ABC Tavern

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It seems that lately people have been raging hardcore against Melt. New York and San Francisco have dealt with small unknown restaurants having their original customers crowded out due to national media exposure or just straight up local popularity for years. In Melt’s case I think Guy Fieri put the final nail in the coffin for a lot of Clevelanders. Waits even at ridiculously stupid hours of 3 in the afternoon – during the week – can leave you faced with a 45 minutes to burn until your table is ready.

I was very curious to see what impact, if any, would be felt on Detroit Rd. once the east side location finally opened up. If there’s been a reduction in volume – I haven’t seen it. Having eaten most of what I want off of the regular menu, I’m more inclined buy the soups or specials “to go”. I encourage you to become a fan on Facebook. They send out a list of their specials every morning.

I’m actually happy that Matt Fish has struck gold with this concept. It’s good to see someone besides The Cleveland Clinic cranking the money machine on the North Coast. Anyone who can get 100+ people and counting to get Melt inspired tattoos permanently stained on their bodies is clearly onto something.

My normal Melt alternative – since I won’t go there to sit down and eat – is Buckeye Beer Engine (review here). I love the 20+ draft beers on they have on tap. For craft brew fans it’s a great place to go to try something you may have seen at the store but didn’t want to buy an entire six of. Actually, this is how I found my 2010 favorite – Tröegs Nugget Nectar. I love drinking this stuff with barbecue. Like Melt, I also love their specials. The fact that any burger BBE makes can be offered up as a beef patty, chicken breast, or portabella mushroom is a nice touch, too.

ABC Tavern

I have heard a lot of people say some great things about the food at this small bar/restaurant on West 25th St. in Ohio City. Not really knowing what to expect we decided to give it a go this past Saturday night.

In a word – awesome. The menu is fairly small (not like Hiroshi’s Pub). Have seen that menu? Holy shit. That thing makes Cheesecake Factory look like the Wendy’s Value Menu. Anyways….the menu at ABC is very thoughtful and creative. They aren’t being different simply to be different. It’s different good….real good.

We are suckers for calamari. I know most kitchens cringe at the thought of this brain dead little appetizer but ABC throws it down. A very light breading with a lime and something sauce that was so good I saved what was leftover for my fries. Regina had this lamb, cucumber, pita thing that is not what you would normally expect. The pitas were more like flatbreads that had a buttery crispness to them. Very good. I ordered the Atomic Hot Dog which consisted of a jalapeno stuffed hotdog, wrapped in bacon, deep fried, placed on a hot dog bun with chili oil, and topped with a Srachia aioli. Loved it. Spicy. Crispy. Salty. Delicious. I wanted another one right after I finished it. (Deep fried hotdogs kick ass. See: Hot Dog Johnny’s, Buttzville, New Jersey.)

After we finished our dinner (and a couple of Heavy Seas Pale Ales- aaard!), we were talking to the bartender. He said that they have another place opening in October in the Gordon Park neighborhood called XYZ Tavern. This new incarnation is going to be a little more dining and a little less bar than ABC. I can't wait to try it out.

I walked out satiated and smiling. An appetizer, two entrees, two craft beer drafts, and a tip ended up being all of $35. I guess that’s the one thing I wish we had more of on the east side is places like Buckeye Beer Engine and ABC Tavern. I think one could make an argument for Brennan’s Colony, but I think BBE has everyone beat on beer selection, ABC wins out on food, and Melt wins out on concept and a combination of food and beer. I enjoy them all.

ABC Tavern
1872West 25th Street
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 861-3857

Would you like some change with that?

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Last week we stopped by the West Side Market to pick up a couple things. I had heard about the cuban sandwich at Lelolai Bakery and Cafe. Regina wanted falafel from Nate's Deli.

Since I knew my lunch would be a little bit quicker to order (and make), we decided to go to Lelolai first. As we were about to walk in the front door I was tapped up by an elderly panhandler for some food money.

"You got any change so I can buy a sandwich?"

"Come on in, I'll get you one.", I told him.

With a confused but excited look on his face the man came in with us to order a sandwich.

I ordered the regular Cuban Sandwich with fresh roasted pork, swiss cheese, mayo, lettuce, and tomato). My new found friend opted for the Corned Beef sandwich (with extra cheese).

As I was about to pay, the man then says, "Hey! What is this?"

When he was informed that it was bread putting he said, "I'll have that!"

The counter guy peered up at me is if to seek my approval. Not believing what was going on I just said, "That's fine, add a bread pudding for him."

Just as the guy gave me my new total, the entitled panhandler declared, "...and a large coke, too!"

Wanting to bust out a Judge Smails and say, "You'll get nothing and like it!"

I instead told the cashier, "Hurry up and ring it up before he orders anything else."

