Ohio City

Townhall Proves You'll Enjoy Eating Vegan

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I've noticed plenty of people wrinkle their noses at the mention of eating something vegan, as if it must be bland and horrible. In reality, sure there are plenty of boring vegan dishes out there, but a chef that knows flavor can bring it to any dish. TownHall is proof that you can eat vegan and eat happy. Aside from having plenty of daily vegan options, they have a special vegan menu on Mondays. You don't have to be a vegan to enjoy vegan dishes. What's wrong with taking a break from meat once in a while? There are plenty of health and environmental benefits to eating less meat. The world's current meat consumption isn't sustainable so at some point meat won't be as available as it is now. Thankfully, there are chefs out there working hard to make vegan dishes enjoyable to the masses.

TownHall's Black Bean Hummus is a dish vegan and non-vegans alike can adore. If you like hummus and jalapenos this is a must try. I really loved the heat; it creeps up on you and stays with you, but packs tons of flavor too.

TownHall - Black Bean Hummus

I was certainly surprised to see a Cesar Salad on a vegan menu, but it was an awesome side to this meal. Townhall's vegan friendly Cesar has all the creaminess of the traditional dressing with these wonderfully light croutons and very fresh, crisp lettuce.

TownHall - Cesar Salad with vegan dressing

The Pan Roasted Corncake came highly recommended and it was incredibly delicious. Crispy on the outside, but nice and soft on the inside. The avocado creme fraiche brought the whole dish together. The corncake rested on a bed of quinoa, which is one of those things that can give a vegan dish a bad name. Most of us have met a health buff or two who eat quinoa for every meal and it never looks appealing. I've certainly had plenty of bland quinoa, to the point that I don't look for it on a menu, but this was great! I'm always impressed by a chef that makes it well.

TownHall - Pan Roasted Corncake Cheese is something a lot of vegans miss. Thankfully there are some good vegan cheeses on the market these days, but to walk into a restaurant and be able to order a grilled cheese that anyone would love is a rarity. These Grilled Cheese Bars were some of the best grilled cheese I've ever had. The roasted roma tomatoes brought so much sweetness to the bars and worked very well with the sourdough. The tomato soup is worth a mention too. It was slightly sweet and very fresh; it tasted straight from the garden.

TownHall - Grilled Cheese Bars and Roasted Tomato Soup

The Faux Pho: the name alone makes it fun to order. I was blown away by the chili marinated tofu. It had such bold and fresh flavor I could eat it everyday. The loads of fresh veggies were a great touch to this dish too. What I liked about this dish, and this went for all the vegan dishes, is that it isn't just a copy of Pho, it's a reinvention of it.

TownHall - Faux Pho What a unique dish the Tofu Etouffee. I don't believe I've ever had blacked tofu before. It was very enjoyable. Another reinvention of a traditional dish; it had lots of  bold flavor, but still had a wonderful balance.

Townhall - Tofu Etouffee

Balance was a common thread for the entire meal. Each dish was perfectly balanced, not only in flavor, but texture as well. The produce was so incredibly fresh and high quality. Even the decor was balanced. From the long bar to the people watching heaven of the front patio - the place is beautifully designed.

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Eating dessert out can be another pain for vegans. Milk and eggs are common in a lot of desserts. TownHall carries Samadhi Love's Vegan Gluten Free Desserts! Avoiding diary, eggs and gluten and still making a dessert taste amazing is a feat, but Samadhi is up for the challenge. She replaces those things with love and it shows. We tried her chocolate cookie that was so soft and light for being gluten free. If you've tried gluten free bread products, they are often rock-like in texture.  We also tired the brownie that came with ice cream and caramel drizzle. The brownie had a great texture and creaminess from oats and avocado. The ice cream was made from coconut water and the caramel sauce was made with cashews.

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I hope to see more people embracing vegan food. TownHall certainly makes it easy to eat vegan and still be a foodie. Do your part and skip the meat/dairy every now and then. If you're eating these dishes you'll enjoy it!

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Cooked Tofu Perfection

Johnny Mango posted a photo of a cherry margarita the other day that made my mouth water! I have yet to go there so I went in for a lovely and refreshing lunch yesterday.  I've been eating poorly this week after missing a trip to the grocery last weekend to go out of town. Eating some fresh food felt like a spoonful of medicine. They have the funnest drink menu. I tried the Pomegranate Sparkler. Pretty, fun and refreshing!

Jonny Mango - Pomegranate Sparkler

They have a very diverse menu. Lots of vegan and gluten-free options.

