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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

One Red Door - Hudson






















One Red Door is located in Hudson in the beautiful First and Main area.  Flip Side (which we liked) is attached.  I made reservations for 4 people since we were meeting another couple up there.  We were meeting at 8 so I was expecting it to be really busy.  It actually was not too busy with TBG and I got there (20 min early).  They have a small patio on the side and the inside is not too small but not real big.  The bar is a good size and there is an open kitchen with bar also.  The atmosphere is the same as Flip Side which is wood and leather.  We both really liked the feel of the place.  We were seated right away even though we were early.  We were planning on having a cocktail before the rest of our party arrived.  We waited 15 min and no one even approached our table.  TBG went to the bar to get us some drinks himself and magically our waitress appeared.  I told her my date went to the bar to get drinks himself and she ran over there to see if he already ordered (he had).  Shortly after someone else brought us water.  When the rest of our party arrived she waited on us in a more timely fashion, but still was not friendly.  Halfway through the meal we all finished our water and didn't get refills until the end of the meal.  She did bring us one more round of cocktails though.  I thought with all the help they had working that the service would have been better.  My espresso martini when I did get it was very good.  The menu had a lot of interesting choices for starters.  We probably should have just gotten a bunch of those.  We picked the Clam Pizza to start with.  It was different but good.  I do not think our company liked it as much as we did.  The clams were a little chewy, but the crust was good and the sauce was light.  For our entrees TBG got the hanger steak with short rib ravioli.  I got the ribeye.  It was huge so I made TBG switch with me.  I was disappointed there was only one ravioli.  The pasta part was undercooked and tasteless, but the filling was great.  The hanger steak was good, nothing special, but cooked nicely.  The ribeye was fatty and not quite as good as the hanger steak.  It was covered (ruined as TBG said) by a super sweet glaze.  Someone else in our party ordered the chicken with veggies.  The portion was rather small and she said it was average tasting.  We felt the prices were high for the portion size.  The pizza and other apps seemed reasonably priced.  I would recommend coming here if you plan on sitting at the bar and only ordering apps with your drinks.

Service____ 3 Chipps
Food____6 Chipps
Atmosphere____8 Chipps
Beer List____8 Chipps
Wine List____8 Chipps
Value____5 Chipps

One Red Door on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Franklin Square Deli - Kent


The Enzo
Located near Kent State University this is a popular spot for college kids.  TBG wanted to take me here because he remembered it from his time at KSU.  We walked in to a small resturant with a large counter and a few tables.  TBG ordered the special, "Enzo".  This deli has a racing theme as shown by the checked paper in the pictures.  There are racing pictures for sale at the end of the counter.  The Enzo was spicy capocolla, muenster cheese, and Genoa hard salami, with lettuce, tomato, and onion topped with olive pepper mayo on a sour dough toast.  It also came with a caper berry and pickle.  TBG loved it.  He said the caper berry was interesting and the olive pepper mayo was great.  I looked at the big menu and the lady behind the counter was rushing me so I got a Reuben.  It tasted pretty good.  The corned beef had a strange sheen on it, but it was tender.  There wasn't enough sauerkraut or Swiss on the sandwich.  The pickle was good.  As I was waiting for my sandwich I noticed they had deli bagels, I would have liked to try that.  They did not have pastrami which I thought was weird for a deli.  They had limited side dishes and nothing stood out.  We were there during the summer for lunch so it was not busy, but if the place was busy it would be a long wait.  The prices were average for a deli.

Service____ 6 Chipps
Food____6 Chipps
Atmosphere____7 Chipps
Beer List____0 Chipps
Wine List____0 Chipps
Value____6 Chipps
Franklin Square Deli on Urbanspoon

