Cosmo's

Cosmo's Grille Pub
604 Main Street, Covington, KY 41011-1332
(859) 261-1330


The weather this weekend in the Cincinnati area was so wonderful! There could not be a better time to head down to MainStrasse and eat outside. We chose Cosmo's after it was recommended to us by a friend.

The outdoor seating was nice there were several tables lined up on the sidewalk and when we walked inside there was literally NOBODY sitting in there. However, the inside did include a larger bar where a couple people were sitting and having a drink. They do have a large beer menu that includes tap and bottle selections. The outside seating is dog friendly, which we will have to remember when our dog's broken leg gets healed.

The food menu included mostly sandwiches and burgers but did have some specialty grilled meals and pizzas. Cosmo's also had a large array of appetizers. I settled on the wildcat sandwich due to the fact that I love spicy food. This was a breaded chicken breast that was covered in buffalo sauce. The ranch that accompanied the sandwich was delicious and I have to guess that they made it or mixed it in house because it was so creamy and not too thick. The sandwich is normally served with chips or pasta salad but I would reccomend upgrading to the fries for an extra 95 cents. They were delicious, just the right texture and I would guess they were beer battered because of their unique taste. Yum. T.J. couldn't keep his hands off of them!
That brings me to T.J.'s sandwich. He decided to get something quite unique and tried a twist on a local classic-the brat. Cosmo's cut the brat in half and served it on tasty bread with sauerkraut and a mayo sauce. He really enjoyed the sandwich and said that the bread was delicious! T.J. got a side salad with his meal which came with lettuce, cheese, olives, and again that tasty ranch dressing!

Our service was actually pretty bad throughout the meal. The waitresses were not around too often or seemed to be tending to other tables if they were. One waitress was mostly just carrying on a casual conversation with a table that was right next to us. At the end of the meal someone took our drinks to bring us refills and never brought them back! That was odd. The weather was so beautiful outside though that it was tough not to stay positive. Keep in mind that we went for lunch and I have heard at night it shifts mainly to a bar like atmosphere and things can get a little more crazy. During the day however, it was peaceful and laid back.

Our meal was around 17 dollars.

Head down to MainStrasse September 10,11, & 12 for OKTOBERFEST! I can't wait to see all the tasty treats that will be available for that!

Lauren

T.J.'s Birthday at Miyoshi

Miyoshi
8660 Bankers Street
Florence, KY 41042-4242
(859) 525-6564


I heard about Miyoshi restaurant a year ago when one of my college professors told me it was her favorite joint to get sushi at. She said that they built the place for Toyota executives in the area to go eat at. I figured it must be good and pretty authentic since Japanese people would be eating there frequently, and when we walked in, we were the minority. Everyone there was Japanese except for one other couple. This excited me because I figured the restaurant would be the highest quality of Japanese dining but also the closest I could get to eating REAL Japanese food prepared and served the way it would be in Japan.

The atmoshpere wasn't that great, it felt very small and stuffy almost. The walls were painted beige and extremely plain with no art or decorations up on them. It just didn't feel very inviting when you sat down. It almost felt like you were sitting in an office building, I feel like they could definitely use some more pieces that would be interesting to the eye.

Of course, we had to try the sushi so we ordered a spider roll...YUM! I loved the flavor of the spider roll and the pieces were huge so you really had to split them in half. T.J. said he still enjoys some other restaurant sushi's more, but I really liked it. It was also good to be confident that the sushi was freshly prepared. I still don't understand how people can eat sushi off a buffet...GROSS! The menu also provided a vast array of appetizers separated into a hot and cold section. We didn't try any of these.

For dinner we got similar entrees. I tried the teriyaki chicken while T.J. tried the teriyaki salmon, they were kind of the only things we could pronounce on the menu! I would do some research before I went if I were to go again. Before the main course we got miso soup and a salad. I preferred the miso soup over the salad while I think T.J. preferred the salad. Each were tasty in their own way though. Both the chicken and the salmon were cooked to perfection. Very tender and juicy. T.J. said it was the best salmon he's ever tasted. It was nice to be able to eat something that was high quaility like this seemed to be. It was prepared beautifully on oddly shaped plates which made the food look even tastier! The teriyaki sauce was very mild which is the opposite of what I am used to. Although it may not have had quite as bold of a flavor, the whole meal felt very light and fresh, which was nice for a change.

The service kind of sucked. Our drinks were empty a lot. They only give you chopsticks at the table and I asked for a fork(really need to learn how to use chopsticks better) It took about 10 minutes for our forks to get there and the food was sitting right in front of us.

Overall, I think that Miyoshi had good, fresh, authentic food. It's not a place that T.J. and I will frequent, but every once in awhile I wouldn't mind going. Our bill was about 38 dollars for two entrees and the sushi. Some entrees did cost about 20 dollars though.

Hope T.J. enjoyed his birthday dinner! Also sorry for the lack of pictures, I couldn't find many online. I am going to start taking my own from now on!

Rice, teriyaki, and Chopsticks!
--Lauren

HUGO NOGO

HUGO
3235 Madison Road · Cincinnati, Ohio 45209 · 513.321.HUGO(4846)


I had originally told T.J. I wanted to try out NADA in downtown because I've heard great things, but it was too late to get reservations (obviously other people like it as well) and T.J. had a gift card to Hugo from www.restaurants.com. We decided to give it a try because it was something different and as T.J. pointed out it was romantic.

So, the reservations we got was for 8:30. When we went in, we didn't feel like celebrities like at the Waterfront, but instead felt like we were at a restaurant we shouldn't be in because we didn't make a certain amount of money. The atmosphere was indeed romantic, there were candles at each table and it was decorated very nice on the inside. However, nobody there was under the age of at least 40. We felt young, awkward, and out of place. When our waiter came, he actually wasn't the friendliest. He talked very little and didn't seem to pleased by our presence. He just mumbled a lot and was hard to understand.

When we recieved the menu there was not a huge variety of foods listed. The menu is described as southern sophistication. For an appetizer we tried the fritters. These were the best part of our meal because they were served with a chili jam that was sweet at first then followed by the spicy kick. I have to be honest and say that I really enjoyed these. After that, T.J. and I just went for the main course, although the menu is set up with 3 courses. T.J. got the New York Strip and I got the Free Range Chicken. The steak tasted charred and my chicken was absolutely nothing special. Since the restaurant was so "fancy" there were no sides that accompained the food. It was basically a piece of meat with decoration around the plate. My chicken was served on a bed of hash which was probably one of the nastiest things I've ever tasted. The texture was watery and gross on my tongue and it did not accompany the meal well. Tj's was served with onion straws on top of the steak which he said was "the best part."

Our drinks were often empty with nobody there to refill them even though many waiters and waitresses walked by. The table next to us provided the most enjoyable part of the night as they were being loud and cracking up laughing and even spilled wine at one point. Everyone else in the restaurant was staring at their rudeness but we were happy to see some sort of livliehood in that place.

Anyways, the meal was about 60 bucks which we really don't mind spending every once in awhile if the food is great and the service is good. HUGO did nothing to make our trip worth it, it's a shame to try to go out on a nice date and be utterly disappointed by not only the food, but the wait staff as well. Even though food critics in the past have labeled it as great, I would steer clear of this place.

With your best taste in mind,
Lauren

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.