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Detroit Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations


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As an update to this thread that I've started, I wanted to tell about my experiences at Fiddleheads and Steve's Back Room.

Fiddleheads was, indeed, a very nice surprise. I went for lunch one day a month or so back, and I had a sandwich which sounded better on the page than it was, but it was still quite tasty! I know that sounds like sort of a back-handed compliment, but it's really not meant to be. I enjoyed what I had and was impressed with the level of service. I also liked the restaurant's lighting. I'll go back.

Steve's Back Room was tried tonight, and certainly falls into the category of the thread. For $9.34 out the door, I had bread with a delicious light oil-based dipping sauce, and lamb schwarma with noodle rice. The lamb schwarma was good, but not exceptional (but at $6.95, it was plenty good), and the noodle rice was functional. Again, the service was good once they realized that I was there. The next time I go I'll probably try something that doesn't involve the lamb being cut into cubed pieces, as the flavor of the meat was a bit lacking due to this. Next time, I'll probably try the lamb curry. The ladies at the table adjacent to mine were raving about Steve's, and you can really sense the freshness. Definitely a family-oriented place, and definitely affordable.

If I don't sound as "Yippee!" about Steve's as I do about Fiddleheads, please remember that I'm still somewhat new to Middle Eastern cuisine, and I'm still training the palate a bit. Certain things like hummous just aren't going to do a thing for me, but I do like many of the things that go into their cuisine, so I'm still working on sampling.

To those who recommended these: thank you.

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Anniversary dinner at Five Lakes Grill this weekend. Approached it with a little trepidation because of a couple of negative reviews (tammylc and ulterior epicure's), but came away neither pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised, meaning we were happy.

Sure there were some flaws, but it's not like we demand Nirvana-in-a-restaurant as a prerequisite for having a positive experience. Looking at the website (www.fivelakesgrill.com), the menu, and the prices, I had an expectation going in which turned out pretty much dead on. Please understand I'm not saying the other negative reviews were unfair -- reading those, they did have genuine problems there that we did not: dishes served cold etc.

Our dinner was:

Michigan white bean soup with duck confit, farmer's plate of charcuterie selections. Entrees were chicken jambalaya and fennel-brined organic Berkshire hog chop. Peach/blackberry cobbler for dessert (they wrote "happy anniversary" in chocolate sauce on the plate -- we hadn't told them, so they must've overheard us -- we appreciated it.)

I enjoyed everything. We agreed the highlight was definitely the hog chop. My wife's quibble was that some of the dishes (soup, jambalaya) were a little underseasoned to her taste. Though the charcuterie is a claim-to-fame and was enjoyable, it didn't strike either of us as a must-order.

I guess the drive remains a problem for most. I'd say our route, driving more or less west on that daffy Commerce Rd. (how can three of four roads at an intersection all be Commerce?) was picturesque, and the parts of Milford we drove through were charming as well. It's not like we felt, "we have to do this meal again, drive be damned." But as has been said several times on this website, there really aren't restaurants like that in the area anyway. And yet there aren't a lot of restaurants in the area at the level of the Five Lakes Grill. So it's a question of, do you pick the one that's closest and always go there, or do you nevertheless try to hit them all, driving all over metro Detroit + Ann Arbor, Windsor, etc. including, yes, Milford?

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Leonard, I always appreciate your sharing with the rest of us here. Five Lakes is one of those places that I've actually been inside, but was pretty turned off by the youth/immaturity of the hostess when I was there, so much so that I didn't bother to stay, and haven't been back. Sounds like I'm missing out.

Thanks for the review!

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I think somebody else commented on the service here, and I guess the hostess and other service were "young," but it isn't a big deal to me, so perhaps keep that in mind. No mistakes were made on the order, questions were answered satisfactorily, and nothing was spilled on me. Maybe I don't know enough not to have higher standards. As I said, I had an expectation going in, and they turned out to be accurate.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Freep article on the new exec chef of Tribute

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...2/70821058/1027

and the News has this bit about the chef change at the Whitney:

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A.../708160438/1042

The articles were wonderful. I used some stuff from them in another thread. It seems that MetroDetroit does have a thread for general/local food news afterall :cool::cool::cool: BTW Leonard :Do I know who "one notable, enthusiastic dissenter" is :hmmm: ?

