Frozen Dee-Lite Cafe - Old Fashion Take Out

For the past couple of years whenever I have been out East on Route 422, usually headed to or from Nelson's Ledges, I have always been interested in the big take out place at the fork in the road in Parkman, Ohio. So since Sunday was a nice day I hopped on the motorcycle and headed out that way. Turns out the place is called the Frozen Dee-Lite Cafe, its address is 16508 Main Market Rd, Parkman, Ohio (see map here). A long building with an orange/red steeple on top, it is hard to miss. The set up here is interesting, there are a series of windows along the outside wall where you place your orders, behind the windows is the kitchen and then there is an enclosed dining area with a bunch of tables so you can eat inside, but you have to order outside. The menu is actually quite extensive, with everything from burgers to pizza to Cincinnati style chili. And there are a whole lot of ice cream choices, both soft serve and hard ice cream. I tried the clam strips and an order of the sweet potato fries. The clams were a portion of typical frozen clams, nicely fried and served with a typical tarter sauce. While nothing to make a trip for, they were pretty good. The sweet potato fries were very nice, although they were served as more of a desert, topped with powdered sugar and sided with a brown sugar butter that was very good. The fried items were very clean tasting, it is apparent that they use a good oil and clean it regularly. Since there was only one person working I had to wait while he completed the previous order, so he gave me a free small soft serve cone. The soft serve was good, nice and creamy with a very nice vanilla flavor. It seems that the Frozen Dee-Lite Cafe is not doing anything exceptional, they are doing a lot of different things very well. This is not a place you are going to get high end ingredients or exotic flavors, but they seem to be taking care to keep things fresh and clean. Definitely worth stopping at if you are in the area. I will probably be using this for a stop when heading home after a hike at the ledges.

La Brasa Restaurant - Authentic Central American Food

La Brasa Restaurant has received write-ups in the Plain Dealer and Scene magazine for offering genuine Central American food; sounds like a place right up my alley, so I headed to the Stockyards area of the West Side to check it out. Located in a storefront at 6110 Denison Avenue, Cleveland Ohio (see map here) 44102, La Brasa is a clean but fairly unadorned spot. As you enter one side has 5 booth type tables and the other has the counter and kitchen. The menu is pictures above the counter with both Spanish and English descriptions, no prices are posted. Although they have worked to make the place clean, it has little actual character other than the American and El Salavordian flags in the front window. The menu is weighted towards chicken so my choices were few, either a cheese empanada or the fish dinner; I ordered the fish. Only later when I asked for a takeout menu did I learn that there were several vegetarian dinner options. For $9 I got 2 large fillets of tilapia pan fried with a large helping of yellow rice and a serving of salad/salsa. The fish was well prepared with a very mild yellow crust, what was lacking was a bit of seasoning, even a little salt and pepper prior to the cooking would have helped; especially with a mild fish like tilapia. The rice was good with a mild taste and the pigeon peas providing a bit of contrast. The highlight was the salad/salsa, which was a fine dice of tomatoes, onions and peppers; rather than a regular green pepper, these had some bite to them and gave the full meal some needed spice. The meal was sided with a caddy holding jalapenos, green and red salsas. The red salsa was very thin and had no heat at all, the green salsa which I was warned was hot had a fairly low heat factor but added much needed flavor to the meal. Overall the meal was good, but not exceptional, not a surprise for a restaurant that has made its reputation around a single item, at La Brasa its roasting chicken over charcoal; if you order something else it is a crap shoot. The decor is dive although the lady behind the counter was nice and friendly. If I ate chicken, I think La Brasa would be a strong recommendation, as it is, it is probably worth checking out as it is fairly unique in this area; we don't see many genuine Central American restaurants, and a good dive is always worth supporting.

