Shout Out from Cincinnati, OH

Hello dear readers:

I've been out of town on family business for almost two weeks now, leaving Joe alone to fend for himself in the kitchen (which he is perfectly capable of doing when necessary). But don't cry too hard for him; I'm given to understand that he enjoyed Korean BBQ this past night. I'm also given to understand that leaving Joe alone in the house can result in new kitchen gadgets, such as a new Belgian waffle iron to go with our "regular" square thin waffle iron, and a new hood installed over our stove...

Anyway, I've been able to get out to a few restaurants while in Cincinnati, and here are two that I've enjoyed quite a bit. No photos, sadly, as the computer I'm using doesn't have any photo processing software.

Song Long Vietnamese Restaurant
Tasty and authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Their Banh Xeo appetizer is both large and delicious and works as a meal for one person, or add another appetizer and you have lunch for two. I really enjoyed the Mi Kho soup: ramen-style egg noodles with chicken BBQ pork and a shrimp wonton. They use a heat scale of 1 - 10, and their 4-6 level is quite respectable and would qualify as "hot" at many other places. I have no idea what a 10 would be like, and I don't think I want to know.  Shrimp and pork in a traditional black pepper saute comes in a beautiful bright turmeric-yellow sauce with lots of black pepper. At a "4" it was as hot if not hotter than the lemongrass-marinated chicken served over cold vinegared vegetables ordered at a "6". I think the sweetness of the vinegared vegetables cut the heat.

Song Long Vietnamese Restaurant
1737 Section Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45237
(513) 351-7631

Lemon Grass
The first restaurant I ate at in Cincinnati. Lemon Grass serves up consistently good, solid Thai dishes. Service is great, prices reasonable. Pad Thai noodles are flavorful, and check out their lemongrass soups and panang curry. They use a scale of 1-10 (is this a Cincinnati thing? I'm used to the 1-5 scale), but if you really like it hot then 10 will probably not be enough. Fortunately, according to a reviewer at yelp, you can go up to 100. Based on another review, I get the impression that 50 is pretty darn spicy.

Lemon Grass
2666 Madison Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45208
(513) 321-2882

Comments

[f&j]

Glad you are finding some good restaurants down there. Pad Thai and panang curry are two of our favorite foods!

[Alex]

Glad you went to Song Long - I miss it so much!

[MK]

Don't forget the Cincinnati chili, which I know can be polarizing among tastes, but I love it. (rest of my family hates it)