Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Cleveland - Melt and Momocho



DB~ and I took a semi-impromptu trip to Cleveland last Friday night. We left right after work and got to Cleveland at 7:15 pm. We planned to eat at two places that I saw on my guilty pleasure show (Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives), check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and do a little geocaching. All in 24 hours.

The plan was to go to Melt on Friday for dinner. We heard ahead of time that there was usually a wait, but when we got there we got a spot right out front. Score. And then we got inside...2 hour wait. Really?! Really. After some debate, we went with Plan B and went to Momocho instead.

We only had to wait 15 minutes. I would have waited triple that for this place. Momocho, in Ohio City, just to the west of Cleveland, is everything that Yo Rita! was trying to be. I seem to be the only person in the Pittsburgh metro area that wasn't overly impressed with Yo Rita!, so maybe I have to try it again.

The tacos at Momocho weren't life-altering, but they made you consider some changes to your life at least. :)

I had the ancho braised beef brisket (marinated in coffee) and DB~ had the artichoke and goat cheese. What they do is serve you your filling in a dish and give you a stack of small corn "hand size" soft shells. I got 3 out of my dish and could have probably got another 3 more (all for $15, BTW) except I made a hog out of myself with their homemade guacamole.

Momocho makes 6 homemade guacs. They have smoked trout, crab, blue cheese, pineapple, traditional and the goat cheese/tomato/chile poblano (we got this one).

The decor was very hipster-ish, with a Mexican wrestler meets religious icon thing going on. Very cool and worth checking out.

After our big day of exploring downtown Cleveland on Saturday, we decided to try Melt again for lunch. This time, DB~ was smart and called ahead to see the wait at 2 pm on a Saturday. 2 hours. 2 freaking hours. Carry-out was 45 minutes, so we ordered a Smoky Russian for me (turkey/gouda/spinach) and a Summer Chicken for her (chicken/havarti/other goodness).

Melt's thing is that all of their sandwiches are put in the "meltification machine" as if they are grilled cheeses. No matter what you order, it comes on two buttery thick slices of bread with delicious hand cut fries.

We sat outside of Melt, in their back parking lot, and ate our sandwiches as if it were an urban picnic. DB~ had a great idea to open a restaurant next to Melt called "Where Do You Want to Eat Now?" as that's what everyone said when they turned away from Melt.

If you are in the Cleveland area, it is worth checking out both of these places. But for Melt, you may have to plan your day around it.

1 comment:

  1. I just took a comparative look at Yo Rita's menu and it seems like you need to make a revisit. Other than the "baby octopus," everything looks really good. ~

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