Even though my posting has been scarce of late, my eating has not, and even with cutbacks on our dining budget (like pretty much everyone), Mrs. Epicure and I have been enjoying some great food in our fair city. Much of that dining in the past few weeks has taken an Asian angle.
Last night we enjoyed a very good meal at Tay Do on Snow Road in Parma. This was our first visit to this very unassuming restaurant located in a small strip mall--one would not guess that the food here would be as good as it is. But, the owner tells me she has been at the location for 13 years, and the other diners there had the comfortable slouch of regulars. The menu is expansive with well over 100 entrees to choose from. Many sound so good it is hard to decide what to order. But as our friend J reminded us, "we will come back another time," which was a comforting reminder.
You have to order by number; don't even try to butcher the actual pronunciation. The owner will just call it the number anyway. After I paged through the menu a couple dozen times I settled on the Number 65, which is a candied ginger stir fry made with one's choice of protein. I opted for squid. The squid was expertly cross-hatched and cooked by the only cook I saw in the kitchen and the flavors were exceptionally balanced. Mrs. Epicure chose the Number 63, which was a sort of lemongrass chicken. The visuals were pretty standard Chinese food fare and the lemongrass part seemed largely absent, but the chicken itself was meltingly tender and the dish overall was well-received. Others at the table got a beef, onion and garlic stir fry that was deemed to be exceptional, and several got a bowl of vermicelli noodles with vegetables and several kinds of pork including crispy spring rolls and pork meatballs on a stick. Friend M said that this was the best meal he has had in--well, he could not remember when. This echoed what friend BJ said when he first ate here with his palm tree LN, who gets mad props for turning us all onto this lovely little hole in the wall in Pahmah.
Going back in time a couple of weeks to Daughter Epicure's visit from NYC, Asian food was also on our minds when we woke up after an evening of perhaps a bit of overindulgence on the liver-taxing front. We drove over to Asiatown in the morning and shopped at the deliriously-inventory-laden Tink Holl. You can find pretty much anything you might possibly need, want and not even be aware of at Tink Holl. Now, you would not think that gazing upon piles of chicken feet and smelling salted fish and durian fruit would be helpful for a rather historic hangover, but strangely, the longer we were there, the better I felt. We went with no particular shopping list and so left with a fun set of shopping bags full of fresh pea pods, packages of dried rice noodles, and even a slender feather duster made of what appear to be Rhode Island Red feathers.
Our minds sufficiently wrapped around Far East yumminess, we logically ended up at an Asian restaurant for lunch--the Korean food destination Seoul Hot Pot. Located in an old pizza joint and filled with tables that in some cases contain little hibachis, the Hot Pot does not immediately promise a trip out of the land of corned beef and polish boys. Yet, as soon as the owner arrives with a cup of corn tea, you know you are somewhere not of the normal Cleveland fare (if there is such a thing). The corn tea is unusual, tasting literally like boiled corn cobs, but you get used to it pretty quickly, we found. For our main courses we opted for soup with dumplings (Daughter Ep), vegetable pancakes (Mrs. Ep) and spicy squid stir fry (yep, squid again). Along with these main courses come a dozen little side dishes filled with soy beans, various kinds of kimchi and other gelatinous treats that all go well with whatever is on your main course plate. We asked the waitress what one of the side dishes was and she just said "side dish" and smiled, so we just set the knowledge aside and ate. It was a grand meal and one that restored my innards to a lively state again.
All of these excursions were affordable and yielded wonderful and different meals. So, when planning your next budget-conscious meal, look East.