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Ferrante's Winery - Madison

You may have seen Ferrante's wine in a grocery store near you, or even tried some at the Vintage Ohio wine fest every fall.  If you have never been to Ferrante's winery in Madison you need to go.  The atmosphere is on the fancier side indoors and more relaxed and summery outside.  There is also a wine bar and a cute gift shop area.  The night we were there a band was playing outside and the place was packed (3 hour wait inside).  We did not want to wait, but wanted to listen to music so we meandered to the small outdoor bar.  The bar menu consisted of appetizers and pizzas.  I ordered the prosciutto pizza and artichoke dip for our party.  Oh, I also ordered a bottle of wine of course.  I will admit TBG and I do not really like Ohio wine.  I enjoy hanging out at vineyards so I usually choke some down while enjoying the view (and cheese!)  This night it was hot, we were outside so I ordered the driest rose they had because it was chilled.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It was perfect for that hot summer night and the 4 of us finished the bottle in no time.  I thought the food was ready pretty fast considering how many people were at the restaurant that night.  The outside has many tables, and a great number are under a cover of some sort.  We found a table in the corner in the open air and started to eat.  The view is nice, there is a pond and grapevines to look at while we listened to music.  The pizza was actually average.  It looked so good, but there were way too many shallots and the prosciutto was not crispy.  The crust was good, but not great.  I would probably recommend just getting the margharita pizza since it was cheaper and probably just as good.  I liked the bread that came with the dip, but the dip was average.  There was cheddar cheese which was different but I did not love.  Both things tasted freshly made and with fresh ingredients.  I wish we got a chance to try some of their entrees but we still had a good time.  The only wine available is Ferrante's of course so I have to give the wine list a score based on the quality of those wines.  I think they are the average Ohio wine.  The only beer I saw was typical domestic drafts. 


Service____ 6 Chipps
Food____7 Chipps
Atmosphere____8 Chipps
Beer List____0 Chipps
Wine List____6 Chipps
Value____7 Chipps

Ferrante's Winery on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Recipe - Summer Grilled Veggie Sandwich




















I am going to try including recipes on this blog. (I promise I will try to learn to take better pics!)  Let me know in the comments if this is something you would like to see more of.  I get tired of eating the same things on the grill all summer. So, this night I wanted to try something different while still taking advantage of the nice day and being able to cook outside.  I also like to create recipes that use mostly ingredients from my garden.  This year I have been having trouble and had to purchase most, but hopefully you are having better luck than me!  I bought a large crusty loaf of french bread, baby eggplant, small zucchini, large tomato, goat cheese, and spinach.  You can put whatever veggies you enjoy eating on this sandwich.  Red bell pepper and onion are good on the grill, as well as summer squash.  Cut the veggies long to make it easier to grill and to fit perfectly on the sandwich.  This makes for fewer cuts and a fast prep time.  The tomato needs to be cut thick to stay together on the grill.

I also used olive oil, fresh garlic and basil, cracked pepper and sea salt which I always have on hand.  I cut the basil, chopped the garlic, ground the pepper and salt and added all to the olive oil in a flat bowl.  Other fresh herbs could also be used in this oil but I like to keep it simple.  I used the oil mixture to soak the veggie so they do not burn on the grill.  I used to brush the oil on, but found this soaking to be a better method.  It was easier and we didn't have to add more oil while it was cooking.  Save the remaining oil for the sandwich.  I used about a half cup of oil for our 3 sandwiches.












I sent TBG out to grill the veggies.  You have to be careful with the tomato but when done it comes out beautiful.  In the house I cut the sandwiches from the large loaf, I like that I was able to cut the sandwiches to whichever size I wanted.  I made TBG's bigger than mine and got about 3 sandwiches out of the loaf.  Spread the olive oil mixture on the bread.  I tried to use a lot because the bread soaked it up, the more you use the messier the sandwhich is, but TBG and I have never been bothered by a messy sandwich!  Next spread on the goat cheese.  Sometimes this isn't easy to spread but try to get a good thick layer.  I used about 3/4 of the small log.

After TBG brought the veggies back I added them to the sandwiches and finally topped with the spinach.  The tomatoes fall apart easy, but as soon as they are on the sandwich they add a great flavor and some more moisture.  We both really enjoyed these sandwiches, TBG even went up for seconds.  I will definately make again, and they would be perfect for entertaining on a relaxing summer day.  I did not show a side dish for this, but it can be enjoyed with a side of chip(p)s of course :)

