Kan Zaman

Since I am off work today (Monday), I groggily flipped through my list of things I would like to do should I have a weekday off.

All I could think of were places to eat with lunch specials. Sittoo's business special is a fantastic deal, $3 off the normal price. In the mood for some Middle Eastern food, I remembered reading about Kan Zaman's weekday buffet several months ago.

I looked through online reviews, which I expected to be weighted on the negative side, online human behavior being what they are. Skimming through a few, there were complaints about service, food quality toward the end of the buffet period (11:00-15:00), and gratuity automatically calculated into the check.

My hopes weren't very high mostly due to the cost. How much could I expect for only $5.99?

Just a couple of blocks away from the buzzing and revitalized West Side Market end of Ohio City, this end next to Lutheran Hospital is a bit run down. The structure looks bleak, like a convenience store or take-out pizza place. After stepping through the take-out area, the cavernous interior has a lush appearance from the mahogany toned furniture, small tapestries of Middle East flags, and drapes.

Raised open booths furnish the perimeter of the dining room with velour pillows and long seat cushions, almost welcoming someone to lounge. The ceiling was decorated throughout in dark ornate tiles with circular faux fur secured to the ceiling every few feet. Soccer announced in Arabic played on several television screens. The two men glued to one of the screens were quiet, so I presume their team lost.

The buffet is housed along the entire ~12' length of the semicircular bar. The service trays were sunken into the bar so the food was flush to the surface. Pita in plastic bags were stacked in a basket. Cold items included a regular green leaf salad; Mediterranean salad with chopped cucumbers, red onions, and parsley; tabbouleh; pickles - olives, cucumbers, and cauliflower; baba ghanoush; hummus; and crispy pita chips.

Hot items offered were long grain fluffy rice with saffron and peppercorns; chicken stew with tomatoes and onions; baked chicken; stuffed eggplant with beef, similar to moussaka; Mediterranean style green beans similar to Greek style, spiced with tomatoes and onions; and peas and carrots, spiced with tomatoes.  Lentil soup and chicken soup with mushrooms were also available.

The smokiness of the baba ghanoush, fresh tabbouleh, and the crispy pita chips were an addictive combination. The hummus was a very nice creamy consistency, but the baba ghanoush spoke to me so I returned for a second serving along with a generous portion of tabbouleh and pita chips.

Another dish that I returned for seconds was their lentil soup, a tan colored blended soup with a depth and sweetness only a profuse amount of onions can create.

There were three desserts -- haystack, similar to baklava, with a cream filling; honey cake; and chocolate cake with coconut. I enjoyed the honey cake, moist and sweet, with an orange blossom honey flavor.

Another attraction to this place from what I've read is the availability of hookahs, $10 and a choice of flavors. In the take-out area, different colored hookah are displayed wrapped in plastic. While we were there, there were customers at 4 other tables, none of whom ordered one.

The fare served for the buffet was pretty decent and the service was fine. Factor in the price, the buffet is a good deal. Bug and I will return. On our next trip, I would like to try their kibbeh and chicken shawarma.

 - Cassaendra

Kan Zaman
1616 W 25th St
Cleveland, OH 44113
Tel: (216) 621-2222

Kumo

Why do I do this to myself?

We went to Kumo Japanese (loosely) Seafood Buffet in Parma, a large beautiful Chinese buffet that serves sushi and udon.

My eyes are always bigger than my stomach! As a result, Bug and I end up sharing some of my booty like the sushi.

When we come here, I am drawn to the surimi salad, pickled daikon and carrots, and the seaweed salad.  I'm generally not tempted by the hot case -- 2-1/2 hot cases of food one would normally find at a Chinese buffet -- or the made to order stir fry.

Day 082/365

My favorite dish here is the udon. It is very simple, not high quality, but made to order so the noodles are never overdone. A bowl of laver and shichimi togarashi to add to your bowl at your belly's desire is a nice touch. I always add too much shichimi togarashi.

The availability of shrimp tempura would greatly augment the udon. Oddly, they do not serve any type of tempura here. Too bad.

Adjacent to the udon station sits a large crepe maker where plain, chocolate, and fruit crepes are made to order.

Occasionally, there is a dish that makes you step back and do a double take.  I noticed a heaping platter of shiny brown and white elastic strips.  I peered at the sign above it and it read "Pig Ear."

Day 082/365

I've never had pig ear before so I was intrigued and snagged a couple of strips -- one each for Bug and me. When I told him what it was and explained the rubbery yet crunchy texture that tasted like char siu (slightly sweetened five spice powder), he politely declined.  I'm not a fan of char siu myself, but I ate both not wanting to be rude. Whose feelings am I hurting? 

