Bellevue Bistro (Bellevue, KY)

We had decided we were going to give brunch a go on Saturday, and I don’t get to brunch very often.  So, it was very very hard to avoid some of my favorites (Take the Cake, Annabel’s, etc.), but I still wanted to check out someplace new.  After a little online browsing, I thought it would make sense for us to head down to quaint Bellevue, since we were with S’s parents, who I thought would enjoy the nice little shopping strip through the center of town.

Despite it being peak breakfast/brunch time (11:30am on Saturday), the Bistro was virtually empty.  The front windows are huge and let in all kinds of light which makes the place very attractive.  Bellevue Bistro isn’t a typical “breakfast/lunch” only place—they do all three meals and their bar was about 50% beer/liquor and 50% coffee and tea.  Interesting.

Also interesting is the menu.  BB doesn’t feel compelled to stick to the rigid, First Watch-style menu that has become all too common in town, and nor do they feel they need to be unusual and eye-catching the way, say, Melt does.  The breakfast menu is simple (maybe 10 items) but interesting, appetizing without being too familiar.  My three dining companions all got egg scrambles, usually the kind of thing I go for, and these were tasty.

This was S’s Mediterranean Scramble topped with mozzarella and feta, with eggs, potatoes and lots of strips of fresh basil.  It was bright and flavorful, and basil always makes a big difference! 

I found myself persuaded by the goetta sandwich, which is served several interesting ways.  I was about to order the goetta and blackberry jam sandwich, but at the last moment decided to ask the server which was “the” way to get the sandwich.  (I figured such a distinction existed because of the prominence and description of the dish, which is pretty much what got me to choose it in the first place!)  Without hesitation, our very friendly server indicated the egg and cheese goetta sandwich was the way to go.  She was right.  The goetta wasn’t overcooked, meaning it was moist and almost hash-like, topped with perfectly lightly-fried egg and American cheese.  It was a simple but tasty dish.

But the clear winner above all were the breakfast potatoes, potentially the best I’ve had in town.  (This is saying something as potatoes are clearly my favorite part of breakfast.)  These redskins had to have been par-boiled and probably were quartered and pan-fried.  They weren’t overcooked and blessedly not undercooked, and the seasoning was strong and excellent.  I think I caught some cayenne and some celery salt among others.  A bowl of these potatoes would cure someone with depression, I think.

Anyway, the service was great, prices were reasonable, menu was varied and interesting, and the location made for great people watching and shopping after.  Brunch at the Bellevue Bistro is HIGHLY recommended.  Their dinner menu also looked very interesting, with lots of local ingredients making their way onto the menu.  I hope to get back!

A Streetcart Named Desire (New Orleans to Go truck, downtown)

I had two very different lunch walks down to the “food truck zone” at Fifth and Race this week.  The first was actually kind of sad, as Senor Roy’s was the sole lunch attendant.  (Nothing against those guys, and I will say the steak tacos I had were better than anything I’ve gotten from them before!)

But a trip on Friday showed the lot to be quite bustling!  After checking ahead of time, I prioritized the trip after seeing that New Orleans to Go finally made it downtown.  NOTG was a very popular and well-regarded take out shop on the north side of town (I want to say Mason?).  I’ve tried to make it there on many occasions, including on Mardi Gras itself when it was inexplicibly closed due to its Monday/Tuesday closed hours schedule.  In any case, much the way the owner of Hyde Park Tavern decided the future was on wheels, the owners of NOTG closed up shop and have put their future on the road.  Friday was the first day I knew they were there and I knew I could get free.  In addition to NOTG, three or four other trucks were there—Senor Roys with a huge line, and a few very independent-looking operations including a BBQ smoker that will be on my next visit.

Much like the others, the truck was decked out in resplendent colors and had the menu posted outside.  I think this is a very popular model of food truck—decor aside, it looks identical to Cafe de Wheels and Senor Roy’s.  The line was very short—but it took a full 20 minutes to get my order in.  Again, these are early days and I don’t fault them—it takes time to get food done to order and if you’re going to eat at the trucks you know it will take a little time.  The menu is short and straightforward—just what a cook at a busy truck needs at lunchtime.  The main choices were gumbo, wings, and po’ boy’s (catfish or shrimp).  I ordered the catfish, which came with a small bowl of gumbo, and two Louisiana favorites—crawfish flavored Zapp’s chips and a can of pineapple soda.

