torakris

I can't believe I forgot to post about this.... The day after the Lolita's dinner, I made a trip with the kids to Superior and E30th to check out the Golden Bakery that Nancy recommended. If I had planned the trip right I could have had lunch at the Vietnamese place she also recommended just up the hall and hten taken the baked buns home for a snack. The kids and I were so excited to find these unbelievably delicious buns with roast pork that we bought quite a bunch and ate them at one of the tables in the hallway. It wasn't until after we ate that we passed by the Vietnamese place.... always have next year!

That was fast!! Thank you!

On a trip to a local Indian grocer I picked up a couple of sauce packets and I was planning to make one up tonight however when I read the directions it says to add 300g of curd to the pan with the chicken and sauce pack. What do they mean by curd? If it helps any the dish is Chicken Sukha and the brand is Parampara.

This thread has really gotten me in a gyoza/potsticker mood! I think I might make some up just to try that soy-lime-sambal dipping sauce linked to. The gyoza thread in the Japan forum also has many ideas..

I had it once in a restaurant and another time in a bento as part of a hanami (cherry blossom viewing) lunch. It is really good, it adds a perfect hit of saltiness to the rice and the fragrance can't be beat!

sakura manju! I have always wanted to make sakura gohan, but it just feels like it should be a special meal... and I am not sure what the kids would think of it.

I had wanted to say more in my post last night but a hysterical 4 year old forced me to cut my computer time short... That beet salad was so incredible! I had completely forgotten about the truffle honey. I will definitely be checking out the new Lola's on my trip home next year, this meal was worth me getting lost both on the way there and on the way home!!

It is really difficult to be a vegetarian in Japan. I have a couple friends who ended up giving up vegetarianism after an extended stay because it was too difficult to eat out. Most school's can be quite accomodating, and as Hiroyuki said will treat them the same as a food allergy. There are no vegetarians in our school of close to 1,000 though... I have a vegetarian friend who was making lunches for her daughters for the first few weeks of school and eventually gave it up.

I am glad someone has finally posted about it! Between the Zoo yesterday and Geauga Lake today I haven't even made it to the computer. This meal was incredible, definitely tied for the hilight meal of my trip. Tied of course, with the eGullet Heartland Gathering! I chose the 3 course meal, in which I could choose two of the small plates, one of the meats/cheeses or salads and then one entree. At $32 I found this a great value for what I was able to eat. I chose the risotto cakes with calves liver (fabulous) and the smelts with orange aoli (this was a popular dish at our table and was incredible). For the salad I went with the beet salad with ricotta (maybe?), apples and pecans, I am still dreaming about this dish... For the entree I chose the wild striped bass with a fennel ragout and an olive vinaigrette (I maybe off with the name as I didn't keep a menu), This piece of fish was a good 2 inches thick and cooked perfectly, I loved this dish.

Well I did end up making a trip to Benihana's (Chagrin Blvd) with a couple of my sisters and some of our kids. The food was reasonably priced for lunch but everything tasted the same.... Of course I wasn't expecting much. As we were leaving the restaurant my oldest daughter turned to me and said, " Mom, I thought you said we were going to a Japanese restaurant...?" I did make another wonderful discovery yesterday, my brother suggested we stop by this tiny whole in the wall Thai place he found last year. It is called Bangkok and is on Warrensville in between Mayfield and Cedar (probably University Heights). You can dine in at one of the four tables or take out, you order from a small window that separates the kitchen from the eating area and then get your own water and seat yourself. The food comes in a styrofoam dish with a plastic fork but when you taste it you won't care. Most of the dishes cost $5.95 and are served with rice, though you can upgrade to a large (which would feed 2) for only $8.25. I ordered a string bean curry with tofu (you can choose your protein) and my brother had the Thai gra pao (ground chicken with Thai basil) and they were both excellent. I am still thinking about the green beans... They were cooked perfectly and the flavor was great, they were honestly some of the best green beans I have ever eaten. My brother also commented that he was always impressed by the freshness of the vegetables they serve. We also enjoyed a wonderful Thai iced tea for $1.25 and they have a Thai coffee for the same price. If you are in the neighborhood definitely check them out. EDIT: Just checked their take out menu and the address is 1982 Warrensville and the city is South Euclid, the full name is Bangkok Thai Cuisine.

Sawa (sours) is just like Jason described, they can be anything blended with a basic liquor like shochu. My husband really likes sawas and makes them at home almost daily just by mixing shochu with grapefruit juice (his favorite), some restaurants have a sawa menu that can run an entire page.

In case anyone missed my post in the ISO thread, before I return to Japan I have decided I must get to Lolita's. A couple of us are planning dinner for Tuesday August 16th, anyone who is interested in joining us should send me a pm or e-mail me. I can't believe you guys remembered that much of the meal! did you take notes?

I had a wonderful dinner last night as Aladdin's Eatery in Cleveland Heights (Cedar-Fairmount). I can't believe I have never been there before. The menu is incredible at about 10 pages long and the prices are some of the cheapest I have seen, for any restaurant. My sister and I shared an appetizer combo with 5 appetizers and pita bread for $8.95 and were full before our meals even made it to the table. I went with a spicy kafta rolled (then grilled) pita that was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. I am going to try to make it back there once more before I leave, this place in my opinion, is one of the best values for the money in this area. On the topic of Middle eastern food, I have been trying to find a couple of ingredients to take back to Japan and am having a bit of a problem locating them anywhere. Does anyone know where I can buy pomegranate molasses and aleppo pepper?

