Monday, October 12, 2009

"We'll Have One of Everything, Please"

The title of this post is how I felt at Flying Fig in Ohio City on Saturday night. My parents were in town for the weekend, and "R" and I took them out for a nice meal. We were in the mood to share and sample, so Fig's "savory smalls" and "savory starts" was exactly what we were looking for. The small bistro is warm and inviting, a cozy setting nestled on Market Avenue across from Great Lakes Brewing Company. The trees outside glitter with twinkling lights, and you are instantly warm and relaxed inside the restaurant.

We started with the house soups of the day, Pumpkin Bisque and Hot Banana Pepper Bisque and a Local Greens salad ($8- Soft Herbs, Croutons, Sherry-Garlic Vinaigrette and Manchego Cheese). Both soups were fantastic, but the pumpkin bisque was the perfect end to a beautful fall day in Cleveland. It warmed you to the core and left us excited about the season. We also shared thier famous Tempura Battered Green Beans ($7- Ponzu Sauce and Pineapple Caramel), which were fabulous. The lightly battered green beans came with soy sauce and a delicious sweet and sour dipping sauce. Then we literally told the waiter to bring us "one of everything" off of the Savory Smalls menu section. This was inspired by their menu option of combining selections for a Trio of Small Plates (Choose 3 items) for $24.50. The items included: Herbed Ricotta Gnocchi (With Braised Plum Creek Farm Rabbit, Caramelized Onions, Wild Mushrooms and Romano Cheese), Seared Scallop (Stuffed with Braised Beef, Horseradish Potato Puree), Morrocan Spiced Crispy Tofu (Lentils & Rice, Harrissa Yogurt and Preserved Lemon), Medjool Dates (Stuffed with Chorizo and Wrapped with Smoked Bacon and Smoked Pepper Sauce), Stuffed Banana Pepper (Housemade Italian Sausage and Tomato Thyme Coulis), and finally a Crispy Polenta Cake (Tomato and Fennel Sauce with Mascarpone). The real highlight were the stuffed dates. The chorizo and bacon added a smokey flavor to the sweet date, and we were fighting over the last bite. The scallop was seared to perfection, and the gnocchi was hearty and flavorful. The only dish that was not a huge hit at our table was the tofu dish. It was a little dry and under seasoned.

Overall, we were extremely happy with the meal and the service was very good. Several of the entrees sounded creative and appealing, so we will certainly be going back for seconds!

Flying Fig
2523 Market Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 241-4243

Flying Fig on Urbanspoon

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