Monday, August 8, 2011

Red Hawk Grill - Painesville

I grew up near the Red Hawk and always remember the food being really good.  I am sure my standards have changed and maybe that is why this trip was so different.  We started off with a couple apps I forgot to take a picture of.  We got the fried provolone and the artichoke dip.  Both were really good.  This is probably a good time to mention the server was my brother's girlfriend so of course we had good service. The manager walked around and never did anything.  We had our server ask him to turn the lights up on the patio since it was 10 at night and we could not even see the menu.  He said ok and rolled his eyes but it was so dark the hostess could not see the seating chart they were using so he should have turned the lights on much earlier.  I did not like watching him just walk around while the servers and bartenders were running around busy.  But, back to the food... I ordered the cedar salmon with a mushroom risotto and broccoli.  The salmon was very over cooked and dry, the cedar plank was actually charred.  The risotto was pretty well cooked, it was a little dry but defiantly tasty and not mushy or crunchy.  The broccoli was steamed nicely, not over buttered or too hard.  My mom got the penne rustica which had bell peppers and sausage.  It was actually very spicy and she did not eat the whole thing.  The pasta was cooked well, and there was a good amount of sauce.  The other 3 people at the table got burgers.  They were all cooked med well.  We all know how TBG feels about med well, but in case you don't let me just say it puts him in a sour mood.  The guy who ran the food out was very nice and had the kitchen refire the order.  The firecracker burger was pretty hot as well.  The fries were really good, soft and with some batter like Arby's curly fries.  We sat out on the patio and the atmosphere is very nice.  There was a band (rather one guy with a guitar) that was entertaining.  The outside bar is big and there are cornhole pits.  The prices were average.  The bar was also average, there was only 1 kind of Sam Adams (Summer Ale) and no Jerimah Weed vodka.  I did not even look at a wine list, so I am not sure if that was good or not.  On a side note, I went back a week later with a group of girls.  The food was slightly better and service was still good (we had a server that I did not know).  A few of us got the mac & cheese, the sauce was tasty but the pasta was mushy.  Someone ordered the pasta diablo and it was almost tastless.  There were big pieces of shrimp in it, but the sauce just tasted like oil and chicken broth.  I would not reccommend this place unless you want to hang outside and listen to music.


Service____ 7 Chipps
Food____5 Chipps
Atmosphere____6 Chipps
Beer List____5 Chipps
Wine List____0 Chipps
Value____5 Chipps
Red Hawk Grill on Urbanspoon

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Moe's Revist - Cuyahoga Falls

The first review for Moe's is here.  We decided to go back a few nights ago because we know a lot of the people that work there.  We both ordered off the seasonal menu.  We started with an order of oysters which I didn't take a pic of, but looked a lot like oysters.  They were good.  I got the Asian braised short ribs with ginger sweet potato mash and sesame bok choy.  The short rib was very good.  Nice and tender, juicy, and tasty.  The ginger sweet potato had way to much ginger for me, I didn't eat them.  The bok choy was tasty if you like cabbage like I do.  TBG got the duck with goat cheese mashed potatoes and beet root.  I do not like duck so I didn't like his either, but he said it was very good.  The mashed potatoes were good and were topped with a honey apricot which was really sweet, but went well.  The beet root tasted like beets, but was cooked well.  We also got creme brulee for dessert, but ate it before we got a picture.  They have different flavors at different times, this night it was a vanilla bean.  It was very good.  I think Moe's has the best creme brulee around.  Once again we ended up spending a lot, but we got a bottle of wine and upgraded our salads to the goat cheese salad I reviewed last time.  The service was great like always.   
The bar
Service____ 9 Chipps
Food____8 Chipps
Atmosphere____8 Chipps
Beer List____9 Chipps
Wine List____8 Chipps
Value____6 Chipps

Monday, August 1, 2011

Raj Mahal - Cuyahoga Falls

I am happy to say I am no longer afraid of Indian food, in fact I am starting to love it.  I had an idea of what I wanted when I walked in the door, and I loved what I got.  I was not that hungry so we skipped the appetizer even though there were plenty of yummy looking options.  They do not serve beer, but you can bring your own.  The atmosphere is almost nonexistent.  White, dirty walls with vinyl covered tables.  I would recommend carry out for the skittish.  TBG got the spicy lamb vindaloo.  It was very good, too spicy for me but he loved it.  There was plenty to fill TBG up.  It comes with potatoes in the sauce with the lamb, but he asked for it with less than normal.  All the dishes come with basmati rice which was cooked well and there was plenty of it.  I got the chana marsala.  It was vegetarian with chick peas and no meat in a tomato based sauce.  I ordered it medium and it was perfect.  It was exactly what I wanted.  I love the warm Indian spices of cumin, cinnamon, and coriander.  We got two orders of naan which was exactly enough.  One order was garlic as you can see in the picture, and the other plain.  Both were awesome as any bread cooked perfectly is.  The prices were a little steep, but the food was really good so I would definitely go back (or have TBG go back and bring it home!)  I ate the rest of my chana masala the next day and it was still delicious.    






Service____ 9 Chipps
Food____8 Chipps
Atmosphere____2 Chipps
Beer List____0 Chipps
Wine List____0 Chipps
Value____6.5 Chipps
Raj Mahal on Urbanspoon