Don's Lighthouse- Fabulous Happy Hours and specials

Don's Lighthouse is right down the street.  For years I have enjoyed a meal there and a few times I have been there for restaurant week.  But for some reason I never went to happy hour- my mistake!  To begin with Skyy Vodka martini's are only $5.  The choices for happy hour are extensive and cheap!  Definitely go with a friends. 

I was on my own this night so I ordered the sampler- one crab cake, 2 shrimp, 3 bruschetta all for 6.50.  The crab cake was all crab to the point where it sort of fell apart.  It was topped with corn and a fresh cream sauce- very tasty.  The shrimp were jump plain shrimp cocktail with delicious cocktail sauce with horseradish.  The bruschetta were long thin pieces of bread grilled and topped with tomato and balsamic.  I did see a neighbor at the bar who ordered the mussels ($5) and the mini burgers (4.50).  Both were large.  The mussels were served with a wine and tomato broth, the mini burgers were four nice size burgers on beautiful fluffy rolls.  IF you are with a group also order the artichoke/spinach dip at $3.88 it is well worth it and perfect to share.  Also on the menu escargot ($4.50) and order of Bruschetta ($6.75) and Crab cakes. 

There are also great specials almost every night.  Tuesday night is $15 lobster tail served over mashed potatoes with drawn butter.  Sunday is $10 off steak and lobster dinner.  One night is burger night as well. 

The crowd is a bit older, but the food is really good.  Young foodies definitely should tyr this place out. 

Flying fig lunch

An employee of mine was retiring so we decided to go to flying Fig for for lunch. It was the perfect spot for the special occasion. Well the lunch prices are extremely reasonable the food is phenomenal. At the end of the meal the total cost per person for a shared appetizer 3 meals 3 desserts and 3 ice teas was only $25 a person and that included tax and tip.

Now on to the important part... the food. We started with what is one of the best shared appetizer on the menu, the tempura battered green beans. They are light crispy and very fresh. They are served with a sword ginger sauce and a sweet thicker Asian sauce.

For the main course I had vegan and so workers had the eggs sandwich with the bread on the side. The vegan had beautifully homemade hummus grilled eggplant pickled onions roasted red peppers arugula and a balsamic dressing between ciabatta bread. It was a perfect combination and the sandwich was large.  My coworkers grilled eggplant sandwich was just as beautiful. There was a beautiful pile of arugula with thinly sliced marinated eggplant, a roasted red pepper/sundried tomato paste, and according to my dining companions a pickled fennel. They serve the bread on the side as requested and it was a delicious homemade onion focaccia.

However well the meal was wonderful desert stole the show. I had a banana rum bacon brittle ice cream that is made in house. It was made with wonderfully wholesome ingredients. My coworkers each ordered the butterscotch budino with salted caramel and a hazelnut cookie. They both wanted to scrape the mason jar for more.

The meal was very special and right next door is a little shop also filled with fresh ingredients to take home. The meal was memorable and delicious.

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!

Another Restaurant Week!!!!

Cleveland Independents is one of my favorite organizations and they are having a spring Restaurant Week from April 2-14th.  As per my usual obsessive compulsive self towards getting a bargain, I have examined all of the restaurants menu and come up with the best bang for your buck.  For $33 per person some of the restaurants have the choice of salad, pasta and ice cream for dessert while others have....well...check these places out!

Flour Rustic Italian Kitchen has an amazing menu for the week.  My choices from the menu would be the following: Chorizo stuffed dates wrapped in pancetta with a roasted red pepper sauce; Intermezzo-chef's inspiration; third course- Vitello tonnato ravioli with veal, tuna tomato sauce and pickled garlic with arugula; for dessert- Nutella and chocolate molten cake.  The selections sound amazing and it is well worth the $33 per person.  Plus, I have never been here so this is one of my top choice for the week.

