Mona Lisa will make you moan

 

Six amazing friends + three bottles of wine + two three-tier appy trays+ six delish dishes= twelve thumbs up. Stop #18 brought together five girlfriends and one lucky guy to Mona Lisa. I have eaten here a couple of times in the past and enjoyed it, but this night was really special. One of those nights where the group just clicks, everyone is in a great mood, and the food & atmosphere completely compliment the feeling. We started with a couple of sampler platters. From the calamari to the bruschetta, to the prosciutto with melon, everything was scrumptious. There was a great seasoning on the calamari and they don’t skimp on the prosciutto. One of the best parts of doing this blog is getting to have a bite of each diner’s dish- there wasn’t one bite that I did not enjoy, but my entrée stole the show. I had the risotto alfredo & prawns. It was so rich it was ridiculous- in a good way. Truly the best risotto I’ve ever had. Goose had the chicken saltimbocca, Megs the risotto allo scoglio, Di the gnocchi in pink sauce, Roberta the fettuccine pescatore, and Jason the chicken S. Marino. If there was an award for second best dish at the table it would go to Jason. The S. Marino is rolled chicken breast with mozzarella and ham in a tomato-cream sauce, incredible flavors & texture. Not sure if it was his remarkable meal or dinner companions, but Jason stated he’s never going to miss another CC adventure! Even though no one at the table needed another bite of food, it wouldn’t have been complete without dessert so we shared a platter of tiramisu & bomba. The tiny bite I managed to eat of the bomba was really good. Needless to say I did not wear the right jeans to this meal, I highly suggest something expandable when consuming here. I really can’t say enough about how unbelievable the food was, but I also want to commend the service as well. Our waiter was friendly, attentive, patient, and spot on when helping choose menu items. Another thing to mention about Mona Lisa is they have an adorable little car that is parked out front and a party of two can actually enjoy their meal from inside it if they choose. Fun stuff.  Lastly, you never know what will happen when you Consume Columbus you might even learn how to master the werewolf, thanks Roberta. :) 

http://www.monalisasf.com/

5 extremely large Ciabatta loaves

Buster's Cheese Steak

Stop #17 took me to Buster’s Cheese Steak, so as you can guess I had a Philly Steak sammy. It comes with grilled onions and your choice of cheese; I chose cheddar. To be honest this was probably only my second time ever having a cheese steak sammy. I really enjoyed it. The roll was soft, the meat was tender, the onions were tasty, and the cheese melted in with everything was very good. Buster’s menu also has salads, pasta, pizza and other sammies. They are open late night for any cravings you might have. Just remember if you decide to check them out they are cash only.   

http://busters-sf.com/

 3 Ciabatta loaves

Fabulous Franchino

 

Lots of highlights from stop #16, Franchino (Little Frank in Italian), one of my fave places so far. Di & Erin were my dinner companions. We got there right when it opened and it was nice getting special attention from one of the owners, Josephine. Although as the night unfolded it was clear to see that all the patrons get special attention. This is part of the charm of Franchino. Josephine is married to the restaurants namesake, Frank, but if you ask her if he’s her husband, you might get the response, “sometimes.” She was really funny and very helpful with the menu, assisting you in picking the perfect dish based on your preferences.     

To start we were brought complimentary polenta with meat sauce & Gorgonzola cheese. Di ordered pappardelle pasta with pink sauce & Italian sausage. Erin had the fettuccine alfredo with mushrooms, peas & prosciutto. I got the spinach & ricotta gnocchi in pink sauce. We all absolutely loved our homemade pastas. Each having the perfect texture and flavor. Erin said, “These people know what they are doing. I feel like I’m eating in Italy right now.” She was right, from the music, to the décor, the family atmosphere and the amazing food- even the santas partaking in the annual Santacon blowing kisses through the glass window didn’t interrupt the authentic Italian feel. This was a great start to what turned out to be a very interesting & unexpected, yet extremely fun night in NB.

5 Ciabatta loaves

Tapas Tuesday!

When people think of food on Tuesdays, most people associate it with tacos, I’m advising you to think of tapas. Bask, stop #15 is the spot to be for Tapas Tuesday! So, let me back up for a minute before I give you the scoop. This stop was supposed to be at the Steps of Rome, unfortunately this place recently closed, but when one door closes another one opens, so a few steps away there is a new place on Columbus called Bask. Megs joined me for this excursion. They have HH Monday through Friday from 4-7pm, white or red sangria for $3.50.  I had red and she had white, the white was much better. On Tuesday they offer a special tapas menu in addition to their regular menu. These are very fairly priced at $6 a plate. We ordered the patatas bravas which were the best I’ve ever had- perfectly cooked- crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. They were served with a spicy aioli that Megs said she could eat a vat of! We had to order an extra side of it so we could continue to try it on other food items. We also ordered cherry tomatoes stuffed with cream cheese, dill and garlic. These were great too. Nice flavor and texture. We also had artichoke bottoms stuffed with ground beef that was covered in melted cheese. This was the only item I wasn’t too crazy about, they weren’t bad, just a bit bland.  Sautéed mushrooms were brought to the table even though we did not order them, so they were on the house. Megs was happy about this, being a fan, I did not partake since I’m not. She said they were piping hot, tender, and really good. We had crab croquettes as well. These were amazing. Squeezed a little lemon on them, they were full of crab, with a delish crunchy coating. Lastly, we had the lava cake. Exactly what you would expect of a lava cake, which is a compliment. Bask has a very cute fun atmosphere and friendly staff. I had been there a couple of times for lunch and thought it was just alright, but I will for sure be spending some Tuesdays there in the future. Plus they brought two complimentary sweet shots with the check. 

http://www.basksf.com/

The Stinking Rose

Got Garlic? Well if you go to the Stinking Rose you will. Any place whose slogan is, “We season our garlic with food” is good to me. I had actually already been to stop #14 several times and always look forward to going back. As much as I LOVE this place a couple of warnings: 1. It is very touristy, my suggestion go during the non-peak hours. 2. You WILL smell like garlic the rest of the day & possibly part of the next day. 3. You WILL taste garlic for the rest of the day and if you don’t own an electric toothbrush or down a bottle of mouthwash possibly the next day as well. Still these warnings do not deter me from diving right into the most garlic-y dishes on the menu. So I was happy when to start my boss, Josh ordered the garlic soaking in a hut tub: garlic cloves, oven roasted in olive oil & butter, with a hint of anchovy. This is served with their house made focaccia bread, yum. The roasted garlic on the bread is quite tasty. And as if the skillet of garlic we ordered wasn’t enough there is a garlic spread brought to the table which I of course decided to put on top of the roasted garlic, this gave it more of a kick and really enhanced the flavor. We also shared the shrimp & crab sizzling iron skillet. I’ve had the shrimp on prior occasions and it’s my fave. Getting the crab legs was something new. As much as I like crab and this was good, it was so messy. I guess I should of known when they brought plastic bibs with the utensils. It was a ton of work cracking it when it was covered in garlic and oil, I will stick with just the shrimp from now on. Lastly we had the baked brie, which was amazing. I wasn’t crazy about the texture of the bread it was served with though. Josh said it was exactly what you look for in a baked brie, chalked full of brie goodness. Festive atmosphere- great music, garlic cloves strung across the ceiling, and entertaining art on the walls. A fun and always satisfying meal, just be sure to have breath mints & body spray readily available afterward. 

http://thestinkingrose.com/