The bright blue canopy makes it hard for Cafe Amelea, the new restaurant and juice bar on North High Street, to blend into the row of stores between 16th and 17th Avenues.
And the bold colors don’t stop on the outside.
The walls of this eclectic cafe are an eye-catching orange, and while they’re decorated with standard paintings of vases and flowers, the occasional Audrey Hepburn and Ohio Stadium photos are reminders that this is not a typical restaurant.
A huge, white, easy-to-read menu hangs over the counter, displaying the three varieties of cuisine offered: Cajun, Chinese and Korean. And for those who need to see the food to make a decision, appetizing pictures of popular dishes hang on the walls.
To say the variety of cuisines offered is interesting would be an understatement. The main focus is Chinese food, with Korean and Cajun boasting six or seven dishes. Despite being diverse, the strange mix of styles ranging from Cajun Orleans shrimp to Korean udon does not seem forced.
The prices are reasonable, ranging from $1.99 for an egg roll appetizer to $7.25 for Spicy Orange Beef, a chef’s special Chinese entree. Most of the entrees are in the $4.25 to $7.25 range and they come with steamed white rice and a fortune cookie. The staff recommends entrees such as Cajun Spicy Bourbon Chicken ($4.99), Korean Bibimbob ($5.99) and Chinese General Tso’s Chicken ($5.95).
What immediately impressed me about this restaurant was the straight-forward menu. It’s divided into categories, making it easy to find certain types of food. To find a chicken dish, just look under the “Chinese Chicken” heading to pick out an entree.
The service was not only friendly, but accommodating as well. I’m the type of person who begins to cry and hyperventilate after placing one red pepper flake on the tip of my tongue, so when I request a normally spicy dish to be mild, I’m always a little bit wary. After ordering the Hunan Chicken ($5.25), which was marked with the spicy red pepper symbol, the staff was willing to make the sauce in the tamest style available.
While waiting for my food, I decided to try one of their smoothies. They had a number of different beverages available such as flavored lemonade, fruit slushes, smoothies and “powerful” smoothies. I ordered one of the specials, the Raspberry Banana Smoothie.
After waiting 15 minutes, my paper plate piled with chicken, vegetables and rice was done and I sat down at one of the 10 booths. I would recommend grabbing a table before ordering, because from the time I got there to the time I left, people were constantly ordering and the booths were always filled. Though there are only 10 booths in the downstairs area, an upstairs eating area has seven more tables, including a large conference-style table.
The food was better than I expected. Instead of being tough or chewy, the chicken was tender and tasted fresh. The rice had a sticky texture, reminiscent of sushi rice. I was most surprised by the vegetables. By now, I expect vegetables from little Chinese places to be overcooked and soggy, however, the vegetables in the Hunan Chicken tasted as fresh as the chicken. And they successfully made the sauce sweet instead of spicy.
I was disappointed with the smoothie. Instead of being creamy, it was very watery and still had tiny ice chunks in it. It reminded me more of what I expected the “fruit slush” to be. The flavors tasted delicious, it was just the consistency and texture that was disappointing.
Though the varieties of cuisine work well together, adding a juice bar to the mix may be taking “eclectic” too far.
Erin Pompili can be reached at [email protected].
