Thursday, September 24, 2009

Das Schnitzel Haus


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

Das Schnitzel Haus
5728 Pearl Rd
Cleveland, OH 44129-2850
(440) 886-5050
www.dshparma.com/

http://www.bereaoktoberfest.com/
http://www.derbraumeister.net/

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are starting to change color. The evening air has a slight tinge of coolness to it. You wonder if your car can make it through April without a checkup. For those of the beer persuasion, it’s also time to remember that October can also be spelled with a K.

For as long as I’ve been in Cleveland (about 4 years) every Labor Day has been a time to remember the impact of German beer on our lives. I still remember sitting in Munich’s City Center in 2006 enjoying a glass of Palauner Dunkel Weiss and some great Weisswurst...but I digress. It is memories like this that make me yearn for what good beer tastes like and to enjoy some nice schnitzel and wurst. Sure, it’s still 4 weeks from when the Germans across the pond will start their festivals, but we’ll take the good weather as reason to celebrate when we can.

I headed off to Berea (a vibrant community just south of Cleveland) around 3:00pm in a car with Lowell, Eddy, Yi Ju, and Olivia. Not to worry, Olivia will not be influenced by or remember any of this… I hope. I hadn’t eaten lunch yet in anticipation of this event, thus upon arriving I was eagerly searching for food vendors. Fortunately, Eddy reminded me that Hofbrauhaus Oktoberfest was on tap, so a slight detour was made. You could pay extra to get it in a plastic mug, but I have plenty of real glass mugs from Winking Lizard. The Hofbrau pours as light amber and has a nice balanced malty, hoppy taste. Sure it doesn’t have the complexity or fullness of a nice Paulaner or Augustiner, but considering the location, I’ll take what I can get.

We next found the Schmidt’s of Columbus booth which Eddy highly recommended for the Bahama Mama. It wasn’t a standard bratwurst or frankfurter, but I was able to add some delicious sauerkraut. This was a tasty brat with nice spiciness and robust flavor, yet not overpowering. Well, if you know me, you know one brat is just a starter. I was off to search for more sustenance when I noticed several people walking around with shirts proclaiming Cleveland’s only true German restaurant with 120 imported beers. After looking closer, I realized the shirts were advertising for Der Braumeister.

The Der Braumeister makes a very nice knackwurst, which means the veal/pork sausage has been smoked as opposed to a brautwurst which is grilled and flavored with nutmeg and coriander. They have apparently been on Cleveland’s Westside for over 80 years. I made a mental checkmark to definitely visit this restaurant in the future (likely right after submission of this review).

After enjoying this great German fare, some more beverages, and a Chef’s Choice Meats cooking session, we ventured home. Yet, German food was still on our mind, which led us to Das Schnitzel Haus. Why did we venture here even though I was salivating over Der Braumeister? Mostly due to the closer proximity and so we could try the buffet (only $7.95). Do not worry Der Braumeister, I will be there soon enough.

We arrived at Das Schnitzel Haus at 1:30pm and noted that the parking lot was not too full. Hopefully, this was due to the lateness of our lunch hour. Upon entering the door, we were greeted by a cheerful hostess. Little did we know that she would soon be our waitress and cook. Rather than sit out in the covered Bier Garden (the only one with a fireplace in Cleveland), we chose to sit indoors closer to the buffet.

After perusing the beer menu, I asked for one of their specialty beers. Apparently, they were out. I asked for another, they had stopped selling it due to poor sales. I finally settled on a nice, very smoky beer which still manages to be well balanced, Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen for those who are interested.

We were then off to the buffet. I by habit tend to avoid the salad bar; this one was pretty limited anyway containing a house salad, potato salad and cabbage. After scooping some veal schnitzel, chicken cordon bleu, kartoffel kuegeln (potato pancake), and goulash on my plate, I returned to my table. The buffet wasn’t quite as large as I was expecting.

The first thing I noticed about the schnitzel was that it was much thinner than what I was served in Europe. However, the flavor was fairly good considering the slender coating of batter. The chicken cordon bleu and goulash were a little dry, but passable while the kartoffel kuegeln was oily and only tasted of potato.

Our waitress said we would soon have fresh entrees available. We also ordered some cevape (Eastern European skinless sausage) since they are known for this. Then, off she went to the kitchen. Soon we had fresh chicken cordon bleu and goulash which were definitely more tender and tasty than before.

We had to remind her on the cevape, and once it was brought forth I was interested in the eggplant and red pepper spread it was served with. This was definitely different than the pita and cheese that I ate it with in Europe. Fortunately, the cevape went quite well with this spread.

