The Market on East 9th and Chester Downtown Cleveland.
My perennial food companion and I decided to look at some downtown apartments for me and had the preconceived plan to also go to The Market. Honestly I would have never known of its existence without the "heads up" given by a former student and burgeoning friend, Brandon. I really want to put his full name in here but don't like to do such things as it can be misconstrued, so... dud you know who you are and so should everyone else who was there with us today, June 9, 2008 at approximately 3:45pm until about 5:00pm while the cooking class was in session (no Rachael Ray, that woman you know?). Anyway, upon entering the building we noticed that I was quite reminiscent of a place we had gone to in Toronto the previous summer. It had the feel of a type of cafeteria with stations set up for specific types of cuisine. Unfortunately we arrived after the lunch hour which precluded us from partaking of the cafeteria fare. We definitely want to go back for that, BUT would probably not go back for what we did end up ordering.
I ordered a lump crab cake appetizer for $12 while my companion ordered the meatball sliders. As is her norm, she asked, very specifically I might add, if there were "chunky tomatoes in the sauce and/or onions in the sauce." The guy who told us "no," was the bartender. Don't get me wrong, he was a very nice guy with a superb knowledge about the area and encyclopedic ability to recall information about his wines, but J never eats anything with "chunky tomatoes or noticeable onions." Brandon returned to tell me they did not get the shipment needed for the crab cakes so I ordered the Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
I know you can guess that something else went wrong and you would be correct. You all know by now that my proverbial black cloud of food problems follows me always (a la the non-existent crab cakes) and often takes in those I am with. The meatball sliders most certainly DID have exactly what was asked so they were only 1/2 eaten. This was a minuscule portion of about a six-year-old's handful of garlic fries, which were very good, and two meatballs (total) sliced in half on a small bagel-like bun covered with a provolone-tasting cheese (which was embedded with the onions and chunks of tomato). I liked the flavor but it was not I ordering. Regardless, $8.50 was nearly highway robbery for such a small portion. I could have done about 15 of those for that amount.
I digress. My wraps came out with a small portion of each: breast meat chicken, some thin pasta, carrot sticks, chopped shallots, Asian Cole slaw, and leaves of maybe a bib lettuce with a sweet and very slightly spicy sauce for drizzling or dipping. I actually liked it quite a bit. It didn't take much work in the kitchen, but it was well presented and have just enough of a difference to make it worth my while. Again, though as with the other order, $8.50 was a bit much.
Brandon was wonderful to us. He explained what goes on at The Market. He told us of various happenings along with the bartender. They both made us feel, "right at home," which is something we don't often see in the retail food world. The bartender and Brandon are enough to make us come back, but the intriguing nature of what the place offers at lunch make it even easier. Prices, though guys...come on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy birthday, my friend. I wish you all the best the world has to offer, you deserve it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I ordered a lump crab cake appetizer for $12 while my companion ordered the meatball sliders. As is her norm, she asked, very specifically I might add, if there were "chunky tomatoes in the sauce and/or onions in the sauce." The guy who told us "no," was the bartender. Don't get me wrong, he was a very nice guy with a superb knowledge about the area and encyclopedic ability to recall information about his wines, but J never eats anything with "chunky tomatoes or noticeable onions." Brandon returned to tell me they did not get the shipment needed for the crab cakes so I ordered the Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
I know you can guess that something else went wrong and you would be correct. You all know by now that my proverbial black cloud of food problems follows me always (a la the non-existent crab cakes) and often takes in those I am with. The meatball sliders most certainly DID have exactly what was asked so they were only 1/2 eaten. This was a minuscule portion of about a six-year-old's handful of garlic fries, which were very good, and two meatballs (total) sliced in half on a small bagel-like bun covered with a provolone-tasting cheese (which was embedded with the onions and chunks of tomato). I liked the flavor but it was not I ordering. Regardless, $8.50 was nearly highway robbery for such a small portion. I could have done about 15 of those for that amount.
I digress. My wraps came out with a small portion of each: breast meat chicken, some thin pasta, carrot sticks, chopped shallots, Asian Cole slaw, and leaves of maybe a bib lettuce with a sweet and very slightly spicy sauce for drizzling or dipping. I actually liked it quite a bit. It didn't take much work in the kitchen, but it was well presented and have just enough of a difference to make it worth my while. Again, though as with the other order, $8.50 was a bit much.
Brandon was wonderful to us. He explained what goes on at The Market. He told us of various happenings along with the bartender. They both made us feel, "right at home," which is something we don't often see in the retail food world. The bartender and Brandon are enough to make us come back, but the intriguing nature of what the place offers at lunch make it even easier. Prices, though guys...come on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy birthday, my friend. I wish you all the best the world has to offer, you deserve it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by johnathan e at 5:22 PM
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