La Gelateria

A small taste of Italy is tucked away in a shop on the hill of Coventry Road.  And even though La Gelateria lies just inside the borders of Cleveland Heights, you can close your eyes, roll the icy gelato on your tongue, and imagine you are in the heart of a bustling Rome.  With just shy of two dozen flavors to choose from, La Gelateria is the answer to the perennial “Honey Hut or Michell’s?” debate.

The atmosphere is plain; not in that modern, “less is more” sense,  just plain.  Not much decoration adorns the walls, and nothing about the La Gelateria screams trendy to you.  That’s because nobody comes here for the atmosphere.    It doesn’t matter what the walls, tables or chairs look like, what kind of music is playing, or even who else you might find here, because thats not why anyone comes.  They come because the gelato simply sings.  The fruit gelatos are crisp, slightly tart, and ravishingly refreshing.  Although you can’t go wrong with any, the pink grapefruit and raspberry stand apart.  The decadent dairy based gelatos, from Choco-Coco, to Donatella, to Almond, are rich and creamy, yet feel very light on your tongue at the same time.

Gelato leaves no thick, sticky-sweet feeling in your mouth the way traditional high-butterfat content ice cream does, but rather has a very clean finish.  That’s because gelato contains a fourth of the butterfat found in normal ice cream.  Deceivingly, it also contains a third less air (so proclaims a sign in the corner).  That’s true for both the fruit based gelatos (ven lighter than a sorbet), and the dairy based ones.  As such, you can combine to your hearts content, (La Gelateria let’s you make half and half orders) experimenting with the thousands of possible combinations.  My favorites so far: chocolate hazelnut and pink grapefruit, donatella and raspberry, almond and lemoncello.

Best of all, you can spend an evening in gelato heaven without spending all the cash in your wallet.  A small is $3.50 and a large is $4.50.  Even better, there’s no extra charge for splitting an order between two different flavors.

Bar Cento

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Bar Cento, originally conceived by Jonathan Sawyer who has since moved on to The Greenhouse Tavern, is proof that trendy doesn’t necessarily mean tasty.  Paired with the “Bier Market,” which serves outrageously priced, imported craft beers, Bar Cento is one of W. 25 Street’s much praised new redevelopments.  Obviously the praisers only drank there and didn’t eat anything.  The New York Times recently critiqued the city’s many upscale beer gardens for the drastic imbalance of quality between the beer they serve and their food.  I still have a bit of time to go before I hit 21, so I can’t speak to Bar Cento/Bier Market as far as the hops go, but I suspect that the NYT’s The Pour would have the same criticism–it’s certainly true for the food.

Yeah the photo is low quality--it's a metaphor for the food.

Just what’s so bad about it you might ask? Everything. Everything that is, besides the pizza, the grilled Ohio Beef Burger ($12), and the fries (fried in duck fat though, so have fun with that impending heart attack). Those are actually quite good, and I suppose that’s all most people care about at a bar. The Ohio Beef Burger is thick, juicy, and the Port Salut takes it to a whole new level.  It comes with delicious fries, presented in a stiff brown paper cone, with garlic cloves and rosemary. Add olives to the Salsiccia pizza–the saltiness balances perfectly with the sweet Italian sausage.  The Sunnyside pizza proves that everything is better with an egg, and also comes topped with pancetta and black pepper.

But that’s where the good ends and the bad begins.  The Arugula Salad was drenched in oil and salt.  Not a flavored, salad dressing type oil, just salty oil.  Much too salty.  When the lettuce on a salad is saltier and greasier than the french fries, someone in the kitchen has a problem.  On top of that, cured heirloom tomatoes and prima donna cheese accompanied the ruined arugula, both of which did the exact opposite of balancing the saltiness of the salad and just added to it.  I made the mistake of following the salad with the Brick Oven Chicken, which was hardly better (although at least it wasn’t salt cured).  The bone-in side of chicken was completely unremarkable.  It came in a dark red barbeque-ish sauce,with a few wilted sections of onion.  The chicken itself was practically tasteless, and the sauce wasn’t very good.

The Mascarpone Mousse tried to redeem the meal, and almost did, but just had too tough of a task before it.  Also worth trying is the goat cheese ice cream, which sounds odd, until you really think about it–just colder creamier cheesecake. Desert shouldn’t have to attempt to redeem a meal though, it should complement and finish the meal.  Bar Cento might be a great place to go for happy hour (and that is its main goal after all), but if you are looking for something more substantial, you’ll have more luck at some of the other 25th Street establishments.

Same deal with the chicken.

Johnny Mango

Johnny Mango World Café and Bar is a well known Ohio City hotspot.  Its friendly, inviting atmosphere is well complemented by an eclectic menu, and wide variety of juices, sodas, and soymilk/frozen yogurt shakes.  The atmosphere is casual and unpretentious, and the food is good.

