Barcelona- Columbus, OH - September 13 2014

Barcelona

Spanish Cuisine

This place is really good. We liked the atmosphere. It wasn't too loud or to quite and its located in German Village, in Columbus, Ohio.

Fresh Sour Dough Bread w/ Olive Oil and Tomato Puree

Amuse-bouche

(Single Bite horsd'oeurvre)

Buttery Seared Scallop with piquillo peppers

Tapas Menu

(Small Plates)

 Top: Asparagus wrapped in Serrano with a lemon thyme aioli.

Left: Potato Chips w/ Fried chorizo and blue cheese dip

Right: Manchego Cheese, Marcona almonds, quince paste and olive oil crackers.

(They were all good but the last one was the best)

Tapas Entrees

(Small Plates)

 Left: Shrimp w/ chorizo and basque peppers

Top Left: Grilled Scallop, blackberry coulis, grilled tomato and candied bacon

Top Right: Brasied short ribs, grilled baquette, piquillo peppers, caramelized onions and garlic aioli.

Right: Steamed mussels w/ tomatoes, capers and shallots

On this course the braised short rib was the best. The scallop was so buttery it just melted in your mouth. The shrimp was a tad over cooked but the flavors was great. Again the mussels had a great flavor however where a bit sandy. (I dont like crunchy mussels)

Entrees

Kevin's Entree

Garlic Mashed Potatoes- The best I ever had.

Filet Mignon- Tender, Juicy, Seasoned Nicely.

Grilled Asparagus- Perfectly cook, seasoned well.

Chimichurri (on top of steak) could have been a bit smoother, I thought it was chopped a bit course, but had all the right flavors.

Jamie's Entree

Seared Sea Scallops- Buttery goodness, whoever works the fish station at Barcelona knows how.

Topped with a dates, baby lima beams, bacon and some other amazing stuff. The sauce was one of the best things we ate all day. I have no idea what all was in it. Jamie talked about licking the plate clean but decided against it.

Dessert

Tres Leche Cake

with a Raspberry Sauce and a crunchy granola topping. Yum.

By this time we were both so full that we decided to split a dessert it was well worth it.

Over all I would go back to Barcelona. The service was one of the best I have ever had. The food was good and it is located in a beautiful part of Columbus.  What more can you ask for.

For Further comments and questions please email kevinyoderfoodie@gmail.com.

 

Summer Vacation 2014- Virginia Beach, VA & Hagerstown, MD

Below are a few places in the Hampton/Virginia Beach Area and also we were in Hagerstown, MD on the way home.

Mahi Mah's

The First Place is located on Virginia Beach at about 7th Street. Wow this place was great. It has a great view of the beach and the interior of place is nice as well. I had Atlantic Cod fish & Chips and a Mahs House Cali Roll. Everything was fresh crisp and colorful.

 

 

Skrimp Shack

The 2nd place I chose to feature is a small "hole in the wall" place. Its a small restaurant in a strip mall. It is located in Yorktown, VA just minutes from Hampton, VA. This place has about 5 tables and there is always a line out the door. The line is there for a reason. If your in the mood for fried sea food this is the place and it is worth the wait. Below you see a pic of the crab & shrimp Po Boy I had with spicy sauce it a accompanied with an order of hush puppies. Yum!!!

 

 

Cyprus Grill

Embassy Suites Hampton, VA

 

This sandwich was amazing. Southern fried chicken breast smothered in country gravy on a toasted bun with lettuce and tomatoes. Not to mention the sweet potato fries that were perfected cooked and seasoned. Even if your not staying at the hotel it would be worth the drive to eat here.

 

 

Kings NY Pizza

 

The last place is located in Hagerstown, MD. We stopped on the way home and had pizza. This was pizza. Again a small place that has great food. We had a Chicago Style Pizza, Cheesy Garlic Bread and Loaded Fries. This was way to much food for four people.  The pizza was about 1.5" think with layers of cheese and pepperoni. 

We ate at many other good places however most of the places were "chain" restaurants which I do not choose to rate or comment on.


 

Cure - Strip District of Pittsburgh, PA

 

Cure

 

A place where they cure all their own meats, mostly pork, but others as well.

Awesome place. If there are going to be more then 2 of you please make reservations. I can't say enough about this place. Its a small place (dream size for me) set up much as I have pictures a restaurant of mine to be. Service was great. We sat at the table basically in the kitchen.

(see picture below of our view)

 

We could see everything they were doing. No hiding. It was great. The detail that Chef Justin put in every dish was awesome.  I had Hanger Steak with pickled onions, horseradish custard, onion jam, brown butter potato puree, beet puree and buttered wilted lettuce. WOW. It sounds like a lot of flavors and its a party in your mouth but everything things worked together.  I think its been one of the best dishes I have had so far. (Its different then your standard steak plate)  (See Picture)

 

Jamie had Berkshire Pork Loin with kraut and fried fingerling potatoes.  This too was great.

 

No the pork is not under cooked. It is cooked properly.

 

 

Service was great, food was even better and I highly recommend everyone to try this and I will be taking Freda here sometime in the future.

 

 



Point Brugge Cafe- Pittsburg Area

Point Brugge Cafe

This is a nice place in a quite part of town. They have mostly French dishes however also serve other favorites as well.  Service was great and food matched the service. I talked to a another couple that said they keep coming back because of the great food.  Overall nice place, great food and great service. What more could one want?

Hand Battered Shrimp with Asian dipping sauce was great.

 

Mussels in Red Curry and Coconut Milk. Jamie finally convinced me to try the mussels they were good. It was a first for me.

 

I would recommend this to others and will go back myself.

The Famous- A Steakhouse- Colorado Springs, CO

Lets start out by saying I was at this place in 2007 and my wife and I were quite impressed with the place and the food. So impressed that I still remembered the taste of the steak 7 years later.  Well the steak still tastes the same. The service was great. My ice tea glass was never empty, not once. All of the food was quite good.  I will be back and I would recommend anyone in the Colorado Springs area to stop in and have a filet mignon. Below are a few other items I had.

Appetizer: Charred Pork Belly and Onion Rings

 

Salad Course: Tomato Salad with Onions, Blue Cheese and House Vinaigrette

 

 

 

Entrée; 10 oz Filet Mignon and Green Beans

 

The Filet is seared top and bottom by high heat and has a salt & pepper herb crust. This is what makes it so good.



Judge Baldwin's Brewing Company- Antlers Hilton- Colorado Springs, Co

 

Judge Baldwin's Brewing Company

 

4/30/14

 

 

Overall the décor was you typical pub style, very classy though. The food was great. Hats off to the chef. The service however left something to be desired. My server as well as the tables around me was more interested in the hockey game then taking care of customers. She spent time in the back chit chatting with co workers. Service left a lot of room for improvement especially after the lady at the front desk bragged on their service. Attached are a few pictures of what I had.

 

Juicy burger with some of the best fries I ever had and thick cut bacon.

 

Classic Wedge Salad with bacon and blue cheese. It was nothing fancy but it was really good.

Simple Good.

 

I would probably go back and try the service again to see if the whole wait staff is like that or just the crew I had.

Upcoming Food Spotting Trip- Pittsburgh, PA

Saturday May 3 2014 a friends or friends and I will be Food Spotting in Pittsburgh, PA. Check back later to see what we think about the restaurants we visit.  Also check out my other blog smalltownboldflavors.blogspot.com for reviews on shop and non-restaurant food related places to visit in Pittsburgh, PA.