Piero's Pasta House - Geneva Gem

Over the years I have heard rumors about this amazing pasta place in Geneva on the Lake that was only open during the summer season. Well the rumors are true. I rode up on a Thursday night and was very impressed. Located at 5367 Lake Rd E, Geneva, Ohio on the East end of the commercial strip, Piero's doesn't look like much from the outside. The inside is another story. The room is relatively small with tables packed close together, so I would guess the place seats less then 50. The decor is faux Mediterranean, with with the ceiling decorated to look like a vineyard and a mural on the back wall. But overall it feels like someone had a vision and has followed through. Of course the thing that will really strike you about the room is the open kitchen with the large menu board above it that runs across one side of the small room. You get to watch and even better smell the dinners being prepared. The menu board gives you the full menu. A couple of appetizers and salads are available, but everything else on the menu is pastas ranging in price from $9 to $17. The selections sound yummy and include plenty of seafood, vegetable and meat dishes. I tried the seafood combination pasta and it proved a winner. A generous portion of Shrimp, Mussels and Squid were perfectly cooked and served in a perfectly seasoned sauce with wine, capers and red peppers over al dente pasta. I do want to let you know that the chef takes such pride in his dishes that when I requested grated cheese for the pasta he came out of the kitchen to ask me to try it first. I will admit that the dish was so perfectly seasoned, that I passed on the cheese, the way it was prepared it needed nothing. The portion size was good and based on the flavor and the quality this was a good value at $16.95 (and the most expensive thing on the menu). My only regret about the meal was that I ate one of the pieces of crusty italian bread before the pasta came; take my advise and save all the bread to use to sop up the sauce, it is good enough that you will not want to leave a drop on the plate. This is some seriously good authentic Italian food. About the only downsides are that there is no airconditioning and Piero's is only open for dinner Wednesdays to Sundays from May through October. I would highly recommend that you head to Geneva on the Lake and give Piero's a try.

Shuhei - Best Restaurant Ever

I have been promising for some time to give my review of Shuhei Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar, well here it is. I do think that I have to start off with a bit of a disclaimer, Hiroshi and Sonja who own Shuhei are very close personal friends and I worked at Shuhei and Shijuro (its predecessor) while putting myself through law school. I will try to give a objective view, but at least I am upfront about any bias. Shuhei is located at 23360 Chagrin Blvd, close to Green Road in Beachwood. The restaurant is in the back of a set of a small colonial style office building. There is a small sign out front and plenty of parking in the back. The entrance is under the awning Once you enter the restaurant it is a different story. Tan walls with ash wood accents set off Shuhei's impressive collection of prints and other art. Among the highlights is the display case in the waiting area which shows off a beautiful and highly detailed wedding kimono. The overall feeling is of classic Japanese style. The dark tables and chairs present a nice background for the simple table settings and the wonderful food. The servers wear traditional Japanese clothing, with the waitresses in kimonos and the men in "happy jackets". Shuhei has an experienced and knowledgeable wait staff that do a great job of taking care of their customers. The food, well that is hard to beat. Having spent a lot of time in the kitchen here I can tell you that the vast majority of sauces and dressings are made fresh from scratch. The ingredients are of incredibly high quality and are carefully prepared. What would shock most people is the amount of prep time that goes in a Shuhei, they work hard all day to be ready to make the best food possible. For the most part food preparation and presentation stays close to the traditional Japanese style, which is a good thing when it is done as expertly as this. Lets start at the sushi bar where the highly skilled sushi chefs combine the freshest fish and seafood with rice, seaweed and other vegetables to make the best sushi in the area. Whether you order a simple maki roll up to the large assorted sushi and sashimi platters, presentation is carefully considered and the plates are works of art. One of the tests of a good sushi bar is how they do on the simple straight forward nigiri sushi, where the fish is presented on top of a rice pellet. At Shuhei the freshness of the fish along with the skill of the chef shines through, the fish melts in your mouth with a nice contrast from the vinegared rice and the wasabi. Some of my favorites and suggestions to try are the scallop sushi, large fresh scallops served raw allow you to experience the slightly sweet taste and the wonderful texture; the spider roll, taking a perfectly fried soft shell crab and rolling it with lettuce and slightly spicey mayo for a great flavor combination; and the Nippon Kai Salad, an assortment of raw fish and seafood cut up into smaller pieces and served over a light vegetable salad with special miso flavored dressing that allows you to try a wide variety in an appetizer. You cannot go wrong with any of the sushi dinners, but if you want something a bit different try the Chirashi dinner. Instead of individual pieces of sushi, you will get a very nice assortment of fish and seafood on top of a bed of the sushi rice. The rest of the menu is perfectly prepared Japanese food presented simply, but elegantly. Japanese cooking tends to emphasize simple flavors using the freshest foods available. It is hard to go wrong with anything on the menu, but once again some of my favorites. The tempura at Shuhei is how I think tempura should be. Shrimp and vegetables are battered and then deep fried in such a way as to result in an incredibly light and flavorful, but cruchy outside with the inside being perfectly cooked; you cannot go wrong with any of the tempura items. The fish dishes are all incredibly fresh and perfectly cooked and then mated with an appropriate sauce. The hot pot meals come out in a large iron pot steaming hot and loaded to the brim with goodness. The salad entrees and noodle dishes are outstanding, especially as a lunch. If your idea of Ramen is the little packets you buy at the Supermarket, you should try Shuhei's version. A bowl of noodle with a slightly spicy broth is topped with shrimp or beef and stir fried vegetables. If something on the menu sounds good, give it a try since it should exceed your expectations. Shuhei is certainly not the cheapest restaurant and with the number of Japanese restaurants that continue to open in the area there are a lot of choices, but Shuhei shows that value comes from excellent food expertly prepared and served in a well designed restaurant. The food, service and ambience are all top notch and there is a reason that Shuhei has remained one of Cleveland's top restaurants.