I have to say, at this point I felt bad for the guy at the counter because now the panhandler was bugging him for anything extra he could get. Sorry that I ever made the offer in the first place - I just sat and waited for my order.

The sandwich was decent. I don't want to pass too much judgment on the quality of the food because at this point I was somewhat steamed by the events that had just taken place. I will say this: they make all of their bread and roasted pork on the premises. I don't know that I would go out of my way to come here, but judging by all of the people in the store - it's popular.

So after wolfing down my sandwich I went by the door to throw away my wrappers. As I went to leave, my now satiated (or so I thought) friend comes up to me.

"Listen, I didn't get to thank you for the sandwich."

"...and the bread pudding, and the coke.", I thought to myself.

"No problem.", I told him.

"Say, would you happen to have any change on you?" he asked (with a completely serious look on his face).

Absolutely gobsmacked, all I could manage to say was, "No, sorry dude."

That sandwich may have been somewhat forgettable, but the story wasn't. So if you happen to be in Ohio City and you see a elderly man struggling to carry his watermelon sized balls around, run the other way.

Lelolai Bakery & Café
1889 W 25th St
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 771-9956
www.lelolaibakery.com

Le Petit Triangle Cafe

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I enjoy going to places that are not like anything else in the city. I don't think I've been anywhere that is quite like Le Petit Triangle Cafe.

Located in Ohio City, LPTC is nestled in a small space on the corner of Fulton and West 32nd Streets. The inside of the cafe only has about 7 or 8 tables. As you walk in the door the "kitchen area", which is open to the rest of the cafe, is on your right. The tables run the length of the left hand side of the space.

What is neat about the cooking area is that the counter is only waist high and as best as I can remember is not at all hidden by heat lamps and shelves. Everything that is being prepared is in plain sight of everyone sitting at their tables.

Since I had just eaten at the Seti's truck, it was Regina that was going to do the ordering. As a dutiful husband I was willing to help her finish her food if needed.

She decided on the Smoked Trout Plate which came with capers, red onion, crackers, and chopped egg. Always a sucker for lentils she also ordered the Warm Lentils with a lemon dressing.

While I can't speak for the lentils, I can say that the Smoked Trout was very good. I think what I liked the most was that there was a good variety of crackers to go along with the fish.

I think it's just a really comfortable place to eat. It almost seems as if it's been there for decades. The outdoor area looks like it would be in high demand during the summer. Le Petit Triangle certainly makes my top five for Ohio City.

Le Petit Triangle Cafe
1881 Fulton Rd Cleveland, OH 44113 (216) 281-1881 www.lepetittrianglecafe.com

Light Bistro

I’ve actually been to Light Bistro a couple of times in the past for dinner and had okay dinners. The biggest problem I’ve found in the past is that the food has been slow to come out. I actually found this to be a huge problem at its predecessor, Parker’s.

We figured we’d give the happy hour specials a try this go around. Let me just start by saying that the experiences were night and day. When our waiter came over he started off by telling us that it was $5 for a glass or $10 for a bottle of the Malbec blend. Hmmm, that’s easy math.

We went through the large selection of items on the happy hour menu. I loved it. We ordered the Pork Belly Finger Sandwiches on grain bread with Spicy Aioli, Crawfish Sloppy Joe which was Crawfish tail meat, Bell peppers with a tangy sauce. Since I ate the majority of the pork belly and crawfish, I opted for the Lamb Burger (also off the happy hour menu). Regina went with an actual entrée of Caramelized Scallops served with Sweet Corn, Bacon, and Spinach. She loved the portion size and thought all of the flavors on the plate went well together.

We’re actually very glad we tried their happy hour because it turned out to be a much more enjoyable evening. I thought the cadence in which our food came out was much improved over what we had experienced in the past. Whether or not it was the small plates we ordered, I don’t know. Whatever it was, though, it was much improved. If you’ve been here in the past and not liked it I would suggest you try the happy hour, it was a much more enjoyable experience this time around.

Light Bistro
2801 Bridge Ave
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 771-7130
www.lightbistro.com

Flying Fig: Past and Present

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I’ve lived in Cleveland the majority of my life, but it wasn’t until a few years ago, that I had an “epiphany” of sorts with regard to what fantastic dining experiences this city has to offer. At the time, my husband and I were living in Philadelphia, and expanding our culinary horizons with dinners at places like Buddakan and Django.

