The day of my birthday has long since past. The review is still accurate.
We headed towards Columbus Ohio. Since we were at this point very hungry, and I was not sure what the supper club would have to offer that would meet my vegetarian families tastes, (plus they don't open till 5pm on Sundays),when the suggestion of doing lunch at a new Indian restaurant, and then doing the supper club later came up, I eagerly agreed.
In hindsight, not, perhaps, the best choice of the day. But I like to try new experiences, so I guess it was that.
The new restaurant was Kohinoor (www.kohinoorindiancuisine.com). The decor was westernized American. Still, nice surroundings.
The food (and to be fair we only ordered the lunch buffet.) was also westernized or at least toned down from Indian food's more interesting and flavourful side.
Yes it was edible, but boring. The family agreed it would not be near the top of our list of places to re-visit.
Fortunately, after some time passed shopping, we gained back our hunger, ready to have another go at eating and having fun. So a call ahead to The Top supper club revealed that reservations were available.
At the time of year we went the snow lay fairly heavily on the ground, and although some attempt earlier had been made to clean a path to the restaurant, by the time we arrived the weather had managed to recover the sidewalks,leaving some areas slippery.
I went ahead of the family, partly to check the restaurant out, and partly to find the restroom. I was not greeted on my way in, so I located the restroom, and upon my return waited by the door. Still no one came to greet me. A minute or two later the family came in, and shortly after we were greeted by a smartly dressed and friendly hostess or manager,(It was hard to be sure which.), and our reservation was confirmed. We were then sat at our awaiting table.
The table was fairly central in the dining area and afforded us a nice view of the fireplace and the bar which was to my left as I entered the restaurant.
The menu was a very large one sheet. Due to the size of the menu and the cozy but somewhat limited space in the restaurant a freak accident occurred. My daughter moved the menu and managed to slice the top of the water glass next to her. The area was cleaned up quietly and efficiently. Keeping any embarrassment from the situation to a minimum.
The restaurant was, as it described itself " a 1950s supper club " It was dark but in a pleasant atmospheric way. The feeling was somewhat like you had stepped back in time. You could not help but wonder what deals had been made at these tables.
Dinner was begun with salads and appetizers. (My family ate these as a large part of their meal.) A very popular item was the Top Mac & Cheese. I am delighted to say I did not partake in this, since mac & cheese is one of my least favourite things.My oldest daughter had Au Gratin potatoes. She seemed to enjoy these, but not as much as the mac & cheese, which my wife and youngest shared, each believing the other ate more than half. I remain neutral on the whole debate.
I, for my sins, had fried oysters. To say they were cooked to perfection and tasted fantastic is to say the Beatles played music. (It does not do full justice) The Oysters were served with both lemon and a dipping sauce.
We also got onion rings. They were very good, but I have had at least as good if not better. But keep in mind I have eaten a lot of onion rings at many different locations.
The main reason for going was not the Columbus Brewery IPA,(which was good, though I have had many better IPA's before and since.), nor the onion rings or the fantastic oysters, which were so good I have tried, without success, to emulate them at home. The thing that severely limited our selection of places to eat on a Sunday was the Prime Rib. I have, like with the onion rings, eaten Prime Rib at many different locations. Such as the place in Marysville that everyone there raved about; time was ultimately the biggest food critic of the place, since shortly after I ate there it went out of business (I gave it a description comparing it to something that you could and should use instead of as food as an item to repair worn shoes).
Others, such as the hotel in Fort Wayne Indiana, with all you can eat prime rib, or the steak house I used to work for in Marion, Ohio,called Michaels, receive great praise and are a standard that other places are expected to live up to. The top managed to accomplish this standard. The Prime rib was not only cooked as requested but was tender and extremely tasty with appropriate accessories available. Things such as horseradish and mushrooms and onions and a well prepared baked potato.
Sorry that neither photo of the prime does it justice, truth told My mind was more focused on eating than on photography MMMMM GOOD!
We passed on dessert, since one awaited me at home in the form of cake. As you can see in the exit photos it had not warmed up much as we left but who cared a fine meal with family gives you a warm glow inside.
As to the cake, delicious.
This makes for a slight twist on a British drink that Americans are now trying to emulate, called shandy. Real shandy is a decent flavoured beer and British lemonade, which more closely resembles sprite. It's a way to enjoy a beer sensation with more liquid and less alcohol and a more refreshing flavour.Well since the chinese meal and the malt liquor make up almost every taste sensation of the day I guess today is covered. So until I taste again I bid you peace!