I don't feel the need to eat pig ears again, but I won't turn it away if someone's mother made it.

My favorite dessert items are their fruit salad with basil seeds and haupia. The fuzzy basil seed pods are so cute and make them look alien. Also served is a smooth, gelatinous coconut dessert similar to haupia -- a Hawaiian coconut dessert.

We always walk out feeling bad that we succumbed yet again. In several weeks, we'll be back again, and I'll look forward to eating another bowl of udon and more basil seeds with my haupia.

- Cassaendra

Kumo Japanese Seafood Buffet
1975 Snow Rd
Parma, OH 44134
Tel: (216) 741-3038

Sausage Fest

In October, our meeting with Michael and Bill was scheduled to take place at MoJoe's in German Village, an historic district within Columbus that lies in the shadow of technological behemoth Nationwide Children's Hospital.

A few weeks prior to our meeting, Bug researched places where we could meet. It was at this time he recalled our last meeting and stumbled upon Schmidt's Sausage Haus und Restaurant in German Village.

Featured in a Food Network television program, Man vs Food, the take home message from the show was to check out their German Autobahn buffet, and try their Bahama Mama sausages and gigantic cream puffs.

Bahama Mamas!

After a few wrong turns along the narrow brick alleys in the tightly woven fabric of European-style brick apartments, we stumbled upon a small parking lot that appeared out of place. It was then that we noticed several Schmidt's signs. The dashboard clock read 11:04 a.m.

A quiet neighborhood -- Schmidt's Fudge

The lot was almost full, with 3 spaces to spare after we parked. Several Schmidt's signs directed us in different directions. Without a flashing waypoint directing us, we set out toward the most logical direction - forward.

Restaurant entrance

It was 11:07 when we walked into the restaurant. The place was bustling with the hum of diners' conversations and silverware clinking on platters, as if it had been open for hours as servers walked briskly to and fro.

Before shuffling to the hostess' podium, sausages and desserts in cold display cases were a delicious distraction, oh, the desserts! Beautiful cream puffs lined neatly in a row, ready to march into my belly. I wanted to point to one and say, "You're mine." Bug interrupted my skit and pushed me forward. We were greeted with a warm smile and seated immediately.

Desserts and sausages galore

Scanning the restaurant, it was already 1/3 full and the bar was starting to fill up all within 7 minutes of opening their doors.

In addition to salt, pepper, and sugar packets, each table was supplied with large glass jars of spicy brown mustard and horseradish (pictured here). Bug was overjoyed.

Bug uncharacteristically threw caution to the wind and did not check the price of the buffet. The siren song of all-you-can-eat German sausages must have called to him. I quickly ordered iced tea, then we marched over to the buffet area.

The central buffet offered German potato salad, creamy macaroni and cheese, corned beef and cabbage, sauerkraut, red cabbage sauerkraut, green beans and spätzle (spaetzle), bratwurst, Bahama Mama sausages (regular and spicy), sausage stew, and two other pans (pictured in the bottom right) of which I unfortunately do not recall their contents; perhaps they were cabbage and noodles and another type of sausage.

The main spread

The cold table (not pictured) held fresh salads, pickled vegetables and salads, cole slaw, and apple sauce, a necessity to balance all that meat. Adjacent to the salad was a pot of fantastic chicken and dumpling soup.

It may have just been the lighting, but I thought I saw tears of joy streaming down Bug's cheeks as he ate his meal.

Bug patiently waiting to attack his plate

I loved the snap of each juicy bite of every sausage. The bratwurst was delicious but, compared with the smoky spiciness of the Bahama Mama, was a bit too meaty tasting for me.

The large pan of sausage stew intrigued me as I have never had "sausage stew." I've had sausage with pasta, sausage with sauerkraut, sausage with eggs, sausage in pizza, sausage in fried rice, sausage in gumbo, sausage in jambalaya...okay, maybe sausage stew isn't all that weird. I haven't had it in the same manner as it is served here -- spicy, peppery, and smoky with a slightly sweet edge, reminiscent of baked beans and rather addictive.

Sausage stew

German potato salad can be hit and miss with me: too sour, oniony, bland, overcooked or undercooked potatoes, metallic flavored. Red cabbage sauerkraut has never done it for me, for similar reasons. When I returned for a second trip, I revisited the macaroni and cheese, red cabbage sauerkraut, Bahama Mama sausage, German potato salad, and cucumbers. The sauerkraut was mildly sweet and not overbearingly sour, with a slight crunch, not that too often mushy texture. The potato salad was perfectly cooked, appropriately applied vinegar and a touch smoky.