"As life's pleasures go, food is second only to sex.Except for salami and eggs...Now that's better than sex, but only if the salami is thickly sliced"--Alan King (1927-2004)

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  • 1 month later...

Glad you enjoyed Steves, I know that I have certainly enjoyed the Weekday Cafe. I recently moved back to St Clair Shores from Sterling Heights and me and my girl had been looking for a good soup and sandwich place, which wasn't easy to find either (hmm...do I smell a new thread coming along?) Chef Ed's certainly fit the bill with great soups and REASONABLY PORTIONED SANDWICHES. I know right? Who still does that? Why wouldn't I want a 4# pastrami sandwich? Oh yeah, because I only have one stomach... But a great recommendation, I go there for the soup alone :)

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Glad you enjoyed Steves, I know that I have certainly enjoyed the Weekday Cafe. I recently moved back to St Clair Shores from Sterling Heights and me and my girl had been looking for a good soup and sandwich place, which wasn't easy to find either (hmm...do I smell a new thread coming along?) Chef Ed's certainly fit the bill with great soups and REASONABLY PORTIONED SANDWICHES. I know right? Who still does that? Why wouldn't I want a 4# pastrami sandwich? Oh yeah, because I only have one stomach... But a great recommendation, I go there for the soup alone :)

I'm *so* glad to hear this. I'm right with you on their all-made-in-house soups. Though I might not care for every soup offering they have, usually I can find something among the four daily offerings that I like, and I always do. The sandwiches are very, *very* good, aren't they? Not only are they reasonably portioned (which, yes, is a very good thing), but they're also reasonably *priced*. Last time I stopped by the Stage Deli in West Bloomfield, my corned beef on rye with cole slaw and Russian dressing was $11.75. And that's *without* tax. Thus, if you want this sandwich to go, your carry-out price will be an eye-popping $12.46. For a sandwich (and 1/4 of a pickle). Yes, it's a darned *great* sandwich, but I mean, really. Couple that with dining in, and a beverage, and you got it: you're at $20 for a sandwich and a drink (though the service there is so consistently bad, it's hard to tip the usual amount).

My personal favorite sandwich from Weekday Cafe is the cranberry turkey. That is just a wonderful flavor explosion. Couple that (or a half sandwich) with some of their soup, and you'll leave satisfied on many levels. The desserts are also very good, but I often either don't have room, or they don't have anything that would really appeal to me (their chocolate cakes go quite fast, from my experience). More often than not, though, I have their weekly fish special, which is always under $10, correctly prepared, with a wonderful veggie of the day (carrot slices cooked in real maple syrup [which, at $38 a gallon, ain't cheap], fresh broccoli with hollandaise sauce [which my folks *love*, but I can't eat hollandaise], zucchini with onions and bell peppers, etc.), and your choice of starch. Yummo.

See, now you've gotten me all hungry, and it's 1:14AM! Nuts! ;)

Edited by boagman (log)
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  • 4 weeks later...
I love Nippon Grille in Berkley for the area's BEST sushi at some of the lowest prices I've seen anywhere;

Finally found a Tuesday slow enough at work that I could try this. (They are only open for lunch on Tuesdays.)

The owner-chef, Tot, was so friendly that I came away feeling this restaurant should be supported and I should do my part by seconding jende's recommendation here. (Reading the article clippings posted around the back entrance, I get the sense that our local critics got the same impulse.)

The food was good and tasty. I wouldn't go so far as jende above, which seems to suggest you're getting some ridiculous bargain on high-end food. The food is modestly priced, and that's where you should set your expectation level. That said, I pay those prices for all kinds of crap meals, when I'd much rather have food like this. And it's warming to get the sense that, when you come back, you'll be remembered and treated as a regular.

They have a website: www.nippongrille.com

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  • 8 months later...

Greetings everyone.

I have moved from Springfield, Missouri. Farmington Hills, Michigan.

I have been trying some of the local places out, and will soon start diving into the more of the selections mentioned in these posts.

So far I have enjoyed my time in the Northwest Metropolitan area.

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Greetings everyone.

I have moved from Springfield, Missouri. Farmington Hills, Michigan.

I have been trying some of the local places out, and will soon start diving into the more of the selections mentioned in these posts.

So far I have enjoyed my time in the Northwest Metropolitan area.

