The River Club Restaurant | 21 January 2011

679 W. Spring Street

Columbus, Ohio 43215

Miller-Stein Ranking

Our food experience | 4.4 Buckeyes

Quality | 4.5 Buckeyes

Cost | 4.0 Buckeyes

Character | 5.0 Buckeyes

Beverages | 4.0 Buckeyes

Service | 4.5 Buckeyes

We began with a basket of bread, which included white sourdough and a wheat raisin.

Miller:

Caesar Salad

Romaine Lettuce, Parmesan Reggiano, Caesar Dressing, Sun Dried Tomato Crostini

Pan Seared Escolar

Whipped Sweet Potatoes, Fennel Micro Greens Salad, Blood Orange Gastrique

Vanilla Cheesecake

Strawberry Glace, Whipped Cream

Stein:

Roasted Beet Chevre Cheese Salad

Roasted Red & Gold Beets, Baby Arugula, Toasted Pistachio Honey Infused Chevre Cheese

Center Cut Strip Steak Oscar

Parmesan Truffle Whipped Potato, Garlic Roasted Broccolini, Lump Crab Bearnaise

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Rum Reduction, Chocolate Sauce, Whipped Cream

A few times a year Restaurant Week comes alive in Columbus. Some of the trendiest restaurants open their doors to diners interested in paying a little less for dinner. Restaurants that would normally be budget busters for locals agree to design a menu for an affordable price. When viewing the options for Restaurant Week, one can choose from a variety of prices and dining options. The cost per dinner prices range from $15 to $35 depending on the restaurant. In addition to providing tasty meals for less, Restaurant Week donates $5,000 from each Restaurant Week and has contributed $15,000 to date. Very important disclaimer – drinks are not included in the price.

Stein and I have tried to participate in the previous Restaurant Weeks taking advantage of the variety of affordable dinner options. This time around we chose The River Club, a normally pricey option, set a ways back from the business of the city across the river from downtown. The dining room gives the appearance the diners are hovering over the river while the downtown twinkles just beyond the wall of windows.

Upon arrival, Stein and I were greeted and we hung our coats up. A pianist serenaded us as we were escorted to our table, which was directly in front of a crackling fireplace; the warmth on our backs felt incredible considering the temperature outside was a chilly 4 degrees. To our left, the above-mentioned wall of windows with a picturesque view of downtown and to our right, a window into the kitchen where the chefs were hard at work.

Per usual, my interest was drawn to the wine menu. I selected a white zinfandel and Stein, the DD, went with a diet coke. Our bread arrived shortly after our drink and we dove right in. The bread was warm and helped carry us over to the next course. Our salads came shortly after we had our fill of the bread.

The caesar salad was likely one of the best I have had in a while. The leaves were fresh and the dressing was perfectly proportioned throughout the salad. It was toped with a slice of lightly toasted parmesan bread which was a tasty addition. Stein described his beet salad as having a sweet and mouth watering dressing atop an assortment of fresh green leaves accompanied by a flavorful beets.

The main course came out fresh from the kitchen and piping hot. The fish was wonderfully prepared and cooked elegantly. The pan seared fish laid atop and bed of creamy whipped sweet potatoes with mixed greens lightly draped over it. The fish was light and mild and didn’t overpower the other elements on the dish. Stein’s steak, cooked medium, also arrived fresh from the kitchen and was aside garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Stein described the steak as “one of the tastiest and best prepared steaks I have ever eaten.” Stein isn’t a huge steak eater but thoroughly enjoyed his dish.

Our mouths watered as we admired the tables around us enjoying their desserts; luckily ours weren’t too far behind. The vanilla cheesecake was a small but filling portion. The raspberry glaze complemented the dish nicely and the cheesecake was moist and flavorful. Stein’s chocolate chip bread pudding came out steaming and can be described as mirroring the taste of a chocolate chip cookie in the form of a cake. Stein described the bread pudding as “really hitting the spot.”

I think “hitting the spot” is a good way to describe our experience at River Club. Our experience hit the spot in terms of putting to rest our curiosity of what would normally be an over our budget type of dining experience.  Stein and I whole-heartedly support Restaurant Week and look forward to the next rotation!

