2012 New Year's Resolution: Best sushi, pizza, and new restaurants. Plus the top 10 restaurants in the city!

2012 New Year's Resolution: Best sushi, pizza, and new restaurants.  Plus the top 10 restaurants in the city!

This year's resolution is a drastic change from burgers...in actuality I don't think I'll be eating beef the entire month of January.  I definitely need it.  I am taking several lists and making one awesome list with the 21 best sushi places, the top 10 OVERALL restaurants, the top 6 NEW  restuarants, and a handful of PIZZA places from cincinnati magazine's top 50.  I don't have the pizza list yet, I'm waiting to get it from a friend.  I don't know exactly how I'll be writing these reviews and judging the places yet.  I'll get to that later.  This list is also a better representation of the city and it's fine dining establishments.  I especially added some places on the Northside since there was a severe lack on my top 40 burgers list.  I've been to a few of these before, but I added them anyways just because I liked them.  I hope my vegatarian friends and those that don't eat beef with be able to join me on my adventures this year. 

Best sushi places came from these 2 sites mixed

http://cincinnati.metromix.com/restaurants/best-of-award/sushi-restaurant/2402335/content
http://www.urbanspoon.com/f/32/3146/Cincinnati/Sushi-Restaurants

the top 10 restaurants I found on wine me dine me's blog, but it is originaly from  cincinnati magazine
http://winemedinemecincinnati.com/2011/02/cincinnati-magazines-top-ten-restaurants-2011/

Best new restaurant came from metromix
 http://cincinnati.metromix.com/restaurants/best-of-award/new-restaurant/2402333/content

BEST SUSHI - 

1. Green Papaya - Hyde Park/Mount Lookout

2. Vitor's - Cheviot/Westwood

3. Dancing Wasabi (Hyde Park) - Hyde Park/Mount Lookout

4. Bangkok Bistro - Hyde Park/Mount Lookout

5. Sweet Basil - Crescent Springs/Fort Wright

6. Fusian – Downtown

7. Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse... - Colerain Township

8. Miyako - Crescent Springs/Fort Wright

9. Mai Thai – Florence

10. Ichiban Japanese Cuisine - Hyde Park/Mount Lookout

11. Wild Ginger - Hyde Park/Mount Lookout

12. Thai Namtip - Monfort Heights/White Oak

13. Thai Taste - West Chester

14. Ruthai's Thai Kitchen - Hyde Park/Mount Lookout

15. Kyoto - Loveland/Maineville

16. Mr. Sushi – Downtown

17. Fuji Steak House – Florence

18. Miyoshi Japanese – Florence

19. Teak Thai – Mt. Adams

20. Cloud Nine – Mt. Lookout

21. The Painted Fish - Northside

 

BEST PIZZA

1. Betta’s Italian Oven - Norwood

2. Enoteca Emilia – O’Bryonville

3. Via Vite - Downtown

4. Cosmic Pizza - Hartwell

5. Sorrento’s Pizzeria - Norwood

6. Padrino – Milford

7. Adriatico’s – Clifton

8. The Works – Loveland

9. Pomodori’s - Clifton

10. A Tavola – Over the Rhine

BEST RESTURANT

1. Orchids at the Palm Court - Downtown
2. Boca - Oakley
3. Nicola’s - Over-the-Rhine
4. The Palace - Downtown
5. Bouquet - Covington
6. Cumin - East Hyde Park
7. Via Vite - Downtown
8.  Nectar - Mt. Lookout
9. Daveed’s - Mt. Adams
10. Honey - Northside

NEW RESTAURANTS

1. Senate - Over-the-Rhine

2. Jean-Robert’s Table - Downtown

3. Taqueria Mercado - Downtown

4. Pho Lang Thang – Findley Market

5. Take the Cake - Northside

6. Abigail Street - Over-the-Rhine

Van Zandt

Burger #5: Van Zandt – VZ Pounder – $18???

