat included in each dish.  

Also, we were there for my friend's birthday; I can't tell you what they do for birthdays, just know that this is definitely a place that puts a lot of thought into making their birthday guess feel VERY special (unlike a restaurant that brings out an extra Andy's mint with a used candle sticking out of it). 

AND they have this drink called the "Volcano," which is for 2-4 people, and has coals burning blue in the middle! If you're with more than just yourself, definitely order this to make everyone more fun than they usually are. 

In my mind, Chinese food is the most inconsistent in quality from restaurant-to-restaurant out of all culinary genres. It's tough to find a good Chinese restaurant - luckily, I've found one here.

Pho Lang Thang

Yesterday marked my third Pho Lang Thang experience, which means I finally became unofficially qualified to review their food....and other peripheral pleasantries.  

1) If "Pho Lang Thang" is pronounced like I pronounce it in my imagination ("Fo Lang Tang") then the restaurant is immediately granted bonus points for "fun name to say". If, in actuality, it is pronounced any other way, don't worry - this won't affect the way my mind pronounces it, and thus no fun will be forfeited.

2) If you are lucky enough to get an outdoor table, do appreciate their inventive table setup - doors over trash cans.  If it sounds shady, I assure you the look is lovely and the experience is more stable than most outdoor seating made up of clanky webbed black steel that leaves plenty of gaps in the table for slippy slips.

3) Cà Phê Sa á is their iced drip coffee which has the condensed milk at the bottom ready to be stirred and mixed accordingly. No sugar necessary, everything is already contained to make a fantastic cup of coffee - THE MOST DELICIOUS COFFEE I've had in Cincinnati.  

4) Gi Cun are their salad rolls that are wrapped in a see-through substance. This gives the rolls a "Bones Exhibit" quality that, though must be healthier than a regular fried roll, adds a texture that I'm not completely comfortable with. Also, my friend had HIGHLY recommended these rolls to me, and as expectations set the standard,  I was sadly disappointed.  

5) But, if you're still feening for a roll you're more likely to recognize in a lineup, please try the Ch Giò.  These are INCREDIBLE, and unlike almost all other rolls I've tried, are somehow able to stay together in a cohesive manner unprecedented in these rolls' relatives.  

6) Bánh Mì Tht Nng - delicious hot sandwich
7) Bánh Mì c Bit - cold-cut butt sandwich

Unfortunately, I can't comment on the restaurant's namesake dish, Pho.  This is kind of like me writing a review for Taco Bell and only commenting on the quesadilla. My apologies, and until I actually try their Pho, I'll leave that validation to another Yelper.

Since this place is right next to the freshest ingredients in town within Findlay Market, they seem to be using that to their advantage by using those ingredients in their own dishes - this gives the food a freshness that best be described as "New York good."
And whether it should or not, the fact that they keep authentic names for their dishes does give more legitimacy than replacing the name "Bánh Mì Tht Nng" with "Hot Chicken Sandwich and Fries" just for the domestic customer's convenience. Even the descriptions are chockful of Vietnamese vocabulary which makes it difficult to clarify the dish's contents.  Still, that's better than a tactic employed by one of my favorite restaurants in Ann Arbor that would write the name of the dish - Mysore Masala Dosa - and the description  'ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS' without any further clarification.

All in all, if you like delicious Asian food in which you can taste the freshness of the ingredient, do yo' thang at Pho Lang Thang.

Dutch's

There are two parts to Dutch's: the outside pick-up window and the indoor bar. I'll share a quick word about the window and then elaborate more extensively on the actual bar.

1) window: 
the concept is very cool - being able to walk up to a counter and, based on your generic interests (e.g. blue moon, red stripe) can be handed an all-star 6-pack filled with better versions of your favorite beers.  With that said, I've never used the counter and the above is only what I imagine in my imagination for the counter to entail. 

2) bar:
They stock so many beers inside that it amazes me how quickly the bartender is able to locate your order from within their fridge. It reminds me of my English professors' ability to be able to find a particular passage within a 1000-page novel in a matter of seconds.  

The bar is wide and narrow, which does leave little room to walk through comfortably from end to end.  And the cozy size coupled with it's bright mood-lighting both contribute to Dutch's serving as a watering hole for the neighborhood elite. Specifically, the Hyde Park late 20's through late 30's crowd (and older unmarried couples trying to feel hip) make up the main base here.  In fact, my friends and I played a people-watching game while there called "spot the gentleman who looks most like the face of Hyde Park." We all found winners.

Adriatico's New York Style

My first time at Adriatico's also coincidentally happened to be their first day in their new location. So when they finally feel fully comfortable in their new location, you can thank me for playing the sacrificial lamb.*

*Do consider that I have a flair for the dramatic.  This place is awesome. They have many Samsung flatscreens up and about (and Samsung's are the most expensive TVs right now, so respect). Also, their main projector screen projects in HD, something that most BW3's cannot claim.

But the quickest way to my heart is to understand and appreciate "convenience" as much as I do.  I truly believe that happiness is easily achievable just by making your life as convenient as possible. Adriatico's seems to understand that, since, for people who don't sit close to the bar and its 40 taps, they lined up tap-head duplicates in the middle of the restaurant so anyone can visually see all the beers on tap without having to walk to the bar or read a font size-8 list in which all the beer names blur into a Book Antiqua blob.    

Oh yea, and the pizza's delicious too. Pepperoni's here aren't your average pepperonis; they're huge. And you know what they say about big pepperonis.........delicious pizzas, of course.

They don't, unfortunately, offer red onions as a topping, which just happens to be an automatic ingredient in anything I conjure up in my own kitchen (along with garlic, basil, and pepper).  

Also, the "specialized pizzas" are not as good or as well-designed as Dewey's, for example. Your best bet is to customize the ultimate pizza with ingredients you know are delicious. Plus those tig ol Adriatico pepperonis, if they're not a standard topping for you.

All in all, this place is probably the best pizza place in town to watch a football game (both viewing facilities and food-quality taken into consideration). 
That is if they're full.  And you're not.