Cleveland Food and Brews

Sunday Supper - Roasted Chicken with Bourbon Maple Pepper Glaze and Sweet Potatoes

2012-02-24T07:10:00.000-05:00

This Sunday we decided to invite a few friends over for dinner. Our plan was to roast a whole chicken and when we saw the recipe in our Food and Wine cookbook that called for both bourbon and pure maple syrup we had to try it out!

Ingredients:
2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh-ground black pepper
1 chicken (3 to 3 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons bourbon
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 425°. In a large roasting pan, toss the sweet potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the oil, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Push them to the edges of the pan, leaving a space in the center for the chicken.
2. Rub the cavity of the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Twist the wings behind the back and tie the legs together. Put the chicken, breast-side up, in the center of the roasting pan. Coat the chicken with the remaining tablespoon oil, sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper, and dot with the butter. Roast the chicken for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the maple syrup, bourbon, and the remaining 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and stir the potatoes. Brush the chicken with about 2 tablespoons of the glaze and drizzle the potatoes with about 1/2 tablespoon of the glaze. Return the pan to the oven and cook, stirring the potatoes and brushing the chicken with the remaining glaze 2 more times, until the chicken and potatoes are just done, about 30 minutes longer. Transfer the bird and potatoes to a plate and leave to rest in a warm spot for about 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, pour off the fat from the roasting pan. Add any accumulated juices from the chicken to the liquid in the pan. Serve the chicken with the pan juices and sweet potatoes.

Out of all of the Sunday Supper posts I have written up, this one might go down as my favorite! The chicken was moist and packed with a rich maple flavor. I would have liked the skin to be a bit crispier, which could have been helped by turning on the broiler for the last few minutes. The bourbon didn't come out as much in the chicken as it did in the sweet potatoes. Speaking of the sweet potatoes, I could have eaten the whole batch myself they were so good. If you are looking for a very fun and tasty recipe that was fairly easy to execute, I'd highly recommend this one!

Grizzly Peak Brewing Company in Ann Arbor, MI

2012-02-21T07:10:00.000-05:00

On our recent beercation to Ann Arbor, we had dinner at Grizzly Peak Brewing Company. We heard from many friends and even some local Ann Arbor folks that Grizzly Peak was one of the places we needed to visit. I was curious to see what this brewing company had to offer both in terms of both food and beer.

Food
My fiancee ordered the Grilled Steak Salad. This came with grilled hanger steak sliced over a salad of quinoa and mixed greens with manchego cheese, marcona almonds, roasted red beets and a side of basil pesto ranch dressing for $13.95. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium temperature and paired well with the quinoa and beets. The basil pesto ranch dressing was amazing. I am not even a fan of ranch dressing and I would have eaten an entire salad topped with this dressing. The only real criticism of this dish is that my fiancee wished there would have been more nuts and beets to help balance the meat and greens on the plate. That being said, she would highly recommend this dish for the salad/steak lover!

It took me all of ten seconds to make my dinner choice. When I looked at the menu and saw Hanger Steak with a red Thai Chili reduction, I knew I had to order it! The dish was also served with mashed potatoes and fresh sauteed Swiss chard and red onion for $18.95. The steak itself was cooked to a perfect medium. The combination of the steak and the red Thai Chili reduction created a perfect bite. I loved the rich, tender flavor of the steak. The reduction added a perfect balance of both sweet and spicy to everything on the plate. I even ended up dipping every bite of the well seasoned mashed potatoes in this reduction! Simply put, this dish was well proportioned, delicious and very reasonably priced. I'd order this dish again in a heartbeat.

After dining at Grizzly Peak we understand why so many people said we had to eat here. We were very happy with the food, and we gladly eat dinner here again!

Drinks
When we arrived, we had about a 20 minute wait before we were seated. We took this opportunity to order a sampler from the bar so I could see what Grizzly Peak had to offer. The sampler prices were very reasonable. Six four ounce samples were $6.95 and for every sample over six they only charged a dollar more.

From left to right we ordered the Pale Ale, Porter, Warm-Up Winter Ale, Irish Stout, Cask IPA, and the Cask Junicade Red Ale. Of these six the pale ale and the cask IPA were the most drinkable. Their flavors were light but well balanced. The porter and the cask stout were next, but really lacked body for the styles. Finally, the winter ale and the red ale were our least favorite. The winter ale had a very odd spice to it which really threw it out of balance. The red ale had a buttery note which was really off putting and we did not finish the sample. The beers at Grizzly Peak didn't wow either of us. I felt all of the beers were very "safe". Luckily they are owned by the same group that owns North Peak and Jolly Pumpkin, so they had a good selection of North Peak beers in bottles. I picked a bottle of the North Peak Dubious Black Chocolate Stout to drink with my dinner. This 5.5% abv. stout is light in alcohol, but not in body or flavor. This is one of the best session stouts you'll find anywhere, and is available here in Cleveland.

This was the best I could get with the lighting in the bar.

Atmosphere and Service

The atmosphere at Grizzly Peak is what you would expect at a very nice brewpub. Fun, friendly, and a little noisy thanks to the group of guys standing behind our table. Our server for the evening was very friendly and was open to giving suggestions about both food and beer. When I asked her what North Peak offerings they had, she didn't remember, but quickly found out and told me about each and every one in detail. We also liked that the brewery took the time to add recommended beers to each and every dish on the menu.

Overall

Grizzly Peak didn't wow us with their house-made beer, but they did with the food. The good news about the beer is that they carry a full line-up of North Peak beers which are usually very flavorful and very sessionable in terms of the abv. content. If you visit Ann Arbor, we would recommend stopping by Grizzly Peak for dinner and a sampler as we did. If you do, let us know your thoughts! Cheers!

Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week February 27 - March 4, 2012

2012-02-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week kicks off on February 27 and goes through March 4 with more than 40 participating restaurants! Of the 40+ restaurants, each will offer $30 3-course menus for one or two diners, and a $15 lunch option at select restaurants.

A full list of participating restaurants with menus is available here.

New to Downtown Restaurant Week

Pura Vida by Brandt - Wholesome cuisine, craft cocktails, exceptional service in a one-of-a-kind Cleveland atmosphere

Taza – Lebanese grill with vegetarian, fish and meat lover appetizers and entrees inspired by traditional home-cooked meals

Prime Rib Steakhouse- Juicy, melt-in-your-mouth prime rib carved at your table to your specifications from gleaming silver carts

Pacer’s Ribhouse - Award-winning ribs

Noodlecat – A slurpalicious Japanese-American mash-up from Chef Jonathon Sawyer, inspired by Tokyo noodle worship and New York City noodle houses

“Restaurant Week Foodie Dream Package”

Interested in dining downtown for an entire year – for free? Restaurant Week diners will receive a small postcard with their meal at participating restaurants. A QR code on the back of the card will direct them to a form where they can enter to win a grand prize, including gift cards from participating downtown restaurants. Multiple other winners will be selected for special prizes.

Park and eat

During Restaurant Week, several downtown parking facilities will offer $2 parking to diners who show their special Restaurant Week parking voucher. The $2 parking special will be available to diners beginning at 5 p.m. each day during Restaurant Week.

The $2 parking voucher must be printed out prior to using it at participating lots. You can find the voucher here. To see participating parking lots and garages, click here to view the map.

Free Food Giveaway!

The kind folks at the Downtown Cleveland Alliance have offered up a $30 gift certificate to one lucky reader! The $30 gift certificate to Prime Rib Steakhouse that can be used anytime!

And the Winner is..... Comment #13 from @ohionewbie! Congrats and please email me your name and contact information at clevelandfoodandbrews at gmail. Cheers!

There are 3 ways to Enter The Giveaway

1. Leave one comment on this post telling me where you hope to eat during Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week.

2. Share this post on Facebook by posting this link: http://hops.me/jsb

Then come back here and post a comment with your Facebook link. You can only do this once, and it counts as one entry.

3. Share this on Twitter: I want to win a $30 GC to Prime Rib Steakhouse from @CleFoodandBrews and @DowntownCLE: http://hops.me/jsb

Then come back here and post a comment with your Twitter link. This will count as one entry. You can do this every single day. Just make sure to leave a comment each time you tweet!

Rules:

--You have until Friday, February 24th, 2012 at 4:00pm EST to enter.

--The winner will be picked at random using Random.org.
--Only comments with links left on this post will count. If you tweet, facebook or enter in any other way be sure to leave a comment here telling me you did it with the link to that post.
--You must leave a SEPARATE comment for each Entry, otherwise your entry will only count once.

--Winner has 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
--The winner will get their tickets via mail.
Disclosure: The DCA has provided a single $30 GC for this giveaway. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Momocho Mod Mex in Ohio City

2012-01-25T07:05:00.000-05:00

My fiancee wanted to go to Momocho for her birthday dinner. After reading all of the glowing reviews and even seeing them on Unique Eats, we just had to see what all the hype was about. It turned out that we met another couple for drinks before hand and asked them to join us for our meal! This would be our first time eating dinner at Momocho.

Food

We started our meal with the guacamole sampler. This gave us a chance to pick three different guacamole. From bottom to top in the picture below we picked the goat cheese with tomato chile and poblano peppers, the jicama with pineapple, chile habanero, and mint, and finally the garlic confit with bleu cheese, and chile verde. The goat cheese really stood out in contrast to the avacado. I enjoyed how each bite packed a punch. The sweet pineapple and jicama blend was my personal favorite because of the way it blended with the heat that came in late, and lingered on until the next bite. The bleu cheese had a lot of potential, but only a few bites actually got a bite of bleu cheese, the rest was just normal tasting guacamole.

