A couple of weeks ago after we had returned from Vegas, @mrsbozz and I drove down to the Columbus, OH area to visit her sister's family. My oldest niece is playing softball at the high school level now and we wanted to catch one or two of her games.

We drove down on a Friday morning and got to catch her after school game that day. She played very well and her team won the game without much effort. After the game we were all quite hungry, and faced with a very important decision.

The Old Bag of Nails Pub

Since it is Lent, and her family is Catholic, we were limited in the places we could visit to eat. @mrsbozz doesn't eat fish, so she has never held very strictly to Lent anyway. Her sisters family does their best to follow tradition though so we knew we needed to go someplace with fish or alternative proteins.

I am not Catholic, so I pretty much eat what I want all the time. When they decided on The Old Bag of Nails Pub I had it in my mind that I would probably get a burger or wings or some other bar food.

That is until I saw this:

Given the fact that they are well known for their fish and chips and remembering all of the tasty posts @slobberchops has made about that dish in the UK, I knew I had to try theirs.

The place was packed and we had to wait about twenty minutes for a table that could handle the six of us. Due to those facts I neglected to take any pictures of the outside or inside of the establishment. Thus, I will not be submitting this for a proper @tasteem review.

We started off with the Black Bean Dip you see pictured above and an order of Beer Battered Pickles to share.

The dip was amazing and the pickles were good too, but not anything Earth shaking. Unless there is a fancy sauce to dip it in fried pickles are tasty but basically just fried pickles.

It didn't take more than a half hour before our food eventually came out to us. Before I share that, I want to mention I had decided to try a local beer to pair with my fish. During the appetizers, I found it was more bitter than I prefer, so I quickly finished it and switched to my old standby: Pabst Blue Ribbon. It was a great choice as it paired perfectly with the fish and chips!

@mrsbozz got the Southwest Chicken Club and found it enjoyable. She was at the other end of the table from me, so I actually didn't get talk to her that much during the meal. She was kind enough to take some of the pictures though.

My youngest niece got the kids shrimp and chips. I didn't hear any complaints from her, so I think she enjoyed it as well. I am not a huge shrimp fan(I wish I was), but I must admit it does look tasty!

Having just played seven innings of softball, my oldest niece was very hungry so she got the Fisherman's Feast which they describe this way:

A hearty combination of our famous Fish, along with our HandBattered Scallops & Shrimp, served with Coleslaw and Steak Fries.

Finally, the rest of us went with the standard Fish and Chips. My sister in law and I did the regular order and my brother in law did the all you can eat for four dollars more. Once upon a time I could put the food away like he does, but not any more...

They gave us three options on how we could have our fish done, fried, grilled, or baked I think. Let's be honest though, what is the point of getting fish and chips if you aren't going to enjoy that deep fried bliss.

The coleslaw was fantastic having the perfect blend of tart and sweetness along with a hint of horseradish which I love. The fries(chips) were not the best I have ever had, but they also weren't the worst, so that is pretty good. The fish was fantastic! I have had my fair share of fish and chips, but this was some of the best I have ever had in my life. I think the key is the whitefish they used as opposed to cod or pollock. Living in the Great Lakes area, I am not stranger to whitefish and this place definitely knows how to handle it and prepare it exceptionally well.

I was stuffed by the time I was finished, meanwhile my brother in law ordered and ate a second helping as part of his all you can eat deal.

Local Cantina

The next day we had a couple more softball games to watch and we were only staying for part of the day. We decided to grab a quick lunch at Local Cantina.

I have noticed that more and more of these "gourmet taco" places are popping up in Columbus. I hope that eventually we will start to get some of them up where I live, even if it is just a food truck.

The thing with places like this though is if you are going to focus on one medium, you better do it really really well. I am happy to say Local Cantina didn't disappoint.

This place is in a new area that they are developing in a suburb of Columbus and you can definitely feel the vibrant and youthful energy. It was a beautiful day out so they had the roll up doors open and people were sitting on the patio enjoying their lunch.

This part of the post is all about @mrsbozz and I because I didn't take pictures of anyone else's food.

I got the CrunchWeezy and the Tinga Chicken, they both had fantastic flavor and though a bit messy to eat because of the size, I would come back here and get them again in a heartbeat. The Tinga Chicken was a little spicier than I had anticipated, but not overwhelmingly so. The flavors on both of them mixed together perfectly so that each bite was sensational from the first to the last.

@mrsbozz got the CrunchWeezy (with Tinga chicken instead of brisket) and the Farmers Market. She enjoyed both of them and agreed with me that the chicken was spicier than she had anticipated. @mrsbozz and I are pretty easy to please, throw some chips and salsa in front of us and some average tacos and we will be happy. That definitely wasn't the case here though. These tacos were "next level" and if I don't make it back to this place again on a future visit I will be very sad...

Thanks for coming along on this culinary trip!

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