Amp 150

As with many of the places I want to go, the build up happens for weeks and sometimes months.  I usually examine the menu several times, read reviews, look up pictures and learn about the chef.  I had heard about Amp 150 sometime in the Summer.  I read good things and the menu looked interesting.  I did however make one mistake that I'm sure more of us have made.  I discounted it's credibility because it was located in a hotel right off the highway on 150th near Lakewood.  Now recently, I have driven past this location quite often and something just told me to give it a try.  So Saturday, I did just that.

Apparently the theme is Amplifier as in music.  I did not get this.  The hotel has large guitars around the area and the restaurant plays mild rock music.  It is a completely open dinning room, which takes up a large section of the lobby.  It's upscale yet comfortable and inviting.  There are several small tables and then about 4 big round booths in the middle of the dinning room that are lighted by loud, unique chandeliers, they really set the tone of the restaurant and I loved it.  There is also a nice size private room which I regret not utilizing for my birthday party the night prior.   

The best quality of this place was the waitress.  She was polite, energetic, attentive and knowledgeable about not only their menu but food overall.  If every restaurant had one of her eating out would be an even better experience.  The bus boy and the lady that filled our water and the woman that brought out our meals were all also overly polite, I enjoyed every second of being there.

The menu is broken down into small plates, apps and entrees.  This is my favorite kind of set up because it makes it so much easier to try the many things that usually jump out at me and not be uncomfortably full.  There was a lot of seafood on the menu, as well as the special of the night which was sting ray.  I very much wanted to try that and several of the other seafood dishes, but narrowed it down to just one. 

The seared scallops small plate.  This was accompanied by spaghetti squash in a basil pesto and topped with dehydrated olives.  This dish melted in my mouth.  From the perfectly cooked scallops, to the just right amount of seasoned lightly spaghetti squash all in the pesto and ending with the bite of the olives, it just worked.  Behind that you will notice that I also ordered the house made chips.  I had see like 3 people already order it already and the malt vinegar aioli, dortmunder aioli just sounded so good I needed to try it.  Let me just say, this was one of the best appetizers I have ever had.  The chips were a nice balance between kettle and original chips.  They were crunchy and sweet and each of the aiolis just seemed to make the whole dish go from just a potato chip to upscale dinning.

For my entree, well I was a bit worried because even though the vegetarian pasta dish did sound good, in most cases basic pasta dishes at restaurants seem to lack creativity and even worse flavor.  I was pleasantly surprised as I began to eat my entree that the flavors were there and the creativity was achieved to some degree.  It was called Pasta Al Ceppo.  It was zitti like pasta, in a balsamic like thin sauce with pine nuts and cheese and topped with an eggplant confit.  Like I said, it was super flavorful for a basic pasta dish, the eggplant confit had to grow on me however, because I was thrown off by the meaty like texture. 

I would probably not order this dish again, but I would recommend this to a picky eater.  There were so many other things on the small plates and apps sections that I would like to try next time.  There will be a next time though, because the atmosphere was for sure my style and the menu was creative and I would go back for those chips any day!

Lesson learned, do not underestimate a restaurant in a hotel!

All things Black Bean

So the other day as I enjoyed the black bean burger I had so been craving, everyone that walked in mentioned how good it looked and just wanted to know what it was.  As I explained to everyone, not very many of these meat eaters were convinced that this burger minus the meat could even compare to the real deal.  What they failed to realize is how much they were interested to find out what it was because it looked so darn good.  But, I will not hold that against them.  During this conversation it occurred to me, that maybe this should be the topic of my next blog.

The best black bean burger!!!  I have tried black bean burgers at so many different places and at this point I am convinced I have found my favorite. 

Now, sadly I will not have pictures to back up my findings so I hope my descriptions will suffice. 

Brown Bag Burger - located in North Olmsted.  I was lucky enough to not only try the black bean burger here, but was a former customer while I ate meat.  I can tell you one, this place is one of the best burger joints and the black bean burger does not fall short.  I get the burger topped with sauteed onions, mushrooms and guacamole.  It has more of a chick pea texture then black bean alone, but with the more traditional burger toppings this one is the closest to the real thing than any of the others.

Houlihan's - the one in Strongsville.  It was stale!  The waitress had the nerve to let me know she gets a lot of complaints about it and assured it was not stale.  Bottom line, it tasted moldy.  I have yet to try it again.  They have some decent things on the menu for Vegetarians, more now with a recent menu change, but do not eat the black bean burger.

Buckeye Beer Engine - located in Lakewood.  Here you can take the black bean burger that they serve and replace the classic burger for any of the creations on their menu, I liked this option.  I had the black bean southwestern burger.  Might have been a bad way to test the black bean burger however, because it was very spicy.  It was also very good and would most definitely return to try another variation of burgers offered.  The best part was the fried pickle spear served on the side.

Treehugers Cafe - located in Berea.  The burger we ordered this day was just wrong.  The texture was too much to bare. It was made with oats and a few black beans here and there.  Not a good burger, and not a place I will return to.

Winking Lizard - located all over, my favorite location the new location in Independence.  These are my favorite black bean burgers around.  The texture is chewy like a real burger, spiced to perfection, topped with onion straws and a side of salsa.  If you are feeling adventurous and would like to put a non burger to the test with the real meat, please choose this one.

