For the past month, I’ve been driving around the city visiting new restaurants that have piqued my curiosity after hearing about them through social media posts or good old-fashioned word of mouth.
My brief travels have taken me and my blue Subaru from the northern suburbs for my first bite of a Chinese delicacy that I’ve somehow never had the chance to enjoy, to the historic East End for a juicy, messy Chi-town sandwich, and to Northside, where a cheery Mediterranean restaurant has given Hamilton Avenue a long overdue taste of something new.
Duck Beijing House, Sharonville
What Buddy LaRosa is to pizza, Harry Hsu (pronounced shoo) might be to Chinese cuisine in Cincinnati. Born in Taiwan, Hsu came to town in 1975 to study electrical engineering at the University of Cincinnati but changed course, becoming one of the city’s best known restaurateurs, instead. Hsu’s first restaurant was China Chef on Colerain Avenue. Since then, he’s opened dozens more, including Quebec Gardens, Blue Gibbon and Peking Palace, among others.
His latest is Duck Beijing House (formerly another Hsu restaurant called Casual Chinese Plus) located inside an otherwise blasé Sharonville shopping center.
A few years ago, Hsu decided Casual Chinese Plus wasn’t performing as well as he wanted, so he placed an ad in a New York City newspaper popular among the city’s Chinese community, seeking an expert in Peking duck. One of the respondents was chef Wenli Liu, a veteran of Philippe Chow, a high-end restaurant with locations in New York, Washington, DC, and Nashville, known for its tableside-carved Peking duck.
Instead of carving it tableside, Liu’s duck arrives sliced with plates of English cucumbers, leeks, hoisin sauce and a pile of soft Mandarin pancakes. I’m ashamed to admit it was my first experience eating Peking duck rolls, but manager Anna Choi showed me how to roll up the meat and accoutrements into the pancakes. They tasted sweet and funky, like something I’d like to eat every day.
A full duck with 20 wrappers costs $78 while a half duck, with 10 wrappers, costs $39. Be sure to order a side of duck bone soup ($16), which is made with the duck’s discarded bones and swimming with tofu and mushrooms. Along with Peking duck, Beijing Duck House also offers a full menu of Sichuan, Thai and Cantonese classics. They also offer dim sum on the weekends.
11955 Lebanon Road, Sharonville, 513-733-0111, duckbeijinghouse.com. Hours: 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. seven days a week.
Knuckles Deli, East End
A few years ago, the FX show “The Bear” created a sensation surrounding Chicago’s famous Italian beef sandwich. Noticing the increased interest, every deli in America came up with their own take on it, with very mixed results. Now that the hype of the show had died down, it’s time to remember that the Italian beef is a unique sandwich that will forever be tethered to its sweet home of Chicago. And that it takes a true Chicagoan to make it right.
Enter Cesar Salazar and Britton de la Chapelle, who grew up in Chicago and met each other while attending Xavier University. After stints working at several Cincinnati restaurants, they decided they missed their birthright sandwich so much that they opened a deli that’s dedicated to it. Hence, Knuckles Deli, which is currently in its soft opening phase in East End. They also partnered with David Hall, the only Bearcat is this Musketeer-run establishment.
To make the sandwich ($14), Knuckles draws on Salazar’s mother’s roast beef recipe, something she developed after marrying his Italian stepfather. The beef is tender and moist, sandwiched into a Chicago-made Turano roll and topped with Marconi brand giardiniera. You can order it spicy and/or wet (pre-soaked in the meat’s jus) or get the jus on the side.
Along with the Chicago beef, Knuckles also offers an Italian sub ($15) and a mortadella melt ($14), sliced thin, topped with Creole mustard and provolone and served on a bun. There are plenty of soups and sides, too. Still to come is a vodka meatball parm and the cochon de lait po’boy, made with New Orleans-made Leidenheimer bread – modeled on a sandwich served at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which Hall regularly attends with his father each year. Once they get their liquor license, they will also offer cocktails, wine and beer (including Old Style, a Chicago favorite).
3227 Riverside Drive, 513-321-3354, knucklesdeli.com. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.
Dean’s Mediterranean Table, Northside
After a three-year waiting period between Kate Zaidan’s announcement she was opening an expanded version of Dean’s Mediterranean in Northside and its opening in March, Northside finally has the Mediterranean restaurant it’s been waiting for.
The smell of Greek spices hits you the moment you walk inside, and, like the original Findlay Market location, there are countless bottles of olive oil, nuts and pita breads for sale in a small retail area. But this Dean’s also features a full-service dining room that brings a touch of taverna charm to Hamilton Avenue.
The menu includes pita wraps stuffed with falafel, chicken or beef kebabs ($8-$11), a succulent lamb shank tagine ($18) and flatbreads topped with lamb merguez or spinach and artichoke ($10-$12). During my first visit, I had a big Greek salad ($10) that was a cut above thanks to Dean’s homemade feta and followed it up with spicy, tomatoey “shakshuki” ($12), based on Zaidan’s family recipe.
Zaidan’s Lebanese-born father, Dean Zaidan, opened the original Dean’s at Findlay Market in 1985. While he’s retired, don’t be surprised if you see him chatting it up with customers. One of the best things about the new Dean’s is that it is a full-fledged all-day cafe, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can see why Northsiders are so excited to have it.
4024 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-541-0064, mediterranean-imports.com Hours: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-9. p.m. Friday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 3 restaurants you need to try ASAP, from Sharonville to Northside to …
Reporting by Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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