plunk

There really isn't any. Remarkably, there is an excellent Cambodian restaurant, Pnomh Penh, which you would expect to find here, NY or L. A. but it's in Cleveland and genuinely very good for what it is. Lake Perch may be the only indigenous dish that comes to mind, particularly deep fried; Blue Point in the Warehouse district is Cleveland's best seafood restaurant-but it's expensive. Think Black's or Kinkead's. There must be someplace there that does Friday night fish frys but none comes to mind.

The western suburb of Vermillion has a genuinely excellent and atmospheric (i.e. brick wall and stone walls, beamed ceiling, planked wooden floor) called Chez Francois ( http://www.chezfrancois.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=5 has several photos of the rooms. ) . I realize this is not what you are looking for but it is outstanding and you may want to plan for this on a future visit.

If you're into Rock and Roll, don't miss the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Well worth going out of your way for with the best record shop I have ever been in. Plus, Cleveland's downtown will surprise you. This city has come a long way!

Thanks for the advice. Actually, a fish fry sounds quite good. I spent a summer in Western Michigan and miss some good ol' fried perch (I prefer it pan fried, though).

No reubens for us tonight because I forgot and shopped at WF which has crummy corned beef and no rye bread. That shouldn't be allowed.

Agreed. I am definitely NOT a fan of WF's cold cuts (or "deli meats" or whatever you want to call them). Give me Boarshead instead.

[ Cleveland ]
My wife and I are going there this weekend, and we're pretty unfamiliary with the town. We'd appreciate recommendations for:

1) Road food along the way (traveling from D.C. - I70 to I76 to I80).

2) Any "must eats" while there, preferably of the "non-haute" variety. We'll be there for a big family get-together, so culinary/gastronomic diversions will have to be kept to the quick and cheap variety. I'd be particularly interested in any stereotypical food for the Cleveland area, as off the top of my head, I cannot think of anything.

Thanks for the help!

any word on when the PX might open?

i've never smoked a turkey myself, but a friend has done it several times. it always comes out great. he smokes it whole, does not stuff it, and pretty much cooks it all day. he doesn't even brine his and it comes out moist and flavorfull.

How much fish do you get with your order?

To be honest, I was just a little bit disappointed in the somewhat smallish piece of cod I received (though this could be because it tasted so good and I just wanted more). Though its been some time since I crossed the Atlantic for fish and chips, I seem to recall newspaper-bursting amounts of fish with my orders. Of course, I was probably paying $30 for those orders...

Nobody "crashed" the doors on Monday - the doors were open and people just walked in and were welcomed. Including tourists walking in off the street who had no idea it had just opened! The fact that there were many people there who happen to also post on dr.com is a testament to their close attention to the board, their acquaintance with the restaurant owners and staff, and the informal cameraderie that has evolved over time between like-minded souls who enjoy each other's company and good food.

I do not know any DR posters personally. I heard about the opening on the board and was there on Monday, but I am no tourist, thank you very much. *hmph*

Another possibility is that you fried the cord. I do this more often than I would like: I probably go through one a year. They rate the cords to only 392 degrees.

I didn't know this. That seems to defeat the purpose of the "set it and forget it"-type temperature alarm that the product features. Its quite possible that the cord was in an oven or grill that was hotter than 392 degrees. Do they sell "replacement" cords?

I went for the Cooks Illustrated recommended Thermapen - it ain't cheap (it was a gift for my boyfriend - he loves kitchen gadgets) but it's been wonderful.

I couldn't find it in any stores so I ordered it from the company's web site.

Nice! I think I've seen Alton Brown use one of those.

Maybe you got a lemon. Mine has been great, although when the battery starts to die it is worthless. Since you have only used it 5/6 times it is probably not the battery. Did you happen to get it wet?

Hmm. I got the actual probe wet in order to wash it, but I don't think the actual digital read-out part ever got wet.

Can anybody recommend a good one? I had a Polder, and after using it only about 5 or 6 times it simply stopped working. I cannot get a temperature reading.

Bistro Lafayette - right next to Vermillion - is pretty good. Also, if you want to get real casual, you can hit up Hard Times for some grilled buffalo wings and chili (you'll be way under your $100 max there). Not sure if Rustico is technically Old Town, but it is close and quite good.

