Last week, Doug and I made our first trip to Chagrin Falls. A groupon encouraged this trip, as I had purchased one that was going to expire...last week. Oops.
So last Wednesday, we headed to Umami. Now let me pause here and tell you how much I love Groupon. It is awesome to find deals to restaurants like this, that are in places I don't normally go. I always here great things, but it's not exactly the norm for me to find myself in Chagrin Falls. So not only did we get an amazing meal- it encouraged me to explore someplace new.
But back to our meal. So. Good. We both started off the evening with our drink of choice- mine being a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, his a beer. After the drinks arrived, we ordered the goat cheese dumplings. As described by the menu: Goat Cheese Dumplings...mushrooms, miso mushroom vinaigrette.
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| Oops...forgot the photo until we were well into our meal. |
The goat cheese flavor was strong, but not over powering. The mushrooms added a nice earthiness to the dish. And I kind of wanted to lick what was left of the vinaigrette.
Next came our main dishes. Doug decided to go with the Udon noodles. I ordered one of the specials- a grouper dish, but it was unfortunately sold out, so I went with the scallops. And let's be honest- it's hard to go wrong with scallops (as long as they are, of course, cooked well).
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| (from website) Udon Noodles...spicy steak, shiitakes, bok choy, basil, ginger, parmesan, dashi |
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| And of course, this isn't on the website and I forgot to write it down. Seared scallops, crispy noodles, cucumber (was shredded like noodles), jalapenos, and I reallly wish I remembered the sauce! |
Both were delish. I definitely snuck more than one bite of Doug's noodles. I can't even pinpoint one thing about this dish that I liked- everything blended together perfectly, while still having distinct flavors- the beef, the shiitakes, mmm.
The scallops were cooked perfectly. Served hot, with a nice sear, over a bed of chilled noodles made for the perfect balance on the hot evening. Both plates were empty by the end of our meal.
I'm not going to lie- we're broke right now. So going out for a dinner like this isn't a normal occurrence (thank god for Groupon), and I unfortunately don't see us going back until after the wedding and our funds have replenished. I'm not saying it's overpriced- it was actually very reasonable for the quality of the food and service. But we're unfortunately running on a low budget at the moment.
And since we were in Chagrin Falls- we over course had to have Jeni's Ice Cream. A three scoop sampler (Whiskey and Pecans, Honey Pistachio and Brambleberry Crunch) and a walk down to the falls was a perfect end to the evening. I'm still dreaming about that Whiskey and Pecan icecream...the BEST.
I would love to go back to Chagrin Falls- walk around more, check out more of the restaurants and sites. It is a relatively quick drive for us, so hopefully we'll be back soon!