We decided to try several different taquitos for our entrees. At the bottom of the picture we started with the pato, which was slow cooked duck confit with chile ancho and a pomegranate barbacoa. The duck was very moist and tender and the pomegranate sauce really had a nice balance of sweet to go along with the spiciness. This was my personal favorite of the four. Second from the bottom we had the machaca, which was coffee and ancho braised beef brisket with guacamole. Although the coffee didn't really come out, the flavor and the tenderness of the meat was outstanding. Third from the bottom we tried the special for the evening which was the mole beef. The beef was in a chocolate based sauce and the richness of the chocolate stood out. This was my fiance's favorite dish because the beef was even more tender than the braised beef brisket. Finally, the top dish in the picture was the carnitas, which was adobo braised pork with a honey-chipotle mojo. We were told this was one of the most popular dishes, and the flavors explained why. Simple, yet bold spices combined with tender and juicy pork.

To end our dinner some deep fried ice cream was brought to the table for the birthday girl! The presentation of this dish was very fun and the combination of flavor and texture of this dish were amazing. This really was a great way to end our fantastic dinner. I have to say that the hype that surrounds Momocho is well deserved because we would go back and order any of the taquitos again. Momocho offers bold flavors, perfectly cooked protein, and prices that are extremely reasonable considering the high quality of food!

Drinks
Momocho is known for their margaritas so we each decided to try what many consider their best, the cucumber margarita. All four of us felt the amount of sour mix used in the drink was just too much. We asked if it was possible to get it remade, but we were informed that it was already premixed, and would likely taste exactly the same. This was a slight disappointment because we have tried this drink at Momocho before, and this time it really fell flat. As far as beer goes Momocho offers your standard Mexican brews such as Corona and Dos Equis.

Atmosphere and Service
The room was dimly light and the environment is full of flair. The picture at the top of this review is just a glimpse at some of the artwork that is posted up all over the restaurant. Momocho's atmosphere definitely says fun, but also has a very relaxed feel to it which we very much enjoyed. Our server for the night was outstanding. Her service was everything you would want and expect at a restaurant. She was friendly, funny, knowledgeable, and very helpful when it came to questions about the menu and the food. With service and food like we had during this dinner experience it is no wonder so many people rave about Momocho!

Lee Anne Wong Pop Up at Noodle Cat January 21st Giveaway

2012-01-16T09:55:00.001-05:00

Lee Anne Wong's first trip to Noodle Cat for a Pop-Up dinner was a huge success. If you missed the first event, you won't want to miss her second trip back to Cleveland on January 21st at 6:30pm to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Lee Anne Wong is best known for her success on the first season of Bravo’s Top Chef, where she then went on to be the supervising culinary producer. She has competed on Iron Chef America and is the host of Unique Eats on the Cooking Channel. Lee Anne lives and works mostly in NYC, but enjoys traveling and cooking all over the world.

The dinner for this event will feature 5 courses for $69.
The Menu Includes:

Crispy Fish Salad w/ romaine, parmesan & lemon sesame dressing
Char Siu Pork Jiaozi w/ soy chili dipping sauce
Seamed Fish w/ sizzling oil, green onion, ginger & soy
Kung Pao Prawns w/ celery & rice salad
And much more!!

Tickets can be purchased at : http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2671429317/efblike

***And the winner is....Comment #35 by Jen who said...The Kung Pao Prawns sound amazing! Jen, please email me at clevelandfoodandbrews@gmail.com

Giveaway

Ready for some good news? I've been given two tickets to give away to one lucky reader. To enter the giveaway simply read the directions below!

There are 3 ways to Enter The Giveaway

1. Leave one comment on this post telling me which of the three posted courses you are most interested in trying.

2. Share this post on Facebook by posting this link: http://hops.me/bte

Then come back here and post a comment with your Facebook link. You can only do this once, and it counts as one entry.

3. Share this on Twitter:

I want to win 2 tickets to the @bricknmortar216 pop-up featuring @leeannewong! Check out the @CleFoodandBrews Giveaway: http://hops.me/bte
The come back here and post a comment with your Twitter link. This will count as one entry. You can do this every single day. Just make sure to leave a comment each time you tweet!

Rules:

--You have until Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 9:00pm EST to enter.

--Winner has 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
--The winner will get their tickets at the door when they arrive for the event.

Flour Rustic Italian Kitchen in Moreland Hills

2012-01-05T06:52:00.000-05:00

After being open now for several months and with new head Chef Matthew Mytro at the helm, we decided to check out Flour Restaurant in Moreland Hills.
Food
With so many menu choices, we decided to do dinner a little differently tonight. Flour offers you two choices in size for the past and entrees. Instead of getting a single full dish, we each decided to each get two halves, which would allow us to try more food.

My fiancee's first choice was the Local Greens salad. In addition to the fresh local greens it came topped with radish, carrots, tomato, baby cucumber and a roasted shallot vinaigrette. The baby cucumbers were perfect size for the salad and the salad dressing was very refreshing.

I picked one of the three specials for my first choice. It was black pepper papardelle, served with preserved tomatoes, quail confit, roasted parsnips, and a chestnut cream sauce. The pasta was cooked perfectly, and the richness from the chestnut cream sauce paired perfectly with the quail confit. I also loved how the tomatoes added a contrasting flavor of sweetness. The last tasting note that I took away from this dish was how the chestnuts were used two ways. Not only were they cooked down in the cream sauce, but they were also used in their raw state. I thought this was a smart use because it added a little more texture to the soft pasta and quail. I would order this dish again, and I'd probably order the full because it was so tasty. Finally, even the half size of this dish was pretty substantial because this style of pasta is very filling.

For my fiancee's second dish she ordered the half portion of the Pumpkin Risotto. This risotto came with roasted Ohio pumpkin, thyme, cinnamon, and clove. The pumpkin flavor was very mild but married well with the creaminess of the risotto. The risotto was garnished with roasted pumpkin seeds which added great texture.

For my second dish, I decided to try one of the wood fired pizzas. I love crispy wood fired Italian style pizza, so I picked the Romana. This pizza came with crushed tomato, garlic, kalamata olives, chili flakes, and anchovy oil. The first thing I always look at when I get a pizza like this is the crust. The outside part of this crust was cooked well, but the middle half under all of the toppings still could have used a bit more cooking because it was not crispy enough. (Edit: To clarify this statement, the center should be softer than the outside in this style of pizza, but the center still needed a few more additional minutes of cooking.) I enjoyed the contrast in flavors between the olives and the somewhat spicy chili flakes, but the anchovy oil didn't do much to add to the flavor. I also noticed that the sauce and tomatoes were so much in the background compared to the other flavors they were almost tasteless. This wasn't a bad pizza, but I was expecting an even, crispy crust with more well balanced flavors.

Overall, three out of the four dishes we ordered were very good. My fiancee had a good overall meal and I was extremely happy with my pasta dish. We will go back to Flour based on these three good dishes, and I will order another pizza to compare with this experience.

Drinks

Flour offers a full service bar with an extensive wine list. Wine by the glass starts at $7.00 and bottles start at $30. They also offered just a few craft beer options. When we visited there were four draft options available. Great Lakes Dortmunder and Christmas Ale were on tap along with Thirsty Dog Old LegHumper Porter and Labrador Lager. Outside of these choices they had a few standard Italian beers such as Moretti and Peroni.

Atmosphere and Service

The look of Flour is very modern and sort of a shock for a rustic Italian kitchen concept. It was not what I expected at all in terms of design, but it was a very inviting space. I really liked how the kitchen was an open concept for the customers to see. There was even seating that would allow almost a chefs table experience. Our service for the evening was average at best. Our waitress seemed to be just going through the motions and really didn't want to offer up any solid opinions even when we asked her. In fact, at one point when we asked her what some of the most popular dishes were she responded with "It is hard to say because we just opened 8 months ago." To me, in 8 months a restaurant and the servers have a very good idea what is popular, and she should have been able to offer up some information when we asked her. The food did come out in a very timely fashion, but it took her quite a while to check to see how our food was and if there were any problems. Overall, I'd expect a higher level of knowledge about the menu, and more willingness to offer suggestions at a restaurant like this. We'll likely go back because most of our food was good, and I'd like to see if our experience is the same or better than this time.

Willoughby Brewing Company Review #2

2011-12-12T18:41:00.002-05:00

Our last trip to Willoughby Brewing for dinner left a very good taste in our mouths. We recently went back for dinner because they had once again updated their menu with some very interesting items. Would this experience be as positive as our last?

Food
For my entrée, I decided to try the Magma Melt. This melt was comprised of a large burger topped with deep fried jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and house made magma sauce. I don’t know if you can tell from the picture but this melt was huge. The two pieces of bread were very fresh, and really stood up to the vast amount of ingredients inside. The burger itself was cooked to a perfect juicy medium, and the magma sauce added just enough kick when combined with the crunchy fried jalapenos. Speaking of the jalapenos, they not only added heat, but they also added excellent texture to each bite. The fries also provided extra crunch to the dish because they were crispy and well seasoned with salt. I was very pleased with this melt, and thought it was a great value for only $11.99. If you are going for a snack, 2 people could honestly split this dish.