It was around 11:30 when we began hearing names announced for seating for the approximately ten people crowded near the front door.

I was not leaving without having the vanilla cream puff ($2.95 with buffet) so I stopped after my second trip, already feeling sated. Other temptations on their dessert menu were apple strüdel (strudel / struedel), banana, coconut, and chocolate cream pies, and German chocolate cake.

Pâte à choux is my favorite pastry and vanilla is my favorite dessert flavor. Three cream puff flavors are offered, vanilla, chocolate, and peanut butter. I was tempted to order the peanut butter filling, but I went with vanilla. Feeling a tinge gluttonous, I rather reluctantly shared the cream puff stuffed with thick pastry cream with Bug even though I knew it was impossible for me finish the whole plate myself.

Weighing in at 1/2 lb in the dessert corner, Schmidt's Vanilla Cream Puff

When the check arrived, I picked up the check, glanced at the total, placed it back down, then picked the check up again to register the total. For two buffets, dessert, iced tea, plus tax, the check came to a nominal $25!

As busy as this restaurant was, our server was always cordial, our water and iced tea glasses were never under half-filled, and empty plates were not on our table for long.

We left the restaurant around 11:45, dodged the large crowd of people waiting at the front door and outside, and stopped to smell the flowers for a few seconds in a garden alcove between Schmidt's Fudge Haus and Gifts and the restaurant. Bug was already planning our return trip to the restaurant.

A quiet moment

Near the fudge counter pictured, there is a display that shows how fudge is made. We walked out with a pound of pumpkin spice fudge and a couple of cherry cordials and peanut butter cups.

Fudgepalooza, because everything is somethingpalooza

Michael called wondering where we were. If we walked, we would have arrived at our meeting spot in 5 minutes, but the roads are unkind to strangers with handheld GPS units when driving more than 10 mph, so we circled around the same quarter mile radius for 10 minutes. Every turn we made was met by a recalculation, every straightaway we took was another recalculation.

Recalculating...

Recalculating...

Recalculating...

- Cassaendra

Schmidt's Sausage Haus und Restaurant
240 E Kossuth St
Columbus, OH 43206
Tel: (614) 444-6808

Hours of Operation:
Sun - Mon: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Tue - Thu: 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri - Sat: 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Buffet available from open until close
Closed Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas

Schmidt's Fudge House
240 E Kossuth St
Columbus, OH 43206
Tel: (614) 444-2222

Amish Country

Traveling an hour and a half south of Cleveland to Holmes County, we were transported back nearly a century, home to the world's largest population of Jakob Ammann's followers, the Amish Mennonites.

A few of my relatives came to town and had a wonderful idea of visiting Amish Country. It's quite shameful that Bug and I had not visited previously. I have been curious to go for a number of years, but always put it off for another day. The days turned to years, until their arrival.

Vroom!

Modes of Amish transportation based on our excursion appear to be by horse-drawn buggy, bicycle, and foot. The drive within Holmes County was a bit harrowing as the roads leading to the area are hilly 2 lane highways, one lane going each way, with only a few feet of berm paved.

Horse-drawn carriages share the same road as motor vehicles and the speed limit is 55 mph. Of course, this doesn't mean that people have to drive the speed limit, but the roads are seductive, so beautifully paved with voluptuous curves, easily capable of handling much faster.

One of the better pictures of a horse drawn buggy

Each time we passed over a hill, we slowed down considerably in the event a buggy was just over the crest. Even worse, we came upon disabled cars a few times that were parked at the crest of a hill in the middle of the lane we were traveling and were forced to move to the opposite lane to pass, unable to see oncoming traffic.

For most of the drive, we saw beautiful green farmland with barns dotting the landscape. Occasionally, there would be a home near the road and we'd catch a peek of a woman in plain solid blue dress with white apron hanging laundry. We squealed at a [50 mph] glimpse of a barn being raised by several men just ~40 yards from us. What were the chances of us seeing this? I wondered if the same barn was being just built every day as tourists drive through, as if we were in an Amish amusement park ride.

I realize it isn't PC to take pictures of people living their day to day lives because they look and sound different, but Amish tourism is one of the areas industries so, with that line of reasoning, I respectfully took just a few snapshots.

Parking lot near Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen

Arriving in Mt. Hope, we drove down what one imagines as "Main Street," a narrow street lined with storefronts. The streets and sidewalks are clean, and exudes small village but lacks the dusty and faded appearance of a town settled in the mid 1800s. I'm not sure if this speaks of how well the town maintains its buildings or if they were recently (re)built.

