Phone:(614) 754-1460
I often dine "in" with my dear friend Mark, he is wise and knows quite a bit about food. He is an older gentleman who has lived in Columbus for longer than I have existed, so he is familiar with most all restaurants in the area. So when he offered to take me out to dinner, I knew I was going to be in for a treat.
Mark and I debated for a week where we should go. Several restaurants were on the table, but the ending result tossed us into the heart of German Village. I remember reading on the Underground, how The Sycamore had recently redone it's layout and was holding itself as a sort of gastropub (without the pretentious atmosphere).
A small, long, building with very minimal seating. The Sycamore sadly doesn't take reservations, and their hour call ahead hardly seems to be worth it. If you go to the Sycamore, go early and plan to wait at the bar for a little bit, although the bar can offer a bit of a relief. That is unless you look upon the prices, the lower average of a bottle of wine holding a tag of $60. Extending the wine list, there are several by the glass offerings, a separate list with an even higher mark up. The cocktails share the same burden but are decent, and arrive at a timely manner.
When we finally obtained a table, we had to fight a crowd to get there. With tables sat so close together, I must apologize again to the poor dear that I had to crowd just to sit down. Even with adjustments to the table, I felt "in the way". A lovely leather bound menu sat atop dark wooden tables, stunning -if tight.
The favored item on the menu appeared to be the prawns. Being found on most dishes, they promised to be tasty in every way they read. We chose one of the two special appetizers to start- grilled prawns over a farro risotto with grilled prawns and blistered tomatoes. This has to be, to date, one of the best items I've eaten out, while in Columbus. The farro was well seasoned and the char from the soft prawns contrasted the tomatoes in a way that brought true cohesion to the dish. Unfortunately when the dish came, I found it very difficult to believe that we were being served true prawns, they just seemed too small , and without their heads- one will never know.
Next we moved to our entrees, we opted for large plates instead of the seemingly more popular burgers. The Burgers were large and easily could have made a meal, however they lacked the elegance of the larger entrees. I had the trout, two fillets of tender, perfectly cooked trout with roasted potatoes and green beans. The trout was under seasoned but, what it lacked from salt, a preserved lemon and caper sauce was more than enough to compensate for three times the amount on the plate. Mark had the lamb shank, well cooked with an overly tangy molasses sauce. A typical parsnip puree and exceptionally garlicky kale. I believe that I had the better of the two dishes, though nothing was unpleasant.
I would highly recommend checking out The Sycamore, the next time you end up down in German Village with an extra wad of cash. Respect the wait, as you will probably find it to be worth your while. So far, this may be one of the better restaurants that I've eaten at this year.
Keep Eating,
JTFussy
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