Fun Playing with Food at Bar 50/20 AKA Mish Mosh

Mish Mosh made it's first appearance on this blog in March 2017. At that point, we'd only scratched the surface of their food; I thought surely I'd posted about them again. But with the roller coaster our lives have been on the past few years, it never happened. Until now. 

Chef-Owner Howard Curtis and his sons, Chandler and Skyler Curtis, cook up an eclectic menu and a constantly changing bevy of specials for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday at their cozy space located at 5020 Brainard Road in Solon. In nice weather, their outdoor patio is primo. Howard's wife and Co-Owner Jamie curates a lovely wine selection year round. It is one of our favorite places to dine. A base menu of starters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, salads and entrees is complemented daily by a specials list that can compete with any restaurant in Cleveland for quality, freshness and creativity. Price points range from $10 up to $24 for the Strip Steak, and mid twenties to low thirties for some specials.

Since it seems my photographs have been accumulating for over two years, here are some highlights:

This gorgeous piece of cod was also from the 2017 Lenten season. 

Continuing from 2017, this Special featured Tortellini, tossed with sausage, seafood and cream.

Bob enjoyed their take on a Banh Mi. Roast Pork, Country Pate, Pickled Carrots, Daikon Radish, Nuoc Mam Cham were served on a Crusty Baguette. It took them a while to get the hang of the fresh cut fries, but get it right they do!

When Stuffed Cabbage is on the menu, it is on my plate! Served here with potato-cheese pierogi (and a tossed salad first, with housemade balsamic dressing). Oh, there it is:

Their Bourbon Street Cobb Salad resembles no Cobb salad I've ever had, but it's delicious. After the first time I had it, I asked for the dressing on the side because it is a spicy meatball! Mixed Greens, Rice, Cheddar and Mozzarella, Scallion, Roasted Peppers, Cajun Ranch with an "add" of chicken. 

This Sausage Kale Soup actually made kale not just palatable, but delicious! Another awesome soup selection is their Clam Chowder with Bacon.

This particular dinner was enjoyed on the aforementioned patio. 

Another standout from the regular menu is the burger selection. 

Bob loved his Cajun Burger. Caramelized Onion, Mushrooms, Pepper Jack Cheese, topped with Cajun Ranch. 

This Pork Chop special also made Bob very happy, There were enough leftovers for a second meal!

Bob had tried the pizza over the last couple of years, but it never appealed to me. Howard, a Connecticut native, sympathized with my longing for East Coast style pizza, but it's not what he serves here. Still, something made me decide to try it. And, as Anthony Bourdain said of Chicago's Burt's Pizza (deep dish) back in 2008 - it's not pizza (as I know it), I don't know what it is but it's delicious!

The crust had a great chew and crunch, and even though it was cooked in a pan, I liked it! So much so that I ordered another style on my next visit. 

They call this the Mesclun Pizza: A plain cheese pizza topped after baking with Baby Field Greens, Sundried Tomato, Goat Cheese, Balsamic Vinaigrette. And as weird as it may seem to top a pizza with a salad, the sun dried tomatoes really pull it together and make it work. Though I confess I ate the greens part mostly as a separate salad component and not still on the pizza. 

Howard and Jamie offer delicious food, gracious hospitality, and a killer patio (in season). Highly recommended for Fun Playing With Food in the Eastern suburbs!

Bar 50/20 aka Mish Mosh

5020 Brainard Road

Solon, Ohio 44139

(440) 349-7300

mishmosheatery@gmail.com

No website, FB page: https://www.facebook.com/bar5020/

Open for lunch and dinner M-TH 11:30am-11pm, Fri-Sat until 1am.

New Year's Day Fun at Wonton Gourmet, Asiatown, Cleveland Ohio

New Year's Day can be a strange time for us. My husband's mother celebrates her birthday on that day (this year was her 94th - and she's still sharp as a tack!). So, family doings sometimes get in the way of other social plans. This year, however, it was snow, more than commitments, that bollixed up the day a bit!

Thank goodness we scheduled a NYD meal with friends at Wonton Gourmet (Wonton Gourmet (3211 Payne Avenue, 216-875-7000, no website)(each of the last 8 words has a link to a different FPWF WG post) for the afternoon (and even with that, it was a struggle to get home in one piece). Among the new friends at our table were Greg and Sunny from Tremont's Ty Fun restaurant, which we have yet to sample, but which we have put on our list of New Year's Resolutions (which consists, BTW, of just that one).

We began with appetizers, which I've posted about many times before: turnip cake, chive potstickers, fish maw and conpoy soup. We also ordered the Cilantro Rice Rolls, which I decided to include in this post because they looked so good!

Also, with the first round of our order, we continued working our way through the newer Sichuan (or Szechuan) dishes depicted on the wall, a cold plate:

Hot Spicy Beef Two Ways 

 

This was a classic Chinese cold dish, and a time-honored way to use every bit of the animal. Tough, gristly meat and tripe were slow cooked for many hours, with spice and seasonings, then chilled and topped with an incendiary sauce featuring chilies and Sichuan Peppercorns. The result was tender and delicious and the plate was cleaned, even though neither Bob nor I would have listed tripe as a desired food before we tasted this.

