Guru

 Guru Indian Restaurant
2303 Buttermilk Xing
Crescent Springs, KY 41017-1622
(859) 341-5858
(Located next to Outback)

    When I first tried Indian food, i absolutely hated it. Whatever I got was just too strong and I thought that I hated all Indian food in general. After eating lunch with T.J. at work one day and discovering my strong love for Indian food I have been begging to go back ever since!

     Guru Indian Restaurant is a sister to Ambar Indian Restaurant in Clifton. While the food tastes exactly the same due to the same owners, I prefer Ambar's atmosphere. It is a lot more ecclectic, busy, and exciting while Guru was extremely quiet and could almost feel awkward. Nevertheless the food is delicious!

    First we will start with my choice which I will never stray from because it is SO delicious. The Chicken Tikka Masala. As pictured below. In the menu they describe the sauce as a savory tomato, onion, and butter sauce. I have to say it doesn't taste like tomatoes that much the sauce is just very savory and unique in my opinon. Most of the specialities are served over a bed of rice. You can also chose your spice level. I picked a 3 and it wasn't spicy at all, I think it depends on who is cooking.

      T.J. decided to branch out and try something new, the Chicken Tikka Saag.(pictured below) This is a dish with a creamy spinach sauce. The sauce is very thick and although T.J. liked it at first, he didn't like it towards the end. It has a ton of spinach in it, so althought I didn't taste it, it seemed a little overpowering. T.J. has a few co-workers that actually love this dish so it may be for you! He wished he would have stuck with one of his favorite dishes that Chicken Shahi Korma which actually incorporates nuts and raisins for a different taste.

     We are both chicken fans but the restaurant also has many vegetarian, shrimp, and even lamb specialties. We would also recommend getting Nan with your dinner. Nan is a flat traditional indian bread. You can get many different types of Nan but we got the Paneer Nan which has cheese baked in. The Nan is a more plain flavor so it contrasts really well with the bold flavors of the actual meals. Here is a picture of T.J. with our Nan.

     If you have never tried Indian food before, I have a couple suggestions for you. I know that Guru sometimes offers a lunch buffet where you could go and try many dishes. That information is not on their website but I'm sure you could call and find out the times and prices for that. I would also recommend going for lunch since the prices are cheaper and portions are smaller, take a friend with you so you can also try their meal. Also, don't give up if you don't like your first experience with the food. Most likely it is like nothing you have ever tasted before so it may be out of your comfort zone. It truly is delicious and I believe that everyone can find something on the menu they will fall in love with.

Dinner was around $30. Coupons can be found in REACH magazine.

What's your favorite Indian meal?

--Lauren

Mai Thai

I'm so sorry I've been such a bad blogger. I'm changing my ways and promise to blog at least twice a month! With that said, I found a yummy new restaurant that's definitely worth blogging about.

T.J. is a huge Thai fan, I was not so much sold on Thai food at other restaurants that he had taken me to, but after trying my Thai it was a pleasant surprise to my taste buds!

We wanted to try a bit of everything and T.J. just had to taste the sushi. He ordered a spider roll and I ordered some crab puffs. The crab puffs were probably the best I'd ever tasted, the outside shell wasn't so hard and crunchy that it was impossible to bite, like many other restaurants I have tried. There was a nice balance of cream cheese and crab flavor in the filling. It was a great bite each time. The spider roll came out next that was prepared by one of two sushi chefs that stand in a corner bar, which is good knowing that the sushi is fresh! A spider roll contains crab tempura, and avocado. T.J. begged me to try it so I finally did and even though I've tried sushi a million times and disliked it, I actually loved this one! The rolls were much smaller than most rolls I've tried which made the texture a lot more tolerable. The taste was great and it made a sushi believer out of my. Unfortunately, I tried it somewhere else the next day and almost barfed. BUT the spider roll at Mai Thai will always be welcomed by my taste buds.