We returned to Cleveland in the Spring of 2006 for a family wedding and decided to have our first dinner at the Flying Fig. I recall the ever so charming waiter suggesting a dinner comprised of three of their small plates…the most memorable of all being the Hoisin glazed short ribs. With that meal, I fell in love with this the Fig. The ribs were fall off the bone, melt in your mouth, sweet and salty goodness. To this day, I yearn to see those Hoisin short ribs back on the menu (over a year ago they were replaced with a Pilsner reduction version…no offense, but they just aren’t as good). I’ve even gone as far as writing Karen Small, the chef and owner of the Flying Fig, to request the recipe (she politely declined and indicated they may return again some day…I’m still waiting and watching the menu….patiently….).

My not so secret yearning for the return of the Hoisin glazed short ribs to the menu is part of what brings me back to the Flying Fig again and again. However, on this occasion what also brought us in was my husband’s desire for their kickin’ $5 Blue Cheese Burger and Fries off the Happy Hour menu. A gourmet, full size burger and fries, for $5…you can’t beat that with a stick in this economy. I went with what has become my current darling on their dinner menu – the Seared Duck Breast & Confit of Duck Leg with Butternut Squash Spaetzle, Brussel Sprouts with Bacon & Apple and a Cranberry Reduction ($25). I’m a bit of a sauce girl, and as a result, I just couldn’t get enough of the sweet cranberry reduction. It reminded me of the cranberry compote that they’ve served with the cheese plate in the past, not too thin and definitely thick enough to coat each delectable piece of duck.

This evening I had what I considered to be one of their best and most generous desserts, the Peach and Blueberry Crisp. I switched out the Buttermilk ice cream for Cinnamon Almond ice cream, and let me tell you, that was a winner of a substitution. Cal had the dessert special of the evening, which was French Toast with Strawberry compote and a Maple Reduction. They were just about to launch their new Brunch service, so we felt this dessert might have been a trial run of sorts. He only shared a small taste of the Maple reduction sauce, which was super thick and better than any maple syrup I’ve ever tasted.



All in all, it was a solid, well rounded meal and we went home as happy as we could be considering we had just returned from Hawaii the day before.

I look forward to returning the Flying Fig, always in search of new favorites and ever dreaming that my first true love, the hoisin glazed short ribs, will return again some day to grace my palate.

Touch

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It amazes me that Ohio City has so many dining choices in just a four block area. I suppose that's one of the reasons I have never been to Touch Supper Club for dinner (I had been there once before for lunch but didn't really feel that another hamburger review was necessary).

For appetizers we started off with the Calamari, West Side Market Cheese and Charcuterie (very substantial; a large amount of cheese), the Belgian Frites (which met the definition of what I consider frites to be; thin, crispy, with some seasoning). While we're on the subject of frites, am I the only one who thinks the version at Bar Cento are too thick? There's a place called Monk's in Philadelphia that had awesome frites with different dipping mayos and an incredible assortment of Belgian beer.

I ordered the Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage brown butter, hazel nut sauce. I've usually had these where the squash filling is a puree, but in this case it was a chunkier filling, essentially a small dice. I enjoyed, and appreciated the different approach.

Regina had the Duck Confit with the Warm Mushroom Salad, which she thought was okay. In all fairness she despises salad and probably should have ordered a side or substituted it.

Some of the others at our table had the Flank Steak, Hamburger, and Brined Pounded Pork Chop. Of the three I'd say the pork chop looked the most interesting. The chop came with Cranberry Vinegarette and Butternut Squash Risotto. I'm a sucker for all things cranberry.

Normally we're dessert people; not tonight. I was completely full. Only my brother-in-law Mike had room left for dessert, Berries Foster (not to be mistaken with former Steelers running back Barry Foster).

My overall impression? I wish they'd change the name. It has an adult entertainment kind of ring to it. The service can be a bit slow for my liking.

On the plus side, the food reminds me a lot of Luxe. There's a certain level of quality and desire to try different things that I find very appealing. It's clear that Chef Jeff Fisher has created a menu that offers something for everyone, while not mailing in a "been there done that" kind of menu.

As a side note, I really like some of the artwork inside the restaurant (especially the series that hangs behind the bar).

I enjoyed my evening here. I think it's a great atmosphere with a really good menu. I will definitely be back.

Touch Supper Club
2710 Lorain Ave
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 631-5200
www.touchohiocity.com

May I please have some mo’ Momocho?

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I know it’s going to seem like I’m just piling onto the “I Love Momocho” bandwagon, but we went there last Sunday for my birthday. Since it was my birthday I got to chose where we were eating.

Since it was Sunday I figured we might as well go someplace on the West Side. Weekends are usually West Side dinners so we don’t have to hurry around at the end of the day to get out of work. We were also meeting her parents there, so it was a nice in-between place for us to meet.

Naturally, I wanted to sit outside. While it isn’t Three Birds or Sergio’s, the outside area at Momocho is really nice. I think it makes my top ten of outdoor eating areas in Cleveland.

So we all sit down and the first thing the server says is that there all out of the grasshoppers.

