Birthday Dinner at The Black Pig

This entire blog is built upon trying new-to-me restaurants and sharing these experiences with you, but sometimes you just have to fall back on a tried-and-true favorite. One that you KNOW will be consistent, and that you just can't go wrong ordering anything on the menu at.

I planned a big night out for Mr. H's birthday recently, and unfortunately it did not turn out as we had hoped. We left the very expensive meal being disappointed in the food, service, pacing, and a couple of big "whoops" moments. I've only reached out to a restaurant a couple of times to share our feedback on a negative experience, but this was one of those times. I always encourage you to do so, as owners/chefs/managers do want address issues, and they may not know they exist if diners simply head to social media or sites like Yelp to vent.

The birthday boy deserved a re-do, so just a few days later we headed straight for The Black Pig in Ohio City. Always in our "Cleveland top restaurants" since it opened many years ago.

We settled in for a chef's tasting, and Chef Michael sent out beautiful course after beautiful course. The dishes are always pretty and creative, but also taste EVEN BETTER than they look. How it should be.

A few highlights was the Seared Scallop with celery root hash brown, tarragon dressed greens, fried capers and topped with trout roe.

This was a tasting menu portion, and the scallop was literally the largest scallop I've ever seen. The photo does not do it justice.

We enjoyed the pasta course, as all of their pastas are made in-house, including the Mushroom Agnolotti.

The real star of the meal was the tender and rich Braised Pork Collar with rosemary creamed Brussels sprouts, poached apple, toasted hazelnuts, and an orange glaze.

Do yourself a favor and get in there to order this before the preparation changes! I'll be dreaming about it for a while.

Let's just say that I had a much happier birthday boy on my hands after this meal (pictured with their Pork Rinds topped with house-made fresno chili hot sauce that I want to own a bottle of).

Service, drinks and atmosphere matched the food. From start to finish, it was a great meal and experience, as usual.

I know I'll always be drawn to trying new spots, but sometimes...why bother? Go for a home run when it counts.

The Black Pig
2801 Bridge Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113