Rosati's Custard

So I am headed home from Agave's (see previous post) feeling pretty happy, but still could use something sweet; and there is a nice little roadside stand with a giant cone sticking up. So I pull into Rosati's Custard 95 E. Aurora Road. The place looks immaculately clean and the menu is very nice without being hokey. The flavors available today, Chocolate and Vanilla along with specials Cherry Vanilla and Cotton Candy. I decide to go basic and get a medium cone with Chocolate and Vanilla. The portion is nice sized and the custard is outstanding. Not overly sweet, but thick and rich with wholesome flavor. A great find, although certainly not a hidden gem, since Roati's is well know in the area, I would say that Rosati's is even better then East Coast Custard.

Agaves - Very Good Mexican Restaurant

UPDATED 6/24/2010 - I was by and they are out of business.

UPDATED - went back for a second dinner and tried the Shrimp Diabla. The portion of shrimp was generous and they were excellently cooked, the sauce was good, if a little mild for my taste, but this place is a winner. One note is to pay attention to what is suppose to come with the meals, they tend to just serve the rice and beans, no matter what the menu says, and in this case it was worth asking for the Guacamole; as it was fresh, flavorful with just the right amount of contrast from the crunchy bits. Well, my Mexican food hunt finally pays off in a big way. Of course it was a result of luck. On Sunday I was riding through the Cuyahoga Valley and needed to stop at a Marc's for a Birthday card for my niece. I remembered there was one on W. Aurora Road coming up from the Valley so I stopped. As I was pulling out I noticed that a new Mexican restaurant had gone into the strip mall so I came back on Monday night to give it a try. From the outside Agave Mexican Restaurant is nothing special. Located at 470 W. Aurora Road in Northfield Center it sits at the front of a little shopping center with a fairly plain sign out front and a couple of awnings. Inside is not much more impressive. The walls have been painted a light yellow with orange accents to hide what looks to be a standard restaurant setup. They have added some framed prints. Overall the impression is of a quick makeover, but it is clean. It appears that they spent more on the flat screen at the end of the room then they did on the whole rest of the decor. Once down in the booth a large basket of chips and a bowl of salsa are delivered. The chips are good, fresh and light, the salsa is a bit light on accents to the tomato, but with a little hot sauce added it was pretty good. The first surprise was the menu. Some time and energy went into putting this together. There are quite a lot of choices and they range a lot farther then the typical Mexican restaurant menu. I was especially impressed by the Seafood selection, which was long and varied. But since it was my first time I decided to go with some simple items to see how the food is. I ordered a combination plate with a bean burrito, chili relleno, rice and beans, very reasonably priced at under $8. The food came out on a large orange platter and looked good and wholesome. The second surprise was the flavor. This was Mexican food prepared very well, with bright flavors and simple preparations. The bean burrito was simply that, refried beans in a flour tortilla with a red sauce on top. What made this work was the flavorful beans and the delightfully zippy sauce. Even better was the Chili Relleno; usually batter fried, in this preparation the pepper stuffed with a mild cheese was without batter, but perfectly cooked and then topped with a wonderful tomatillo green sauce. The pepper to cheese balance was just right with the flavor of the cooked pepper coming through. The sauce was a perfect compliment and my biggest problem was that I had soaked up all the sauce before I finished the pepper. The beans on the plate were also good and the rice was well prepared. Overall one of the better Mexican meals I have had in a while. Service was good, water was refilled, check was delivered at the end of the meal and the waiter was friendly without being overbearing. My overall impression is that Agave serves very good, simple Mexican food at reasonable prices. The decor could use some work, but as long as the food is good, I'll be back. I already know that I want to try some of the Shrimp dishes. If you are looking for some good Mexican food I recommend you give Agave a try.

Watami and Yellowtail - Japanese Buffets

