Fabulous service. They accommodated gluten free and corn free. Made suggestions and everyone was very attentive. Chef came and asked how things went while we were waiting for checked coat.
Shannan
We enjoyed our dinner at Aperture. The roasted carrots were delicious. The trout was fabulous. The menu is unique and tasty.
Bill
This was our first visit to The Aperture. We cannot recommend it enough. The flavors of the food are outstanding - the charred carrots, the squid ink pasta, the swordfish, and the lamb. It was all amazing - an adventure with each bite! The service was excellent - our waters were topped immediately. My wife and I were with a couple of elderly ladies and our waiter in particular, but the entire team as well were so patient with them. We will be back!
Sally
We had another wonderful meal at The Aperature and the service couldn't have been better. Everything was delicious, but my absolute favorite was the Haikkado scallops. Not at all what I expected and thoroughly delightful. Our server (I'm sorry, I can't remember his name) was patient and helpful, and brought us a little extra something to sample with our meal. Charmed! We also had the leek and anchovy appetizer, the rabbit paparadelle, and the chocolate raspberry sponge cake dessert. All were wonderful, but oh, the scallops! Please bring back the fried mushrooms and hamachi kama! We'll be back soon. You're restaurant is one of our favorites and we are so proud to show you off to our visitors. Congratulations on your well deserved local and national accolades.
Leanne
True to its Basque roots Exte was a go from the first glass of wine to the Spanish cheesecake. We shared mixtos and tapas, our favorite being the veal sweetbreads. Our server was a fountain of knowledge concerning our bites...confident and caring. We loved our dinner here!
joyce
We loved our meal at ETXE. The food was delicious and very authentic to Spanish cuisine. We will definitely return and bring friends.
Tracey
We booked a table at Aperture but didn't realize that another restaurant uses their space, their online booking tool, and Aperture's name when confirming and following up. The restaurant operates on the days Aperture is closed. It feels a bit like a bait and switch. The “fine print” should be highlighted a bit more. We would have appreciated complete transparency.
Jessica
Amazing dinner at Etxe! The mushrooms, scallops, steak, and Basque cheesecake were highlights. We're so grateful to have this restaurant and experience in Walnut Hills!
Jason
We spent over $300 on a meal that was way too modernized.....It was not for our group for sure. Even the carrots that they are known for had the most offensive flavor to them. I've never been to a restaurant before that we didn't like anything we tried. Needless to say we left hungry, and went to Adriatico's. The hot honey pizza was amazzzing!
Ava
Wow. Best food in cinci and what an incredible curated staff, full of the sweetest and kindest hearted people... the creative energy is flowing here!
it lived up to the hype. our server was extremely knowledgeable and helpful... describing each dish with mouthwatering accuracy... and making great recommendations! definitely going back - food and drinks were all so good and top notch. yum, so good!
Debra
We visited for the Terratorium Wine dinner event. Firstly, Ben Matthews and his wines are simply fabulous. We enjoyed every wine served...so much so we left with an entire case to add to our cellar. The food and service was very good and we were surprised by the generous portions. The Maitake mushroom dish is delicious and whoever the pastry chef is knows what they're doing. And those dumplings! Otherworldly. Visit for dinner and take along good friends who appreciate great food served in a comfortable, unpretentious way. And...if you love wine like we do, find Ben Matthews and buy some of his wines!
Amy
This review is for ETXE, who is doing a residency every Sunday and Monday until the end of December. For reviews of The Aperture, see other platforms. ETXE focuses on the Basque region of France and Spain. We had reservations at 8pm on Monday night. The place was bustling. Our server, Lauren, was so helpful in explaining how the menu worked and had suggestions for ordering. Heather also stopped by a few times to check on us. Since there were only two of us, we chose to order one Pintxos - the slice of baguette with piquillo pepper and cheese, one Tapas - the salt cod croquetas, two sides, the potatoes and the mushrooms, and one large plate - the Icelandic cod in salsa verde. The baguette with piquillo pepper and cheese fondue was fantastic. We split it, but next time we will order one each. The croquetas were gooey on the inside and crunchy on the outside, and the romesco sauce was to die for. They had a pleasant mild fish taste. Lauren said the potatoes were double fried, but they seemed to just be quickly fried. The sauce was very smokey. We were excited to try the mushrooms because they were fresh porcinis. The preparation was lovely, but we realized that we didn't care for the strong flavor of porcinis. We would have loved the dish if it were made with any other kind of mushrooms. Lesson learned. The Icelandic cod dish was our favorite. It had a lovely sauce made of clams, but only a small amount of salsa verde. I would like to comment, and I told Lauren this, that every dish was too salty. We ordered a piece of cheesecake to go, and while we were waiting for our check, we were served the most delicious mini churros and a cute little cup of hot chocolate pudding. Nice touch, for sure. The cheesecake was traditional Basque style. Very light and custardy with a definite cheesy flavor. It was wonderful. If ETXE take up permanent residence in the city, we would love to take a group and try the other dishes and steaks.
Maria
We ate at Etxe. Food was delicious. Service was not very good. We had to ask twice for missing items, like a glass of wine and an appetizer, which after waiting for about 20 mins. actually arrived at the same time as the main course. There was an extra glass of wine on the bill we had not ordered ( it was promptly removed from the bill when we pointed it out). Menu contains several misspellings of Spanish names, which could easily be fixed. Overall, food was delicious (we had cod, txistorra, croquetas, mahón cheese, pluma ibérica, and cheesecake) but there is some room for improvement in the service department.
Charles
We had a very nice experience at Etxe. Our server explained the menu and was very good. The entrées are expensive but you get a lot. This is a dinning adventure not available anywhere else in Cincinnati.