My fiancee ordered the Chopped Cob Salad, $11.99. It came with romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, bacon, egg, cucumber, avocado, roasted tomatoes, and black olives. It was supposed to be tossed in a creamy Parmesan dressing, but she elected to get it on the side instead. She really enjoyed the generous amount of avocado but the roasted tomatoes were a touch too garlicky. The chicken was moist and well seasoned and every ingredient in the salad was very fresh.

Once again our food tasted good and was very reasonably priced. I'd rate our food this evening a 4.75/5.

Drinks
Willoughby Brewing continues to impress me with the quality of their beer. Tonight we both were drinking the Moonshadow IPA. What I like most about this beer is that it has a very nice balance of hops and bitterness. I always enjoy a hoppy beer but my fiancée, who is not a hophead, really enjoyed this brew as well. You have to appreciate a beer like this that can please a diverse group of palates. Outside of this IPA, the line up at Willoughby continues to shine and I’d highly recommend stopping in for a pint or two! If you like to enjoy a Willoughby Brewing Company Beer at home, they will fill any growler you bring in. You can sign up for the growler club and after 8 growler fill-ups you earn a free one!

Service
Once again, our server was friendly and prompt with drinks and food. She was knowledgeable about the menu and was open with her thoughts and opinions on the dishes we inquired about. The service we received tonight was equal to the service we had in the previous review. It is nice to see this consistency in the service. Overall, Tonight was another example of why I’ll say Willoughby Brewing is 100% back! The beer that is being brewed is better than ever, and the menu/food has now caught up in terms of quality and variety. If you have not made the trip to downtown Willoughby yet, now is the time to head out to Willoughby Brewing for a tasty food and brew combination.

Key Bank Rewards Week: Free Food Truck Grub and a Giveaway

2011-12-08T17:17:00.001-05:00

That is right, Key Bank is picking up your tab at local food trucks! All you have to do is follow the trucks on twitter to find out their location. When you show up Wednesday December 14th, Key Bank will pay for your food! This is all part of Key Bank's week long rewards event where they are offering different promotions around the great city of Cleveland! To see what else is going on this week just visit Key Rewards Week.

To make your life easy, I've linked the food trucks names below directly to their twitter handles! Happy Eating Cleveland! (As a side note, the number of free meals is limited so be sure to get there early!)

Participating food trucks include:

Sweet! The Mobile Cupcakery

Giveaway

In addition to this wonderful Key Bank Food Event, I've also been given a $25 Key Possibilities MasterCard Gift Card to give away to one lucky reader. You could use this to visit your favorite food truck anytime!

And the winner is comment #6 by Crystal!

There are 3 ways to Enter The Giveaway

1. Leave one comment on this post telling me which truck you would like to get free food from.

2. Share this post on Facebook by posting this link: http://hops.me/855

Then come back here and post a comment with your Facebook link. You can only do this once, and it counts as one entry.

3. Share this on Twitter:

Check out the $25 Key Possibilities MasterCard Giveaway that @CleFoodandBrews is doing at: http://hops.me/855 #KeyRewardsWeek
The come back here and post a comment with your Twitter link. This will count as one entry. You can do this every single day. Just make sure to leave a comment each time you tweet!

Rules:

--You have until Sunday December 18th, 2011 at 9:00am EST to enter.

--Winner has 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
--The card will be mailed to the winner.
--Disclosure: I offered two $25 Key Possibilities MasterCard Gift Cards for helping to promote this Food Truck Event. (One for myself and one to giveaway.)

Sunday Supper--Grilled Chicken with Spicy Mango Chutney

2011-11-28T20:11:00.001-05:00

This Sunday Supper was inspired by something I got to take part in earlier this year thanks to the National Mango Board. Back in early August I had the opportunity to judge a food event that featured mangos as the special ingredient. This event was a blast, and thanks to Crystal of Eat Drink Cleveland you can read about it here. Something I took away from this event was just how versatile mangos really are. Besides eating them raw and using them in our homemade mojitos we have never experimented cooking with them. Here is where Mango.org comes in handy. They have a wonderful recipe database, and this Sunday Supper will be featuring their Very Mango Chutney recipe with a few tweaks.

The ingredients used for the chutney were:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 medium onions chopped
3/2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tablespoon ginger
1 jalapeno pepper minced (seeds optional based on your heat preference)
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 large very ripe, soft mangos, peeled, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup golden raisins

The directions for making the chutney:

In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, combine the sugar and vinegar bringing the mixture to a simmer.

Add the onions, garlic, ginger, pepper and salt. Let this come back to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the mango, lime juice and raisins. Simmer for another 15-20 minutes until the mixture becomes the consistency for a marmalade.

While making the chutney we used the indoor grill to cook two large chicken breast that we would then pour the chutney over. The combination of the sweet mango, brown sugar and raisins paired amazingly well with the spicy jalapenos. I loved how this simply chutney took an average chicken breast and made it into an amazingly tasty dish. What is also great about this recipe is that you can change the level of heat to meet your needs. For a sweeter dish just use a less spicy pepper like a banana, or for more heat use a serrano or a habanero!

To add some texture to the main course we prepared a chopped brussels sprout salad with chopped walnuts and grated parmesan cheese. I seasoned it with salt and pepper, and then used roughly 4 parts olive oil to 1 part white vinegar to add even more flavor. This ultra crunchy take on a salad was the perfect side dish to add some texture to our meal. (Thanks has to go out to Iron Chef Symon for inspiring this at the Fabulous Food Show!)

I hope you enjoyed this recipe because we really enjoyed trying it. If you do decide to make this or any of the other Mango recipes please feel free to comment on your experiences here. Cheers!

Andaloro's Ristorante in Willowick

2011-11-21T16:36:00.001-05:00

A few years back when my fiancee was living in Eastlake, we noticed an Italian restaurant in a plaza along Lakeshore Blvd. It was sort of hidden because it was in such a large plaza. We decided to give the restaurant a try since we are always looking for our next favorite Italian restaurant. We were not disappointed and I've wanted to back for nearly two years! Finally, this past weekend we made our way back to Andaloro's Ristorante to see if things were as good as we remembered.

Food
Our meal started out with fresh toasted Italian bread and a dipping sauce that was made of roasted red peppers, olive oil, and parsley. I could have made a meal out of bread and this sauce! I love the addition of the roasted red peppers to the standard olive oil because it added another layer of richness and flavor!

All pasta dishes also come with a side salad. The house dressing is sort of a take on a balsamic and was very good. I also really liked the use of fresh greens for the salad instead of iceberg or romaine.

My fiancee decided to go Spaghetti Carbonara. This dish featured pancetta tossed with egg, black pepper, and Romano cheese in a cream sauce. The cream sauce used in the dish was well seasoned, while the pancetta added just a touch of texture to the properly cooked pasta. The dish was very enjoyable but be prepared to take some home!

I ordered the Pasta alla Diavola. This pasta was served with spicy hot peppers, fresh tomato sauce, and fresh parsley. The pasta itself was cooked perfectly al dente. The tomato sauce was good, but because of the hot peppers it was hard to get a true sense of the sauce's flavor. I really enjoyed the added punch of spice from the peppers and would rate this a 6/10 in terms heat, 10 being ghost chili hot!

Overall, we were pleased with our meal and the pricing. Our food total for the evening was only $24 and we had food left over to take home with us. I look forward to going back and trying a few other dishes, and I'd rate this Italian food a 3.75/5.

Drinks
The restaurant does have a full bar in the back, but we did not get a chance to explore the drink options. We did however get to see the wine list. The wine list wasn't extravagant, but it did offer at least a few options of Red and White that are sure to please everyone but the wine connoisseur. My fiancee enjoyed a $6 glass of Chianti. I decided to pass on beverages for the evening since we were going to Willoughby Brewing Company after dinner to meet some friends.

Service
When we arrived, we were kindly greeted and taken to a table by the door. My fiancee asked if we could sit away from the door because of the cold and we were escorted to the table of her choice. When were seated, our waitress came over promptly to go over the menu and to take our drink orders. She was around all evening, but never overbearing. Our food came out in a timely manner and it was clear that it was freshly prepared. Friendly, knowledgeable, and prompt service is always a plus and therefore I'd give Andaloro's a 4/5 for the evening.

Overall
Andaloro's is a solid Italian Restaurant that offers good food at very reasonable prices. The one thing that hurts them is the location. They are off the beaten path in a plaza, but that should not scare you away from trying this Willowick restaurant! Another plus is you can often find Restaurant.com gift certificates for this restaurant. In fact, we purchased a $25 gift certificate for only $2 recently. The only sad part was we left it at home! Oh well, I guess we'll have to go back to use it for a follow up review sometime soon!

OBA Blog Swap -- Nighttown by Roxanne of Vegetarians Taste Better

2011-11-20T18:03:00.001-05:00

First, a big thanks to Alicia Hansen of Poise in Parma for putting together the Ohio Blogging Association Blog Swap for November. Now...on to the blog swap!

Hello, Cleveland Food and Brews readers! My name is Roxanne and I write a blog called Vegetarians Taste Better. It deals with vegetarian living, dining, and drinking in greater Cleveland. Today is the Ohio Blogging Association’s November Cleveland Blog Swap, and your blog host, Brad, was selected to swap with me. He’ll be posting on my blog today, and obviously, I’m posting on his. We’ll be back to regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow, though, but I hope you take the time to read this post, and if you like what you see, visit my blog or “like” me on Facebook.