I walked by this morning with the dog and could have sworn that they still had the paper over the windows. Is it the Chipper or the PX that is supposed to be opening? Or both?

Saw this last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. Now, though I enjoy cooking, I do not like baking and therefore know nothing about it. They kept discussing on the show how they would spend "days" creating certain cakes. It made me wonder: how do they keep the cake fresh? Wouldn't a cake be mighty stale after several days? Help me out here, bakers.

Is beer still being produced under the "Blatz" name? Blatz used to be a national brand (the first of the Milwaukee brewers to go national, in fact). There's a long, strange-ish chronology of Blatz HERE. It's unclear, though, if any beer is still being sold under the name; if so, it would appear that it's being brewed by Miller under contract to Pabst, which has owned the Blatz name two different times.

Blatz was the sponsor of the Amos 'n' Andy television show; I don't know about the radio show.

"I'm from Milwaukee and I oughtta know

It's Blatz, Blatz, Blatz, Blatz wherever you go!

Blatz is the name you will always hear.

Blatz is Milwaukee's finest beer!"

They don't write 'em like that any more.

I had Blatz in a can this summer at a bar in Michigan, but that doesn't necessarily mean they they still brew it - it could've been sitting around for years.

When I was in college in Boston, the standard cheap crappy beer of choice was Narragansett, generally known as Gansett. There was a bar/restaurant up in Allston much frequented by BU yahoos known by the endearing name The El Phoenix Room. It was ostensibly a Mexican restaurant ( hence the "El"), but mostly people went there because they had $0.05 drafts (every night!). I actually don't remember what they had on tap, but it was probably Gansett. The food was terrible.

Never had Narragansett, but when I was in Boston we drank Brubaker (which I think had a "patriot" on the label); often at Our House or MaryAnns - places not too far from the now-extinct El Phoenix Room, I believe.

I enjoy this stuff traveling abroad too: Tusker in Kenya, Kingfisher in India, Beliken in Belize, Cristal in Peru, Nile Special in Uganda, Angkor in Cambodia... and on and on. Every tropical, developing nation has its own yellow beer that is cheap, not tasty--but not offensive--and drunk regularly. Not much switching up to be done. But it, like water, generally goes well with the food.

One word of warning: in Thailand, treat yourself and upgrade from the bottom-of-the-barrel Chang to Tiger. They essentially taste the same, but at least with Tiger you don't get the formaldehyde headache.

...and Pilsen and Imperial (I think) in Costa Rica.

Iron City. (aka Iron Shitty or just plain Ahrn)

One of the nastiest brews around, but every time I'm back home in Pittsburgh I have to drink one.

Yes - perhaps nostalgia is another reason for my enjoyment. Drinking this stuff makes me think of college, fishing, baseball games, etc...

A previous "taco bell guilty pleasure" post inspired this:

While I do enjoy "good" beer, one of my guilty pleasures while traveling (in the States) is sampling the local or regional swill beer. This is beer that makes Miller Lite taste like a Guinness, and doesn't have the PBR "hipster" appeal. Of course its more the novelty of the whole thing, as I get the most pleasure out of finding those brews (1) whose name is inherently funny; (2) whose first gulp makes me look like I just drank a gallon of paint. Its interesting to me that a handful of crappy beers couldn't satisfy the whole nation, and beers like Old Style, Blatz, and Natty Bo still have their followers. Anybody else enjoy these regional crappy brews? What other lesser-known crap beers are out there?

Is the Lickety Split lunch offered on the weekends?

This was my next question. I've read about the Lickety Split, but my office is too far away...

Thanks for the advice, too!

Forgive me if my first post is not in the proper forum. I have been lurking for some time, and find you all to be a wealth of information - thank you.

I have a question about Restaurant Eve. I have been dying to go, but so far my budget has not allowed me (though I am saving up furiously). Is it worth just going to the bistro, or should I continue to save so that I can sit in the tasting room? Keep in mind that a trip to the bistro would set back any subsequent trip to the tasting room by several months.

Also, is the amount of food served in the tasting room comparable to that served from, say, Komi's tasting menu (which, after eating, nearly made me explode)? Just curious.

Thanks for your help and patience.