Yet again my camera was broken,
so I had to borrow pics from Urbanspoon

I am at work on Thursday, December 22, 2011 and since Christmas is three days away no one is here and I have no work that I can get done so here goes another review you all won’t see for a while.  I figure if I stockpile reviews this next week or two, I’ll be caught up on reviews and can shoot them out whenever I get busy during the week.  Everyone else I talk to is fretting to get their work in before the end of the year, but since my company is German owned, about 1/3 of the employees are not around.  This significantly limits anything I can get done since I am still new here.  The company is on a week and a half mandatory shut down starting tomorrow, so I will be driving back to Wisconsin tomorrow to see family and friends.  It’s funny how the more friends I make here, and I do make a LOT of friends now, I look forward to going home less and less and I see the 7 to 10 hour drive as a hassle, especially in Chicago holiday traffic!  Also, the snow and I don’t work well together anymore, but why is a longgg story we don’t have time for.

This is review #27 in the order of which I had the burgers, VanZandt Restaurant and Tavern, and it was #5 on Cincinnati.com ‘s top 40 burger list.  VZ is in college Hill, which it turns out I may have never been to.  I never know where I’ve been in this city because there are so many small little ecosystems that never meet and too many names for an outsider like me to remember.  One thing about Cincy is I never stop getting lost in this city, even with google maps on my phone!  I got there just later than I wanted.  My friend was already there for a bit when I finally showed up.  It was Friday, August 9^th 2011 at dinner time and it was a nice night and the place was busy, so we decided to sit at the bar.  VZ is an upscale pub/comfort food restaurant with an older crowd, but most of them cater to the older crowd.  The bar area was very nice and well lit and the beer and wine selection were pretty good.  If I was going on a date in that area, I’d probably take here there since I don’t know anything else in the area.  

The menu includes everything you’d expect at a pub, just a lot more palatable.  App’s include a smoked bacon crab cake, soft pretzels made fresh daily, and a sun dried tomato quesadilla.  Sandwiches are on house made buns and include: grilled cheese on house made onion foccaccia, locally made german mett on house made pretzel bun, and panko breaded cod.  VZ also makes their own pizza with homemade dough which looked really good when someone else ordered it.  The margherita has garlic oil & basil pesto plus a few others have smoked gouda, which is one of my favorites.  Meatloaf, blackened salmon and panko breaded catfish finish off the entrée list. 

The burgers are locally grown beef, and limited to size and composition.  There is the 8 oz. VZ classic, the 16 oz. VZ Pounder and the Turkey burger.  From there you make the burger your own with the many, many awesome burger toppings…no silly name needed!  I had the VZ pounder (I know, I know…this sounds soooo dirty, and if you and I are friends you probably laughed the first time you read the name in the title up top) with bacon and artichoke.  I sound like a glutton, but at the time I was preparing for a half marathon, which makes me eat twice to three times as much as a normal man. When the burger came it was gigantic!  I ended up only eating half and taking it home for breakfast/lunch Saturday morning.  This was 2 half pound normal burgers stacked on each other.  The meat wasn’t seasoned too much, but it was pink (medium) and perfectly greasy.  The bacon was average, not great but there was a fair amount of it. I really liked the artichokes on top which isn’t something you find in a lot of restaurants.  Here is where they get bonus points: they toasted their fresh home made potato chive bun!  When you toast the bun and have a slightly greasy burger it soaks up all those awesome flavors and makes for really f-ing good taste.  30 seconds people, that’s all it takes!   I think the price on mine was like 18$ but I can’t find a menu with a price online.  What can I say I’m an expensive date...Haha!  The fries that came with it were your normal fries, but they were crispy, which was a huge difference from the worst fries at the Gas Light Café I had a week earlier.  The service here was pretty good since we were at the bar, but it was because there was a wait for a table at the time so get there early.  My friend ended up having the 8 oz. burger with artichoke hearts, kalmata olives and feta cheese, which sounds like a pretty good Mediterranean burger to me.  She was pleasantly pleased with the burger, but still sticks by Gordo’s peanut butter cream cheese, jelly and bacon as her favorite. 

This was a very good experience overall.  I’d recommend hitting Van Zandt sometime even if not for a burger.  It was a bit pricey and out of the way for me since I am near downtown, so it’ll be a while before I get back out there. 

