Author Archives: whenny

Giant Eagle Market District

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The food scene in Upper Arlington has improved a lot recently.  No place more than in the formerly moribund Kingsdale Shopping Center.  Where once the MCL Cafeteria was what passed for fine dining, more options have arrived as the shopping center has managed to avoid the fate of becoming a bingo hall.

The subject of this blog post is the Giant Eagle Market District.  Yes, I am going to opine about a grocery store.  Not just any grocery store but the center piece of Kingsdale’s phoenix like resurrection.  Giant Eagle, based in Pittsburgh, builds these upscale stores in or near affluent neighborhoods.  The idea is obvious: provide some competition for Whole Paycheck Market in upscale grocery.  Upper Arlington obviously qualifies as a target market.  I am guessing with its median income, UA would have a GDP greater than that of Greece and just south of Lane Avenue lives a bunch of folks that wish Warren Buffet would shut the hell up.  The store itself has become somewhat of a tourist attraction.  I’m not kidding.  One day a colleague and I were leaving the place when a bus full of excited folks from a Reynoldsburg senior center pulled up.  The bus promptly disgorged them and they all made a beeline to the store.   I guess the Metamucil is better from there.

this is only 1/2 of the Cafe

In the center of the store is a food court area with a plethora of offerings.  There are way too many to describe in any detail, so I am going to stick to two of my favorites. The Rosti is a potato cake that has been browned crispy on the outside.  My favorite version is served with sour cream, onions and capers on top, smoked salmon on the side and a simple salad of mixed greens in vinaigrette.

Smoked Salmon Rosti

The potato cake isn’t like fried mashed potatoes but instead densely packed finely grated hash browns.  It’s really good with the browned crust contrasting well with the texture of the potato shreds.  The accoutrements on top just add to the flavor.

My other favorite is the smoked meat station.  Smoked and meat is right up there with my other favorite word combinations like free and beer or smoking and hot.   Pork, chicken, turkey and salmon are all smoked and offered up by the slice. I’ve wanted to try all the offerings but I almost reflexively get the smoked beef brisket every time.

Brisket.... GO MEAT!

You get several generous slices of brisket and if you can choose from a variety of sauces.  I have always opted for the beef au jus, which they will pour over the meat or serve in cup on the side.  There are two things that distinguish Market District brisket from other excellent brisket I’ve had.  One is that they leave a generous part of the fat cap on it.  Your slices are bound to have at least a ¼ inch sliver of fat on them.  The second is that the texture is firmer than most.  Not tough at all but the meat has a chew to it.  Over cooked brisket can be mushy or crumbly in texture.  Under cooked brisket can be used to catch baseballs.  Market District gets it just right.  With your meat you can also get two sides, which are usually some kind of grilled veggie or some mashed potatoes.  It’s all really good.

The heck of it is that it’s all very affordable.  All I described above is right around the Jones line (8 bucks) and with a drink you are right at 10 bucks.   Where I have gotten into trouble is getting food from the hot food bar.  There is always fried chicken and a variety of meats, veggies, rice and potatoes on it.  At 7 bucks a pound you can find yourself at the register with 2 Joneses worth of food if you don’t exercise restraint.   Unfortunately restraint is difficult because it all looks hot and fresh and so far it’s been pretty good.

The Market District food court is the trifecta for a couple of guys looking for the 10 buck lunch.  It has variety, quality and price.  I highly recommend a trip there for some dang good food.

Tensuke Express

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Spicy Ramen with (essence of)Pork

Right off the mark I am going to tell ya’ll that Tensuke Express is my favorite Japanese Noodle Bar.  Ok, it’s the only Japanese Noodle Bar I know of but that’s beside the point.  If you aren’t familiar with the place it is a small shop on old Henderson Road smack dab in the middle of the Japanese District.  I am sure someone else has called this little corner of the rising sun the Japanese District but it’s hard to be original in this day and age when (ahem) anyone can be a blogger/restaurant reviewer.  Walking into the place you get the feeling that whatever it is you eat, it’s going to be authentic because there are a lot of Japanese folks in there.  Heck, one day there were so many Japanese men in suit and tie eating lunch, I thought we had crashed a Honda board meeting.  I’m just kidding of course.  Its not like Tensuke Express is a secret known only to the Asian denizens of Chris Town OH.  The place is usually packed if you don’t get there before 11:30.  However you do have to admit that if Japanese folks are heavily patronizing a Japanese restaurant it’s a dang good sign that flavorful things are happening.  

I’ve eaten two dishes at Tensuke Express, soba noodle and small beef bowl and spicy pork ramen. The small beef bowl is essentially rice with a small quantity of what appears to be pot roast on it and the pork ramen should be called pork RAMEN.  The meat looks like it has been lovingly shaved into the main dish with a truffle slicer.  I quipped to the Biff that they can probably get 30 bowls of ramen out of a single pork chop.  I am being a smartass.  I am not a food expert by any means, but like the guy that stayed in the Holiday Inn Express, I’ve watched enough Travel Channel, Food Channel and PBS to know that meat from the land isn’t the main course in Japanese cuisine.  So lets just say that even a CARNIVORE (emphasis added) like myself loves the heck out of some Japanese noodles.  

Soba with Chicken Teriyaki Bowl

The soba is a perfect texture in a savory broth with what I think is a daikon radish (I watched the original Iron Chef too) and green onions floating about.  The ramen is in a salty, spicy broth with said pork, daikon and what appear to be some type of crouton crumbled in it.  The beef and rice are simply excellent.  The meat is sweet and flavorful and the rice is perfect Asian sticky.  It’s a great side dish to the noodle main course.

Udon with Mini Beef Bowl

Not being a chop stick Ninja I was afraid I was going to starve to death with a ton of food right in front of me.  But, necessity being the mother of invention or hunger being the I’m going to figure out how to eat this stuff even if I have to use my hands, I learned the pick up the wad of noodles and slurp like a mad man technique of eating soba.  No prizes for table etiquette but I managed to eat it all with just a few drops of broth on my shirt.  
With a Coke you’re out a Jones and a quarter (10 bucks) for each dish.  What you are getting is really good food that is different from just about all the other stuff out there.  I highly recommend a trip to Tensuke Express.