Another long time favorite of mine is The Grovewood Tavern and its menu does not disappoint either.  My choices for the special menu would include some of the tastiest items on the menu that are unique and always well prepared.  First course- grilled smoked Gouda is pan-seared and served with a fig/shallot/port wine jam and crostini.  I have had similar dishes to this at Grovewood and it is amazing.  The second course choice would be the Maple-Adobo Pork shank which is raised in Guiness with adobo peppers, heared spaetzle, and fresh vegetales in a Chardon maple syrup adobo glaze.  The other items sound flavorful as well but this one sounds the most unique and inventive of all of the choices.  For dessert the choice would clearly be the caramel pecan cake...it is caramel, pecans and cake what else could be better.  Grovewood a better deal then the $33 dinner by including a special selected wine pairing with each course and dish for only $13 more.  If you miss Grovewood for the week...I highly encourage you to stop e another time for a truly delicious meal.

My second choice for the week, based mainly on the fact that I have never been to this place for dinner before is Players on Madison.  It is hard to make a choice at this place but I will do my best.  They also have a slightly different option in that the three course do not include a dessert course.  The first course offers Roasted chicken, corn, spinach spring rolls with asian slaw and siracha-soy dipping sauce.  The second course- a salad course- my choice would e the mista salad with sun dried strawberries, onion, gorgonzola and a balsamic vinaigrette.  While this is not the most exciting group of choices, a well made salad can be amazing no matter how common it might be to the palate.  The main course choice for me would clearly be the Proscuitto and Gouda stuffed pork chop served with polenta, corn salsa and smoked ancho-tomato sauce.  I love things that are spicy and this sounds like an interesting combination. 

My last choice, only due to the number of times I have eaten here, is hype park in Westlake.  This menu may be the best one in terms of value.  First course the clear choice is the half Hyde Park Wedge.  While the other choice is Loster Bisque, trust me this Wedge salad is amazing and so perfect.  The dinner choice for me would be the Jumbo Shrimp Saute with tomatoes, mushrooms, scallion on lemon pepper angel hair pasta with a spicy lobster butter sauce.  My second choice would e the bacon wrapped twin fillet with caramelized onion, truffle aioli and garlic whipped potatoes.  This is a steak house and their steaks are melt in your mouth fantastic.   The dessert would be the two layer double chocolate cake.  I could easily go to Hyde Park for this $33 dinner three time if money were no object. 

So there are my choices for Cleveland Independent Restaurant Week!  I am looking for dining guests this week.  I am willing to go to at 2 dinners...so let me know if you are interested!  :-)  Have a Happy Easter everyone!

Prix Fixe Meals and Deals!

One of my favorite ways to try a restaurant and get a good deal are prix fixe menus.  There are many different ways to experience this delight of a 3 course meal for around $30 a person.  There are various groups that sponsor these meals as well as individual restaurants having special tastings.  Looking for these options allows for almost anyone to afford an expensive restaurant or to try something new.  Today's blog will discuss a recent attendance at a prix fixe meal in Youngstown and this week's Patio Week downtown. 

On Saturday September 10, 2011, I attended an amazing meal in Youngstown at Joe's Restaurant.  It was a 4 course dinner for $38 prepared by Chef Joe Marsco, a Youngstown native, who currently runs 2 prestigious restaurants in Las Vegas.  He is an amazing chef and the food and driver were worth it.  The meal could be paired with wine for an additional $12.  (I passed on the wine because I had to drive back to Cleveland that night).  The dinner started off with an antipasto which included tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, roasted peppers, and roasted eggplant served with garlic crostini.  The vegetables were perfectly roasted and seasoned and the mozzarella was drizzled with a bit of pesto.  For the primi, or pasta course, we sampled the Fritzulli with broccoli rabe and chili toasted bread crumbs and the Agnolotti with swiss chard and a sage and brown butter sauce.  Again the pasta was perfectly cooked and seasoned and the accompaniments were fresh and delicious.  I was delighted by the chili breadcrumbs as I love anything with a bit of spice!  La Corsa Secondi was also absolutely amazing.  The branzino with olive oil, summer squash, carrots, and fingerling potatoes was the perfect blend of flavors.  The fish was cooked perfectly and melted in your mouth.  The roasted fillet with mushroom, caramelized shallots, Barolo sauce and fried mashed potatoes were beautiful on the plate.  Each bite was better then the prior.  The meal was finished off perfectly with a trio of dolci!  There was a baba with limoncello, cannolo a strati, and a budino di amaretti.  The chocolate, lemon, and ricotta all blended together even as each was an individual bite.  The meal was perfect and a great value at only $38 per person.

