Summer wrap up: Burgatory and the Blue Door

(totally didn’t want this to be the first photo…oh well. I went and visited the zoo. I was working there when this little s’lion came and she was so tiny).  This has nothing to do with eating Cleveland. #noPinnipeds4lunch?

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After moving to the new place in Tremont it was necessary to take a trip to roommate IKEA in Pittsburgh to buy some necessities. There is a local chain in the area called BURGATORY. I liked this for many reasons, mostly because the branding/decor/marketing where all great. I tried to take pictures and none did it justice. Their website.

(I also loved it because the menu items made me think of Bob’s burgers).Burgers of the day 😀

You can also order a la carte, like Barrio, Happy Dog, well everywhere in Cleveland…

The Meat your maker burger. I love the devil prongs. I guess other burgers come with onion ring halos.  Dry aged Wagu beef… it was good. SUUUUPER unhealthy but good. Field greens are so much better on a sandwich than plain ol’ lettuce. Aged Gruyere? Yesssss please.

Other options that stood out where the fiddy-fiddy which is half burger meat half BACON. They also have a selection of alcoholic heavenly shakes. This place does not feel hole-in-the-wall-esque at all, or at all up-scale. But it was an awesome burger, despite wanting to lay down afterward.

Oh, I saw Paul McCartney. It was pretty awesome. The lights and pyro stuff were by far the most impressive of any concert I had witnessed.   It was amazing to see a living legend who can still perform as a world-class musician.

How many people can fit in the Q for a concert? (take that number and minus 2 and that’s the number of white people there). 

This might not look so impressive but this is an amazing dish from El Carnicero in Lakewood. Mexican food never photographs as well as it should, but trust me this is awesome…AND it’s vegetarian.  Coconut curried cauliflower tamales with raisins and almonds  $12.50.

I was sooo pleased with this dish I think I told 15 people about it within 2 days. It was usually paired with a follow up from the other person “Oh, are you a vegetarian?” You know I’m not but, I typically just said that I had the wild boar nachos as an appetizer, which was very good…but this dish was so noteworthy that I had to take a picture  and talk about it even though I was not planning on blogging about it.

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If you are like me (and I know you all are), you spend a good portion of your life looking at the online lists of best brunches in the Greater Cleveland area.  I have heard about The Blue Door Cafe in Cuyahoga fall soo many times and have tried to go, but they have somewhat inconvenient hours/days.   *Note this is not the same place as One Red Door in Hudson, which I also ate at this summer but accidentally deleted the photos. 

There is nothing super modern about the decor, and honestly, the blue door is the only notable thing on the outside. I was a little confused because I was expecting it to be more like the cafes that typically get recommended… artsy and a little pretentious. 

Any thoughts I had were immediately replaced with “ooooh look at the size of those beautiful pastries!!”

This was the marzipan filled almond croissant.  For five dollars I got a pastry that was roughly the size of a football. It was so flaky and perfect.  The strip of marzipan at the bottom was just a bonus to an already perfect treat. 

I went with Jim. As my coworker he sees me eat the most boring of school lunches (I eat pretty mundane and repetitive lunches)I’m not sure if he was ready for how excited I get about menu items. He ordered the Croque Madame. $9.  They serve these rather huge items on even bigger plates. 

Jim also got a side of bacon. Look at how much beautiful bacon they serve!  It was at least AS good as the farm fresh bacon we cooked in the science lab over a burner…

I ordered the Monte Cristo Crepe. So, as much as I love crepes, they are by definition rather thin. I was worried it wouldn’t be substantial. I was silly to fret. This felt like 9 crepes all folded in on itself. So many layers and the ham was just as thin. It was sweet and savory and phenomenal and filling (apparently dining with an English teacher makes my grammar less gooder).  sigh.

Overall: go to these places. Burgatory is fun and filling. Blue Door did not disappoint (figure out when they are open and go). I had a great summer  but I am glad my intense online class is over. Part of me is glad that I am back in school, and I hope my Enviro students embrace my eating of Cleveland as much as last years bunch who may have had this as their homepage (I got an email from one of last year’s students asking for restaurant recommendations…which is actually much more flattering and easier than college recommendations.