I was crushed.

The whole reason I chose it was because I wanted to try those things. The one day I decide to go and they don’t have them. Isn’t that nice?!?

Once the disappointment passed we decided to get 3 different types of guacamole to start off (trout, blue crab, and pineapple). This is usually the problem when we go out with my father-in-law: We can’t figure which one or ones to get so he just says to get them all. This is nice for sampling, but bad for stomach room.

For the entrees my father-in-law went with the safe play and got the scallops. Personally, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better scallop dish in this city. If I could choose only one, this would be it. Regina got the mahi mahi tacos. She thought they were okay, but a little dry. My Mother-in-law got the crab cakes, which she really liked. I had the sixteen spice grilled chicken. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve had better things off the menu.

This was the first time we’d ever had the dessert at Momocho. Without any kind of warning we each got something. All I can say, is that the Fried Ice Cream was big enough for 3 people. All told, there was a lot left over. As is the case with most Latin restaurants the desserts are fairly ordinary. If I had it to do over I probably would have passed on the dessert.

I saw Chef Eric Williams at the benefit for Annie Chiue. When I asked him what the deal was with the grasshoppers he basically said that they’ve been really popular and every couple of weeks they run out of them. That was good enough for me. It’s not like you’re going to go down to West Side Market and buy some more, are you?

I always enjoy coming here, especially in the summer. Even though my dinner wasn’t out of this world, it was good. I try not to get the same thing every time I go someplace I’ve been. I like to change it up. In this case it was just okay. Maybe next time I’ll call ahead to make sure they have the grasshoppers.

Finishing the Week at Flying Fig

We figured that since our take from the Grower's Market at Shaker Square was rather large we knew we'd being eating at home during the week. After tonight we were going to give the credit card a rest. We decided to head over to the west side to The Flying Fig. Regina loves small plates; so I never have to twist her arm to go there. She is all about smaller portions but more options. I am more of an entree kind of person. I really think Chef Karen Small does both things very well. I would do the three small plates for the price of an entree thing if there was nothing to choose off of the entree menu, but tonight I would've ordered any one of those entrees.

As a starter we got the cheese plate. Lately this has been our MO. I like it because it keeps you from garbaging up on anything too heavy. The cheese plate here is actually one of my favorites along with 3 Birds and Parallax. It has 3 different types of cheese, along with blueberries and sauce, pecans, bread, and crackers. I think it's a winner.

Regina predictably got the 3 small plate sampler which was comprised of Mackenzie Creamery Goat Cheese Mousse, Pork Belly, and Braised Lamb Shank with Carrots and Scallion Pan Cake (more like a crepe). I wasn't so kean on the Goat Cheese Mousse, but she seemed to like it. The Pork Belly and Lamb Shank (which were specials) were sex on plate. Really, really good!

I ordered the Grilled Short Ribs with Horseradish Potato Puree, Haricot Vert, Pilsner Reduction. I am a sucker for the short ribs here. I've ordered them in a couple of different forms and they never require a knife to eat. Tonight was no exception. It was the first time I'd ever had the Pilsner reduction. It was so good my wife was using it with her pork belly and lamb shank. Finally I had to cut her off when she started licking the plate. Alright, I lied about the last part, but I think she was about to when the server took it away.

Dessert is the one area that I've always thought that The Flying Fig comes up short. Usually it has to do with the portioning of the desserts themselves. Tonight we were pleasantly surprised. I had the Blueberry Bignet with Vanilla Ice Cream. I have to say, it was the perfect size. The dessert I had at Red the night before was borderline glutony. Regina ordered Chocolate Banana Cinnamon Bread Pudding. The bread pudding appeared to have been made in a pop-over pan, which was accompanied by some caramelized bananas. Again, it was well portioned and very tasty.

Tonight was the first night we'd ever eaten outside at The Fig. Not only was it a pleasant night weatherwise, it was also fairly quiet with it being Sunday night. The only disturbance we had was when a guy on rollerblades came through screaming, "GET OUT OF MY COVE!!!, as he flew down the street. This is in the Top 10 of my favorite Cleveland restaurants. Now that the desserts are up to snuff, who know, maybe Top 5. If you can get a seat outside it's a nice little side street to people watch. If you think of it, request Leslie. She's a fantastic server who knows the menu inside and out.

Update January 13, 2008
We started the dinner off with the Cheese Plate (Gouda, Ashed Goat Cheese, Triple Cream Brie)
I had the $5 Blue Cheese Hamburger with Skinny Fries, Happy Hour special - good deal.
Regina had the Duck Confit with Brussels Sprouts, she absolutely loved it.
For dessert I had the Chocolate Lava Cake, very good.
Regina had the apple and blueberry crisp - she thought it was a little watery.