Main course, which I couldn't finish, was the chicken teriyaki for me and pad thai for T.J. The mushrooms in the chicken teriyaki were delicious and cooked to perfection. T.J.'s pad thai (which i tried several times) was also great.We both got spice levels of 2 so while they were both a little spicy at the beginning, mine was followed by a very savory taste while T.J.'s pad thai was followed with a sweeter taste due to the peanuts. Both wonderful dishes and I'd be excited to go back and try again.

The atmoshpere was very small on the inside, but cute. Candles sat at every table and the restaurant was extremely clean, which i greatly appreciate. I also enjoyed the fresh flowers at each table which could be considered a God send in the middle of a grey, snowy winter. The service is great and you are always paid attention to. Dinner cost about 32 dollars which was about average for all of the food we got, sushi is expensive.

We had a great dinner experience at Mai Thai and I would recommend it to any Thai lovers, or those who are still undecided about Thai, Mai Thai will make up your mind.

Mai Thai

7710 U.S. 42, Florence, KY 41042

Exit 180, across from Wildwood Inn

Get your Gyro on.

GREEK TO ME
3415 Dixie Hwy, Erlanger, KY
859-727-3000

Greek to me is a restaurant known for their gyros (pronounced yee-ros) which is a Greek food that dates back to the 19th century. GREEK TO ME has created their own specialty gyros that have America mixed in.

To start a gyro you first have a piece of pita bread, then meat goes inside-traditionally this is lamb meat. Then you will add veggies, usually tomatoes and onions possibly more depending on who is serving them. Every gyro gets topped off with a special gyro sauce which looks like and is about the same thickness as sour cream. It has a slight sour cream taste too, but it is very different than any other sauce I could think to compare it to. At GREEK TO ME this would be called the "classic gyro" which is what my boyfriend enjoyed.

I enjoyed an Americanized version of the gyro which was the chicken philly. This included chicken freshly grilled on the flat top, mushrooms, onions, and mayo. I would highly recommend getting something Americanized if you are not one who likes to try new things. They have a lot of choices.

All of the gyros can be accompanied by their famous fries which they sprinkle with a touch of lemon pepper for an amazing after taste. Delicious.

The restaurant is rather small and there are no waiters or waitresses, you order your food and sit down wherever you like. I think most locals in the area enjoy it for take out dinner, but during the lunch hour this place is hopping.

The best part was that Teej and I ate a nice fulfilling meal for only 14 dollars, it's always great to save some of his money every once and awhile =).

They also have a food challenge there, it's called the "you name it." Eat the whole thing and you get to name it whatever you would like. So i encourage any of you who are man vs. food fans to go check it out.

Jeff Ruby's The Waterfront

$
Watch out blog readers this place is pricey!
After that disclaimer I will have to say that the food is out of this world.

First, before the meal comes out they bring you bread with mushroom butter! YUM! My boyfriend and I are both huge fans of mushrooms and the combination that they make is just delicious. The Freddie salad is their take on a BLT which i would highly recommend. These things both prepare you for your amazing meal about to come.

I chose the 12 ounce fillet Mignon and it was to die for. The taste almost melted right in your mouth. You can choose toppings for your steak also, such as onions or mushrooms, which I opted out of because I enjoyed just tasting how flavorful the meat actually was.
My boyfriend got Jeff Ruby's Jewel which he figured he couldn't go wrong with because of the name... WELL it was good but the steak came on the bone which was a lot of work to cut up and he actually had to ask them to put it back on the grill as parts of it were RARE which is not our cup of tea.

Forget mashed or baked potatoes for your side! Go for the mac and cheese. This is not kraft. It's like no macaroni I have ever tasted before. It comes to your table in your own personal pan where it has been cooked with crumbles on the top. The steam rises off as soon as you put your spoon in and the taste is just great.


The environment is one of the most vital parts I think. It is romantic. It overlooks the Ohio river and as the sun is going down it is one of the prettiest places to be. Not to mention while you are there you get treated like you are a movie star (and you sometimes may be among them). Everyone is waiting to greet you and talk to you, your drink never gets emptied, you are never left wondering when something is coming. From start to finish you are welcomed.

Stay for the night atmosphere, the live bands or piano player, and an all around good time.

Until our next dinner together,
Elle.

