donbui82's Profile
South Haven, MI recommendations
going there for Memorial weekend. any unique/memorable restaurants or bars that I've gotta try in the SW-Mi area? Thanks CH'ers!
don
"Thai Temple" Sunday outdoor foodcourt in Warren? [DTW]
Just came back from it.
Pretty fun! The token exchanger lady promised me a better showing next time. I guess only half the usual vendors showed up since it was mother's day. There were a total of 8 stations. Things I saw: Multiple fried fish stations, sweets area with a variety of baked goods and coconut juice based sweets. A fried rice station. Thai iced tea and coffee stand. Two different noodle ladies, a satay person, green papaya salad, variety of curries, and deep fried potatoes, bananas and taros.
I had the two types of noodles, satay, and green papaya salad.
One noodle bowl is very typical SE-MI. pork/seafood based broth, thin rice vermicelli noodles, bean sprouts, fried onions, cilantro/onion garnish. Mine came with some pork meat bits and two meatballs. Ymmy! excellent broth! Very similiar to Vietnamese Hu Tieu, or Kuy Teav in Cambodia, just with the little something special Thai people do. More chili-hot and sourish than the vietnamese version i'm used to. Excellent though. I think every weekend morning should begin with a bowl of noodle soup.
The other bowl was kinda meh. Flat diamond shaped rice noodles, in a darker sweeter broth. Not too disiimliar to taiwanese style beef noodles, just with more heat and sugar. Toppings were pork small intestine, roast pork, and pork liver. I give it a so-so.
Satay sticks were good. one chicken one beef. good glaze. excellent balance of saltiness, flavor, sweet. Moist, tender, with a hint of chew. me gusta.
Finally the green papaya salad. Oh how I love and hate thee. The lady was courteous enough to ask if I could hot stuff. Sure, I replied, considering I can eat anything in the vietnamese and latin repertoire. young green papaya julienned. excellent crunchy textures. She thing slicked some eggplant rind in, garlic, crab legs (very interesting, i'll get back to those), and peppers which I now call Satan's Sperm. Why? The visual similarities of these small chilis and swimmers are obvious, but more importantly the crushingly high quantity of capsaisin that is in it. Yep. I was that guy. Panting, sucking wind, eye watering, desprately praying for the icea tea line to move faster. The crab aspect is interesting. Just legs. small little blue things. Im' not sure if they were pickled or what? unique flavor that i've never had before. tasty little bastards. For comparisons sake, The Vietnamese green papaya salad, is the same julienned green papaya which shredded beef jerky and charred liver with some aromatic fish sauce on top. Du du Kho Bo.
Anyway, I'm def in next time it comes around esp if there's more variety!
don
p.s. there's a stand in the corner to get your haircut too! I'm brave from a food perspective, but not just anybody can touch my hair.
John D Bistro (DTW - Ferndale)
Took over Club Bart (RIP) space in Ferndale at the SE corner of 9 and Woodward. Its setting itself up to be a loungey, bistro, "cool" kids hang out spot.
Ambiance: I like the spot. Airey. Their front wall is a garage door that they had open last night. Bar isn't too spacious, but it wasn't crowded so we weren't bothered. They do have some.. peculiar seats including two stage/"VIP" areas that looked really uncomfortable. Its hard to explain.
Service: Impeccable. Super nice, attentive, unpretentious, fun, laidback. Can't speak highly enough about my bartender. Plus, I love women with sleeves.
Drinks: Had a Mint Julep in honor of the Kentucky derby. fresh mint. went down nice and smooth. Double uber gold points for my follow up Hendricks and Tonic coming with cucumber without having me to ask!
Food: We only had a few appetizers. I have mixed feelings. The Duck Confit was excellent. Phyllo pastry just loaded with excellent flavorful, tender duck meat. Yummy. Carmelized onions on the side complemented it excellently. Calamari - a big Meh. A weird citrusy cream sauce. Calamari itself had breading that didn't really contribute. A waste of calories in my book. BIg Rock's is still my fav in this area. Mac/Cheese. Another average dish. Props for using cucumber to add some texture. They used big shells for the pasta, and their choice of cheese just didn't mesh well.