Burger King - way too many locations.  Considered a veggie burger, but thought I would add into this discussion.  Ultimately, just wrong.  A friend of mine wanted burger king one day and I was hungry so had no choice but to order.  Let me just say I ate one bite and threw it away.

Morning Star Spicy Black Bean Burgers - located in the freezer section.  Amazing.  By far my favorite soy item.  They have black beans, corn and jalapenos or chillies in them for some spice.  I saute them for approximately 4 minutes and top with cheddar cheese and or sour cream.  Makes a quick and satisfying dinner.

Earth Fair Black Bean Burgers - located in the freezer section at Earth Fare.  I love Earth Fare, but these burgers are just bad.  The texture is way too soft.  They have really no flavor or spice to them.  I topped them with an overload of cheese and still had a hard time swallowing.  Reminded me of baby food.

As a vegetarian black beans are a staple in my diet as a good source of protein so I am quite happy I enjoy black bean burgers so much and that they are offered at so many places in so many varieties.  I wanted to add to this post a recipe that I have grown found of the last few weeks and mentioned to someone at work that I would post about.  It is a black bean and corn polenta pie.  Polenta is also a new favorite ingredient of mine.  It is basically corn meal and used in place of so many starches.  In this recipe it replaces mashed potatoes.  I have renamed this meal the Vegetarians Shepherds Pie.

You take the polenta.  I use the already made and pre packaged one that you can find in the organic or pasta isle at the grocery store.  And I press it into a round pie pan until it is flattened and spread out like a pie crust.  I then saute white onion, green pepper, tomato, corn, black beans and chiles and then once blended about 3/4 a cup of cheddar cheese.  Melt and mix. Whisk one egg and 3/4 cup of sour cream and pour into the saute pan and mix.  Pour everything into the pie pan top with a hand full more of cheese and cook for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.  It is super simple, inexpensive and can be left overs for days.  I also enjoy to cut up an avocado as a garnish.

Finished project.

So in conclusion on all things black bean, try a black bean burger, as a vegetarian or meat eater you will be pleased.  If I ever went back to eating meat I am confident I would remain a black bean burger eater still because I think they are just tastier.



 

Deagan's Kitchen

So if you have been following along you probably noticed that I have posted about Deagan's before!  We enjoyed Sunday brunch there a few months ago and I had been dying to have dinner there ever since. 

Well not only did I get to finally make it out there, but I went two nights in a row!  It was that good.  I mentioned the atmosphere already, but the menu, geeze, there were so many things I wanted to try that one night was not enough.  Not only what is on the menu, but that the chefs enjoy creating unique dishes with ingredients on hand.  I will tell you more on that in a minute.  Bottom line I wanted to try so many things.   

Erin and I went first on Friday night.  Again, the atmosphere, the crowd and most importantly the staff are just always above excellence.  Both waitress from Friday and Saturday were so accomadating to my Vegetarian needs and Erin's Vegan needs.  Aside from that, they went out of their way to make us feel special and that no other table mattered at that minute.  For me, the food already would have tasted good to me just based upon service.  But it really was amazing.

Anyways, so Friday night I went simple and just ordered an entree.  I went with the lobster mac and cheese.

It was to die for, literally.  It was white cheddar cheese, with huge lumps of lobster meat and roasted shallots.  The petite salad on the side was also super tasty for a salad.  The dressing was sweet and the salad was dressed with just the right amount of it.  For the mac and cheese, it was one of the best mac and cheese's I have ever had.  In keeping with that, it was one of the heaviest I have had as well.  It was a great dish, but not one to be had before a night on the town.  Comfort food, for sure!!

Erin being a Vegan was strong enough to not eat the cheese nightmare I encountered, rather she had the chef whip her up something unique.  The waitress was so willing to hear Erin's likes and dislikes and then discuss them with the chef to help prepare the best thing he could with what was on hand.  They did a fantastic job achieving this.

The end result was a little bigger than a small plate size amount of quinoa with root vegtetables, I believe toped with sprouts and then drizzled with some pesto like cream.  She enjoyed every bite and it looked straight out of a Health food magazine, I loved it.

Night two.  Lisa and I went there this evening and this time we shared a few things so we could try some of the other things that were sticking out to me the night before.  

In the back we have the spicy shrimp tacos, with avocado, corn, white cheddar, and micro cilantro.  One of Lisa's favorite dishes and now mine.  Every bite was filled with flavor the shrimp was accompained by the avocado which just blended perfectly.  The micro cilantro left you with that bite in every mouth full.  I am craving this dish as I write about it.  On the left side, we tried the Vegan Strudal, it was a puff pastry filled with killbuck valley mushrooms and roasted shallots then garnished with petite mache, a green that I have never experienced before.  It was a good dish.  It was filled with flavor from a Vegan standpoint.  From the girl who had the mac and cheese the night before, it needed cheese!  Overall I recommend giving it a try for anyone who believes there is no flavor without meat. Lastly, we had the crab rangoons, also a recommendation of Lisa's.  These were no ordinary chinese food place, frozen crab rangoons.  These were stuffed from end to end with crab, the cheese was folded into the crab leaving  a complete marry of flavor in each bite.  Simply, the best bar food snack there is!  During our sampling of small plates we enjoyed a Red wine from Napa which we really liked and seemed to go well with all 3 dishes.  

I have recommened it once, I will do it a second and a third time, go to Deagan's, you will not be let down!