TownHall Ohio City

We went out to TownHall two nights in a row this week!   It just so happened that two groups of people that I hang out with chose the same place for dinner and drinks.   It's a fairly new place in Ohio City.  They have a large selection of beer and wine, cupcakes as large as two fists put together, and decently quick food service.  Half of the restaurant is served by wait staff.  The quieter cafe side has a walk up bar for placing orders which are then delivered to your seat.

Pictured above is the Grilled Cheese Bars and Bisque.   The sandwich is artfully sliced into thirds and consists of sourdough bread, roasted Roma tomatoes, and cheddar and Gruyere cheese.   The tomato bisque has Gorgonzola cheese in it.  I found the soup a bit too tart for my taste.  I think they should have added more of the Gorgonzola to make it more creamy.   The sandwich was nicely crispy, but I'm not a big tomato fan.

Steve had the Spicy Curry noodles, which featured roasted chicken, lemongrass, snow peas, shallots, cilantro, a bit of lime, and a coconut milk broth.  It was filling and mildly spicy.

This vanilla milkshake was really tasty.   It featured Mitchell's ice cream and they give you the mixer container.  You basically get two shakes for the price.

Steve had the Citraberry shake.  It had tuaca, rumchata, fresh blackberries, fresh lemon juice, and vanilla bean ice cream from Mitchell's.  It was fruity and creamy at the same time, with just a kick from the alcohol.

I think one of the best things on the menu are the Matchstick Truffle Fries.  They have Parmesan cheese and truffle oil.  They are perfectly crispy.   The seasonings tend to fall to the bottom of the container though.   

I really like the fries and the milkshakes.  Overall, I'd have to try some different entrees next time.   
Maybe a dessert.

Streat Burger and Bistro

We had dinner this past Sunday at Streat Burger and Bistro.  It is the permanent restaurant location by the guys who run the Streat Mobile Bistro food truck.  Cafe 56 closed a while back, and Streat Burger is now there instead.

Streat Burger has a nifty concept.  You pick 3 things for their burgers.  You pick a protein (six choices including one vegetarian option), pick a bun (4 choices including a gluten free one), and a way it's served (toppings).  Pictured above is my herbed turkey burger on a plain bun, served as "the Cheesehead."   It has beer battered cheddar curds, bacon gravy, dijon lardons, and garlic aoli.

Steve wanted the BBB (burger bacon blend), but they were out.  He got to have the regular burger with bacon on top as no extra charge.  His burger was on a whole wheat bun, served "Twisted St. Patty" style.  It has corned beef has brown, drunken onions, spicy kim chi, Greyere, and Streat Sauce.  

Our friend Tom got a regular Streat Burger, white bun, and served "Spanish Fly" style.  It had sweet corn & black bean salsa, gouda, Serrano-tomatilla adobo, tortilla strips, arugula,  and candied jalapeno.

We also split an order of duck fat fries.  They also have rosemary.  I asked if they served duck, but I guess it's only for the fries.

It was a good meal.   Steve and I both got two meals out of our burgers, so four meals total.  The menu has lots of choices, and I didn't get to try dessert because I got full.  I'm looking forward to going again.

Dim Sum at Li Wah

We decided to go to Li Wah for dim sum last Saturday before catching a movie.  It's really filling, so we only have it a couple of times per year.  Or when my mom's in town, whichever happens first.  For those of you unfamiliar with dim sum, it's Chinese brunch.  it's like a buffet, but the food is brought to you on wheeled carts.  Dishes come in small, medium, or large, and the prices are charged based on what you pick out from the cart.  Each dish usually has between two and four servings on it.  The menu is heavy on port and shrimp.  It can often be really oily, but you'll do fine if you don't make it an everyday occurrence.  Pictured above are some pork dumplings.   They came in a set of four

The buns in the background are pork bao, filled with barbequed pork.  The front dish is shrimp wide noodles.  Both dishes are steamed.

These are steamed shrimp dumplings.  Juicy and delicious!

The front dish are savory dumplings.  The coating is a fried dough and the insides are kind of soupy.  The egg rolls are vegetarian.

These are friend taro dumplings.   They are probably one of my favorite things.  The outside is crispy and the inside is a pork sauce/soup filling.

These are fried shrimp balls.  The outside is basically a crispy noodle.  I think it was a sweet and sour sauce, but I thought they were flavorful without the sauce.

These are some of the dessert items.  The coconut jelly in the background is a new item Li Wah is offering for those who don't want fried sweets.  I think it had a taro flavoring.   The front item is sesame balls.  They are doughy friend balls filled with a sweet lotus paste.

These are egg tarts.  Steve and I consider them to be our favorite desserts.  Crispy pastry crust with an egg custard filling.  Yum!