Gas Light Cafe

Burger #4: Gas Light Café – Gas Light Burger $8.50

 

Pleasant Ridge area. 
Pic borrowed from the interwebs.

The last I checked, I had about 1770 page views on my burger blog!  That’s a ridiculous amount of views since I only post it on facebook and reddit.com.  I just do this for fun, I never really imagine people read my ramblings on here.  If you haven’t been on reddit, it’s a collection of links to other sites like news stories, pictures, music, movies, art, culture, and anything at all really.  I am finding myself with an ample supply of in the next 2 weeks, partly due to school being out for winter break and partly because of my boss being out for the week.  This means I will have more reviews than normal, I mean I should at least try to catch up from being 4 months behind. 

The small menu.
Pic from yelp

This time I’ll be writing about Gas Light Café.  This one was originally #4 on the list and it is the 26^th burger I had this year.  My roommate and I went after my accounting class which ends at 9pm on August 31^st, 2011.  Gas light is located in the pleasant ridge area across the street from Molly Malone’s.  I have been to Molly Malone’s several times for drinks, live music and birthday dinners and I like the food.  It’s not authentic, but it’s got some new things to try on the menu.  On the other hand, Gas light is only a bar that I went for drinks a few years ago when I was playing rugby with the Cincinnati Kelts.  The beer on tap is dirt cheap and I think this has something to do with customer’s ratings of the food at this venue.  It’s a shady hole in the wall bar that has been around for decades.  They are a no frills kind of place, which I happen to like, but the food isn’t always too good at these establishments.  I’m going to say this up front that the service and food were sub par, and I have no idea how Gas Light made it to #4 on the list. 

My roommate and I walked in at about 9:15pm to see the place vacant.  The only other people were a table of 5 people who must have been regulars because they looked as if they’d had a burger or 2 before.  We sat down at a both to see the waitress and bartender chatting it up in the back.  As we sat down, neither of them said anything to us.  After 10 minutes of sitting around I got up and asked to shown a menu.  I wasn’t drinking that night, so I got a soda and my roommate had a beer. For 2$ for a lite draft you can’t go wrong if you are there to get drunk, which is the reason I went there the first time, so they do get points for that.  I did not get a soda refill the entire night because the waitress never came back.  We ordered the potato skins, mainly because we had such some great potato skins the week before at Anderson Township Pub.  These were not so great, and definitely not the massive pieces of potato we had at ATP either.  The menu has all of the standard pub fare: soups/chili, apps, sandwiches, and burgers. 

Gas Light Burger.  Mine did NOT look this good.
Pic from yelp

There wasn’t anything to mention except that the prices are very reasonable.  Burgers are about 6$ with chips.  Your burger choices are the basic gas light burger, a bacon cheeseburger and a double cheeseburger, like I said, no frills.  I got the gas light burger and added bacon, plus fries are 1.75$.  When the burger came it was a big burger with a great tasting patty, but it was cooked more than medium like I ordered.  They only had one slice of average tasting bacon on the entire burger…I think they forgot the rest of mine because that was some pretty weak sauce right there.  The bun was average, not toasted or warmed in any way.  Like I keep saying, all I ask is that you toast your bun, it gives the burger a much better taste and it takes 30 seconds of your time!  The fries were not cooked enough and tasted like they just got out of the freezer.  These were the worst fries I’ve ever had, so I am going to have to make a new award for Gas Light Café called the “WORST FRIES AWARD”.  I needed to put so much ketchup on these fries so I couldn’t taste them or their coldness.  WTF?  My roommate had the waffle fries, and those were better.  I honestly will give this one of my lower ratings for everything because it was just an overall unpleasant experience. 

I won’t be taking a trip out to Gas Light Café anytime soon for their food and I don’t recommend that you do either.  If you want a cheap beer in a hole in the wall bar in the neighborhood, you’ll have a much better time. 

Anderson Township Pub

Burger #18: Anderson Township Pub – Bloomfield Hills Burger $8.50

Outside of the Anderson Township Pub.
Pic from Urban Spoon.