Five Guys - Burgers and Fries

You may be asking yourself why is a guy who doesn't eat meat reviewing a burger place; good question, but I have heard about Five Guys for a while and now that they have come to our area I thought I would give them a try so I headed over to their new location at 1237 SOM Center Road in Mayfield Heights. This is part of the new strip mall just North of Eastgate. Five Guys is a snappy set up decorated in white and red tiles with some black accents. A pretty good sized place offers seating at both regular and high tables and a counter along the wall. You enter past piled up bags of potatoes waiting to be made into fries, grab some peanuts in the shells to eat while your order is being made, saunter up to the counter and order from a fairly simple menu. Five Guys offers burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, fries and drinks. That is it, no chicken, fish, happy meals or even milkshakes. Now that does not mean there is no variety as there are plenty of toppings that you can add (bacon and cheese are extra, all of the other toppings are included) from basics like ketchup, tomato and lettuce to the more interesting like grilled onions, mushrooms and jalapenos. I ordered a grilled cheese with grilled onions, mushrooms, green peppers and jalapenos ($2.49) and a regular order of fries ($2.39). While I was waiting for the order to be made I settled in and started eating the very tasty peanuts. About 5 minutes later my number was called and I picked up my order, all of which are served in a bag whether it is to go or for eat in. The grilled cheese was nicely done with the bun grilled nicely and a good portion of the veggies making for a very tasty treat. I especially want to mention the jalapenos which were crisp, fresh and very spicy, helping to take the sandwich up a notch. The fries were very good and the portion size was huge, a regular is suppose to fill a small cup, yet mine seemed to be at least double what I would have expected. The fries are fresh cut and then fried in peanut oil, the result is a very good fry with a nice crisp outside and a well cooked inside, the peanut oil adds a little extra flavor to compliment the good potato taste. Five Guys is decorated with quotes from the many favorable reviews they have gotten around the country; not suprising when they do such a good job and keep their approach basic and focused. I arrived about 1:30pm on a Saturday and the place was very busy and stayed that way; clearly Five Guys is catching on in Cleveland. I admire Five Guys, they have taken an approach of keeping things basic and using quality products to produce very good food at a reasonable price. They do not make excuses, cooking in peanut oil and serving bulk peanuts, they warn if you are allergic you need to stay away. They have not tried to expand their menu or make it overly complicated and they are succeeding with this approach. Go see what you think, they currently have locations in Mayfield Heights, Southpark and Great Northern.

Jimmy John's - Sandwhich Chain

If you have been paying attention, Jimmy John's shops have started popping up around Cleveland; the first one I saw was on Coventry and there is a new one on Richmond between Harvard and Miles. I figured why not give them a try, so I stopped by the Richmond store. First off, I find the menu a bit confusing at JJ (see here), instead of offering different sizes they offer the same ingredients in 3 different variations: a slim (without vegies or sauce), sub (regular) or giant club (double meat and cheese). Since it only was about a $1 more I got the Tuna Club. I find it hard to believe that the Club was double the tuna of a regular sub, since this would mean that the regular sub has not a lot of tuna. Overall the sandwich was good, but I would not describe it as gourmet. The tuna was ok, with a good firm consistency, although I missed the celery and onion that is supposed to be mixed in according to the menu. The bread was good, but not outstanding, firm but not as crusty as I would have liked. The provolone was probably the best part of the sandwich, thin sliced with a good flavor that contrasted nicely with the mild tuna. The other topping were what you would expect, fresh vegies without anything distinctive. To my taste, the JJ sandwich was a good sub, but not terribly distinctive, I would have done better stopping at either Grums (review here) or at Dibella's (review here), both of which deliver better bread and better and more varied toppings, even if the price is higher the value is better.

Caballo Bayo - CLOSED

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

Back in November I tried and really liked Caballo Bayo (see the review here) and I have managed to get back a couple of times for lunch. On Saturday after a rousing game of mini-golf (yes my life is that darned exciting) we had a group of about 12 or so go to Caballo Bayo for a late dinner. The food was very good, but the service suffered. First let me say that they had a table ready for us and that our server was very friendly and tried very hard; unfortunately she didn't seem to be able to get this big of a table organized and the kitchen did not do much to help her. It probably would have been better if they had assigned two servers to the table. I don't want to get into all of the problems, a lot of it was getting the food out in timely manner to the whole table, getting only partial orders and just not enough planning and follow up. As an example a number of people got fajitas and while that was the food that came out first, the fajitas sat there getting cold while they had to wait for the side plates with all of the accouterments, tortillas and plates on which to eat to arrive at the table, easily solved by making sure these things were out before the fajitas themselves came out. One thing that struck me as funny; the dinner fajitas were very large portions, with a lot of fresh veggies cooked with the meat or chicken, however they were served with just two small flour tortillas each, barely enough to make a dent in the pile of food. More tortillas were brought, but it just seemed to be bad portioning to start with. In the end we all got fed and the food was very good, the portions were large and while a bit put off by the service, everyone ended up happy. Caballo Bayo remains a recommended place to get some good Mexican food, I would just avoid taking a large party on a Friday or Saturday night. They have a website at http://www.caballo-bayo.com/.