After having another helping from the buffet, we were definitely content with life. It was nice having some fairly authentic German food at Das Schnitzel Haus and hopefully next time I’ll be able to find a beer I like better.

Scale of 0 to 5
0: “I fear the man who drinks water and so remembers this morning what the rest of us said last night.” ~ Greek proverb

5: “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” ~ Benjamin Franklin (could I have used any other?)

Food & Drink: 4 (Make sure the buffet is fresh if you order it.)
Atmosphere: 4 (The indoors are fairly ordinary, but the bier garden looks awesome.)
Service: 3.5 (Hopefully due to our late lunch.)
Bang for the buck: 4 (The buffet is a great price, though we had to order another entrée to expand our tasting.)
TOTAL: 15.5/20

Lastly, I’d like to give a quick shout out to Taste on Lee. They serve great French seasonal cuisine and host monthly events including the latest where I had one of the best wine pairing dishes in recent memory. The braised short rib with mushroom and leak frittata with a Barbarian 2003 from Meeker Winery in Sonoma was outstanding.

- Dr. Tarbox

Dr. Chang’s two cents:

I have not been to any other German buffets, so it’s hard to compare Das Schnitzel Haus. Again, the fresher the batch of food, the better the food tasted. I would have liked to see some German sausages in the buffet, but none was found on this visit. The atmosphere is overall quiet, but maybe because we visited during the latter half of the lunch hour.

Food & Drink: 3.5 (Not as many choices as other types of buffets.)
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 3.5 (Friendly, but only one person managing both kitchen and tables during lunch.)
Bang for the Buck: 4 (It’s the usual buffet price.)
TOTAL: 15/20

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. Also, feel free to leave any comments here. Thank you.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

8 pack of beer and wine 2008

After discussing beer and wine with a friend from Texas earlier this evening, I have decided to post some of my quick reviews on beer and wine that I had from 2008. Hope you enjoy these as much as I did... they are all 8 or higher on my scale of 1-10. I'll try to be more detailed in the future.

Beer
1. Scaldis- Belgium 12% warm caramel, smell & taste, clean refreshing, could drink every day though need to be careful with the alcohol content- 8.5/10

2. Harviestoun "Ola Dubh" 30 yr reserve ale- 11.2 oz 8% black oil aged in whiskey caskets, chocolate notes & roasted. Definitely dark in color. Thick texture, definitely not your standard beer. Taste of dark fruit, slightly bitter, yet somehow a refreshing aftertaste. I still have the bottle, heck it's 30 years old. I also bought a few for some friends after celebrating finishing residency.

3. Brasserie des Rocs Grand Cru Special Brown- 11.7 oz 9.5% Belg amber, dark brown, smells of cherries, taste is light hoppy slight caramel, roasted malt, drinkable- 8/10

4. Koningshoeven Quadrupel- one of my favorite beers that Winking Lizard served in 2007 and 2008, why did it have to go. 10% Trappist. Dark brown in color, with vanilla overtones by smell. Above standard sweet malt with dark fruit taste. If I ever needed a backup beer after experimenting on something different, this always hit the spot. 9/10

Hmm... I think I'll try using a slight modification on the Beer Advocates template for rating. A:appearance. S: smell T: taste D: drinkability O: overall

Wine
1. Blackstone Sonoma Reserve Rubric Vintage 2006- Hyde Park- 8/10
A: nice dark red
S: slight chocolate
T: dark fruit with slight chocolate at the end
D: very smooth
O: quite an enjoyable wine, especially with a nice filet or prime rib

2. Norman Conquest Cab 2004- Lola- 8/10
A: very dark red
S: dark plum
T: dark fruit with a hint of chocolate again (hmm... looks like I'm a fan)
D: smooth, slight tannins
O: another nice wine that goes well with meals or cheese

3. Bogle Phantom syrah/zin/mourvedre- Clarksburg, CA 2005- 9/10
A: dark red
S: hints of cherry
T: berry, vanilla, pepper, smoky aftertaste
D: full bodied wine, yet easy to drink
O: wow... excellent blend, goes well with a long meal

4. Elsa bianchi malbec 2006- 8.5/10
A: very dark purple
S: flower smell
T: dark plum with very little smoke, slight burnt sugar
D: full body, very smooth
O: nice example of a good Argentinian malbec

If anyone wants to comment on which style they prefer, I would appreciate it.

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.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Anatolia

Tonight I will share two recent reviews that Lowell and I published. One is Anatolia, a fantastic Turkish restaurant in Eastern Cleveland. The other is Le Petit Triangle in Ohio City, a great French bistro.