We unanimously agreed to stop in Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen, a restaurant that boasts Amish style home-cooking. Everyone quickly scrambled out of the van after being cooped up for ~2 hours and a bit hungry. Taking turns using the bathroom and hovering over the buffet to see their offerings, we quickly sat back down to order our mid-day meal. We all chose the buffet.

While keeping an eye on everyone's belongings, I noticed two bottles at the table that would normally be ketchup and mustard. Instead, the label read apple butter and peanut butter.

Amazing apple butter and peanut butter

I couldn't wait to get up to grab some homemade bread. Using the word homemade for every dish they serve would get old quickly since they advertise that each dish is made from scratch and locally sourced when possible.

Upon everyone's return, I hopped over to see an interesting array of salads. Taco salad with chunks of onions, grape gelatin with a sweet, thick whipped cream filling, another gelatin salad with vegetables, salad greens, cole slaw, pickled mustard and beet eggs, various potato and pasta salads, and the typical salad toppings liked boiled eggs and croutons.

Delicious slate for peanut butter!

The bread smelled like it was baked today. It wasn't gooey or overly soft nor was it dry. I drew a squiggly line of apple butter and another line of peanut butter. The apple butter tasted like pureed apples, slightly sweet, viscous, with an applesauce crunch.

The peanut butter was an exciting discovery! I did not expect honey mixed into the peanut butter and mentally scribbled it under experiments to duplicate at home.

Pickled eggs

This was my first time encountering pickled mustard eggs. They were tart, as expected, with a mellow yellow mustard essence. As far as texture, I expected the whites (yellows?) to have more boing. This is another dish I'd like to try at home.

My guilty favorite from the salad bar was the grape gelatin with a thick, sweetened whipped cream filling. What was not to like? Hush, that was a rhetorical question. I have already heard the evils of Jell-O. I forgot to try the vegetable gelatin salad.

When I go to a restaurant for the first time, I always check the soup selection. Chicken noodle and beef vegetable soups were listed. As it was a beautiful day in the 50s, perfect weather to be out and about, I easily entertained trying their soup.

Beef vegetable soup

The beef vegetable soup arrived partway through my salad. Sated at that point, I wished that I ordered a cup instead. It was beefy, with generous portions of vegetables and small cuts of beef, and had a delightful tang. If the salt could have been toned down just a notch and an hour and a half closer, I could see myself eating it weekly with a half sandwich.

Bug was giddy with excitement upon seeing chicken fried steak on the menu. The platter came with mashed potatoes and breaded mushrooms. He shared a bite of each item with me. I thought they were fine. The mashed potatoes were a bit refined to my tongue. I prefer mine lumpy and with skin. Bug warned me the mushrooms were hot so I waited patiently for it cool for 10 seconds and scalded my tongue. The steak was just crunchy to me after searing my taste buds.

Country fried steak

Unfortunately, Bug was not wow'ed. He was suspicious the mashed potatoes were from a mix because of the texture. The country fried steak was technically all right. In his opinion, they tasted no different from a Redi-Serve OnCor entree preferring Cracker Barrel's instead.

The fried chicken in the hot case received a lot of praise, but I skipped all of their hot items to check out dessert. When I saw rhubarb pie during my once over prior to eating, I knew that was going to be mine.

By the time Bug and I returned to the table with our desserts, everyone had gone off in search of their respective interests -- wood crafts, quilts, and unusual snacks to take back as gifts.

Rhubarb pie and root beer cake

This was my first time eating rhubarb, a vegetable that made its tart presence known despite its sparsity amongst the abundance of whipped filling. I'll need to further investigate rhubarb pies. The root beer cake was interesting. It was dry and faintly tasted of root beer like licking the foamy suds off a mug of root beer float. Bug and I shared the nut cake, which was fine and as advertised.

As we headed out, there was a refrigerator near the door with peanut and almond butters for sale. I was tempted to buy several for everyone but with it being refrigerated, they would have been more of an imposition to lug.

Walking down the street you hear the bustle of cars, clacking of horseshoes, see an occasional awkward sighting of a tractor trailer making an impossible 90 degree turn with skill, lingering smell of horses, and the chatter of what sounded peripherally of German, but just out of my reach of understanding.

Parking lot

Visiting Amish Country was a nice excursion. I look forward to visiting the other areas in Millersburg and Berlin Township. I can leave my camera at home.

- Cassaendra

Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen
8101 State Route 241
Mt Hope, OH 44660
Tel: (330) 674-0922

Hours:
Mon - Sat, 07:00 - 20:00

Wie gehts?

We've been to Das Schnitzel Haus 3-4 times in the past 5 years and had some excellent dishes like their beefy and tender goulash, springy spaetzle, and crisp schnitzel.

