Jury Room

If, like me (and 17.8 million Americans) you are of Italian descent, you know that we can be a bit particular about our marinara sauce. We tend to turn up our nose at all red sauces which have not been made by our Grandma, or according to her precise (completely ambiguous) directions. The most presumptuous of us might even be slightly aggressive about the whole matter.

In a nutshell, what I'm saying is, when it comes to marinara sauce, my Grandma can kick your Grandma's ass.

So I'm sure Executive Chef Catie Randazzo of Jury Room (22 E. Mound Street) would understand when I say that I did not care for hers. She would probably be less forgiving, however, when I say I wasn't crazy about anything at all. Although, based on Yelp and Urbanspoon reviews, she should probably be used to it.
From what I gather, Jury Room is more miss than hit far more often than the 'people have different tastes' mantra of so-so chefs allows.

We started with the Calamari--a small, overly greasy portion served with a cup of previously mentioned marinara and without any pizazz.
White Anchovies Salad--a few anchovies mixed in with cherry tomatoes, big hunks of celery, LOTS of olive oil and brioche croutons which were both undercooked and underseasoned. Served with a side of arugula in vinaigrette.
and the Arugula Salad--which was a nice sized portion of good looking arugula with a tasty vinaigrette, Parmesan shavings, not enough cracked black pepper and those same insipid croutons.

Not a stellar start, but it was still Happy Hour, so at least our drinks were cheap and the selection of beers and cocktails was notable. Also our server was more attentive and pleasant than I've had at any other restaurant in the Betty's line (sadly, this isn't saying much.)

For Entrees we ordered the Grilled Shrimp, Ohio Bounty Pasta with Chicken, Sam's (famous? best? I forget which hyperbole was chosen) Manicotti and Spaghetti with Meatballs and a marinara/alfredo mixture which was raved about in another review. I don't even know how to describe these items beyond, "Eh."

Manicotti

Ok, so maybe I can...the shrimp entree didn't have a speck of salt in it--to the extent that I felt they might have kept it quarantined in a salt-free section of the kitchen. The Spaghetti was over-sauced and lumpy, the meatballs gristly, the pesto on the Ohio Bounty Pasta dry, the chicken underseasoned and the whole thing not especially 'bountiful'. The Manicotti was a huge portion, but nothing to write home about (In fact, I wouldn't bring it within 100 yards of my Grandma.)

Look at those bountiful tomatoes!!

Spaghetti w/ meatballs

I overlook flaws like these occasionally in Liz Lessner's other restaurants--they're not four star establishments, after all, and people generally go there for a fun time that doesn't break the bank. I get that. Really I do. And I do like the restaurants, and what they've done for the Columbus restaurant scene (if not the culinary scene.) I didn't complain about the stalest cupcake I've ever attempted to sink my teeth into at Surly Girl, or the nearly frozen broccoli at Betty's, or even the salad at Tip Top that was missing half the ingredients listed on the menu (until now.) But Ms. Lessner is trending towards the worse, and I'm concerned. Is the kitchen staff underpaid? Chefs inexperienced? Is she simply spreading her resources too thin?

I vow to investigate this further. Most likely while imbibing one (or more) of those $3 signature cocktails at Surly Girl, Dirty Frank's, Betty's or Tip Top... Probably not at Jury Room.

*Happy Hour* Nida's Thai on High

Having received some pretty enthusiastic recommendations, I'd been wanting to try Nida's for a good while now. How fortunate for me that after a very long walk on a very beautiful day I emerged onto High Street at Second Ave shortly before 4 pm--just in time for Happy Hour at Nida's Thai on High.
The Happy Hour specials run from 4-6:30 Monday through Friday and include $3 & $4 sushi rolls and appetizers, $5 cocktails and discounts on beer and wine. How fortunate indeed.

For beverages (after, of course, eagerly draining 2 full glasses of water: parched from our trek,) my walking companion could not resist the Thai Iced Tea nor I the Gott Lightening--a Gin Cocktail with triple sec and tamarind nectar. It was tasty but light on the booze, so if you're aiming for a real deal, order the Dirty Ginger Martini--Citrus Vodka spiked with fresh ginger juice. They had quite an extensive and interesting cocktail list, all at the discounted Happy Hour rate.
The drinks arrived a little (ok, very) slowly from the bar, but the service was friendly, and she kept that water flowing so I never felt snubbed for dearth of a beverage.

We ordered Hamachi (Yellowtail) and Salmon sushi rolls, along with their Spicy counterparts. The sushi rolls were on the small side (and poorly wrapped) but the fish was fresh and the spicy variations were not the heavily spiced, pureed fish ends that you normally find in sushi restaurant 'spicy rolls', but nice hunks of Yellowtail and Salmon, with a delicate but slightly tongue-searing dry spice added.
Not on the Happy Hour menu, but reasonably priced and quite tasty were the traditional Thai soups--The Tom Kha and Tom Yum, which we tried with chicken. Both were a little skimpy on veggies and meat, but the broth was expertly spiced--savory, tart and sweet.
We also sampled the Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls and the Japanese Squid Salad from the happy hour appetizers. The spring rolls were good, with a nice flavor but again, poorly wrapped and lacking the dramatic crunch that I look for to offset the cool sponginess of the fresh wrapper. The squid salad on the other hand, was phenomenal. The texture was perfect--just the right balance of tenderness and chew, and the flavor was addictive--light and fresh but salty and spicy all at once. I would have ordered 3 more plates of it if i hadn't finished the rest of our spread feeling like a fat-bellied Japanese money cat.

The danger with happy hours is that, once having discovered them, you will never come back during the regular, sad hours. This can make the servers resentful of happy hour guests, and reluctant to offer them the full benefit of their assistance. We never felt ignored, rushed, pressured or like the cheapskates...
ahem...frugal diners that we are, and that will definitely keep me coming back to Nida's for happy hour--and maybe someday to pay full price for dinner.