So for those of you looking for future prix fixe events, you can experience these meals and deals this week at the Downtown Cleveland Alliance Patio Week.  There are 23 participating restaurants serving lunch and/or dinner for $15/$30 per three course meal.  Some of the restaurants have 2 for $30 3-course meals.  The website list the participating restaurants and menus for many of them.  http://downtownclevelandalliance.com/events/patio-week-/participating-restaurants--special-events.aspx  In looking at the list here are a few of my favorites that I am looking to try this week.  Johnny's Downtown dinner menu including an heirloom tomato salad, smoked bacon wrapped fillet with Gorgonzola cheese, and bananas foster.  Chinato's dinner menu including Roasted corn and arugula salad, roasted cod with beets, and lemon polenta cake.  For lunch I would love to try the $15 meal from Lola including spicy tomato bisque, mac and cheese with chicken, and panna cotta for dessert.

I am hoping to write about some other great events coming in October and November including my favorite...Cleveland Independent's restaurant week.  These prix fixe menus allow dinners to try new restaurants for a good deal.  Many of these restaurants would cost easily upwards of $50 per person for these same menus on a normal night.  A great way to stay on top of these deals is to sign up for newsletters from groups such as the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and Cleveland Independents.

Happy eating and dealing!

Gift Certificate Affordability!

My main goal in this is to give people ways to enjoy eating out or making dinner in without sacrificing any type of quality!  Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks for eating somewhere special with gift certificates!

1) Cleveland Independents.  The Cleveland Independents have so many ways to enjoy local food at a great price.  First you need to friend them on facebook so you are the first to hear about some great offers as they are available.  In the past I have won gift certificates  for places I might not have tried without the nudge forward.  Even better is there sale of discount gift certificates.  You can purchase $50 certs for $35 or $25 certs for $17.50.  To get the most popular restaurants...Light Bistro, Chinato, Great Lakes, Melt and Pier W usually go quickly.  Others will be up for  awhile.  You can only buy one a day, so understanding what goes fast is great for planning.  There are some restrictions across the board including that they cannot be used for alcohol, only one per table, and they cannot be used in conjunction with other specials. 

I am able to utilize this deal throughout the months.  Many times when looking for somewhere to go for dinner I log in and see what certificates are left.  You buy and print instantly so it is fast and convenient.

2) Restaurant.com.  This is another one of my favorite places to get discount gift certificates for a nice night out.  This also has some restrictions, but they are bearable.  Typically the $25 gift cards cost $10 and require you to spend a minimum amount or purchase at least 2 entrees.  But you need to read the fine print as the amount for the gift certificate and the restrictions are determined by each place.  Many of them exclude Friday and Saturday nights and alcohol.  What I really love about this site is that throughout the year they do mega sales where you can get $50 certs for $10 or $25 certs for $4. 

This site as well is a buy and print site so you can look that night and see where you want to go, purchase and use it!  There are more restaurants on this site and it works for almost anywhere in the country (a good way to send gifts to family and friends out of state or when traveling).  There are definitely more restriction with use and total dollar amount spent then with the Cleveland Independents Gift Certs but these are also a bit cheaper.

These are some great ways to enjoy a quality night out and still get a great value!