 

 

Trying something Nuevo

(I need to explain my lack of posts, I have of course been eating a ton…I just am taking an online grad. course for my license and it is a TON of writing. Multiple papers a week. I have not felt very motivated to write for pleasure after typing all that).

Now as I said in my last post, going to a brand new place can be tricky because when a restaurant first opens it is expected that some things will be a little less polished. Well, I did not listen, even worst this time… as I went to Nuevo on the SECOND day they were officially opened.  I was super excited to try this Mexican food/tequila bar because it is an AWESOME looking building with arguably one of the coolest locations in the city.  I know there is an Akron location (well, I didn’t initially, but I learned), but I can’t imagine it’s as scenic as this one, located at the side of Voinovich Park behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This is a MASSIVE building.

The interior was nice, lots of cool decor.

Walking in, already impressed.This is the view from the patio. Oh, and the opposite direction has a panoramic view of the Greatest of Lakes. 

Here it is at night. The city put sand volleyball courts back there. 

Oh… I guess I need to talk about the dining experience.  Well, they gave out 3 menus. The paper one, a rather small food menu.  A wood bound cocktail menu that was a tome and a lengthy leather bound wine list.  I did not do all the reading (it’s summer after all) and said I wanted a margarita because this is a Mexican place that touts tequila. I was offered a wide variety of choices (I went with the server’s pick). 

This is the guava marg. that I got. To be honest it was deliciously sweet but seemed a little on the weak side (well, at least the first* one did… more on that later). I did tell the waiter, because they are new and I imagine they’d want to know if the least experienced drinker has a comment about your cocktail, I’m sure others are thinking it too. Something I had never seen before was an array of Rim choices for the drinks. I went with the orange zest and sugar,although I didn’t taste too much orange. Other options were peppered bacon, smoked salt, chili salt and salt and pepper.

Appetizers- guac and fried plantains. The plantains were good and caramelized well served with an agave syrup ($7).

The guac was well balanced and how I like it and came with house made chips that were really tasty ($5). And so numerous. I was okay with the portion because after getting the appetizers it was about 2 hours before we got our food.  I don’t mind having a leisurely long dinner… but people came, sat next to us, ordered, ate and left and I was still wondering where my tacos were. The waiter did notice the long wait (we were placed at a high top in the corner since all the other tables were “reserved” although in the 3 hours I was there nobody sat at those).  I think being in the corner we were overlooked a bit, but again I can mostly forgive this. We were given a second round of drinks… and this margarita was STRong.

Eventually, we did get our food.

The tacos were the type you made yourself, and the tortillas had the restaurant’s logo branded on them, which I thought was a super cool touch. 

I got the Mahi tacos with the pineapple-jicama slaw ($14). I have nothing negative to say about the fish, it was very well done and incredibly tasty. It was light and seasoned and I ate it with a fork when I didn’t want to eat all the tortillas (remember I ate a TUB of chips earlier with the guac).  Now, if there is anything that is a staple in Mexican food it is rice and beans.  Now, I’m not sure if the beans weren’t cooked long enough or if the rice was missing seasoning because they were both rather bland. I imagine they will fix these because I’m pretty sure they are the side dish of nearly every menu item and they should be tasty and  complement the meal. I wanted to put both on my tacos, and I stopped after the first. 

Carne Asada (18). Well marinated and a decent size.

 

I am not posting this as a serious critique, because I’m sure it has already been taken care of…. but this family tried to eat on the patio, but there were no plates, so they used fire pit thing.

 

A serious critique is the parking. There are 2 of the self-parking kiosks and they take FOREVER to process a request. Valet should be included if you dine in, and I don’t believe it was. At one point there was a very long line of people trying to pay for parking. If it’s a nice night, park by the Browns Stadium/Science center, which is free in the evenings.

Overall:

this place has a ton of potential. The service can’t really be docked, hopefully, they figure out how to make more delicious sides and parking and those logistics hopefully will be fixed. The location and venue are superb.  This really adds something to an area that was already pretty scenic.  My roommate went and got an unlimited taco bar with a drink for 25 dollars on a Sunday afternoon. That kind of offers can just further enhance this restaurant’s appeal.

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So  I’ve been failing a bit on my summer writing, but I did a lot of summer painting and some of them will be on display in the future at Phoenix Coffee on Lee.

My coconut mocha and Cleveland Beagle Co. snack.