First up was BonBon Pastry & Cafe – another “must see” for foodies. We were there for Sunday brunch and were planning on it being our last meal in the city – and we would not be disappointed.
It took a lot of willpower to not just pick that giant cinnamon roll plate up and bring it to my table. Seriously – does that not look amazing?!
Our Columbus blogger tried this Vanilla Bean French Toast and yes – that’s corn sprinkled on top. I was a little scared off by it but he loved the sweetness of the corn and said it was fantastic!
I have been looking into hash recently because of the Hashcapades site – soon I’ll be finding someplace in Cincinnati that serves up some hash (any ideas? let me know) – so when I saw a Corned Beef Hash on the menu at BonBon – I had to try it.
This corned beef hash wasn’t like the kind that came out of a can in the 80s – this had brussels sprouts, peppers, onions, mushrooms and a fried egg. Now when I saw “fried egg” – I thought there would be a fried egg on top. Um no. There is a brown sphere on the top of the plate – it’s like a soft boiled egg that is fried!
While I love all the ingredients – I didn’t love this hash. The corned beef was really dry and it was all in need of moisture or a sauce. I can’t wait to explore the Hashcapades cookbook and find one to make myself!
While we were all stuffed from brunch – the Cleveland girls said we had to try their Cinnamon Sugar Donuts served with preserves, house-made chocolate sauce and sweetened mascarpone. These were light and airy little donut holes and were delicious! It was perfect to have a sweet treat after the rich brunch.
Why Should You Go? The pastries alone are drool-worthy and the brunch has a lot of unique offerings you just don’t find every day. It was a great brunch spot for sure.
I did love their gift shop though! Seriously – check out those purses!?! They’re like cartoons come to life for your arm! They weren’t extremely practical or affordable – but man they were cute!!!
They’re a line called Jump From Paper (duh) and they were all in the $100 range – but wow – seriously – they are so fun!!!! It’s amazing how they don’t look real!
After the “art” – we headed to the Botanical Gardens to round out our visit. It’s much like Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati but the outside area is much larger. Admission is $9.50 for adults or you can purchase a membership for free admission (and other perks) for $65/year.
We all loved exploring the indoor gardens and seeing all the unique plants and flowers the rain forests had.
We also got to see quite a few animals – which I loved of course! These huge turtles were fun to watch and pretty active.
Then there were the butterflies – I have to say – this was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. They are so delicate and beautiful – and hard to capture in a photo!
There were some areas that were just FULL and I kept trying to capture shots of them but they’re quick! Anything blue was so beautiful – it just stood out so much! Oddly enough I’ve never been to the Butterfly Show at Krohn’s – I think I’ll have to go for sure in 2014.
The outdoor area is huge and is like a huge playground with all sorts of little huts and decks and ponds – its stunning! They have floral areas from all over the world that you can walk through as well – so fun.
And we all enjoyed that Corinne was so short she didn’t even have to duck to get into the kids area! haha.
Everyone makes fun of Cleveland – but you know what – it’s not that bad. After a long weekend – we were definitely #HappyinCLE.
If you’re looking for a weekend getaway – don’t ignore our friends to the North! I ate a lot of awesome food and had a blast exploring the city. Here’s a refresher of our visit:
Cleveland Pt 1: noodlecat – Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Pt 2: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Cupcake Showdown – Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Pt 3: 3rd Fridays at 78th Street Studios & Happy Dog – Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Pt 4: Lucky’s Cafe & The Christmas Story House – Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Pt 5: Museum of Art & Tommy’s Restaurant – Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Pt 6: West Side Market, Ohio City Farm & Lake View Cemetery – Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Pt 7: Big Fun Toy Store & Hodge’s – Cleveland, OH
- Cleveland Pt 8: BonBon, Museum of Contemporary Art & Cleveland Botanical Gardens – Cleveland, OH
Thanks again to the folks at Positively Cleveland for the weekend of fun – and the company – April & Corinne were fantastic hosts.
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