After all the Chinese Buffets we have had to deal with, Northeast Ohio has recently gotten two Japanese Buffets. Now I love Japanese food and have a bit of knowledge since I spent quite a few years working at Shijuro and then Shuhei restaurants, so I figured I at least had to check them out. First up is Watami Japanese Seafood Buffet at 7703 Ridgewood Drive in Parma. This is in the Parmatown strip mall. A nice sized, but not overly large restaurant has been carved out. The setting is very nice and simple, with clean lines and light wood accents; the tables are up front with the buffet in back. The overall feeling is clean and light, with a modern Asian feel. The buffet is divided into two sections, on the right is the hot side. You start with a couple of soups, miso and a crab miso. Both are acceptable, if a little strong to my taste. You then have a steam table of Japanese hot food. The Tempura falls short, with the breading not nearly light enough. The fried rice and yakisoba were pretty good, but this is not what you come to a buffet for. Overall, most of the hot food is not quite up to snuff, I blame this primarily on having to sit on the steamtable; not the best condition for Japanese food. On the Left side is the cold side, which comes through much better. The front has a number of cold salads, I tried a couple and they were not bad. Next comes the Sushi section. A number of Sushi Chefs turn out a variety of maki (rolled) and nigiri sushi. In addition to the items that they put out on the buffet, they will make selected handrolls upon request. The selection is heavily weighted towards the maki rolls, with a limited selection of nigiri sushi (where the fish is on top of the rice). While the sushi here is better then any other buffet I have tried in the area, it still is not quite up to true Sushi Bar quality. The rice is cooked properly, but it is a bit underseasoned; a problem with much of the mass produced sushi, they just do not add enough vinegar to the rice and there is no wasabi on the nigiri. At Watami, I found the fish and seafood generally fresh. Rather then rely on the best quality fish simply prepared for the sushi, Watami tends to go more towards the combination rolls, where the fish will have other food to accent it. I did want to add that the desserts that I tried were actually pretty good. The cakes were moist and flavorful and the fruit was fresh. My overall experience at Watami was good, and with a lunch time price is $7.99 Monday-Thursday and $8.99 Friday and Saturday I felt like I got my moneys worth. I have moved away from buffets, preferring to get made to order food in reasonable quantities, but if you are in the area and need to really fill up, you should consider giving Watami a try. A good place to fill up and a step above the typical Chinese Buffet. Yellowtail Seafood Sushi Buffet is in Fairlawn at 4054 Medina Road, which is right by the I-8O ramp. It is located in one of the shopping centers and took over a space that used to be a Chinese Buffet. Walking in I was impressed, this is a large restaurant and clearly a lot of time and money was spent on transforming the space. There are a number of glass enclosed dining rooms and a very nice bar area. The buffet is arranged along the middle of the restaurant, in a large U with the hot food on one side, salads on the other and sushi in the middle. Once again the hot food, while looking good, did not hold up well due to having to sit. I did at one point manage to get some tempura just after it had been added to the buffet and it was significantly better then the pieces I had tried earlier, but still not up to top tempura standards. I can tell you that I was disappointed in the crab cakes and crab balls, both of which were more filler then crab. Off of the salad side I tried a couple of items that seemed interesting, but while well prepared, they were nothing special. So lets get to the sushi, since this should be the draw at Yellowtail. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. There is a good variety to choose from, but the quality was lacking. The maki sushi were ok, although quite a few of the items were very similar, with the fish mixed with mayonnaise or other dressing and then used to fill the roll. In the end, this is a way to hide lesser quality fish and seafood, but it tends to make everything similar. Unfortunately the nigiri sushi was even worse. First the rice portions under the fish were too big; which makes sense for a buffet where they are trying to fill you up; but does not make for good sushi. Even worse was that the fish itself was not all top quality. While the White Tuna was good, I did have a piece of the regular Tuna that was quite a bit stronger then it should be. The other fish ranged in quality, but none was what I expect to be used for sushi. The food quality issue was especially upsetting considering that Yellowtail charges $15.95 for lunch and $25 for dinner. At those prices I expect to have top quality food. For me the easy choice is to take that amount and go to a real Japanese Restaurant and have a good meal. I also had a service issue. When my waitress approached me about drinks, I asked what came with the buffet, she listed off soft drinks, ice tea and the like; I had the ice tea. Imagine my surprise when there was an additional $2 charge for the drink. I called this to my waitresses attention; while she apologized she did not take the extra charge off the bill. So my recommendation is to stay away from Yellowtail, while the place looks great, it is overpriced, the food quality is mediocre and they have some of the worst sushi I have had. You get a much better deal at Watami, but for me I am headed for Shuhei and some good food.

