Friday, January 18, 2013

Empty and Full

This could be a discription on me going to "eat out", sort of a before and after, but in this instance it is a discription of two restaurant's which we enjoyed this week, although a full place is a lot more fun than and empty one.

It's been a long time since we have eaten at "Honey" 4034 Hamilton Ave. Northside (513)541-4300. The chef, Shoshanna has not been present on either of our last two visits and maybe that has something to do with the lack of customers, although the food remains very tasty. The night we were there the 3 of us were the only ones present for the whole evening( creepy)
I had a main course,  Potato Gnocchi served in a delightful sauce with Lamb Bacon( firm and salty) and Brussels Sprouts. The combination made a pleasant, filling meal. Marilyn had a Burger and excellent fries while our companion had great looking Beef Short ribs.

Moving on to where the crowds are; "Over the Rhine" on Vine St. we and another couple had dinner at "Abigail Street" 1214 Vine St. (513)421-4040. We arrived at 6:30 and filled one of the remaining 2 empty tables.
The addition of Chef Salazar, formerly with the "Palace", has brought and upgrade to the food which was just fine before he arrived. His imagination and delicate hand with spices made our dinner outstanding. "Abigail Street" is basically "small plate" Mediterranean. The four of us split four different dinner items and one bottle of the "house special" red wine. Starting with the two specials, that evening; Monk Fish grilled and served with chickpeas bathed in a marvelous tomato, eggplant, lemon sauce( with a slight hint of Cayenne) and Pork Kebabs on Israeli Cous-Cous (some oxymoron). The first dish had two small pieces of grilled Monk fish and lots of Chickpeas and sauce while the Pork Kebabs also came with two pieces of Pork on each Kebab( skewer) covered with Pesto and also on the skewer were pieces of red and yellow pepper, tomato and mushroom.
After a pause we moved on to an order of Bouillabaisse, 2 shrimp, 3 mussels and two bit sized pieces of fish in a terrific broth which remained me of the broth on the mussels next door at "The Senate" (same owners). The other dish was grilled Flank Steak, which had been marinated and grilled to perfection ( as ordered, medium rare). It came on a bed of fried, cubed potatoes covered with a tangy yogurt sauce, bring on more. Oh, yes there was a fried egg included with the last dish which we asked for on the side.
Warm Baklava for dessert was just the icing on the cake.
Rave review, well deserved..

1 comment:

Sally said...

Please don't stop writing! I love the reviews by a REAL person - not a critic who is paid to do this as a job. Many thanks for all of your suggestions.