Food in Denver, Part I

I've been in Denver for the last two weeks- long story short, I own a condo by City Park still, and have been trying to get it rented out after the last (very, very horrible) tenant left. This has given me ample opportunity to revel in yummy Denver food.

I've visited a number of my favorite, and/or nostalgic restaurants:

the Bagel Deli- I finally made it in time for their early bird specials...the beef baken is not as enticing as I'd imagined. And I really miss the classic wood paneling they got rid of years ago. But it's still homey, and I love their garlic bagels with salmon cream cheese.

Rico's- sooo good, and really great prices. I usually go for their veal canelloni. Never tried their pizza, which is apparently what they're known for. But everything is tasty. I missed out on a visit to Romano's this time around, which is another of my favorite neighborhood Italian places.

Oshima Ramen. No commentary, I just love it.

Tommy's Thai. Another great local place. My condo is pretty close, so we'd eat there once a week or so when we lived in town. I'd forgotten all about the chicken soup they serve with meals at lunch- it was just what I needed with the cold weather- and I'm always amazed at how cheap it is, especially at dinner.

Goosetown. Great calzones, good 2am pizza. I usually get their Standard calzone, but tried their veggie this time. It was just as good.

Watercourse. I wasn't even going to go here, but a certain vegetarian acquaintance wouldn't shut up about their chili (which I actually didn't try). I'm impressed by how much they've improved. I've been going there since they opened at the original 13th Street location, and the service has always veered between apathy and suckage. The food has always been good, but too salty and too pricey. The price point is the same, and the salty is not entirely their fault- my favorite item is their Mediterranean Blue Plate Special, which is full of horribly salty things like feta, capers, and olives- but they seem to have toned it down. And our waitress was actually organized, helpful, and had the cutest Southern accent.

I've also eaten at a few new (at least to me) places:

Bender's Brat Haus- I had a krautburger and German potato salad. The burger was really a rich pasty filled with hamburger meat, sauerkraut, and a mysterious creamy cheese sauce. Delicious, but probably horrible for me. I'm not remotely bacon-obsessed, but the potato salad had intriguingly thick and chewy bacon chunks that were awesome. It needed more of the bacon chunks, and more acid, to be truly fabulous.

Ya Ya's. Oy. Their menu items sounded tasty. And their wine list was a huge book, heavy on Spanish wines, which makes me happy. But it was incredibly weird. And, well, it makes complete sense now that I've discovered their other outposts are in Wichita, Little Rock, Kansas City, and St. Louis. It's in the DTC, and a prime business lunch/ladies who lunch sort of place, so I had high expectations. Our server was attentive and friendly, but my orechiette with winter veggies (which said waitress highly recommended) was really lame. The hummus was just ok. The baba ghanoush and the hummus were almost interchangeable. And the waitress took it upon herself to explain to my mother, who lived in a vegetarian commune long before said waitress was born, what baba ghanoush was. It made me cringe. Their decor sort of sucked, too. The styles of food are completely different, but for my money, the best real European dining experience to be had in Denver is at Kinga's on Colfax. I know it's primarily a bar, but their traditional Polish plates are really good, and the atmosphere is legit European.