Another week is down and another huge set of big changes in my life is coming up.  I have my final exams next week for my first year of grad school.  Along with that I am moving from Newport to Mt. Adams, where I’ll be a few steps away from every restaurant and bar on the hill.  I’ve been in Newport for about 2 years now and I love the area.  I think I needed a change because there are just too many young people, teenagers and parents in Newport, so my life wasn’t going exactly as planned.  I will be 2 blocks from Teak Thai in Mt. Adams and I recently discovered Bowtie café, both of which will be on my normal spots to roam soon enough. 

Anderson Township Pub was one of those Thursday night spots where I had never been to the area and I definitely couldn’t have pointed it out on a map before this trip.  After this trip, I will never forget where it is again!  I asked my roommate to grab a quick burger with me on August 18^th and it was a gorgeous day out, so we decided to drive to one of the farthest burgers I have on my list. Sadly my camera was broke, so I had to take these pics from other sites. 

We got there around dinner time, and were surprised that # 18 on this list is in the middle of nowhere.  There was literally nothing else open next to it even though it was still sunny out.  There just weren’t the kind of businesses that would have any reason to be open at that time.  It looked to be fairly empty from the looks of the parking lot and once we got in our suspicions proved true.  When you walk in, it looks like a rather large hole in the wall bar, not a restaurant as much.  There is plenty of seating; there just weren’t many people aside from the regulars at the bar.  They gave us a choice of sitting inside or outside and since we weren’t dressed right to fit in with the locals, we chose to sit outside. 

When we got our menus, we started chatting with the waitress about what’s good there and she recommended the Potato Skins as an appetizer.  These were just cheese, bacon & sour cream, but my friend and I were both starving and these were really good portions of potatoes and toppings.  The menu also includes everything you’d expect for app’s: several kinds of nachos, fried mushrooms, chicken tenders, etc.  The sandwiches include a patty melt, some “light” sandwiches, and burgers.  There is even the one odd Atkins diet “snow” carb delight (chicken, bacon, cheese, eggs). 

The normal burger, no cheese. 
Pic from Yelp

After the waitress came back with our drinks we chatted some more because she was one of the friendliest servers I’ve had.  We also found out that Thursday is half price burger night, so this is the ONLY burger place on my list that I had a half price burger this year…yes, I know that other places have them, but not on the days that I had free to go get my burgers, or they just didn’t have the specific burger I was having on their half price list.  So bonus points for all the burgers being half price.  My notes for my burger review were out and my red pen. My roommate happened to mention that I was writing a review.  I said I was doing the whole 40 burgers list…I’ve said this a million times before, but this one turned out just plain funny.  I guess there was a misinterpretation of what my review was for, I said it was FROM the Cincinnati magazine.com and she heard my review was going to be FOR the paper.  Oops!  It wasn’t until a few minutes later we found out what happened when people started coming out and talking to us.  First it was another waitress who talked about the establishment. Then it was a regular who used to work there and his friend.  They both hung around and chatted for about 30 minutes about anything from the food, the history of the building, its current state, the employees and management, the area of Anderson Township and the Cincinnati area.  Then the bartender and chef came out and talked for a while.  Everyone seemed very nice and receptive to talking about anything and everything.  I’d say this was one of the best experiences I’ve had with locals that far outside of downtown in the 4 years I’ve lived here. 

The burger list isn’t extensive since it’s just a local joint, nothing fancy.  There is the Telegraph Hill and the Federal hill, which are your standard burger and cheeseburger.  Plus the Chateau Hill with sautéed onions, mushrooms and Swiss.  There are no frills here except that the burger is charbroiled and on a Servatii bun brought in fresh daily.  My burger Bloomfield Hills Burger for $8.50, but since it was half price, 4.25$!  This is a half pound patty that felt bigger than normal.  It was just greasy enough to have that juiciness that doesn’t make your bun fall apart.  The meat wasn’t seasoned much, but when you charbroil or cook it over a fire, you get this nice charred flavor around the edges that make an average burger into a stellar one.  I opted into having the horseradish cheddar, which came in a thick cut and very noticeable tanginess that really added to the burger more than the normal cheeses available at most restaurants.  The bacon was good, not great.   All together I’d say that if you make out on a Thursday night you will be pleasantly surprised by a place you wouldn’t otherwise go into for a burger at a very cheap price. 

