The Leptologists Eat at Amul India

Paul: These groupons seem to be working.
Candice: They'd work even better if we bothered to purchase one!
Paul: It got us here, and here is Amul India in Dublin.
Candice: Another long haul from downtown. It seems as far as Tora was.
Paul: It is. I didn't think you liked Indian.
Candice: My eyes have been opened recently. Enough that I'm willing to give it a try.

Dining Area

Paul: Bravo! It smells fantastic.
Candice: The decor is wonderfully cheesy. The black velvet paintings and the chandelier reminiscent of the sparkle that was the 1970s.
Paul: It's a lunch buffet. We ask to see menus anyway.
Candice:  Why? Because food critics must be difficult.  Or, they totally want to look at all the possible scrumptious options available.
Paul: Yes, look at the spread they've laid out for the buffet.

Buffet Entrees

Candice: A much more generous and expansive buffet than Nicola. I wonder if this is new for them.
Paul: Why don't you ask?
Candice: I will! They say they've been doing the buffet for 9 years! No wonder they've got this buffet thing down.

Buffet Desserts

Paul: So I guess we're doing the buffet.
Candice: Let's do that!  (Don't mind the exclamation points, folks.  Paul's son says that just means a shout.  All I'm doing is shouting in the restaurant.  Feel free to try it yourself!)
Paul: I count 10 different warmers, plus the desserts and the sauces. For my first plate, I choose the chana masala, saag paneer, and the basmati rice. I also take a cup of the dal soup.
Candice: How vegetarian of you.
Paul: The soup is creamy and flavorful. I taste the lentil, and the spices complement it. This is yummy.
Candice: I'll try it on my second trip. I got the chana masala and the saag paneer too. The spinach is held well in the sweet sauce blending in a fine balance with the low burn of the spices.
Paul: This chana masala is amazing, though a little cold.

Paul's Plate

Candice: Yes, it's fantastic. I also got the chicken biriyani. The rice is dry and flavorful.
Paul: The saag is very good too. And the basmati rice is perfect.
Candice: Though the tandori chicken is moist, it's just okay. This bhatura bread is flaky and wonderful.  I should eat two pieces.
Paul: Time for my second plate. I get malai kofta, chicken biriyani, chicken makhani, aloo shimla mirch, and a chicken dish mysteriously labeled Chicken #65.
Candice: I tried that. It was good. For my second trip, I make sure I get the dal soup, basmati rice, and chicken makhani.

Candice's Plate

Paul:The malai kofta is delicious, little balls of taste.
Candice: I agree. They're like a vegetable fritter, sweet on top. There's a crisp cleanliness to it and a boost of freshness that may be mint.
Paul: The chicken makhani is too dry. These spicy potatos are spicy! But very, very tasty.
Candice: The rice is cooked perfectly. Not too moist, not too dry. The shape of the grain tapered and delightful on the tongue. And the soup...
Paul: Good, isn't it.
Candice: It has umami.
Paul: I try the naan and the bhatura. Both are very good.
Candice: The chutney over rice is also very lovely. I taste cinnamon and chili pepper. It burns pleasantly. Are you going up for dessert?
Paul: I'll pass in favor of a third plate of my two favorites, the chana masala and the saag paneer.
Candice: I get the gulab jamun and the kheer.

Dessert

Paul: It looks good.
Candice: The gulab jamun is the bread ball and tastes like a cross between a pound cake and short bread. There's allspice in here. The custard is...
Paul: Well?
Candice: ... nummy, nummy, nummy.
Paul: Is that three nummies?
Candice: Yes, three. It cleanses the palate and cools the back of your throat.
Paul: I think this was a win all around. This buffet has a wide range of foods, something for anyone who likes Indian cuisine. The price is right at $9. If the drive wasn't so long, we'd eat here every week.
Candice: Yes, this is a damn fine spread of food. As a contented steak eating omnivore, I must say that the vegetarian entrees were, one and all, delicious.
Paul: It was worth the price, without a doubt.
Candice: And worth the wait. There was no line at the buffet ever.  Just a wonderful rotation of happy, hungry people.
Paul: And worth coming back.
Candice: That was a really good meal. Roll me back to the car.  Which reminds, me...we'd be remiss not to state that it was also Worth The Drive.

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

The Leptologists Eat at Tora

Paul: You can't say those groupons don't work.
Candice: They got us here, but uh...I didn't actually buy the groupon.
Paul: Right.  Here is Tora, a Japanese restaurant in Gahanna.
Candice: It looks an awful lot like Nicola from the outside.  I wonder if the strip mall was made by the same developer.
Paul: Yup.  Same corner lot on the same strip mall, opposite side of town.
Candice: The inside is decidedly different, though.

