Category Archives: Cincinnati

Taste of Belgium / Travel Blog

Cincinnati, Food, Restaurant, Taste of Belgium, Taste of Belgium, Taste of Belgium, Travel Blog, , , , ,

Taste of Belgium is a new trendy restaurant in Cincinnati.  My daughter recommended that we try it before we leave so we decided to have brunch there.

My daughter at Taste of Belgium
My daughter at Taste of Belgium

The Taste of Belgium began in 2007 in Cincinnati and has now grown to several locations including All American Ballpark.  The founder of Taste of Belgium,  Jean-Francois Flechet has taken Belgium foods and added an American twist to them.

By pairing these flavors he has produced a very interesting a tasteful menu.  For our brunch I chose a McWaffle.  The name troubled me some thinking of some Mc fast foods that I have eaten, but any relationship between the two ends there.  Taste of Belgium’s McWaffle is made up of waffle, an egg, Gruyere, and maple syrup.  I also selected an order of frites (Belgium fries).

The McWaffle was really good.  As your fork cuts through the egg it allows the yoke to mix with the maple syrup and run over the Gruyere and the waffle.  The blending of these flavors with the crunch of the waffle is an unexpected delight for any anyone.  The hot frites was in my opinion a good side for the dish and the hot never ending Belgium roast coffee was the final element to this great meal. Their most popular item has to be their chicken and waffle.

Chicken and Waffle
Chicken and Waffle

My daughter had the banana waffle, which is a waffle with banana and Nutella. She also had an order of bacon with her meal.  This was also a good selection.  The soft freshness of the banana with the chocolatey flavor of Nutella served with the crunchy  sweetness of the waffle is a winner.  Then if you add bacon, how much better could it be.  (But then bacon added to anything is good)

Taste of Belgium

The food was good with interesting flavors.  And the prices are not bad: the McWaffle was eight dollars and the banana waffle was five dollars.  When in Cincinnati, try something really different. Try Taste of Belgium.

Jungle Jim’s International Market

Cincinnati, Food, International market, Jeff Ruby's, jungle Jim's, jungle jim's, Precinct, Restaurant, Steak, , ,

  After a steak dinner at Cincinnati’s Jeff Ruby’s Precinct, we decided to visit a place we have always wanted to go to but had never made it.  That place is Jungle Jim’s International Market.

Jungle Jim’s has over 200,000 square feet of space in which they sell over 150,000 items.

Upon entering the store you can either sign up for a tour or just pick up a map to help you find your way.  When we entered we chose the map and started our shopping adventure by working our way through the different countries of the world.  Each country is represented with shelves of foods imported from that country.

From there the food became more as we know it in regular markets, broken down by categories; soups, canned foods, or meat, for example.  But even at this point things are different.  The decorations are unbelievable.  Anything is possible.  Jungle Jim’s has a real navy fire truck to mark the location of the hot sauce and a pirate ship to mark the location of foods from the islands.

Jungle Jim’s also has events such as cooking classes and wine tasting. In their ads they ask you to spend the day and I would guess some people could.  For us it was a fun side to our visit to Cincinnati.