Dinner with Carrie: Pecan Penny's BBQ

Carrie and I finally made it to a BBQ spot we've been meaning to try a few blocks away from our apartment, and the weather decided to cooperate tonight. 

I decided to try as much as I could for this review, so I ordered the "Downtown Sampler", which for $21.99 gives you generous portions of brisket, pulled pork, and a 1/4 chicken plus two sides. For my sides I chose to go for the carbs, adding hush puppies and mac & cheese.

The meat arrived unsauced but perfectly prepared, giving me the opportunity to try all five sauces on the table. The Carolina vinegar sauce was almost straight vinegar instead of  the spicy vinegar sauce I was expecting. The Memphis tomato sauce was good, but a little sweeter than I prefer. The Daddy-G, their house BBQ sauce was good but didn't have enough spice to rise above the tomatoes and brown sugar. The spicy grandpa, a spicy version of their house sauce was better at rising above the tomatoes but still wasn't great.  Surprising me was the eastern Carolina mustard sauce, which gave me everything I was looking for on all three meats.

Turning to the sides, the mac & cheese was good but not great because the cheese broke during preparation leaving clumps of cheddar and oil. The hush puppies were perfectly cooked, served light and fluffy as they should be but rarely are.

In all it was a good meal with better company, but I'm still looking for perfect BBQ in Columbus. You can try it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Pecan Penny's

Food truck Thursday

This Food truck Thursday I decided to give Fetty's Street Food a try. Specializing in asian and Indian cuisine they are a permanent fixture on the commons during the Thursday food truck roundup this summer. 

I decided to try the "Bunny Chow", African butter chicken curry with chickpeas in a bread bowl.  It was amazing, with good flavor and a great blend of spices without the spice of other currys. The dollop of dill infused greek yogurt helped cut what little spice crept in.

It was a great quick meal that I could eat every week if there weren't so many other great choices.

Fathers day brunch: The Market: Italian Village

Carrie took me to brunch for Father's day since the kids aren't with us. I decided on a restaurant we've been wanting to try for months, The Market: Italian Village.

They were fairly full when we arrived for our one o'clock reservations but we were quickly seated.  The Market is a classic small market/bottle shop, with coolers and shelves of wine along the outer walls, and a deli counter in back by the kitchen.  They atmosphere was friendly and warm, and we'll likely be back soon.

We started with bacon wrapped dates, today filled with blue cheese and plated on top of an espresso creme and maple syrup.  Damn they were good. I could have eaten 20-30 and called it good but there were other temptations on the menu.

My main course was Biscuits and gravy, which today was lamb sausage gravy over za'atar seasoned savory biscuits. Amazing flavor and seasoning in the gravy, and nice crunchy biscuits with great flavor and soft centers. Maybe the best gravy I've ever had over biscuits.

In all it was a great meal with my beautiful wife, and a new favorite restaurant to add to our go-to list here in Columbus. 

Wake up with the Commons: Buckeye Donuts

Wanted breakfast this morning so I headed down to the Wake Up With The Commons event on Columbus Commons to see what the vendors had available. Crimson Cup was serving coffee off of their truck, but I had coffee waiting for me in the apartment. I walked over to Buckeye Donuts' truck after finding that Nate's Steamed Bagels didn't sell just bagels with cream cheese.

Buckeye Donuts was offering a beautiful sandwich they call "The Buckeye Royale", bacon, egg, and cheddar served between two deep fried glazed donuts. Where has this been all my life?!? 

The sweet of the donut glaze contrasts perfectly with the savory of the bacon, egg, and cheddar to make an amazing sandwich that will be my go-to on Tuesday mornings this summer.

If you are looking for one another day you can find details on their website

Continuing quest for Columbus' best burger: The Ringside

On my continued quest to find the best burger in Columbus I finally had a chance to grab a burger from Ringside Cafe, and I am impressed.

Down what on first look is an alley off Broad Street is the Ringside Cafe, an elusive but much lauded burger joint serving the downtown lunch rush and doing it well.  The boxing theme carries through it's menu, with a large variety of burgers named after famous boxing greats.

I had the The Duran Cajun Bleu Burger A 1/2 lb patty with bleu cheese crumbles, grilled red onions & smoked bacon. My burger was perfectly cooked, with strong if a bit salty seasoning and that signature crust you look for on a well cooked burger. The onion rings were perfectly fried, with the onions cooked through but holding together well.

Overall it was great, but the extra salt puts it behind Preston's for me.  We'll see if I can find someplace to beat either of them soon.

Preston's Food Truck

The Columbus Commons weekly food truck festival includes quite a few great tastes from the Columbus food scene, with a rotating roster of trucks. 

​Today I gave Preston's a try, and am glad I did. I ordered a Preston double with salt and vinegar fries.

The fries were perfectly double fried giving them a great crisp. The vinegar was a bit heavy, but they were good. The highlight though was the burger. Well seasoned, with perfect temp and a great crunch. It was traditionally dressed with shredded lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mayo.

This was probably the best burger I've had in Columbus, and it won't be the last time I grab one from them this summer.​

It's Tuesday, so of course I found brunch on a downtown food truck in Columbus, OH

In the category of "it's a small world" we have today's lunch.I was out for a walk exploring downtown Columbus, Ohio and spotted a food truck in a parking lot down a side street.You know how I love food trucks, so I had to at least see what they had to offer.

Turns out the truck is owned and run by a Portland native who graduated from Western Culinary back in the last of the classes before it was sold to Le Cordon Blue.  He calls his truck "Broke Johnny's" and he just bought it a few weeks ago, but if he keeps serving breakfast like this he's going to have to change the name because he won't be broke for long.

I had a chance to try two items from his menu today his breakfast sandwich and what he tells me has become his signature dish, the Ham and Cheese waffle.

The breakfast sandwich from Broke Johnny's

​The breakfast sandwich is simple perfection. Thin sliced ham is thrown onto the flattop to heat up and get some caramelization. It's thrown onto toasted sourdough or marble rye, with a nice medium egg and American cheese. The beauty is in the quality of the ham and a perfectly cooked egg that is just a little runny making mayonnaise unnecessary.

Broke Johnny's Ham & Cheese Waffle  

The master stroke though was the Ham & Cheese Waffle.  A perfectly crisped waffle is spread with whipped butter then topped with cheese, chunks of fried ham, and then smothered in Johnny's bacon-bourbon sauce with big chunks of bacon.  The combination is truly amazing.  If I hadn't already had the breakfast sandwich he tells me that it's even better when you have a nice egg over the top of it (and what brunch isn't).

If you're in Columbus, track him down and give his brunch truck a try.