I had pho for the first time tonight. I liked it. My companion, unfortunately, did not.
Posted by
CovingtonCat
Dec 31 '11, 16:37
|
He chose this place for dinner. I was surprised because I didn't think he'd want soup for dinner. We each had summer rolls for an appetizer and shared a shredded cabbage w/chicken salad. When the rolls came out he made the funniest face and asked, "what's this?" He'd never had one and expected it to be deep fried (he loves his egg rolls and spring rolls). He was put off by the consistency of the wrapper. I thought they were really good. He did like the shredded cabbage, as did I. We each got pho with brisket and eye of round. For add-ins we got very fresh bean sprouts, lime, slices of jalapeno, and fresh basil. I added some Vietnamese hot sauce. I thought it was pretty good. My bowl was very large and I couldn't finish it. My friend tried but couldn't get into it because he thought the cilantro in the broth was too strong. He tried adding hot sauce but could only take a few bites before he called it quits. In the 11 or so years I've known him I've never seen him not finish a meal. We stopped at a pizza place on the way back to the hotel & he got a stromboli.
For lunch we went to Aladdin's Eatery, a small chain with stores mostly in Ohio but with some also in Pittsburgh and one in Alexandria, VA. I had stuffed grape leaves and a combo plate with beef kafta, shish kabob & chicken tawook on a bed of rice pilaf, with a side of greens and a really great dressing. I asked what the spices were and was told it was secret. My friend had a Greek pitza (basically a pizza on pita bread with olives, veggies & feta. He also had falaffel. I tasted that & it was delicious. I don't eat enough middle eastern food. We discovered they have a location about 30 minutes north of us near the IKEA so I expect we'll be stopping there for lunch on our next trip up there. http://www.aladdinseatery.com/menu.php
This morning we went to the West Side Market. It was surprisingly not busy so we could take our time walking through, deciding what to get. We got some smoked turkey legs, giant samosas, English beef pastys, Irish sausage rolls, apple strudel, pretzels, red cabbage, rolls & bagels, and, of course, babka. After that we went to the Slavic Village. That was pretty sad. Their website suggested a deli that was was pretty bare, a bakery that was boarded up, and a meat market that wasn't where it was supposed to be *and* it had a different name. We got liverwurst and pierogis there.
After lunch we went to The Arcade, a beautiful, late 19th century romanesque revival building downtown that now houses a few shops on the ground level and a Hyatt on the upper floors. http://theclevelandarcade.com/
Then we drove around downtown a bit. It rained a lot yesterday and today was overcast and blustery so it wasn't a good day for walking around outside. Then we headed out to the Botanical Gardens, thinking we'd have a couple hours before dinner. But they were closing early & we weren't going to pay for a half hour. But just before walking away my friend said they should let people in for free so close to closing, especially since we'd come so far. And just like that we were in. Had just enough time to walk through the glassed in rooms (Madagascar desert & Costa Rica cloud forest). Other than that there was nothing to see but their outside garden which is pretty sparse this time of year. So we made out OK.
Because we had more time we drove through the Lake View Cemetery. They have this giant monument to President Garfield that's pretty impressive. Supposed to have an interior by Tiffany but it was closed for the winter.
We also drove through Case Western University (it's in the same area as the cemetery and the art museum and botanical garden). They have some pretty impressive buildings. They run the gamut of all architectural styles from classical revival, gothic, romanesque, tudor, baroque and lots of very modern stuff.
Now I'm back at the hotel, getting ready to curl up with a book in front of the fireplace for a while. I'd planned on heading into Amish country on the way back but our favorite Amish restaurant is closed tomorrow. I'll have to see if my favorite German restaurant in Columbus is open. If so, we'll stop in for lunch on the way home.
Trish, if you're reading this, I did make it to Lola and Lolita but just in passing. Maybe I'll have lunch at Lolita next time I'm in town.
Happy New Year everyone! Make a resolution to visit new places and try new & different foods in the coming year. You never know what you might end up liking. Who knew anyone could like Cleveland?
|
Responses:
|