Back at work, I was the envy of my co-workers with the smell of the catfish sandwich.  I will say, the food was quite good.  The catfish was smoking hot (temperature-wise) and compared favorably with most of the versions I’ve had elsewhere.  The breading stood up very well and sealed in the heat.  The gumbo also has real potential—our gumbos up here tend to be thick, almost stew-like, but this was a thinner dark-brown concoction, a little more like I’m used to when I’m in the south.  I thought it was maybe just a little too watery for me, but the flavor was nice and I enjoyed the big pieces of andouille that were included.  All in all, a very nice change of pace and one I’ll be revisiting.  I’ll be keeping an eye open for red beans and rice—apparently they don’t have it every day, but I’ll be looking!

So, it’s with that semi-apology that I say I jumped on the bandwagon and am about the 40th person to write about dining at Bombay Brazier.  It’s not breaking news anymore, but let me say this:  it was incredible.  Easily the best Indian meal I’ve had in Cincinnati.  And I’ll be back again, blog or no!

Bombay Brazier sits in Old Montgomery, steps from Montgomery Rd., the Montgomery Inn, Montgomery Cyclery, and many other “Montgomery-named” shops.  We wandered down to Bombay Brazier from the “bar corner” at Montgomery and Cooper and were quickly invited in and seated.

We needn’t have worried about reservations—the place was mostly empty at 7:30 on a Saturday night.  It was a little fuller when we left around 9, but I’m hopeful it’s just the newness of the restaurant that’s keeping the place from being full, not the slightly awkward location being so close to the center of Montgomery but set apart just enough to not be obvious.

There are a few things that really set Bombay Brazier apart from the outset.  First, the place is really lovely—the atmosphere is elegant and interesting—this isn’t unique in Cincinnati, but is relatively unique among our Indian restaurants.  It was, and felt, very classy.  Adding to the uniqueness was that the menu wasn’t some kind of crazy, modern Indian-fusion a la Cumin.  Nothing against Cumin (well, nothing I haven’t said before, anyway), but my point is that “traditional” Indian restaurants, along with many other ethnic cuisines in the US, seem tied to strip-mall, bright-and-drab arrangements.  This place lovingly busts out.  During the course of the meal, we met both owners, who risked much by uprooting their business from Lexington to start anew here.  They, and I’d say service in general, were outstanding.  Pleasant, eager, full of recommendations, but not overbearing.  I’ll admit it was just a full-on pleasure being seated in their company.

But this is a restaurant; let’s talk about the food.  We started with a mint chicken tikka, a lovely tandoori appetizer.  The tandoori meats were solid—thankfully, it’s a kind of preparation that is relatively straightforward and nearly always serviceable.  The meat was delicious, sure, but it was the interesting touches of mint-spiced, sauteed onion and green peper, and the refreshing slices of apples that gave the dish just enough creativity to awaken the pallet.  It was really nice!

All four of us loved our meals, really, really loved them.  On the left was my dish—lamb rogan josh.  I wasn’t going to get the rogan josh as I’ve had it in many other places, but our server insisted this was a different and better version, and I must agree that it was!  The flavors were bright, the heat was palpable but not overbearing, and worked with the other spices to give it a very natural heat.  And the lamb was absolutely delicious;  I’ve never had milder-tasting lamb in an Indian dish, and it really worked.  Even S, who doesn’t like lamb, had to admit she was impressed by the flavor.  On the right was S’s chicken makhani, an interesting fruit-and-nut concoction that was also a bit more vibrant than other versions I’ve had, both in terms of flavor (the fruits and nuts were very much a part of the picture) and texture.  Even the breads were delicious—the “Bombay” naan was filled with fruit and tasted almost like a dessert, while my potato-stuffed paratha was thin, a little crispy, and not overloaded with potato.

The food wasn’t cheap, at least by Ambar-type standards, but it’s competitive with many of the relatively nice restaurants in town, and to be honest, the experience is much higher-end than even our best traditional Indian restaurants, allowing it to earn the price.

I love this place.  I may become a regular.  Thank goodness for being an amateur.