A few weeks ago, we noticed a banner advertising their buffet weekdays from 12:00 - 15:00 for $7.99. Yeah, yeah, buffet, heckle, yuck, ptoo.

I happen to enjoy checking out buffets, especially ethnic buffets. Since I took a day off work, we decided to check out their buffet offerings. On the way there, I prayed for their beef goulash which I've enjoyed each time I've eaten there. Their goulash is served as a luxuriant, concentrated gravy with beef chunks. The beef is tender and probably slow cooked to achieve that flavor.

We strolled in optimistically at 12:05. I was disappointed to see a 6-7 feet long buffet table and thought it wasn't promising. Bug mumbled, "That's it?" Of course, the buffet was not ready.

Instead of walking out, we stuck it out (obviously). After ordering our drinks, we walked up and discovered that the space was utilized well. Instead of placing a large pan of a single item in each vertical slot, there were 2-6 horizontal containers in each pan slot.

Cold offerings from my rather spotty recollection were:
- a salad bowl of iceberg lettuce and 2 salad dressings, ranch and a vinaigrette
- pickles: cauliflower, cucumber, peppers, and another
- mixed salads: bean salad, a creamy salad, potato salad, coleslaw, and another

While we ate our salad, the hot dishes were brought in. The pickled cauliflower packed a vinegary punch while the cucumber was subtle.

Chicken dumpling soup was being served by our server along with bread baked on the premises. The soup tasted like homemade chicken noodle soup. The addition of well made dumplings to (almost) any soup makes a great soup exceptional. Along with fresh baked bread, this could have been my entire meal.

We returned for our entree. The pans were covered so it was fun discovering what surprises were under each hood.

In the warm section:
Starch
- wide egg noodles
- mashed potatoes
- kartoffel küchle

Meat
- kraut wickeln
- schnitzel
- beef goulash (hooray!)

Vegetable
- sauerkraut
- green beans with bacon and other stuff

Bug's plate (schnitzel, goulash, cabbage wrap, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut)

Bug was a little disappointed that spätzle was not available and scooped some mashed potatoes. I raked some of the creamy mashed potatoes from his platter, ooh'ed over them, and quickly reached for more, but stopped short of swiping more. It wasn't because I was afraid of his scowl. I could have easily inhaled a tub of the buttery goodness in 5 minutes but I am limited to 1200 cal per day.

We've had Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cabbage rolls before but kraut wickeln (cabbage wrap) was new to us. While it looked like a cabbage roll on steroids, it wasn't quite as simple as that. Both of us loved the smoky, peppery, and garlicky meat stuffing and whispered back and forth what we thought this dish comprised of. According to their menu, the filling is made of beef, pork, bacon, and rice with paprika and garlic, and wrapped in pickled cabbage leaves.

The sauerkraut was made in my favorite way, a little smokey, slightly sweet, sour, and not very crunchy. It was definitely not plopped from a bag or can.

Schnitzel is left in smaller amounts, I believe perhaps optimistically, to control the quality. Each time I've had their schnitzel, it's crispy and crunchy, whether they were made to order or in the buffet line.

My plate (cabbage wrap, potato pancakes, schnitzel, goulash)

The crisp kartoffel küchle (potato pancakes) were a touch garlicky and peppery. I could not work there, at least not during the lunch buffet. It would be agonizing not being able to graze on those medallions every time I passed them.

I was sated at this point. Bug went up for another serving and brought back mashed potatoes, egg noodles, goulash, kraut wickeln, and schnitzel. His eyes were bigger than his belly but he managed to finish his plate.

The server was peppy and came around to refill our drinks before they ran out. This is the kind of food that fills you up quickly and keeps you filled until the next day.

I'm taking a couple of days off in the near future. You know where I'll be come lunchtime!

- Cassaendra

Das Schnitzel Haus
5728 Pearl Rd
Cleveland, OH 44129-2850
Tel: (440) 886-5050

Mad Cactus

For several months, we have been questioning why there aren't any Mexican buffets. Recently, we passed by an "express lunch buffet" banner hanging at the Mad Cactus and had to check out the food that "made [them] famous."

We understand that buffets are often not as good as real food because there's only so much control over quality one can have over a dish sitting under a lamp, even at buffets where we have paid $30-40/person.

I do find buffets, when offered, an inexpensive way to explore how the restaurant is run without having to make a commitment.