Dewey's Pizza

I know we have not updated in awhile but I have decided to keep up the blog because I still want to educate you wonderful people on the places I love to eat. I hope you will try them too and be just as thrilled.
On today's list.... Dewey's pizza, one of my favorite places to eat on a regular basis. Dewey's Pizza has locations in greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton, St. Louis, Cleveland, and Columbus. I once met a lady from Pennsylvania who was living temporarily in Cincinnati. She said when she went home she would miss Dewey's Pizza the most. I do not blame her.
First lets talk about the atmosphere, Dewey's is a fun environment and children especially like the glass windows to the kitchen where they can watch the cooks making their hand tossed doughs. Just like you see here.
So, as you would probably guess, their doughs are delicious.

So what do you get when you go here? NOT CHEESE.
Don't get me wrong, all of their pizza is excellent quality, but whey get cheese when they have a whole list of specialty pizzas that are waiting to awake your pizza taste buds.

My personal favorite....Ryan's Inferno. This pizza is Dewey's take on a buffalo chicken pizza. Trade the marinara sauce in for olive oil and you have your start. Accompany it with buffalo chicken, Gorgonzola cheese, red onion, ranch dressing, and celery. YUM!

Prefer veggie? Then how about trying their Billy Goat, olive oil sauce, minced garlic, light mozzarella, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, green peppers, and fresh tomatoes. This pizza made a vegetable lover out of me!

Of course there is always an option to create your own pizza, but try one of theirs. They know what they're doing.

One thing is for sure, you will see toppings here that you would see at no other pizza place, so it creates a whole different experience for any pizza lover.

I think I'll go get some Dewey's now.
Elle.

Week 1 Lemon Grass

Lemon Grass Restaurant

Cuisine: Thai

2666 Madison Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45208

McGeej says:

I am a fan of Thai food, having heard so many good things from this restaurant I had to try it for myself. So me and ol' elle got the GPS out and set on our way to experience all the hype for ourselves. Elle, did a pretty good description of the place on the inside and how we felt so there is no sense repeating. I started off with the Lemongrass soup without chicken, and I must say that this soup is the most interesting thing I have had in a long time. It allows you to taste everything from sweet, to spicy, to bitter, and everything in between. It also had mushrooms served floating in the soup which was an excellent compliment to the rest of the flavors floating around with them. In our culture we are not used to tasting such herbs and spices that are used in this soup so I highly recommend trying it. For my meal I ordered the Lemongrass noodle, a mix of what we would call buttered noodles and Lo Mein with various vegetables and chicken in there. It had a sweet kind of taste that I wasn't fond of at first, but by the end of it I started to enjoy. I will be quite honest, I was a little jealous after tasting a bit of elle's food, but you'll have to read her section to see how that went. All in all, if you are a fan of Thai food you must visit Lemongrass very soon, and tell them you found them on Legit Dining!

Elle says:

Well let’s first start off with the atmosphere. The restaurant is very small, but is decorated pleasant and has an extremely welcoming feel. Although the restaurant is small, I never felt cluttered. I also felt like I got more attention from the waiters and waitresses. My water glass never got below the halfway point, as someone seemed to always be checking on me. For an appetizer I had crab ragoons. These are one of my favorite appetizers and here I was not disappointed. The shell was much softer than most that I have tasted and this made them easier to take bites. Oh yeah, they were amazingly tasty too! My favorite part of the meal had to be the main course-Teriyaki Chicken for me. The taste was nothing short of spectacular. It didn’t taste like any teriyaki sauce I have come across before. It had a little kick of spice, but was nothing too shocking. Plus if you prefer no spice you can get a spice level of 0 as the restaurant lets you chose your spice level between one & 10. The vegetables mixed in with the teriyaki were so tender, I found myself eating all of them-Something very rare for a girl who is vegetable-phobic. The mushrooms were cooked perfectly and savored in the sauce it equaled my favorite part of the meal. My only complaint was that a couple hours later I felt myself hungry again. The food didn’t seem to be extremely filling in the long run. It was a good date environment.

Taste Rating: 4 Forks

Would I return? J

Until Next Week!

Elle