Columbus has some excellent japanese food because of Honda being located nearby. With all of the japanese transplants, you know they want to be able to eat some good japanese food, like at home. There are also a healthy number of japanese grocery stores as well. The one my brother likes is nearby Tensuke Market. They now have a little sit-down restaurant next door, called Tensuke Express. They serve standard quick japanese fare – noodles of udon, soba, ramen, rice bowls, teriyakis, and appetizers. They don’t have sushi, but they have everything else you would love. My sis-in-law got the pork cutlet. It’s an absolutely ginormous portion and comes with a side salad and miso soup.

My mom got one of the combinations, which is hot noodles along with a mini bowl. She got udon and a beef bowl. This is definitely the best value as you get your normal size hot noodles, plus a rice bowl! And it’s only like a quarter more than if you’d just gotten the noodles. So if you have a big appetite, this is definitely the way to go!

I got the spicy kimchi udon. I thought it was spicy kimchi ramen, but I just read the menu wrong. It was indeed udon, not ramen. No biggie there, as I love udon just as much as ramen. This was so good! This is a japanese restaurant, but the japanese definitely love their kimchi. I don’t know if they buy their kimchi or if it’s homemade, but the kimchi was great, and was perfect for the noodles. It just kicked everything up a notch and made it extra special. I like plain udon soup as it is, but it can be a bit bland, so the addition of the kimchi made it more delicious and spicy. But really, I could throw kimchi in just about anything and love it that much more. Try it yourself! Oh, and this food is mad cheap. I miss it already!

On July 4th, Columbus has an odd tradition called the Doo Dah Parade. I don’t know anything about it, but it’s an excuse for locals to get dressed up in weird costumes and parade about in the heat. In the midst of it all, we got some brunch in the Short North neighborhood at Northstar Cafe. It’s a nice, clean, and modern cafe that emphasizes simple and organic foods. It was a Sunday, and they only had the brunch menu available.

You put in your oder and get a number. You also get your own drinks and your own silverware. When ready, they deliver you the food to you. It’s actually quite efficient.
My mom’s sweet potato and turkey hash. With sweet potato, applewood smoked turkey, red peppers, sweet onions, and two sunny-side-up eggs, we all agreed this was our favorite.

The bro’s Cowboy Breakfast. He got two locally grown, organic eggs over-hard, sausage, and a warm biscuit with jam. I don’t know where my bro’s love for breakfast sausage came for. I don’t care for it at all. This biscuit was huge and epic.

Here are my Cloud Nine Pancakes. These are three huge ricotta pancakes served with real maple syrup and banana. These were excellent, but I could only eat one! I loved that it came with mushy butter that melted on the pancakes right away. This is a very popular spot with the locals and I can definitely see why. It’s great food at reasonable prices, especially for brunch.

To visit my brand new nephew, I had to take a trip to america’s heartland – Columbus, OH. When I landed, we headed right out for a quick lunch at North Market. It’s like the West Side Market in Cleveland, or the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, or like a ghetto version of the Ferry Building. But then every market is a ghetto version compared to Ferry Building. There is a farmers market outside on Saturdays. Inside, there are a wide variety of food vendors.

My bro picked out Lac Viet, a little vietnamese counter. Their menu only has thirteen items, which is awesome. The more focus, the better! They also have a proper restaurant in the suburbs. The prices here are dirt cheap. Their banh mi is supposed to be out of this world.

It was a thousand degrees out so I could not bring myself to eat pho. But my nutjob of a brother did. Yum! The broth was great, which is always my sign for excellent pho.

I ended up having something I’ve never had before. I love vermicelli bowls, and I equally love rice plates. But I always get one or the other. On the Lac Viet menu, the vermicelli bowl/rice plate items are listed as being together with a particular topping, with your choice of rice/noodles. I thought this was for picking either rice or noodles. So I ordered grilled chicken with noodles. Then he replied with, so no rice? And I said no, just noodles. And then I said, wait, I can get both? And he said of course! I didn’t know you could do this! So that’s what I got in the end, a combination vermicelli bowl/rice plate with grilled chicken. And damn, it was glorious. There were noodles, broken rice, all the veggies that come with the vermicelli bowls, nuoc cham, and heaps of delicious grilled chicken. It was a surprising delight! Now, every time I go to a vietnamese place, I’m going to want this!