Banana Bean Cafe vs. 4.0...

My sister and future brother-in-law were in town and they wanted to take Betty and me out for our birthdays. Betty and I decided to hit up Banana Bean Cafe which has very quietly become one of our local favorites. We opted for the Greenlawn Avenue location. We were seated promptly and chatted up a storm. In true CK fashion I started to get anxious when the wait staff took over 5 minutes to hook us up with a menu and take any sort of drink orders. One observation I've had about the Greenlawn location is that there always seem to be more wait staff than customers -- but even then -- service seems to be slow. When we finally got our menus I was further irked because they had an abbreviated menu with sandwiches but no dinner options. This was a bummer since we were really hoping to try out their dinner menu as opposed to their sandwich menu...oh well. As our slow service continued I looked around the restaurant which was pretty much deserted and got a little more irritated. No big deal because I suppose this blog is dedicated to my bear-itations about dining out in Columbus right? Eventually we got our drinks and food orders in and i could relax. I decided to try their black bean soup and their crab cake burger.


extremely delicious black bean soup


pretty good crab cake salad i mean burger...

The black bean soup was mighty tasty. I was surprised. I thought I was going to be underwhelmed. I really wanted to find some aspect of the soup to complain about and could fine none. Using black beans so often in my own cooking but never in a soup per se -- I was pretty oblivious that they could be so tasty in a soup. The soup was creamy and smooth almost like they blended black beans with broth to get the base going. Topping the soup off with cilantro, cheese, tomatoes & sour cream -- how could this taste anything but delicious. I'm getting this soup next time and it prolly wouldn't hurt to bust out the blender and freestyle some offering up at home as well.

The crab cake burger was pretty good. The crab cake was tasty and all but in the end I felt like i was eating a salad and left the bun behind.

All in all I continue to have a strong curiosity about Banana Bean Cafe. The first time we ate there version 1.0 was the best time -- perhaps because of our unsure expectations and surprise about their unique palette of flavors for sea food. Since then we find ourselves chasing that 1st time taste experience. We really want to have that experience again but I am not sure if it will be possible. At the end of the day I still like dining at Banana Bean Cafe and writing this makes me want to try something else off their menu.

P.S.


plaintains with ya ya sauce...yeah their good but I'm kinda over them.

...the bears at banana bean brunch before baseball..

I got a funny feeling that i been here before. Except this time we were meeting up with a friend at the Banana Bean located on Greenlawn before our first Clippers game. A much different vibe than the Whittier location. I liked the interior better -- now if they could transplant this place over to German village. I have acquired an anticipation and excitement for dining at Banana Bean because of its eclectic menu which always introduces some new taste to my palette. This would be my 3rd time there and all previous times I'd tried something new. Betty and I also observed from our last brunch visit the coupled strategy of ordering a sweet item and a savory item for brunch. We were all set to order and I was hankering for one of their special bloody mary's only to learn that Banana Bean does not have a liquor license on Sundays. No worries - I just saved myself $8.00.

Our friend started off with the sweet potato fries. I acted like I was not interested in them when he ordered but when they came out I was the official sweet potato fry groupie. Very yums in tums.


sweet potato fries with mysterious "spicy island" sauce

Betty opted for the Banana Fosters French toast with Berries topped with a Captain Morgan Rum sauce. This was pretty tasty...but there was room for it to be amazing.


bananas foster french toast w/ strawberries topped with rum sauce

I opted for the seafood fare as always that BBC specializes in and ordered the Eggs Del Mar described from their menu as "...2 Poached Eggs atop House–made Creole Cornmeal-Dusted Crab Cakes, Seared Spinach & Roasted Tomato Hollandaise..."


eggs del mar no flash out of focus

eggs del mar w/ flash overexposed...

I wanted to love this meal but it ended up just being pretty good. I'm a true believer that most foods would benefit from a fried egg over it -- so crab cakes with poached eggs were tasty -- but the hollandaise had to be the blandest most uneventful I've ever tried. Imagine my delight thought when I inquired about hot sauce and they had the red El Yucateco. Secretly i was hoping they'd bring out the ya ya sauce that normally accompanies their fried plantains but no complaints here.

At the end of the meal we were all pretty content and looked forward to the promise that the day would bring. Betty and I need to get back to basics at Banana Bean and try their fish tacos which were amazing last time we had them. Word is bean!

surly uncertainty about crab cakes...

Betty and I decided to meet up with Columbus Yogurt and his wife at Surly Girl Saloon one of our favorite bars in Columbus. At SGS I decided to expand my ordering horizon. The reason for the expansion was most likely due to a series of conversations with CY about pizzas and an on-going pizza feud between his preference for Figlio's pizza over mine for SGS. But this is not a story about pizza -- it's about a bear expanding his taste palette at one his favorite joints and the tragic tastes that would follow. Betty and I both ventured beyond our favorite italian sausage pizza and turkey sandwich with poblano mayo to try their BLT avocado and their special for the day which was crab cakes with poblano mashed potatoes and corn. Looking at the pictures below it's strange to think that food that looks so delicious would be so underwhelming.