Welcome. If you're in Farmington Hills, I'd highly, *highly* recommend you travel about 10 minutes west to Diamond Jim Brady's Bistro in Novi, just off the Novi Road exit of I-96 (the Twelve Oaks Mall exit, if that helps). Their website is www.djbistro.com and you can click on the Specials menu option on the left to see what the specials are this week.

I absolutely love this place, and for good reason. I doubt very much that you'll be disappointed.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Yoonhi'll be in the Detroit area later tonight for the next few days (the Girl is doing the Junior Olympics thing).

Does anyone have any kid-friendly recommendations for the area near the University (Ypsilanta or something like that?). The thread has been quiet for awhile, but it looks like there's activity bubbling under the surface out there (sort of like Serena's swimming).

thanks,

Peter

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Yoonhi'll be in the Detroit area later tonight for the next few days (the Girl is doing the Junior Olympics thing).

Does anyone have any kid-friendly recommendations for the area near the University (Ypsilanta or something like that?).  The thread has been quiet for awhile, but it looks like there's activity bubbling under the surface out there (sort of like Serena's swimming).

thanks,

Peter

There's always Zingerman's. An Ann Arbor institution.

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Yoonhi'll be in the Detroit area later tonight for the next few days (the Girl is doing the Junior Olympics thing).

Does anyone have any kid-friendly recommendations for the area near the University (Ypsilanta or something like that?).  The thread has been quiet for awhile, but it looks like there's activity bubbling under the surface out there (sort of like Serena's swimming).

thanks,

Peter

You're probably referring to Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti (pronounced ip-sih-LAN-tee). Unfortunately, I'm not terribly familiar with Ypsi (IP-see) restaurants. Near campus there's an ostensibly good Chinese/Vietnamese place, Golden Wall, plus a well received Vietnamese restaurant, Dalat. As Randi mentioned, there are numerous good choices in Ann Arbor, but one needs to drive there from EMU.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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Yoonhi'll be in the Detroit area later tonight for the next few days (the Girl is doing the Junior Olympics thing).

Does anyone have any kid-friendly recommendations for the area near the University (Ypsilanta or something like that?).  The thread has been quiet for awhile, but it looks like there's activity bubbling under the surface out there (sort of like Serena's swimming).

thanks,

Peter

You're probably referring to Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti (pronounced ip-sih-LAN-tee). Unfortunately, I'm not terribly familiar with Ypsi (IP-see) restaurants. Near campus there's an ostensibly good Chinese/Vietnamese place, Golden Wall, plus a well received Vietnamese restaurant, Dalat. As Randi mentioned, there are numerous good choices in Ann Arbor, but one needs to drive there from EMU.

La Fiesta Mexicana is a good Mexican restaurant that's almost right across from EMU on Cross St. And there are a couple other Mexican restaurants in that block, all of which I recall hearing good things about.

"Temptations" is a reasonably short drive down Washtenaw towards Ann Arbor (but still well on the Ypsi side of things). Good Indian food.

Abe's Coney Island is in downtown Ypsi on Michigan Ave - good diner food. I also like the The Wolverine - it's even more dinery, and also on Michigan Ave. Going the opposite way from Abe's there's a place called The Bomber, another diner, known for breakfast.

The Depot Town part of Ypsi has some nicer restaurants. The Sidetrack is a little bar-like, but kids are allowed (i've taken my 4-year old there) and they make great burgers. I've never tried the deep fried dill pickles, but they get talked about a lot...

That's my Ypsi overview, off the top of my head. I second Alex's recommendation of Dalat - I ate many many lunches there when i worked right next door.

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  • 1 month later...

Michael Symon's upcoming restaurant in the Book Cadillac is getting some help from the city:

Roast restaurant gets loan

Developing new restaurants is seen as a crucial step in the redevelopment of downtown. But the restaurant business is slumping nationally, plagued by waning consumer confidence and the high costs of fuel and food, and it has hit some downtown Detroit restaurants particularly hard.

Several upscale downtown restaurants -- including ones that have received loans from the city -- face mounting tax debt at a time when there is more competition from new restaurants, particularly in the Wayne State University area and nearby Corktown.