I’m a cubicle dweller by day, and a foodie by night, but I like it when both worlds get to intertwine. I have a very generous boss who likes to reward his employees for a job well done, and he often takes us on what I call “field trips” to fun or fancy places around town. We’ve been everywhere from Jeni’s in Chagrin Falls to L’Albatros in University Circle. (Today my team is having lunch at Mama Santa’s in Little Italy – I may or may not be involved in a pizza eating competition with one of my coworkers)

Since I’m…um…more opinionated about food than many of the people I work with and because I have special dietary concerns, I often get to have some say in where we head to. Or I flat out just get to pick. Like my most recent culinary food trip with my coworkers at Nighttown in Cleveland Heights.

I’ve been to Nighttown more times than I can count. I think they have an incredible patio (it’s even nice in the winter if it isn’t bitterly cold outside because they have garage type doors to protect the area), fantastic service, and amazing drinks. And…they have clearly labeled menus. Meaning they have an entire section of their menu devote to vegetarian items. Sure the section consists of two items most of the time, but it makes life a lot easier when you don’t have to play 100 questions with a waiter before ordering.

My recent lunchtime trip was actually my first lunch visit to Nighttown. I’d been there for brunch the month prior, but most of my other stops have taken place at night and typically didn’t involve food. I’d never been seated in the dining room, either. My group was placed right near the stage and I got a chance to admire all of the artwork and architecture of the place. Although I can say there’s a much different feel in the dining room than in other parts of Nighttown, but it was the right vibe for lunchtime.

Our server seemed to have the entire lunch crowd to himself. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of a lunch crowd, but there were quite a few tables that were full. We were able to order drinks just as soon as we sat down, and they arrived right away. Soon after, we were brought overflowing baskets of bread and butter. The bread was crusty and fresh, and my entire table dove right into the baskets and made short work of them.

Only a few people ordered starters. I wasn’t one of them, and it seemed like there was a long lag between when peoples’ soup arrived and my pasta arrived, but maybe that’s just because conversations with some of my coworkers can be awkward.

For my lunch, I ordered vegetarian pasta, which consisted of an olive oil and garlic sauce tossed with pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, and zucchini covered with a sprinkling of cheese. The chef must have been a little heavy handed with the oil, because there seemed to be a lot of it. But a little gluttony now and again never hurts anyone, right?

My coworkers seemed to enjoy their meals, although someone who ordered the house specialty – the Dublin lawyer – was a little surprised at how heavy the dish was. He’d asked the waiter to suggest something “good” and probably should have specified that to him good = healthy. Oh well.

Service throughout the meal was good. Attentive but not overbearing. Since we were at a work lunch, we had to hurry back to work, but it probably would have been nice to stay and enjoy a coffee or a dessert. I guess I’ll have to go back for lunch some other day to do that.

Cleveland Independents Deck Giveaway

2011-11-17T22:25:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of 2011 I purchased the Cleveland Independents deck which gets me $10 off a $30 purchase at over 50 restaurants around Cleveland. My plan was to bounce around town to different restaurants and use these $10 discounts to help cover a little bit of the cost of my reviews. Well...with a little over a month left to use the cards I realize I am never going to use them all, and I’d like to give 10 of them away to one lucky reader! Here is a list of the ten cards you will receive if you win this giveaway!

Blake's Seafood
Corky & Lenny's
Fat Fish Blue
Gusto!
Hyde Park Crocker
John Q's Steakhouse
Luxe Kitchen & Lounge
Marotta's
Pearl of the Orient
Sergio's SARAVA

If you win, feel free to give some of these away to friends and family so they can at least save a few bucks while dining out this holiday season!

There are 3 ways to Enter The Giveaway

*You must leave a separate comment on this post for each Entry!*

1. Leave one comment on this post telling me you would like to win and which restaurant card you would use first.

2. Click "Like" on my Facebook Page and post this on your Facebook Wall:

Check out the Gift Card Giveaway that Cleveland Food and Brews Reviews is doing at: http://hops.me/7yi

3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following:

Check out the Gift Card Giveaway that @CleFoodandBrews is doing at: http://hops.me/7yi #CleFood

Rules:

--You have until Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 9:00pm EST to enter.

--The winner will be picked at random using Random.org.
--Only comments left on this post will count. If you tweet, facebook or enter in any other way be sure to leave a comment here telling me you did it.
--You must leave a SEPARATE comment for each Entry, otherwise your entry will only count once.

--Each separate comment is numbered in the order they are posted. The comment that matches the Random.org number wins!!

--Winner has 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
--The cards will be mailed to the winner.

PS...if you don't win this one, keep your eye out for another giveaway like this during the first week of December. Cheers!

Hiroshi's Pub in Beachwood

2011-11-15T18:53:00.001-05:00

During the final days of Cleveland Restaurant Week, my fiancee planned to pop into Red Steakhouse for dinner. When we arrived, we were told it was a 2.5 hour wait and decided to walk across the street to Hiroshi's Pub instead. I've looked over the menu before while I stopped in for a drink, and was surprised at how many choices they had.
Food
After hearing our waitress describe the specials for the evening, my fiancee and I were both sold on two specific dishes that sounded amazing. My fiancee picked the house cured bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes, and vegetables ($21). The pork was cooked to a perfect medium. The bacon that was wrapped around the pork had a mildly crispy texture which paired well with the soft mouth feel of the pork. We both really enjoyed the flavor combination of the tenderloin and bacon and were pleased with this part of the dish. The mashed potatoes themselves lacked any seasoning, and the gravy was a surprise because the dish was not described with it. My fiancee really didn't care for the gravy and thought it just didn't taste fresh. The vegetables served with the dish were tender but were very bland. Overall, the protein on this dish was very good, but it would have been a better overall dish with improved sides.

My choice for the evening was described by the waitress as a Leg of Lamb with pancake potatoes and vegetables ($21). When I ordered the lamb, I stressed I don't like my lamb overcooked and requested it to be cooked medium. When my dish arrived, I was somewhat confused by what I saw. Half of the lamb was cut in to very thin pieces and the other half was just a pile of meat and fat. It was all topped with sauce that I was not expecting. As I began to eat, I realized this was a very strong mint sauce and the lamb itself was beyond well-done. The lamb was almost inedible due to the overpowering sauce and the dryness of the meat. I asked the waitress what kind of sauce was on the lamb. She wasn't aware it was served with sauce and wasn't sure what kind it was. She came back to tell us it was a mint and tomato sauce. I then showed her the condition of the meat and she agreed it looked way overcooked. She apologized and left to talk to the chef and manager. As I waited, I ate the bland vegetables, the potato pancakes (which were actually pretty tasty), and two pieces of my fiancee's pork. When the waitress came back, she asked if there was anything else they could get for me. By this point, I had eaten a small starter salad and nearly half of my fiancee's dish and had lost my appetite. She came back with a tray of deserts and offered me one. At this point in the dinner, I really didn't want any more food and asked that since I did not eat 95% of the lamb that my dish be taken off the bill. She returned with the bill and said that was no problem and apologized for how poor my entree was.

Overall, this was an off night for food at Hiroshi's Pub and based on what we ate I can't give them higher than a 1.5/5.

Drinks
Hiroshi's Pub offers a decent craft beer bottle and draft selection. You will find beers from such breweries as Dogfish Head, Great Lakes, Brooklyn, Goose Island, Thirsty Dog, and Stone. They also had seasonal beers such as Great Lakes and Breckenridge Christmas Ale. During our meal, I enjoyed a very tasty Dogfish Head 90min IPA on draft, while my fiancee had a very fresh Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. Even if you are not in the mood for food, Hiroshi's Pub is a very good place to find a good craft beer offering. 4/5

Service
Even with my disaster of an entree, I have to say our waitress was very good. She was friendly and prompt for the entire evening. She was very knowledgeable about the main menu but we feel the specials were not communicated well from the kitchen to the table. 3.75/5.

Sunday Supper--Beef Brisket Braised in Founders Breakfast Stout

2011-11-13T17:37:00.001-05:00

The inspiration for this dish stems from our love of craft beer. The style of beer that we both truly love equally is stouts, and we wanted to make a dish using this style of beer. I had it in my mind for a few weeks that we were going to braise a beef brisket with a stout. As of a few days ago, we were still not sure what stout we were going to use. I had narrowed it down to Epic Big Bad Baptist, Founders Breakfast Stout, and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. We attended the the Fabulous Food Show this past weekend and I had a chance to ask Iron Chef Michael Symon a question while he was doing a demo. I asked him what beer he would use to braise beef with and he responded with Founders Breakfast Stout. This was music to my ears because with that beer already on our short list. How could we not listen to advice from and Iron Chef?

Most of the prep, cooking, and pictures done for this post were done by my fiancee. The recipe she used was sort of a combination of a bunch that we found online. She started out by giving the 1.75lb beef brisket a rub down of salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and basil. She then heated the Dutch oven to medium high heat with a bit of oil. She then added 2 large sliced onions, 5 chopped carrots, 3 chopped cloves of garlic seared the outside of the brisket for about 3 minutes per side. Next, she reduced heat to low, covered the brisket with stout, and added just a touch more salt and pepper for good measure!

At this point it was time to pop the Dutch oven in the 350 degree oven for 3-4 hours. After about 3 hours we realized the brisket was done and then removed the brisket and set it aside to rest.

I then helped her strain out the onion and carrots and then boiled the remaining liquid to reduce for a sauce.

Once the sauce was done, we plated our dishes and added a bit of sauteed kale and commenced eating!

