By Holly Dayton ’13, Lens Section Editor
Excepting this past week, our Cincinnati winter has been pretty cold, which is good. Cincinnati summers are plenty hot, and it’s nice to get a chance to do things that only work in the winter, liking drinking hot chocolate, going sledding, and wearing heavy knit sweaters. I like winter because it’s the season for warm foods of every variety: creamy hot chocolate, spicy Bibimbap, satisfying Pad Thai. Listed below are my favorite restaurants to frequent and dishes to eat when the weather outside gets frightful.
Coffee Please (Madeira)—Honestly, there’s never a wrong time to go to Coffee Please, but Country Day’s favorite is a warm, coffee-scented haven in the winter months. Their hot chocolate is rich and sweet without being too much, the grilled cheese is gooey without being oily and the macaroni and cheese, well, it defies even my description. If you’ve been to Coffee Please, you know what I’m talking about and if you haven’t, it’s only a five minute drive away in Madeira. You should go. Today.
The Korea House (By Harper’s Point)—My brother was the one who first introduced me to Korean food, but since he did I can’t get enough of the stuff. My favorite dish is the Dolsat Bibimbap, which is a mixture of vegetables, protein and rice topped with an egg and served in a steaming hot stone bowl and mixed together with chili paste. The final product has a delicious variety of texture with a warm undertone of spice that is just what the doctor ordered for a cold January afternoon. If you walk in with a stuffed nose, I guarantee it will be running by the time you leave. And that’s a very good thing.
Green Papaya (Hyde Park)— Green Papaya is the perfect place to go with someone who isn’t usually into ethnic food. Just two bites of their Pad Thai is enough to convert any “Plain pasta with butter, please” kid into a foreign food junkie. It’s so savory, with the right peanuty crunch and just enough acid to make the spice mellow. But Green Papaya isn’t a one trick pony; their
other curries, sushi and appetizers are excellent too. Go once and you’ll go again.
