Tip Top Kitchen- Downtown

Since starting this whole blog thing I frequently get people asking for restaurant recommendations and one of the places I always tell them to add to their list is Tip Top Kitchen in downtown Columbus. Tip Top has become one of my favorite places because of the downtown location, chill atmosphere and great tasting food. Tip Top is one of the few places in the actual downtown area that is casual. I mean how can you not like a place that gives you discount PBR just for riding your bike??? The menu is a unique take on your normal comfort foods. I started this meal off with the Hell Salad made up of mixed greens,  spicy giardinara, shredded mozzarella and housemade buttermilk ranch dressing. I couldn’t pass on this as I have never heard of a salad with giardinara on it. It is usually just served on italian beef sandwiches and is very similar to the hot peppers Potbelly’s uses on their sandwiches. The salad was really good. The giardinara added a nice spiciness and the ranch cooled it down a bit. As you can tell from the picture though there was quite a bit of ranch, so I could have done with a little less. A decent sized portion for just $5 I would definitely recommend trying it. Usually I just throw the piece of bread to the side, but for some reason I decided to try this one and am I glad I did. I think it was just a simple piece of toasted whole wheat bread, but for some reason it tasted really good, so try it don’t toss it. For the main dish I went with one of my favorite dishes around, the Pot Roast Sandwich with sweet potato fries.

The pot roast sandwich is served on a pretzel bun with swiss cheese and yellow mustard and the fries are served with a housemade southwestern sauce. I am a huge fan of this sandwich because it is loaded with lots of slow cooked beef and those flavors combined with the pretzel bun and fresh cheese go great together. The sweet potato fries are also really good and not too overcooked or thick. A lot of the time when I get sweet potato fries they are more like potato wedges and there is just too much sweet potato for me in one bite. The southwestern sauce helps offset some of the fries’ sweetness too with its’ spicy flavor. All of that food for just $15 is a pretty good deal. I definitely left stuffed. I will for sure be back for another visit I just have to convince myself next time to try something new on the menu, but that is tough with the pot roast sandwich being that damn good.

So I will tell you as I tell the people who ask me for restaurant recommendations, get out and try Tip Top Kitchen. You won’t be disappointed.

Cheers!!!

www.tiptopcolumbus.com

The Old Mohawk- German Village

You can find The Old Mohawk right in the middle of German Village on….. you guessed it Mohawk Street. As are most restaurants in German Village, Old Mohawk has that old-time feel back to when there were no blogs, cell phones or Lady Gaga. To my surprise Tuesdays at the Old Mohawk is quesadilla special day. 2 quesadillas for $10. It used to be all you could eat quesadillas for $10, but some one out there (it better not be you) forced them to change the special as people were trying to take some home, share, etc… You have the option of building your own quesadilla or choosing one from the menu. I being the rebel that I am totally went  with building my own. With help from the waitress my first quesadilla included chicken salad, spinach, bacon and of course cheese. I was a little hesitant for chicken salad on a quesadilla, but the waitress assured me I wouldn’t be disappointed. She was right, it was really good and the bacon and chicken salad went really well together. I would definitely get this again. For the second quesadilla I went with taco beef, cheese and black bean relish. This one was pretty average and nowhere on the same level as the first one. Old Mohawk normally has a chicken salad quesadilla on the menu, so even if you can’t make it on a Tuesday you can still give it a try.

Overall, I always have a good experience at the Old Mohawk and will be back soon.

Until next time, remember that you can’t have a quesadilla without quesa, so don’t forget the cheese.

Cheers!!!

www.theoldmohawk.com

Matt the Miller’s Tavern- Grandview

I had started to hear the buzz about the new Matt the Miller’s Tavern in Grandview and when a friend recommended it for dinner one night I accepted the invite without hesitation. I had always heard good things about the location in Dublin, so I was excited to check out their new location off Grandview Ave. Let’s talk about what my expectations were first; a restaurant with ‘Tavern’ in the name, I figured would be more of a bar that served food than a restaurant that served drinks. To my surprise when walking into this new establishment it was a really nice place; very modern with dimmed lighting and was much more fancy than I expected. A Thursday night and the decently sized bar area was packed, so we had to settle for a table in the dining area instead.

Side note… there was a wait for a table in the dining area, so they handed me one of those buzzer things. First recommendation, get rid of the buzzer things, it makes me feel like I’m at Applebees or something and I do not like Applebees lol. Another point to mention is this is one of the first times I’ve actually had someone I know is a reader of the blog with me for dinner. It kind of made me nervous for them to know the magic behind these critiques, but they also got to see me interact with the wait staff, which it always fun for me. My first question to the waiter when I visit a new place is…”What is the best thing on the menu?”. My thought is if I get what they consider to be the best thing on the menu and I don’t like it then the rest of the menu is probably bad too.

Alright, off the soapbox and back to the food adventure. The waiter recommended steak, but I wasn’t in the mood for a whole steak, but the menu specifically told me if I couldn’t decide between a flatbread or a steak the Black & Blue flatbread was for me. I followed the menu’s guidance and went with the Black & Blue pizza. Let me correct myself, they don’t call it pizza, they call it flatbread. Someone please explain the difference between pizza and flatbread to me. My only hesitation with this order was I was hungry, like I always am, and I feared the flatbread wouldn’t be enough food to fill me up. When the really nice waiter delivered our meals my fear was confirmed and I knew the pizza (aka flatbread) wouldn’t be enough to fill me up, but it did look really good. The flatbread came with sliced grilled beef tenderloin, roasted red pepper pesto, red onions, provolone, blue cheese and a Guinness reduction. The Guinness reduction added a nice sweetness to the savory flavors of the steak and blue cheese. Overall, the flatbread was really good and to my surprise the steak on it was actually cooked very well. Usually when you find steak on pizzas it is about as well done as they can get it, so kudos on that.

The rest of my experience at this new location of Matt the Miller’s Tavern was good. The thing I really liked about this place is that it could serve many different occasions from a couple of drinks with friends, to some appetizers, to a semi-nice dinner with that someone special in your life (haha sorry for getting mushy for a second). I will definitely be back to visit Matt the Miller’s new location in Grandview and am excited to see what else their menu has to offer.

Until my next food adventure, remember if you eat your steak well done you might as well eat rubber.

Cheers!!!

www.mtmtavern.com