If You're Ever in Cleveland...

by Xani

You MUST visit Bar Symon. I went to Iron Chef Symon's new-ish casual eatery a few weeks back while visiting a dear friend, and it absolutely blew my MIND. Along with Lola, Lolita, and B Spot Burgers, Iron Chef Mike sure is making his mark in C-town. This meal was even better than the one I had last summer at Lolita. Onto the food!

First, a note about location. Bar Symon isn't in a trendy, hip neighborhood with no parking, like you might expect. Nope, it's a strip mall, in quasi-suburbia. But, don't let that deter you! Because inside, you'll find a long bar, tons of beer on tap, and some amazing eats. (and possibly a long wait. We were seated right away on a Friday night, but apparently the standard wait here is an hour. But WORTH IT!)

We started with a round of draft beers from their extensive selection, and then got down to ordering. My dining companions were gracious enough to let me to the ordering, and our fabulous server, Jessica, made sure everything was easily share-able-- sweet! The rundown:
For starters:
Pork Crackling . chile powder, sea salt & malt vinegar 5
Veal Bratwurst . Spicy Lamb . Pork & Fennel 3 for $17, Served with grilled bread, pickled vegetables & mustard
Mains:
Symon Fried Chicken . rapini, old bay & sriracha honey 15.
Michael’s Glory "Symwich". beef tongue, pierogi, horseradish, caramelized onion, Dijon & sourdough 10.
Duck Sloppy Joe . duck confit, pickled carrots, cilantro, sriracha mayo & bun 12.
Arctic Char special
Sides:
Lola Fries w/rosemary 4.
Fried Brussels sprouts 6.
Desserts:
Beer and Pretzel Sundae . Guinness ice cream, fudge and caramel sauce, pretzels 5.
House Made Sorbet or Ice Cream (Banana peanut butter, for us) 3.

Now, I normally don't list prices when I blog, but I just had to. This dinner was SO affordable, I couldn't believe it. For the quality (and quantity, we were all stuffed to the gills after), it can't be beat. Here's the pics/porn:

some sort of delicious amber beverage

crispity, crunchity, cracklins!

the pork board

amazing sammiches

Char

AMAZING fried chicken

we couldn't even finish the fries, everything else was SO good. they were served with a fantastic house-made spicy ketchup.

Desserts!

Another reason our server was FAB-- she came back to the table near the end of our meal and asked us a mysterious question, "do you like funny moustaches?" Well, the answer to that question is always YES! She handed us a sharpie, showed us the way, and many funny finger moustaches ensued!

What a fun and delicious meal. I would say my favorite items were the Michael’s Glory "Symwich"-- the man is a genius for putting tongue and pierogi on a sandwich!-- and the fried chicken. But EVERYTHING was good. If I lived in Cleveland, I would SO be a regular at this place. What will it take to get Symon to put a restaurant in Baltimore??

Thanks to my wonderful friend Hayley for being an awesome hostess. Let's start planning where will eat NEXT visit!

X

P.S. Just to make it a 100% Michael Symon weekend, we also went to Czuchraj Meats in the Westside Market to try the jerky he claimed was "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." And let me tell you, this is so GOOD jerky! And what a cool market. Again, if you live in or are visiting the Cleveland area, I highly recommend stopping by!