But Cleveland-based Symon comes to town with a lot of heat. He is best known for winning an "Iron Chef" title on the Food Network's series "Iron Chef America" and hosts the network's "Dinner: Impossible." Symon said he could see an episode being filmed at Roast but that any deal is far from sealed.

The restaurant is estimated to cost more than $3 million. "We're sparing no expense to make it special," Symon said, adding that the menu will be dedicated to "all things meat," including pork, bison, wild boar and prime aged beef.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Has anyone been to Due Venti in Clawson yet? Northern Italian, 50 seats, everything -- including pasta -- house made. Sounds really good. No reviews so far on Yelp.

Detroit Free Press review

Detroit News review

their wine list story (all wines are from Fenn Valley Vinyards)

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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Has anyone been to Due Venti in Clawson yet? Northern Italian, 50 seats, everything -- including pasta -- house made. Sounds really good. No reviews so far on Yelp.

Detroit Free Press review

Detroit News review

their wine list story (all wines are from Fenn Valley Vinyards)

I've seen this place. I haven't been there yet, and don't really see myself doing so anytime soon. If there's one thing that the Detroit area has an absolute overabundance of, it's Italian restaurants, in all of their many forms, shapes, and sizes...whether chain or independent, authentic or from out of a can, high-priced or low-priced, there are just *tons* of Italian places. Honestly? I think that they're making a mistake opening up, especially right now with the economy being what it is.

It probably doesn't help that Italian isn't exactly my favorite cuisine, but by anyone's estimation, there's just far too many of them around here. In the same way that Thai was once hard-to-find and is now ubiquitous here, Italian joints were *never* hard-to-find, and now litter the landscape from east-to-west, north-to-south.

Besides, there are places in Clawson that I already really like: Noble Fish for sushi, Frittata for breakfast, Royal Kubo for Philippino, etc. I understand that the bar/microbrewery on the corner of 14 Mile and Main Street is quite good, too...too bad I can't stand beer.

BTW, it was great sharing a meal with you at DJB!

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The Free Press has a bit more info about Roast at the Westin Book Cadillac:

A nationally celebrated chef, pioneering Cleveland restaurateur and permanent member of Food Network's "Iron Chef" team, Symon is the man behind Roast, the soon-to-open anchor restaurant of the $180-million Westin Book Cadillac Detroit.

With so much attention focused on the magnificently restored Book hotel and Symon's celebrity-chef name stirred into the mix, the project couldn't be more buzz-worthy.

Or more ... well, untraditional.

"For the most part, it's a meat house," he says. "There's going to be seven steaks, four chops, and we'll do a whole roasted animal of the day. ... It's like a pig roast. Every day will feature a different animal off the rotisserie. So one day it might be a suckling pig. The next day it might be goat. The next day it might be lamb."

The big wood-fired stainless steel rotisserie, custom-made for the restaurant, stands within view of the dining room, so guests can watch it roasting if they care to.

With the street-level space at the corner of Washington and State a construction zone last week, Symon wasn't ready to commit to a firm opening date -- though it shouldn't be too much longer.

So still no opening date, but it looks like they're getting close. There's a photo of the custom-made rotisserie grill - that's something you won't find in his Cleveland restaurants.

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Here's a Detroit News article about Roast, opening this Sunday.

...offerings will include a "roasted beast of the day," a "porterhouse for 2" that measures almost 3 inches thick, and beef cheek pierogi, a Symon staple (which comes from the head of the cow, not the other end) served with mushrooms and horseradish crème fraiche.

------------

While the name Roast conjures up visions of a steakhouse to be sure, Symon's vision goes beyond simply searing steaks and chops. "We're going to focus on preparing artisanal and heritage meats," he says. "That includes suckling pig, baby lamb and even goat."

"The meat will come from right here in the Midwest and will be raised properly from farms that are 100-percent sustainable," says the chef, who's a strong supporter of locally produced products.

------------

Meats will be served simply sprinkled with sea salt, oregano, shallots and roasted garlic, and diners will be offered a choice of sauces: salsa verde, balsamic, coffee barbecue and the special Sha Sha Sauce named for Symon's mother-in-law, who makes a hot sauce of banana peppers, mustard, vinegar and a bit of sugar.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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  • 3 weeks later...

