Silver Ladle mini-review

Silver Ladle is the newest tenant of Downtown Cincinnati's "Restaurant Row", located on 6th street between Main and Walnut. As the name suggests, their specialities are soups and chili but they have various sandwich and hamburger menu items as well. UrbanCincy.com recently posted a nice write up of Silver Ladle and its offerings.

Even though the quest is technically over, we were there for the Fork and Knife coney. This coney is not your typical Cincinnati cheese coney. You can choose between beef and chicken Cincinnati style chili, which along with cheese (and any other topping you choose) and a large hot dog, split in half, is on top of a toasted kaiser bun. At $7 the coney is a little pricey, but you get a lot of food for that money. Easily the most filling coney we have tried.

Along with being filling and unique, the coney was very tasty. If you think the typical Cincinnati cheese coney hot dog is lacking, you won't have that problem here. The Silver Ladle dog isn't quite as good as Mr. Hanton's but we enjoyed the taste. Since the Silver Ladle is owned by a member of the Skyline Chili family, there are definitely some similarities in the chili, but they are not exactly the same. Silver Ladle's chili is more savory than the sweet Skyline Chili. We really enjoyed the toasted kaiser bun. I was worried the bun would get soggy with so much chili on top of it, but luckily this was not the case. Really the only complaint we have is it would be easier to eat the coney with real silverware instead of plastic silverware.

Overall we really liked this unique take on the cheese coney from Silver Ladle. We look forward to trying some of their other menu items.

 

Eastside Chili Review

As we noted earlier in the quest, the west side of Cincinnati dominates the east when it comes to chili. The west side even has its own "3-way highway" (Glenway Ave) which features various chili parlors, while the east its mainly just Gold Star and Skyline. There is a new chili parlor that hopes to bring Cincinnati chili lovers to the east and is appropriately named Eastside Chili (also known as Fat Timmy's Eastside Chili).

Eastside Chili isn't just east, its pretty far east for many, located in a Withamsville strip mall off of the Beechmont/Amelia exit on 275. The owners of this parlor take pride in their east side roots and it shows on their walls which have various east side landmarks painted on them. You can tell the restaurant is brand new as soon as you walk in. With the newness and bright colors, Eastside has more of a fast food restaurant feel than they typical diner or parlor feel. However you are served by waitresses who were very friendly. The menu is similar to what you would find at the classic Cincinnati chili parlors, it even has gravy fries which another east chili parlor, Pleasant Ridge Chili, is known for. Whomever put the menu together is a fan of sexual innuendo humor, as their Fat Timmy mascot is featured in the menu holding signs stating "Nobody Beats Our Meat!" and "It takes two hand to handle our meat!".

Clint's Review

Born and raised on the east side it slightly pains me to admit the west has our number in the chili game. When I heard a new independent parlor opened on the east I was excited especially since its on the way to my parents house. For the most part Eastside Chili comes through but there is one major deficiency.

The chili was a complex but tasty one. It starts off tasting savory along with the typical Cincinnati chili spices and reminded me of other chilies I have sampled along the quest. At some point in my second coney I began to pick up on some heat. It wasn't spicy like Tex-Mex or even Camp Washington, but there is an underlying heat level there. Another aspect that reminded me of previous parlors was the hot dog. The dog was tasty and I'm fairly certain it was a Blue Grass hot dog, which is used at Gold Star Chili, Price Hill Chili and other Cincinnati chili parlors. The bun was soft enough and did an ok job of holding everything together.

Unfortunately there was one ingredient the Eastside coney fell short in: cheese. One of the big reasons I love cheese coneys is for the mountain of fresh cheddar cheese that lies on top the coney. As soon as I saw the coney I could tell the cheese came from a bag in the cheese section of the grocery store. If I'm at a restaurant that just happens to serve cheese coneys, this is something I can forgive. However, if you are a chili parlor and chili is your main dish, you gotta have fresh shredded cheese in my opinion. The cheese at Eastside didn't necessarily taste bad, but when I go to a chili parlor I just expect better cheese than I have in my refrigerator at home.

