Fun Playing With Bubble Tea, Buns and Pork at Koko Bakery, Cleveland Asiatown

Last week, I was privileged to join the two gents behind the Cleveland-based food blog Eating Around Town for lunch at Koko Bakery in Cleveland Asiatown. I can't believe It's been almost a year since I last wrote about Koko Bakery (3710 Payne Ave, Cleveland, OH, (216) 881-7600, no website). 

As always, Koko Bakery presented too many choices - even with three of us eating! We began with Bubble Tea. I think Koko Bakery makes the best Bubble Tea in Cleveland - with about 20 flavors to choose from! Still, I always wind up with Taro flavor, because I love it so much. I adore their taro flavored desserts, as well.

Taro Bubble Tea

 

Bubble tea is flavored, sweetened, chilled tea that contains marble-size balls of tapioca. The tapioca is primarily a texture-enhancer, and allows one to drink and to eat their tea at the same time.  It also acts like tofu - absorbing whatever exotic flavors are in the beverage, and allowing you to play with it in your mouth. No wonder I love it so much! 

While waiting to order my entree at the counter, I noticed a tray of fresh buns, in the kitchen ready for the oven. The goods at Koko are baked fresh all day!

Chris and Joel picked out a tray full of buns for us to sample, as I pondered my lunch order. I'd never ordered an actual meal at Koko; I usually just load up on buns. It was not an easy decision, but I ordered the Pork Katsu Rice Plate. Chris ordered a Teriyaki Steak Sandwich for he and Joel to share. These items must have been made from scratch, because they took a while. Since we had our tray full of baked goodness to play with, however, we barely noticed.

Curry Beef Donut 

This was one I'd never seen before. Stuffed with curried beef (similar to the flaky pastry also available in the self-serve hot box), this Chinese Cruller dough was then deep fried and crunchy.

 

Yum.

My next taste was a Ham and Egg bun, which I'd never have selected for myself. Good call, Joel!

 

What really made this bun rock was the Kewpie Mayonnaise.  

Dan Tac (Egg Custard)

The dan tac were sublime - fresh, flaky pastry on the outside, boldly eggy filling inside.

Bacon Bun

This one never fails to please. Bacon, freshly made bun, creamy sauce, gooey cheese.

BBQ Pork Bun

The char siu went fast - I didn't even get a photo of the inside. 'Nuff said.

Teriyaki Steak Sandwich 

This was one sandwich for two growing boys - and for about $7, it fed them more than sufficiently.

They loved it. I would have skipped the cucumbers.

Tempura Vegetables

Every sandwich ($5-7) comes with one side, and the guys chose this. My taste was terrific - hot, crispy and fresh.

Pork Katsu Rice Bowl with Vegetables

  

I really liked this - though the pork was a tad dry and might have been a little overcooked. Still, the fresh factor stood out from both the meat and the crunchy coating, and the sauce drizzled over the pork strips was a gentle but tasty accompaniment. Though I should have told them I despise cukes in all forms when ordering, as my vegetables (which were fresh and not frozen or food service packed) were loaded with them. Oh well. It was such a generous portion that I actually left some of the rice over (as well as the cucumbers).

Chris and I announced our saiety - but Joel had his eye on one more goody:

Yep - this was your basic donut. Airy yet crispy, and redolent of lard, we all loved it. And the appropriateness of this as our final item was demonstrated as we left. I spent a couple of minutes getting organized in my car - I looked up and noticed a white and stenciled vehicle in the parking lot behind me. As I pulled out, the occupants of that car got out and headed into Koko Bakery. Even in Asiatown, the cops know where to get the best donuts!

Lunch at Koko Bakery is cheap, fresh, tasty and filling. If the above hasn't made you salivate, check out the photos and review by the EAT guys here. It was a shame that Koko was so poorly attended the day we visited - Cleveland needs to show Koko Bakery some love! I assure you, it is food and drink worth playing with.