On the day we went, for $6.75 we got:
- tortilla bowls, hard shell tacos, tortillas
- salad lettuce
- shredded lettuce
- jalapeno slices
- black olive slices
- diced tomatoes (mashed up)
- shredded cheese
- sour cream
- salsa
- celery sticks
- ranch dressing

Hot stuff:
- seasoned ground beef
- shredded chicken with peppers and onions
- cheese enchiladas
- enchiladas
- churros
- chipotle chicken wings
- refried beans
- rice pilaf

The plates were oval, 3" x 6" at the widest points, so I made 3 trips to the buffet, eating 1 scoop of cheese enchilada, 1 chicken wing, 1 scoop of rice, 1 hard shell taco, 1 soft taco, 1 churro.

It's hard to make melted cheese and corn tortillas look appetizing, especially sitting in a pan at a buffet. At any time there seemed to be 0-3 cheese enchiladas...flat, crusty, and spread out. I cut out a piece like I would lasagna. It tasted like, well, cheese and tortillas.

Each time I went up, the beef enchilada pan was empty. Bug was able to get some. Apparently, they were displayed 3-4 enchiladas to a pan, sliced in small bite-sized pieces. According to Bug, they were "edible," but "nothing to write home about."

The wings weren't bad considering they looked a bit leathery from sitting under a lamp. I am also not a big wings fan because of the skin+work to meat ratio. The batter was peppery.

If you love frozen tv dinner rice pilaf, you'll love their rice.

The shredded chicken for tacos was pretty tasty and what you'd expect since it was simmering in broth, onions, and peppers.

I'm sure the churros would have been great if they were fresh out of the fryer. Since we walked in at 12:45 p.m., an hour after they opened their buffet, they were hard-shelled, dark brown, 1" nuggets of dough. The texture was off, but they were edible - crunchy and sugary with a touch of cinnamon.

Service was poor. Bug ordered soda and saw the server in the area twice the entire time we were there. Once, 2/3 through the meal after he waved her down when his glass had been empty for 10 minutes, and the second time was to drop off the check, ignoring Bug's empty glass.

I'm not sure what we expected from a Mexican lunch buffet. Bug didn't feel the need to ever return.

- Cassaendra

Mad Cactus
9175 Pearl Rd
Strongsville, OH 44136-1401
(440) 234-7427

Spring Preview

It has been nice out this weekend, 50s during the day (upper 20s overnight though) -- cool enough for Akemi's heavy coat and warm enough that we aren't strapped into Arctic tundra suits to take her out for walks. Mush!

Akemi enjoying the morning air

We're regulars at India's Cafe every since we walked through their door for the first time 1-1/2 years ago. The price of the buffet has gone up from $5.95 to $8.95, but so has the number of items offered. Also, the buffet is, instead, on the weekends so it's accessible without taking a day off from work.

Bug's plate

From the top left going clockwise, Bug had spinach and cheese, lentil, and lamb curries over basmati rice, pickles, pakora, and aloo baigan sabji (curried potatoes with eggplant).

The "aloo" dish rotates each time we've gone. My favorite is aloo gobi (potatoes with cauliflower).

There are always two vegetarian curries offered. The spinach and cheese curry is a mainstay. The other is usually a chickpea curry. Of course, this week it was lentil curry.

Samosa are also served with pakora as appetizers.

Papadum and pickles

We love their papadum, a delicate, thin, crisp, and smoky flavored chip with cumin seeds. I wish they were offered at stores along the chip aisle. Of course, this would never happen, as they are very delicate and would be pulverized one day out on the floor.

The pickles are a wonderful kick in the pants. I LOVE them! I still don't know what they're made of. At first, I thought they were limes because of the sourness, but there's a shell fragment attached that's similar to mango. I need to ask the owner one day.

Other offerings in the pickle platter are raw white onion slivers and chili peppers.

Nan

Their nan is always fresh made. While not being a huge fan of bread, I will eat nan by itself here. Some weeks, the bread offering changes from nan to poori or chapati. From what I've been able to gather, nan is baked using leavened white flour. Chapati is cooked on a griddle using unleavened wheat flour. Poori is deep fried using unleavened wheat flour. Thus far, the soft, tender, and light poori are my favorite!

My plate

My plate is a bit simpler. I had tandoori chicken, a spinach and cheese curry, and lamb curry over basmati rice. This is all I usually eat, plus dessert.

The red meat curry alternates between lamb and goat. I adore their goat curry. It comes bone in, versus the lamb that comes boneless. The two curries have a very rich, deep, spiced flavor, tasting a lot different from the chicken and vegetarian curries. Part of it must be the meat, but I'm sure different seasonings are used as well.

The chicken pan varies between tandoori chicken, butter chicken, and chicken curry. Despite not being a fan of chicken, I do love his chicken offerings. A lot. The tandoori chicken above had a slight smoky flavor and a dusting of spices. It's my favorite of the chicken dishes.