The first thing we both realized was that the beef was slightly over cooked! As close as she was watching it, it still somehow cooked a bit too much. If we had to do it with this cut of meat again we would take the temperature down to 275-300 degrees and do the same amount of time, or do the 350 degrees but only braise it for 2-2.5 hours. That being said, the brisket still was tasty, and the breakfast stout flavor came through moderately. The carrots and onions, however, were simply to die for. They soaked up every single flavor that breakfast stout has to offer! Chocolate and coffee came through pretty strongly and I could not get enough of this part of the dish. The kale added a bit of texture, which was desperately needed because of the soft meat and vegetables.

If we had to cook this meal again we would love to try a lower, slower temperature with this cut of meat, but would like to try this same recipe with cuts of meat like short ribs or beef shank. I'd love to also try it with pork shoulder or pork shanks! One thing is for sure, Founders Breakfast Stout is both an amazing beer to drink, and an amazing beer to cook with. Cheers!

Pranzo in Willoughby Review #2

2011-11-08T07:39:00.000-05:00

Earlier this summer my fiancee and I went to Pranzo for dinner (Review #1). We were not blown away by the food, but it was good enough that we both wanted to go back for a second review. This past weekend my fiancee's sister picked Pranzo for her birthday dinner, which gave us the perfect chance for a second review!
Food
We were the first table to arrive for the evening. The table of 8 adults and 2 children were treated with a meat and cheese board to start our meal. This was different from our prior visit and we noticed no one else was served the meat and cheese board. What a nice gesture from Pranzo!

After we placed our order, each person received a house salad that was comprised of mixed greens, shaved parmesan, and a sliced cucumber and tomato. The salad was consistent with the salad we had the last time, except this time it had more parmesan. I thought the extra parmesan improved the overall flavor of the salad.

I picked the Butternut and Brie Ravioli from the specials menu for my entree. Each ravioli was stuffed with a puree of butternut squash and brie. It came topped with a brown butter sage sauce. Presentation wise the dish was sort of flat and could have used some color to make it more visually appealing. Any disappointment I had with the looks of the dish quickly left my mind once I started to eat. The pasta was cooked perfectly, and the squash and brie combination was fantastic. The brown butter sage sauce that was hidden below the ravioli had a savory richness that really worked well with the brie. This dish was clearly a case of never judging a book by its cover, and I'd highly recommend it if you see it on the menu.

My fiancee picked the Char Crusted Duck Breast. The dish was described as seared Muscovy duck breast over sauteed gnocchi. It was served with brown butter, herbs, caramelized onions, and veal stock. When the dish came out we both were a little surprised that the duck had already been sliced. Whatever crispy char crusting that was intended had been lost. The flavor of the duck itself was average, with more than a few pieces being on the fatty side. The gnocchi, onions and veal stock were a very interesting combination that worked because of the earthiness. I enjoyed this dish a little more than my fiancee did, and we ended up trading halfway through our entrees because the ravioli was so good. That being said, I would not order this dish again unless the duck was prepared differently.

Overall our food experience was slightly better than our first trip, but the duck dish did disappoint us based on the description. Food wise Pranzo gets a 4/5 this time around.

Drinks
Pranzo is a BYOB establishment that charges a $1.00 corking fee on wine, and a $2.00 per person charge for beer. This really opens the door to the customer to bring whatever they want, and can make for a very fun dinner. Since we were in downtown Willoughby, we brought a few growlers with us and stopped at Willoughby Brewing Company to fill them up before dinner. A 64oz growler ranges in price from $10-$15 depending on style. If you are a craft beer fan, I highly recommend trying this if you head to dinner at Pranzo. The ability to bring in amazing beverages to pair with your meal scores Pranzo a 5/5 in my book!

Service
Our waiter for the evening was top notch. He was very knowledgeable about the menu and more than willing to answer all of the questions we had. We had two young children at the table with multiple food allergies, and our waiter was willing to have the kitchen make special food from scratch just for the children. When our food arrived our waiter gave us appropriate time to try our dishes and then was quickly over at the table making sure everyone was happy. This was a very different experience from our first trip to Pranzo. I'm happy to say, this is the type of service that we look for when dining out. Service this time was excellent, and gets a 5/5.

The Fabulous Food Show 2011 Info and Giveaway

2011-11-02T07:54:00.002-04:00

From November 11th through the 13th Cleveland's IX Center will be host to the Fabulous Food Show. This show offers some of the most amazing food samples and cooking demo's that you'll find anywhere in the country. Add to that, a list of celebrity chefs that includes Cleveland's own Iron Chef Michael Symon, Iron Chef Bobby Flay, Robert Irvine and Duff Goldman and you have yourself a full fledged foodie heaven!

Personally I can't wait for the Kitchen Theater Demos. Last year my fiancee and I got to see Michael Symon host and event that slated Jonathon Sawyer against Dante Boccuzzi and Steve Schimoler. We were so impressed by this event, and Chef Sawyers cooking, that we made next week reservations to visit his restaurant!

Fabulous Food Show Tickets on Sale

Ticket prices: One-day Admission ticket: $25 online at www.fabulousfoodshow.com or $30.00 onsite November 11-13, 2011 at the I-X Center.

2-day and 3-day TICKETS with Specially Reserved Seating:

2-Day Admission ticket (advance sale) $45.00

3-Day Admission ticket (advance sale) $65.00

Convenience fee on all tickets except group tickets and tickets purchased on site.

Each ticket includes admission to exhibits and seating to see one of your favorite celebrity chefs, and also allows patrons to see other celebrity chefs on the day of the visit -- on a first come, first-served basis.

Event Hours: Friday, November 11 — 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Saturday, November 12 — 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Sunday, November 13 — 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

So are you interested in winning two general admission passes? The good people of the Fabulous Food show have given me two passes to give away to one lucky reader! To enter to win free 2 tickets to this event simply follow the steps listed below!

And the Winner is Comment 37!

There are 3 ways to Enter The Giveaway

*You must leave a separate comment on this post for each Entry!*

1. Leave one comment on this post telling me you would like to win and which chef you are most excited to see!

2. Click "Like" on my Facebook Page and post this on your Facebook Wall (be sure to tag @ClevelandFoodandBrewsReviews):

Check out the Fabulous Food Show Giveaway that Cleveland Food and Brews Reviews is doing at: http://hops.me/7u0

3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following:

Check out the @FabFoodShow Giveaway that @CleFoodandBrews is doing at: http://hops.me/7u0 #CleFood

Rules:

--You have until Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 9:00am EST to enter.

--Each separate comment is numbered in the order they are posted. The comment that matches the Random.org number wins!!

--Winner has 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I have been given 1 set of tickets to giveaway. I have also been granted a media pass to attend and cover the event. All thoughts an opinions are 100% my own.

Cleveland Restaurant Week November 1-13, 2011

2011-10-27T07:24:00.002-04:00

November 1st is right around the corner. Do you know what that means? It means it is Cleveland Restaurant Week! From November 1st through the 13th you'll be able to dine around at over 50 area Cleveland restaurants and get a 3 course prix fixe meal for only $30 per person!

Here are the participating restaurants:

Bistro 185
Bistro on Main
Blake's Restaurant and Bar
Brunos Ristorante
Chinato
The City Square Steakhouse
Corky & Lenny's
Creekside Restaurant & Bar
Crush Wine Bar
Don's Lighthouse
Dragonfly Lounge
D'Vine Wine Bar
Fire food and drink
Flour, Rustic Italian Kitchen
The Flying Fig
Great Lakes Brewing Company
The Greenhouse Tavern
Grovewood Tavern & Wine Bar
Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse-Beachwood and Westlake
John Q's Steakhouse
Johnny Mango World Café & Bar
La Dolce Vita
Light Bistro
Luxe Kitchen and Lounge
L'Albatros
Marotta's
Mavis Winkle's Irish Pub
Melange
Molinari's
Moxie
Nighttown
Olivor Twist
One Red Door
Paladar Latin Kitchen
Parallax Restaurant and Lounge
Pearl of the Orient
Phil the Fire
Pickwick & Frolic
Pier W
Players on Madison
Red
SASA
Sergio's in University Circle
Sergio's SARAVA
Sushi Rock Beachwood
Sushi Rock Cleveland
Table 45
Tartine Bistro
Taste
Thyme The Restaurant
Tremont Tap House
The Woods
Zinc Brasserie

To view the specific menu that each restaurant will be featuring for Restaurant Week please visit: http://www.clevelandindependents.com/rw2011.php

Disclosure: I am not receiving any compensation for doing this promotion.

Market Garden Brewery Review #2

2011-10-17T07:23:00.002-04:00

Three months ago we had dinner and drinks with friends at Market Garden for my first review. Our experience didn't leave us wowed by any means, but we knew we wanted to give them a second chance. On Friday, October 7th my fiancee and two other couples decided to do a group review where each couple would give their opinions on the evenings food, beer and service. We thought this would be fun way to give multiple perspectives in a single review.

FOOD

Our Meal

My fiancee and I decided to start our meal with the Scotch Egg. This hard-boiled egg came wrapped in garlic sausage and was cooked perfectly. The sausage had a sweet flavor which paired well with the hot sauce. This $7 starter was a very nice start to our meal.

My fiancee ordered the Red Chili Chicken Tacos ($9). The seasoned chicken was cooked perfectly. It remained moist and came packed with flavor. To complement the chicken these tacos came topped with picked onions, carrots and jalapenos that had a fair amount of spice to them. She really enjoyed how each bite came together inside the floured soft tortillas and overall was very pleased with this dish.

