For our sixtieth dinner, we headed back downtown to try out Taste of Belgium.  We had all enjoyed the waffles from the stand at Findlay Market, so we decided to try out their new restaurant.  Overall, it was a pretty good experience.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take notes, so we’ll have to count on the pictures!

For starters, we had a couple of different salads and and order of Moules au Gratin.  In spite of a brilliant effort by our server to save them, the first round of mussels hit the floor when the runner threw off the balance of her tray. The good news is that by the time the backup arrived, we realized itt was worth the wait!

For entrees, we covered most of the bases…Chicken and Waffles, Steak Frites, Waterzooi, Escargot, and Beer Braised Beef Stew.  Everything was good, but nothing wow’d the FWDC crowd.  The hot sauce and maple syrup combo on the chicken and waffles was not as good as expected, but still worth a try.

The highlight of the night was clearly the fries with homemade mayo sauces and the Sour Ale.

We closed the night (as we typically do), by ordering every dessert on the menu.  We probably could have skipped this step!

The other thing you should probably skip is a trip to the ladies room…unless you like double pubes in the sink!

A Surprise Under our Noses

Having spent about 6 years on this journey, its hard to believe we have never been to The Celestial in Mt. Adams.  After all, it is clearly within the ‘inner circle’ of Cincinnati and is even within walking distance for some.  However, the only reason we tried it this time was because Kyle was in charge of booking and it was the only available restaurant that uses OpenTable.  Kyle’s hatred of interacting with people paid off!

Nearly everything about the meal was fantastic.  The server was energetic and knowledgeable.  At first we were surprised by the his confidence in how great every entree was, but we learned he was almost always correct.

We started with a round of appetizers that included a stacked “tomato tower” salad, steak lettuce wraps, and scallops.  While both the salad and lettuce wraps were fantastic, the scallops suffered from a ‘salting error’.  Maybe they were from Tony’s!

The entrees picked up where the starters left off.  The sea bass was excellent and perfectly cooked.  The steaks were also fantastic.  In fact, the Cowboy Ribeye may have moved into the lead as best ever FWDC steak.

The desserts were a bit disappointing, not because of the quality, but because of the choices.  No banana desserts…chocolate layer cake…cheesecake…you get the point.  The bright spot was that the cheesecake ‘tasted like a campfire, in a good way!’

All in all, this was a huge surprise.  We definitely need to come back soon…or at least not wait 10 years!

For our December adventure, we worked our way back into a reasonable commute and stopped by Mayberry. Not only was the short drive a pleasure, the dinner was one of the best we’ve ever had. Needless to say, Mayberry will likely be in the running for a repeat when we get to meal 100!

The menu was very limited (only 6 small plates), but somehow it was extremely hard to decide what to order. According to our server, the menu changes every week, so I guess we’ll need to go back often.

Since we all ordered a variety of small plates, there was no order to the meal. Every time something came out, the lucky recipient had nothing but good things to say. While everything was excellent, a few highlights included the amazing beet salad and roasted pear plates.

The salmon was also very good and perfectly cooked. The short ribs and pork belly were also among the best dishes in FDWC history. Michael believes the radish cake was potentially ‘the best taste ever’.

The only thing that could potential top the small plate wonders were the sides. The mac n cheese (with ‘several quarts of heavy cream’) and the tater tot casserole left us licking the bowls.

Before we left, we managed to squeeze in a few desserts including a carmel apple with knife as the stick and some incredible peanut butter cookies.

Do yourself a favor and head down to Mayberry as soon as possible. Just make sure you don’t bring a big group…there isn’t much room inside!

For our November dinner, we drove through the 3rd Ring of Hell and landed in downtown Loveland.  Unfortunately for Tano Bistro, the 45 minute commute (it was raining) created a pretty big hole that it needed to dig out of.

We arrived to find a packed restaurant…on a Tuesday night…in Loveland!  The crowd was a bit older (we saw an Oxygen tank), but no one died during their meal.  Based on this, we were very hopeful.  However, the staff wasn’t quite prepared for the crowd, so ordering was not the easiest process.

We started with a few appetizers and Tano immediately started climbing out of the hole.  The hummus was tasty, but there was very little of it.  We especially enjoyed the prosciutto and cheese wrapped asparagus, but the shrimp may have been the highlight of the starters.

