Found the Black Dog Kitchen & Bar on Yelp while in Cleveland over the weekend. We were looking for a brunch place within walking distance of our hotel in the Gateway District. Menu looked promising but the reviews were mixed, we thought we would give it a go.
Arrived at 11:00 a.m. to find no one there, we were the first brunch customers of the day. That should have set off alarm bells right there. But we thought, hey, we are just ahead of the crowd.
It is a very large space, tastefully decorated, which to me indicated we were in for a good experience.
Waiter was friendly, explained we could order off of the brunch menu or the regular menu. My companion and I both chose the brunch menu, which was a bit limited, but the options were interesting.
I ordered the JT Tacos, advertised as scrambled egg, pork belly, cilantro and avocado. My companion ordered the Black Dog version of Eggs Benedict. We were both very disappointed, and I am hard to disappoint. My egg tacos came and I immediately noticed there was no avocado, just the egg, some pork belly and a few leafs of cilantro. My companion's dish came sans Hollandaise sauce. She pointed that out to the waiter and he went back to the kitchen to get it. When he returned I pointed out my tacos had to avocado. He said "that is my fault, I forgot to tell you we were out of avocado". Wouldn't a better time to tell me that be when he found that out as perhaps I might have wanted to change my order? Anyway, I stuck with my original choice and was disappointed, the tacos really needed the avocado to bring together the eggs and pork. My companion was equally disappointed with the Eggs Benedict. The bread it was served on was not traditional, nor was it toasted. The Hollandaise sauce was not warm either, which we both found odd. The rosemary potatoes served with both dishes were the best part of the meal.
When we left almost an hour after arriving we realized that not another sole entered the establishment the entire time we were there. The Black Dog may be great after work, but it is definitely not a place I would try for a Sunday Brunch.