I think this will be one of the most memorable stops on my trip to 40 burgers this year.  If you are out in the Anderson Township area on a Thursday, try something new and get out there, even if only to have a story to tell. 

Lavomatic

Burger #14: Lavomatic – Lavo Burger $13.50

Once again Thanksgiving has come and gone and you’d think that I could’ve fit a burger review into the week off…and you’d be wrong of course!  I spent my time in downtown Chicago either hanging out with friends, at a coffee shop studying, getting great new foods, having drinks with friends my friends and I just met, and just plain partying/dancing the nights away.  You wouldn’t really want to ask me to stop all of that for a Thanksgiving burger review would you?  

I have to start by saying my phone camera wasn't working this day and I had to use the pictures from the nice people of the internets.   

Extensive bar area.

It’s been a while since I hit Lavomatic, but I remember it being busy for the Thursday night of August 11^th.  I have been to Lavomatic a few times because I have season tickets to Ensemble Theatre right around the corner.  It was restaurant week in Cincinnati and that explained the business of the area.  I chose Lavomatic because my date for the night had never been to Over The Rhine, and I was actually trying to get to a place called stuffed on Vine which was recommended to me but it turns out it has been closed for.  While Lavomatic isn’t my favorite place to go in the area it was one of the closest to where Stuffed on Vine was located.  After the burger I showed my friend around the area from Lackman’s to Japp’s to Neon’s and then MOTR, which is a must see walk and is impressive to people who aren’t familiar with the area.  

The upstairs outside seating area.
Lavomatic has a groupon.

I will add that anyone not from this area who hasn’t heard of Over The Rhine or someone who’s heard BAD rumors about the OTR area needs to check this area out.  I have heard some ridiculous statements made by coworkers or people whose parents warned them never to go down there.  The rumors are outdated and tenuous at best.  The area has gotten rid of a lot of crime.  There are great restaurants / wine bars (like Senate, Abigail Street, Lavomatic, Lucy Blue pizza, and A Tavola), bars (Neon’s (my favorite because they have life size Jenga!!! Great date idea), Lackman, Below Zero Lounge, Japps, Drinkery), live music (MOTR (my favorite music place, Mr. Pitiful’s, Neon’s), places to lounge, coffee shops (Iris).  It is just a great up and coming area with art’s and culture that accepts all lifestyles.  I think the problem here is that most people in Cincinnati are stuck in front of their tv hearing bad news about OTR instead of getting the hell out of their house and trying something new. 

Alright that’s it for my rant, and now back to your regularly scheduled program.  What was I talking about again?... oh, Lavomatic!  Lavomatic is one of the upscale comfort food restaurants that are using “local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients.”  The menu changes so be sure to check it out online.  They have an excellent beer and wine selection and the place can be full of older people during a certain hour of the day and young people during the later hours.  Their beer selection does include rated beers from around the country such as rogue double chocolate stout, a bison brewing organic IPA and north peak ‘hooligan’ hoppy pumpkin ale.   From the menu I noticed some app’s including lavo bean spread (acorn squash and artichoke), fish tacos, and shiitake mushroom tartlet.  The entrees include one preparation of each meat and veggie dishes of course, like shrimp orecchiette, maple chicken breast, and beer braised short ribs. 

As far as the burgers go, it turns out they aren’t on the dinner menu, and we had to order off of the lunch menu.  My burger was supposed to be the Green Acres burger, but it wasn’t on the list, so I substituted for the Lavo burger $11.95, then added bacon, just to get this heart attack of mine a kick start.  The menu shows a different burger right now then what I had because it says this burger comes with candied pork belly, which sounds incredible, and I can assure you I didn’t have pork belly.  My burger came with the normal toppings you get with a burger, lettuce, tomato, and cheese + bacon.  It was definitely an above average meat seasoning.  The burger was cooked pink and juicy but not a bit greasy.  The bun came fresh from a local bakery as did the extra red tomato and side salad that came with the burger.  The bacon was normal cut, very smoky, also an above average taste.  On my list of burgers this one was good, so I put it in the middle of my rankings due to the high price.  There were others that were less expensive and had quality ingredients as well (gordo’s). My friend had the burger with mushroom and swiss and said she really enjoyed it but hasn’t been to enough burger places to rank it. 