Souper Market

I was out in Lakewood and wanted to get a quick meal so I stopped in the Souper Market at 14809 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, OH 44107; this is the 2nd location for SM, the first is in Ohio City at 2528 Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113. Souper Market deals up soups and salads. The Lakewood location is a small store front in the middle of downtown Lakewood, it does have a counter with some stools, so you can eat there or take out. I ended up picking up a bowl of the Cream of Asparagus and Crab soup and a Greek Salad. The Crab and Asparagus Cream Soup was good, just the right thickness, creamy without being too dense. It had a good quantity of crab meat, but seemed a little light on the asparagus. While nice it seemed a bit underseasoned to my taste; while the cream base was good I didn't get enough flavor from the crab and asparagus and there was no contrast of any kind. The salad was made to order and was very good, fresh greens with tomatoes, feta, onions and pepprochinis topped with a very good garlic herb vinaigrette (I had them leave off the olives). The greens were fresh and crisp, with the feta and the dressing providing good flavor compliments. With the soup you get a big hunk of very good crusty bread; the perfect compliment for both the soup and salad. Souper Market makes soups from scratch using quality ingredients, I have found that some of the seasonings is a bit mild to my tastes, but it is worth giving it a try.

Big Egg - Cleveland Breakfast Spot

So you have probably heard that the Big Egg is once again open. After being closed down about 7 years ago and then becoming a Vietnamese restaurant for a while, new owners have taken over and reopened the Big Egg in its original location at 5107 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, OH 44102. Since I never made it to the Big Egg in its original run, I figured I would give it a try and see what it has to offer. First a couple of notes, while the original Big Egg was famous for being open 24/7, this current version is open Monday -Saturday 6:00am-9:00pm, Sunday 6:00am-3:00pm. The Egg shaped menus are back, but the Egg shaped sign out front is gone. The Big Egg is a fairly large space, divided into 2 rooms with plenty of tables and booths. The decor is fairly generic, clean and light but not terribly memorable, about the only thing that stood out to me was the fancy chandelier in the other room which seemed out of place with everything else. Service was fast and friendly, what you would hope for in a breakfast setting. The one thing I did not like, but understand is that there are no substitutions allowed for the breakfast specials. In addition to the breakfast menu that is available all day, the Big Egg offers breakfast specials during breakfast hours; these are the same items on the menu at reduced prices. I went with the 2 eggs with hashbrowns ($2.29) and the 3 pancakes ($2.99); the prices are certainly welcome and you can fill up at very affordable prices. The eggs came out cooked over medium as ordered and were good sized and not at all greasy, the hashbrowns were nice, thinly grated potatoes with a good crisp. The pancakes were good sized and fluffy. Although everything was well cooked, it all seemed to lack a certain pizazz; it was a good and filling breakfast, but I not the kind worth making a trip to get. Part of this may have been the choice of syrup for the pancakes, in this case Hungry Jack bottled syrup which just seemed to lack any real distinctive flavor. In addition to breakfast items, the Big Egg offers a large menu of other items, quite a few with a Greek heritage. The new Big Egg is clean, service is good and prices are a value for the amount of food you get, still it all seems to lack a certain something. Worth going to instead of Denny's or if you are in the area, however not worth making a big effort, for me there are better and tastier breakfast options.

The Boneyard - Mayfield Heights Playground

So its Monday and I remembered that The Boneyard has a $5 pizza special so I thought I would check it out. The Boneyard at 5900 Mayfield in Mayfield Heights is located in an old movie theater and it offers probably the best East Side arcade/bar/restaurant set up. Kind of similar to Dave and Busters, but with a bit different decor. You enter in the back and there are three main choices: there is the extensive game room with plenty of different games ranging from the latest video games to more traditional skee ball and other games for kids to win prizes by collecting tickets; there is the bar area with a big central bar and tables all facing the big screen TVs; and the upstairs dining area which also overlooks the big screens. To go with the Boneyard name, there are plenty of funky scull and skeleton designs around and the atmospere is relaxed and kind of hip. The menu is the same in the bar and the restaurant and offers a good variety of items, including some fairly unique offerings such as pierogis, and an appetizer of a big bowl of Lucky Charms. But I was here to try the pizza; the Monday deal is that after 3:00pm you can get a one item pizza for $5. So I ordered up a mushroom pizza and watched the sports shows while I waited. The pizzas are a 9" thin crust variety, cut into 6 pieces, not a bad buy for $5, but not sensational. The crust is a nice combination of crisp outside and chewy inside, but it does have a tendency to sag in the middle, not much rise on the outer crust. The sauce is a bright slightly sweet classic tomato sauce put on in about the right amount. The cheese gives a good covering and is cooked nicely, a bit on the mild side. The mushrooms were ok, but I was disapointed in how few mushrooms were on the pizza, I really didn't get much flavor off of them. Overall the pizza was pleasant, if a bit bland and for $5 not a bad deal, but not sensational, I won't be heading back for this any time soon. I will of course think of hitting the Boneyard when we need to play the video games and it seems to be one of the more happening bars in the area.

