We have officially entered my favorite time of the year...Festival Season!!!!! There is nothing better to me i9n terms of food and value then an ethnic or church festival. I will blog about many throughout the summer...but here the first one which is always a great kick off for the Summer.
Greek Fest in Tremont is always one of my favorite ethnic church food festivals. First the food is authentic, delicious, and fresh. Second, the food is cheap! There are two different eating styles for the festival, outside and inside. The outside tent has Greek "fast food": Gyro's, Greek fries, Souvlaki on a stick, calamari. The prices are good and according to one dining companion "that was the best Gyro I have ever had". I chose the indoor dining where you can get a full meal. Myself and another dining companion both went with the Greek meatball dinner. The cost of the dinner was $8 and included a salad, bread, 3 large Greek meatballs, and 2 sides. The choice of sides included rice, lemon garlic potato wedges, orzo pasta, or green beans. I went with the potato wedges which were in a buttery lemon garlic sauce and the orzo pasta with onions. Yes I know...carb overload...but it was so tasty and delicious. The Greek meatballs were amazing. Greek meatballs are different from other meatballs. They are made with beef, bread crumbs, eggs, onions, and Greek spices and are shaped like fat short cigars. The tomato sauce was light and filled with more Greek spices of oregano and garlic. Instead of getting the regular salad with Greek dressing, I chose to pay the $3 for the feta and olive salad. I mean it was feta cheese and olives...well worth the $3 and it could have been split it was so big.
On top of the great food...the drinks were good and cheap. You could get a domestic draft for $2 or a bottled Greek Beer for $4. Greek wines were $5 each for a large glass.
If you are still hungry...there is a multitude of homemade deserts and pastry. These pastry's are light, buttery, and filled with nuts and honey. Any Greek desert cookie you ever had before you can buy here.
So first festival is down...there are many more to come in the future include the following favorites:
June 16th- Slavic Fest in Youngstown (This will be there second year and my first, but I cannot wait to try the homemade Slavic food)
July 11-15- Our Lady of Mount Carmel West. Here you can have the best Italian Meatballs and cavatelli.
And recently...I just learned of a Russian Festival in Parma. Stay tuned and feel free to suggest your favorites to me!
PS...A special shout out to one of the best high school graduation meals I ever had...My cousin Sarah graduated this weekend and had her graduation party at The Embassy in Youngstown. Most graduations have a form of pasta, chicken, roast beef, potatoes, and sausage...not my cousin. She had a feast of Mediterranean foods including hummus, shredded Italian beef, antipasto with olives, excellent caprese salad, sandwiches, and picked baby eggplant stuffed with tabouli (I think). Unique choices for a truly unique and beautiful graduate.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Not so cheap but excellent meal
Last week a couple friends from Youngstown came up and we saw a great movie at Capital Theater and then went to dinner. We decided to go to Ohio. One of my friends suggested the Flying Fig. I am so glad she did...I forgot how amazing the food was at this little Ohio City location. This was not a typical $10 per person meal like many of my suggestions, however, if we were to look at quality and price it was definitely a frugal living meal.
The three of us decided to share our meals so we each ordered 2 appetizers and a salad. Each item was $6-9 each. There were three salads on the menu and we ordered one of each. Each was slightly different, light and fresh. One was an arugala salad with fresh herbs and a lemon, garlic and Olive oil dressing. Another had beautiful young kale and the third had tiny fresh asparagus.
The six small plates we orders were also amazing, well prepared, fresh, and the perfect size. All three of us enjoyed the burratta cheese with a lovely olive tapenade. It was soft and creamy and full of flavor. The waiter had to bring us more crostini as we did not want to waste a single morsel. My friend also ordered the mussels with a chorizo, tomato and saffron broth. Personally, I am not a mussel fan but the smell was amazing and my dinner companions both loved it. The mushroom tacos were not at all what we expected. They were small, almost dollar coin size, tortilla rounds with a mushroom mixture on top that had a slight creaminess to it. Also on the sharing menu was the herbed ricotta gnocchi which my friend ordered specifically because it was served with ramps. The fifth item was the tempura battered green beans. This may have been the best tempura green beans I have ever tried. The batter was so light that it was more green then tempura. The green beans were so fresh and still slightly crisp. There was no grease. The batter was flavorful as were the two sauces served with it. The last dish was the flat bread pizza. It was light and crispy as a flat bread should be. it was topped very simply with mushroom, thin slices of red chilies goat cheese and arugula.
It was such a lovely meal. Not only was the food delectable but the company was great. The atmosphere just lends itself to a long Sunday dinner with friends.
