It was a good meal but it could have been great: an almost-there meal.
The beef cheek pierogen with horseradish creme fraiche were delicious--the meat slow-braised and melting, an unmitigated taste of beef: a very clever take on a very Cleveland dish. Awesome.
Had the pan-fried Arctic Char with roasted tomato, avocado puree, radish, watercress and lightly-pickled cucumber served with a lemongrass-infused tomato water. Brilliant flavours--refreshing summary sweetness with unctuous creamy avocado and a slight Southeast Asian tang. However the fish, I thought, was a little tough, although our server described it as being cooked "medium." Is should've asked for, uh, "rare"? I've never been given that choice before when it came to fish. However, I really think it would have been better served poached so that it would've been yielding instead of a little chewy.
Dessert was a little disappointing. I had "The 6am Special" but there was too much maple syrup, too little bacon in the ice cream and the french toast was a little too soggy.
I think I'm being a little too harsh on Lola, though, as I can't help but compare the fish entree to Le Bernardin and the dessert to the Fat Duck's famous pain perdu, both of which are ridiculously lofty benchmarks for ANY restaurant.
Lola is aaaaaaalmost there and I was, on the whole, satisfied with my meal.