okgourmet.com Home of Steve's Restaurant Reviews
| OKLAHOMA CITY, OK--Capers Mediterranean Buffet | |||
Sep. 29, 2012:
Capers Mediterranean Buffet
opened earlier this month, and offers a good selection of high quality food. I thought the meat
was the highlight of the meal, and there was so much variety I could not try all of them.
I normally have light meals at Mediterranean or Middle Eastern restaurants, so Capers was more expensive than I usually pay. If my purpose is to load up on meat, though, I think Capers is a good value. Capers is a particularly good value when considering the wide variety of desserts (all of which were very good). The rice pudding was probably my favorite. Vegetables overall were somewhat of a letdown, but I really enjoyed the grape leaves. The tabouleh and fatoush salad were also good. Overall it provided a good variety of food groups and flavors, while maintaining a high quality throughout. |
| OKLAHOMA CITY, OK--Tana Thai | |||
Sep. 27, 2012: One dish I highly recommend is the green curry at
Tana Thai.
To me the flavor of this dish is what Thai cuisine is all about.
Noodle dishes are some of the most popular items at Tana Thai, and I particularly like the pad kee mao made with basil. The basil stir-fry dishes are also quite good. Tana Thai's dishes are almost universally excellent, but I have had trouble getting the right spiciness levels on some of them (I am now ordering almost everything at one and a half stars out of three). Also most dishes seem to go best with shrimp or tofu rather than some of the other meat choices. The small family run restaurant always makes me feel welcome. Be aware, though, that orders can take some time to prepare because of the limited space in the kitchen. |
| OKLAHOMA CITY, OK--Custino's Italian Kitchen | |||
Sep. 20, 2012:
Custino's Italian Kitchen
is located on Britton Road next to the Johnnie's location in The Village, but Custino's is actually
in Oklahoma City in a building that has seen many restaurants fail over the years. I think
Custino's has more going for it than some of the previous tenants, though, since over a few
short months it has already generated a large and passionate following.
Custino's experienced a lot of problems when it first opened, and when I went for the first time they were out of just about everything except the sandwiches. I wanted to try the pizza, and it seemed that most of the customers were eating pizza, but I had arrived too late. Since that time they have dropped pizza from the menu, and how much of a loss this is I will never know since I did not get to try it. The sandwiches, though, were excellent, and I particularly liked the meatballs (on the meatball sandwich) and the sauce on the chicken parmesan sandwich. There were enough excellent features about the food that I would not worry too much about problems with the service (although I hear they have now worked out the problems they had with running out of many of the items). |
| OKLAHOMA CITY, OK--El Sombrero | |||
Sep. 17, 2012: El Sombrero at 4491 N.W. 50th has closed, but there is still a
north side
El Sombrero
on Britton Road near Johnnie's in The Village.
I think El Sombrero is open every day, but I do not have a copy of their official hours. With a menu full of Americanized Mexican food, there are a few items they recommend as being "authentic." The tacos al pastor (one of the authentic menu items) in my opinion were anything but authentic, being covered with a red sauce and with no discernible pineapple flavor. However, I thought they were good pork tacos. I also liked the horchata (although it is not the best in town). The rice, chips, salsa, and guacamole were somewhat of a letdown, but not as much as at many Mexican restaurants. I will probably go back and try some other items. |
| OKLAHOMA CITY, OK--Tokyo Japanese Restaurant | |||
Sep. 14, 2012: Some food writers like to compile lists of their favorite foods or
restaurants, and at times I find such an exercise to be very useful. Definitely one of my top
ten favorite lunches in Oklahoma City is the salmon teriyaki at
Tokyo,
which I consider to be the area's premier Japanese restaurant.
