Best brunch item in Cleveland??

If you know me, you know I like breakfast food. A leisurely weekend brunch is what makes being a human great.

If you were to ask me who has the best brunch in Cleveland, I would get uncomfortable, sweat a lil bit… and ask questions like “do you want to sit outside, are you looking for something fancy, East side or west side, why are you making me choose…”. Even though I used to really enjoy the “Best thing I ever ate” show on Food Network and often think about how I would answer every episode’s prompt.

However, for a long time, I  have held the strong conviction that one of my favorite brunch items, because it is unusual, complex, and delicious,  is the corn and andouille hot cakes from Flying Fig.

I am not saying that I found something better, per se, but I did have something that I couldn’t stop eating, talked about a lot… and even while I was eating it I was thinking about when I could go back again.

The Scene: Fahrenheit in Tremont. (they recently started serving Sunday Brunch…and now that kickball is over I have Sunday mornings free).

More specifically, the small patio out front. No pictures were taken of the patio, it’s essentially a sidewalk. A few months ago I read an article announcing brunch service at Fahrenheit (full disclosure, the article remained an open safari tab in my phone since that time) and they showed a picture of pancakes with cereal on top. I was sold.

Eric and I picked the Cap ‘n cruch jumbo pancakes and the Chicken Eggs Benedict.

Fried Chicken Benedict (14 dollars).  Eggs Benedict, in general, can be great, it can also be mediocre (it can also be terrible when referred to as “eggs benny”, Not sure why that bothers me so much, but let’s all agree to let that cutesy slang die out).  The menu description sold me on this:

Eggs. Cheddar Biscuits, Shoyo Creme, and Pineapple-papaya marmalade. That might seem like a lot but everything, EVERYTHING, worked well together. When I managed to get a bite that had all the components, the tastes, the textures…

You know that scene in Ratatouille…

Just incredible. I couldn’t get over how amazing this was and how I had never had papaya with fried chicken and eggs before and how I never want to go back to a time when I didn’t know how harmoniously these could all work together. I am scared to ask but I worry that this might be a seasonal/summer dish…

If you haven’t tried, please do. If you are reading this you must feel I have some smidgen of credibility… I wouldn’t lie about this! GO!

Sidenote:taste aside, it is a pretty gorgeous plate of food with all the colors.

What exactly is a Benedict? Well its eggs, a sauce, typically hollandaise over biscuits or English muffins (actually the more I read the more variation I became aware of, and we aren’t even sure the origin of the name).

The Jumbo Cap ‘N Crunch Pancakes with a Vanilla milk reduction (13 dollars).  This was everything you would expect. It was sweet, fun to look at and nostalgic. They were good pancakes and I did like the topping.  It was totally a dessert, however, the top cake had all the gooiness whilst the bottom ones ended up being a little blander. It was good but a little one-note compared to the complex taste symphony of the chicken dish.

It would have been great with a raspberry sauce, ooooor perhaps a tart mandarin orange to add another flavor? Still a great dish and very photogenic.

Overall: this was an awesome brunch. I’m glad we were on the patio but under the awning,  as it was rather warm in the direct sun. The pancakes were good. The chicken was heavenly. I will go back there for this. I am now even more motivated to go try a dinner at Fahrenheit (I have only ever been for their happy hour)!

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We had another small meal at 3 Palms Pizza in Crocker Park. I know there is a location in Hudson as well, but this one is newer.

Call me old-fashioned but when something is listed as an appetizer/shareable/startable, it should be thus.  This was the Fried artichokes with a roasted garlic sauce. It was very good… however even with just the two of us, the size felt unsubstantial for 10.50.  Is an artichoke an expensive ingredient?

The Bianco and Verde pizza ($13). Roasted garlic, house made ricotta, parmesan, and arugula. It was very tasty. My only qualm with it was that I was expected more of a sauce.

Overall: the space was very inviting. The menu had a wide array of pizzas to the point where there were a few we wanted.  We did notice that some of the patrons were in very casual attire (points to self) while others looked like they had come from a business meeting or wedding.

If you have allegiance to the Southern Ohio Based Ice Cream Chain… there’s is now a  Greaters in Crocker Park…. (of course we went)