The Leptologists Eat at Akai Hana

Candice: It's my choice today, and I pick Akai Hana.
Paul: Why is that?
Candice: I'm making Salmon Teriaki tonight and I need to pick up a few things at Tensuke Market which is located next door.
Paul: Let's eat before we shop. I'm starving.
Candice: I agree.
Paul: Akai Hana is located on Old Henderson Road, up 315 from downtown Columbus. The drive is not bad at all.
Candice: No, not at all. The muted decor is beautiful. I love the honey oak.
Paul: We arrive at noon, and the place is well occupied.
Candice: The sushi bar is full.
Paul: We are seated quickly, even though the place is relatively busy. The waitress is with us right away.
Candice: They have a lucky cat on the sushi bar.
Paul: You approve.
Candice: I do.
Paul: The menu has Japanese and Korean items. The last couple pages are in Japanese characters.

Miso Soup and Onigiri

Candice: There is a lunchbox of the week and of the day. I like that.
Paul: I order Yaki Maki and, of course, dumplings.
Candice: I order the Seafood Champon and ask for Salmon Onigiri which isn't a menu item, but they're gracious. And of course, I'll eat your salad.
Paul: We'll not have it going to waste.
Candice: I love this Onigiri.  I could eat it every day. It's a seaweed-wrapped ball of rice and salmon. The tart seaweed contrasts with the sweeter rice and the smokiness of the salmon. Try it.
Paul: You know I can't stand the taste of seaweed.
Candice: Try it anyway.
Paul: I do like the rice and salmon. My miso soup is good as well, I think.
Candice: You think?

Salad

Paul: It is just miso soup. Perhaps perfection in miso soup is measured in how well it conforms to all other miso soup. In that case, it's very good miso soup.
Candice: The salad dressing is not too tart. The greens are fresh. Very tasty.
Paul: These dumplings are chunkier than we've seen before.
Candice: The dough is light and luminescent. I love the texture of these gyoza.
Paul: I taste vinegar in these. It seems a bit strong. These are pretty good dumplings...
Candice: ... but they aren't the best ever. That honor still goes to Nida's.
Paul: Yep. Here are the entrees. My beef dish looks wonderful. The onions are flavorful. The beef is tasty. The sauce is pleasant.

Yaki Niku

Candice: My soup is fantastic. The scallops are cooked perfectly, and that's hard to do in a soup. These noodles taste like homemade egg noodles.
Paul: It certainly looks full of seafood.

Seafood Champon

Candice: It is. I am very happy with this. Candice wins.
Paul: Mine is pretty good too.
Candice: Candice wins, I said.
Paul: Well, it seems we were both happy with the food. Was there anything we didn't enjoy?
Candice: Other than your abnormal aversion to seaweed, no. It was great from start to finish.
Paul: Good atmosphere, wide-ranging menu, decent prices. This restaurant is a win all around.
Candice: Agreed. Worth the price, worth the wait, and worth coming back.
Paul: So let it be written.
Candice: Now let's get my shopping done.

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

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?