Happy Mouth Supper Club

On Wednesday, October 17, 2007, several of the members of the HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB met for a delicious, inexpensive dinner at SHANGHAI MAMA’S (scroll down on their site for the menu) in downtown Cincinnati. It was my month to select. Based on the wonderful Crab Cannolis that Tara & Raymond introduced me to late one Saturday night, I decided that SHANGHAI MAMA’S was the place for our monthly outing.

We met and ate lots of SHANGHAI MAMA’S wonderful appetizers (edamame, crab cannolis (4 orders!), fried wontons, wasabi dumplings, and more) before moving on to mains like Shanghai Noodles, Lo Mein, flatbreads, and more. And lots of adult beverages! Though the mains are very good, I think that appetizers are the most interesting part of a meal at SHANGHAI MAMA’S.

We ran into Robert W. and his friend who were coming in for a late dinner. They had intended to go to VINYL (see the writeup of our visit in March 2007 here) but found that it had closed. I am convinced that the spot is cursed! Robert had the singular experience of singing for composer Stephen Schwartz recently during a workshop production of Schwartz’s new show SNAPSHOTS, so we enjoyed hearing about Robert’s experience.

A very good Happy Mouth!

This evening, members of the HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB met to dine at Wendy’s selection, HUGO RESTAURANT in Oakley (it occupys the old Pho Paris site since they moved to Covington).

Wendy & I discovered HUGO when we sampled their shrimp & grits at Chefapalooza, one of the 7 DAYS FOR SIDS fundraising events. At that moment, Wendy decided that she wanted to select HUGO for her Happy Mouth month.

A group of 11 of us (Robin, Jay, Ted, Tracy, Holly, Ron, Wendy V, John, Dave, Angel, and Andrew) settled into the Magnolia Room, a private dining room, for a charming dinner of Charleston-style fare. I started with delicious Sweetbreads, which were perfectly prepared — slightly crunchy on the outside, but soft and yielding on the inside. Wendy had Fritters with chili jam and seemed to enjoy them very much. Elsewhere on the table, we sampled Wild Mushrooms with Pork Belly, and of course, Fried Green Tomatoes which were very flavorful and didn’t turn to mush through the fryer.

Main dishes included Salmon, Rabbit with Corn Pudding (I had this and was very happy with it, even though there were several shards of bone from an imprecise butchery job), and Shrimp & Grits. Several diners ordered the Shrimp & Grits. VERY tasty, those!

Desserts included a Walnut Apple Tart (the “Hugonaut”, if you can believe that), flourless Chocolate Torte, and a few others as well. I thought the Hugonaut was too many walnuts, not enough apples, though the Maple Ice Cream on top was nice.

A few things… Their breads are very nice. I intended to ask if they were made in house because they were so tasty. Secondly, the prices were a little out of line with the portion sizes. $26 for a Foie Gras appetizer was too expensive — even for me, a confirmed Foie Gras lover! Granted, the restaurant in is hoity-toity Oakley, but even considering that, I felt that the prices were a bit dear. Finally, we appreciated the Chef Sean took the time to come out and visit with our table. The ladies all thought he was dreamy.

Another successful Happy Mouth!

CONGRATULATIONS to Angel and Dave & Robin, who, after months and months (and months!) of faithful attendance became full-fledged voting members of Happy Mouth and were finally awarded their own months.

A large group of us dined at SORRENTO’S PIZZA in Norwood for Holly’s selection of Happy Mouth for August. It was a really good time, and the food was great!

Tonight was Ted’s HAPPY MOUTH selection, and he chose RED in Hyde Park. RED is a new-ish restaurant in a traditionally difficult space. The long, dark, shotgun-style room feels intimate, but diners don’t feel like they’re sitting on top of each other. Our long table was near the back of the restaurant in the center.

Wendy tried their Lobster Bisque (which was velvety smooth and lovely) and I had a Seared Foie Gras appetizer, which was excellent. For my main, I had their Roasted Duck Breast with Lo Mein, Hoisin Butter, and Green Mango Relish and Wendy had a Gnocchi special. Her Gnocchi were light and flavorful and she made reasonably quick work of them. My duck was mostly well-prepared, but the fat had not been rendered out of the skin, leaving it flabby and inedible, plus the seasoning on it was very heavy and masked the rich flavor of the duck.

For dessert, Wendy & I split a lemon tart with fresh berries and a glass of Moscato d’Asti — a perfect pairing.

A very good pick, Ted!

On June 6, 2007, HAPPY MOUTH met at Knotty Pine on the Bayou, John’s pick for the month.

Though I attended, I didn’t eat ANYTHING because my stomach was very upset from something I’d eaten previously that day. Everything looked and smelled as good as it could in my condition, and Wendy reports that her meal was outstanding.

Tonight’s HAPPY MOUTH outing was orchestrated by Chuck, and he selected Chez Nora in Covington Kentucky as our destination. Dinner was at a long table in their back room (though a few members had enjoyed a cocktail on the restaurant’s rooftop bar before dinner). I sampled the Smoked Chicken & Goetta Spring Rolls and found them to be pretty darned good. My entree was Pecan-Crusted Walleye, which was delicious.