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The Foodie Report
Ruminations on food, cooking in and eating out in our area.


It's entirely possible to be a vegetarian in Porkopolis. Pop culture reporter Lauren Bishop blogs about products, recipes and restaurants she's tried for others who eat meat-free. E-mail her at lbishop@enquirer.com.


Nicci King is an unabashed foodie and the Lifestyle/Food editor in The Enquirer's features department. She loves to discover new food faves, and she's on a daily quest to answer one burning question: What's for dinner? E-mail her at nking@enquirer.com.


Enquirer Weekend editor Julie Gaw tends to order the same dish every time she eats at a restaurant, but periodically ventures out to discover something new and fabulous. After living in China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Thailand for more than 8 years, she craves tasty Asian food. E-mail her at jgaw@enquirer.com.


Food/dining writer Polly Campbell loves every quirk and secret of Cincinnati's food personality, and is on a constant lookout for something good to eat. Keep an eye out for her restaurant picks, or see how she's progressing toward becoming famous for her apple pie. E-mail her at pcampbell@enquirer.com.


Communities reporter Rachel Richardson is on a mission to prove vegetarians eat more than lettuce. She shares both her graduate work on American food culture and food-related news.. E-mail her at rrichardson@enquirer.com.

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Not-so-new and noted

I’ve been lax in my Foodie Report blogging duties lately (although I’m sure most readers haven’t noticed or cared) so here are some quick reviews of some new-ish places at which I’ve dined recently. (Note: Although my bio on the left indicates I’m a vegetarian, I sometimes succumb to seafood cravings, especially when there are few vegetarian options, so I should probably change it to avoid getting attacked.)

-Seny, East Walnut Hills: For all the hype, I wasn’t that impressed with Seny. But maybe it was just what I ordered -- sautéed shrimp, potato and herb croquettes and slow-roasted stuffed mushrooms, which arrived topped with bacon, although the menu didn’t indicate that. If I were more of a meat-eater, I probably would have found more to choose from. (My favorite part of the meal was probably my glass of sangria.) And the service was weirdly over-attentive, with multiple servers stopping by our table (maybe someone was new and in training)? As far as local tapas places go, I had a better experience at Latitudes Café in Milford last year, but I’d be willing to give Seny another chance. I wouldn't recommend it to strict vegetarians, though.

-Greenup Café, Covington: I had brunch there a few weeks back but didn’t choose the most adventurous thing on the menu (buttermilk pancakes with bananas, blueberries and maple butter), so I really need to go back. Almost everything on the brunch menu is under $10, and its cozy, colorful interior and prime location in Covington's walkable Riverside Historic District can’t be beat.

-Twist Lounge & Bar, downtown: My small plate of crab salad (served on porcelain spoons) was superb, but my plum martini was way too sweet – it basically tasted like a liquid Jolly Rancher. Wonderful, cozy atmosphere here too, and not too crowded, even during happy hour on a Friday. I felt like I was hanging out in someone’s very well-furnished living room. It sure would be nice to be relaxing in front of that fireplace right now...

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8 Comments:

at 3:52 PM Blogger Julie Gaw said...

Lauren - of COURSE we missed you! Pity about Seny though. Some of these places definitely need second visits, I will give you that. Welcome back. And thanks for the updates.

 
at 4:00 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

:-)

No attacks here....I have long been worried that there was an over-representation of vegetarian editors on this blog, and am darned glad the to find out is far less pronounced than I had thought :-)

 
at 4:03 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

:-)

No attacks here....I have long been worried that there was an over-representation of vegetarian editors on this blog, and am darned glad to find out that this is far less pronounced than I had thought.

The more the omnivores here, the better :-)

(and can someone delete my previous badly-constructed entry?)

 
at 7:21 PM Blogger Amber said...

Thanks for your honest reviews....that is one thing I would like to see more of on this blog. We all dine out at least once a week, and I would like to hear more about what you ordered, the service, would you go back, etc......

 
at 11:00 AM Blogger Lauren Bishop said...

Well, I'm glad my return was well-received! I do eat out more than I probably should, so I'll make an effort to post more reviews.

 
at 5:14 PM Blogger Stepfanie said...

Welcome back, fellow pescetarian. (See, it sounds ridiculous, doesn't it.) TJ: You'll be happy to know that I was just debating bacon with a photo editor here. Being a vegetarian (or rather a nonmeat eater) is like being married -- you're not dead and your memory isn't wiped clean. I won't eat it or cook it, but I'll dream about Korean barbecue forever. It's that good. (Research samgyeopsal some time.)
Cin Twin1: I have been seriously lacking in the dining out postings. Truthfully, I haven't been eating out so much as I have been hosting dinner parties. Between a new sushi mat (and a desire to have mad sushi skills) and stone pots for Christmas, our weekend nights consist of veggie rolls and dolsot bibimbap for friends. :)
For Valentine's Day, I cooked a five-pound spaghetti squash with puttanesca sauce.

 
at 3:19 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

If indeed korean bbq is so very good, then the question becomes - why not eat it on occasion? Several of you have restricted your intake of meat substantially but not entirely, so one wonders why an occasional (call it once or twice a year for sake of argument) indulgence in something so loved remains so verboten.....

I respect your choice to be mostly vegetarian, but if you still make some exceptions (again, no problem!), why not this one as well on the rare occasion?

 
at 9:57 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

My friend has been wanting to go to Seny, so three of us went last night for the first day of "birthdaypalooza" for the birthday girl.

I read the posts here and reviews elsewhere yesterday and was not expecting to have a great experience.

We had a really nice meal and attentive service.

In fact, we were trying to decide on our second flight of tapas when Travis Maier walked through the dining room. My friend recognized him and said "here's the chef, let's ask for his recommendation."

He didn't know ANY of us from Adam. He asked us what we'd had and what we like, then sent over three wonderful additions to our repast compliments of the house.

He was not only NOT the least bit arrogant, as I expected from some the past posts here, he was almost shy and humble.

The food was prepared immaculately, the combinations of tastes were wonderful. The only dish I did not enjoy was the tortilla. His fried oyster dish was possibly the best fried oyster I have ever had (at least tied with the 5-spice fried oysters at Matsuya Japanese Restaurant).

I'm heading for Findlay to do my shopping and I'm sitting here with my Spanish cookbooks. After last night I just want "all Spanish, all the time" this weekend!

 
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