Corky & Lenny's - Eastside Institution

While I don't do Delis very often, my brother was in town for business and Corky & Lenny's was the place we decided on for lunch. A convenient location, a wide variety of food and large portions of meaty products have always been a favorite. Having been around for over a half century, Corky & Lenny's has been providing deli to the Eastside of Cleveland for as long as I can remember. Originally located in Cedar Center, C&L created a branch at I-271 and Chagrin in Woodmere Village and has since moved all its operations there (map is here). C&L has a modern feel with bright colors and modern fixtures. Coming in the door, you walk past the bakery and deli counters where take out is available. Seated at one of the tables (large booths are also available) service is brisk and straightforward. One of the charms of C&L over the years has been the wait staff, these are professional servers who are driven more by speed, efficiency and turnover then charm. This does not mean that they may not be friendly, just don't expect it. The menu is large and diverse (go here) although in all my years I have never gone far from the deli or dairy portions. The range of the menu and the look of the dining room seem to have C&L as the Cleveland version of the East Coast Diner. This trip I kept it simple, just a whitefish salad sandwich on Kaiser Roll. The sandwich was just what you would want, the whitefish salad was wonderful with a smokey, salty taste which set off the rich texture. Complimented simply with lettuce, tomato and red onion, this is an enjoyable delight. C&L provides good straight forward food in good sized portions, certainly not the cheapest place in town, you can get out for about $10 or so per person, depending on what you get. While I don't think I have ever heard anyone argue that C&L has the best corned beef in town, they certainly do manage to serve a lot of food to a lot of people. Maybe not a high recommendation from me, but then deli is not really my thing, you certainly could do a lot worse the Corky & Lenny's for a meal. If you have been to Corky & Lenny's you probably already have a strong opinion one way or the other, if you have not, you should give it a try as it is a Cleveland institution and something you should at least experience once.

Agave - Crocker Park Upscale Mexican

I know its been a bit sparse on new posts, a combination of revisiting some favorites and trying to find new worthy places. This past week was especially quiet as the motorcycle was in the shop. Luckily I got it back for the weekend, so I headed to Crocker Park in Westlake to have lunch at Agave Tequileria and Cochina. Agave is located at 20 Main Street, Westlake, near the Movie Theater. The restaurant is very sleek and modern, with a warm, darkly lit interior set off by the large bar and the wall of windows in the front. Since it was a nice day I had lunch on the small patio in front, a nice and casual set up with a good view of the people walking by. My server was nice and attentive, although she did forget to give me the chips and salsa, the other server on the patio was nice enough to bring me some. The chips were ok if nothing special and the salsa was good if a bit mild; it was thick and fresh tasting, with just a hint of heat and smoke. For lunch, Agave offers a nice small menu of items that are available for $8 (see the list here). I decided on the Shrimp Fajitas (and yes I know from watching Alton Brown on the Food Network that fajitas actually refers to Strip Steak, so that shrimp fajitas is just another American bastardization of the Spanish language). As opposed to most places that bring you the fajitas on a sizzle plate, Agave serves them up on a large plate with some pico de gallo, guacamole, rice and a small cup of beans. The Fajitas were 5 large tail on shrimp, large slices of onions, peppers and tomatoes. Although each of the ingredients on its own was fresh and flavorful, as a whole the dish was a bit soupy and lacked the punch I associate with fajitas. After some time trying to figure it out I came up with two things, first there was a lack of seasoning both on the spice end and it was missing the nice citrus contrast you get from the squeezed lime, and second not being served on the sizzle plate meant that the ingredients were just pan sauteed, this resulted in the whole being a bit wet, the peppers were way undercooked and most importantly, there wasn't the wonderful burnt/caramelized flavors you get from the hot pan. For some people having tail on shrimp might be a problem as well, especially for an item that is suppose to be eaten rolled up in tortillias. The the rice was a good Spanish style rice and the beans, while not refried, were a nicely prepared cup of pintos with a little cheese on top. I will say that only giving two small sized flour tortillas seemed a bit miserly, especially for an $8 lunch. Overall, the food was good, just nothing exceptional or memorable. Agave may be a good choice if you are looking for some Mexican food in an upscale setting and you like your food on the mild side. For me the combination of the price and the lack of excitement from the food will mean I will probably look elsewhere.