I decided to go with the sauteed Walleye ($19) that came with cavatelli, braised greens, and bacon. The Walleye itself was cooked perfectly. The fish remained moist and flavorful throughout, yet had a mild crispiness to the outside and the skin. The cavatelli were also cooked properly and the butter based sauce that the dish was topped with really helped to bring the fish and pasta together. Where this dish took a little misstep for me was with the bacon. The bacon was cut into small cubes and was very soft, fatty and chewy. The texture of the fish and pasta were both soft, and something with some texture, like crispy bacon or crispy pork belly, would have really rounded out the dish. That being said I very much enjoyed the pasta, fish and braised greens and would recommend this dish if you enjoy seafood.

Our overall food experience at Market Garden was much better than our first experience. We thought the prices for our starter and entree were spot on with the quality of food we ate. Food Wise I'd give a 4.25/5.

Bill's Food

My wife and I split a Scotch Egg and Market Salad as our appetizers. The Scotch Egg started the meal off on a high note. The sausage was delicious and the hard-boiled egg was cooked perfectly. The accompanying mustard and hot sauce took things to another level. I’d highly recommend this, as you aren’t likely to find it anywhere else in Cleveland and it’s a nice taste of the UK.

The market salad featured seasonal Ohio vegetables grown in the restaurant’s garden. The watermelon radish, grated cheese and light dressing of mustard vinaigrette made this a satisfying $9 salad.

I ordered the Veggie Burger, which was a black bean burger with swiss, lettuce, tomato, red onion and aioli. That might seem like an unusual choice for a brewery meal, but I’m a fan of black bean burgers and order them often. I also make my own at home, so I feel like I have a bit of knowledge on the subject.

Market Garden’s veggie burger was well executed. The patty itself had a nice texture and didn’t crumble or turn to mush as I bit into it. The flavor was enjoyable- diced vegetables and seasonings balanced the overall taste. The aioli added moisture and an additional level of flavor, without compromising texture or mouth feel. I also appreciated that the aioli was served on the side, as it allowed me to add as much or as little as I’d like. I would definitely order this again.

The only misstep came with the side of fries. They were thin and well cooked, but inconsistently salted. Half of the plate was lightly salted, while the other half lacked salt. Unfortunately, there was no salt on the table with which to remedy this.

Renee’s Food:

I ordered the House-smoked Pork Tacos and they did not disappoint! I was surprised to see thin slices of pork, rather than pulled pork on my tortilla. However, this proved to be a very pleasant surprise. The pork was moist, tender and not at all fatty. The flavor was not overpowered by the heat of the salsa verde and was complemented by the freshness of the cilantro. The house queso was creamy and slightly salty. Together, they made for a delicious taco so filling that I needed help with the third one!

Perhaps the best compliment that I can give to the spicy carrot and jalapeno escabeche is that I searched for a recipe online and hope to duplicate it at home.

Scott and Holly's Food:

For the appetizer we ordered the Pretzel which was served with the house specialty mustard and garlic cheese. Both the mustard and garlic cheese were very good and the flavors were great accompaniments to the pretzel. The only disappointments for this appetizer or “Snack” as labeled by Market Garden Brewery, were both the price and size. At $6, there is simply not enough “bang” for your buck.

For the main course I ordered the Mustard and Buttermilk fried chicken which was excellent. The chicken was perfectly fried, and the chicken was very moist and succulent. My only gripe (albeit minor) was that the chicken was coated with a “spicy honey”, however, the honey was not at all spicy as claimed. Although, the honey was not spicy, the honey did add excellent flavor to chicken, and a perfect balance of salty and sweet. The chicken was served atop mixture of sausage creamed collard greens and a corn cake. I had never had sausage creamed collard greens before but it along with the corn cake were interesting, unique, and well suited side dishes and paired well with this entree.

Drinks

Our Thoughts:

Our last trip to the brewery left us all drinking guest taps for two reasons. First, we were unhappy with the quality of the beer, and second, because they had run out of several of the options we wanted to try. Tonight there was a full menu of beers, so we had plenty to choose from. Everyone at our table tonight really enjoys craft beer, so we decided to each order a different pint and just split it around the table. We did this because we all felt that the sampler price of $15 for six 4oz samples was simply too high considering pints were priced $5-$6.50. Hop Soup, Market Centennial Extra IPA, and the Franklin Castle Pumpkin all got thumbs up from several people based on the flavor and quality of the brew. However, the Fall Porter was over carbonated and lacked flavor and the Oktoberfest was much to watery and had no body to it. Tonight's beer experience was much better than before, but there is still room to grow in terms of quality and I look forward to seeing how Market Garden's beers improve over time. On another beer note, the guest taps that were available were excellent. Beers like Avery Maharaja, Three Floyds Dreadnaught, Founders Breakfast Stout, and Southern Tier Pumking were just some of the stars on the list. Prices for these guest brews were $7.00 each and provided a 10oz or 12oz pour. Our feeling on the house beers was mixed, but we did really like the guest tap offerings. Market Garden a 3.5/5 this time around.

Bill’s Thoughts:

I started out with the Market Centennial IPA. A huge hop aroma greeted me and was reflective of the flavor throughout. The blend of hops provided a nice bitterness and the citrus gave way to grassy tones that lingered. Loved it.

I also had the Fall Porter, which fell short of my expectations. With a medium carbonation and a thin body, I was hoping for a lot of flavor but didn’t find it within. With the cooler weather approaching, I was looking for a big stout or porter and had to resort to the guest taps to find that. Thankfully, Founders Breakfast Stout delivered, but at $7 a glass it brings me to my next point. The Market Garden Beer prices were higher than I’d be willing to pay routinely for the satisfaction I received. I applaud the “session” beer concept, but don’t care to pay premium prices for beers that are often not as full flavored as their higher ABV counterparts.

Scott and Holly's Thoughts:

In order to evaluate the complete selection of beers Market Garden has to offer everyone at our table purchased different pints. We opted to go this route because samples of the beer were 6 for $15 which is very pricey and in our opinion not worth the price tag. In prior visits to Market Garden, a number of their beers were unavailable, however, this time all beers on their list were readily available to purchase. There were some good beers and my favorite beers of the night were Market Garden’s Hop Soup, and Centennial IPA. Although I enjoyed these two beers, none of the beers particularly amazed me. Unfortunately, based on this visit and my past experiences at Market Garden Brewery, I would rather purchase beers from their “Guest List”. The most disappointing beer of the night was Market Garden Brewery’s Old Zahm (the house Oktoberfest). The beer had little to no body and in my opinion tasted very “watery” or watered down. Comparable to other Oktoberfest beers I have had in the past there was no basis for comparison. For the first time in my life I returned the beer and asked for a substitute beer from their “Guest List”. A further disappointment is that Market Garden offers the option on their menu to purchase their house beers in a mason jar for an additional $3, however, we found that only one beer on the list was available for purchase in the mason jar. The menu lists exceptions however, the list is very incomplete and changes to the menu need to be made to highlight the fact that only one of the beers is available for the mason jar option.

Atmosphere/Service/Overall

Our Thoughts:

The restaurant was buzzing the moment we walked in the door. It was buzzing to the point that it made conversions at our table very difficult, but it was nice to see Clevelanders out and about on a Friday evening. Our service was friendly and knowledgeable about the food, but only myself and my fiancee could hear her because of the noise. I found myself relaying information across the booth so the other couples would know what was going on. We also had to wait a long time between drink refills. At one point we asked the bus boy to get us water refills and he graciously did! I understand the place was busy and it was Friday night but there was clearly confusion around the restaurant. Our table was brought food at least 3 times that wasn't ours, and when I asked about a specific beer on tap they had no idea what I as talking about. The funny part about it was the beer was tapped the previous night and posted on their Facebook page as a major event. Eventually after asking several times we finally got the Three Floyds Dreadnaught we had asked for.

Overall, our visit this time showed me a few things. First, The food was much improved over our last visit. both in terms of flavors and the preparation. Second, a few of the house beers this time around were pretty good, but still a few were just not right and I wouldn't order them again. Third, the prices for samplers still remains too expensive at $15 for only 24 total ounces of beer. If they want people to try more of their beers the price of the sampler should be $2.00 per sample, or $12 for six samples. Finally, although our service was improved, we still felt like it could have been better.

Bill and Renee's Thoughts:

The atmosphere was energetic, exciting and current. Fantastic, though it felt more like a trendy restaurant than a brewery. (Not a knock, just an observation!) The noise did cause a bit of a problem with service at times, with those of us at the far end of our booth for 6 unable to hear anything our server said. That proved to be incredibly frustrating, despite her warm smile and pleasant demeanor. We did have a long wait at times for refills on water and beer, and there seemed to be a lot of confusion in the kitchen about what table ordered what food. Runners made no less than 3 different attempts at delivering various meals to our table after we had already eaten. We also read on Facebook about a guest tap featuring Three Floyds Dreadnaught, but found no evidence of that when we arrived. After asking about it, we did eventually receive the beer- as did a friend of mine the following night. However, had it not been posted to Facebook the day before our visit, we would have missed out. The quality of food and beer can be outstanding, but with miscommunication like this there will always be an immediate need for improvement.

Overall, we did receive exactly what we ordered and our server was friendly and helpful when answering questions. She also steered us right when recommending the fried chicken entrée. After tasting that off of Scott’s plate, we’ll be back to order it ourselves!