Paninis Grill - Overstuffed Sandwiches

So as I mentioned in my review of Primanti Brothers I wanted to get to Panini's to do a direct comparison of the two Overstuffed Sandwiches. So after a hike at Penitentiary Glen this weekend, we headed over to the Panini's in Willoughby. Panini's has clearly followed the model set by Primanti Brothers, the overstuffed sandwiches with fries and coleslaw inside, the sports bar like feel and the overall menu are very similar. And I do have to note here one of my real problems with Panini's; in trying to find a name similar to Primanti, they came up with an Italian sounding name that starts with a P, good enough, except for the fact that there are NO PANINI SANDWICHES ON THE MENU. For those who do not know, a Panini is an Italian sandwich which is cooked on a panini press that compresses and cooks the sandwich, usually leaving very distinctive grill lines in the bread. When done right they are delicious and my panini press is a favorite item in my kitchen. Unfortunately, instead of actually offering these gems, Panini's decided to use the name only and offer a copy of the Primanti's sandwich. I understand that we as Americans believe in taking every other food culture and bastardizing it to suit American tastes, but at least come somewhat close to what you are copying, don't just redefine the meaning of a term. Rant over for now. For those who haven't been to a Panini's Grill, it is a restaurant/ sports bar set up with pretty good food and a pretty good decor. I haven't been to the Willoughby location since the expansion and I have to say they did a really good job. They have added an outdoor Tiki bar out back and to link it to the original dining room, they have also added a new bar/seating area with high ceilings and lots of glass; very nice with an island theme and a good open feeling. The menu is striking similar to that offered by Primanti's, although they have fewer options in the overstuffed sandwhiches, they do offer the option of the regular sandwich or the regular sandwich for $5.99 or the jumbo for $7.99. Figuring the price at Primanti's was closer to the regular, I went with a regular Tuna overstuffed. When the sandwich came it had the now familiar overstuffed stack: two slices of thick Italian bread, tuna salad, french fries, tomato and cheese. Lets go through the sandwich layer by layer. The bread was a very good Italian, I'm guessing from Orlando and I think it was better than the Primanti bread, although not by that much. The main difference was that the Panini's bread was a bit denser, although it still ended up falling apart, it at least gave some resistance. The tuna salad was a bit too moist for my taste, it ended up being a bit soupy, a real liability in a sandwich like this where it kept falling out the sides. The fries were good, hand cut and fried to a nice crisp, compared to Primanti, the fries at Panini's were a bit crisper, but the Primanti fries had a bit more potato flavor. The coleslaw was a major disappointment at Panini's, there was none of the sweet and sour notes that made the Primanti slaw so good, instead it was a rather bland although crisp heap of cabbage. The tomato slice was there and I am not even sure if there was a slice of provolone on the sandwich or not. The portion sizes were good, although I think that Primanti's was more generous with the fries and slaw. My overall impression was that the Primanti Brothers sandwich was far superior, with more distinct and pronounced flavors; although the crisp fries and the bread at Panini's were very good, they were not enough to overcome the better tuna and the far superior slaw that Primanti offers. My recommendation is that while Panini offers a pretty good sandwich, and a very good value at the price, Primanti Brothers offers a much more flavorful and filling offering, of course you have to head down to Pittsburgh to get it so there is that downside. Of course your taste may differ and I just compared the tuna sandwiches, the quality of the meats used could make a huge difference in the other sandwiches, so give them a try and let me know what you think. My choice is that Primanti is the clear winner with Panini's a clear imitation.

Trip to South Florida

I wanted to post some thoughts from my trip to South Florida to visit family and friends. I managed to get out and eat at quite a few different places and thought I would let you know some of what I observed. Despite being in a great location to get fresh seafood and produce, I was not overly impressed with any of the places I ate, I thought that I have had better food in Cleveland. Now I will admit that I was in Boca Raton and not Miami, but given all we have heard I expected better. I was especially surprised to see the amount of clams and lobsters brought in from New England on so many menus; why not use what is local and fresh? I ate at a couple of chain restaurants and while they were pretty good, I still prefer to find locally owned restaurants and to support them. We had dinner one night at Carrabba's Italian Grill http://www.carrabbas.com/index.aspx which has locations in the Cleveland area in Brooklyn and Westlake. We started with Calamari which was a big portion of well fried pieces with marinara. Well overall good, I found it to be a bit boring and I like my squid. The Caesar salad was overdressed, but the dressing was good. I had the Linguini Pescatore, which is mussels, shrimp and scallops in a spicey marinara sauce over linguini noodles. While the pasta and sauce were good, I found that the shrimp and scallops, while big, were a bit overcooked; the mussels were the best part of the dish. Overall my impression of Carrabbas was that it was a nice place and the food was pretty good and reasonably priced, but it just seemed to lack any real flair. I also had dinner at a true Florida institution, Hooters http://www.hooters.com/. While always subject to ridicule, I have liked Hooters when they were located in Mentor. Unfortunately the closest locations now are in Toledo or Columbus. I actually find Hooters to have pretty good food, especially the seafood. I have enjoyed the fish sandwhich many times and this time I had the Daytona Shrimp, which were an interesting and tasty take on BBQ shrimp. As always the place is fun and the scenery is good. We did manage to hit some different ethnic spots. We ate at a nice Cuban restaurant in Deerfield Beach called Little Havana http://www.littlehavanarestaurant.com/. I had a good time visiting with friends, drinking some fruity rum drink and enjoying some well prepared seafood and rice. Makes me wish we had a Cuban restaurant around C-Town. We also went to one of the popular chinese restaurants in the area, the Silver Pond in Lauderdale Lakes (see a review here). The restaurant was busy and we had to wait for about 1/2 hour. In the end while the food was good, it seemed a bit unseasoned to me and I thought that it does not measure up to the food we get at many of the places in Cleveland's Asiatown, including Bo Loong. Glad to be back in Ohio and once Passover is over I will try to get some new reviews up; till then everyone have a good Passover, a Happy Easter or just an enjoyable start to Spring.