Bug and I shared a mango lassi ($2.99).

I forgot to take a picture of the two dessert offerings. I do not know the names of the desserts, but one was a cool, sweet, milky rice pudding. The other was not particularly sweet and looked like farina (Malt-o-Meal) with almond essence, honey or brown sugar, and slivered almonds sprinkled on top. It wasn't tightly packed like halvah, just the same texture as Malt-o-Meal that you'd eat at breakfast. I wanted to eat a vat of this!

The desserts from week to week vary. Aside from what we had recently, we've had a milky vermicelli dessert, dough ball in a light syrup that was surprisingly not cloying, carrot halvah, and mango ice cream.

A smart business move regarding spice level with the buffet is that the offerings are not spicy (hot/caliente!) at all, so those with gentle palates can enjoy everything offered without worrying that the food will sear on the way in and out. The heat can be layered by pairing the meal with the raw onions and chili peppers offered.

When ordering meals a la carte, the heat level is made to order. The serving sizes are huge, too.

The owner is a very kind man and makes us feel at home each time we go. He always remembers that I order mango lassi. We also see other regulars who, it seems, dine there more often than we do ranging from families, students, businessmen, to a gathering of grandfatherly men. We're almost always the only non-Indians in the restaurant, which, in my mind, gives the place a stamp of authenticity.

- Cassaendra

India's Cafe & Kitchen
5549 Ridge Rd
Parma, OH 44129
Tel: (440) 842-7724

Wassup B!

Cleveland. Japanese food. Buffet.

Sounds pretty scary, huh?

Watami is the most recent addition to a host of Japanese restaurants in Cleveland. As one would expect from a buffet in the Midwest, it is no Todai by any stretch of the imagination. What can you expect for $13.99 all you can eat salad, sashimi, sushi - prepared and made-to-order, hot food, soup, udon, hibachi-to-order, and dessert in the middle of the US?

The salad bar is pretty decent, but looks like crap after people have pilfered through it. It consists of seaweed salad, crab salad, hijiki, asparagus with spicy mayonnaise (not Kewpie), squid salad, and a leafy green salad with the ubiquitous Benihana-style ginger salad dressing...watered down. This is where I spend most of my time. I can't get enough of the crab salad - soft, moist, and pliable surimi, cucumber, and tenkasu, folded in mayonnaise. I LOVE this with rice! I'm the kind of person buffet owners love to have.

The sashimi is reserved to a small section between the salad, plates, and sushi. It's laid out neatly on a small boat. I'm not into sashimi, so I have no clue how good it is. It looks nice to me, that's it.

The sushi area is a very active place. There are always 2-3 people behind the counter making sushi, anywhere between kappa maki to dragon roll to nigiri. They also make temaki to order. They're very friendly. The tip jar is nearby too. :P

I haven't ordered anything at the hibachi area. The udon is pretty good. It consists of a mushroom stock that is thankfully not salty, udon that is slightly overcooked, but not horrendous, and a dash of shichimi togarashi, which always makes me smile.

The hot food is the weakest link and an embarrassment. It's Chinese/American-style Japanese food, which is plain A-W-F-U-L. WTF. The teriyaki beef and chicken are tough and tasteless. The vegetables are often stir-fried. The shumai isn't bad, but uhhh I wonder why. Gyoza is mediocre. I think I'm suffering from some defensive mechanism at this time, because I can't remember what other hot foods they serve.

Oh, ok - I had to refresh my memory by going to their website. WTF is Shogun duck?

Yakisoba is tasteless and not a hint of Worcestershire sauce. It's just lo mein. I've yet to see shrimp tempura, but maybe all the hogs snort-snort-snorted them all after making several foot-high stack passes at the crab leg counter. The salmon is your usual Chinese buffet fare - not bad, not great, always overdone.

Why the hell would anyone eat fried rice at a Japanese buffet? OMFG. Anyway.

The staff is efficient and courteous. Only a few speak a bit of English. None of them speak any Japanese. There is some noticeable effort in food place setting, at least the food that doesn't have to be kept under a burner. They even have ramune and green tea ice cream that tastes a little abnormal.

With all that said, it's a place we've visited several times when Bug has an itch for a quick, high-dose of sushi and something else on the side. Otherwise, Shinano continues to be our restaurant of choice for all Japanese food, except they're closed at this time. Hurry up and re-open in your new digs, please!!!

- Cassaendra


Watami Japanese Seafood Buffet & Grill
7703 West Ridgewood Drive
Parma, OH 44129

Cuckoo, How He Can Sing

Namaste.