You should definitely peruse the juice bar; the Main Squeeze (Apple, Lemon, Soda) is a great refresher for a hot summer day, or if you just worked out, go for J.C.’s Jump Up shake (Apple, Banana, Soymilk) with protein powder.

The #6 Nachos are a surprising appetizer–surprising in that they aren’t loaded with cheese.  If you can refrain from eating all of the sour cream, then go ahead and eat some tasty nachos before your meal without feeling too guilty.  And if you aren’t trying to watch your weight, or if you really just don’t care about your arteries, then you really don’t care that they are nachos, so go ahead and order them anyway.

I have had mixed experiences with the Pad Thai.  Once it came burned, and too salty, and the second time I tried it it was great (although not as good as the Pad Thai at Phnom Penh).  The menu isn’t extensive, but it is varied, from Jamacan Jerk Chicken, to Crab Cakes, to Miso soup.  However, I like to think of Johnny Mango as more of a quesadilla place.  If I really want  steak, I’ll go to a steakhouse like RED or XO.  If I want Asian cuisine, then I’ll head to an Asian restaurant.  But when I am at Johnny Mango, nothing appeals to me more than their unassuming, yet satisfying quesadilla.  Stay away form the burritos, not because there is anything inherently wrong with them, but because the quesadillas are just so much better.  Grilled Steak, Grilled Veggies, Grilled Chicken, Chorizo and Potato…they are all overstuffed with flavorful fillings, the right amount of cheddar and pepperjack cheese, and the tortilla is crispy like it should be…all for under $10.  Nobody likes a wimpy, soggy quesadilla, and thankfully that’s not what you get.  Unfortunately, the guacamole (ordered seperately) leaves a lot to be desired.

If you are really feeling like desert after Johnny Mango, you are pretty much out of luck for getting anything in-house.  They offer some varieties of ice cream, and one desert, the Chocolate Triple X.  Thankfully, Le Petite Triangle is right accross the street, with the best crepes in Cleveland.

Sergio’s Sarava

Over a year ago, I ended fourteen years of vegetarianism. After my first bite of red meat (beef short ribs at Lola), the siren song of steaks drew me in, and filet mignon became nearly the sole focus of my attentions when reading through menus. My pent up desire for good beef took me on a tour through Red the Steakhouse, XO, Chophouse, Lola, and Fire (reviews of all forthcoming). Sergio’s Sarava may have accelerated the end of that phase, by teaching me that the steak is not the end all be all of every menu.

Sergio’s in University circle, and its spin off, Sergio’s Sarava, in Shaker Square, offer a tantalizing mix of Italian, French, and Brazilian cuisines (with Sarava leaning more heavily towards the Brazilian end). Patio seating is pleasant, and relaxed, while the inside is chic décor. Sarava offers an incredibly extensive list of appetizers; not a good thing for indecisive people like me. Of course, you can’t go to a Brazilian restaurant and not order pao de queijo. It would be blasphemy. Sarava’s pao de queijo took me right back to Brazil. Crisp and crusty on the outside, warm, doughy, and cheesy (that unique mellow pao de queijo cheese taste) on the inside. The tamale cakes, made of sweet corn and dressed with guacamole, sour cream, and ancho chile sauce, are perfect to share with the table.

After those, I proceeded on to my Trevisana salad. The crisp greens, finished with pistacchio’s, strawberries, and fresh balsamic vinaigrette, were a great way to cleanse and open the palette before the main course.

The filet came served with black beans and rice (the black beans are phenomenal), and fried spinach (a bit too greasy). It’s hard to criticize a filet mignon without feeling snooty, especially when that filet was $29…but I’ll just have to take that risk. It was tender to be sure, and by no means bad, but fell far short of my experiences with steaks at other area restaurants. I ordered it medium, and it came medium well, but that alone isn’t enough of an excuse to explain the quality of lackingness to the filet. The garlic and port marinade almost seemed to have been forgotten, and it could definitely have used more salt. I enjoyed the filet, but it didn’t blow me away, and I found myself almost more excited by the side dishes that the meat came with.

The Feijoada ($21), the traditional Brazilian party dish, on the other hand, is quite excellent, and is everything one wants from a comfort food dish. Don’t miss out on the Key Lime Chicken ($18.95) either, which bursts with flavor from a tangy key lime sauce.

The valuable lesson from Sarava is not to take a restaurant where beef is not the main focus, and attempt to make it so. When you go to a steakhouse, order a steak. When you don’t, venture into other parts of the menu beyond the beef—you will likely come away from your meal happier and more satisfied.