The three of us decided to share our meals so we each ordered 2 appetizers and a salad. Each item was $6-9 each. There were three salads on the menu and we ordered one of each. Each was slightly different, light and fresh. One was an arugala salad with fresh herbs and a lemon, garlic and Olive oil dressing. Another had beautiful young kale and the third had tiny fresh asparagus.
The six small plates we orders were also amazing, well prepared, fresh, and the perfect size. All three of us enjoyed the burratta cheese with a lovely olive tapenade. It was soft and creamy and full of flavor. The waiter had to bring us more crostini as we did not want to waste a single morsel. My friend also ordered the mussels with a chorizo, tomato and saffron broth. Personally, I am not a mussel fan but the smell was amazing and my dinner companions both loved it. The mushroom tacos were not at all what we expected. They were small, almost dollar coin size, tortilla rounds with a mushroom mixture on top that had a slight creaminess to it. Also on the sharing menu was the herbed ricotta gnocchi which my friend ordered specifically because it was served with ramps. The fifth item was the tempura battered green beans. This may have been the best tempura green beans I have ever tried. The batter was so light that it was more green then tempura. The green beans were so fresh and still slightly crisp. There was no grease. The batter was flavorful as were the two sauces served with it. The last dish was the flat bread pizza. It was light and crispy as a flat bread should be. it was topped very simply with mushroom, thin slices of red chilies goat cheese and arugula.
It was such a lovely meal. Not only was the food delectable but the company was great. The atmosphere just lends itself to a long Sunday dinner with friends.
Cheap Cuban Food!
The other day I finally had a chance to stop at a little place on Madison Rd in Lakewood, Barroco Grill. The inside is small and festive with handwritten graffiti on the walls. The menu is traditional with a twist. While they serve Arepas and Cuban sandwiches, they also have hot dogs and hamburgers. Most of the items are under $9 each, but they do have some items under the Gourmet section that are $11-17. While the more expensive items sound amazing...I am sticking with the cheap items for the blog.
My experience was the Cuban sandwich for $9. It was a great sandwich and a perfect balance of bread and filling. For me the sandwich was big enough to have half for lunch and half for dinner. Although I am sure others could eat the entire thing in one sitting. The traditional Cuban has sliced pork, ham, mozzarella cheese, garlic sauce, lettuce, tomato and I also had a side of the green sauce to dip it in. This sandwich did not come with fries, but it did not need them.
They also serve arepas, they looked and smelled amazing! All of the arepas are serves with fries and wasabi coleslaw. There are 6 different ones, including a vegetarian option. The most traditional arepa has your choice of chicken, steak, pork or chorizo with onion, peppers, and mushrooms. In addition to the six various options, you can also get a burger on an arepa. There are also around $9 each.
Another great deal on the menu is the Cheesy Corn! The Cheesy Corn is corn gratin with chicken, bacon, mozzarella and arepa fries. It just sounds amazing, although I have not yet tried it. Maybe on my next trip out there.
If you want to eat there, it is a great fun atmosphere and the day I stopped by had a lot of families. I would recommend this for any weekend when you are looking for a yummy quick lunch!
My experience was the Cuban sandwich for $9. It was a great sandwich and a perfect balance of bread and filling. For me the sandwich was big enough to have half for lunch and half for dinner. Although I am sure others could eat the entire thing in one sitting. The traditional Cuban has sliced pork, ham, mozzarella cheese, garlic sauce, lettuce, tomato and I also had a side of the green sauce to dip it in. This sandwich did not come with fries, but it did not need them.
They also serve arepas, they looked and smelled amazing! All of the arepas are serves with fries and wasabi coleslaw. There are 6 different ones, including a vegetarian option. The most traditional arepa has your choice of chicken, steak, pork or chorizo with onion, peppers, and mushrooms. In addition to the six various options, you can also get a burger on an arepa. There are also around $9 each.
Another great deal on the menu is the Cheesy Corn! The Cheesy Corn is corn gratin with chicken, bacon, mozzarella and arepa fries. It just sounds amazing, although I have not yet tried it. Maybe on my next trip out there.
If you want to eat there, it is a great fun atmosphere and the day I stopped by had a lot of families. I would recommend this for any weekend when you are looking for a yummy quick lunch!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
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!
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!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Biker Bar Great Food
I friended Lion on Lorain, a biker bar in West Park, a few months back just for fun. Every time they post food it looks amazing and it sounds even better. This place boasts itself as a biker bar but it is so much more than that. The food and drinks are unique twists on some classics. The food and drinks are cheap but well worth it. This bar is not your typical bar food.
The drink menu is great for flavored vodka lover's such as myself. I cannot say much about the beer menu because I am not much of a beer drinker, although they do have Christmas Ale!!!!!!!! I had one drink from the menu and the other two the friendly bar tender just created for me based on what I liked. All three had cherry vodka (my fav!) and a different blend of juices. The drinks were only $3.25 each, a great deal for a hard liquor drink.