My wife wanted to eat at Brasserie Zinc last night, forgetting that it's closed on Sundays. So we drove several miles north on Orchard Lake into Keego Harbor and ate at Modern Food and Spirits, which I think has been open for a little over a year now.

http://www.modernfoodspirits.com/

http://metrotimes.com/food/review.asp?rid=24450

I'm not exactly sure what to make of this place. I think the media and other reports may have underplayed just how unpromising the storefront (adjacent to a liquor/party store and not all that distinct, appearance-wise, from it) and interior are (it looks like a family restaurant, like a place where you'd get bad scrambled eggs and coffee.)

We didn't have the best experience -- service was slow and our food finger-tappingly slow in arriving. Two of the three soups I had in the sampler weren't warm enough for me, tasty as they were. The restaurant was not busy -- there were maybe 2 or 3 other parties there.

Yet the food is, as the reviews point out, good. It's possible I may be overestimating it, because it's such a jarring contrast from everything else about the place. The first place that popped to mind in comparison foodwise was the now-closed Boocoo in Royal Oak. (I'm not saying that's the most apt parallel; it's just what came to mind first.) This isn't a place like Christine's Cuisine in Ferndale (another storefront place with unpromising ambience with a reputation for good food) which really is a family restaurant, well-executed as it may be. This place's menu, in contrast, is the real thing.

I can't really think of an excuse to go back. The setting is such that I wouldn't consider it for a romantic night out. There's nothing apparently kid-friendly about the menu. I suppose if I were retired and living close by with time to wait for my meal, I'd eat there regularly, treating it like a neighborhood restaurant in terms of dining habits while enjoying superior food.

Thing is, despite my less-than-perfect experience, I felt better spending my money here than any number of other places. For example, every time I have to eat at one of the restaurants along Big Beaver in Troy, I feel suckered -- places like Kona Grill (terrible each time I've been), the steakhouses, the stuff in Somerset Mall, even something like Ocean Prime (which I found mediocre despite the hype). It just shocks me how much they are charging for what seems to me poorly conceived, poorly executed, not-even-trying food. One reads about how chain restaurants are succeeding in the $20+ entree dining scene, but there seems to me a true loss here, whatever may be gained in liveliness and consistency (and it's questionable whether even that much is gained.) At Modern Food and Spirits, where no entree is even $20, I felt like I was paying for food, not a dining experience per se. From that standpoint, it's an outstanding bargain.

Postscript: Poking around online, I've found, in addition to similar praise, some truly virulent, horrorshow comments about this place. Like I said, I don't know what to make of it.

Edited by Leonard Kim (log)
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I'm not exactly sure what to make of this place.  I think the media and other reports may have underplayed just how unpromising the storefront (adjacent to a liquor/party store and not all that distinct, appearance-wise, from it) and interior are (it looks like a family restaurant, like a place where you'd get bad scrambled eggs and coffee.)

We didn't have the best experience -- service was slow and our food finger-tappingly slow in arriving.  Two of the three soups I had in the sampler weren't warm enough for me, tasty as they were.  The restaurant was not busy -- there were maybe 2 or 3 other parties there.

Yet the food is, as the reviews point out, good.  It's possible I may be overestimating it, because it's such a jarring contrast from everything else about the place.  The first place that popped to mind in comparison foodwise was the now-closed Boocoo in Royal Oak.  (I'm not saying that's the most apt parallel; it's just what came to mind first.)  This isn't a place like Christine's Cuisine in Ferndale (another storefront place with unpromising ambience with a reputation for good food) which really is a family restaurant, well-executed as it may be.  This place's menu, in contrast, is the real thing.

I can't really think of an excuse to go back.  The setting is such that I wouldn't consider it for a romantic night out.  There's nothing apparently kid-friendly about the menu.  I suppose if I were retired and living close by with time to wait for my meal, I'd eat there regularly, treating it like a neighborhood restaurant in terms of dining habits while enjoying superior food.

Thing is, despite my less-than-perfect experience, I felt better spending my money here than any number of other places.  For example, every time I have to eat at one of the restaurants along Big Beaver in Troy, I feel suckered -- places like Kona Grill (terrible each time I've been), the steakhouses, the stuff in Somerset Mall, even something like Ocean Prime (which I found mediocre despite the hype).  It just shocks me how much they are charging for what seems to me poorly conceived, poorly executed, not-even-trying food.  One reads about how chain restaurants are succeeding in the $20+ entree dining scene, but there seems to me a true loss here, whatever may be gained in liveliness and consistency (and it's questionable whether even that much is gained.)  At Modern Food and Spirits, where no entree is even $20, I felt like I was paying for food, not a dining experience per se.  From that standpoint, it's an outstanding bargain.