Debonne Winery - Lake County Getaway

Sunday a group of us from Mosaic (the Jewish Outdoor Club website is here) headed out to Lake County for a nice hike at Hogback Ridge Park and then headed to the nearby Debonné Vineyards for a light meal afterwards. Mosaic is a group of Jewish adults who enjoy the outdoors and we have events regularly, check it out. Hogback Ridge is one of the hidden gems of the Lake Metroparks, with a nice boardwalk through the woods and a long flight of stairs down to a very nice hike along Mill Creek which is very picturesque. After the hike we headed to Debonne, which is located at 7743 Doty Road, Madison, OH 44057 (map here). Set in the middle of its vineyards, the winery is set on a small rise, giving nice views and allowing a welcome breeze across the patio and lawn. The building has a rustic alpine feel and the inside of the bar area has the patina of age and care that comes over time. We sat outside and enjoyed food from the grill that is run during the summer. Food is simple, affordable, but well prepared and designed to compliment the wines. I had a nice pasta salad served in a bread bowl; the salad itself was nice with a slightly sweet, brightly flavored dressing and complimented by vegetables, including baby corn. While the salad was a bit overdressed, the bread bowl was excellent, having been warmed in a hot oven and for $5 it made a nice light lunch. The menu includes items off the grill, cheese items, including a very nice looking fondue and appetizers. You will not find complex layered flavors here, instead they seem to take the approach of using quality ingredients and preparing them well and selling them at prices that you can afford. Unfortunately, I was on my motorcycle, so I did not try the wines, although Mindy did like their Riesling. Wine is available by the glass, bottle or by the flights and it seemed like a lot of people were enjoying the wine. To provide a nice compliment to the setting, there was a trio playing jazzy rock music. In addition, I watched a biplane take off from Debonne's airstrip, another nice treat. Overall, this was an enjoyable and relaxing way to spend a summer afternoon.

Customer Service - Some Recent Experiences

I wanted to do a slightly different type of post here talking about customer service. I have experienced this from both sides; I spent many years working in restaurants and since then have eaten at many types of restaurants. Three recent experiences will help to illustrate my points. First the good; for those who have read my post on Gray House Pies, in addition to the wonderful pies, I was very impressed with my interaction with the owner, both with his willingness to share his passion for his products and his concern that they be presented in the best possible fashion, even if it took taking a couple of dollars out of his pocket. Clearly his pies are not just a job, this is a place that wants its customers to enjoy the quality of their food and to return again. This was especially interesting as he knew that I had already purchased gift certificates and thus had paid most of the amount already. The bad, fairly recently I headed out for lunch at Caballo Bayo in Chagrin Falls, which has been my main go to place for Mexican Food recently. While the food was good and the service was OK, I ran into an issue when the check came. In most of my lunch visits I have ordered the #1 special, which is a Chili Relleno, Taco, beans and Guacamole Salad; a good deal and even more so because they have allowed me to get a Shrimp Taco as part of this. Well this time there was a $2 charge added to the bill for the Shrimp Taco; when I asked my waitress she explained that there had been a change in management and that now they had to charge for this. I of course asked her why she hadn't mentioned anything when I ordered and all she could do was apologize. I of course paid, however I left with a very bad feeling, about this for several reasons. First the fact that they added a charge without putting it on the menu or telling me in advance is never a good thing. I found during my time waiting tables that letting people know about things like this and letting them decide is much preferable to just springing it on customers. Second the amount of the charge, $2 seemed excessive, especially when you look on the Caballo Bayo menu and see that as appetizers they charge $2 extra for 1/2 pound of Shrimp Tacos, not a single Taco. Third the fact that the waitress didn't offer to ask her manager or try to in any way fix the issue really upset me; I may not of made a big stink about this, but it did annoy me, enough so that I am very hesitant to go back. Finally the in the middle, recently Pizza Pan (website here) had a coupon for a $2 medium pizza on Fridays at the South Euclid and Warrensville Heights stores. A very good deal, especially as their medium is 12" and 8 cuts and I found the pizza to be very good. I was even more surprised when they told me to hold onto the coupon and that I could use it on subsequent Fridays, which I did. Then last week, when I called in my order, they informed me that there had been a mistake and that corporate had meant it to be a one week deal. While I thought this could have been handled better; with the simple solution being that they took the order and sold me the pizza, but took the coupon, I did understand and at least I knew up front what was going on and had been given a reasonable explanation. I may not have been 100% satisfied, but I did understand and appreciate their position; in addition the promotion had worked, in that I was reminded of the quality of their pizza and considering the size and the value of their pizza, I well order from them again. I know that service is not the most important factor, to me the taste and quality of the food, followed by the cost are more important; but service is up there and it is the least expensive thing to fix. The people are there already, you need to make sure that they know how to deal with people and that they have a clear message to deliver. In addition making sure that people have a good attitude makes a huge difference. One bad experience with service can really s0ur me on a restaurant, while good service will always bring me back. I will do another post with suggestions on what I think should be important to a server. Let me know what you think and some of your experiences, both good and bad.

