Quan Hapa

What a pleasant surprise. A friend, head of marketing for the CSO, suggest that we have lunch at "Quan Hapa" 1331 Vine St. 45202 (OTR), 513-421-7826, open Tuesday thru Saturday for lunch and dinner. Both Marilyn and I enjoyed it immensely.

"Quan Hapa" bills itself a Asian Street Food but in our opinion is is much more sophisticated. My "Japanese Pancake" was a delicious dish presented on a base of shredded potato's with slivers of water chestnuts mixed in, they were then either fried or baked until slightly crusty and topped with bacon (pork belly), scallions and several sauces. Topped with a fried egg and served hot of the grill it was delicious and a full lunch for one or easily splittable. Marilyn had a rich noodle soup, with meat and won tons floating there in, small bowl, which was plenty of one. Our companion had sliced fresh mango, lightly seasoned with ground red pepper (cayenne) and a summer role of marinated beef and vegetable strips. All together a great first visit, which I am sure will be followed up.

Now some comments on a couple of our regular spots:

"Otto's" 521 Main St, Covington KY, has added a few more specials which make regular visits even more interesting.

The Brunch ( a very popular seating) menu contained Blueberry and Lemon curd pancakes, described by the owner as desert@lunch, while dinner, a few nights later, had four special, from which I chose Striped Bass. All items are uniformly well prepared and quite tasty.The regular offerings are all still available.

"Nectar Restaurant" Mt. Lookout Square now bills Thursday evening as "Tapas Thursday" offering an array of 12 to 15 "small plates. They still have one or two full sized offerings for those who wish to go in that direction. Last Thursday I had the seafood cocktail and a Peruvian cold mashed potato and tuna and avocado mixture. I am an adventurous eater but I doubt that this Peruvian dish will be a regular, for me. Marilyn had chicken on cous-cous, a more normal selection.

I am always told that I receive special treatment at the "Oriental Wok, Hyde Park, to which I reply, if you will just follow the server or chefs input you can receive the same food we do. Last night for a couples 50th Wedding anniversary, not ours, we dined of crab Rangoon, egg rolls, Cantonese Lobster, Bass with mushrooms and other veggies and Singapore noodles. All excellent and available to any who want "off menu" treats.