We ordered 4 mains for 8 people and we still had a few leftovers!

Sichuan (or Szechuan) Hot & Spicy Fish

This dish brought the heat and the vinegar, as always. Fresh, crispy fish sat atop cabbage and below the chilies and delighted all of us.

Ma Lai Pork Chop

Given the name of this dish (Mai Lai means numbing and hot -- from Sichuan pepper and chilies), I expected a lot more heat than we got. Oh but the Umami of it all! I can't really describe it - but it was a taste and fragrance that made you want to just keep eating it. With a savory crunch and tender texture, to boot.

We determined to have a noodle dish for New Year's, an Asian tradition that reaches around the entire continent - we asked our server to recommend a good NYD choice, and having narrowed it down to three, we asked Sunny to decide. We were all delighted with his selection!

 Tai Pan Chow Mai

This rice noodle-seafood stir fry paired perfectly with the firestorm of spice on our palates from the Sichuan dishes.

 Finally, in recognition of both our need for vegetable input, and the resemblance of green leafy vegetables to money (another New Year's good luck food):

Sauteed Snow Pea Leaves with Garlic

Our server had recommended these - they  had a fresh-picked taste and texture, and  tasted delicious with the gentle garlic sauce treatment.

The snow was totally out of control by the time we headed home - after slipping and sliding on the highways and our local streets almost all of the way, we decided to wait until the next day to see Bob's Mom. We were also so stuffed from this feast that we put our traditional pork roast and sauerkraut dinner off for a day as well.

Wonton Gourmet continues to consistently deliver truly authentic and tasty Chinese food, and we enjoyed playing with every dish! I again encourage you to pay them a visit, and to venture, as least a little bit, into the world beyond your usual Chinese restaurant fare. It's fun!

Fun Playing Slowly With Cinqo de Mayo Food (early) and Momocho!

What a glorious time we had last Monday at one of our favorite Cleveland restaurants, Momocho! And our great time benefited a wonderful cause - Slow Food Northern Ohio. Chef Eric Williams and his crew opened the restaurant on their day off for this delightful, family friendly evening, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Slow Food. And though I don't have children (I find the husband quite sufficient) - evenings like this almost make me wish I had one - from the youngest in the house (1 week old Isabel W.) to the almost-two-year-old Pchak twins, to some slightly in-between and even older youngsters. Every one of them was wonderfully behaved.

As an extra bonus - by going relatively early during Daylight Savings Time, and being seated by a window - I actually had good light to photograph (Momocho is one of those places that has dim light and lots of reds at night, which makes photography with my limited skills and camera difficult.)

I started with a Pomegranate Margarita, but then switched to what is now my new all time favorite at Momocho - the Pineapple Margarita with Chile-Lime salt. We had three friends at our table, and an extended table of friends right next to us, and the aforementioned W. family behind us!



While enjoying our cocktails, we ordered up a 3-guacamole sampler. No one makes guacamole like Momocho - simply fresh and fabulous!


Freshly Fried Chips


Guacamole!


Goat Cheese, Tomato, Poblano




Jicama, Pineapple, Habanero, Mint

This was the table favorite.


Garlic Confit, Bleu Cheese, Chile Verde



Starting on the left and going clockwise - goat cheese, pineapple and bleu cheese.


Goat Cheese


Pineapple


Bleu Cheese

The guacamole was a more than ample appetizer for us, so we moved on to the mains!


Pepita & Pecan Crusted Trout w/Jalapeño Mustard Crema & Sofrito Green Beans

My taste was yummy!


Adobo Lamb Chops w/Jalapeño Mustard Crema & Goat Cheese Avocado & Spinach

Since two of my dining companions ordered this dish, I got two different angles on it:



It was wonderful.


Kobe Beef Abondigas, Charred Tomato & Chile Guajillo, Hominy, Truffle Oil, Cotija

This photo does not do justice to this tasty dish - an amazing textural and flavor combo!


Pork Chop el Carbon w/ Oaxacan Mole, Smoked Gouda Tamale Dumplings

My dish - and if I do say so - the winner and most amazing!







Tender, succulent pork and complex mole married with caramelized peppers and those amazing corn dumplings.


Grilled Corn on the Cob w/Chipotle Lime Butter, Cojita & Crema, Pico De Gallo

I first tasted an incarnation of this dish last spring at the Taking it to the Streets for Annie benefit. Chef Eric has refined and improved it - and where oh where does he get corn this good at this time of year?

I am so delighted to show you some of Momocho's food - we love them so much, but don't get there often enough - and when we do, the light often defeats my efforts to capture the food - thanks to Cinqo de Mayo, though, I was able to play with my food with abandon at Momocho last Monday!