Having said that, watching some of the other platters come out, I regret some of my choices. One of the specials were grilled italian sardines that I REALLY wanted to try, but my friend is the world's most boring eater so I couldn't order it. The chicken lollipops looked appetizing too, so put that on the list.
Overall: Umm.... from a purely food perspective, I'm not so sure. Having said that, I'll eat there again based upon ambiance, being the "scene" just to see what the other dishes have to offer. I'd definitely come back there just for drinks.
don
Downriver DTW
I've been told from a Paisan whose food credibility is extremely high in my book that Moro's in Allen Park has the best Italian food in Detroit, barring his mother's house. Its on my list of places to go.
Don
Foodie Detroit! need your recs...
considering you're from NYC, the things you should probably try that are uniquely indigenous to Detroit:
1) Coney lsland hot dogs. classic drunk food. American/Lafayette challenge at 2AM. usually good people watching too. Like Bourdain says, judge a city by their meat tubes.
2) Middle Eastern food in Dearborn. Largest arab population in the united states. lots of deliciousness. there's another thread somewhere floating around for specifics.
3) Detroit style pizza. Square, thick doughy crust slightly sweet sauce. My fav is Loui's pizza in Hazel park. Reeks of Detroit soul. If you buy a bottle of chianti, they give you sharpies. Decorate as you wish, and they hang it up on the ceiling for posterity.
4) I'd guess that Detroit has some of the highest micro-bewery per capita ratio in the states. Atwater, Motor City Brewery, Dragon mead, Kuhnhenns. my favorites in increasing order. Try Kuhnhenn's DRIPA for one of the best hoppy beers, bar none.
5) Detroit sliders. Greasy, flavorful, delicious little bastards. Ketchup, pickles, no mustard on mine thank you. Everybody has their faves. Telway, Hunter House, Comet, Little brothers. I'm partial to Hunter House and Little Brothers personally.
6) Cadieux Cafe - only feather bowling alley in the country.
don
One Eyed Betty's Ferndale (DTW)
Went there for happy hour/dinner on a weekday
Amazing beer selection. Extensive, varied, with lots of Michigan brews.
Love the communal/bench style seating.
Food - Mixed. Charcuterie was nothing special, but we are spoiled being near Forest Grill and Cork. We had the steamed cockels, which were amazing. The juice at the bottom of the bowl was unbelievely good. we are fighting for bread bits to sop it up. Pretzel sticks with three dipping sauces were the best i've had outside of Bell's brewery in K-Zoo. And how can you not order Bacon with a side of Bacon?? Sadly, it didn't completely live up to the lofty expectations. The Bacon was pretty good. smoky, not too thick. well fried and crispy. The fried poached egg had AMAZING consistency and textures. fluffy, cripsy exterior with this mellow soft interior. but it was absolutely completely bland. However, when eaten with the salty bacon it averaged out to something delicious in your mouth. The pork belly was decent as well. For dinners we had the pork belly sandwhich and the fried oyster po'boy. po'boy was good. oysters had an excellent cornmeal bredding with an excellent sauce. the Pork belly is asian -inspired and good enough THey both had the same problems though. The ratio of bread:stuffing is all wrong. HUGe honking rolls of all bread. We actually ripped the top off and ate it that way. Much better.
Love this place. Will come back.
[DTW] Monty's Grille - Royal Oak
Add this to the list of excellent breakfast places in our area.
On woodward between I believe between 12 and 13 mile. Located in the wing one of those ultra-shady motels which I'm sure rent by the hour. Yellow awning, which this friendly looking chef statue in front of the door.
Basic breakfast menus of eggs, hams, etc. Counter-top searing and three tables of two. Very basic fare.
