Ethnic Food in Cincinnati

Loking especially for Thai and Vietnamese food but also any other excellent international restaurants in Cincy, especially Northwest Cincy.

Hey Andrew....

One of my very favorite places for lunch in Cincinnati is a Vietnamese restaurant in Fairfield called the Saigon Dragon.

It's on Route 4 just south of Hicks Manor Blvd, in a run down strip center facing and visible from the road but set back a bit.

3.95 gets you a great sit down lunch with soup, egroll, rice, and entry; and it is really excellent. There are a lot of very mediocre oriental restaurants in Cincy, particularly in the FF area, but this one is the best by far. Is also a very well kept secret: they are never, ever crowded despite the excellent food. Could be because the storefront is so nondescript

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

One of my very favorite places for lunch in Cincinnati is a Vietnamese restaurant in Fairfield called the Saigon Dragon.

It's on Route 4 just south of Hicks Manor Blvd, in a run down strip center facing and visible from the road but set back a bit.

3.95 gets you a great sit down lunch with soup, egroll, rice, and entry; and it is really excellent. There are a lot of very mediocre oriental restaurants in Cincy, particularly in the FF area, but this one is the best by far. Is also a very well kept secret: they are never, ever crowded despite the excellent food. Could be because the storefront is so nondescript

I think that is the one we found, down the road from Jungle Jim's, it was very good, we went one night and were the only ones in the place but it was great food.

Good to know Saigon Dragon still in business. I used to live nearby and ate there 15 years ago.
There used to be a decent little Chinese place across the street from Tri-County Mall, near Pier One, and Borders. Panda, a chinese place. Seems there was an Oriental restaurant tstill there last time I was by.

carl reitz

There's a Thai place in Eastgate called Ban Thai. It used to be wonderful, but I've not been for quite a few years.....TJ?

Never been there, Jim, sorry.

Good to see you back on the boards, though, been a while :-)

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

Never been there, Jim, sorry.

Good to see you back on the boards, though, been a while :-)

Boy have I been busy! Good to be back.

Taqueria Mexicano, by the way, in Eastgate near the McDonald's, is quite good, we've found. It's a "faster" balance to Rincon Mexicano, over next to the super saver cinemas....

Taqueria has great chiles rellenos and a great taco featuring pork rind simmered in red chile sauce. The "wet burrito" is great, as are the chimichangas -- the first chimi with an actually crisp shell I've had in a while.

Truthfully, we may be biased. We went for dinner one evening after a day at Coney Island Sunlite Pool. We arrived exactly at 5, when Taqueria opens for dinner. The proprietor came up to our table and said, "I've got a proposition for you." Beckoning to the rear of the place, he indicated a nicely presented spread of food. "I just had a photo shoot done for our website. I am too frugal to throw all this away. It's fresh -- just prepared. If you want to eat this for dinner, it's yours. On the house."

How do you turn aside an offer like that?

We feasted on soft tacos, enchiladas, burritos, "virgin" frozen margaritas, and the tropical salad, which includes chicken and mandarin oranges, among other things. My wife said she wouldn't have ordered it off the menu, but is glad she tried it; she loves it now.

We bought dessert: Three-milk cake. Total cost of dinner: Less than three bucks.

I tipped lavishly. We've been back a couple of times since. Service can be irregular, and the Mexican beer selection isn't what it could be (only Corona, Modelo Especial, and Modelo Negro), but the food is always quite good.

The family and I are big fans of the Rio Grande restaurant in Newport on Carrother's Road. I usually get the Burrito Carne Asada with a side order of tamales. I take a bite out of one tamale, then take the rest home for lunch the next day. Other than that, the only ethnic foods I know of in Northern Kentucky are Pompillio's in Newport and Wertheim's in Covington, both of which I heartily recommend.

When I travelled there, I never missed an opportunity to go to a chinese restaurant called Chinese Gourmet in Hyde Park area of Cincy. Not your typical rub if the mill chinese....I loved it. It's been about 8 years ago. I hope it's still there.

It's actually called China Gourmet, joella, and I pass it every day on the way home.

It is still there.

Kind of hard to spot, really, as it is within a building that more or less looks like a doctor's office complex, and it right up on the street (no parking in front)

I have heard it is quirte expensive, and have not ventured in there yet.

Yes, I guess you pay more there than in most other Chinese restaurants, but as the saying goes, you get....

Thank you for responding. If it's still there, it's got something going for it. I do remember one dish I got almost every time because it was just so scrumptious...fish kew...out of this world.

Yes, I suppose it looks like a dr.'s complex, but it's very charming inside. Once I saw Johnny Bench dining there with a date! Instead of driving by, try it at lunch time. It's cheaper than dinner. And let me know what you think.

quote:

Originally posted by joella

Once I saw Johnny Bench dining there with a date!

Did you turn around and find someplace else to eat? Usually the places that Johnny eats are extremely crowded. Once he and his ego enter a room, very little space is left for anyone else.

heh

I don't like him for the fact that he shills for Fifth Third Bank, whose motto is "the only bank you'll ever need" but should be "The only bank with all the fees"

My brother told me about a fairly new Indian restaurant in Cincy called Apna, on Ludlow in Clifton. $9 buffet all you can eat for the evening buffet is a heckuva deal and he said it was really good. Anybody tried it or heard of it?

haven't found a decent chinese place yet...

haven't been to china gormet, but looking for something a little less pricey...

i'm in hyde park... also get a hankering for mongolian bbq on occasion and haven't found that either..

or good mexican..

quote:

Originally posted by ephus

haven't found that either..

or good mexican..

It might be too far from you but the best mexican we've found is in fairfield on route 4 called Acupolco. It's really good and priced very reasonably.

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

One of my very favorite places for lunch in Cincinnati is a Vietnamese restaurant in Fairfield called the Saigon Dragon.

It's on Route 4 just south of Hicks Manor Blvd, in a run down strip center facing and visible from the road but set back a bit.

As I've noted earlier we really like this place but they must have changed owners. The inside is redecorated a little and the menu has totally changed. They have a scaled down vietnamese menu and have added other asian fare (thai, chinese) and even mexican. It still tastes good, the menu just isn't quite as Vietnamese which is one main reason we liked it so much.

ouch, sorry to hear that.

I now work downtown, can't really get up that way much, but will check it out when I get a chance....