Cafe Corner- Victorian Village

You’ll find Katalina’s Cafe Corner in the wonderful Victorian Village neighborhood. I’m a little biased as it is the neighborhood where I lay my head to sleep, but still it’s pretty sweet. Cafe Corner is one of my favorite brunch places, when I’m willing to shell out some dough for some quality food and it was Easter, so I figured why not. The price of the food is really the only down fall for Cafe Corner because the meals are always amazing. The patio is also a huge plus during the spring and summer months. Something about eating outside just makes everything better.

I had heard some chatter on twitter recently about the Latin Pancake balls, so I had to give them a try on this visit even though they would put me back $8.95.  They give you a choice of either Nutella or Strawberry preserves filling. I of course went with Nutella because I just love that stuff. Nutella is a usually forgotten about gem that I wish was more used by restaurants.  For those of you that don’t know what Nutella is “You better ask somebody!”, anyways it is a hazelnut spread; think peanut butter, but with hazelnuts instead. The pancake balls are also served with some sweet and spicy bacon. Usually the dish only comes with 6 pancake balls, but the cashier must have thought I was cute because as you can see I got 7 :). These things were amazing though. There wasn’t too much nutella and the balls were surprisingly really moist. Hold on that sounded bad lol, but you know what I meant. The real Vermont maple syrup made a huge difference too, much different from Aunt Jemima. Now lets move on to the amazing sweet and spicy bacon. I usually enjoy my bacon really crispy, but it was a little less well done. The flavor though was great. This dish definitely didn’t disappoint and I understand now what all the chatter was about. The friend I was with ordered the Breakfast Tacos and even though I didn’t taste them they just looked amazing so I decided to snap a pic.

I can’t eat here too often or I’ll be broke, but when I get the urge for some fantastic food I’ll definitely be back.

Until next time, remember to never ever forget about Nutella. Actually feel free to go out and buy a jar right now and bake me something :).

Cheers Mate!!!

Knead- Short North

Ever since I found Knead a few months after it opened I have been a huge fan of the food and their dedication to local farmers. Knead is still somewhat new to the Columbus restaurant scene and it wasn’t until a few months ago that I knew they had as much to offer for breakfast and lunch as they did for dinner. On Sunday the hours are limited strictly to brunch hours (10am-2pm) so you can’t be lazy. You have to get out of bed (or off the floor depending on what kind of night you had), shake off that hangover and get moving. I’m hesitant to tell you all about Knead’s brunch because I enjoy my peace and quiet on Sundays, but the main reason for this blog is to share the wealth so that is what I’m doing. I just ask that you don’t overrun the place, so I at least have a place to sit when I come in on Sunday mornings. Thanks :).

Now on to the food. I consistently order the Biscuits & Gravy. It comes with two of Knead’s homemade biscuits topped with their homemade sage ginger sausage gravy. That combo might sound a bit weird, but trust my taste buds when they say the flavors work perfectly together. The gravy has a slight sweetness to it that makes the entire dish enjoyable. All of this for only $6 too. That is another reason I don’t mind frequenting Knead on Sundays because it is very reasonably priced.

On this specific visit I was pretty hungry so I decided to go for three biscuits instead of two and our waiter was more than happy to accommodate. The service at Knead is always excellent and much appreciated. I decided for three because I feel once I finish the two biscuits that I just need a bit more. They say good food is supposed to keep you wanting more. Well sometimes I just need to get extremely full and this was one of those days. The three biscuits did the trick. I almost didn’t even get the third biscuit into the bowl before eating it by itself, it was just that good.

Definitely go visit the folks at Knead for brunch. Just make sure you save me a seat because Knead has become a place I frequent often. 

Cheers!!!

www.kneadonhigh.com

Northstar Cafe- Short North

It was a Saturday afternoon and the weather had finally started to warm up here in Columbus. When I say warm up I mean it was in the mid-50s. Florida folks would have on their winter coats, but not us mid-westerners. As soon as the temperature hits 50 the windows go down, the shorts come out, and the patios open up.  I was on the look out for some good food and a place where I could take advantage of the weather by being outside. The lucky place was Northstar Cafe in the Short North. I had heard people hype up their breakfast burrito for some time, so I figured this was the time to give it a try. I also like the fact that they are big into using local and organic ingredients. The Big Burrito as they call it is probably one of their signature dishes. It consists of eggs, organic black beans, roasted sweet potatoes, sautéed peppers & onions, white cheddar and the option of applewood smoked bacon, which I of course had them throw on there.

For those of you that have specific eating habits you follow they can also make it meat and dairy free. The burrito is a decent size, but I’m not so sure about calling it “big”. I got through the first half of the wrap and was very impressed. The sweetness of the sautéed onions and sweet potatoes along with the saltiness of the bacon and beans made for a nice combination of flavors. I didn’t hold anything back on the second half, but got very tired of the sweet potatoes real quick.

They just became too much and started overtaking all the flavors. The burrito was probably half filled with sweet potatoes, so I might suggest just lessening that a little bit. Other than that the burrito was pretty good and a decent amount of food for $8 ($2 extra for the bacon). It was also nice to be outside on a patio and the Short North always provides a nice scenery in both people and buildings. The White Castle across the street takes a little bit away, but hey everybody needs their fix of sliders every once in a while.

www.thenorthstarcafe.com