Gray House Pies - West Side Decedance

Recently WNCX had a sale on the gift certificates available on its website; you could get $50 gift certificates for $15, a very good deal. One of the sets of certificates that I picked up was 5 $10 certificates for Gray House Pies at 22560 Lorain Road, Fairview Park, Ohio 44126 (see map here). I had not heard of them before, but a quick search online turned up some very good reviews, so I figured it was worth a shot. So on Saturday I took a nice ride through the Metroparks, stopped off for a wonderful meal at Melt and then headed over to Gray House. You need to pay attention to the address, since Gray House is located in a small strip of fairly nondescript shops and the only sign out front is a "Pie" sign. Once inside, you have a nice homey feeling bakery front with a refrigerated case under the counter with fruit pies displayed behind. The pies all look spectacular and there were small samples of blueberry pie on the counter. The blueberry pie was very good, with the blueberries tasting fresh and less overly sweet than many pies you encounter. The pies come in 8" and 12" sizes and there are fruit pies, cream and specialty pies and quiches available. You need to ask for pricing, since none are posted, but it seems that fruit pies and quiches start around $11 and the cream pies start around $13. The list of varieties available are listed here. The man in charge was incredibly helpful showing off what was available and talking about the flavors. He is either very proud of his work or very cruel, making sure to show me the Chocolate Mountain Mud Pie and its variations topped with Strawberries or Raspberries along with the other decedent cream pies available. I finally settled on a small chocolate malt cream pie. Once again the man showed his concern for the product, when he learned on would be taking the pie back to Beachwood on my motorcycle, he went to get an ice pac for the ride, and when he found that he was out he tried to give me several dollars to buy a bag of ice for the trip home. I refused, but did really appreciate the offer, it is nice to see someone more worried about his reputation then the bottom line. So the pie made it home, although the whipped cream did melt a bit. The pie itself is incredibly good. The crust is made of crushed chocolate cookies that they bake fresh and it shows, the crust is rich and chocolaty on its own. The filling is a very good chocolate pastry cream, it has a thick texture and you can tell that it is made from high quality ingredients. This is much different than most cream pies and more resembles a custard like texture and taste. If you are looking for some very high quality pies give Gray House a try, they may very well be the best you have tasted.

Legacy Village - Weekend Concerts

Wanted to give a plug to Legacy Village and their Summer Concert Series that they have most Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. The concerts are by various local bands and feature a nice mixture of styles, including pop, classic rock, jazz and blues. You can get the whole schedule at this link. The concerts are staged at the bandstand in the middle of the Village and you will have people on the lawn with plenty of kids running around and dancing along to the music. People bring their chairs and enjoy the music. Of course people also come and take advantage of the restaurant patios surrounding the lawn, including Bar Louie, Brio, California Pizza Kitchen and Stir Crazy. The last time I was there, watching a very cool band called Cats on Holiday, California Pizza Kitchen was taking orders and delivering food to people on the lawn. While I much prefer local restaurants to chain restaurants, I will admit that these are some of the better chains around; also this presents a nice relaxed atmosphere and a place to enjoy your weekend. You can come hang out and have a good time at no charge. Of course if you just want something sweet, you can always pick something decedent up at Rocky Mountain Chocolates, get some Gelato at La Gelataria or get a coffee concoction at Starbucks.