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

Anatolia Café
2270 Lee Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
216-321-4400
www.anatoliacafe.com

Here in Cleveland we’re fortunate to have many options for Middle Eastern food, but it’s difficult to distinguish one place to another. One restaurant that stands out in terms of flavor is Anatolia Café. Turkish cuisine differs from other Middle Eastern food with its use of tomatoes and paprika found in their stews and sautés.

The original Anatolia was located opposite Whole Foods off of Cedar Road in University Heights. Although the food was always good, the dining room was small, being problematic in getting a table on busy nights. Anatolia has been at the new location on Lee Road for about 7 months now and offers the same great cuisine with a larger dining room and a nicer décor.

I have been to this restaurant several times and cannot think of a time that I had a bad experience. Probably the best way to start out each meal is with the mixed appetizer plate. Out of the various dips, one of my favorites is the babbagannush which has a smooth, smoky flavor. Of the main entrees, the standout dishes include the mixed grill, the lamb okra, and the döner (seasoned lamb strips-equivalent to gyro meat). One thing that can improve is probably the desserts with a mediocre baklava.

Overall, Anatolia offers great tasting Middle Eastern food at a location with a nice atmosphere that can accommodate large parties.

Scale of 0 to 5 (0 equals “Cold turkey”, 5 equals “Turkish delight”)
Food and drink: 4.5 (Great appetizers and main entrées, but lacking in the dessert category)
Atmosphere: 4.5 (Comfortable)
Service: 5 (Always friendly)
Bang for the Buck: 3.5 (Costs a little more, but worth the cost)
TOTAL: 17.5/20

-Dr. Chang

Dr. Tarbox's two cents:
Overall, I could eat at this restaurant every week if budget and family/friends allowed. It’s tough to beat that doner when it’s fresh off the carving wheel. They have a nice variety of combination platters and most appetizers are excellent.

Scale of 0 to 5 (0 equals “Cold turkey”, 5 equals “Turkish delight”)
Food and drink- 4.5/5 (The adana with yogurt is one of the best Middle Eastern dishes I’ve had. It rocks my dunya…I hope that means something. Quality of the appetizers may vary, but most are great.)
Atmosphere: 5/5 (The new location has a great atmosphere, vibrant background, and not too loud that you can’t carry on a conversion. While it is always busy, there never seems to a long wait if any. The patio is great in warmer times. )
Service: 4/5 (Always friendly and usually prompt)
Bang for the Buck: 4/5 (You’ll pay a little more than a sidewalk kebab stand, but it’s well worth it)
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.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Chicken and Bowtie Pasta with Asiago Cream Sauce












Made this nice recipe tonight. Very tasty, I modified it a little from Big Oven by adding more asiago, prosciutto, garlic, and mushrooms.

The wine was a Ménage à Trois (Zinfandel-Merlot-Cabernet) is a Red wine from Folie à Deux Winery in Napa Valley. It went very well with the dish.

Chicken and Bowtie Pasta with Asiago Cream Sauce
http://www.bigoven.com/recipe161444

"A tasty mix of chicken, garlic, mushrooms, prosciutto and pasta are complemented by a thin but flavorful Asiago cream sauce." Original recipe yield: 6 servings.

Yield: 6 Servings
Main Ingredient: Chicken
Cuisine: Italian

Tags: Brunch Main Dish Liked Saute Italian Chicken Dinner Spring Creamy

Ingredients:
INGREDIENTS:
1 (16 ounce) package farfalle (bow tie) pasta
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
2 1/4 cups heavy cream divided (consider just 2 cups)
1/4 cube chicken bouillon crumbled
3/4 cup grated Asiago cheese (1 cup) ~ 0.25 lbs
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped prosciutto (7 strips)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic (used 5 cloves)
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms (~1 cup of wild mushrooms)
1/2 tablespoon parsley flakes

DIRECTIONS: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water (1 gallon) to a boil. Cook pasta for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used EVOO… this is an Italian recipe after all) in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir chicken cubes, reducing heat if necessary, until no longer pink in center and juices run clear. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups cream to a simmer, stirring often. Whisk in bouillon and cheese until well blended and bouillon has dissolved completely. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 tablespoons water, and whisk into mixture. Cook and stir 2 minutes more, then remove from heat and set aside.

Melt butter (I used EVOO) in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Stir in prosciutto, garlic, and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are tender, about 3 minutes. Add chicken, reduce heat, and continue cooking until chicken is heated through. Return sauce to the stove and add remaining 1/4 cup cream and parsley flakes. Heat through. To serve, place pasta in a large mixing or serving bowl. Add chicken and mushroom mixture and pour in cream sauce. Toss well, and serve.