Overall I really did enjoy the Eastside Chili cheese coney. There were many things about the coney and parlor to like. I will visit again and hope Eastside does lots of business. It was a good coney, but unfortunately the sub-par cheese kept it from being a great coney. I give Eastside a 3.6 out of 5.

Alison's Review

Eastside Chili has added another highly competitive cheese coney to our quest. The chili, while not spicy, definitely had the zippiness of red pepper. The warm cinnamon undertones were also very apparent, and I would place this chili in the savory category. The hot dogs were very good and were mostly likely the Blue Grass hot dogs that Clint and I have come to prefer. The buns were not the softest we've had, but were still good. Likewise, the cheese was somewhat mediocre compared to the fresh grated cheddar that we've had a several parlors. The onions were exactly as I like them--crunchy but not a bit overpowering.

With a higher quality cheese, I may have ranked this coney in my top three favorites. However, I'm giving Eastside a 3.75 out of 5 stars (which is the same ranking that I've given to a few of the longstanding chili establishments like Goldstar and Camp Washington). Not a bad showing for the newcomer!

Canned Gold Star Chili

The 2nd chili in our "Canned Chili Challenge" was the offering from Gold Star Chili. Thanks in part to reader suggestions, we made some adjustments from our last at home experiment. Overall we made solid coneys and the changes did improve the coney, but still not quite chili parlor quality.

Last time we mentioned the hot dogs were a little too large. We wanted to buy the Queen City foot long hot dog as they are similar in size to a chili parlor dog, but Kroger was sold out. So we went with the regular Queen City hot dog and cut them in half. This was an upgrade as it allowed us to put more chili and cheese on our coneys. However, the Queen City dogs were not quite as good as the Blue Grass dog, which is what Gold Star uses at their parlors.

The other area we wanted to improve was the shredded cheese. Last time we should have gone with a finer shred. This time we used a microplane which produced shredded cheese that had more resemblance to the parlor cheese we are used to. Freezing the cheese a half hour before shredding was helpful too. We also went with a medium cheddar cheese and thought it was better than the mild we went with previously.

The Gold Star canned chili was ok, but not quite as good as what you get at the parlor. We thought the Dixie product had a very close resemblance to the parlor product, unfortunately can't say the same for Gold Star's. It definitely taste similar, you could tell it was Gold Star Chili, just not as satisfying. Alison felt the chili tasted salty.

Overall the coneys were an improvement over our previous attempt, but we still aren't quite at parlor quality yet. Even though we didn't love the chili, we would still recommend it to Gold Star fans.

Blue Jay Restaurant Review

Just a couple of storefronts down from Park Chili is another Northside institution, Blue Jay Restaurant. While its not a chili parlor, it is a restaurant that serves Cincinnati chili dishes. Blue Jay is your classic greasy spoon breakfast and lunch diner. Along with the chili the menu features standard diner fare. While we were there most were enjoying breakfast dishes that looked quite tasty.

Blue Jay opened in the late 60's and does not appear to have changed much since its open. The walls feature wood paneling and wall paper with an outdoors theme. Newspaper clippings along with photos of Cincinnati and of the restaurant are hung up around the dining area. We arrived around Noon on Saturday and the place was packed. We took the only booth available and could tell right away that Blue Jay is a neighborhood favorite.


Alison's Review

Blue Jay offers a great coney for people who love the chili piled on thick. Surprisingly unmessy, this cheese coney was filled to the top with a warm, flavorful chili sauce. There was so much of it, I thought at first they had forgotten to put a hot dog in my coney! The buried hot dog was fine but not the best we've had. The bun was not the softest, but it held up impressively well against all that chili.



The cheese was clearly fresh grated, a little heavier than usual in consistency, but still very good. The onion and mustard balanced the overall flavor perfectly. Overall, this coney could have been one of my favorites if it had a better hot dog. Still, for a restaurant that is not mentioned a lot when it comes to Cincinnati Chili, Blue Jay pleasantly surprised me.