Primanti Brothers - Pittsburgh's One Worthy Contribution

As a true Browns fan I hate to give any credit to Pittsburgh, but I flew out of the Pittsburgh airport for my recent trip to South Florida and got another couple of chances to stop at Primanti Brothers for some excellent grub. I made two stops (lunch leaving and coming home) at the Primanti Brothers restaurant in Moon, PA, right next to the airport and I have to admit that their food is good. For those who are unfamiliar with Primanti Brothers, if you have been to a Pannini's location in the Cleveland area you will get an idea since Pannini's basically copied what Primanti has been doing for a very long time. Based around their sandwiches with coleslaw and french fries in the sandwich, Primanti offers good food at affordable prices in a sports bar setting. For my first lunch I had a Tuna Sandwich. The tuna is loaded onto thick cut Italian bread and then topped with a heap of coleslaw, french fries, tomato slices and provolone cheese. The tuna was great, simply prepared with a little mayo. The coleslaw, which has a vinegar dressing, was a great contrast with a crispness and tartness yet just enough sweetness to make it sing. The fries are fresh cut and come out hot and overflowing from the sandwich. As a whole this was an exceptional sandwich, big, flavorful and more than filling. About the only complaint I had was that the bread, although thick cut, could not stand up to all the fillings, making it a bit hard to eat by hand. At $6.29 it is a very good deal. Primanti offers the option to get a slice of pizza for $1.25 with any sandwich and I decided to give it a try and I was very happy I did. The slice was nicely sized and came out piping hot and fresh. This was a very traditional pizza, but it was almost perfectly executed. The crust was thin but crisp, with enough stiffness to be picked up with no sagging; the bottom was dusted with corn meal to keep it from burning in the pizza oven and adds a nice little extra note. The sauce was nice, with good tomato flavor and thinly spread so the cheese could adhere to the crust properly. The cheese was good, providing a nice even coat without being overly thick and had a nice little cheesey twang to it. This slice reminds me of why I really like pizza, it is a balancing act of all of the elements to make something flavorful and satisfying. Lunch on my way home was the Colossal Fish and Cheese sandwich. For $6.99 you get an really big piece of fish, nicely fried and then topped with the same toppings as above. The fish was very good, flavorful and fresh and worked even better with the toppings then the tuna. The amount of food on this sandwich was staggering and I was more then filled by the time I was done. Other then being located in the Pittsburgh area and having all sorts of Pittsburgh sports paraphenalia, Primanti Brothers is a real winner and well worth your time if you are any where nearby. You can check on the various locations at http://www.primantibrothers.com/. I will try to get to one of the Pannini's to give you a direct comparison soon.

Romeo's Pizza - Free Small Pizza

While watching the Cavs the other night I saw the Romeo's Pizza ad that said you can sign up for a free pizza, so I figured I would give it a try. On the Romeo's website http://www.romeospizza.com/ you will see a sign up on the upper right corner. Fill in the information and they send you an email with a coupon for a free small one item pizza. Romeo's is a smaller local chain and the closest store for me is in Twinsburg. I called in my order and the pizza was waiting for my pick up. The small is about 8" with 6 slices. Overall I would rate this as a pretty good pizza. The crust was medium thick, with a good texture and taste, a little bit dense, but better then most. The sauce was sweet with large chunks of tomato, I would have preferred a bit more spice, but that is me. The cheese was thick and pretty good, although a bit mild, I would have preferred more of a Provolone bite. I had my pizza topped with carmelized onions, which were good if a bit sloppy, also they added a bit more sweetness to an already sweet pizza. My overall impression was this was a good, if a bit sweet version of the pizza. The biggest downside was a lack of adhesion between the crust and cheese; this was definately a case where the cheese was headed off the slice. In the end a good pizza and to get it free is a great deal, if there is a Romeo's pizza by you I would take advantage of the deal.