Mitchells Homemade - Incredible Ice Cream

If you are looking for the top ice cream in Cleveland you have to go to Mitchells Homemade with locations in Beachwood, Solon, Rocky River and Westlake. The stores are bright and modern decorated in white and light colored wood with multicolor accents. But the reason to go to Mitchells is not for the decor, it is for the decedent ice cream that is loaded with premium ingredients and flavors. I find Mitchells ice cream to be very rich and dense. The flavors are bright, which is necessary since the ice cream is dense and rich. Among my favorites are the double chocolate chunk which puts large hunks of premium bittersweet chocolate into an incredibly chocolate ice cream; carmel fudge brownie, which has brownie pieces swimming in a sea of vanilla ice cream with an incredibly flavorful carmel sauce and key lime pie, which has graham cracker crust pieces to offset the sweet and tart key lime ice cream. The flavors are well though out and balanced, as an example, the carmel sauce is taken to a little darker stage then most places, which gives you just the hint of the burnt sugar taste to offset the sweetness. Prices at Mitchells are not cheap, with a single scoop running over $2.50 and a double scoop coming in at just under $4.00, but you get a very high quality product, served in a good portion and you are supporting local ownership. Mitchells of course offers a wide variety of drinks, sundays and other ice cream treats. You will also find pints of their ice cream for sale at Heinen's and in certain high end local restaurants. Mitchells is probably not an everyday stop, as you are getting a product with alot of calories and fat, but for an every once in awhile treat it is hard to beat; the calories and fat make for one of the best tasting ice creams you will find anywhere. Go out and exercise and burn off enough calories so you can stop by and get some.

Pizza BOGO - Upscaling the Pizza Chain

Wanted to talk about Pizza BOGO, which is a local chain of 3 stores (Akron in the Valley, Hudson and Cedar and Taylor in Cleveland Heights) making upscale pizzas. Taking a bit of a different tact than all of the other chains, PB has designed their menu and stores to look different. Walking into the Cleveland Heights store at 13434 Cedar Road just West of Taylor, the decorations look like a chic restaurant or upscale lounge. The colors are bright and vibrant, with modern abstract art on the walls and several modern leather couches to wait. The menu tends towards fusion and different pizzas, but what has changed since PB originally opened is that they have a one price approach, you pick the size and all toppings are included. Pricing is ok, when you consider that you get two pizzas for the price of one. What seems to be really driving their business is their special offer on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, in which you can get one large pizza with unlimited toppings for $5. This used to require an emailed coupon, then a phrase that they emailed out each week, now apparently they are giving this to all their customers. This has been quite successful, however it is leading to bottlenecks in getting pizzas out. Last week I called about 4:30pm and ordered a pizza, they gave me an estimate of about 40 minutes, in the end it took them about an 55 minutes and they were telling people who were calling in that it would be about a 2 hour wait. People were coming in a picking up 6 and 8 pizzas at a time. I do have to compliment the two women running the registers, despite the backup and the large number of orders, they remained friendly and accomodating, good work there. So how was the pizza? I have to say that the pizza has improved from the first time I tried it, less greasy and more flavorful, however overall I think that it lacks a bit of character. The crust was ok, medium thick and chewey, but lacking any real flavor, the sauce was good, but not very distinctive, a nice background but not a real player. This could have been redeemed with the toppings, however the vegies were ok, with the only real standout being the roasted red peppers and the cheese was lacking, both in quantity and taste. The size of the large is an 8 cut, but closer to a medium than what I would consider a large pizza. Overall, not a bad pizza, and at $5 a good bargain, if you can them to make it in a reasonable time probably worth it, but I wouldn't wait two hours. I will encourage Pizza BOGO to keep working on improving the flavor of the pizza and they may have something.

Jim's Open Kitchen - Solon Diner

I must have driven by Jim's Open Kitchen hundreds of times without ever noticing it. Located just West of the intersection of Aurora Road and SOM Center at 33779 Aurora Road in Solon (see map here), in a small nondescript building it is easy to overlook. Then when I did notice it the use of the words "Open Kitchen" seemed to imply one of the new trendy places that do fusion cooking; well nothing could be further from the truth. Walking in you find an old school 50s style diner done up in a Coca-Cola motif. Jim's has one long counter with the grill behind it and a couple of booths on the other wall. The menu is straightforward and classic American grub, just what you would expect (you can see the menu here). I stopped in for a Sunday breakfast and went with a couple of eggs over easy, hashbrowns, toast and a pancake. One of the nice things about this menu, orders of a single pancake, french toast, or other single item are fairly priced, just about half the price of an order of 2. The order was made quickly right in front of me and was served up fast, fresh and with little fuss. The eggs were well cooked, if a little greasy, but they were tasty. The home fries were very good, with a good ratio of crisp parts to inside, the flavor was rich and I would head back for more. The pancake was freshly made, from scratch and had a really good texture without being overly spongy, it soaked up the syrup and held onto it. Overall a very good breakfast; nothing here that will make you redefine breakfast, but just good old fashion food cooked simply and well. Apparently Jim's is family owned and operated and it shows; the whole family was working and that creates a nice atmosphere with some teasing back and forth; just the kind of place that you might want to hang out. If you are out Solon way and looking for some unpretensious food and some throw back atmosphere, give Jim's a try, just ignore the name.