I'm giving the Blue Jay Restaurant cheese coney a 3.6 out of 5 stars.


Clint's Review

When arriving at Blue Jay, I wasn't sure what to expect. Since chili is not their specialty I did not know if they would treat the chili as an afterthought or if it would be a pleasant surprise. It had been a while since our last stop so either way I was eager to find out. After the first bite you could tell they don't skimp on the chili. Each coney was filled to max capacity with chili. As Alison pointed out this is a good and a bad thing. Can't complaint too much about a nice sized portion but it does overwhelm other coney ingredients, especially the hot dog. I enjoyed the chili flavor, it was a sweet and savory blend, it also had a good texture.

To once again echo Alison's thoughts, the buns did a great job holding that much chili. I enjoyed the freshly grated cheese, I felt it was a little sharper than your standard coney cheese. I thought there could have been a little more of the cheese. Slightly less chili and a little more cheese would give the coney more balance. The hot dog tasted ok, but needs to be a little larger or have more flavor.

Overall the Blue Jay Restaurant cheese coney was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed it more than the cheese coney at neighboring Park Chili. I give Blue Jay Restaurant a 3.5 out of 5.

Shelf Stable Skyline thoughts and Delhi Skyline

Thoughts on the shelf-stable Skyline Original Chili

As previously mentioned, we received a box of the new shelf-stable Skyline product. The box contained 2 of the Original Chili product and 2 of the Chili Spaghetti product. This week we decided to try one of these products. We went with Original Chili, we don't really eat Cincinnati style chili in a bowl like regular chili so we decided to make some Skyline dip.

Overall it tasted pretty decent, not as good as what you would get at the parlor but good for a quick at home meal. Wine Me Dine Me also thought it was pretty good but a little too salty and messy, we agree with both points. I'd assume the high salt is necessary to make it shelf stable, but if possible it would be nice if the salt level could be decreased. The Skyline dip we created with it tasted good as well. If you try the shelf-stable version I'd recommend stirring well and letting it sit for a couple of minutes so it can be less soupy.

Delhi Skyline promotion

I know our readers love a chance to win free chili. The Skyline Chili in Delhi wants to reward their loyal customers and is giving away a $20 gift card in a new promotion. Here is the info if you are interested in entering the contest:

Where has your Delhi Skyline T-shirt been?

Show us where your Delhi Skyline t-shirt has been and receive $20 worth of Delhi Skyline gift cards. Simply take a picture wearing your Delhi Skyline T-shirt (available at 5137 Delhi Pike) against a unique backdrop, and email it to lambrinides.delhi@gmail.com along with your name photo description. In return, you’ll receive a $20 gift card and a chance to see your picture on display at the restaurant as well as on Delhi Skyline’s Facebook page. Delhi Skyline logo must be visible in the photo; t-shirts have logos on the backsides.

Canned Dixie Chili

Up first in our "Canned Chili Challenge" is Dixie Chili. This was the first time we have had Dixie since our visit very early in the quest. We both enjoyed Dixie so we looked forward to trying their canned product.

What we used:

Dixie Chili
A block of Kroger Mild Cheddar Cheese (which we shredded)
Blue Grass hot dogs
White onion
Kroger yellow mustard
Butternut Golden Honey hot dog buns

We both enjoyed our homemade attempt of recreating the Dixie Chili product. The canned product tasted very good and brought back fond memories of our Dixie visit. However there were some aspects we can definitely improve on as we continue this challenge. The cheese tasted fine, but the texture wasn't the best. Next time we will try freezing the cheese for a half hour before shredding to help reduce the clumpy texture. The Blue Grass dogs tasted great, but are larger than the typical coney dog so we couldn't pour on as much chili as we would have liked. The buns were fine, but we will try other brands. Alison thought the onion was too strong and will try a vidalia onion next time. She thought the mustard was fine.