El Charrito - Wickliffe Mexican

It is with some regret that I write this review of El Charrito Mexican Restaurant. El Charrito has been around for quite a long time and while never my favorite Mexican restaurant it has been a place I could count on to get good food when I was in the area. Now I am not so sure. Located in a small rather nondescript building at 30560 Euclid Avenue in Wickliffe, Ohio, El Charrito has a small parking lot infront that at times could offer a challenge to find a place to park. Once through the doors you find a small but friendly restaurant. A little bit dark, but in a comforting way, the dining room is clean and tight. The menu contains most of the usual items, but the chips and salsa give you a clue right from the start that things are a little different here. The chips are a white corn chip with a spice dusting, lighter and a bit more flavorful then the chips at most places. The salsa is a very mild red sauce with some flavor and crunch from the celery pieces in it. Although very mild, it is good if a little different then most Mexican Restaurants. El Charrito has updated its menu since the last time I was there and prices have gone up, still not too expensive, but more then I remember. There were also Leten seafood specials and here is where I made a real mistake. I was going to go with the fish tacos, until I found out that the fish was the same fried fish in the all you can eat fish fry; so I decided to go with the fish fry. They happily substitued rice and beans for the fries and coleslaw and I figured it was worth trying; I was wrong. The fish was a mild white fish which they were batter dipping and frying; points for using fresh fish and preparing it in house, unfortunately the batter was coming out a bit heavy and seemed overcooked, with a dark brown color and extra crisp exterior. While not bad, if you cann't get the fish right you need to take it off the menu. If it was just the fish I might have put this up to just an off night or a bad choice, but I found the refried beans and spanish rice to be bland and flavorless. About the only thing that I got that was flavorful and spicey was the side of the red hot sauce to put on the meal; this was nicely chuncky, fresh and just the right amount of heat, if only the rest of the food could have been somewhere close to this. It seems that El Charrito is not doing well, I was there early on a Friday night and the small place was only sparcely filled when I left after 7:00pm. Service was ok, although the one waitress seemed a bit behind, despite the low number of customers. It seems that El Charrito may have lost its way a bit. They need to concentrate on making the food better and more flavorful. Here's hoping they realize the problem and can address it.

Cleveland CAM Market - Asian Treasure Trove

Cleveland is fairly well stocked with Asian markets, with several large ones downtown and smaller storefront markets scattered about. Cleveland CAM bucks this trend by putting a large and diverse Asian market at 21200 Miles Road, North Randall, OH 44128 across from the mostly defunct Randall Park Mall. While not my favorite Asian Supermarket in Cleveland, CAM does have a lot to recommend it. It is large and well stocked, very clean and offers some real treats and good values. Upon entering the store you will pass through a lobby area with a small cafe that is open during the weekend. Once inside you will see the fresh produce aisle to your left and here you can get items your fresh vegetables with some good values usually available. At the end of this aisle, you will have several cooler cases with chilled items such as fresh noodles, misos, various packaged goods and even a couple of Kim Chee choices. Also back here you will find some special values on display, usually a good place to stock up on some soy sauce, hot sauce and other items that you need for home cooking. The back of the store is also where the fish and meats are, both fresh and frozen. Nice to have fresh fish swimming around for your selection. Going down the freezer aisle you have a large selection of Asian offerings. Among my favorites here are the large commercial packages of Dim Sum. Here you can get 36 shrimp dumplings for around $8. Take them home and either microwave or steam, add some of the sauces available at CAM or make your own and you have a very tasty treat. Another aisle that is a favorite is the noodle aisle. One side provides the basic dried noodles of almost limitless variety, the other side provides packaged noodles soups in a wide variety. Depending on the kind you can get superior Ramen or other soups (far better than the "Top Ramen" sold in most groceries) or the noodles and seasonings to use as a base for your own Lo Mein or Pad Thai. CAM offers packaged chinese pasteries from outside bakeries, although I have been a bit dissapointed with most of these. Up front by the registers, CAM has a hot food counter and a cooler case of prepared food. You can find some very good food here and there are some good values. My favorite is to pick up a package of the squid salad (about $3) and a package of the seaweed salad (about $2). These provide several options, you can eat them with rice or make a very nice salad with these on top. I usually get 2 sushi style meals out of these and I always enjoy it. Beyond what I have mentioned, there are large selections of sweets, drinks, sauces and spices, rice and china and utensiles. If you want to explore close to home, stop in CAM and enjoy, they are friendly and offer some very good values.

