The Pub Road Block: The Linden Tavern

So here is what happens whenever I actually plan on having dinner somewhere.  It ends up to be packed to the hilt or there is a private party.  The Pub in Rocky River was no exception to that rule.  It was packed with A PRIVATE PARTY and of course packed to the hilt.  So that will need to come another day.  Tonight was also supposed to be a night at the Beachland Ballroom to see the infamous Glenn Schwartz and the Schwartz Brothers.  The weather sucks tonight, as it is Cleveland, and February.  The roads are sheets of ice and slush making even the normally short drive to Rocky River an ordeal.  Mr. Schwartz we shall see you again one day.  

So weather sucks , hungry , Rocky River...where to go?  Michael's has an all you can eat fish fry, but seriously Michael's was good for one thing only and that was breakfast.  Well, not just breakfast, but drunken breakfast after the bars closed at 2am on a weekend.  Well that and the Big Mike Burger, and that was again at 2am on a weekend after drinks.  Dun dun duhhhhhhh!  Enter the Linden Tavern.  The Linden Tavern has been a long standing establishment in Rocky River.  Family owned by the Eglinski's since 1989 and serving excellent comfort food including surf and turf specials every Saturday.  Really cheap surf and turf Saturdays mind you as in tomorrows special of prime rib and lobster tail for $19.99.  But we came for the fresh perch fish fry.

Back at the turn of the century emigrants flocked to Cleveland to work in the factories of the industrial revolution.  They formed enclaves through the area and built their churches that still anchor many of the neighborhoods today.  Shortly after the churches came the neighborhood bars, social clubs and taverns.  Back in those days Friday's were still meatless and these neighborhood pubs served up an inexpensive seafood caught fresh in good old Lake Erie.  The Lake Erie yellow tail perch was abundant and right outside Cleveland's front door.  The Friday church or pub fish fry became a Friday night family ritual for many.  It is good to see that in Cleveland this tradition lives on in places like the Linden Tavern.

The Tavern itself is pretty small.  I didn't see the whole tavern as there was a back area and getting back there would have been silly when we were seated in the front.  It is a very narrow tavern.  I am talking double wide at best.  The bar takes up half the joint, and the place is full of regulars that probably have been coming sine 1989.  Our server Joe was really attentive but food service was a bit slow only due to the fact it was completely packed.  We started with a couple glasses of Riesling, a nice fruity one that you know was probably a $12 bottle, none the less it went well with the brie appetizer.  The brie came covered in a berry preserve, had a fair amount of sliced almonds and some grapes on the side.  The bread served with it was a little on the dry side and more like a sliced crouton.  I would have much preferred a nice fresh sliced baguette but hey it's a mom and pop tavern.

The perch dinner was very good.  Unlike my last perch offering from Mitchell's last week was obviously fresh.  It had that gamey Lake Erie flavor to it.  It was moist, lightly breaded, and fried golden brown.  The dinner came with about 6 pieces of perch served on a pile of fries, a side of coleslaw and a roll.  Like I said the perch was fabulous.  The fries were like McDonald's which isn't a bad thing but seriously how hard is it to buy some regular spuds throw them in the old fashioned cutter and toss them in the deep fryer.  So while the fish was great, the combo fell a little short from the perfect fish fry I am searching for.  So, the white whale gets away yet again, but just barely.  I would definitely go back here again to try the rest of the menu especially on one of those surf and turf Saturdays.

Here's the rub, and where I can digress into my funny anecdote story tellin' fool self.  Back in the early 90's I dated a lot.  I also liked to party a lot.  Like really party a lot.  During this time I met this girl named...to protect the innocent we'll just call her "Roxy".  She was a dancer, well no, she was actually a stripper dancer who worked at what was back then the Circus.  Roxy and I ended up dating for a few months, or couple months honestly we are talking 1992 it is vague at best.  Roxy had a substance abuse problem along with a 5th of Jack Daniels a day habit.  Now that doesn't make her a bad person, but the relationship went south real quick after having dinner and meeting her dad at her place.  Little did I know her dessert of choice was cocaine with the old man.  I obviously was way out of my league with this one.  She was used to bad boys that would rough her up and a little more crazy than I was willing to offer.  I was crazy in my own special way at the time.  Plus at the time I was running for city council of my local little suburb trying to make things happen for me.  While it was fun while it lasted it was a horrible heartbreak I think on both sides.  Well where is this going?  I caught Roxy out of the corner of my eye tending bar at the Linden and that isn't a can of worms I have any interest in revisiting.  Plus I like my fish fry without a side order of potential scorned vendetta food tampering.