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Seven Things I Ate In May That I Think You Should Eat, Too

Stuart — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:03:49 +0000

Brushetta at Jibaro

They really called that bruschetta. I don’t get it either, but it didn’t affect the taste any.

Lamb tongue sandwich at Assad's Bakery

I’ve been back here since the tongue sandwich and I’ve been pleased with everything I’ve tried. Also, friendliest restaurant/market in Cleveland. Hands down. Most recently, I had the sojuk (I’ve seen it spelled soud jouk elsewhere) and it was fantastic. Greasy, but in a good way.

jerk chicken at Pot Roast Ethnic Cuisine

That little “donut” isn’t fooling anyone. The sauce was tomato-based and sour, which felt out of place. It was also a little overwhelming. But the chicken itself had a wonderful flavor and that’s more than enough to make the whole meal a success. Also, I’m not saying the sauce was bad, just that it may not be for everyone.

shwarma from Arabian Village Market

You don’t really get much from a picture of a shawarma sandwich, do you? It was tasty. They seem to have a varying assortment of prepared foods held in steam trays. I ordered some lamb heart. I’m not sure if I should have asked to have it warmed. I’m not sure if a microwave would reheat lamb heart well. It was just a hair under the perfect temperature. But the flavors were great. You could tell that the spices were fresh.

Cookies at J Pistone

The cookies at Pistone are simply the best on the East Side.

flank steak at Bar Cento

I don’t remember whether this is still on the menu. If not, they probably have a flank steak or a hangar steak with a different set of sides. I still recommend it. It’s about time that they put duck breast back on the menu.

doner yogurt at Istanbul Grill

House made doner, House made yogurt. I’ve had several good meals here.

The 5 Best Restaurants in Cleveland

Stuart — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:35:43 +0000

Chowhound asks you to list your 5 favorite restaurants in your profile. I wish there were a history of your list. I only update it occasionally, but I try to be honest when I do. As much as I’d be interested in the names of the restaurants that I’ve included in the past, I’d also be interested in a history of the size of my list. At various points in the past, I’ve had difficulty narrowing it down to five and at other points I leave the list with fewer than five restaurants.

I was able to salvage some of that history with the help of Archive.org:

Sapore, Bar Cento, Flying Fig, Buckeye Beer Engine
Moxie, Bar Cento, Sapore, Taste
Pacific East, Asia Food, Siam Cafe, El Tango Taqueria, fire food and drink, Lockkeepers/Dante

I didn’t bother to record the dates when these snapshots were recorded, but the earliest, listed last, survived for at least a year. I changed it again today and was too scatter-brained to bother recording the list that got bumped.

The new list is: El Senors, Assad’s Bakery, Bar Cento, Arabian Village Market and Original Steaks and Hoagies.

I don’t feel a need to justify any items, present or historical, or any omissions or deletions except to say that sometimes I may add a restaurant that I’ve only visited a couple times. If the list had any impact beyond sparking conversation, I’d probably need to institute a policy prohibiting that.