Le Petit Triangle

Just What the Doctor(s) Ordered
By James Tarbox, MD and Lowell Chang, MD

Le Petit Triangle Café
www.lepetittrianglecafe.com
1881 Fulton Rd
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 281-1881

When I first heard about Le Petit Triangle, my first thought wasn’t that this restaurant serves some of best French bistro food that you’ll find in Cleveland, but a greatly underappreciated Weezer song.

Anyway…upon entering the restaurant, it reminds me of quaint European café with the kitchen and pastries in clear sight. And I think it may have really been in the shape of a small triangle.

We started off with a wood smoked trout plate. It consisted of smoked trout served with capers, red onion, spinach, crackers, and herbed cheese. The combination was very tasty, especially if you can fit everything on one cracker. If the crackers were devoured too quickly, they were also bringing by plenty of hot out of the oven French bread.

I next partook in the French Onion soup. While in a French restaurant, why not try their namesake, and it doesn’t disappoint - a nice mixture of sweet onions in a semi-thick broth. Plus, there’s nothing like good ol’ Gruyere to top off this selection.

My main entrée was a cassoulet (French for casserole…tough one) of slowly simmered duck, chicken sausage, white beans and vegetables. It was very good though leaning towards the beans more than meat. Thinking back on the menu, there’s plenty of vegetarian options. The cassoulet can also be ordered as an appetizer if you just want a small portion, thou I wonder if it’s still in a ceramic pot.

They offer a plentiful selection of both savory and sweet crepes (there’s not many places in Cleveland that are good at this.) The wine list was very tempting with a wide range of very reasonably priced selections from France to California, but I had to work later that day (should that have really stopped me).

I’ll definitely return in the future to try more selections from this excellent restaurant in Ohio City.

Scale of 0 to 5 (0 equals “I can speak French but I cannot understand it.”- Mark Twain",
5 equals“I went to a cafe that advertised breakfast anytime, so I ordered French Toast during the Rennaisance.”- Stephen Wright")

Food and drink: 5 (best French food in the area unless you want to drive 1.5 hours west to Vermillion… and that’s not even the tough part, it’s driving home after all the… well…)
Atmosphere: 5 (quaint, comfortable atmosphere and it’s shaped in a triangle)
Service: 4 (pleasant waitress, but messed up the order; the chef made sure that the mistake was corrected)
Bang for the Buck: 4 (not too expensive, especially for great French food, the crepes are reasonably priced as well)
TOTAL: 18/20

-Dr. Tarbox

Dr. Chang’s two cents:
In a city that does not boast much selection of French cuisine, this place will offer a decent sampling of the genre in a comfortable and geometrical setting. Personally, I tried the garlic pork shoulder, which was satisfying comfort food on a cold day.

Food & Drink: 4.5 (Good selection of entrees for a small operation)
Atmosphere: 4.5 (Comfortable and conversation easy)
Service: 4.5 (Friendly service overall)
Bang for the Buck: 4 (Decent portion size)
TOTAL: 17.5/20

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas for restaurants to visit, please e-mail us at: tarboxj@ccf.org and changl@ccf.org. Thank you.