But seriously. Come here for the corned beef hash. Handfuls of excellent corned beef shredded in larger chunks. BIg hunks of onions, peppers, potatoes. Well-seasoned without being too greasy. HUGe portion of 6 bucks. We also had the omelette with kielbasa and cheddar which was tasty as well, but nothing mind-blowing.
don
[DTW] Sala thai Troy, Mi (15/coolidge
Recently opened. I stopped by and between my friend and I ordered the Tom Yum, Pad Thai, and Drunken noodles. All VERY tasty. Best Thai I've had in SE-MI. I'd love to hear everybody's else opinion of this place. If there's somewhere better, please point me in the right direction!
don
DTW: Sugar House
That new bar next to Slows' in Corktown.
http://gearpatrol.com/blog/2012/01/19/viewfinder-craft-cocktails-in-detroit/
Great, great place. My favorite watering hole in Se-MI. Beating out Valentine Vodka tasting room, Oakland Toy Company, and D'Mongos.
Don
Taco trucks and street food in metro Detroit?
http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/01/great-tacos-in-detroit-michigan-taquerias-slideshow.html#
don
DTW: Bella Piatta
If yor'e in the mood for salted meats, you're much better off blowing your hard-earned money at Forest Grill. They're Charcuterie is second to none anywhere.
Pastas, and interesting italian appetizers, however...
The Chocolate Gallery Cafe - Warren, MI
My GF and I had breakfast there this morning after a coin flip between here and the Breakfast club in Madison Heights.
Interesting place. Its in this itty bitty strip-mall. We actually drove by and had to circle around. Deco is.. what you'd expect at your grandma's house. Service is like molasses in every way. Super sweet and super slow.
Food: we ordered the Kielbasa omelette and Corned Beef Hash. My Hash came with scrambled eggs. They were both.. decent. Her omelette is somewhat untraditional Its a thick, dense moon of eggs with melted cheese on top. But not gooey melted cheese, more like... a matted layer of prior cheese, then left to congeal. Large chunks of green pepper, and onions (instead of finely minced), and honestly, too few pieces of kielbasa. My Hash platter was very... decent. The scrambled eggs were scrambled eggs. The Hash was also .. decent. Pretty large pieces of potatoes, good corned beef, lots of onions. Its probably personal preference, but I thought the onion ratio was too high, corned beef too low, and the potatoes cut too big.
A decent breakfast. Would I trek over there again? Maybe not, but I'd eat there if I'm in the neighborhood. I'd imagine their sweets are much better than their savories.
don
DTW: Bella Piatta
Had dinner there last night with one of my bosses. Some background that I know, it hasn't been open that long. Located across the street from the Townsend hotel, and I believe shares owners with Tallulah (which I love). Premise of the restaurant is high-quality Italian food with as many locally sourced ingredients as they can.
Interior is nice. Warm, cozy. great ambiance. Fantastic date place. They have some small tables, and then bar-top style seating around the bar and anti-pasta station.
Food. absolutely delicious. We had some prosciutto. My boss is a very picky eater and he really liked it. Not too salty, great flavors. I had the grilled sardines. Very good if you like small oily fishes. For entrees, we all had different pastas, and each one was excellent. I had the caccio e peppo. simple dish of pasta, cheese and pepper. But it was simply divine. My gf had pasta with lamb meatballs which were superb as well.
Everything was fantastic, but the value. To be honest, the portions were microscopy. The prices were already slightly high, but throw on the itty bitty plates, and the ratio drops dramatically.
Don
Mai's Thai restaurant on 12 Mile east of Mound in Warren [DTW]
the new Sala Thai isn't the same chef/owners as the one downtown. Its his brother. My GF swears by the Sala Thai in eastern market, but I've had the one in Warren (very meh). Lets list the Thai places i've tried and been disappointed with: Penn's (new place on 14 and crooks), Sala Thai in Warren, any Thai in Birmingham, Silver Spoon in Clawson, Bangkok something or another on maple in the Wal-Mart plaza. Siam Spicy on woodward is the superior thai restaurant I've had around here, but that's not saying much. am I missing something?
don
Chao Zhou in Madison Hts has its grand opening this Thurs--supposedly [DTW]
this really makes me sad. Has their "interesting" offerings been done away with?
don
Detroit Thanksgiving - Any Lessons Learned? [DTW]
1) Oil-less deep fryer's. complete farce. stay far away.
2) Steve Rocky's fresh turkeys. believe the hype. They are that good and worth every penny
3) Achatz pie pumpkin crump. omg good.
4) my gf uses bacon AND sausage in her stuffing. Wow. yummy.
