Saturday night my wife and I headed out to a soon-to-be neighborhood restaurant for us, Bangkok Bistro. Our friend Amy (who badly needs to update her blog) was having a birthday celebration at the Hyde Park Thai restaurant. My wife called in a reservation for our group earlier in the day and upon our arrival we found that the group had grown by two and the restaurant easily  accommodated  that. Service for our table of ten was good, not particularly fast, but we weren’t in a hurry anyway. Our server asked right away if we were going to have  separate  checks, which made everything so much easier, so that gets a huge plus in my book.

Thai Spicy Chicken

The group started with two plates of edamame as an appetizer along with a bottle of wine and various other drinks. I skipped the edamame since I am allergic to soybeans, but I’m told it was good, though steamed soybeans can’t be that hard to prepare. My wife decided to split some sushi rolls with Amy while I opted for the Thai Spicy Chicken from the “General Fare” selections. Most meals can be ordered on a spiciness scale from 1-10. After reading some reviews of people ordering 11’s and 12’s, I decided that 8 would be suitable for me. I do love spicy food after-all! The decision ended up being perfect for me as the dish was definitely spicy but not so powerful that you couldn’t taste anything else on the plate.

My Plate

This dish is prepared with a mix of vegetables including onions, green peppers, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, baby corn, and peas. The serving size is large and I would have easily been able to take some home if my wife hadn’t helped me with it. The price was also right at only $10.95. Many of the other dishes in the noodles and rice section of the menu were closer to $15 each, which seemed a little high. I’m comparing this to our favorite Thai restaurants in Denver where most dishes were under $10. Typically we have found that most things are little cheaper here in Cincinnati, so Bangkok Bistro would definitely be a little expensive overall. Fortunately the taste of the food was easily on par with our favorite Thai restaurants.  I’m sure with the relatively close location to our future house, we will be back many times in the future.

After our stroll on the bike trail Sunday we met up at The Works Brick Oven Restaurant in downtown Loveland. I’ve eaten at The Works many times in the past, and my parents seem to visit nearly weekly. It, along with the nearby Paxton’s, are reason enough to visit Loveland. For me it’s always a hard decision to choose between the two, but this time the patio at The Works won out.

The Works Brick Oven Restaurant

The Works resides in a building that was built in 1905 and served originally as a water filling station for steam locomotives. Later on, the building served as the firehouse and public works building for Loveland. One of the old garage doors opens up to allow the fresh air to enter the main dining room of the restaurant. Often the wait for a table can be long, but we were lucky to find no wait upon our arrival a little before 4pm, even on the patio with nice weather outside.

Patio at The Works

To start things off, we all enjoyed a Mount Carmel Amber Ale and the sunshine. Later in the evening we ordered a large California Rose Pizza with  Rosé sauce, red and green peppers, onions, banana peppers and pineapple. This is one of my favorites on the menu! My dad also loves the very similar California Rose Pasta, which I will have to try sometime.  Other pizzas I’ve enjoyed in the past include the BBQ Chicken, Mediterranean, and Chicken Bianca.

California Rose Pizza

On this visit we were also treated to a free order of  cinnamon  bites in honor of mother’s day! The large bowl of bite sized pieces of dough were drizzled with a chocolate sauce and plenty of cinnamon and sugar.  All of the food I’ve tasted over multiple visits has been very good. If I had one complaint it would be the beer list. I like that they support the local Mount Carmel Brewing Company, but I wish they had a few other options on tap. They usually seem to have Bell’s Oberon on tap too, but I prefer other Bell’s beers. Other than those two, I don’t recall any other craft beers on tap.

After watching my dad run the Flying Pig Marathon on Sunday, a group of us headed for the Buckhead Mountain Grill for lunch. I’m no stranger to Buckhead as I have eaten there numerous times before moving away from Cincinnati. Their location in Northern Kentucky, right on the Ohio River, offers great views of the city and obviously the river. It was a little rainy and cool during our visit so we couldn’t take advantage of their great deck, but I have used it before and the views are even better out there.

One thing that really surprised me was that they actually have a pretty good selection of craft beer. I don’t recall that from prior visits, but that may be due to a non well-defined palate  in my younger years. One thing I did remember was their delicious rolls and cinnamon butter that are served at the start of every meal. These were just as wonderful as I remembered them to be.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

I ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich with 911 sauce and a side of fried green tomatoes. The chicken sandwich was served covered in  jalapeños  in addition to the spicier sauce, but I didn’t find it to be overbearing. I would say it was definitely one of the better buffalo chicken sandwiches I have had in recent memory and at $7.99 it is probably one of the cheapest too. The fried green tomatoes were also quite good, though I have had better. Others in our group had the Durango wrap and the bruschetta turkey burger to name a few, and I didn’t hear any complaints on the food.