Following the starters, we each had a salad.  Everything was good, but nothing worth writing about…except the fact that all the pictures are blurry.

As we moved on to the entrees, we had our biggest surprise.  Michael took a risk and ordered the Barramundi.  It was outstanding.

Kyle’s steak was surprisingly good and cooked perfectly.  The potato casserole was also excellent.

Both the lamb and the pork medallions got decent reviews, but were a slight step down from the others.

The lowlight of the entrees was the GIANT ravioli.  While it looked great on the plate, there was too much ricotta and the fried eggplant left a lot to be desired.

Dessert was a continuation of the strong performance…especially the apple!

Overall, it was a pretty good meal.  A couple of the entrees fell short, but all in all, there were more A’s than C’s on our table.  If nothing else, it’s a great thing for Loveland.  Also, it made us realize that the real estate in Loveland will never be cheap enough to convince us to drive that far everyday!

For our September dinner, we had lunch…Lunch on the Land. After missing last year, the crew decided that we had to go back for 2011.

The day started with a tour of the host Turner Farms.

After the tour, we sat down for a 5 course meal with a wine pairing. Thankfully for the slow drinkers, it took about 2 hours to serve everything.

While everything was pretty good, the highlights were the bourbon/duck fat caramels, the apricot braised pork belly, the apple/beet salad, and the peach crumble dessert.

Stacy even won a subscription to Cincinnati Magazine and a bunch of Christmas cookies! We will definitely be back next year.

In a FWDC first, we headed down the Ohio River and onto the Licking for a pre-lunch boat tour. After docking at the Humbert Dock, we headed down the river to pick up the Lancors on the Serpentine Wall.

After a casual pass down the Licking, we hightailed it down the Ohio and then made our way to the Riverside.

Needless to say, it wasn’t the great food that brought us here. The grilled cheeses were okay and the chili was pretty good, but everything else was pretty bad. Lots of grease and lots of food was shared with the ducks!

In spite of the less than stellar food, Riverside made for a great lunch destination. It’s not often you get to dock a boat and hop out to your table!

No, Michael wasn’t buying bras…

In what turned out to be one of the greatest surprises in FWDC history, we headed back to Old Montgomery for our July dinner.  Thankfully we didn’t let the terrible experience at Stone Creek scare us away from this part of town.

Bombay Brazier has been open for about one year.  It took the place of the old Jimmy D’s steakhouse and has improved everything.

Though Stacy was sick and couldn’t join, we still ordered 3 appetizers and 6 entrees for the table to share.  The waitress tried to stop us, but we convinced her we knew what we were doing.

The highlight of the first course was probably the mint chicken.

For the main course, we sampled a bit of everything (beef, lamb, chicken, paneer, and prawns).  As with the appetizers, everything was excellent.  The “Chicken 65” was a delightful fireball that caused both Ian and Kyle to sweat immensely.

Without question, the highlight of the meal was a nice soup called Brazier Shorba. According to the chef, this is a special recipe that you can only get here. What does this mean? It means you should stop what you are doing and go to Bombay Brazier now! You won’t be disappointed.

We really couldn’t find a bad thing to say about this place. The food was excellent and the service was friendly. Sadly, there were only two other tables occupied. We need to keep this place in business, so go there tonight!

The winner is revealed!

After 49 dinners, we have a clear #1 choice for best dinner…and we’re live blogging it!

We just ordered and locked on the 7 course chef’s tasting.

The drinks have arrived!

Course 0: The bread basket!

Amazing. Stacy wants to eat 50 pieces!

Course 1: Basil Tomato Pudding

Course 2: Fava Beans with Pecorino cheese

“Best Fava Bean I’ve ever had!”

Course 3: Soft Shell Crab

A little disappointing. Really good peas…good enough that Ian is a future vegetarian.!

If the grease doesn’t kill you, a hot dog may!

In spite of several less than glowing recos, we decided to make the trip to Senate for our 49th FDWC outing.

The evening started off well with a nice drink list and several intriguing starters. Of the 5 diners (Maggie was out sick), a ‘super-majority’ started with the “My Wife’s Salad” and all agreed it was one of the best they had at a FWDC event. Kyle had the Egg and Bacon Salad which was also excellent.

The shared starters also fared well.