Aab India Restaurant | 14 January 2011

1470 Grandview Avenue


Columbus, Ohio 43212

Miller-Stein Ranking

Our food experience | 4.3 Buckeyes

Quality | 4.5 Buckeyes

Cost | 4.5 Buckeyes

Character | 4.0 Buckeyes

Beverages | 4.0 Buckeyes

Service | 4.5 Buckeyes

Our Dinner

Aloo Choley |
 9.99

Chickpeas and potatoes prepared North Indian style 

Chicken Tikka Saag | 
11.99

Boneless marinated chicken cooked with spinach, cream and tomato sauce 

Nan 
| 2.69

Traditional Indian style bread 

Garlic Nan
 | 2.99

Garlic stuffed nan 

Our Experience

Aab India Restaurant offers its guests authentic cuisine from Northern India, famous for its savory “tandoori” oven dishes and exotic curries. Aab is a family owned business, which also operates five restaurants in Cincinnati. We tried Aab for the first time in the summer of 2010 and it has become our favorite Indian restaurant in Columbus. It seems recently we frequent this restaurant once a week and always leave content. Aab is fairly new to Columbus, however it seems to be quickly gaining popularity. We arrived at 7:30 on Friday night and were told we had a wait of twenty minutes. We waited at the bar for our table and ordered some drinks. Twenty minutes later, we were seated and Miller and I were starving so we ordered the first time the waiter came to our table. When ordering an entre for dinner from Aab there are some things you have to consider; first the entrees are served with a never ending bowl of Indian white rice and second after you place your order the waiter will as you what spice level you would like. Aab is gracious enough to ask you the spice level of your meal on a spectrum of one to six. One being the most tempered and six being the spiciest it can get. Miller ordered her usual, Aloo Choley, an Indian dish made with chickpeas and potatoes, with traditional Nan, Indian style bread, like the Mediterranean pita. Miller’s spice level was a two, which seems to be good for people who like a little bit of spice, but don’t enjoy the feeling of your mouth on fire. I ordered what seems to be my usual now, the Chicken Tikka Saag, boneless marinated chicken cooked with spinach, cream and tomato sauce with garlic Nan. I ordered my meal at a spice level of five, which seems about right for those of us that love spicy food. Overall, the Miller-Stein food experience was a 4.3 and we definitely recommend this restaurant for those of you with an appetite for authentic Indian food. 

Elevator Brewery and Draught House | 13 January 2011

161 N. High Street

Columbus, OH

Miller-Stein Ranking

Our food experience | 3.8 Buckeyes

Quality | 3.5 Buckeyes

Cost | 3.0 Buckeyes

Character | 4.5 Buckeyes

Beverages | 4.5 Buckeyes

Service | 3.5 Buckeyes

Our Dinner

Cajun Chicken Penne | 18.00

Blackened chicken, bell peppers, shallots, tomato, scallion, Parmesan, Cajun cream

Pulled Pork Sandwich | 9.00

Chipotle BBQ, topped with slaw, sesame brioche

Glass of White Zinfandel

Mogabi American Wheat | An American ale, brewed with white wheat and abundant amount of Amarillo hops to give it a citrusy finish.

Our Experience

Stein and I were invited to join his brother and a couple of friends at the Elevator restaurant in downtown Columbus this week for an early dinner and drinks. We arrived and were greeted by a swarm of bar guests enjoying the many options of beer, wine and mixed drinks. We were seated right away in the back section of the restaurant where we awaited our party. The server was attentive and more than willing to share her knowledge of the wide variety of beers.

The Elevator is widely known for its beer, and there sure was a lot to choose from. Stein’s brother and friends enjoyed the beer and Stein had water (DD). I, however, thought I would try my luck with a glass of wine: a white zinfandel. The wine was served in a large glass with a generous portion and was sweet and refreshing. The food menu had several options that struck my interest so I waited until the last moment to make my decision. I arrived at the Cajun chicken penne; if a restaurant can satisfy my Italian pallet it is usually a good sign. Stein selected the pulled pork sandwich with fresh hand-cut fries.

The food arrived within 20 minutes of our order and arrived nice and warm. I dug right into the pasta and was surprised at how flavorful the dish was. The cream sauce was perfect and the heat in the Cajun was not too hot, but just the right spice level. The chicken was tender and not overcooked – small manageable pieces. Stein also wasted no time admiring the presentation and dug right in. The pulled pork sandwich had a sweet barbeque flavor and was prepared nicely sitting inside a lightly toasted bun. Stein and I glanced at one another several times throughout the meal with the “I’m enjoying this” expression.

Our waitress checked back several times to make sure we were enjoying our dinner and refilled our drinks. We toyed with the idea of dessert but we were both so full from our generously large meals, so we passed. The thought of us passing on dessert is a shock, I know, especially since the Elevator’s dessert menu highlighted a crème brulee, one of Stein’s all time favorite desserts since he visited Tahiti and had specially made crème brulee with vanilla beans grown in Tahiti.

When the bill arrived we weren’t too shocked because the prices were very clear on the menu. I think when one dines at the Elevator, you pay more for the brew house in a big city ambiance than the food, but the prices weren’t too unreasonable. We escaped for under $40 and were both full and satisfied.

The Miller-Stein 'food experiences'

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience,” and we are going to share our ‘food experiences’ with you. ‘We’ constitutes a twenty-something couple of a year, living in Columbus, Ohio. Miller, raised in Dublin, Ohio, is an Otterbein graduate and works in the non-profit industry. Stein, born in Los Angeles, California, is currently a graduate student at the Ohio State University and a self proclaimed ‘Foodie.’ Our mission is to document, evaluate, and share our ‘food experiences’ on an on-going basis as a source of information for our friends and family. Miller-Stein is committed to sharing one new ‘food experience’ a week.

For evaluation purposes, Miller-Stein utilized a 1-5 'buckeye' ranking scale based on average scores of the five dimensions of our ‘food experiences.’ The five evaluative dimensions are quality, cost, character, beverages, & service.