Great review! my mouth is now watering.... now I need to get a map and find out exactly where North Royalton is...

I never realized UDF was a regional brand... As I child I used to walk down to the UDF factory/milk bottling place/store and get an ice cream cone or shake and sit at the counter and watch the milk being bottled behind the big glass window.

Alex, welcome home! It is sort of strange to be talking to you on this forum now... I have been to Shinano's a couple of times and found it to be typical of US Japanese places and not as good as some of the places I have eaten at in Columbus. After reading a review last summer that is was the preferred restaurant among Japanese locals I decided to try it again. I went for lunch with my brother and the lunch menu consisted of about 10 items that were teriyaki flavored. I asked instead for a Japanese menu and we ordered from there. While it wasn't bad the portions were tiny and very expensive. We ordered aboput $40 worth of food (before tax and tip) and were still starving, we actually had to pick up something to eat on the way home. Was the taste was fine it wasn't worth the prices they were charging. Pacific East is a far better value for your money.

boiling down umeboshi or just plain red shiso?interesting....! ← the red shiso

Nancy, Thanks for the suggestions! Actually I was reading your review of that Chinese place just hours ago on the forums at Cleveland.com, I was thinking it might be the same NancyH... I have never had a beef with black pepper sauce, I think I need to get to the west side more often. I actually talked my sister out of Benihana's and we went to Mekong River. The restaurant was quite empty but they seemed to be doing a brisk service with take out. We started with the deep fried fish patties appetizer, sorry forget the name and they were a bit on the oily side but otherwise wonderful. The flavor was fantastic. We ordered two entrees from the Cambodian House speciality list and have forgotten both names but the first one was quite mild flavored with thinly sliced chicken on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes with a hot (warm not spicy) poured on top. It wasn't bad but nothing to rave about. The other dish had a one star on their heat level of up to three stars but had us both in tears! I actually can handle spicy foods quite well but this was no one star dish. I ordered it with beef (you have a choice of meats/fish/tofu) and it was stirfried with bell peppers and celery and had a wonderful sauce that probably contained all of the wonderful aromatics used in SE Asian cooking. The sauce was a dark brown so I am assuming it had some kind of tamarind base but I am not sure. The taste was great was the heat was a little too overwhelming. It was served with rice that did help some. We were a little surprised when we recieved the bill because both of the entrees we ordered had been listed as 10.99 on the menu but the bill listed them as 11.99 and 12.99. Maybe there had been a sign somewhere announcing menu price changes that we missed but we decided not to do anything about it. We actually left a larger than normal tip because it seemed like a family run place and they didn't seem to be doing much eat-in business...

Thanks for the advice on the Chinese place. I didn't realize it was a chain... I should have figured out from the chintzy stone horses out front... Last summer I was on my quest for good Japanese (this was when I discovered Pacific East) and I had a really nice (and wonderfully priced) lunch at Matsu. The dinner menu looked quite pricey so we never went back in the evening. Aoeshi was on my list to try but I never did make it, it too looked on the pricey side. My grandmother and Aunt actually live in North Olmsted so it is the one part of the west side I actually am familar with. We took my friend and the kids to the malley ice cream shop over there (the one with the carousel inside) and the first thing I noticed as we were turning the corner was that Danny Boy was gone, I loved that place... Phnom Penh has been on my must get to list for about 3 years now! I really need to get there this year. Tonight my sister has insisted we go to Beihana's...

As usual, gorgeous pictures Jason! I can't think of too much to do with matcha salt besides tempura or tofu as I haven't really figured out ways to work with matcha in savory dishes. The yuzu salt sounds like it would be wonderful sprinkled onto grilled fish/chicken or a plate of steamed/grilled/sauteed vegetables.

Yesterday at Sur La Table I ran across a yuzu vinegar it was $13 for the bottle. It sounding interesting but I balked at spending that much money anyone ever tried it?

On a trip to Trader Joe's (Chagrin Blvd) yesterday I noticed PF Chang's China Bistro as we were getting off 271. My sister had said she had heard good things about it though she has never gone herself. Anyone been?

This week's Friday Magazine in the Plain Dealer had a review of Mekong River a Cambodian/Thai restaurant right by me in Cleveland Heights. It wasn't the best of reviews but looking on the internet I found many more very favorable reviews. Has anyone ever been? What are some of the best Asian restaurants Cleveland has to offer? Two of my favorites are Hunan on Coventry (Chinese) and Pacific East (Japanese) also on Coventry road.

apparently my house always smells like an Italian restaurant.. A friend of mine who moved away 6 months ago called to catch up on things and she told me that just a couple days before she and her 4 year old son were walking past an Italian restaurant when her son commented that it smelled just like Hide's (my son) house.

that is a lot of different spoons! all I have are large spoons and small spoons of the same maker, I don't even have kids spoons any more... EDIT and don't forget you will always get sppons in Italian restaurants or family restaurants when you order pasta (spaghetti).