Tokyo offers two types of lunches which I find to be convenient and filling. The Happy Lunch (as shown in the photo) comes with a salad and kakiage (shredded vegetable tempura), and it comes at a price that is really hard to beat for what you get. The Box Lunch also offers teriyaki salmon as one of the choices along with sushi (your choice of nigiri, sashimi, or California roll). Miso soup is also included at no additional charge. Hot green tea is served free with any meal, giving me another reason to love going to Tokyo (as if I didn't have enough already). Lunch is served Tuesday through Saturday, and dinner is served Tue-Sun. |
| OKLAHOMA CITY, OK--Kim Wah | |||
Sep. 7, 2012:
Kim Wah
at Britton Road and May Avenue in The Village is a popular place for its Chinese buffet, and
I have had more than my share of meals from it (I especially like the hot and sour soup and
the almond cookies). However, the real interest to me is the Vietnamese food that can be
ordered from the menu as well as a couple of special items that can be requested.
Kim Wah started out as a branch of Lido (the city's oldest Vietnamese restaurant), and I think the vermicelli bowls at Kim Wah are an exact copy of the ones at Lido. The canh chua (Vietnamese hot and sour soup) is even better than at Lido. For these two dishes and some others, Kim Wah is by far my favorite Vietnamese restaurant on the north side. Kim Wah has recently made pho available, although I think several north side restaurants serve versions of equal quality (but one of the best features of Kim Wah is that they are not stingy with the basil). Pho is not listed on the menu but can be requested at any time. After ordering the pork clay pot at other restaurants, I have come to like the version at Kim Wah the best of any north side restaurant (this is another item that can be special ordered). This has a rich flavor and very good meat quality, although it is lacking any vegetables other than onions and a garnish. It is really necessary to go to the Asian District for a wide choice of Vietnamese items, but for very good quality it is necessary only to go as far as Kim Wah. The vermicelli bowls and canh chua are the best I have found anywhere in the city, and so far in any city where I have tried them. |
| OKLAHOMA CITY, OK--Mexican Restaurant Recommendations on Urbanspoon | |||
|
Sep. 5, 2012: One of the best sources I have found for news and reviews of
Oklahoma City restaurants is the
Urbanspoon
web site which actually covers all of the U.S. as well as several other countries. I appreciate reading
the different opinions that are expressed through the Critic, Blogger, and Diner reviews, and these
usually fall into one of three categories: (1) those who express similar opinions to mine but say it
more eloquently, (2) those who give me new information that at some point may be the source of one
of my future reviews, and (3) those who review restaurants or food which is not of general interest to me
but nevertheless give me an idea about the popular food trends. Of course there are also those who
I think offer totally off-the-wall opinions, but fortunately these are in the minority.
I am especially happy when I find certain people who I think provide authoritative and informative reviews. One notable example is Kevin Myers who mainly reviews Mexican restaurants, and they are the type of restaurants that I am also trying to find and to review. I knew Kevin before he started posting reviews on Urbanspoon, and he introduced me to Antojitos Guatemaltecos at 1800 N.W. 16th St. in OKC (also known as Curiosidades Guatemala), a small restaurant inside a Guatemalan shop that has food that I thought was every bit as good as any Mexican restaurant I have visited in the city. Kevin's interests go beyond Latin American food, but for Mexican and Latin American restaurants in OKC I have found few people who can compile as good a list of places to eat.
Recently Kevin has recommended El Asadero at 2703 S. Western in OKC and Taqueria Juanes at 1244 N. Eastern Ave. in Moore. I have not visited either restaurant, but based on his recommendations these are also my recommendations. |
| BETHANY, OK--Bella Italia | |||
Sep. 1, 2012:
Bella Italia
is a relatively new restaurant on N. W. 39th in Bethany in the building where Harbor House
(and several other restaurants) used to be located. The current restaurant has good food,
reasonable prices, and all the ingredients that seem to be necessary to make it successful.
So far the best item I have tried is the eggplant parmigiana, and in fact this is probably the best I have tried in OKC. Some of the other dishes I tried were a little less impressive, but this restaurant has a good variety of items that seem to be worth a try. The restaurant is closed on Monday, serves beer and wine, and is kid-friendly. |
