surprisingly tasty seafood in c-town...Cap City Diner

Betty and I stopped in for a quick bite at the bear err...bar at Cap City after a long day at work. We were perhaps nostalgic of our recent seafood expedition in Boston and were craving shrimp and what not. The whatnot ended up being mussels and their meatloaf sandwich.


peel and eat shrimp with old bay seasoning and cocktail sauce and mayo based crab louie sauce


steamed mussels in a Chardonnay broth with garlic, shallots and tomatoes



meatloaf melt with muenster cheese and lettuce, tomato, onion + fries

Who knew that a place so non-chalantly tucked back a bit on Olentangy River Road could have such tasty seafood. The shrimp was delicious. It's hard to mess up shrimp though isn't it? The seasoning was perfect and the 2 sauces were nice to have to balance each other out. The mussels were phenomenal. I'm still generating a taste for mussels but these had so much flavor between the Chardonnay broth, garlic and shallots. The weakest link was the meatloaf sandwich which was pretty wimpy and soggy. It tasted alright but there was no character to the meatloaf. We don't really go to Cap City much but after trying the mussels and shrimp and hanging out at the bar and discovering bands play certain nights at the bar-- I could see us being repeat customers.

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.

put 3Ts remix on repeat...hello hello hello...echo echo echo...

With my nose and eyes watering for the past 48 hours this bear was running out of energon in true transformer's fashion. Betty saved the day by remixing our 3Ts in true DJ on repeat fashion.


3Ts. Tator tots, tomato basil soup, tomato melt

You know the drill. Ore-Ida tator tots. This time Betty flipped a Tomato melt with American cheese on oatnut bread. No sandwich maker this time which made for an easier post dinner dish washing. And of course our new found favorite tomato soup Sierra Rica Tomato & Basil purchased from the Dublin Whole Foods. Got the taste on lock. I should be sick more often...not.

BBC presents Banana Bean Craving 2.

You think i was kidding when I said Banana Bean was one of our best dining experiences eva eva eva eva in Columbus. We snagged some good friends and persuaded them that they should join us for lunch at Banana Bean on Saturday. That's right twice in less than 2 weeks...technically three times if you count when they were closed on Monday.


shrimp and grits

Described from the menu as "...Cedar Key Shrimp & Grits - Smoked Bacon Etouffe and Creamy Goat Cheese Grits"

Betty ordered the grits. The shrimp was tasty but the grits were pretty underwhelming and bland. They could have used more flavor in the form of bacon, more goat cheese, or even more tomatoes and green onions. I was a little disappointed that this meal did not quite pack the punch that our previous days dining had provided. At the same time I finished Betty's grits for her after eating the below.

Islamadora Fish Taco

The fish on this taco was the Red Stripe Beer Battered Cod. I could not taste much if any of the mango habanero ketchup this time around. In all honesty I really wanted to enjoy this and it was pretty good but I definitely enjoyed the shrimp version of the fish taco more. The battered fish overpowered the other elements in the taco.



Our friend ordered the fried oyster po'boy pictured above.

It was my first time trying fried oysters and I thought the flavor was strong but pretty tasty.

All in all Banana Bean cafe came down to earth in terms of flavor the 2nd time around. I am not sure if this was because we had not let enough time pass between our last visit or if perhaps the flavors/chefs that day were off. At the same time I did not regret trying the food we had. It was still tasty and better than your typical fare. I still want to try their crab cake burger along with some of their other brunch items and have no reservation about going back there.

you and me and a bottle makes 3Ts tonight: Turkey melt, Tomato basil soup & Tator tots...

Betty wanted to rep in the kitchen on Friday. We decided to use our sandwich maker for the 2nd time ever. The menu was: turkey melt, tomato soup, and tater tots.


3Ts ingredients: ore-ida tater tots, boar's head bacon & oven roasted turkey from Huffman's market, kraft american cheese, roma tomato, & a jar of Sierra Rica Tomato & Basil soup purchased from Jungle Jim's.


3Ts Plated.

Everything tasted really good and went well together. It was our first time trying the Sierra Rica product line and Betty and I found ourselves loving the tomato basil soup. We were happy to see this product available at the Dublin Whole Foods as well.

3Ts will definitely be a repeat for future meals.

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!

home Surly home...

Betty and I have been on a kick of eating at home during the week and then trying new restaurants on the weekend to get outside of our comfort zone and to explore new places and tastes. This goal lasted about 3 months so Thursday's date night with Betty at Surly Girl Saloon was a homecoming of sorts for us. Surly Girl is one of our favorite restaurants in Columbus for a number of reasons including their excellent beer selection, their sausage pizza and their roasted turkey sandwich. Sure I could go on about how Betty and I fell in love in the shortnorth and really made the bars and restaurants there our stomping yards but I won't. It had been some time since we had been back to Surly Girl and as we placed our drink orders Betty and I wondered if our favorites could still hold their own after all the complex and new tastes we had experienced over the past 2-3 months.


roasted turkey sandwich with bacon and poblano mayo on wheat with fritos

traditional italian sausage pizza

Not sure what we were worried about. The food was as delicious as we remembered it. The turkey sandwich has gone through some changes in the past year and a half including less turkey actually on the sandwich and a vendor change that we were pretty bummed about last year. I am not sure if SGS switched vendors again but the sandwich tasted better than the last time we ordered it. The sandwich is served on toasted wheat with bacon and a delicious poblano mayonaise. I am not a sandwich person but I truly love this sandwich. As for the pizza - I think it's strange how much I love their traditional Italian sausage pizza especially considering all my other favorite pizza joints across Columbus but simply put I love it and that's all i have to say about it. It's comforting to know that no matter what new places and tastes cross my palette that at the end of the day I can still count on our timeless favorites and reminisce about Columbus and why we call it our home.

Next stop Katzingers...

Still suffering from cruise vertigo/virus but not wanting to miss an ounce of restaurant week I hit up Katzingers with a friend to catch up. This was my second time going to Katzingers and I remember thinking it was pretty good but expensive. We both decided on the Flight of the Corned Beefs. You got three different half sandwiches, a brownie and a side of potato salad for $7.50 + all the dill and garlic pickles you could eat. That's a deal this day in age.


Garlic and Dill Pickles, Carbonated H20, Flight of Corned Beef, Brownie, Potato Salad

As I was eating the sandwiches I became engrossed in conversation with my friend because we hadn't seen each other for awhile. Before I knew it I was threw my food without really tasting my meal. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't really know much about corned beef but the sandwiches were good and traditional. The potato salad and brownie were standard. I wasn't overly impressed with the pickles. They were crisp yet pretty bland. The dill pickle did seem to taste better the longer it sat. All in all the verdict is still out on Katzingers. The meal was good enough to enjoy through a conversation but I don't recall being blown away. I was psyched that they had carbonated water at their drink station thought. The restaurant does have a nice store that intrigued me and I would be curious to come back to try out their eclectic selection of breads, cheeses, meats, and appetizers. I was really hoping to take Betty later on in the week to try the Flight of Turkeys and discuss her reviews of the pickles because she is big on sandwiches and pickles but time got away from us.