B. L. T.& A


crab cake special

To make a long story short - the crab cakes were bland and had a rather slimy consistency accompanied with even more bland uninspired mashed potatoes. Betty's sandwich was lacking in quantity the tasty ingredients promised by the menu - namely the A - avocados. CY suffered the same fate. In general the lack of taste in the food could be made up in SGS's fine selection of beers but today would not be that day as we waited with empty cups for over 3o mints and no one offered to take our order for drinks. This was most likely due to our waiter needing to cash out but we really wanted to stay and have some more drinks...but felt uninspired to have to work to order them. The disappointment at SGS and El Vaquero recently have taken me by surprise -- and again bring to the paw-front the notion of taste bud evolution and or critical mass consumption. For me in the immediate future I will most likely take a break from dining out in Columbus hibernating to the kitchen until my taste buds make rhyme or reason of the recent misadventures.

banana bean at last...bean at last...hail food almighty...banana bean at last...

Betty and I finally made it to Banana Bean Cafe. We tried going on Monday but the German Village location was closed. Betty and I have been craving this place ever since we heard about it during Restaurant Week. Florribean cuisine is what they promise.


awkard angle of chips and salsa.

The first basket is free. $2.00 for refills. I think i like that they charge you so you aren't tempted to eat/waste more. The salsa was a nice smoky chipotle base with fresh tomatoes? Yummy.


fried plantains with ya ya sauce.

They look like wings in the pic above don't they? The plantains were sweet and crispy with a great caramelized taste. The accompanying ya ya sauce was a great spicy tangy sauce for the plantains -- in the spirit of a pepper relish.



#21 off the menu called the Soft Shell B.L.A.T.

Described as: "...Creole dusted Soft Shell Crab, Corn Cob Bacon. Lettuce, Ripe Tomatoes, and Avacado Mash..."

I've never had soft-shell crab before but this was the best crab experience my tastebuds have ever experienced.


Islamadora Fish Taco -- with Shrimp

Described from the menu as: "...Grilled Orange Cilantro Shrimp or Red Stripe Beer Battered Cod, Avocado Mash, Mango-habanero Ketchup, Mexican Crema, Shaved Lettuce, Red Onion, Scallions, and Cilantro Wrapped in a Grilled Soft Tortilla"

Maybe it was the high that my taste buds were already on but this Shrimp Taco packed a flavor punch.

We were having so much fun that we also ordered their chocolate cake for dessert that was a delicious way to close our dining extravaganza.

All in all this place was everything i had hoped it would be with a cherry-tree-on-top. Definitely one of my favorite dining experiences in Columbuse eva. Eva...eva...eva...eva.

P.S. Finally a place that makes a true dirty martini! Extra olive juice in the house!

we're betty and bettys...

Betty and I decided to hit up Betty's Sunday night for a throwback evening. As I've mentioned before Betty's always reminds us of the 5 years or so that we had easy access to the Short North when Betty lived at the Greystone. We ordered the crab cakes that were decent for the price and the distant relative of Surly Girl's Ohio nachos named Steve’s Afternoon Delight described as a "big bowl of our house made potato chips covered with cheese sauce, diced romas, green onions, and sour cream".


crab cakes with jalapeno mayo


Steve’s Afternoon Delight

Food was good and thinking about all the wonderful memories we had at Betty's made it twice as nice.

what exactly is a Surf and Turf Burger?

Betty and I were in Cleveland this weekend and hit up the Moosehead Hook and Ladder pub with some friends. Imagine if a pub was put into an old Firestation and there you go. This place has a unique warm dining atmosphere. When it came time to order drinks I was underwhelmed with the beer selection but their menu was eclectic though difficult to read. Because I'm a nacho hound we started off with the seafood nachos that had shrimp, crab, and provolone on it topped with a lobster cream sauce and jalapenos on the side. They were simple and sweet but very delicious.


seafood nachos

After some contemplation I had to go with the Surf and Turf burger. What exactly is a surf and turf burger ??? --


surf and turf burger

a beef patty with a crab cake on top and grilled crispy onions. I got mine medium. Everyone was waiting for me to try this beast of a sandwich. When I took the first bite I was very surprised with how well the crab and beef actually went together. The burger itself was a little bland probably to allow it to go with the crab cake seasoning. All in all the flavor was decent but not mind altering -- the burger could have benefited from some form of bold condiment -- there was a tabasco-tartar sauce that was okay...but I could have gone for a more spicy mustard or even bacon -- but all in all a pretty unique burger. The rest of the table was a little underwhelmed with their food but I enjoyed what I tried including the fried grouper fingers. Overall the Hook and Ladder was a great place to catch up with friends for the mood and decent food. I would definitely go back there to try some of the other eclectic items on their menu.

Casablanca Cafe Crab Cakes are tight.

(Note: Okay so this post really should follow the next post about the Ft. Lauderdale Bar crawl. We saw this place the first night we were there and it looked very inviting and had a tremendous view of the ocean. We decided to check it out the next day for lunch before leaving Ft. Lauderdale.)

Betty and I flew down to Ft. Lauderdale before our East Caribbean cruise. The strip was small but clean and chill. We saw this place called Casablanca cafe that overlooked the beach and decided to check it out before we headed off to our Cruise Port. We ordered Crab Cakes and Tuna Sashimi.




Yes. The meal tasted as good as it looked. The crab and tuna tasted oh so fresh. The crab cake was one of the best I'd tried and was pretty massive and adorned with a watercress sprout salad and very yummy avocado and passion fruit creme fraiche . The tuna was tasty as well. My only disappointment was that the 2 appetizers did not complement each other as they had pretty dissimilar tastes -- but I'll take the blame for that as I saw seared tuna -- overlooking the sashmi part.

If you happen to be in Ft. Lauderdale definitely check out this restaurant for the food, vibe, and great view of the ocean:

http://www.casablancacafeonline.com/