Scott and Holly's Thoughts:

The service we received that evening was sub-par. The waitress was nice, courteous and cordial however did not return to ask how our appetizers or entrees were after the fact. A lot of this can be attributed to the fact that the restaurant was very busy and there were a lot of tables and orders our waitress was responsible for. When our table all purchased different beers and asked for glasses to create our own tasting sample, the waitress was very receptive to our needs and handled the situation quite well. When I was disappointed with the taste and quality of my beer (Old Zahm Market Garden’s Oktoberfest) the waitress handled my request to substitute another beer exceptionally well. The ability of an establishment to accommodate the customer’s requests (as was done in this case) is paramount of exceptional service. The waitress and Market Garden Brewery should be commended for how this situation was handled.

Market Garden has improved on various aspects of their restaurant experience compared to prior visits I have made to the establishment. For the first time, all of their house beers were available for purchase, which is not an unreasonable expectation for such an establishment. While I was not blown away by the house beers, I would recommend that everyone try the Hop Soup and Centennial IPA (especially if you are a hop-head like me). To date however, the beers produced by Market Garden do not blow me away, and unfortunately I would rather drink beers from their “Guest List”. The list of guest beers at Market Garden is very good and offers a wide variety of beers for people with different tastes.

The entrée I ordered, was the highlight of the evening. It is by far my favorite entrée I have had from there. Based on this visit, if you haven’t been to Market Garden before, I would recommend you go merely to taste this entrée alone. Although, this entrée is excellent, I believe Market Garden’s food menu should be expanded upon and some more pub/brewery food should be added. I applaud them for making diverse and unique entrees, however, in my opinion the menu in its current state, is rather limited.
Overall, I believe that Market Garden could improve some of the prices on their menu. At $15, 6 samples of their beer is very steep and not worth the investment. Further, the pretzel we had for our appetizer is in my opinion overpriced for a single pretzel.

All thoughts and opinions expressed in my portion of the review are my own. The thoughts and opinions expressed by Bill, Renee, Scott and Holly are their own and I did not change or alter them.

Sunday Supper--Grilled Chicken with Grapefruit Glaze

2011-10-03T07:28:00.000-04:00

Dinner this week featured the Grilled Chicken with Grapefruit Glaze recipe. My Fiancee picked this dish because of the combination of Grapefruit and Chicken, two of her favorite ingredients. Also, this recipe looked fairly quick and straightforward which is perfect for a busy Sunday after the Browns Game!

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon grapefruit zest (from about 1/2 grapefruit)

1/2 cup grapefruit juice (from 1 grapefruit)

1 tablespoon cooking oil

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

4 bone-in chicken breasts (about 2 1/4 pounds in all)

1. Light the grill. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, grapefruit zest, grapefruit juice, oil, honey, salt, and pepper.

2. Grill the chicken breasts over moderately high heat, brushing frequently with the glaze, for 8 minutes. Turn and cook, brushing with more glaze, until the chicken is just done, 10 to 12 minutes longer. Remove.

3. In a small stainless-steel saucepan, bring the remaining glaze to a boil. Boil for about 1 minute, remove from the heat, and pour over the grilled chicken.

**We also decided to make some sauteed Kale and some simple boiled potatoes to give the dish something more than just the protein.

First, thanks to Mother Nature we had to use the indoor electric grill for this. We had a difficult time cooking the chicken through and ended up finishing it in the oven for about 10 minutes. If I had to do this again, I would 100% use my outdoor gas grill, or better yet a charcoal grill. The flavor of the glaze was light, fresh, and sweet. We used honey from Chef Kimberly McCune Gibson that we were given at ReHival! Although the glaze was tasty, I would have liked the skin on the chicken to be crispier. The kale and potatoes were very much needed as sides as doing just the chicken. So far, this was our least favorite dish. We will make it again, but we will be sure it's a nice day so we can use the outdoor grill!

Sunday Supper--Chicken with Lemon, Oregano, and Feta Cheese

2011-09-21T07:28:00.000-04:00

This Sunday was a very busy day, so we decided to pick one of the easier looking recipes to make:

Chicken with Lemon, Oregano, and Feta Cheese.

Ingredients:
1 chicken (3 to 3 1/2 pounds), quartered
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 tablespoon butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/3 cup)
**To keep things extra simple we went with two boneless skinless organic chicken breasts instead of the whole quartered chicken.

1. Heat the oven to 375°. Coat the chicken with the oil; arrange the pieces, skin-side up, in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle the chicken with the oregano, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Top each piece of chicken with a piece of the butter.

2. Cook the chicken until the breasts are just done, about 30 minutes. Remove the breasts and continue to cook the legs until done, about 5 minutes longer. Remove the roasting pan from the oven; return the breasts to the pan. Top the chicken pieces with the feta cheese. Press any cheese that rolls off into the pan back onto the chicken. Baste the chicken with the pan juices.

3. Heat the broiler. Broil the chicken until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Serve with the pan juices.

Side Dish: Balance the tanginess of lemon and feta with a mild side dish such as orzo tossed with a little olive oil or sautéed zucchini.

**We made sauteed onion, zucchini, and yellow squash for our side, along with oven roasted garlic bread.

This dish turned out pretty good! The chicken was moist and tender. The combination of the lemon juice and feta added a balance of acidity and saltiness. The zucchini and squash with onion was a nice side dish because it provided more earthy flavors compared to the chicken portion. Finally, the addition of the garlic bread added a much needed crunch to the dish. Next time, we definitely will try the whole chicken. We feel like the crispy chicken skin would take the dish up a note in terms of texture.

Melange

2011-09-19T07:19:00.000-04:00

Since starting my site over a year ago, my fiancee and I have neglected to visit a restaurant that is literally 5 minutes from our house, Melange. We ate at Melange back on January 17th of 2009 for my fiancee's birthday. We remembered having a good experience, but that was way before my days of actually writing about our experiences. I know this review is nearly 2.5 years later, but we hoped for a similar experience this time around.
Food
The menu at Melange is very diverse and even the pickiest of eaters will find something on the menu that will meet their needs. As we were seated, we were brought a basket of breads and spreads. The crispy flat bread was good but really didn't need any of the spread because it had such robust flavor itself. The regular Italian style bread was fresh and soft. It did go well with the garlic, herb and honey butter, chickpea spread and the olive oil and balsamic dipping sauce.

We asked our waitress what the top entrees were on the menu and she highly recommended the trout. I decided to give it a shot since I really enjoy seafood. The presentation of the dish was colorful and creative, while the portion size was slightly larger than expected for $22.50. The first piece of trout was slightly thicker and moist, but half of the second piece was overcooked because it was so thin. There was very little salt on the fish itself, but the capers on the plate more than made up for that. The roasted tomatoes and potatoes added a wonderful earthly element and were an excellent complement to the fish. I was pleased with my dish, but I would have preferred a single filet of trout that was consistently thick and evenly cooked. I also prefer the skin to be much crispier.

My fiancee went with the 10oz grilled strip steak. It came with a guacamole, chorizo and queso fresco loaded Baked Potato with a Tomatillo Salsa. Once again the presentation on this dish was excellent. It had the wow factor for visual appeal when the plate was set down. Unfortunately, that was the high point for the dish. The color on the steak was a perfect medium, but three out of the six slices of steak were cold throughout. The three slices that were somewhat warm, were sitting on the potatoes. The flavor on the steak was good, but the actual temperature was disappointing. The combination of chorizo and tomatillo salsa added a kick to the dish in terms of spice, but the potatoes just tasted over cooked and under salted. The dish did not come together with the flavor profiles as we had hoped.

We had high expectations based on our last experience, but we were somewhat disappointed in our food experience this time around. You might be wondering why we didn't say anything, but I'll get into that more in the service part of the review. Food was 2.5/5.

Drinks

Melange doesn't offer any draft beer, but they do have an average craft beer bottle selection. "New World Beers" such as Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Rogue Dead Guy and several Indigo Imp brews were all available. They also carried "Old World Beers" such as Guinness, Duvel, and Stella Artois. Where Melange excels is their mixed drinks and wine offerings. Pretty much any mixed cocktail you can think of appears on the menu. My fiancee opted for a cocktail that consisted of watermelon, basil, vodka, simple syrup, and soda. It was mighty tasty! Drink wise I give Melange's offerings a 3/5.

Service

Our night started out great. We were quickly seated and kindly greeted by a smiling and very friendly waitress. She was very open and knowledgeable about the food and drinks. I even remarked to my fiancee how impressed I was with service. Our drink orders were taken and filled quickly. Our food order was taken within 15 minutes of being seated. As we waited for our food, we noticed that the restaurant itself was not very busy, but a large group was entering the restaurant's private party room. We also noticed that our waitress started serving this large party. After about 20 minutes of placing our order, our waitress brought out food to us and we began to eat. Unfortunately, this was the last that we saw of her because she never returned to check on our food. For over 20 minutes we sat at our table and she did not once check in to see how our food was or if we needed any drinks. The hostess did come over once we were halfway done eating and asked if everything was OK, but by this point we were both very frustrated. Our waitress didn't return until she brought our check, but she only came over because the hostess asked if we were ready for our check. While signing the bill, a tall gentleman approached the table to clear away more plates and asked how our meal was. I responded to him "It was OK." I was hoping he would ask why it was "Just OK" but he took the plates and simply walked away. When dining at a restaurant of Melange's caliber, I have high expectations for service. These expectations were met during the first half, but were not met during the second half of our evening. We honestly felt we were forgotten about once the large party came in and that is not the feeling I want to have when paying $65 for a meal. Service wise tonight was a 5/5 during the seating and ordering half, but a 0/5 once we got our food until we left.