Waffle House - Fast Cheap Breakfast

We were out taking a hike at Mentor Headlands Park and I suggested we have lunch at the Waffle Hut on Route 44 and I-90. The other Waffle Hut nearby is at 36333 Vine Street in Willoughby. While I generally stay away from chain restaurants I have to say that every so often I get an urge for some good waffles and I head out to the Waffle Hut. For those who haven't ever had the Waffle Hut experience, they are relatively small restaurants with a large glass front. Inside the counter occupies a good deal of the restaurant with a couple of booths as well. The decor is primarily shades of gray tiles, but it comes across as cheery. The service is usually young, but well trained and friendly. Food comes out hot and fresh and most times very quickly. In addition you will see a lot of team work used and the staff works hard. The breakfast menu is built around waffles, either regular or buttermilk, eggs and breakfast meats and then the other accessories. Waffle Hut also has some southern flavor with biscuits and grits available. The waffles are thin, but fresh and very good. At $2.70 it is very well priced and for $1 you get a double order. My order of double buttermilk waffles were just right, crisp on the outside and moist and fluffy on the inside with just a bit of the buttermilk twang. topped with some syrup a very good morning start. I also tried the $1 egg and cheese biscuit and it was very good as well. The egg was fried and put on a split biscuit with cheese. The highlight was of course the biscuit, which while a little heavier than some, had a rich flavor. While I passed on the hashbrowns this time, they are very good and once again a good value at $1.50 can be doubled for only $.50 more. Waffle House gives you an options to top the hashbrowns with additional items such as onions, peppers, mushrooms, cheese or even chili for additional cost. Waffle House also has a full menu including burgers, sandwiches and such, but I head there for quick cheap breakfast. If you are on the roads and see the yellow and black sign stop in for a quick meal. So why do I like Waffle House despite it being a chain? The food is made to order, it is actually flavorful and comes out hot and fresh. The food is not underseasoned, and there is an actual assortment of sauces and seasonings on the table to add even more flavor. Also Waffle House offers a good value.

Peppermint Thai - Lander Circle

Had dinner at Peppermint Thai at Lander Circle. This is the second location for the owners who also own Mint Cafe on Coventry. They have a reputation for good Thai food but I found it a little disappointing. First lets start with the good part, the restaurant is very nicely decorated. The long room is divided up with dark wood pieces which give the room some structure and contrast with the light colored walls. The art on the walls is highlighted with spotlights and the overall feeling is upscale and high class without feeling to formal. The service was also very good, with very friendly and attentive staff and food coming out promptly. This is my second trip to Peppermint, as I had lunch there last summer and both times I found that the food is good, but not very exciting. This may be why, even though this is right around the corner from work, I just don't think of this as an option very often. This time I had the scallop eggplant. The dish was nicely presented and came with a decent portion of good sized scallops and thin eggplant slices in a nice brown sauce accented with some fresh Thai Basil. While the scallops were ok, they would have been much better if they had been seared to give them a little extra flavor. This dish just lacked any real zing or excitement. For the price ($13.95) I thought the portion was adequate, but would have expected more. My opinion of Peppermint Thai is that it is a very nice restaurant that serves fairly tame versions of Thai food in a very nice atmosphere. If you are looking for something just a slight bit exotic, this might be the place, but if you are looking for real adventure or excitement I would try elsewhere.