Overall they were tasty coneys but not quite as good as a parlor made coney. If you are fan of Dixie Chili we recommend buying the canned product if you want to make your own coneys (or -ways) at home. The chili was tasty.  Hopefully we will make the appropriate tweaks along the way and come close to recreating that delicious parlor coney. Of course we welcome any suggestions.

Bluebird Restaurant Review

The 23rd stop on the Coney Quest took us on a rare visit on the east side, Bluebird Restaurant in Norwood. As we noted earlier in the quest, there aren't many non-chain chili parlors on the east side of town. Bluebird is best known for its breakfast, but we were excited to see how their chili stacked up to the competition.

When we first arrived we were a bit worried that Bluebird may not serve cheese coneys. The menu only mentions their ways (which they even have a 6 and a 7 way) but nothing about coneys. Luckily the waitress informed us they do indeed have cheese coneys and of course as soon as she walked away I saw a chalk board that said cheese coneys were on special. We didn't get a long look at the menu, but it looked like standard diner fare, with breakfast being the specialty of course.

From the outside Bluebird looks like a small hole in the wall diner, but its surprisingly big once you enter. Bluebird has the feel of an old fashioned family diner. The walls are decorated with various paintings and other family kitchen decor. And like any good old timey diner there were jukeboxes in each booth.



Clint's Review

This was one of those rare times where me and Alison had very different opinions of the chili flavor. I thought the chili was on the sweet and savory side of the spectrum while Alison thought it had some heat to it. I did not taste any heat level on my coneys. As far as the taste of the chili, I thought it was ok but could have been more flavorful.


The portion of the coney that really excelled was the hot dog. Can't say for sure if it was a Blue Grass dog, but it tasted very similar to the dogs used at Gold Star and Price Hill, which are Blue Grass dogs. The dogs were also freshly grilled. I also thought the buns were soft and fresh (another area that me and Alison disagree on). However the cheese was fairly mediocre.

Great dog, good bun, average chili and mediocre cheese = a 3.0 out of 5

Alison's Review

I've never been a huge lover of mustard or onions. In fact, cheese coneys were the first food product that I consistently ordered with both. In most cases the two condiments blend nicely into the well-spiced chili recipes. However, in the case of the Bluebird coneys, I was overwhelmed by the strength of the mustard and onions. I think the simple problem was that there was just too much of both. It's kind of a shame because I don't think I ever got a good taste of the chili after the onion vapors hit my mouth. I kept thinking I was tasting a chili with a heat level, but since Clint didn't notice that at all it's more likely that my taste buds were being inundated by the strength of the condiments.

From what I could tell the hot dog was very good. I also thought they were probably Blue Grass dogs. But the bun was mediocre and the cheese was on the dry side.

If I ever order a cheese coney from this restaurant again, I will definitely ask them to hold the onions and mustard. The product as I had it this past weekend was only a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Park Chili Review

The neighborhood of Northside has seen many changes throughout the years but one constant since 1937 has been Park Chili. As soon as you walk in you can tell it has been around for a long time. Park Chili has a 1970's greasy spoon diner feel to it. Lots of brown fake wood paneling surrounding the interior. By our booth there was a framed cartoon that said "I'm sorry, the recipe didn't include your opinion!" So I guess it doesn't matter what we think, but we shall review the coneys anyway.

To go along with the look, the menu features your standard greasy spoon items. The hours cater to more of a breakfast and lunch crowd, so breakfast and lunch items seem to be the most popular. Even though it is a chili parlor, I believe we were the only patrons in the restaurant who ordered chili items.

Alison's Review

Park Chili was not bad, but the whole product seemed to come right off the shelves of Kroger.  The hot dogs were plain, the cheese was clearly the pre-packaged variety, and the buns were pretty unimpressive. Though the onions were fresh (I saw them chopping up a batch behind the counter), the mustard came out of a big bottle of French's.  The hot sauce on the table actually was Kroger brand.