Happy Buddah Cafe - University Heights Chinese

Happy Buddha Cafe is easy to miss nestled into a small strip mall at the intersection of Green and Cedar Roads. And yes, Happy Buddha is in University Heights, since as Green jogs West, Beachwood gives way for this corner (see the map here). Cleveland has many small Chinese take out places scattered about, and with some notable exceptions, they are unexceptional, well Happy Buddha is certainly different and better. You can get an idea just by looking at their website here; the fact that they even have a website is different, but this one is well done and reflects the care that has been taken with this small restaurant. Connected to Bo Loong by the owners, Happy Buddha has worked to elevate the small takeout restaurant. Since the Lius have taken this spot over they have redecorated to give the small dining area a much better look, the walls have been textured and painted a warm golden color and that are accented by the high gloss pictures of selected dishes. Although much of the business is takeout, they welcome you to eat there and provide table service. The menu is impressive for this type of restaurant, while providing the regular items you would expect, it also has dishes usually found at the larger downtown restaurants, including squid, panfried noodles and salt baked items. The food here is good and among the items that I would recomend are the Singapore style Mei Fun, the Shrip Pan Fried Noodles and the Salt Baked Squid. The food is fresh, well prepared and seasoned and while not the cheapest place in town, the prices are affordable and a good value for what you get. While not as exotic as a trip down to Asiatown, Happy Buddha offers a suprising variety of very good Chinese food at good prices in an attractive if somewhat small setting. If you are in the Eastern Suburbs and want some good Chinese stop by and check it out or take some home.

India Garden - Lakewood Gem

So its Saturday lunch time, the weather is beautiful and I am in the mood for Indian Food; having heard good things about India Gardens in Lakewood I hop on the motorcycle and cruise over to check them out. India Garden is located in a small unassuming building set back from the street at 18405 Detroit Road (see map here). Walking through the door you enter a much different atmosphere, the dining room seems larger on the inside and is done warm earth tone textured walls with red accents. The tables are nicely set with deep red tablecloths with Indian place mats topped with a glass cover. The overall look is warm, inviting and upscale, with Indian accents that don't overwhelm. A good start. At lunch time India Garden offers a lunch buffet for $8.95 and it looks good so I give it a try. The buffet starts with some salad, fruit, tomato soup then gets to the hot foods. On my visit there are four vegetarian dishes, 3 chicken dishes and a goat stew; I of course stayed on the vegetarian side, unfortunate because the other items did look good. The tomato soup was good with a mild but distinctive spice taste to compliment the rich tomato broth. The Pakora were deep fried vegetable appetizers were good, although the addition of the variety of sauces really upped the flavor quotient. The vegetarian entrees included a mushroom dish, cabbage and peas as well as two curry style dishes. All were very well flavored, the vegetables tasted fresh and the spices, while not overpowering, were very distinct and pungent. India Garden's website indicates that they roast their spices fresh each day and it comes through in the flavors of their food. This was some of the freshest tasting Indian food I have had. While the flavors are familiar they seem to be kicked up a bit over what we are used to, a real achievement especially on a buffet such as this. The buffet also has other items such as rice, very good nan which had a tendency to disappear as quickly as it came out, Indian pickles and chutneys. There were also some fresh fruit and two dessert items, in this case Carrot Halwa, which is chopped carrots mixed with sweet milk, nuts and raisins, kind of similar to a carrot cake and then homemade cheese soaked in a sweet syrup. Both were interesting and well prepared if a little different. Service was good, plates were cleared promptly, water was refilled and the buffet was well tended. In addition to the lunch buffet, India Garden offers a full menu that can be seen here. India Garden lives up to its fine reputation, this is one of the best Indian restaurants in the area. The lunch buffet is a good deal and if the regular menu items have the crisp distinctive flavors of the food I tried I can see why India Garden is so popular. Lakewood proves once again that it has some of the best restaurant in Northeast Ohio. Give them a try.