Fun Playing With Calzone

When last I blogged about the Cincinnati Ohio-based chain, Dewey's Pizza, I received passionate comments about the calzone served there. I adore calzone, which I ate more than my share of as a college and law student in New York City. I will never forget the day that Bob visited me when I lived in Montclair (NJ), and we took the PATH Train into New York from Hoboken NJ - we stopped to get awesome calzones from a little pizzaria right outside the train station. Bob was amazed - he'd never had a calzone before!

Well, having lived in Cleveland for 13 years now, I fully understand why Bob was so ignorant of the charms of a great calzone. My office is on Mayfield Road, surrounded by numerous independently owned pizza stores, and not one of them seems to know how to make a delicious calzone. In addition to the usual pizza related issues of "easy bake" (conveyor belt) ovens and crummy sauce (or - horrors - sauce put inside the calzone) - no one in these parts puts ricotta cheese in their calzone, and it is not an option!

My readers assured me that Dewey's calzone was made the "right" way. I finally had occasion to try it, and I'm sorry to report, it lacked profundity.

The filling in the Dewey's calzones starts with mozzerella and (yea!) ricotta cheeses, and the diner then selects three additional items from the "toppings" list. I chose spinach (fresh and not frozen!), whole roasted garlic (intense!) and basil.









First, the good news. The sauce, served properly on the side, was not as sweet as I remembered it, and actually had a bit of chile zing.



And indeed - the indescribable taste and texture of the ricotta was included. But the large dough pocket wasn't as fully stuffed as I would expect (though the fillings themselves tasted delicious). Moreover, after a few bites I realized that the product was practically swimming in a pool of grease (and it didn't taste like EVOO - it tasted like grease).



A quick flip over explained part of the problem.



As you can see, the bottom is not at all crisped, and bears the hatch marks of a pan in addition to a layer of grease. A good calzone, like a good pizza, should make full contact with the floor of the oven to get the ideal texture. Moreover, the dough didn't have any real flavor or unctuous mouthfeel.

The texture of the bottom crust improved when I re-heated my leftover calzone half in the toaster oven for another lunch. But it was only then that I discovered that they had totally skimped on the ricotta - the half I had left didn't have any!

So - I guess Dewey's remains on my list of ok, but nothing to go out of my way for. Though any calzone with ricotta is worth playing with!

More Fun Playing With Lunch At Kalie's

This post is somewhat overdue, but surgery will do that!

About a week before my date with the arthroscope, I accompanied several office-mates to Kalie's Restaurant in South Euclid for lunch. As we perused out menus, I couldn't resist zooming in on this artfully stuffed tomato being served on a nearby table:



Choices this day were tough - I recall a special that sounded good. But I really wanted to try the Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup, so I ordered a burger. Burgers come with diners' choice of soup or fries.


Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup





I really liked this soup! I hope they serve it often during the winter!

As a nearby table emptied, one of the occupants greeted a couple of my law partners - and recommended the BLT sandwich. Bruce decided to try it, with a side order of fries:



Anna and Jamie each opted for the Sloppy Joe special, which I already photographed and posted about here.


Finally - my burger:





The burger was moist and tasty, and most important - cooked from scratch to order. Another wonderful lunch at Kalie's, one of my preferred food playgrounds!

Fun Playing With Chicken Paprikash at Kalie's Family Restaurant

I've said before that the friendly folks at Kalie's Family Restaurant treat you like family. They'll even keep a "call" list to let you know when a particular special is to be served! During a recent visit, Bernie mentioned that he loves chicken paprikash, and the server said we had to try theirs. The secret recipe, she claimed, is from the cook's grandmother, and it can't be beat.

Well, last Monday we got a call that the Chicken Paprikash was up, so we trundled over to 4446 Mayfield Road, South Euclid Ohio [(216) 382-4490] to give it a try.

The daily special offers so much food, it's really more geared to dinner than lunch. Still, at a very reasonable $8.99 - what's not to like? The meal began with choice of house-made soup: split pea with ham or beef vegetable. We opted for the latter.



This concoction oozed beefy flavor, though wasn't much actual beef in it. This was fine, however, because it allowed the fresh vegetables to shine through.