Dining Area

Paul: Tora is in Gahanna at 1330 North Hamilton Road. It's a trek from downtown, located outside the outer belt.
Candice: It was a 20 minute drive, not too bad if the occasion is special enough and the food is good enough. Let's see about that.
Paul: The decor seems very elegant.
Candice: Yes, it's sophisticated: an art deco look with just a touch of Asian accents. I like the orange brocade on the cushion backs.  And, the chandeliers are gorgeous.  The lighting is very well done.
Paul: The appetizer plates are rather stylish.
Candice: Indeed. The music isn't too loud so there's a nice sense of seclusion. I detect only a slight whiff of detergent.
Paul: I didn't even notice.
Candice: Sushi restaurants have to clean often - raw fish. Ah, my tea has arrived.
Paul: None for me, thanks.
Candice: Oh, this is good. The green tea is fresh and crisp and the perfect temperature to drink right from the pot. It's perking me right up.
Paul: Good. You needed the perk.
Candice: Says who? I order the Monkfish Pate as an appetizer, assorted sushi rolls and sashimi.  Oh, and the Spicy Negi Ramen Soup.  Why?  Because I am an eater.  Eating is what I do. I am very good at eating.
Paul: Not that anyone could tell, you wee lass.  I order the Chino Sampler and the Beef Teriaki.
Candice: The Chino Sampler has gyoza. I love a good potsticker.
Paul: We both do. We should definitely continue our original quest to eat every potsticker in town so we can dub one King.  The sampler includes pork gyoza and seafood dumplings, spicy shrimp, calamari, and shumai.
Candice: The Monkfish and Chino Sampler arrive!

Appetizers

Paul: The calamari is not chewy at all.  I do not often find calamari like this.  The sweet teriaki sauce is awesome.
Candice: The monkfish pate is savory. The taste is a combination of fish and liver together.
Paul: Let me try. Oh, yuck. It's too... fishy!
Candice: I like it. But I've always liked liver.
Paul: The gyoza is a disappointment. It's too salty.
Candice: And the shell is crunchy. I hate that. But these seafood dumplings are a tasty mouth explosion.
Paul: Wow. Very good. I like the spicy shrimp in the sweet and sour sauce. It's a good contrast.
Candice: The shumai look like little vegetable rolls cut diagonally in half and they're good.
Paul: I agree. Here's your sushi and sashimi.

Sushi and Sashimi

Candice: The sashimi is tuna and salmon. The sushi is a beef carpaccio roll, avocado roll, and tekka maki (tuna roll).
Paul: I'm not a big sushi fan, but I like the carpaccio roll.
Candice: The tuna is fresh and clean. Very good.
Paul: Yeah, that is good. I like that. Let me try the salmon.... uh....
Candice: It's supposedly fresh today, but you're right. I don't even want to eat the last piece.
Paul: That stuff is yucky.
Candice: The sashimi at Sogo was much better. The carpaccio roll is pleasant. I like the rice flavor, but not the texture. The sushi overall is not bad, but I've had better.  Odds are I have eaten better simply because I eat a lot of sushi.  See? Eater here.
Paul: What's with you and this eating label?  I think you've had enough caffeine. Here's your salad.
Candice: This is a good salad dressing, not too tart. The vegetables are cut julienne except for the lettuce. And I see too many lettuce ribs in here. Argh. This is a huge pet peeve for me.  Why ruin a lovely salad with a bitter rind flavor?  I often wonder if restaurants do that just to bulk up a salad.
Paul: My beef teriaki has arrived.

Beef Teriaki

Candice: The presentation is nice.
Paul: The beef is little dry. In fact, I'm disappointed.
Candice: The waiter didn't ask how you wanted it, did he?
Paul: No. But the beef is better near the center. Still, this beef is medium well. The teriaki sauce is very good. It gives the beef excellent flavor. I like the rice too. If it wasn't for the teriaki sauce, I wouldn't be able to finish this.
Candice: You love teriaki sauce no matter where you go.  Even at home, you cook with it.  My soup is yummy. The pork is tender. The noodles are springy. The broth is rich and deep, but light on the tongue. The nanami togarashi offered up with the soup added a nice spicy kick.

Spicy Ramen Soup

Paul: My broccoli is bland and tasteless. It's not fresh, or it's been over steamed. That's disappointing too.
Candice: Whoa! I only needed two shakes of the nanami togarashi, not three. That was a good kick. But the spiciness is so good, you don't care that it's hot.
Paul: Well, I think your lunch ended up better than mine. My beef was dry and overdone, but salvaged by the always awesome teriaki sauce. The broccoli was subpar. The gyoza was too salty, but the other appetizers were decent.
Candice: Yes, my soup was great and the sushi was good enough.  The experience marred only by the salmon, which was so off in flavor. My dog won't mind, though.
Paul: The drive was long, but the wait was short.
Candice: And the service was excellent. I think it was worth the price, worth the wait, and worth coming back.
Paul: We're split on this one. I think the price was high for the food. It was worth the wait, and I think it's worth coming back to, at least one more time. But I'll have something besides the beef teriaki.
Candice:  You?  Not eat teriaki?  Yup, you've definitely made your mind up about that particular dish.  Here's hoping we both get excellent meals at our next lunch.

	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?

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?