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.