2022, The OH Food Guy

Maestro’s Mexican Grill – Portsmouth, OH

Third wave Mexican has reached Portsmouth, OH and Maestro’s brings many good authentic Mexican options to try.

Portsmouth Ohio usually doesn’t get much respect in Ohio. A once prominent city at the confluence of both the Ohio and Scioto river, this port city was once booming. However, the once flourishing town has seen decades of decline since the 1960s. Factories, which were once plentiful, have sequentially left…shops have closed up as big box stores have come in. Then came the drugs. But, things have started to look better recently with a better town and college collaboration and some revitalization and new boutique shops and restaurants. Maestro’s must be counted among them.

Maestro’s, a new restaurant in the Portsmouth scene, brings some third wave Mexican cuisine to the area. Excellent Mexican dishes can be found, although some specialization is needed, and many items on the menu were previously unseen outside of cities. Thus, the tides of time might be changing for the better, at least in the Portsmouth food scene.

Decor is tasteful, completely unique, and similar to Mexican restaurants in California. A very good fit for food that goes beyond the generic Mexican restaurant.

Located in a nondescript former house, Maesto’s provides an excellent atmosphere. The location is actually quite good, it is directly across the street from the municipal parking lot, which is luckily free (thankfully towns like Portsmouth finally realized that paying for parking in a dying downtown was moronic and have removed the meters). The interior is tasteful and has a vibe like a Californian Mexican restaurant.

Maestro’s has a good menu with many options. The Big Red Burrito is one full of many meats (ham, steak, and bacon) and is grilled to perfection. The Burrito California is a steak burrito. Both were similar, but the Big Red has more flavor. Chilaquiles are a good option and the tortillas are both crunchy and infused with chile verde. The chips and salsa appear to be made in house, the salsa is basic but good; a hotter salsa is available at request and is likely your best option. The children’s menu provides some good options that would satisfy most palates.

The quality control is good, but there is still a lot of superfluous cheese and sour cream sauces that are listed with many dishes. These both detract from many meals and you do have to watch and ask for them to be removed to avoid making the meal bland and boring. It would be good if they were opened for breakfast since they offer many good Mexican breakfast dishes, but it’s also doubtful if the local market would view Mexican as “breakfast” cuisine yet.

The inside of a burrito a Maestro’s. Well balanced, ample meat, and everything cooked correctly.

One burrito, plated for two. A good way to avoid overeating.

Chilaquiles, a breakfast style dish with tortillas covered with a chile sauce, topped with eggs and here with sour cream sauce on top

BEST BETS

Chilaquiles
Big Red Burrito
Tacos
Breakfast tacos
Al Pastor and Chorizo meat options.

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Maestro’s Mexican Grill – Portsmouth, OH

Portsmouth is improving in its restaurant options and Maestro’s is among the best in this area, both new and old. This is certainly a restaurant to visit again and again.

Ask them to limit the cheese added to dishes
Ask for the spicy salsa
Explore the Donut Distillery or the Lofts for coffee later

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Before you go

Call in advance since the dining area is small.

Address

Maestro’s Mexican Grill

836 4th St

Portsmouth, Oh 45662

(740) 660-4287

Maestro’s Mexican

Date of Last visit: December 2022

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Xin Wei Spicy Kitchen – Columbus, OH

Posted 3 years ago by ohfoodguy

Xin Wei Spicy Kitchen

An excellent source of traditional Sichuan food and a recent and worthy entry into the ever growing Columbus ethnic restaurant scene.

OH FOOD GUY

Opened in 2022, Xin Wei brings traditional Sichuan cuisine to the Columbus area. The term “Sichuan” (along with “Hunan” and others) is often thrown about as a meaningless add word to random dishes in many American Chinese restaurants. Usually, the result is a sugary sweet concoction which is unlike real Chinese cuisine.

However, Sichuan cuisine in China means something much different. It is properly one of the “Eight Great Traditions” of Chinese cuisine and implies something specific. The most basic meaning of Sichuan cuisine is one that focuses on spiciness and especially spiciness from the numbing Sichuan peppercorn. It’s usually hard to find such real cuisine outside of Chicago, San Francisco, and (recently) Cincinnati.

Xin Wei Kitchen brings this tradition to Columbus and the experience is similar to dining at a Sichuan restaurant in China. The food can be as wild or mild as you want. If you do not like spicy food, they have plenty of high quality Americanized dishes which surpass the typical Chinese restaurant in Columbus; but the OH Food Guy doesn’t go for them, so we’ll focus on the good stuff.

Located in the Northwest Shopping Center on Henderson Rd. in Columbus, Xin Wei is well situated and near to both the Sunrise Asian Market (next door, actually) and Tensuke and the Japanese shopping on Old Henderson. This makes Xin Wei very convenient when shopping for groceries that are unavailable at even the best Kroger’s or Whole Foods.

The dining area at Xin Wei appears very small, but there ample tables including those in an outdoor dining area that is enclosed and heated in the winter. The decor is simple, but tasteful and also authentic. The food is spicy, but not painful. This is about quality, tradition, and the art of cooking…not causing pain.

红油馄饨 Dumplings in spicy oil. This is a different type of appetizer that goes beyond the typical eggroll. A very good item to try to get beyond the basic Americanized Chinese cuisine.

As the OH food guy mentioned before, a lot can be learned by how well a restaurant serves the basics…but, a lot can also be learned by how well they master the complex. A good example at Xin Wei is with the fried intestines. Done poorly, this is a nasty smelly dish. However, Xin Wei does it well and the result is a flavorful, spicy and crispy dish which is like what we once ate in Beijing.

水煮自片 Boiled fish in spicy oil. A beautifully prepared and completely tasty dish with spices that excite the tastebuds.

An excellent spicy fried intestines (千锅肥肠) Not for the novices in dining or cooking.

Not all food is spicy. Very hearty traditional Chinese soups are on the menu including this excellent one with vegetables, meats and tofu.

Mapo Tofu – the traditional spicy (slightly) tofu cooked in a spicy sauce. A good dish for those who think they don’t like tofu.

The Xin Wei take on Kung Pao chicken. A little heavy on the sauce for us, but closer to real Chinese food than most.

BEST BETS

Pork Rib Soup with Winter Melon (not spicy, very hearty) 冬瓜排骨汤
Boiled Fish Fillet 水煮自片
Sautéed Pork Intestines in Dry Pot 千锅肥肠
Mapo Tofu
Spicy Chili Oil Wontons

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Xin Wei Spicy Kitchen in Columbus

Columbus is becoming an excellent ethnic dining city and Xin Wei fits in very well. This is a great place to try and keep trying various Sichuan dishes. After finding Xin Wei, it is becoming our go to Chinese spot when we go to Columbus. But, the menu might be intimidating if you don’t know the dishes or read Chinese; the translations are good, but don’t always help if you lack the context.

Try one traditional option with dishes you are familiar with
Take pictures of the menu and put the Chinese phrase into Google image search to get some perspectives
After getting inspired here, explore the Sunrise Asian market next door.

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