Babushka's Kitchen - Polish Powerhouse

Having heard wonderful things about Babushka's Kitchen, I have been trying to eat there for quite a while. The fact that Babuska's is closed Sundays and Mondays, is not open till 1:00pm on Saturdays, and closes most days at 7:00pm (Fridays it closes at 8:00pm), have kept me from getting there up till now. But all that changed on St. Patrick's day; with the good weather I took off early from work and rode the motorcycle through the Cuyahoga Valley Park. On the way back, I figured that now was as good a time as any to try Babuska's which is located by the Northern end of the park. Babuska's is located at 9199 Olde Eight Rd, Northfield Center, Ohio. This is just South of Route 82 (East Aurora Road). It is set back a little from the road and has half of a little commercial building. Once inside you find a charming, little restaurant, decorated in bright colors and homey touches, the space feels cheery and welcoming. Adding to the atmosphere are the upbeat polkas; hearing Beer Barrel Polka and Who Stole the Kishka should get you ready for some real Polish food. Babuska's is a bit different then most restaurants, you go to the counter and place your order, they give you a number to put on your table and they bring the food to you. The servers are friendly and helpful to guide you through the menu (see here). With the menu dominated by meats, I figured that I might have the chance to get a fish meal since it is the time of year when fish specials pop up. While Babuska's does have special Lenten fish specials, they are only available on Fridays. So I was left to swallow my macho pride and order "Aunt Clara's Combo", a choice of any two pierogis and 2 side dishes. I chose the mushroom/swiss and the potato/cheddar pierogis and the cabbage & noodles and sauerkraut & dumplings sides. What came out was a heaping plate of some of the best scratch made food I have had in a long time. Lets start with the pierogis. Each of these wonderful pasta pockets were about the size of my fist, pan fried perfectly and topped with sauteed onions and a dollop of sour cream. The pasta itself was outstanding, with a rich taste and great texture. The mushroom/swiss was overloaded with swiss cheese melted perfectly and highlighted with sliced mushrooms. The potato cheddar was even better with the filling perfectly balanced and providing a nice textural counterpoint to the pasta. These were simply the best pierogi's I have had and elevate this food to the next level. The sides were excellent as well. The sauerkraut & dumplings were an interesting contrast to the pierogis, with the cabbage having a nice sour bite that was nicely offset by the slightly sweet homemade dumplings. The cabbage and noodles provided a nice buttery taste and a milder element to the plate. The food was all clearly scratch made and showed a devotion to keeping the standards high and the flavors simple and bright. Babushka's has gotten well deserved shining reviews. With food this good at reasonable prices and a friendly old world atmosphere, this is a place you should make an effort to try. I would especially like to hear what some of my carnivorous friends have to say about the meat dishes. Go and feel the love.

Note on Websites

A couple of notes on websites: When I have a website for a restaurant that I am reviewing I put the link in the title of the posting; just click on the title and it should take you to the website. Shuhei has launched its own website at: http://www.shuheirestaurant.com/ A couple of really good websites for finding Cleveland restaurants are: www.clevelandindependents.com/ - Independently owned restaurants in the area. Includes links, news and discounted gift certificates. http://www.asiatowncleveland.com/dining.asp - A list of the restaurants in the Asiatown area with menus.

Koko Bakery - Asian Delights

If you are looking for a bite, something sweet or just something a little bit different in Asiatown (http://www.asiatowncleveland.com), give Koko Bakery a try. Located in a small plaza at 3710 Payne Avenue, Cleveland, OH right across the street from Seoul Hot Pot, Koko provides a wide variety of choices. Set up more like a coffee shop or cafe there is an attractive little dining area and plenty of choices. Walking in you will notice a large bakery self serve display to your left. Here you can pick from a variety of sweet or savory buns (think similar to donuts or danish) at a very reasonable price ($.90 to $1.25 each). Among my favorites are the chocolate creme stick and the egg custard. These pastries show a nice balance between sweet and flavor and are rich and chewy. If you feel adventurous you can pick up a taro root or bean paste bun. The flavors and textures may be a bit different, but they are delicious and a nice change from what you would expect. For those looking on the savory side there are a number of meat based buns. The bakery cases in the counter show off the fancy pastries that Koko provides. These are some of the nicest looking delights available in the Cleveland area. Carefully prepared and arranged, they resemble the displays I saw in Vienna. Most are garnished with vivid fruit and splashes of color. Koko has a limited menu of Asian sandwiches, rice bowls and steamed buns. On this last trip down, I tried one of the steamed green vegetable buns. The greens inside of the soft bun were nicely spiced and flavorful. Finally, Koko offers a wide variety of beverages, from expresso to fruit smooties. My personal favorite is the Bubble Tea. A very sweet milk tea is flavored with your choice of flavoring, I go for the taro root as it provides a slighly less sweet flavor and a nice purple color. Served over ice with sweet tapioca pearls you get an interesting drink with sweetness, some texture and something to chew on. Give Koko a try it will give you a different perspective.

The Seafood Place Plus - Cleveland Heights

Just a quick review on the Seafood Place Plus. I stopped in the other night for a quick takeout. Located at 13439 Cedar Rd., Cleveland Heights, Ohio, right around the corner from Taylor Road, the Seafood Place is a nice upgrade from their former location on Lee Road. The new place is decorated with a very nice nautical theme and is fresh and clean. You have the choice of eating at the attractive tables there or doing takeout, which appeared to be what most people were doing. I had the fried Perch Sandwich with french fries. First the good, the fish was delicious, with two small, but plump pieces of perch lightly breaded and nicely fried. They were fresh tasting and well cooked. The sandwich part consisted of two wonder bread like slices; no real character or substance. The french fries were also a bit bland, lacking any crispness. Combined with packages of tarter sauce, the overall impression was that they need to bring the rest of the food up to the level of the fish. I will think about giving the Seafood Place another try, the side dishes sound like they could be good (look here). With a nice place and well prepared fish, you would hope that they can raise the rest of the food to that level.