The Leptologists Eat at Nida's Thai on High

Candice: You set me up today.

Paul: What? Me?

Candice: A sandwich place, a taco truck, and Nida's.

Paul: I gave you three choices.

Candice: You gave me one. You know I adore Nida's Thai on High.

Paul: All right. I set you up. I love Nida's too. We've been eating at Nida's since we found her sushi stall in the North Market.

Candice: Let's go.

Nida's Dining Room

Paul: Nida's Thai on High is located at 976 North High Street in Columbus' Short North, just ten minutes from downtown.

Candice: I've always loved her restaurant design: simple, well-lit, tasteful decoration.

Paul: But a little chilly today.

Candice: I wish they would shut their door!

Paul: It's not very crowded now at 11:30. Only a couple tables are occupied.

Nida's Art

Candice: I know I'm getting the gyoza. Hey, this menu doesn't match the one they have on-line.

Paul: That's odd. Why have a menu laid out differently on the web than in the restaurant. The web version is just a pdf. The contents look the same.

Candice: I order the Tod Munn, (a thai meatball), Gyoza (yummy pork dumplings), and Chicken Pho, which is Vietnamese rice noodle soup.

Paul: I also order the Gyoza (yum!), the Tom Yum Soup (hot and sour soup), and Ka Prow fried rice (basil, garlic, bell peppers, onions, and chili paste)

Nida's Art

Candice: We consider these dumplings the best in town.

Paul: Yep. We're dumpling connoisseurs.

Candice: Hey, the table behind you got their appetizers before us!

Paul: They did?

Candice: And now they have their main course.

Gyoza

Paul: We didn't take that long to order.

Candice: I am starving!

Paul: Finally, the gyoza arrive.

Candice: Yum... um... well....

Paul: What's wrong with our favorite dumplings in the world?

Todd Mun and Tom Yum Soup

Candice: They were ready awhile ago, I think, and sat under a heat lamp for ten minutes.

Paul: They're chewy.

Candice: Well, that was disappointing.

Paul: My Tom Yum Soup however is awesome. It's fresh, spicey, and full of flavor.

Candice: The Todd Mun is very good as well. Good texture, strong flavor.

Ka Prow

Paul: My Ka Prow arrives, and it is very good too. The rice is sticky and thick. The grains are puffy. It slides over my tongue. The hotness is intense, not too strong at all. (I ordered it 2 on the 5 point scale of hotness.) The green pepper is the dominate flavor, but the basil is there as well. The chicken in fresh.

Candice: My pho comes in a bowl bigger than my head. It is light and airy. There is a lovely cinnamon flavor. The noodles are perfectly cooked. My only complaint is that it needs more lime. When I squeeze one more slice of lime into the bowl, it's perfect.

Paul: This is an awesome lunch.

Candice: It is. Our only disappointment was the gyoza, caused by the poor, slow service.

Paul: Hopefully Nida's won't be a victim of its own success.

Candice: It is more crowded now than I've ever seen it. It was voted Best Asian Restaurant in Columbus by Columbus Alive.

Chicken Pho

Paul: That's probably driving up the traffic. Good for Nida. We knew her when...

Candice: It's nice when one of our favorites gets some well-deserved fame.

Paul: I don't need to ask, but what did you think? Was it worth it?

Candice: Oh, definitely. Our only complaints were the overcooked, chewy gzoya and the slow service. The food otherwise was delicious.

Paul: Not too expensive, about $20 per person for two appetizers and an entree each.

Candice: Fast seating, but slow service. The food was so good, it was worth the wait.

Paul: And of course it's worth coming back.

Candice: Yep, one of our favorites.

	Candice	Paul
Worth the Price?
Worth the Wait?
Worth Coming Back?

The Leptologists Eat at Explorers Club

Candice: It's Friday, and I need to get out of the office! Let's go someplace good for lunch.
Paul: I've heard the Explorers Club is good.
Candice: Show me the menu. Ah, another Latin American fusion bistro. I love the pictures on their menu. Let's go.
Paul: Explorers Club is located on the corner of South High Street and Merrill Avenue here in Columbus, in Merion Village, about 10 minutes from downtown.
Candice: This building is beautiful.
Paul: There's no parking. I wonder if it's a problem in the evening. We walk to the front to find that we can't enter that way and must backtrack.
Candice: All of 20 feet. I like the decor. The colors are bright. The lighting is good. The prints on the wall are lovely.
Paul: The artist is Jeb Loy Nichols and the prints are from his Jazz and Folk Portrait collections.
Candice: I love the Miles Davis quote on the wall: "I'll play it first and tell you what it is later."
Paul: I like that too.
Candice: The music is too loud. They need to turn it down.  If a deaf chick says it's too loud, it is.
Paul: The soup of the day is a Lentil and Spinach. The special appetizer is the Chorizo Bread Pudding. The special entree is the Fried Pollock.
Candice: We order the Chorizo Bread Pudding and the The Black Bean Hummus with Garlic Citrus Pizza Bread for appetizers.

Chorizo

Paul: Candice orders the Linguini with Shrimp, Garlic, Cabbages, Lemon, Cream and Olive Oil. I order the Roast Half Chicken with Black Beans, Brown Rice and Jalapeno Slaw.
Candice: The Chorizo Bread Pudding is covered in an enchilada sauce that has too much salt. Yuck.
Paul: The chorizo sausage isn't as spicy as I would expect.
Candice: But the bread is nice and sweet.
Paul: I like the pizza bread for the hummus. Yummy.

Hummus

Candice: The hummus is nice and subtle. A very good consistency.
Paul: The entrees arrive. My chicken smells very good. I try one of the plantains. Sweet and tasty. The chicken however is... plain. The rice and black beans are very good.
Candice: What about the slaw?
Paul: I don't eat slaw.
Candice: Oh, right, I forgot I have to eat your vegetables. Your loss. The slaw is fresh and crisp. There is a lovely tartness to it. It isn't uniformly cut and this feels good in my mouth.

Chicken

Paul: How's your linguini?
Candice: I like it. The cabbage is a good addition, though the pieces are too big and I'd have liked it to be roasted more before the mixing. The lemon flavor isn't strong enough, but I liked what the chef was going for. The shrimp is thick and full of flavor.
Paul: The shrimp is good.
Candice: It has a good grill pattern on it. Let me try your chicken. Yeah, you're right. It's fried well, but bland. The plantains are good.

Linguini

Paul: So, was it worth it?
Candice: It was worth the wait. We were seated at once, and even by the time we left, the dining room still had open tables.
Paul: Agreed. The driving distance from downtown was not too far. Price?
Candice: $20 for an entree and an appetizer. Not bad.
Paul: Yeah, not bad on the price. Is it worth coming back?
Candice: The linguini and the appetizers were good. Your chicken was okay, with pretty good black beans and rice and slaw. But...
Paul: Exactly. There's just not enough spark to revisit.
Candice: Yep. It's not worth coming back, alas.

	Candice	Paul
Worth the Price?
Worth the Wait?
Worth Coming Back?