View Cleveland Food and Brews Restaurant Review Map in a larger map

Disclosure: All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Yellow Brick Pizza in Columbus, Ohio

2011-09-15T07:21:00.000-04:00

Yellow Brick Pizza, won best new restaurant in Columbus in 2011. I wanted to go to see if the pizza really lived up to that honor. I also read they had 16 beers on tap. When you put good pizza with good craft beer, you have a must try in my eyes.

Food

We arrived at the restaurant around 7pm on a Saturday night and had no problems grabbing a table. While looking over the menu, we realized this place takes its pizza pretty seriously. They had 20 specialty pizzas to choose from in addition to the 26 toppings you could use to make whatever pizza you wanted. We asked our waitress what the most popular pizzas were. She gladly told us about several of them in detail. Our table of 4 decided we wanted to try a few different pizzas, so we started off by ordering two medium pizzas. The first was the Charles’ Red Hot Pie. This was a red sauce based pizza that came topped with chicken, spicy Buffalo sauce, and a bit of ranch. The flavors of this pizza were intense. Spicy Buffalo sauce, creamy ranch, a flavorful red sauce all combined to make one delicious pizza. The crust on the pizza was crispy and flavorful, not too thin, and not too thick either.

The second pizza we ordered was the Big O. This pizza came with red sauce and was topped with feta, artichoke hearts, spinach, fresh tomato, garlic, and red onions. The crust on this pizza was cooked just as perfectly as the first. It was crispy and medium in terms of thickness. The fresh spinach really stood out on every bite, along with the salty feta and red onions. This pizza actually paired well with the spicy pizza because alternating slices between the two gave me a break from the spiciness of the Red Hot Pie!

The four of us had no problems eating two medium pizzas so we decided to order one more! We decided to do a half and half that we designed ourselves for our final pizza. We started with the base of a white pizza and added banana peppers to half, broccoli to the other half and sundried tomatoes to the whole thing. Again this pizza was flavorful and cooked to perfection. By the end of the 3rd medium pizza, the 4 of us were full!

The average cost for a medium pizza was around $12-$15. All of the pizza's had fresh ingredients and all of the pizza's were cooked perfectly. Our entire table was satisfied and we would gladly go back again for pizza because they had some other very appealing specialty pizzas that we didn't have room to try! Pizza done this well gets them a 5/5!

Drinks
When you think of a pizza place, you don't always think of them having great craft beer. Well, Yellow Brick Pizza chances that thought process rather quickly. They offer 16 quality craft beers on tap in addition to a bottle list that is large and well organized. Brooklyn, Sierra Nevada, Founders and Avery were just a few of the many options available. They also had a special running on Sierra Nevada Torpedo and Victory Prima Pils and Sunshine for only $3.00 a bottle. Good selection of draft beer and bottles, plus reasonable prices nets this restaurant a score of 4.5/5.

Atmosphere and Service
Right when you walk into Yellow Brick Pizza, you are greeted with a delicious pizza aroma and an open kitchen layout. Everything was bright with a modern twist. It had a pub-like feel but also felt like a good old family pizza place. Our server was very helpful by suggesting the best selling pizzas. She took our order quickly and the pizza was out in a good amount of time. Our service was pretty good but nothing over the top. Overall our experience was a good one, and I'd love to go back to try some of their other specialty pizzas. 3.5/5

View Cleveland Food and Brews Restaurant Review Map in a larger map

Sunday Supper--Pasta Shells with Chicken and Brussels Sprouts

2011-09-13T07:11:00.002-04:00

Today for Sunday Supper we cooked up something with pasta and something I don't eat that much of, brussels sprouts! The dish is titled Pasta Shells with Chicken and Brussels Sprouts.

The Ingredients for the dish are:

2 tablespoons cooking oil
3 tablespoons butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 pound fresh brussels sprouts
1 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1/8 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 pound medium pasta shells

I did alter the recipe slightly. Instead of 4 chicken breasts I used only two very large ones. I also upped the red-pepper flakes to 1/4 teaspoon, and the garlic to 3 cloves.

1. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon each of the oil and the butter over moderate heat. Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Cook the breasts until browned and just done, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes. Cut into small pieces.

I tried to follow these directions but it was clear that after browning on each side for over 5 minutes per side, the chicken was simply not cooking through. I made the choice to take the chicken out of the pan, and cut each breast into 8 slices. I then tossed it back into the pan until finished. I let it rest for 5 minutes and cut the slices into smaller pieces.

2. In the same pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over moderately low heat. Add the red onion and cook. Stir the onion occasionally until it starts to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, brussels sprouts, broth, and red-pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook covered, until the brussels sprouts are just done, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken, lemon juice, parsley, Parmesan, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat.

3. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until just done, about 10 minutes. Drain and toss with the sauce.

I'm happy to say that my fiancee said this was her favorite dish yet! The chicken was moist and flavorful and did not get dried out due to the extra cutting while cooking (This was a relief!) The brussels sprouts flavor mellowed slightly with cooking and was complemented by the red onion, garlic and melted Parmesan cheese. The addition of a bit more crush red pepper also worked out very well. The added bit of heat really gave the dish another note which we both really enjoyed. I would even be willing to add a bit more next time because I do like things a bit spicy. Overall, the prep time for this was average, 10 minutes, and once I got everything going, we were eating in under 30 minutes. I recommend this dish for a weeknight when you don't have a ton of time on your hands and you are looking for something tasty! Cheers!

Bodega In Columbus

2011-09-09T07:22:00.001-04:00

My fiancee and I made a trip to Columbus for the day on Saturday to visit friends. While we were down there, she made some plans to try on wedding dresses. It was my job to find a place for my buddy Steve and I to crash while the girls were off looking at dresses. We decided to try Bodega on 1044 North High Street. Before the girls left we all decided to get a small bite to eat since we wouldn't be eating dinner until much later.
Food
I decided to go with a small plate of the Mac and Cheese. It was made with parmesan, cheddar and goat cheese, and topped with panko breadcrumbs. There were also a strong rosemary presence and a little bit of crushed red pepper. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the crunch from the panko added some texture to this very creamy dish. I like rosemary, but my fiancee commented that for her it would have been a little too much. Also, I was surprised that this dish lacked salt. It was a tasty dish overall and a good portion size for only $5!

My fiancee ordered the large Bodega house salad. It was made up of romaine lettuce, a few slices of grape tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, and a cracked black pepper vinaigrette. It also came with lightly toasted flat bread. All of the ingredients in the salad were fresh and the black pepper vinaigrette was delicious. The portion size of the salad for $7 was also very reasonable.

This food review is a mini take on what Bodega has to offer. The panini sandwiches and pizza that are also available looked great. I hope that during our next trip to Columbus to stop back and try some other menu items.

Drinks
The craft beer selection was the real reason we stopped at Bodega. They have 50 taps available and the selection of beer both on tap and on their bottle list is quite amazing. They also offered 1 cask beer along with 5 of their 50 taps being nitro! Beers like Southern Tier Pumpking, Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale, and Avery Imperial Oktoberfest were all available. If craft beer is not your thing, they also have a very large liquor selection which helps them to offer a great mixed drink list.

Atmosphere and Service
The atmosphere at Bodega is easy going and friendly. It is located in a building that was once a car shop and then a coffee shop! The feel of the exposed brick and plenty of natural light make this a great place to hang with your friends. Bodega really stood out because of the service. It is one thing to have a killer beer selection, but it is another when you are knowledgeable and willing to talk about the beer with your customers. The bartenders are Bodega were some of the best and most friendly bartenders I've come across in my search for craft beer. Their passion for craft beer was clear. They were happy to talk about what they were offering and what was on deck. Outside of the beer knowledge our food came out in a reasonable time and we were checked on several times to see how our food was.

Simply put, Bodega is a craft beer gem in downtown Columbus. With 50 taps, great service, and a food menu that is going to be expanding soon it wouldn't surprise me to see Bodega be the hottest bar in Columbus!

View Cleveland Food and Brews Restaurant Review Map in a larger map

Downtown Cleveland Patio Week September 12th-18th

2011-09-08T16:40:00.000-04:00

I know the weather has been chilly this week, but there is still time to enjoy Downtown Patio Week before it gets really cold!

From Monday, Sept. 12 through Sunday, Sept. 18, Patio Week will feature $30 three course dinner options and a $15 lunch option at select restaurants. These special menu offerings will be available at more than 20 downtown Cleveland restaurants, including:

Barley House
Bar Louie
Cadillac Ranch
Chinato
Chocolate Bar
Corner Alley
D'Vine Wine Bar
Flannery's
Greenhouse Tavern
Hanna Restaurant & Au Bar
House of Blues
John Q's Steakhouse
Johnny's Downtown
La Strada
Lola
Pickwick & Frolic
Pura Vida by Brandt
Saigon
Sushi Rock
Tower 230 Bar & Grille
Wonder Bar
Zdara Mediterranean Grille
Zinc Bistro Bar and Bakery

Several restaurants will also host special tastings and educational events throughout the week to highlight their remarkable patios, fine cocktails and delicious cuisine. Additional details about Patio Week’s full list of participating restaurants can be found HERE and $2 parking information can be found HERE!

To learn more about Patio Week and other DCA events, visit www.downtownclevelandalliance.com.

Disclosure: I'm not receiving anything for helping to promote this event.