Restaurant Review: Flying Fig in Cleveland, Ohio

Last night Mark and I and his parents had the pleasure of dining at an excellent restaurant in the Ohio City area of Cleveland called "Flying Fig". It is located at 2523 Market Avenue in Cleveland and their phone number is 216-241-4243.

I highly recommend you check out this restaurant. You can choose to order small plates or full size entrees, both of which are to die for. The atmosphere is also pretty casual, so we didn't feel odd at all going there after the Browns game. For any occasion, this restaurant is a great choice in my opinion.







Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so I don't have any pictures of the food. However, be sure to check out their website at FlyingFig.com to see some gallery pictures and to check out their menu.

We started our meal with a few appetizers. We had the Beef Carpaccio, the Sauteed Sweet Breads, and the Flatbread.

The Beef Carpaccio included some fresh arugula and was dressed with parmesan, lemon, capers, and creme fraiche. It was bright, clean, and simply perfect. Delicious.

The Sauteed Sweet Breads were accompanied by applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onions, local organic spinach, Mackenzie Creamery goat cheese, and a sherry reduction. They were tender and perfectly cooked. Heaven on a plate.

The Flatbread was basically a small pizza topped with killbuck mushrooms, braised local greens, pancetta, and taleggio. It was so amazingly full of flavor that every bite was unforgettable. I wouldn't have changed a thing about any of our appetizers or how they were presented. Beautiful.

For our salads, I had the Apple Salad and Mark had the Bacon & Eggs. His parents both enjoyed the Roasted Local Beets.

The Apple Salad consisted of mixed greens, sweet spiced pecans, buttermilk blue cheese, and local honey vinaigrette. It was SO good. I think I ate it at light speed - it was just so good. I could have eaten a pound of those pecans!

Mark had the Bacon & Eggs "salad" which consisted of a crispy pork belly, a small perfect little fried egg, arugula, goat cheese, and maple sherry vinaigrette. The presentation of this dish was so great. The vinaigrette swirled on the plate, and the perfect little egg resting on top of the pork belly that was itself resting on top of the arugula. I didn't taste the salad, but Mark said it was very good.

Mark's parents both got the Roasted Local Beets as their salad and what first struck me was the presentation on a long, horizontal white plate. The beets were lined up and in the middle was a nice mound of goat cheese mousse, pickled onions, toasted walnuts, and the whole thing was dressed with Lucy's honey vinaigrette. They both said that they loved the beet salad.

On to the entrees! I had the Seared Duck Breast & Confit of Duck Leg. It was paired with butternut squash spaetzle, brussels sprouts with bacon & apple, and a cranberry reduction. It was SO so yummy. The duck breast, ordered medium rare as suggested by the waitress, was perfectly cooked, tender, juicy, and completely delicious. The confit of duck leg had the crispiest skin and was equally as delicious. My only criticism would be that the confit was a touch on the salty side, but still very, very good. I also loved the spaetzle and brussels sprouts mixture as it paired perfectly with the duck. Wonderful dish and highly recommended to duck lovers.

Mark decided to go with the Trio of Small Plates option. This option allows you to choose three small plates and enjoy them all as your entree. He chose the Herbed Ricotta Gnocchi, the Medjool Dates, and the Crispy Polenta Cake. All I tried from his plate was the polenta cake and can I just say.... OMG. I had to take a moment. It was perfect. So creamy, so delicious. SO perfect. We're already planning on trying to recreate those little polenta triangles in our kitchen. I can't wait!

Mark's Herbed Ricotta Gnocchi was dressed with braised Plum Creek Farm rabbit, caramelized onions, wild mushrooms, and romano cheese. His Medjool Dates were wrapped with smoked bacon and stuffed with chorizo and dressed with smoked pepper sauce. His Crispy Polenta Cakes had tomato & fennel sauce with mascarpone. He said he really enjoyed all three, but the polenta was his favorite. The presentation of his dish was really cute, too, with all three plates sitting on one long, horizontal white plate. It was like a flight of small plates.

Mark's mother had the Pancetta Wrapped Scallops with apple parsnip puree, braised local greens, and a garlic maple cider glaze. I tried one of her scallops and it was delicate and very tasty. She said she really liked her dinner choice.

Mark's dad had the Braised Lamb Shank with rutabaga gratin and lamb jus. He loved it and the reason I know this is because that lamb bone was sparkling clean at the end of his meal. haha...

So, since the entire meal was just excellent, we decided to try some dessert whether our full bellies liked it or not. I of course chose the Warm Molten Chocolate Cake with Kahlua syrup, chocolate ganache, and fig ice cream. It was AWESOME!!!! No, it ws HEAVENLY. I'm pretty sure angels made it. I think I had an out of body experience when eating that ooey-gooey chocolate cake. I can't even talk about it right now, there are no words. The ice cream was really good, too.

So, in summary, there was absolutely nothing wrong with this restaurant. We enjoyed our experience there immensely because of the food, the beautiful atmosphere, and also the wonderful and cheerful service from our server. We will for sure be back to visit the Flying Fig and I can't wait! If you're in Cleveland, do not miss it.