Cleveland Independents Restaurant Week

Menus for Cleveland Independents Restaurant week are up!  I have reviewed and will give you the best ones for the value here! The value is that you get a three-course meal for $33 per person from a  specially selected group of items.  Some restaurants want to serve you a Cesar salad, pasta and cheesecake...that will not be a top restaurant on this blog.

I have 5 that I think are interesting menus and well worth the money for the three courses.  Three of them are old favorites that I think always have the best menus.  Let's start with my three veteran restaurants: Pier W, Light Bistro and Grovewood Tavern. 

Pier W has a fish heavy menu with quality.  For the starter there is a unique selection of a roasted pear salad, scallops over a truffle and apple relish, or tuna satay with a yakitori glaze, each is interesting in its own way.  The main meal has quite a few options but my favorites were the tandoori shrimp with couscous and jalapeno honey, blue cod with saffron basmati and chorizo, or Peking deck lo mein with Szechuan vegetables.  For dessert they are offering a pumpkin cheesecake or a trio or sorbets.  The trio of Sorbet is amazing, I have had it before.  They are also offering a $15 wine pairing for the meal. 

Next up...always a favorite for special dinners...Light Bistro.  Light Bistro is offering many choices and each one sounds better than the other.  It is a unique menu with items you would not normally find just anywhere.  For the first course they have oxtail soup; braised pork belly on a ramen salad, or ricotta ravioli with butternut squash sauce.  The second course is even better with a roasted salmon and a curried cauliflower puree, hanger steak with potato cake and a bacon and mushroom marmalade, roasted chicken breast or a Moroccan vegetarian option.  For dessert, pumpkin brulee or pear and apple crisp. 

The last of the best deals and my favorites is Grovewood Tavern on the East side.  As always their menu is amazing and they are offering a wine pairing with each course for an additional $15 per person.  My pick for the appetizer is the grilled smoked Gouda pan seared with mustard seed cavier on crostini.  They are also offering a crab cake with a Creole remoulade.  For dinner you can try the scallop yakitori with spicy noodles and seaweed salad, a fillet with compound butter, whipped potato and veggie or a maple-adobo pork chop with homemade spaetzle.  This may be my favorite dessert offerings: pecan cake, creme brulee or tiramisu. 

While these are my favorites, I do have a few honorable mentions in the group.  The first is Bac in Tremont.  Bac is offering a 3 course meal for $27 per person and it has a soup, salad, app, and dinner as part of the meal.  Pretty standard Bac fare, but it sounds tasty.  The second honorable mention is Taste in Cleveland Heights.  They have a diverse selection of apps and dinners ranging in value. 

As always...hit me up with your favorites or to meet out for dinner one night!