Eat At Joe's - South Euclid Hole in the Wall

I almost don't want to tell you about Eat at Joe's in South Euclid, since it is already too crowded on Sunday Mornings. Located at the corner of Mayfield and Green Roads (see map here), behind one of the big drugstores, Joe's manages to do basic food very well. The name, Eat at Joe's reflects the no nonsense approach; you will find nothing fancy, just good food done right, served fast and priced at a good value. Joe's occupies the same spot that it has been at for quite a few years, when the drugstore came in and tore down the old building they provided space for Joe's to remain and the new building was a nice improvement. Joe's is decorated (if you can call it that) in white with black accents and plenty of black and white sports photos on the wall. The feel is lunch counter, but nice and tidy and clean. Open only for breakfast and lunch, you will find lines out the door on Sundays as people from the area come for a quick breakfast. The menu is very basic, covering two sides of a table standup, one side breakfast, the other side lunch. Breakfast is eggs, omlets, pancakes, french toast, cereal, toast, hashbrowns and breakfast meats. Prices are cheap, with nothing topping out above about $5. This time I had the 2 eggs overmedium, hashbrowns and toast for $3.50. The eggs were good sized and perfectly cooked, just medium and not greasy. The hashbrowns are the grated style and were crispy and fresh tasting. The toast was what you would expect. I have had the pancakes on previous trips and they are nice large not too thick with a good texture and flavor. Joe's food is very simple, but it is well prepared, served in good portions and the prices are downright cheap. Service can be a bit harried, but the waitresses try hard and do get the food out. Joe's is not the place to go for anything fancy, I don't think they even know what parsley is or why you would put it on a plate and forget about food styles and trends. About the most radical thing they served are the specials which are listed on the whiteboard, in this case Eggs Benedict, mushroom spinach and cheese omlet, and a corned beef and Swiss omlet. Lunch is a list of common sandwhiches and a couple of soups and salads, although I have never given Joe's a try I would guess they make these in the same straightforward manner. The easiest way to know that Joe's is a success, try to find a parking spot in the lot on Sunday morning. Not a place to make a special trip for, but if you are in the area and want a good basic breakfast, Joe's is a place to give a try.

Tom's Seafood Restaurant - All You Can Eat Dim Sum

Well I am a happy man. Tom's Seafood Restaurant has brought back the all you can eat Dim Sum deal. For those who are not familiar with Tom's it is located at 3048 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland Ohio, right between Slyman's and E.30th Street and the Inner Belt (see map here). Set in a stand alone building with a mock red Chinese front, the outside may appear dated and a bit run down, but the inside is a different story. Consisting of one large room with some Chinese decorations and the fish tanks in the back, Tom's is light and clean and creates a nice impression. Depending on the time of day, there can be a wait for a table, especially when all you can eat dim sum is going on. In the past I have been seated at a large table with a number of other different people, so they work hard to get everyone served. All you can eat Dim Sum is available on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00am to 3:00pm and costs $9 per person. The way that this works is that a number of carts are wheeled about the dining room and you select which items you would like. Dim Sum is basically small appetizer sized items in a number of configurations. For an idea of what Tom's offers you can go here on their website. The choices are varied and will change from time to time and during the time you are in the restaurant. Among the items you will be offered are steamed items, such as shrimp dumplings, shue mei, chicken's feet, tripe, and bbq buns. There will be fried items such as eggrolls, stuffed eggplant and pot stickers. They have noodle dishes and a rice porridge called congee. Also there are desert items and other varieties. One of the challenges can be the language barrier, those who are operating the carts do not always have the best English skills, however they are always friendly and willing to show you everything on the carts. The regular wait staff is attentive and will help out on requests as they are permitted. Tom's does have some photo menus that can help you navigate through the varieties of Dim Sum. Having learned that the all you can eat Dim Sum was back, I headed down there at about 1:00pm on Saturday. This was about the end of the lunch rush and I was seated quickly. I started with an egg roll and an order of Chinese Broccoli in oyster sauce. This was soon followed by orders of Shrimp Dumplings, which are my all time favorites, combining shrimp in a translucent dumpling with just the right amount of sesame flavor. I also had the shrimp and chives dumpling, the shrimp rice roll, some stuffed tofu, a helping of noodles and a couple of the custard tarts as dessert. This is probably the best all you can eat deal in town; the food is fresh and well made, there is a wide variety and it is unique. Be warned that when Tom's is very busy, such as Sunday lunch time, the most popular items (such as the Shrimp Dumplings and the Custard Tarts) can be snatched up quickly, so it pays to keep a eye out and don't be afraid to get up and get what you want. The advantage of these busy times is that there is even more variety of items offered and the carts are frequently restocked. Tom's draws a heavily Asian crowd and provides great food and a chance to be daring in your choices. One of my true favorite food experiences in Cleveland it is hard to go wrong here. The most fun is if you get a group of adventurous friends and head down together, that way you can share the experience. I highly recommend you head down to Tom's during the weekend and check it out, you won't be disappointed.

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.