Word of Mouth: Helen Qin of Mason's Creamery Dishes on Cent's Pizza, Amba and Irie Jamaican

Before moving to Cleveland in 2013, Helen Qin and her husband, Jesse Mason, made homemade ice cream. Now, their Ohio City shop is a local staple. Expecting their first child, the couple dines out about twice a week. Here's where you might find them when they do.

Pizza Night. “We go to Cent’s and Il Rione [in Ohio City] the most. From Il Rione, the Diavolo ($17) with chilies, spicy salami, red onions. At Cent’s, we get the plain tomato ($14). It’s just pasta sauce and breadcrumbs, and then you can get anchovies on it. Very good.”

Cheap and Easy. “Irie Jamaican Kitchen [in Euclid, Old Brooklyn and Akron] is really fast, and the food very flavorful. The jerk chicken bowl ($8.99), and then they also have a plantain bowl ($9.75) that’s just like plantains with different toppings. It’s sweet, almost like a dessert meal.”

Longtime favorite. “I would go with Momocho [in Ohio City]. The nice thing is [chef Eric Williams] really is always switching up their menu. So there are always different kinds of taco iterations — we always try to try something new. But I mean, the tacos and everything are all really great."

Go-To Sushi. “There’s a place in Mentor-On-The Lake called Ninja Sushi and Hibachi, and the chef actually does a really nice Omakase menu, which is like a tasty menu of sushi, and that’s been really great to go-to. It’s always a surprise, which is nice.”

Chef Who Inspires her. “Doug Katz just does a really wonderful job with managing and operating all of his restaurants. Amba, which opened in Ohio City a few months ago, is the one we've been to most recently. They have crispy puris ($13), which is kind of like a very typical Indian street food, kind of like these crispy bread balls.”