We arrived for our early lunch and found that the favorite dish I had for dinner was unavailable. Dinners are only served after 5pm. Looking over the lunch menu proved to be a little frustrating. I am trying to stay away from bread and most starchy foods. My choices seamed to be limited to sandwiches, pizza or salads. Ruling out the sandwiches and pizza, I was left with salads. The Simply Ohio Salad, a chef’s garden mixed lettuce with radishes and rainbow carrots dressed with ginger honey balsamic vinaigrette, seemed to be way too light to satisfy my hunger. I choose the Organic Ohio Baby Beets salad. The beets are roasted and sliced, mixed with walnuts, smoked blue cheese, mandarin oranges and micro arugula and all layered on a crusty bread slice they call olive crostini. My mother ordered the Simply Ohio Salad and found she could add grilled chicken for a protein boost.

When our food arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by the volume and presentation of my dish. The beets were roasted soft but not mushy and quite tasty. The blue cheese paired quite well with the beets and walnuts although I am not sure what was meant by smoked. The blue cheese crumbles were much like the cheese I buy made by the Amish.

We all had a great lunch and went on to the conservatory very satisfied.

After over three weeks out of town, I was looking forward to meeting with my Meet-2-Eat friends for a dinner and conversation. The Tip Top location had been scheduled for a while and I located there website to check out the menu and learn a little about this locally owned and operated eatery. You should check it out for yourself but what I found intrigued me. Tip Top offers comfort dishes your mother might have made. The draft beer list is extensive for a restaurant.

In contrast to the somewhat shabby appearance of the outside, the bar and dinning room is nicely decorated and very clean. If you enter from daylight, give your eyes a few minutes to adjust as the indirect lighting, while making for a cozy experience, is quite a contrast.

No need to worry about ease droppers. All for the piped in music, you can easily carry on a conversation with the person next to or across from you without bothering the couple at the next table with rants of Columbus weather or politics.

On Tap beer list is awesome. Every beer drinker should find one to their liking. If you are in doubt, ask for a sample. You will receive a shot to taste. I enjoyed the Scottish Ale. Would like to have an opportunity to try all 12 beers they have to offer. Maybe they would host a beer tasting for the Meet-2-Eat group.

Whisky cocktails seems to be a specialty for the Tip Top. There are 11 different concoctions you can chose from. The Bus-town Julep contains real Ohio maple syrup.

Eggplant fries? I had to try this. They are offered on their starter menu and come in a basket with plenty of fries to share. Of the two dipping sauces served with the fries, the Bloody Mary was my favorite. The flavor the the eggplant is noticed just after the crunch of the lightly fried breading. The foursquare recommendation was right one this time.

My dinner was the Pot Roast. This vary tasty dish holds to the standard of comfort food Tip Top strives for. The beef was very lean and served with karats, red potatoes and just the right amount of celery.

Tip Top is now on my short list of favorite spots for a casual dinning experience.

For Twenty Eight Years there has been a local favorite in Niceville Florida. Perry’s legendary Seafood and Steak restaurant and Sports Bar. We only last year found it. It is now “Ed’s Hometown Seafood and Steaks, and Ed’s Sports Bar”. The Owner’s with their lengthy experience, continue the tradition of great food, exceptional service, and down home cooking. If you find yourself near Niceville Florida and are looking for a great night out for good food and entertainment, Ed’s is the place!

My grilled grouper was topped with crab meat and lay on top of a bed of rice. The key lime butter drizzled over it made it one of my all time favorite dishes. My choice of sides were house salad with blue cheese crumbles and french fries.

This place is on our must visit when in the area list.

Menus just did not tell us much. Some were pretty pricey and others offered only fried dishes.

We came across Montrel’s Bistro in the market area of the French Quarter. The maître d’hôtel was out front passing out menus and showing off the dishes offered on a covered table. Once we saw just what we could get and finding out it was in our budget, we mad a note of just where we needed to return for dinner.

Maw-Maw’s kitchen dinners range in price from $12 to $30 with sandwiches ranging $12 to $14

Ideally when Rose and I try a new restaurant we order different menu items and share. We both wanted the Shrimp Creole. The Louisiana gulf shrimp smothered in Montrel’s original Creole sauce over a bed of white rice was a very good choice. The thumb sized shrimp were tender and tasty. The sauce was spicy but not by any means hot and the rice was superbly cooked light and fluffy.

If we return to New Orleans we will indeed have dinner here again.

I have grown to love Pad Thai.  So…Whenever I learn about a Thai restaurant I find a way to try it out.  While in Westerville I came across the Thai Grill on College Ave. Reading the menu on the window, I saw they offered Pad Thai. I knew I must find a time to try this place out.

I found myself in Westerville one evening around dinner time with no plans.  I knew where to go.  Entering through the door I could see this was no fast food oriental place.  The space is small, seats around 40, but nicely decorated.  The open kitchen is in the rear with a serving bar separating it from the dinning room.  Tables are arranged so as to accommodate  a single dinner to a party of 10 or more.  The wine list looked inviting

Jasmine Tea

but I chose to order the Jasmine tea.  It was served in a kettle with a hand throned small pottery cup.

Of course, I ordered the Pad Thai.  It was served in a timely manor and met all my expectations.  The flavor and texture was superb. There was enough to take home a portion of the meal for lunch the next day. I chose not to bother and consumed the entire plate.  I ordered the medium spicy which was hot enough for me.  I will definitely return when I need a Pad Thai fix.  I may even try one of the other menu items.

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2010. That’s about 3 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 12 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 37 posts. There were 33 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 2mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was June 17th with 31 views. The most popular post that day was The Dutch Kitchen.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were urbanspoon.com, twitter.com, facebook.com, obama-scandal-exposed.co.cc, and ifreestores.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for serendipity ice cream, breaded pickles, breaded pickle, cheese cubes, and kogen’s.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

The Dutch Kitchen June 2010

Serendipity Ice Cream and Coffee House July 2009

M Restaurant September 2009
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Kogen’s Meet2Eat event February 2010
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Hidden Lakes Winery June 2010

The Meet-2-Eat group was out and about again. We had a fabulous dinner at Milano’s on East Broad the other night. A somewhat small place found it no problem seating 11 of us.

The Atmosphere

The comfortable dining rooms make it possible to have a dining experience with family or friends that lends to good conversation and an enjoyable meal. It was apparent this restaurant had many regulars as the wait staff knew many of the diners around us by name. With cloth napkins and white tablecloths, you might think this place required coat and tie. Not the case. Casual dress was worn by the majority of the quest. And yes… Children were present also.

The Menu

You must visit their web site http://www.milanosohio.com/ to see the vast array of items they offer. Priced between $10 and $22, this is an affordable choice for any budget. The choices do not stop with the menu. They have daily specials with special prices as well. We were very lucky we picked Wednesday to visit as this is the day of their prime rib special. That is what the majority of of group as well as myself decided to order. It was the best piece of prime rib I have had in many years. The special was served with many side choices. I had a salad with crumbled blue cheese and stemmed vegetables.
I left without my hat and had to return the next day to retrieve it. Rose and I had lunch and found the baked lasagna to be excellent also.
This establishment has my recommendation. You must try it and let me know what you think.

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