Los Gallos - Bedford Mexican

The hunt continues. While headed through Bedford to the Metropark I noticed a new Mexican Restaurant at 630 Broadway Avenue, just as you head into Downtown Bedford. Plenty of parking and the building looks like it has been nicely restored. Inside it is typical Mexican restaurant decor, bright colors, festive hangings and painted fake bricks peaking through painted fake plaster. It looks OK, but certainly if you have been to a couple of these places, nothing you haven't seen before. I sat outside at the small patio, nice, but I get the feeling the plastic tables and chairs will not hold up over time. A nice little fountain is in the corner. We start with the chips and salsa and surprisingly a cup of coleslaw. The chips are ok, but not great and the salsa is good if very mild, a situation easily remedied with the hot sauce on the table. I am still not sure why I was given the Coleslaw, but it was fine, if nothing special. For lunch I had a vegetarian Chili Relleno platter which came with a Taco, beans and a Guacamole Salad. When brought out I was impressed with both the portion size and the presentation. The Chili Relleno was very large and looked great with a vivid red sauce and pepper and onion pieces. The Guacamole on top of the salad was a beautiful green and just perfectly gooey. The taste of the items did not live up to the high expectations created by the presentation. The Relleno, while good, was a bit bland and with the cheese inside overpowering the rest of the dish. The Guacamole lacked any punch or contrast, it seemed to be just avocado. On the whole the food was OK, but nothing special. To me it seemed underseasoned. Service was acceptable, with a minor glitch that was corrected after I called the waiter's attention to it. I did kind of find it strange to be addressed by the waiter as "My Friend", but that is just me. To wrap up, Los Gallos gets a general OK, yet another Mexican Restaurant that offers decent food at an OK price. If only the flavors lived up to how good the food looked coming out.