Thom's in Grandview

I must apologize, it has been awhile since I have updated things on my blog but I just haven't been the mood to write lately. However, I am back now and I am planning on adding some new posts in the next few days.

I would like to begin my first post in February with Thom's in Grandview. Thom's is a new restaurant located on Grandview Ave in the building that used to house Braddock's. This new restaurant is named after its owner, Thom Coffman who also owns The Clarmont in Columbus. Thom's differs from the Clarmont, however because its prime focus is on seafood where Clarmont is most known for steaks.

Adam and I decided to try Thom's a couple of weekends ago before going to an Opera at Ohio State. We chose Thom's mainly because Z Cucina was booked, but we thought we might as well give Thom's a try. I must admit we were at first a bit hesitant of Thom's only because every time we passed the restaurant they seems to be empty, but after eating there we were presently surprised.

We began our experience with the appetizer special which was a blackened sea scallop on a jalapeno cornbread cake with a mango salsa. The whole disk was on top of some kind of sauce, though I dont know what it was. This dish was very good and probably my favorite of what we tried that night. The sea scallop was especially good. It was blackened on the top and bottom just enough to take on a sweet grill taste. Thom's also served us a basket of bread before our entrees, which was also very good. Their bread was warm and tasted fresh baked. They offer a pumperkinkel or a rosemary focaccia roll. The rosemary option was especially good!

For our entrees, I had a swordfish which was accompanied by sauteed broccoli rab and roasted potatoes. I really do not have much to say about the accompaniments with the swordfish. The potatoes were just roasted with sea salt and were not anything special, as far as the broccoli rab goes, I think I am still trying to decide if I like broccoli rab. It is very bitter and was a strange match with the swordfish. The swordfish fillet was a nice size. My only complaint about it would be that it needed a little something, in fact I took my lemon out of my water and squeezed on it. This helped it tremendously, other than that I enjoyed my meal.

Adam chose salmon for his entree. He had no complaints about his salmon, which was accompanied by Thom's lobster mashed potatoes. Now as far as I am concerned, they should put these mashed potatoes on every dish. They were very good! They were creamy and had nice sized peices and proportions of lobster, therefore not making the lobster over powering!

We did not have dessert at Thom's because we were pretty full and had to get to the show! But I would go back to Thom's and would recommend it to others. I don't think I would recommend it for an extra special dinner out, but it serves as a good casual dinner with friends.

The Pillars of the Earth

By Ken Follet

This novel is not a recent read for me, but one I read over the summer. I wanted to add another book entry however, before January ends. I also really loved this book and wanted to include it on my blog.

The story begins with the hanging of a thief in a public square. The scene is described with loads of detail and imagery. The author, however, does not fill you in on who the man is who is being hanged, nor does he tell you anything about the other individuals who are present at the execution. There is definately a mystery in this scene, and Ken Follet hooks the reader in right away.

The book really centers around a monastery in Kingsbridge, England and the building of a beautiful cathedral. The monastery is run down and bankrupt when the reader is first introduced to the little town of Kingsbridge and its people. However, the Prior Phillip, who takes over after the old Priory dies, raises the monastery back to grandeur.

Pillars of the Earth is very rich with characters and history. The novel takes place during the 10th century and talks a great deal about the politics of the time and the Kings of England, which can be very confusing, but also very interesting.

There are a great deal of characters in this novel. I do tend to get pretty involved in the characters when I read a book, but I really had a wide range of feelings for these characters. Some I loved and could not wait to read about, others I hated and could not wait for them to get what they deserved!

This is a long book, but I highly recommend it! I don't think I have ever read a book as quickly as I read this one! (I'm talking no less than 100 pages a night!)I hope if you pick it up you enjoy it as much as I did!

The Columbus Fish Market

Always a perennial favorite, Adam and I went to The Columbus Fish Market on Monday night. As always we both started with the Lobster Bisque. Though the Bisque at Fish Market is not a true bisque in that it has pieces of lobster in it and technically a bisque should be smooth, but it is truly wonderful. It is creamy and rich and an excellent starter!

I had trouble deciding what to order so I went with the Market trio, which consists of Blackened Mahi Mahi, Cedar Roasted Salmon, and Shang Hai Scallops. I had to modify it a bit though, as I have been ordering scallops a lot lately and wanted a change of pace, so I had Shang Hai Tuna instead of scallops. The blackened Mahi Mahi was interesting. It was pretty spicy so if you are not into spicy I would suggest avoiding anything blackened. However, it was not only spicy but it had a nice flavor to it as well! I hate things to be spicy just for the sake of spicy and lack in flavor! Next, I ate the cedar roasted salmon. This preparation of salmon has a little mushroom salad on top with goat cheese. I really liked the goat cheese they use. It is very creamy but does not have the strong pungent goat cheese flavor. The salmon did need a little salt, but otherwise it was juicy and flaky and yummy.

However, as this never ceases to amuse Adam, I saved the best for last, the Shang Hai tuna. (yes, I eat my food in a particular order) I am confident in saying that the Shang Hai preparation is truly their best preparation! I ordered the tuna medium rare, which was an experience for me because I have never actually ordered tuna from a restaurant and was not aware the you choose how much you want it cooked. The tuna was awesome! I was amazed at how meaty this fish is!! I actually felt like I was eating steak! I loved it and next time I go I am not messing around with the trio, I am just going to stick with the Shang Hai tuna.

As the Shang Hai is the best preparation, Adam ordered the Shang Hai salmon. It was the second time he has ordered it, and he says that it was just as good as the first. He was a bit lost on whether to order the Atlantic Salmon or the Wild King Salmon. Our server steered him toward the Atlantic. It was a bit chewy and too mild. He knows now that in the future he should order the Wild King. No matter what you put with the Shang Hai, the sauce and sticky rice are always well worth it! (As you can tell we really like the Shang Hai)

The Columbus Fish Market is always a great choice when picking a restaurant to go to in Columbus. The service is always great and the bread is awesome!! We have eaten at some very nice restaurants in other cities, such as New York, but we have found that it is hard to find a combination of great food and excellent service that we always seem to experience at the Fish Market.