Though I can't confirm it, I do have concerns that the chili just came out of a can.  Our coney's were partially assembled behind the counter then taken to a back kitchen area where they appeared with chili on them.  Maybe they keep a pipping hot vat of their homemade, secret-recipe in the back.  But for all I know, it could have come from a generic brand, 10 pound can of chili that was zapped in the microwave before it was put on our coneys.  The taste was not bad, but it was definitely nothing special.  It actually reminded me a lot of J&J's Chili but with less spice.

I always hate giving such long-standing parlors a poor review, but this coney was a bit lacking.  Park Chili gets a 2.75 out of 5 from me.

Clint's Review

Average...that's about all I have to say about Park Chili's coneys, but I will elaborate. There was nothing bad about their coneys but nothing stood out either. The chili is kind of sweet, kind of savory, not real strong in either category, but it tasted ok. The cheese was not freshly grated and was more of a bagged store bought quality, but it was ok. The buns, could have been a little softer, but were ok. The hot dogs, not the most flavorful we have had, but yes, they were ok.

As you can see, I didn't hate anything about the Park Chili and I didn't think any single aspect of the coney stood out. Might be the most average coneys of the quest, so I will give them a 2.75 out of 5.

Mr. Hanton's Review

A great tradition in Cincinnati is the weekly party that occurs on Sawyer Point every Wednesday. At the party you have some food options to go along with the live music and adult beverages. Mr. Hanton's is one of those options and can be found when it is Party in the Park (the Gold Star Chilimobile can be found at Party on the River. Pretty much the same party, but they alternate weeks...yes, its kind of confusing).

We did a post in June about the Mr. Hanton's food truck, so we won't go into too much detail here. Basically they sell a variety of hot dogs and sandwiches and can be found at various Cincinnati events. I previously had a Philly Cheesesteak from Mr. Hanton's and it was pretty solid. So if chili isn't your thing they will most likely have something on their menu you will like.

Clint's Review

The Mr. Hanton's cheese coney is not your typical cheese coney, and for the most part that is a good thing. It is by far the LARGEST coney of the quest. They use a 1/4 lb. grilled beef hot dog on their coney. After the mediocre coney at Sam's Chili I had wondered if a beef dog could work on a coney. Now I know that yes it can. Since the hot dog is the specialty at Mr. Hanton's, its no surprise that the dog was so tasty. Easily the best tasting dog of the quest thus far. The bun was also very soft, fresh and did a great job of holding together such a big coney.



However, having such a flavorful dog does have some drawbacks. It took a couple of bites to pick up on the flavor of the chili. Eventually I did notice that it was a sweet chili but it does get lost in the flavor of the dog. On its own it was a decent tasting chili, but I would love to taste a stronger chili, like Camp Washington's, on this coney. The cheese was only ok, had more of a store bought bag quality than a freshly grated cheese we have enjoyed at other parlors.

Overall I really enjoyed the coney that Mr. Hanton's served. It definitely isn't your traditional Cincinnati cheese coney, but that's part of its appeal. If you don't like Cincinnati style chili, I highly recommend finding a hot dog on their menu you would like, as their dogs are so good. I give Mr. Hanton's a 4 out of 5.

Alison's Review

Mr. Hanton's, quite simply, offers a great hot dog. No matter what you put on it, it's bound to be delicious. The beef frank turned out to be so large that after Clint's two-coney order came out and we saw the size, I offered to take one off his hands. So this time around I didn't have mustard and onion on my coney.

My thoughts on this cheese coney are consistent with Clint's. The beef frank was the most flavorful dog that we've encountered. The chili, though decent, needed a more powerful kick. It was somewhat difficult to taste. The cheese was mediocre but not bad. The bun was soft and did a great job holding up everything on this humongous coney.