The menu has amazingly creative items. It is divided into groups of appetizers, sandwiches, and burgers. Myself and my dining companion enjoyed the sandwich section....$8 per sandwich with choice of tator tots or jojo's. I had The Ex. It was a toasted crunchy baguette with a jalapeno bacon jam, lettuce, tomato, delicious lightly fried chicken breast, cheese and a very good creamy sauce. I opted for the sweet potato tots and they were crunchy and perfect. The sandwich was so big I could only eat half of it. It was the first sandwich I had in a long time that was a perfect proportion of bread to filling to vegetables to sauce. Everything melded together perfectly with a great flavor and a spicy kick! I of course had to add some hot sauce just because. My companion indulged in the "Fresh Prince". A mix of a philly steak and a roast beef au jus. The sandwich looked amazing and I should have asked for a bite. There was perfectly sliced beef, onion, mushrooms, jalapenos, cheese wiz, and it was falling apart with each bite.
While this food was great it completely fit in with my frugality. $8 for a sandwich good enough for 2 days is a great deal in my book! I cannot wait to go back again. There are no plain burgers on the menu. All of them have unique toppings. I was looking at the California burger, topped with onions, avocado and a verde sauce. The other menu item that just makes my mouth water is the mac and cheese. This is not normal mac and cheese....this includes a variety of toppings that you can choose for the mac and cheese. The only thing better than pasta and cheese is a dish that includes bacon, pulled pork, or taco beef along with a mixture of jalapenos and other veggies.
I would definitely go back again. The staff was very nice, the chef came out to talk to us about the food and the place. It was warm and inviting. This place is amazing, cheap, and the best bar food I have had in a long time! They do have specials each night including taco's on Tuesday, Pizza on Wednesday, Burgers on Friday, and a steak dinner on Sunday's. When I say special, I mean something new different and not on the menu. I cannot say enough about this place and look forward to reporting on the burgers and the mac and cheese from personal experience.
The drink menu is great for flavored vodka lover's such as myself. I cannot say much about the beer menu because I am not much of a beer drinker, although they do have Christmas Ale!!!!!!!! I had one drink from the menu and the other two the friendly bar tender just created for me based on what I liked. All three had cherry vodka (my fav!) and a different blend of juices. The drinks were only $3.25 each, a great deal for a hard liquor drink.
The menu has amazingly creative items. It is divided into groups of appetizers, sandwiches, and burgers. Myself and my dining companion enjoyed the sandwich section....$8 per sandwich with choice of tator tots or jojo's. I had The Ex. It was a toasted crunchy baguette with a jalapeno bacon jam, lettuce, tomato, delicious lightly fried chicken breast, cheese and a very good creamy sauce. I opted for the sweet potato tots and they were crunchy and perfect. The sandwich was so big I could only eat half of it. It was the first sandwich I had in a long time that was a perfect proportion of bread to filling to vegetables to sauce. Everything melded together perfectly with a great flavor and a spicy kick! I of course had to add some hot sauce just because. My companion indulged in the "Fresh Prince". A mix of a philly steak and a roast beef au jus. The sandwich looked amazing and I should have asked for a bite. There was perfectly sliced beef, onion, mushrooms, jalapenos, cheese wiz, and it was falling apart with each bite.
While this food was great it completely fit in with my frugality. $8 for a sandwich good enough for 2 days is a great deal in my book! I cannot wait to go back again. There are no plain burgers on the menu. All of them have unique toppings. I was looking at the California burger, topped with onions, avocado and a verde sauce. The other menu item that just makes my mouth water is the mac and cheese. This is not normal mac and cheese....this includes a variety of toppings that you can choose for the mac and cheese. The only thing better than pasta and cheese is a dish that includes bacon, pulled pork, or taco beef along with a mixture of jalapenos and other veggies.
I would definitely go back again. The staff was very nice, the chef came out to talk to us about the food and the place. It was warm and inviting. This place is amazing, cheap, and the best bar food I have had in a long time! They do have specials each night including taco's on Tuesday, Pizza on Wednesday, Burgers on Friday, and a steak dinner on Sunday's. When I say special, I mean something new different and not on the menu. I cannot say enough about this place and look forward to reporting on the burgers and the mac and cheese from personal experience.
Downtown Restaurant Week 2012- XO
This is a short post. One reason is that I was slightly disappointed with my dinner from Downtown Cleveland Restaurant week. For years I heard great things about XO and I have always wanted to try it. Their menu for restaurant week sounded amazing so I really wanted to try the food.