My lunch date went with the Shrimp Fried Rice. The rice had a great crispiness to it, but was still light and fluffy. I love rice with a little bit of a crispiness to it. It's one of my favorite things about the Korean dishes served in the lava hot bowls. I let the rice crisp up on the side. This fried rice dish was certainly cooked to perfection. It also didn't skimp on the fresh veggies!

Johnny Mango - Shrimp Fried Rice

I ordered the Shrimp Pad Thai. I don't always like how restaurants interpret Pad Thai, but I like peanuts on my food so I order it a lot. This was an excellent Pad Thai! It had an explosive fresh lime flavor. Not something I've ever experienced with a Pad Thai, but I loved it. While I loved the lime, the tofu stole the show. I have never had such perfectly cooked tofu! It was like a light fluffy marshmallow. I couldn't even believe it was tofu.

Johnny Mango - Shrimp Pad Thai

Damn, I am jealous of people who live close enough to walk to Johnny Mango. I would be there all the time. I can't wait to try more tofu dishes and I need to go in for some drinks! Do you live in walking distance to some cool restaurants? Where do you go?

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Birthday Bar Crawl

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For my nerdy better half I planned a night out barhopping in Ohio City as his Birthday treat! Last year I took him to NYC and we had a crazy night of drinking in the West Village. We started at Marie's Crisis, an awesomely fun gay piano bar (I wish we had one just like it in CLE), the White Horse Tavern, where Dylan Thomas supposedly drank himself to death, and the Slaughtered Lamb, where our waitress, who had on a barely-there top, bent over us again and again to light the flaming drinks we couldn't stop ordering. We topped off the night a Gray's Papaya for a 2 a.m. legendarily drunk food fix. This year I took him up to Westfield, NY for the weekend, where we got to taste a lot of wines, but we made it home just in time for a little CLE bar crawl! We made four stops along this Bar Crawl. All places we've been wanting to go, but hadn't had the chance to yet.

Stop #1 - Nano Brew Our journey started at Nano Brew. They have an extensive local beer list, including a few of their own. We thoroughly enjoyed the hoppy Nano Namber Ale and the fruity Market Garden Citramax.

Nano Namber Ale They have a super cool menu. I can't wait to go back and try the PB&J, peanut butter, bacon, jam and arugula. We decided to start off the evening with the Stoner Fries, waffle fries with chorizo chili, cheese sauce & scallions. They were truly a stoner's wet dream! The chorizo chili had the greatest spiciness to it.

Nano Brew - Stoner Fries Follow Nano Brew: Website Facebook Twitter

Stop #2 - The Black Pig We were crazy impressed by the food and cocktails at the Black Pig. It's the kind of place I want to take my mom to so she can see why we are so in love with the Ohio City neighborhood and she would leave getting it.

I am a sucker for an inventive cocktail menu! We started with a Blood and Sand (left), it had a fantastically interesting smell that I just couldn't place, and the Millionaire (right).

the Black Pig - Blood and Sand | Millionaire

We couldn't choose between the Braised Pork Belly and the Smoked Salmon so went with both. The smoked salmon was outrageously delicious! The combination of the salmon with the pickled onions was so smokey and sweet. The Salmon really stole the show, but Braised Pork Belly is always awesome. The Vietnamese make something similar to this dish, but with a hard boiled egg. It reminded me of a comforting chicken pot pie on a cold day. Bad day? Come get this ultimate comfort food dish along with a cocktail. I paired it with the Centennial, which tasted like a chocolate/coffee grasshopper. It worked.

the Black Pig - Salmon and Braised Pork Belly

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Stop #3 - ABC Tavern We made a quick stop at ABC Tavern to get our drink on. I picked an Ace Apple Honey Cider off the board on the wall. It was like drinking a sour apple jolly rancher and I absolutely loved it! It seemed really crowded for a Sunday night in Ohio City, which gave us a fun kick in the ass to liven it up. What a a great Sunday Funday spot. I'd like to go back and try some of the fun food. I spotted Hush Puppies on the menu.

ABC Tavern

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Stop #4 - Market Garden Brewery

The Market Garden Brewery was last, but certainly not least. I rarely turn down the chance to have a Beer Cocktail and I there was no way I was going to turn down a Beer Cocktail called the Joan Harris. It was as good as you would imagine drinking a Joan to be. I would for sure get it again. Market Garden Brewery - The Joan Harris Beer Cocktail

The Sriracha BBQ Chicken Wings were unbelievably good. I am a true Sriracha lover and know that just a few drops of a fresh bottle of Sriracha can scorch, but these were very mild. They had all the awesome Sriracha flavor without the burn. Anyone who can tolerate a little heat could go for these. The Smokey BBQ Popcorn was a great bar food that pairs well with spicy Kennett Ale.