Postscript: Poking around online, I've found, in addition to similar praise, some truly virulent, horrorshow comments about this place.  Like I said, I don't know what to make of it.

Leonard, this review was interesting to me. By far, my experiences at Modern have been favorable. I can, however, relate to the complaints made by the posters online who were mistreated by the owner/chef. I ordered an entree that was new to the the menu and had been a well-received special, apparently, called "Evil Tiger Prince". It was billed as a Thai-inspired dish, and when it came out, it was cold. I had to send it back, and when it came back the *second* time, it was cold. Cold and pretty lousy, considering that it was the most expensive thing on the menu. I asked to speak to someone about it, and you betcha: the chef came out and tried to lecture me on food. I did end up paying for it, but wasn't very happy.

I will also spot that food can sometimes arrive cold. Cold soup (unless it's gaspacho or something) is just anathema to me, and I want it heated up properly.

Service, however, I've always (no exceptions) found to be prompt, courteous, and friendly, whether I've sat at a booth, table, or bar. I've always been impressed with the servers.

For the most part, I find the food to be *very* good, too. I had lunch there last week and started out with the shrimp fritters with romesco sauce (which was quite good), a bowl of the corn chowder (which was *also* very good), and one of the lunch specials: a turkey pot pie with cornbread topping which may darned well have been the best pot pie I've ever eaten in my entire life. It was wonderful, and it was the last thing I ate that day, being completely full from the meal. At $8, that pot pie was a *total* bargain as well.

I'm inclined to say that the place could use a General Manager, or at least a buffer between the FOH and the BOH. When the chef comes out, he's obviously miffed, and yet he can be (and sometimes is) wrong. Cold food is what it is. Bad service is what it is. Bullying customers is not acceptable.

I've only ever had the one bad experience there, and have been back since and was pleased, but I'm surprised by some of this.

The one thing I don't get: what's wrong with the decor? It's nothing to write home about necessarily, but it's not bad, either, and it's clean! More than that, the parking lot was just resurfaced, making that an even better experience. I think the decor (which is probably the thing I care least about) is just fine as-is...I've seen *far* worse at places charging far more. And whatever smell some of the people were complaining about is just a lie: the place does *not* have a smell.

I do hope you'll go back and try it again, Leonard. If not for dinner, then try lunch! Heck, just fill up on the soups! Just tell them you want them *hot*! ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

friends,

i ate at roast last week and it was very mixed. the food was "meaty" in that Symon way and solid, especially a warm spinach salad with chopped pig ear, but the atmosphere put me off. i LOATHE seeing people sitting at a bar before a proper dinner drinking lurid cocktails more appropriate to a vulgar lounge for suburban swingers. ugh. the renovation of the Book Cadillac is impressive if a bit cold. i could do without the rappers and their entourages in the mezzanine bar as well but it is detroit after all.

my favorite is still tribute. you want meat? they've got meat. rick travis is a genius chef who uses the best of michigan produce and flesh to create honest cuisine that impresses without trying too hard. shame you have to drive all the way out to the suburbs. if only tribute had relocated to the book cadillac, who knows what could be.

Barbarian at the Plate

Your Gourmet with an Attitude

http://www.barbarianattheplate.com

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  • 7 months later...
Glad you enjoyed Steves, I know that I have certainly enjoyed the Weekday Cafe. I recently moved back to St Clair Shores from Sterling Heights and me and my girl had been looking for a good soup and sandwich place, which wasn't easy to find either (hmm...do I smell a new thread coming along?) Chef Ed's certainly fit the bill with great soups and REASONABLY PORTIONED SANDWICHES. I know right? Who still does that? Why wouldn't I want a 4# pastrami sandwich? Oh yeah, because I only have one stomach... But a great recommendation, I go there for the soup alone :)

I'll be back in the metro area for a couple of days next month, and my schedule will finally allow me an opportunity to hit Weekday Cafe for lunch. Has anyone been there recently?

Edited by Alex (log)

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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