I started my meal with the mini short rib wellington with a wild mushroom risotto. The short rib wellington was literally amuse bouche size, not appetizer size. The risotto was ok, but not great. For the entree I ordered the twin fillet with sauteed spinach and potato cake. The fillet was cooked ok but it was not the quality I expected from XO. The spinach was flavorless. The meal was ok, ut just not great. Dessert was the warm berry compote. That was the first thing I ate all night that was really good. It was buttery and fruity.
I would not return to XO based on this experience.
The good news is that Cleveland Independents is going to have a Restaurant week starting April 2nd~ Who wants to take me to dinner for my birthday?
I started my meal with the mini short rib wellington with a wild mushroom risotto. The short rib wellington was literally amuse bouche size, not appetizer size. The risotto was ok, but not great. For the entree I ordered the twin fillet with sauteed spinach and potato cake. The fillet was cooked ok but it was not the quality I expected from XO. The spinach was flavorless. The meal was ok, ut just not great. Dessert was the warm berry compote. That was the first thing I ate all night that was really good. It was buttery and fruity.
I would not return to XO based on this experience.
The good news is that Cleveland Independents is going to have a Restaurant week starting April 2nd~ Who wants to take me to dinner for my birthday?
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tales from another city
This post is the same as any frugal post...focusing on good food at an even better price. However, this post is about a restaurant experience from my visit to Tallahassee last weekend. This restaurant is cool, fun, and different from anywhere I have ever been before.
Chris took me to Circa Sushi for lunch on Saturday. This restaurant serves Thai and Japanese food, but that is not the cool part. The frugal part of this restaurant was the lunch deal of all you can eat sushi, salad, soup and a drink for....$12!!!!!!! Yes that is $12. That will normally just cover 2 rolls but this was all you could eat. So the deal was amazing. The cool part though was the conveyor belt that brought out the sushi. Yes this place had a conveyor belt. The sushi chef would make the sushi and then put it on the belt and you could just pick up whatever you wanted as it passed by your table. The restaurant was not very busy when we were there so the only sushi they made for the belt was common (Philadelphia roll, spicy tune, California roll, shrimp roll). The chef did offer to make us any sushi on the men, but we were pretty full from what we had already eaten. The sushi was simple but very fresh and well prepared. The pickled ginger was spicy and sweet and the wasabi was HOT! The salad with the ginger dressing was fresh and cold, however the miso soup was tasteless and cold.
As far as deals go, this was a great deal with really good sushi for a nice Saturday afternoon lunch. The addition of a conveyor belt going past your table was just interesting. Plus I got to enjoy some time with my favorite dining companion. So if you are ever in Tallahassee, try Circa it is a cool experience.
We were going to try "Mo Bettas". A unique little BBQ/Smoker set-up in a parking lot of a gas station. Yes...BBQ and a smoker in a gas station parking lot. It smells amazing everytime we would drive by it. But the weekend got away from us and we never had a chance to stop by and try a pulled pork or beef brisket sandwich. Maybe on the next visit we will stop by and I can add it to the blog!
The next blog will be about my experience at Downtown Cleveland Restaurant week. Right now I am thinking XO, Prime Rib, or Johnny's Downtown.
Chris took me to Circa Sushi for lunch on Saturday. This restaurant serves Thai and Japanese food, but that is not the cool part. The frugal part of this restaurant was the lunch deal of all you can eat sushi, salad, soup and a drink for....$12!!!!!!! Yes that is $12. That will normally just cover 2 rolls but this was all you could eat. So the deal was amazing. The cool part though was the conveyor belt that brought out the sushi. Yes this place had a conveyor belt. The sushi chef would make the sushi and then put it on the belt and you could just pick up whatever you wanted as it passed by your table. The restaurant was not very busy when we were there so the only sushi they made for the belt was common (Philadelphia roll, spicy tune, California roll, shrimp roll). The chef did offer to make us any sushi on the men, but we were pretty full from what we had already eaten. The sushi was simple but very fresh and well prepared. The pickled ginger was spicy and sweet and the wasabi was HOT! The salad with the ginger dressing was fresh and cold, however the miso soup was tasteless and cold.
As far as deals go, this was a great deal with really good sushi for a nice Saturday afternoon lunch. The addition of a conveyor belt going past your table was just interesting. Plus I got to enjoy some time with my favorite dining companion. So if you are ever in Tallahassee, try Circa it is a cool experience.
We were going to try "Mo Bettas". A unique little BBQ/Smoker set-up in a parking lot of a gas station. Yes...BBQ and a smoker in a gas station parking lot. It smells amazing everytime we would drive by it. But the weekend got away from us and we never had a chance to stop by and try a pulled pork or beef brisket sandwich. Maybe on the next visit we will stop by and I can add it to the blog!
The next blog will be about my experience at Downtown Cleveland Restaurant week. Right now I am thinking XO, Prime Rib, or Johnny's Downtown.
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