Its not often in our coney quest that the hot dog is the star of the show. If you are a diehard, traditional cheese coney fan, you may not like this product because it is so different. And if you've never really gotten into Cincinnati style chili, this may be an alternative you could get behind. Or you could be like me and enjoy the Mr. Hanton's cheese coney as much as a classic coney. I'm giving them 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Gold Star Chilimobile Mini-Review

Last evening we headed to Party on the River expecting to try Mr. Hanton's cheese coney. However we had our information mixed up and Mr. Hanton's was not there. Mr. Hanton's sets up shop during Party in the Park, the Gold Star Chilimobile sets up during Party on the River. Since we were in the mood for coneys we decided to have a couple of coneys from the Chilimobile.

The Chilimobile is easy to spot, looks like an ice cream truck but has big Gold Star logos, 3-ways and coneys on it. Each coney is $2, this is slightly more expensive than a coney at a Gold Star, but that is to be expected since it cost a little more to maintain a food truck. They also had packets of free oyster crackers which I always approve of.

The coneys were ok but not quite as good as you would get at an actual Gold Star restaurant. The two main problems were the buns weren't as soft and the coneys could have used a little more chili (Alison used the word "dry" to describe her coneys). The chili could have been a little hotter but it certainly wasn't cold and it still tasted good, as did the cheese.


Even though its not quite restaurant quality, we still recommend hitting up the Chilimobile if you are at an outdoor event where it has set up shop at. This is especially true if the event serves alcohol. I imagine had we bought some coneys after enjoying a couple of adult beverages at the party this probably would have turned into the most glowing review ever*.

*Comedian Nick Swardson has a funny take on this phenomenon about 55 seconds into the video posted below.

Jokes.com
Nick Swardson - Drinking
comedians.comedycentral.com
Nick Swardson Stand-Up Nick Swardson's Pretend Time Buy tickets to the New York Comedy Festival

J and J Restaurant Review

Our fourth and final stop on Glenway's "3-way Highway" was at J and J Restaurant. J & J is across the street from the Western Hills Plaza next to Kroger. This is not the original J & J Restaurant as that was demolished for the new Kroger, but it is located very near the original location. As soon as you walk in you can tell it is a newer location. I would say the ambiance of J & J is fast food meets Cincinnati chili parlor. It has your basic booth seating and lots of light, but also has various photos of Cincinnati and Greece hanging on the wall.

The menu is your standard Cincinnati chili parlor menu. A majority of the menu is made up of Cincinnati chili staples and double decker sandwiches. In fact, it appears that the double decker sandwich is their featured menu item. So instead of a chili parlor that has double decker sandwiches, its more of a double decker sandwich shop that has chili. I did not have a double decker, but I saw one and it looked pretty delicious.

Alison's Review

The J&J cheese coney had nothing particularly outstanding about it.  However, it did have several elements that were well done.  The chili was meaty and warm in flavor.  It had fairly traditional spices, but it was a nice blend.  The cheese was soft and fresh.  Both the chili and the cheese were loaded on pretty heavily, but the soft bun held up well under the weight.  The mustard complemented the chili nicely, and the onions were just strong enough to be tasted but not overwhelm the flavor.  The dog was pretty standard.

Though J&J made a coney that was above average, it lacked a wow-factor.  I'm giving this cheese coney a 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Clint's Review

J & J was the second stop in a row where they load the coneys with an ample amount of cheese. However, the heaping amount of cheese was more satisfying here than it was at Ft. Wright. This is mainly due to it being a lighter, finer shredded cheese. It did make for a pretty filling coney, but I didn't feel like I just ingested an entire block of cheese. The cheese was very fresh and had a good taste.

It was hard to get a read on the chili at first. I wouldn't say the chili was bland but nothing jumped out at me during the first couple of bites. As I ate more I began noticing more savory and sweet flavors, there wasn't any heat level spice. I did like the flavors that were there even if it wasn't the strongest chili. The chili did have a good texture. It was a thicker texture and reminded me a lot of neighboring Price Hill Chili.

Overall I enjoyed the J & J Restaurant cheese coney. While nothing was amazing about the coney, nothing struck me as bad either. It is a quality product which I give a 3.75 out of 5.