Fifty Six West - Lakewood Eclectic

This is the first of my Groupon deals that I have used and I am glad I did.  In this case, I got a $20 coupon for $9; using the coupon was easy, I gave it to my friendly server when I was seated and ended up not even seeing a check, all I had to do at the end was leave a tip.  Nice, easy, a very good deal and about the only downside was I may have had too much food.  You might want to give Groupon a try, they will email you a different deal each day, you just look until you find something interesting.  If you want to try it the link is here.

56W is located in two small storefronts on the corner of Detroit and Westlake Avenue, with the address being 16300 Detroit Avenue (Map is here).  The small brick building has a nice light blue awning over the door, with the 56W logo.  Once inside you find two nice clean rooms, with the majority of the tables in the dining room on the left.  The decor is modern and comfortable, the word that came to mind for me was tidy.  Tables are clean with a limited number of condiments.  Overall the feeling is relaxed and comfortable. 

The menu is an interesting mix of items, with 5 basic proteins served up as salads, sandwiches and large plates.  Add in some interesting appetizers and sides, plus some unusual sauces and you have an mix of the familiar and the exotic.  I found the food to be very good quality and well prepared.  Items are dominated by one or two major flavors, but those are usually interesting.

In this case I thought the food was very very good, especially for the price, but each item seemed like a small tweak here or there could have moved it up to excellent, this may just be my taste, but with a place this good you want to see them take the next step.

I started with a cup of the Veggie Chili which was one of the two soups available.  For $3 the portion was nice, but could have used some crackers of some kind on the side.  The Chili itself was more of a cross between a regular chili and a vegetable soup; a slightly thickened chili was loaded with vegetables and made a nice hearty start to the meal.  As chilies go this had a nice flavor, although a bit one note and definitely milder then I prefer.  A couple of shots of hot sauce woke it up, but I could have used some kind of meat substitute to make it feel like a real chili.

Next up was the fried pickles appetizer and this was the highlight of meal.  I received a very nice portion of dill pickle wedges beer battered and served with a nice dipping sauce beautifully presented in a modern white bowl.  I have been wanting to try fried pickles for a while now and if this is a what I can expect, I will have them more often.  The slightly sweet beer batter were nicely fried and wonderfully set off the salty flavor of the pickles, added to that was the nice contrast between the texture of the batter and the cooked pickles.  I might have cut the pickle slices a bit thicker so that there was a better balance with the batter.  I did not detect the hot spice that the menu promised and found the red curry dipping sauce to be nice, but nothing special.

My main course was the Seared Tuna sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries.  The tuna were two thin pieces of tuna, seared on the grill and stacked on top of each other with Asian Slaw and a Wasabi Mayo.  The tuna was well cooked, and still moist which was impressive since it is easy to dry out on the grill.  I think the sandwich would have been better with one thicker piece of tuna, which would allow for a sear while keeping the center rare.  Also a marinate before cooking could have deepened the flavor of the fish.  The Wasabi Mayo seemed to be concentrated in a small portion of the sandwich,with a couple of bites having a nose clearing blast and the rest having no Wasabi flavor; I would think making the mayo a bit milder and spreading it more evenly would solve this.  The slaw was crisp and mild, but I didn't get any flavor profile that made it Asian.  The side of sweet potato fries were excellent, with a nice sweetness and a very good and slightly spicy homemade ketchup.  I did not detect the promised chili rub on the fries which would have been a nice contrast.  For the most part the food presentation was nice and modern, but I had no idea why they stuck a big steak knife in the tuna sandwich; I could understand if I had gotten the steak or if the sandwich was so bit it needed to be cut to be eaten, but neither was the case here.

Service was friendly and attentive and it was clear that my waitress knew the menu well, which is always appreciated.

I would give 56W a strong recommendation, this is a place to get some flavorful high quality food at a reasonable price in a relaxed atmosphere.  This is a place that highlights one or two unusual flavors for each item, while not always delivering the punch the menu promises, they still do better than most places in the area.  I have been a bit more critical in this review, because I think 56W has such great potential and is so close.  I look forward to getting back and trying more of the menu.

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream - Columbus Delicacies

So the weather was good on Saturday and I headed down to Columbus on the motorcycle to check out the motorcycle superstores and to try Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.  I saw Jeni's on Food Networks The Best Thing I Ever Ate and I have to say that it ranks right up there with some of the top ice creams I have had.

For those who don't know Jeni's, it is a local Columbus ice cream chain that has 5 locations and is making some excellent ice cream with quality ingredients in unusual flavors.  I stopped at the Dublin, Ohio store which is located in a nice corner space in the heart of the historic downtown.  The shop is clean and crisp, feeling like a modern dairy.   The flavors are a bit more adult and sophisticated then most ice cream places, and if you go to the website here you can see the flavors available.  The guy behind the counter was incredibly friendly and helpful and willing to guide me through the flavors and supply plenty of small tastes to help.