Market Garden Brewery - Srirachi BBQ Wings and Smokey BBQ Popcorn Since I don't bake it was probably best to get cake out. The Lemon Pound Cake with Raspberry Sorbet and Banana Bread with Brown Butter Ice Cream with Carmel Sauce were far better than any cake I could have pulled off. They were also the icing on the cake of our Birthday Bar Crawl.

Market Garden Brewery - Lemon Pound Cake with Raspberry Sorbet | Banana Bread with Brown Butter Ice Cream with Carmel Sauce

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Scotchy Scotch Scotch

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I was so impressed with the food and atmosphere at Light Bistro when I stopped for lunch (check it out here) that couldn’t wait to go back. So I jumped at the chance for a three course meal each paired with a 10 year old, barrel finished Glenmorangie single malt scotch.

Wine Room at Light Bistro Everything was fantastic, but the icing on the cake? Joseph Deluca and his endless knowledge of not only scotch, but all alcohol, their histories and even fascinating stories of local production. We loved his motto, “Be willing to try something new, but always drink something you like.”

The first course was smoked salmon served with crispy potatoes and a blue cheese foam. I had never had smoked salmon before so I was very excited to try it. It had a wonderful smoky flavor and a very delicate texture; it nearly melted in your mouth. The scotch paired with this course was Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or which is aged is a Sauternes barrel. It had a underlying sweetness that made the spirit smooth and easy to drink.

Light Bistro - Smoked Salmon served with crispy potatoes and a blue cheese foam

Next up was the chipotle BBQ pork served over broccoli and red onion slaw. The pork was perfectly cooked and the chipotle BBQ sauce had a nice, mild heat. The slaw was delicious and the vinegary based cut through the sauce. This was paired with Glenmorangie Lasanta which is aged in a sherry barrel. I thought this one had more of a peppery note to it. While it wasn’t my favorite scotch of the evening, the bolder flavor was needed to stand up to the food and it did so very well. Light Bistro - Chipotle BBQ Pork served over broccoli and red onion slaw

We finished with dessert, though the scotch was a treat... Warm chocolate cake filled with chocolate sauce and served with crushed walnuts and grape syrup. This was paired with Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban which is aged in a port barrel. This was my favorite! It had the underlying sweetness that make it smooth, but it had the rich flavor you find in port.

Light Bistro - Warm Chocolate Cake filled with chocolate sauce and served with crushed walnuts and grape syrup

Light Bistro has lots of similar events posted on their website. Make sure you check one out: Website Facebook Twitter

Hot Date, Light Bistro - CLOSED

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Thanks to a recommendation from Jen at Why CLE? I checked out Light Bistro in Ohio City. I love the atmosphere of this place. It’s a side of Cleveland I wish everyone knew. Greenwich Village vibes with Cleveland prices – what’s not to love!? I couldn’t pass up the brie and apple Panini. It came with a heaping side of fries for just $8.

My hot date got the chicken special - grilled chicken breast coated in fresh pesto on a quinoa salad. Daaaaaaamn!! Beautiful and mouthwatering (talking about the food here ;] ). I’m impressed when someone can make quinoa edible, let alone actually taste good.

Super nice waiter gave us a rundown of the happy hour specials and I can’t wait to go back for that. They’ve got $1.50 domestics!

Happy Hour Specials Monday - Friday 2:30 – 7:00pm

All Bar Menu food items for $5.00 each. Selected domestic beers for $1.50Selected specialty beers for $2.00 Glass of wine from our wine list for $5.00 Specialty cocktails for $4.00

I’m also excited about some of their upcoming events. I just called and got reservations for the upcoming scotch tasting!

Glenmorangie “Barrel Finished” Single Malt Scotch Dinner and Tasting Wednesday, May 1 at 6:30pm

Three Course Dinner Three “Barrel Finished” Scotches $40 plus tax and gratuity Chef Matt will pair the cuisine to the three featured Scotches.  Joseph Deluca, noted craft cocktail mixologist and lecturer, will speak on the history of Scotch Whiskey, the heritage of Glenmorangie, and our three featured “barrel finished” Scotches.

Sadly Light Bistro is no longer open. :( You can now find the Black Pig in its old building, which I highly recommend.