07 November 2008

Restaurant Review - Saucy Bistro

Originally posted via myspace - Feb. 2008

Saucy Bistro has a great name. It makes one imagine forward-thinking menus and a sheik, contemporary ambiance. Unfortunately, Saucy Bistro does not measure up to its name.
Saucy Bistro is located onDetroit Avenue a mere 2 miles from it's previous location on Center Ridge Road. As you approach SB it appears to be packed with cars lined up all around the building, turns out it is on the ground floor of an office building.
We parked and entered the restaurant through a side door. The bar is to our right, the restaurant to the left. We walk up to the hostess area where we are greeted by an extremely friendly woman who seems genuinely happy to seat us.
We're seated at a two-top against a faux wall with a curtain, behind it is the wait station.
The décor is very Perkinsesque. Pumpkin colored walls, cheap Italian-themed décor (think 'scenes' – the countryside, local café, flowers). There are candles at each table, wine glasses and your basic set-up. The nicest thing is the chairs. It is apparent all the money went into quality, modern chairs while skimping on all the rest.
Our server was kind, but my dinner partner immediately threw him off by asking a variety of very pointed questions to which he did not fully recover until the end of the meal.
We perused the menu. It was a very standard bistro menu. Appetizers including Crab Cakes, Calamari, Cheese Plate, Pizzas, as well as rather standard fish, chicken and red meat entrees. We decided to first try the calamari. The menu said it was fried. Upon inquiries with the waiter we find it is one of the most popular menu items (of course) and is only 'lightly fried' (of course). The server advises it is only the rings, no tentacles. This is rather disappointing—the tentacles are the best part of which I alert him. He advises he alerts all the patrons of this fact. We order it anyway.
The calamari comes out, and promptly at that. Although we have not decided on entrees, the server advises he will get the menus out of the way to give us more room (without asking if we had made another decision). The calamari is pretty good—as good as you can expect for just another bistro in suburban Northeast Ohio. The calamari is served with sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan and a bit of basil. Not bad for $8.
We finish the calamari and the server asks us if we want to order something else. I point out that I will again need the menu as I do not recall what is listed.
After another peruse, we deciede to try the cheese plate, not too hard to mess up and frankly, we're rather full from the calamari.
The plate arrives and is very unimpressive. At $12 it is a standard price, however, the offerings are not too appealing. There are two types of cheeses, blue cheese and something else (I can't recall the name, but something with not a lot of flavor or bite). The cheese is accompanied by two types of crackers—one white, one wheat, some what seemed to be canned artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers—also not freshly made. After picking at the food we waited for the server to return to check on us. After an extended period of time he did check back. At this time we requested bread to accompany the lackluster offering. The server was a bit taken aback. He proceeded to explain what kind of bread it was (ensuring to reiterate it is not baguette) and also convinced us to get the herbed butter and olive spread.
The bread is fantastic and definitely a great accompaniment to the cheese. Frankly, it made the cheese plate.
Overall, the best experience of the night was the hostess. As we paid our bill and gathered our coats from her (there was a coat check), she engaged us in conversation. She was funny, thought my dinner partner was witty and overall a very happy person. If the overall experience was better I would go back just for her. Unfortunately, despite her best intentions I would not eat at the Saucy Bistro again. The décor, lack of unique offerings and overall generic feel left me with a bad taste in my mouth that the food intensified.

Restaurant Review - Wonder Bar

First posted on myspace blog- August 2007

Friday night. 8 p.m. Wonder Bar on E. 4th in downtown Cleveland
The first thing you notice is the street. E. 4th has a certain charm. You feel you're in a neighborhood in maybe New York City or Cuernavaca, Mexico. With the cobblestone street, strings of lights and various eating and drinking establishments, it draws you in.
Wonder Bar is right in the middle of the street and a new establishment. The draw of restaurant week inspired us to try a new, unknown (to anyone) place.
The valet is midway down the block; the workers are attentive and quick. We walk into the restaurant, only to notice it is not packed, at all. Our dinner reservation was unnecessary and we decided to sit at the bar as opposed to taking a table towards the back.
The menu was standard Americana with flair. Because of restaurant week, they had a tasting menu, three appetizers for $20 or six for $40. We elected to do six. I am a recent vegetarian convert which left me slightly worried; often restaurants do not cater well to the vegetarian crowds. I was not disappointed. There were about twelve items on the tasting list, six of which were meatless—we chose those along with a bottle of red.
The food was prompt and tasted great, for the most part. The macaroni and cheese had an amazing crust but a little more cheese would have made it perfect. The shrimp on pita with maybe hummus(?) was by far the worst, but even that wasn't horrible, just kind of weird. There was a flatbread pizza that was amazing and the gnocchi, oh the gnocchi was so very good. The other two dishes escape me, unmemorable which wasn't good or bad.
9 p.m. brought live jazz. There was a solo bass player, or at least he is the only one I remember. The music was good, a little loud, but enjoyable.
Overall, I recommend Wonder Bar. The ambiance is good the food is better and the music is great. Definitely go on a Friday or Saturday night when there are more people out and about.
Try to avoid the valet if there is a sporting event. We had to wait for quite a while to get my car, due to the game ending around the same time we finished dinner. On a warm spring or summer evening, it wouldn't be bad, but a winter evening made it a bit miserable.