CLE food: lunch at Noodlecat, Animal Attractions & happy hour at Momocho

Thursday and Friday were quite the eating days in the life of this Clevelander…

I’m not normally downtown during the weekdays, but after a 12:00PM meeting in the area Thursday afternoon, I had to take advantage of the potential meal options. I talked a co-worker – who on the ride downtown said she was ready to be more adventurous in her dining – into a lunch time visit to Noodlecat.

I wasn’t very adventurous, picking the same noodle bowl and salad options as in previous visits, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t eat well that afternoon. I think my co-worker was ready for the spicy kick of the Szechuan Ramen, but maybe not the slurping and chopstick-ing experience that is Noodlecat!

Thursday evening, I was invited to attend the Cleveland Zoological Society’s 10th Annual Animal Attractions wine and dine event:

Three things for me to look at: educational signage, Great Lakes Brewing Company’s pretzel encrusted chicken and a small animal.

I remembered from the 2012 event that arriving early was a key to finding foodie success.  Shrimp from Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, cupcakes from Cleveland Cupcake Company and smoothies from Vitamix were well received. It was also lovely to chat again with the Whole Foods Cedar Center crew after such a wonderful time with them on Tuesday night at our Ohio Blogging Association meetup.

I also threatened to steal the WFM roasted red pepper hummus supply. 

But AMP 150 stole the show with their braised beef short rib with goat cheese polenta & carrot salsa verde:

Not ashamed to say I went back for seconds. Would have considered thirds if I have the time. Alas, due to my yoga teaching schedule, I was out before the fun educational components began. Even with just the hour I had, I had a ball visiting the RainForest, catching up with the kind folks on the Zoo staff and experiencing this annual event.

On to Friday: As I mentioned in yesterday’s Vlog-A-Week, that weekday was a strange one, but Hans was ready to snap me out of my funk and suggested a night out on Friday after work.  He’s had Momocho on his brain since having their guacamole, salsa and chips at the Nishkama Yoga Open House.  I had margarita on the brain, so I was willing to battle the crowds to wait patiently for a table that night.

The wait was worth it. Between the guacamole, my order of the shrimp and sofrito green beans, Hans’s order of the grilled sixteen spiced chicken skewers, and his ability to single handly kill a pile of corn tortillas, we left on a mod mex cloud nine. If only if we left room for that fried ice cream…

…and that’s why now on Monday morning I’m considering a juice cleanse, or at least a LOT more cardio.  I did get in a 90 minute vinyasa, a two mile walk/run and an hour long spin class this weekend to make up for the fun on Thursday and Friday. Maybe I’m just simply considering that Vitamix purchase after all…

Disclosure: I was provided a media pass to the Animal Attractions event via the Cleveland Zoological Society. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.