Fabulous service. They accommodated gluten free and corn free. Made suggestions and everyone was very attentive. Chef came and asked how things went while we were waiting for checked coat.
We enjoyed our dinner at Aperture. The roasted carrots were delicious. The trout was fabulous. The menu is unique and tasty.
This was our first visit to The Aperture. We cannot recommend it enough. The flavors of the food are outstanding - the charred carrots, the squid ink pasta, the swordfish, and the lamb. It was all amazing - an adventure with each bite! The service was excellent - our waters were topped immediately. My wife and I were with a couple of elderly ladies and our waiter in particular, but the entire team as well were so patient with them. We will be back!
We had another wonderful meal at The Aperature and the service couldn't have been better. Everything was delicious, but my absolute favorite was the Haikkado scallops. Not at all what I expected and thoroughly delightful. Our server (I'm sorry, I can't remember his name) was patient and helpful, and brought us a little extra something to sample with our meal. Charmed! We also had the leek and anchovy appetizer, the rabbit paparadelle, and the chocolate raspberry sponge cake dessert. All were wonderful, but oh, the scallops! Please bring back the fried mushrooms and hamachi kama! We'll be back soon. You're restaurant is one of our favorites and we are so proud to show you off to our visitors. Congratulations on your well deserved local and national accolades.
True to its Basque roots Exte was a go from the first glass of wine to the Spanish cheesecake. We shared mixtos and tapas, our favorite being the veal sweetbreads. Our server was a fountain of knowledge concerning our bites...confident and caring. We loved our dinner here!
We loved our meal at ETXE. The food was delicious and very authentic to Spanish cuisine. We will definitely return and bring friends.
We booked a table at Aperture but didn't realize that another restaurant uses their space, their online booking tool, and Aperture's name when confirming and following up. The restaurant operates on the days Aperture is closed. It feels a bit like a bait and switch. The “fine print” should be highlighted a bit more. We would have appreciated complete transparency.
Amazing dinner at Etxe! The mushrooms, scallops, steak, and Basque cheesecake were highlights. We're so grateful to have this restaurant and experience in Walnut Hills!
We spent over $300 on a meal that was way too modernized.....It was not for our group for sure. Even the carrots that they are known for had the most offensive flavor to them. I've never been to a restaurant before that we didn't like anything we tried. Needless to say we left hungry, and went to Adriatico's. The hot honey pizza was amazzzing!
Wow. Best food in cinci and what an incredible curated staff, full of the sweetest and kindest hearted people... the creative energy is flowing here!
Restaurantji Recommends
it lived up to the hype. our server was extremely knowledgeable and helpful... describing each dish with mouthwatering accuracy... and making great recommendations! definitely going back - food and drinks were all so good and top notch. yum, so good!
We visited for the Terratorium Wine dinner event. Firstly, Ben Matthews and his wines are simply fabulous. We enjoyed every wine served...so much so we left with an entire case to add to our cellar. The food and service was very good and we were surprised by the generous portions. The Maitake mushroom dish is delicious and whoever the pastry chef is knows what they're doing. And those dumplings! Otherworldly. Visit for dinner and take along good friends who appreciate great food served in a comfortable, unpretentious way. And...if you love wine like we do, find Ben Matthews and buy some of his wines!
This review is for ETXE, who is doing a residency every Sunday and Monday until the end of December. For reviews of The Aperture, see other platforms. ETXE focuses on the Basque region of France and Spain. We had reservations at 8pm on Monday night. The place was bustling. Our server, Lauren, was so helpful in explaining how the menu worked and had suggestions for ordering. Heather also stopped by a few times to check on us. Since there were only two of us, we chose to order one Pintxos - the slice of baguette with piquillo pepper and cheese, one Tapas - the salt cod croquetas, two sides, the potatoes and the mushrooms, and one large plate - the Icelandic cod in salsa verde. The baguette with piquillo pepper and cheese fondue was fantastic. We split it, but next time we will order one each. The croquetas were gooey on the inside and crunchy on the outside, and the romesco sauce was to die for. They had a pleasant mild fish taste. Lauren said the potatoes were double fried, but they seemed to just be quickly fried. The sauce was very smokey. We were excited to try the mushrooms because they were fresh porcinis. The preparation was lovely, but we realized that we didn't care for the strong flavor of porcinis. We would have loved the dish if it were made with any other kind of mushrooms. Lesson learned. The Icelandic cod dish was our favorite. It had a lovely sauce made of clams, but only a small amount of salsa verde. I would like to comment, and I told Lauren this, that every dish was too salty. We ordered a piece of cheesecake to go, and while we were waiting for our check, we were served the most delicious mini churros and a cute little cup of hot chocolate pudding. Nice touch, for sure. The cheesecake was traditional Basque style. Very light and custardy with a definite cheesy flavor. It was wonderful. If ETXE take up permanent residence in the city, we would love to take a group and try the other dishes and steaks.
We ate at Etxe. Food was delicious. Service was not very good. We had to ask twice for missing items, like a glass of wine and an appetizer, which after waiting for about 20 mins. actually arrived at the same time as the main course. There was an extra glass of wine on the bill we had not ordered ( it was promptly removed from the bill when we pointed it out). Menu contains several misspellings of Spanish names, which could easily be fixed. Overall, food was delicious (we had cod, txistorra, croquetas, mahón cheese, pluma ibérica, and cheesecake) but there is some room for improvement in the service department.
We had a very nice experience at Etxe. Our server explained the menu and was very good. The entrées are expensive but you get a lot. This is a dinning adventure not available anywhere else in Cincinnati.
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