Don
Chao Zhou in Madison Hts has its grand opening this Thurs--supposedly [DTW]
Went back.
Much better noodle dish this time. I had the spicy Taiwanese beef noodle dish. It was very yummy. Good flavors, excellent pieces of meat, balanced broth.
Had a side of Har Gow. Good. I give it a 8/10.
I will be a regular.
don
p.s. its a pure chinese place. I didn't sense any taint from other cultures.
Fried Chicken in Detroit or Western Suburbs
China Chef in Troy. NE corner of Rochester and Long Lake. it takes 20-25 minutes of prep time so call ahead. But sooo deelish. They call it crispy chicken.
Don
DTW: Da Nang, Clawson
Its definitely cleaner than the typical Vietnamese places around Madison Heights. Is it better? Not noticeably so. Their Bun Thit Heo Nuong and Cha gio is pretty edible. I would come back and try their Ga Ri Ca since no one else around other than my own two hands offers this. Pho, Bun Bo Hue, Com Suon, etc... I think you're pretty off at Pho Hang/Que Huong/Thuy Trang.
Don
In the mood for GREAT italian. Bacco or Giovannis???!!!?? [DTW]
My GF and I LOVE Bacco's. Its one of our go-to places for special occasions. Yes, its pretty pricey. Yes, its like stepping into the Housewives of West Bloomfield. But yes, we are blown away by how good our meal is everytime we go. Perfectly cooked fresh pasta with sauces that are vibrant with excellent full flavors. Their meats are incredible too.
don
Chao Zhou in Madison Hts has its grand opening this Thurs--supposedly [DTW]
Finally got around to eating here. went for lunch of sunday morning, and it was pleasantly packed with non-english speaking Chinese folks.
Like any good Vietnamese boy, I feel that all weekend breakfasts should start with a bowl of noodle soup. I asked what their "best" one was and the waitress immediately pointed to the cambodian noodle soup. I didn't click two and two together at that point so I ordered it and an side of Xiao long bao.
XLB: ooooook. There was SOME juices in the middle, but it wasn't like overflowing with succulent broth. Normally I like it where you scald yourself with every dumpling. The meat filling was tasty enough and reasonably moist. The wrapper was kinda thick though. Edible, order it again? Only if I'm really fiending. Having said that, probably the better XLB I've had here in SE-MI unless someone can point me in a better direction. Kim's (Novi), Best China, Trizest, all terrible.
My Cambodian noodle dish: Its just their version of what vietnamese peopl call Hu tieu. Watch anthony bourdain's trip to cambodia and its the stuff he rants and raves over. And having grown up in a city with a large Khymer population, this noodle soup was only meh. If you wanna try a much better rendition go to Pho Que Huong and order their Hu Tieu Kho with glass noodles. Their broth was clean tasting and didn't leave me parched from msg or salt. but it was kinda flat. Not the deep tasty porky goodness its supposed to have. No side dishes of bean sprouts and lime garnish. tsk, tsk. Meats were meh. three shrimp, a few slices of bbq pork, two fish balls, and maybe one spoonful of ground pork. It lacked MOST importantly, the sign of true greatness in a Hu Tieu place, is that they serve your dish wish a side of a big honking femur to gnaw on. If you ever go to LA or long beach, do yourself a favor and look up a place called Battambang.
Would I go back? surprisingly yes. I was looking around and the other dim sum dishes looked decent enough for me to give it a whirl. More importantly, some of the rice dishes looked really good. Some excellent "peasant" chinese food I suspect is to be had there. Just have to order out of your comfort zone.
Don
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Que Huong Restaurant
30820 John R Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071
Looking for fresh eggs and rabbit and other items in N. Oakland county [DTW]
Toasted oak in novi often has lardo
Peacocks poultry in Troy for eggs
Ventimiglia in sterling heights for all my Italian meat needs
Don
Dim sum recommendations? [Detroit]
Kim's Garden in Novi.
service is subpar, but their shumai, har kow, curried cuttlefish, chicken feet are all good. About as good as it gets here in SE-MI.
don
p.s. their dinner is decent too.
