Laotian food at the Asian American Festival in Franklin Conservatory

Today I went to the Asian American Festival in Columbus, Ohio located around the Franklin Conservatory. I did snack on some Laotian food. I spent $9 and I got a Lao spicy sausage $2, fresh pork veggie spring roll $2 and seafood salad with spices $5. I washed it off with a Lemon smoothie $2 gotten from the Okinawan food vendor. The sausage was a little spicy but I enjoyed the flavors. The fresh spring roll with little bit of pork, carrots and veggies was simple and the usual fish sauce. The seafood salad was mainly bits of imitation crabmeat, squid and shrimp in peppers and onion slightly spicy mixture. Nothing earth shattering I never had before but reminded heavily of the influences from Thailand and Vietnam (which happen to be nearby countries to Laos too).

Schmidts (German Village) Columbus, Ohio

While in Columbus, Ohio, I had requested to visit German Village. I have been in the area for a few times and had always wanted to check it out. Since my last trip, I have gone to Germany and back. But I really wanted to see what it was all about.

Right off my flight from Boston to Columbus, I got picked up and we went straight to the German Village (close by to downtown Columbus). One thing I noticed was the abundance of brick used for the buildings. We parked near the visitor center to only find it was closed. We then erred on choosing Schmidts to be our lunch destination. We walked up Mohawk Street and back down to the car on Fifth Street (as they were referred to be the scenic walks) per the tourist brochures. I did manage to read a few reviews of the kitchen, it has burned down and was rebuilt. The owners bought a nearby location to make chocolate and sell some souvenirs.

Once we got into Schmidts, I opted for the buffet which was $12.99 and add $2 for a dessert. I got a variety of bratwurst and a few different krauts. The food was basic and nothing that I would say was outstanding. I tend to like wurst and kraut. In fact, my second plate was full of kraut and different potato items. I always like to try a variety. At the end of our meal, we all shared one of their famous chocolate cream puffs! It was very big with tons of chocolate cream and I ended up being unable to finish my half the cream puff. I lived the homey atmosphere and I felt very comfortable. Upon entry, you see a show case with a bratwurst display and the adjacent one has all the desserts lined up including the Black Forest Cake and all the various cream puffs! Yumm!

Atmosphere was fun and comfortable with strong German touches. Service was good and food was filling and portions plentiful. The restaurant makes their own wurst and different kinds and their own desserts.

I give this 7 forks out of 10 forks

Bon Vie in Easton, Ohio

Over Memorial Day weekend, I was in Columbus, Ohio area. Saturday night I had pretty good meal at Bon Vie in Easton. This area has pretty large outdoor shopping area. You can find the only outpost of Henri Bendel outside of New York here. Plus there is a Nordstrom and Macys here plus a lot of other stores lining the way around this shopping area.

One place we decided to visit on Saturday night for dinner was Bon Vie. The original place we were going to go to was busy and not taking RSVPS. We did see a decent steady crowd coming in and out. There was a nearby table of High School prom goers enjoying their meal.

We were seated before our whole party was at the restaurant. I notice the last few years many restuarants will not seat a party if everyone has not arrived yet. I got some water and some sweetend peach tea. It was lovely. The server though nice was a bit spotty. We had to ask a few times for water and ask for bread. There is plenty of patio seating and the restaurant faces the fountain area in the nearby heart of the shopping center.

We had two appetizers, the Black Pepper Shrimp and the Tomato and Cheese bread. The Black Pepper Shrimp had three toasted pieces of bread with the mild peppery sauce. You wanted to dip more bread into the sauce. The other dish was nice. Thin pita bread (paper thin) with five different cheeses, thinly sliced tomato which made iver easy to eat. I ordered the Stuffed Sole with Crab stuffing but I wanted the Hollandaise sauce on the side. I liked the veggies and the fish and crab were very fresh. It was only $19 for the dish. I thought you got alot of food for you money.

For desert, my friend's mom owns a bakery and she brought some cakes over to share. I had a raspberry chocolate mousse cake (a taste) and the hazelnut cake slice. Both were very nice.

9.0 forks out of 10 forks