Heights Eats

Typically one doesn’t think of restaurants around E. 4^th and Euclid Avenue as being kid-friendly, but Jonathan Sawyer’s Noodlecat is an exception to the rule.

The restaurant is a nice mix of casual and upscale and seems like it would appeal to a wide variety of clientele. Sarah and I met there for lunch and decided that bringing Jonathan next time would be a good idea.

Sarah was drawn to the pork dishes, the Hokkaido Ramen (pictured above) on the first visit and the Pork Miso Ramen the second time. Both were very good, with the Hokkaido being notable for the plethora of yummy corn. Sarah slightly preferred the Pork Miso for its more intensely flavored broth. Both had tasty, perfectly tender pork.

My favorite dish thus far has been Kyoto Udon. The rich mushrooms and kombu stock make for one of the most complex and satisfying soups I’ve ever tried. The tofu makes the dish more substantial–the soup would be … continue reading

We’d been meaning to check out Luna Bakery ever since it opened as we’re big fans of On The Rise and Stone Oven. I grabbed some items on a Saturday morning and brought them home for the family, and we really enjoyed everything we got.

While Luna is largely operated by people from Stone Oven (along with Flour Girl), their menu leans more towards a French-style bakery. They offer quite a variety of sweet and savory crepes. I ordered the dark chocolate, which was very good, filled with gooey melted dark chocolate and topped with a variety of fresh berries.

We couldn’t resist the pastries, and everything we ordered was excellent. The oatmeal chocolate chip cookie was crisp and buttery on the outside but soft inside, with plenty of chocolate chips. The triple chocolate was fudgy but not heavy, and the PB & J was a playful sandwich of two fluffy peanut butter cookies and jam. The croissant was liberally stuffed with ham and … continue reading

We’d been fishing for almost a year with very little luck (or maybe skill). There were a number of things we eventually realized we’d done wrong–knots that came undone, incorrect bait, bait incorrectly placed, etc. But even though we seemed to be improving, we’d been catching very little lately. The last time we’d gotten a fair amount of bites was at Shadow Lake last fall, and even then just crappies that were too small to eat.

So we figured we’d get more fish if we went out on Lake Erie on a charter boat. We booked a Saturday 2-8pm trip at Wildwood Marina off Euclid Beach. Another rider who was next to us, Jim, suggested that people often have “beginner’s luck.” That might have been an understatement, but it was equally distributed throughout the boat.

We arrived at about 1pm as suggested in the guidelines, bought bait (70+ minnows), and boarded the boat at 1:45pm. Sarah forgot her license but got a one-day license for $4.… continue reading

We’re always up for good barbecue, and, as we were in the area driving back from Cedar Point, we figured we’d try Bubba’s Q.

Like many authentic barbecue places, Bubba’s Q is a fairly unassuming establishment in a building that seems like a cross between a house and a barn. The space is nicely open, though, with a high A-frame ceiling and visible supports.

As they’re known for their ribs, Sarah and I split a full rack of baby backs with fries, baked beans and fried corn. Jonathan had the kids’ hot dog dinner.

The ribs were unbelievably good, not just the best we’ve had in town but maybe the best we’ve had ever. The meat was perfectly tender, smokey and flavorful. The outside had a flaky dark brown crust that Sarah couldn’t get enough of. The barbecue sauce on the side is pretty good, vinegary, slightly sweet and not very hot. The ribs didn’t need much (if any of it), though, because of how … continue reading

Parallax is by no means a new edition to the Cleveland dining scene, but it’s nonetheless highly respected and Sarah and I had never made it there. As we were in the mood for fish and seafood (the specialties of the house), we decided to give it a try with Jonathan. We were happy we did.

The décor is stylish and upscale but not oppressively formal. We were surprised at the coziness of the establishment, which filled up not too long after we arrived at 6pm on a Saturday. Our table had a nice view of the kitchen, as did most other tables.

The menu is fairly extensive, and quite a lot looked good. We started with the short rib potstickers. These were excellent, with tender braised meat that reminded me of Michael Symon’s beef cheek pierogies. The sweet/hot sauce was a nice counterpoint, much better than typical dumpling sauce.

To drink I had the Basilico cocktail, a wonderful mix of gin, basil, grapefruit juice, triple-sec and … continue reading

It’s getting to be the time of year when a visit to Chagrin Falls is especially appealing (even in the rain), and Umami has been on our “to try” list for a while, so we thought we’d check it out.

The establishment is quite small–it looks like it wouldn’t seat more than 15–20 people–and tastefully decorated in cool overtones. Most tables also have a good view into the kitchen.

Based on Dine-O-Mite’s recommendation, we started with the goat cheese dumplings.

As this place has “Asian” in its name, one might expect cheese filled pot stickers. These, though, are a bit more along the lines of gnocchi, but still very tasty with a mild ginger-soy (?) sauce that doesn’t get in the way of the cheesiness. All three of us really enjoyed these.

Sarah ordered the Udon Noodles for her entrée, which was the table’s favorite. The beefy mushroom sauce worked wonderfully with the toothsome noodles. The spicy beef was tender and … continue reading

I am a huge fan of thin, chewy pizza crust. Pan pizza has its place, but I’ll almost always choose Bar Cento style pizza with a crispy outer layer, yeasty flavor and toothsome bite.

Making this at home has generally been a challenge. Pizza stones and peels are great for medium thick crusts, but a thin crust will usually fall apart in transfer. The solution we’ve found is a pizza screen along with a crust that clearly passes the windowpane test so it can be stretched without breaking.

I used Alton Brown’s grilled pizza dough recipe (with half whole wheat flour and a little extra water), which took about 20 minutes of kneading on the stand mixer to pass the windowpane test.

Here’s the rest of the recipe, which is enough for 3 pizzas:

(1) Make dough (see above) and let rest for at least one hour (it can be stored in the fridge for about a week).

(2) Make sauce: sautee a few … continue reading

Noodlecat

Luna Bakery Café

Charter Boat Fishing

Bubba’s Q

Parallax

Umami Asian Kitchen

Thin Crust Pizza