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Kim's Garden
26150 Novi Rd, Novi, MI 48375
Seoul Garden [Detroit Area]
15 and dequindre at the NE corner.
So a little confusion. Its now in the place of the "old Seoul Garden. (OSG)" I think there was some association with the New Seoul Garden over in southfield. To be honest, the OSG food was always ok. NSG was my go to place for korean food in SE-MI.
A Korean nurse told me there was new ownership at the OSG. so off I went.
I've been here twice now.
Ambiance: much better. clean, nice. Lots of tables with grills integrated into them. Over 90% of the customers there were Korean. Always a good sign.
Service: Meh. a little slow to be honest. Bring a book.
Food: Yummy!!!!!! I've eaten here twice now. First time I had the chap chae (stir-fry glass noodles) and woo-guh-ji Kalbi Tang (spicy beef soup with cabbage). Second time I had the Soondubu with pork. Everything I had was excellent. Well-balanced between being flavorful without being salty. Excellent cuts of meat in both soups. Both broths were outstanding. All the panchan (Korean side dishes) were of high quality. Bonus point is that they use the purple rice instead of white rice. Its richer, a touch sweet. Ive never seen it outside of K-town in LA before.
This my official #1 korean spot. I'm waiting with a group of people to go back and try me out some Korean BBQ.
Don
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Seoul Garden
2101 15 Mile Rd, Sterling Heights, MI 48310
Mae's, Pleasant Ridge, MI - Revisited [DTW]
Went to Mae's with the g-f yesterday morning.
Location: 50 yards south of 696 on woodward, ont he east side of the road. Itty-bitty, hard to find, but interesting location. The place has tons of character. Lots of vintage detroit items. Ample parking
Service: Excellent. Quick, personable, fun. Good music coming from someone's ipod.
Food: I wanted to like it. I really did. Alas, I really didn't. Two smoothies: Mixed Berry and the nutter butter. Mixed berry was ok. Not very smoothy-esque though. More like just.. berry juice. My Nutter Butter was plain gross. I think he forgot the banana or something, but it wasn't very good. I ordered the aebelskievers, and my g-f had the hillbilly. The menu is available online for anybody interested.
My Abelelskeievers were five doughy, deep-fried spherical balls with a syrupy raspberry sauce on it. The first one was good. Each successive one was an act in carb, sugar, grease overload. I really couldn't eat more than two. However, this is coming from somebody who can't finish a slice of cheesecake or creme brulee by himself. The bacon that came with it was decent. thick-sliced, slightly sugar cured. meaty without being too salty.
The Hillbilly was a biscuit + chickenfriedsteak + sausage gravy + Cheddar cheese + hot sauce + poached egg. Biscuit. Not your normal crumbly moist, stick to your ribs biscuit. It was doughy and chewy. Personal preference, I like the former. Chicken fried steak patty was decent. Crunchy with some good flavors and moist. Way too salty though, in my tastes. Sausage gravy was ok. The poached egg... wasn't poached. They were just hard boiled eggs.
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I left the restaurant kinda disappointed. Looking back, the food was decent (except for the smoothies). But everything was just TOO much, and not in a good way. I'd probably give it another whirl, but would not be my first choice for breakfast, esp with so many other excellent options in the area.
New Seoul Garden in Southfield, MI? [DTW]
Comfortably the best Korean restaurAnt out of the five I've had in se-mi. (never been to Ann arbor). Their meats are balanced in their marinades and of excellent quality. Soups are good without too much msg. Their pan-chan(sp?) is varied and excellent. The only subpar thing I've had their is the dak-GUI(grilled chicken).
Don
Best lamb/goat dishes dtw
El barzon in corktown. A very excellent goat shank and/or goat tacos.
Don
where do you guys buy your seafood? [Detroit Area]
My friend just bought me a couple jars of aligue from the Phillipines and I'm planning on making aligue pasta this weekend with prawns and/or scallops. Question is, where do you guys get your seafood from?
I'm normally a huge whole foods place, but its so incredibly pricey. I'd love to be able to find a place with Hokkaido scallops or Tiger prawns. If not, where do you fellow CHers buy your fresh seafood from? Any recommendations?
Don
