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The woman and I are both foodies and love the work of Michael Symon (and fortunately both love pork) so while in Cleveland, Lola seemed like an obvious destination to eat. We booked a reservation the day before and were left with a 9pm seat at the earliest - no problem that a late lunch couldn't solve. So after a day at the West Side Market and avoiding the rain in Cleveland it was off to Lola's downtown.
The menu was relatively simple, a one-sided affair with 5-6 options for each of the three courses. Following the advice of other Yelpers, for appetizers we had the beef cheek perogies and the pork belly and pig's ear. The perogies were as advertised - the perfectly cooked beef melted in your mouth and had the perfect soft consistency. The crispy pork belly and pig's ear with bits of mango and melon blew my mind. The dish was a perfect combination of sweet-and-salty tastes and fatty-and-crispy textures. While I can see how some people might not like a dish like this, I'm glad I'm not one of them.
For the main course she ordered the grilled calf's heart with creamed corn, morels, and chimichurri sauce. I opted for the smoked Berkshire pork chop with chiles, cheesy polenta, and barbecued onions. Hers was good, mine was mind blowingly so. Without a doubt the tastiest piece of pig I've ever had in my life. Perfectly cooked - tender on the insides, the fatty outsides were crispy and smooth. The base of creamy cheesy polenta combined with the barbecued onions and juices from the pork complemented the dish perfectly. After one bite both she and I had that universal "oh man is that good" moment.
Despite being epically full at this point, the dessert menu kept calling our names with two taunting dishes. The first was called the "6am Special" - an ungodly good concoction of brioche french toast, caramelized apples, and topped with the most incredible maple-bacon ice cream. Wow. There's something so incredibly perfect about that dish that words can't convey. If you get to Cleveland that dessert is worth the trip alone. We also got the "chocolate and doughnuts" dessert which paired an incredibly delicious (yet tiny!) cup of hot chocolate with some freshly made honey fruit glaze doughnuts. Good, but no 6am.
It was an amazing meal, and for those of you keeping track at home - yes; I had 3 courses, each one of them with pork in it. That's Michael Symon for you.
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