Fried Green Tomato

Another thing that was great was our service! We had eight adults, 1 child, and 3 babies in our group. Our server was very quick with all orders (and refills when needed) especially considering the size of our party. And at the end of the meal he offered to split up the check for us before we had to ask. I love when that happens!

While I haven’t had a chance to sample much Cincinnati cuisine since moving back, my wife and I did enjoy a couple of good meals while on the road between Denver and Cincy. Our last night of travel took us to Terre Haute, Indiana where we had bad luck at one restaurant choice and really good luck at another.

Our first choice for dinner was a place called Sonka Irish Pub after reading some reviews and seeing that it was regarded as having an excellent beer selection. Unfortunately the entire pub is a smoking establishment, which we quickly decided would not be appropriate for our three-month old.

We loaded back into the car and headed over to M. Moggers Restaurant and Pub. This should have been our first choice since it was much more restaurant like and didn’t allow smoking throughout. Plus they too had a very good selection of beers. My wife had a sampler of five different beers while I opted to enjoy a Double Dragonfly from Upland Brewing followed up with a Two Hearted Ale from Bell’s.

Traditional Supreme Pizza

For dinner my wife ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich with fries while I decided to go with the traditional supreme pizza with  Authentic Italian spicy tomato sauce topped with pepperoni, sausage, onion, bell peppers, mushrooms  and mozzarella. The pizza was very good though a bit on the small side though it was only $9. And the buffalo chicken tasty and definitely on the spicier side as far as the sauce goes. After just sampling a couple of items on their list I can see how this would be the #4 ranked restaurant in Terre Haute.

Friday night was spent at the India House Restaurant in downtown Denver. My wife had called ahead for reservations as recommended, though it didn’t seem all that busy upon our arrival. The restaurant doesn’t appear to be that large, but they have a surprisingly big second floor as well. We were seated quickly at a booth table, which proved a little tricky with our infant’s car seat. We were given water immediately, but it took some time for any orders to be placed. When the server was ready to take our order we had decided on drinks, dinner, and to skip an appetizer. The drinks came in a  respectable  amount of time, and as per usual with India restaurants, the food arrived rather quickly too.

Chicken Vindaloo

I ordered the Chicken Vindaloo, while my wife went with the Chicken Tikka Masala. Overall the food was just okay. I wasn’t much a fan of the Vindaloo, it wasn’t as spicy as I typically like it to be and it was actually pretty bland.  The Tikka Masala was better, but still not up to par with other Indian restaurants around town. Having visited a handful of these Indian restaurants around Denver and the neighboring suburbs, I would put India House toward the bottom of the list. Not only wasn’t it not very good, but the price was high, and the servings were not all that large. I have another free $20 to spend at the restaurant, but I’m not sure we will be back. Dinner quickly went $60 for just two meals and one large beer split between the two of us.

Last night my wife, son, and I met up with some friends for dinner and drinks at Govnr’s Park. This was definitely not my first time here, in fact I believe it was one of the first places I visited on my first visit to Denver back in 2003.  Every time I enter the bar/restaurant I recall that first visit, and a couple of others in following years, that eventually convinced my wife and I to move to Denver.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

We started out on the patio with two for one happy hour drinks.  It is really hard to beat two pints of good beer for $5 total, or the even better deal of two 22 ouncers for just a dollar more.  Once the sun had set and the temperatures quickly dropped, we all headed inside for some dinner.  I ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich, “the sandwich that originated here in 1989, often duplicated, never as good.”  Or at least that is what the menu claims.  Honestly, I have to disagree with their claim.  It was a good buffalo chicken, but I’ve had better.  The real standout out the meal for me were the side of fries, which were really thick cut potatoes coated in some delicious seasoning.  My wife had the surfin’ turkey, which she seemed to enjoy.  A friend of our had the ultimate grilled cheese, which was served on the thickest texas toast I have ever seen. All in all, it was a good dining experience.

Saturday evening my wife and I found ourselves out in the burbs of Denver suddenly hungry for a bite to eat. After a couple of chain restaurnt suggestions from myself, she quickly suggested that we try Pizza Republica, a restaurant that she had visited during a lunch break at work. Despite the crowded parking garage for the new and growing Village Shops at The Landmark, we were able to find a close parking spot on the street near the restaurant. We were immediately seated upon entering and I quickly felt a little under-dressed in my baseball hat and t-shirt. I wasn’t expecting such well dressed clientele for a pizza shop.