Overall, the Ice Creams I tried were excellent, they had a good texture and the flavors while fairly aggressive were well balanced with subtle characteristics and some clear thoughts of the aftertaste.  I would almost compare the flavor compositions to that wines and the descriptions seem to have that feeling.  To give Clevelanders a reference for comparison, comparing Jeni's to Mitchells Ice Creams, Jeni's is a bit more subtle and balanced, where Mitchells Ice Creams tend to be close to overload in sweetness and fat content, Jeni's manages to taste really good and have a wonderful texture without being excessive.

Now to the flavors, first the couple I tried but go for the full scoop: the Thai Chili packs a real spicy wallop that hits you right up front and lingers a bit, tasty but a bit intimidating and the Dark Chocolate which packs a rich smooth Chocolate flavor and dense consistency, but was a bit more one note then the other flavors.  Now the three flavors I picked (pictured above): the Queen City Cayenne, a rich chocolate with a bit of spice then the heat builds on the aftertaste; this was a unique ice cream for me and the heat plays well with the chocolate, I finished this one first to allow the other mellower flavors to cool my palate.  Savanna Buttermint with white chocolate pieces, the richness of the butter flavor works to temper the strong mint flavor which might otherwise be overwhelming, the white chocolate flakes add a lushness and extra punch to the flavor; this was a great counterbalance to the spiciness of the Queen City.  Finally the Salty Caramel, which has a wonderfully mellow caramel that pops from the salt and then ends with a very mild burnt sugar aftertaste; this was probably the most surprising I tried since the actual flavor profile should be simple, yet they managed to make a complex and satisfying flavor profile.

Cones or dishes are $3.75 for 2 flavors, $4.25 for 3 flavors and $4.75 for 4 flavors.  While the portions are not huge, given the high quality local ingredients and unique flavors, this is well worth the price.

I will visit Jeni's again when I am in the Columbus area, plus , Miles Market does carry Jeni's Ice Cream, unfortunately it is very expensive there.  If you have the chance and are looking for something different and a bit more adult in your ice cream, I don't think you can go wrong with Jeni's.

Pizzazz On the Circle

The end of Passover always means one thing, we can eat bread and pasta again after a week of avoiding them, so a group of us headed over to Pizzazz on the Circle to celebrate.  Pizzazz has been around for quite a while, located in Shaker Heights, nestled into Fairmount Circle, right across from the entrance to john Carrol University, Pizzazz is a good solid Italian restaurant.  (The location is mapped here).

The decor of the dining room is a nice simple combination of comfort and modern; simple wood is set off against warm colors with clean fixtures and modern art prints.  Once seated, service is friendly and efficient even with a larger group.

The menu (which you can see here) is fairly standard modern Italian cooking, with an emphasis on Pizzas, Calzones, Pastas and other Italian favorites.  I ended up ordering the Eggplant Parmigiana dinner, which is a nice portion of fried eggplant topped with some Marinara Sauce and melted cheese and sided with Penne Pasta in more of the same sauce.  The dinner was good, but not great.  The eggplant was sliced pretty thin, which meant that much of the meatiness was lost and the flavor was a bit subdued.  The sauce and cheese were added at the end, so that while they contributed, this never came together into a harmonious whole that is usually better then the sum of its parts.  The penne was fine, and the sauce was ok, a bit light on spices for my taste, but bright and slightly sweet.

The big seller at my table were the Calzones, which were well received and nicely sized, both the small sized.  Probably a good idea to go for the pizza or calzones as they seem to the specialty at Pizzazz.

Overall, Pizzazz is a very nice Italian pizzeria, with pretty good food at decent prices, a very nice location and decor and good service.  What I think it lacks is the actual pizzazz that its name implies, I don't think you will be blown away by Pizzazz, but you will get a nice meal.

Parkview Niteclub Sunday Brunch

A couple of months back I told you how much I enjoyed the Parkview Niteclub (full review is here); I just wanted to post a short update since we stopped by recently for Sunday Brunch.  On Sunday from 11:00am - 3:00pm, Parkview serves a limited Brunch Menu (you can see the menu here).  I went for the Crab and Aspargus Scrambler, which was fresh Asparagus and imitation crab with eggs over english muffins with a Champagne Creme Sauce.   The portion was nice and everything was well cooked, with the Sauce being especially bright and flavorful.  The hashbrowns were nice sized cubes of potatoes which had a good crisp exterior and soft fluffy interior.  My impression was that the food was very good and the portions were fine, with the items a bit overpriced, but made worthwhile due to the creativitiy of the chef on the sauce.  Overall, not a bad place for Sunday Brunch, but probably not worth making any special efforts; I am much more likely to go back for the regular menu than the bruch.