WoW update on the new server, Maelstrom: Bug is 61 and I'm a lowbie 48.

For some reason, I started thinking about the song I used to sing when I was a kid. All I can very vaguely remember is:

Cuckoo, cuckoo - how he can sing
We like to hear him
And to be near him
Cuckoo, cuckoo...

It's probably wrong...maybe I'm just cuckoo!?

While I took a couple of days off work recently, the first thing I thought to do on my day off was to visit India's Cafe in Parma, an unassuming restaurant that we've passed many times. They serve a buffet that, like most places, is only served on weekdays at lunch. I figured what better way to taste a variety of food without much commitment, except for paying $5.95.

I really didn't know what to expect. The door was propped open and a man warmly greeted us as we entered into a scent of curries, basmati, and carraway. It is a very simple, small, and clean place with 5-6 tables covered with vinyl tablecloth. I looked over to the plainly visible kitchen. It was clean and more spacious than the dining area. A woman was kneading bread and another man in a turban busily cooking over a stove.

To the far end of the dining area (15 feet away) was the buffet table with warmers. At first, I was disappointed at seeing only 4 warmers and another table with a pot of soup.

We were offered nan. I ordered a mango shake, while Bug had a can of Mountain Dew. We walked over to the stack of deep-welled styrofoam plates and filled it with a deep-fried chickpea and vegetable ball; spinach and potatoes; lots of rice; papadum; and chicken masala. I also grabbed some soup.

My favorite was the chicken masala, at least what was left of it. Maybe it was because we came in at 1:00 p.m., but between Bug and I, we fought over 2 morsels of chicken that were left in the pan of masala...so the sauce was excellent over their tasty basmati rice. The rice had a subtle flavor that I couldn't clearly identify. It was a little smoky and had an essence of carraway. There was a big black rock in the pan. It was labeled as pilau, which made me chuckle ("filthy" in Hawaiian).

The soup was well-seasoned and probably chicken stock. It was okay, as far as my novice-to-Indian-food taste buds go.

The nan was fresh and piping hot, excellent with the cucumber yogurt raita and spicy pickled vegetables. I scarfed it down quickly. Those vegetables always make me want to blink, shake my head, and yell, "WOW!" While the food is not ornate, it is well seasoned and tasty, which is what counts (at least 90% of the time)! We were offered more nan half way through our stack. Definitely not like the stingy servings from Cafe Tandoor.

The rice pudding was tasty. I'm a sucker for desserts with warm coconut milk!

While the buffet choices were sparse, I did find a dish I thoroughly enjoyed with service that was wonderful. I left satisfied - palatte, tummy, and curiosity - and will return. The residual burn on my greedy little fingers from the hot nan was still felt two days later.

On my next trip, I'm ordering the chicken masala (unless they have lamb!), check out the rogan josh, and top it off with the rice pudding. Yum!

- Cassaendra

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, we did it.

We went back to WoW and joined our fearless guild leader, Westleey, on a different server in the WoW chapter of Crimson Eternity. Ysall, our wonderful recruitment officer, has opened up Crimson Eternity on Lord of the Rings MMORPG.

It's been two weeks. Bug and I are presently levels 34(rogue) and 33(druid), respectively.

We had a lengthy discussion about returning to WoW and concluded that this would keep us out of trouble and end up saving us money. There isn't the temptation of walking outside or driving around with gasoline at $2.99/gallon.

One of my weaknesses is trying new restaurants; although, half the time we end up going to our usual restaurants since we can anticipate good service and food. Being out and about only intensifies the desire of checking places out where we happen to be hungry.

We've recently checked out Cici's, a pizza and salad buffet. Not being a pizza fan, I usually make up a plate of salad, drink a cup of soup, and eat a cup of spaghetti. I may try a couple of slices of pizza that intrigue me. Their cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven are quite good. Mmmm!

The selection isn't as good as California Pizza Kitchen's pasta, pizza, and dessert, but I won't be walking out of CPK sated for $4.49, especially when I'm in the mood for something quick, substantial, and inexpensive.

Their Buffalo chicken pizza was surprisingly spicy. Their macaroni cheese pizza made me chuckle. I had to try it. Yep, it tastes like mac cheese on pizza dough.

I may be weird in feeling this way, but each time I've gone to Cici's, it reminds me of going to a ramen-ya in Japan. Every time a customer walks in, my mind hears, "Irasshaimase!" as they bellow, "Welcome to Cici's!"

When we leave, I almost feel awkward not brushing the noren aside as they shout behind us, "Thank you!"

- Cassaendra