Mac’s Cafe- Short North

I had walked by Mac’s Cafe in the Short North a hundred times, but never stopped in to eat. I was looking for a new place to check out and had recently seen an article in one of the local Columbus magazines about Mac’s and their Scotch Egg. I’ve only had a Scotch Egg one time at a place back in Indy, but it was so good I had to go check out Mac’s version. When I walked into Mac’s Cafe I was surprised to see how big it was inside. From the outside the corner spot that Mac’s occupies appears very small and crammed, but the wood covered interior is actually a decent size.

I was lucky enough to find out that Mac’s even has happy hour on Sundays, so the Scotch Egg I craved would be half off along with the wide array of beers Mac’s serves. Since I keep talking about this Scotch Egg I should probably fill you in on exactly what it is. It is a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage, lightly breaded and then fried (healthy right?). No judging allowed. We all need to eat completely unhealthy food sometimes. Mac’s serves their Scotch Egg with a creamy sage sauce. It satisfied my craving for a Scotch Egg, but definitely could have been better with a normal price of $4.25 for just one egg. The layer of sausage was pretty thin and falling apart. That is usually the part that adds the most flavor, so that was a little disappointing. The creamy sage sauce wasn’t bad, but I feel could have been creamier instead of a potato salad texture.

After reading through the menu I decided to go with the Cottage Pie for dinner. It is seasoned beef layered with mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese and covered with gravy. It was also served with a house salad and a side of broccoli. After reading all of that you can probably guess that it was a large amount of food. The piece of Cottage Pie itself was enormous and I knew there was no way I would put the whole thing down. The taste was decent, but could have used some other ingredients like vegetables or something to make it more like a Shepherd’s Pie. The gravy wasn’t anything special and just meat and potatoes got bland. The house salad was, well a house salad and steamed broccoli was just that also.

I really enjoyed the chill atmosphere at Mac’s and the service was good, so I will definitely be back to check it out again. The Cottage Pie wasn’t horrible, but I will be checking out something different next time I visit.

Until next time, remember good food=happy stomach.

Cheers!!!

http://www.macscafe.com/

Hubbard Grille- Short North

Hubbard Grille is a somewhat recent addition to the Short North restaurant scene filling the spot Rosendales vacated over a year ago. I had a chance to visit Hubbard a couple of weeks after it opened and was very excited. As you see they have a huge bright sign out front and the look from the outside is pretty awesome. After I left the first time though I was very disappointed in the food. I thought to myself maybe they just need to work out the kinks, so I gave them over a month and decided to head back to Hubbard for round #2 hoping for a better food experience.

Walking in this place again, I have to say it has one of favorite interiors around. It isn’t too upscale, but it is just nice, clean and filled with energy. I decided not to order what I did the first time, which was the Hub Burger. I wanted to give them a fair shot at round #2, so I ordered the “Buttermilk Fried Ohio All Natural Chicken” from the Supper portion of their menu. My feeling is if a nice restaurant is going to put a usually casual food on their menu like fried chicken it better be pretty damn good, especially with a $17 price tag. When the dish came out it looked really good and was served with a redskin potato cake, braised greens and a black pepper cream sauce with a dash of white truffle oil.

After I dug into the first piece of chicken I knew this wasn’t going to go well. I’m not sure what part of the chicken this was, maybe a thigh, but in my efforts to find meat I had to fight through pieces of bones and fat. Luckily the other piece was much better prepared and allowed me to actually taste the chicken. I really wanted to like it, but the taste was just barely average. There weren’t any exciting flavors, and I’ve truthfully had some better tasting chicken at places like Popeyes for $5. The redskin potato cake tasted decent, but the braised greens were probably the worst part of the dish. They were very bitter and chewy. At least I can say I gave their food a second try. Most places if the food isn’t good it is one and done for me.

Will I go back to Hubbard Grille??? I would say yes, but probably not for food unless someone else pays. When the weather gets warm I think it would be a very cool place to grab a drink with friends. They do always have a can beer special for $2, which is nice. Unless I hear of some changes in the kitchen though I probably won’t be ordering food there anymore. I really want this place to do well as it seems like it can appeal to a wide range of people. No matter how nice looking a restaurant is though, the main ingredient is the food. If the food isn’t good it doesn’t matter how nice the interior is, a place won’t survive.

www.hubbardgrille.com

Until next time my taste bud followers. Remember don’t eat bad tasting food. Cheers!!!

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