Fresh Burrata

Our server took his time getting to us, which was okay as we looked through the rather extensive wine list. My only real complaint so far was that the cheapest glass of wine started at $7, which seemed a little high to me. Of course when we asked for a suggestion on a dry red wine, we were given $11 glasses of wine. After I had my second glass later in the meal it occurred to me that we could have shared a bottle for just a bit more. Oh well, lesson learned and the wine was very good. Our server also suggested the fresh burrata for an appetizer. Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft texture. This delicious cheese was served with fire roasted garlic & peppadews, fresh basil, and Crostini bread.

Half Pizza / Half Calzone

While enjoying our appetizer, we noticed quite a few pizzas coming out of the kitchen that looked like part of it was folded on top of itself. Our server later explained that it was a new dish that they were going to add to their menu soon. It was half pizza and half calzone. I don’t remember all the toppings, but the pizza is the meaty half with pepperoni, salami, etc. And the calzone is the veggie half with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, garlic, black olives (which we removed), etc. I thought that the pizza was pretty good, with a thin and tasty Neapolitan crust and even more fresh mozzarella. While the calzone was the real winner here as it was filled with even more of their delicious cheeses. Clearly my favorite part of the meal was all of their fresh cheese that is imported especially for them. Plus the food seems to be more fairly priced than the wine selections. And they have a two course lunch menu which is very affordable and would be my choice if I were to go back.

I’ve been meaning to review this restaurant for over a year now. Tocabe is an American Indian Eatery specializing in fry bread tacos. The taco starts with a puffy fried dough which is then topped with your choice of beans (black, chili, or pinto) along with a choice of meat (ground beef, grilled chicken, ground bison, shredded bison, or  vegetarian) as well as lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, red onions, sour cream, chipotle sauce, and a choice of salsa. There are a lot of choices, and an endless number of combinations, but I always get the chili beans, chicken, with all the toppings including a spicy salsa. This isn’t a taco that you can pick up and eat, at least not very easily, a fork and knife are required to enjoy.

American Indian Fry Bread Taco

Each of the four times I have visited Tocabe, I have fallen in love with the food and always tell myself that I should return more often. I guess that I would stop by more frequently if it wasn’t so far away from our house. There was a rumor flying around that they were going to open a second location last September, but nothing ever came of it. On our most recent visit, a Saturday evening, there were always customers ordering from the counter and there were very few tables unoccupied. I’d be surprised if more locations didn’t start popping up once the economy really starts to pick back up.

Crispy Buffalo SmashChicken

Saturday was filled with casual (but quite tasty) meals. For lunch my wife and I tried SmashBurger for the first time. Neither one of us are red meat eaters, so the place always sounded a little intimidating to us. However when we actually took the time to glance at the menu on the outside of the restaurant, we realized that it was actually right up our alley.  In addition to the smashburgers they also have both grilled and crispy smashchicken sandwiches!  I opted for the crispy buffalo smashchicken sandwich with Franks Buffalo Sauce, crumbled blue cheese, lettuce,  tomato  and may on an egg bun.  My wife ordered the grilled spicy baja smashchicken with pepper jack cheese, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, onion, chipotle mayo and fresh  jalapeños  on a chipotle bun.  We also had a side of smashfries and sweet potato smashfries.

Grilled Spicy Baja SmashChicken

I thought that the buffalo smashchicken sandwich was excellent, but I must admit that I am a sucker for buffalo chicken sandwiches. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary on this sandwich, though it wasn’t completely covered in Franks, which allowed the blue cheese to stand out a little more.  I preferred this over my wife’s spicy baja, but that one was also very good. The sweet potato smashfries were perfect, while the smashfries required a little extra salt for our tastes.  I was pleasantly surprised by SmashBurger and will definitely return.  When I return I will probably try the BBQ ranch smashchicken or perhaps even build my own.

SmashFries

Another great meal my family had while in Estes Park this past weekend was courtesy of Poppy’s Pizza and Grill. I had actually been to this restaurant with my wife once or twice before. During the summer the wait for a table can easily be a couple if hours, but during this offseason we were seated right away.

The first thing I recalled on this return visit was their surprisingly great selection  of beers. I started with Brewery Ommegang’s Three Philosophers after my first choice was out of stock. Others in the group had Pliny the Elder, Estes Park Brewery’s Longs Peak Raspberry Wheat, and a nice variety of Belgians.   I also added a Big Bear Black Stout from Bear Republic for desert.   Delicious!

As far as the food goes, we all decided to split two different pizzas.   Poppy’s Special came with Italian sausage, sautéed onion & green pepper, and fresh mushrooms.   The Thai Pizza had a spicy peanut sauce (though not too spicy), red onion, chicken, broccoli, and water chestnuts.   The Thai Pizza was our personal favorite but both were pretty good.   If you can avoid the long waits, this restaurant is an easy choice for vacationers in Estes Park.