That’s all for now.  The lesson of the day:  I hope you get yourself or someone you know out of your house and get to OTR soon! 

Zola Pub and Grill

Burger #24: Zola Pub and Grill – Zola Burger $7.95

Main Street in Covington is an active place with out door seating.
Not my picture.

 Oh, Hi again!  Remember me?  I know it's been a few months since I've done a review and I've been getting burgers but I haven't kept up with the blog, and for that I apologize.  After one of the worst nights I've had in months, I feel the need to get back to what I love to do... write about my adventures.  It has been a few long months of never ending class work and social gatherings, as well as trying my best to not be forever single, I'm back at this. 

I went to Zola's back on a Thursday night on July 28th for a late dinner.  My very attractive companion for the night had never been to Zola's and it was my third time going, but it had been years since I had the burger so I was happy to get back there to see how it compared.  It's located in the middle of Mainstrasse in Covington near Cock and bull, Che Nora and Dee Felice to name a few.  I like the area because it's a social part of town with lots of outdoor seating and lots of German tradition and festivals, including their own Oktoberfest and Geotta fest.  There is a large amount of dining, entertainment, bars, and even dessert all in a few blocks.  I used to play darts for a year across the street from Zola's so I'm well acquainted with all that the area has to offer and I'd recommend getting out there if you've never been. 

The restaurant is a mix between a restaurant and a late night bar.  It was fairly dead when I got there at about 8:30pm on a Thursday so we got a seat right away.  When you walk in, you notice it's a tight fit for some of the seating, but I hear there's more upstairs, I've just never seen it.  They have live music most days of the week starting at 9pm.  As a bar, I can't say there is anything that this one has that others bars lack, but as a burger place it's pretty damn good.  There were regulars hanging out, but I felt like I didn't have enough visible tattoos to fit in.  The menu isn't out of the box, having the standard assortments: turkey ciabatta, cod filet, cajun chicken, a gyro, wings, etc.  They also do pizza's, which I haven't seen anyone order ever.  Their main thing is the burger.

My friend's delicious burger and giant fries. 

Zola's is known as a burger place so I knew that this was going to be a good one from the start.  Every Wednesday is burgermania.  This special is a burger with 5 toppings and a side for 6$.  There aren't many places that can beat this price with the taste, so you should probably go check it out soon.   The burger list includes the spicy jack (blackened seasoning, bacon, banana peppers and pepper jack), black and bleu, caribbean ( jerk spices, bacon, and pineapple), Mo town (bbq sauce, bacon, onion straws), mushroom burger, and cajun bell ( grilled red and green peppers, red onions and topped with feta cheese. 

Zola burger.  I got Swiss cheese and
substituted for onion rings.  Mmm!

The Zola burger was a 1/2 pound black angus patty with bacon, grilled onions, sauteed mushrooms, capacolla ham, and american cheese for 7.95$.  When it came, the meat was well seasoned and cooked slightly pink for medium.  It was much better than I remember from years ago.  It wasn't very greasy but still juicy.  The bun was average, as was the bacon, but bacon is always a great addition to a burger.  The capacolla ham looked like a giant piece of sandwich ham, but still a nice topping.  The bad part of our experience was the live music at 9pm that played directly next to us, so we had to leave shortly after eating because we couldn't have a conversation and the one guy on the stage wasn't that good. 

Since Zola's is always on the top burgers in the city no matter which list you look at or person you talk to , this is one of those places you have to try if you haven't yet.  Burgermania on Wednesday's is always a good choice.  If you want a different venue to hang out at afterwards, there are plenty to be had in this part of Covinton.  There are always good places to go to people watch as well, which I find makes for  an amusing conversation with your friends.