That broth did not come from a commercial base or frozen package. Yum.

The same could be said for the salad, which also accompanied the meal. Though very simple - the iceberg lettuce had that "off the head" quality and texture - no triple wash with bleach for these greens!



Finally - the main course.



The roasted red peppers lent a deep sweetness to the dish, which wasn't very spicy to start with. As the server explained, they always keep things palatable for the masses. I suggested to Dimitri that they serve a little hot Hungarian pepper on the side; he said I should have asked for it.


Ummm - Sour Cream Gravy!

Definitely not kosher - but most delicious.



Did I mention that I really liked this dish? We all had fun playing with Kalie's paprikash!

Fun Playing with Food at Tastee Bites

Tastee Bites is a relatively new player on the Mayfield Road lunch scene near my Lyndhurst office. Owners Charlotte Bechara and her husband Tony are working hard to bring fresh, affordable food to a neighborhood awash in fast food chains. Also, this neighborhood offers some competition for "fresh" - Appetite, Antalya, Eat at Joe's and Kalie's Diner also offer modestly priced food, cooked fresh to order, and Antalya is also Mediterranean.

I first lunched at Tastee Bites right after they opened, and it didn't seem fair to write about them until they had a chance to work out the opening kinks. I'm pleased to report that the food I've tasted since then has been very good to outstanding, and Tastee Bites is recommended for lunch, and even for dinner take-out if the family is in a Mediterranean mood. Charlotte makes outstanding hummus and babaganoush. Other Mediterranean items include tabouli, yogurt dip, white bean dip, Kafta, and Fatoush. And don't forget the desserts (which I usually do)!



How can you not love a place that has chairbacks like these? These are obviously people who enjoy playing with food. The restaurant has about 5 tables, so one can lunch there, or take out.


Falafel Sandwich

This was my partner Anna's lunch the last time we "ate in". She liked it.


Falafel Salad

This was a serious salad that included big hunks of fresh vegetables together with the more traditional salad items. The falafel were good, and the dressing simply fabulous. It was all served over a cleverly toasted pita "shell."





We also enjoyed some Baklava. Charlotte makes all of this from scratch and it is lovely.

The next couple of visits were for take out, and just for me. First - a "chicken burger" - sounds weird, but tastes mighty good! Rather than the ubiquitous food service frozen-reheated rubber chicken breast, Charlotte uses ground chicken for this delicacy.







This sandwich was cooked to order and most delicious. And - a lighter alternative to the hamburger that is also on the menu. They also offer a garden burger and a salmon burger, which I have not yet tried.


Babaganoush (Eggplant Dip) with Pita

I loved the baba! The only thing missing was a dash of hot sauce. Huge smoky eggplant flavor and fresh tahini.



For lunch today, I ordered the Daily Special. The Daily Special is disclosed on a white board in the window - today, it was Steak Wrap, side of grilled veggies, fruit salad and can of pop.


Grilled Vegetables

These babies had actual flavor and didn't taste of a food service bag.


Steak Wrap

They asked if I wanted regular (onions, peppers and swiss cheese) or Mediterranean. I opted for the latter.


Steak with Grilled Onions, Peppers, Tomatoes, Pickled Turnips and Hummus

One bite of this sandwich, and my mouth was singing! It was that good - in addition to the listed goodies, I saw Charlotte squirting the meat with her "secret sauce" as it cooked - it had a veritable explosion of flavor to offer! And those pickled turnips - YUM!





Did I mention this special (which cost just $6.49) also came with a cup of fresh fruit?



Delicious! I didn't think you needed to see the can of pop (I'm trying to cut out pop anyway), but that was also included.

If you are traveling Mayfield Road and looking for freshly prepared, inexpensive, tasty eats - I can recommend giving Tastee Bites a try for fun food! But don't be in too much of a hurry - everything cooked is cooked from raw - and this takes a little more time than your average microblasted fast food. But it is well worth the slight wait to play with Tastee Bites!