Ok, so I saw the awning change on the old Famous Hamburgers spot in the Courtyard Shopping Center on Plymouth road, and thought "oh great, another restaurant doomed to failure, I can't wait to be constantly disappointed by it or think it's just meh (like Saica and Lucky Kitchen, the latter of which I order often because of price/consistancy)." Then I saw it was called Cardamom: Fresh Indian. Great, another mediocre-to-good Indian restaurant in an area where it's doomed to fail. It hadn't opened yet, and on Sunday, my fellow diner and I decided to check it out.
I was feeling Chinese, but something classier than take-out. He was like "let's get Indian at this new place, come on dude..." I was kicking and screaming against it all the way to the door, and I was the one driving. We get out and walk in the door to happen upon the most fragrant scent I've ever experienced at a restaurant. Gone are the white and red booths and extremely bright diner lights, and in with a new sleek upholstery on the booths and real, honest to Hoyle tables and chairs. The lighting was on a dimmer switch, and this place felt like they kicked up the class. I felt underdressed in my hockey jersey and jeans, but would go back in such attire because of how open the servers made me feel.
We ask for a table for 2, at 8:00 on a Sunday night. We waited 15 minutes for a table, and every single seat in this 20 table restaurant was filled. There were 4-5 parties behind us, pushing out the door. The striking part of our experience was then the menu. For such a small place, they had an extensive classic and original Indian menu. We each got a unique curry, and got it spicy, and witnessed what the tables next to us (almost in our laps... it is a little cramped in there. They have a patio, but it was raining that day pretty hard) had taken to them. I also ordered an unsweetened iced tea.
The tea took a half an hour to get to me, but trust me when I say the wait is worth it. They use Sri Lanken black tea for their iced tea, and it was better than most hot tea I've had in this town. My friend tried it, and we both agreed it was hands-down the best iced tea we've had in Ann Arbor. About a half an hour later and observations of the other tables' food being brought one at a time, and we had our food.
I am harsh about service, and service is one of my main criteria when I'm dining at a restaurant I've never eaten at before. That being said, when I say that the service time was forgiven, I do not say that lightly. I worked through the Mani soft open, and the ONLY leeway I give to a restaurant on service times from the kitchen is when a place is just opening for their first couple weeks. We counted (because the kitchen is open like a burger place/diner) the tickets, and there were 9 ahead of us. Our waiter informed us later in the meal that it was their third day open.
We ordered two curries to share, and the Chicken Momos. They were out of the Momos because they only prepped for 3 restaurant turnovers. We were apparently part of a harsh fourth turn, which is INSANE considering the location and size of this place, as well as the lack of advertising. The curries we ordered were the Lamb Saag and the Karahi Goat. They were served with basmati rice, and bread portions are an extra charge. The Lamb Saag was made with fresh spinich and tomatoes, curry spices, and a touch of yogurt (which added to the flavor but didn't ruin the texture like most yogurt in curry does). The Karahi Goat was described as the "dish that made my father-in-law love goat." It was unique for sure for someone who had never had goat, and it was made with cardamom, curry spices, fresh tomatoes, onions, mint, cloves and ginger.
We waited almost an hour total for our food, and upon seeing other dishes like the Tikka Masala and a rice dish native to Andhra Pradesh called Biryani, as well as tasting our food, we decided that not only was the wait worth it, but it changed our perspective on Indian food. Once before I've had food that has ruined all other food of the same type for me, and that's the Calimari at Mani, and there's even a secret pizza named after me. This curry was so delightfully spicy and perfectly cooked that it blew away everything I've had in Ann Arbor before. The spice was outstanding on how hot it was without making you lurch for the water. The vegetables and meat, goat and lamb, were fresher than anything that I've had almost anywhere in the state of Michigan. I felt insulted by every other Indian restaurant that served me "Indian food" before coming to Cardamom. Every bite was a treat, and we almost licked the serving plates clean.
Then the waiter came by and dropped the check. They don't serve alcohol (yet? maybe ever, knowing how hard it is to get a license in this town), and he struck my iced tea off the bill because of how long it took to get us our food. It was $15/person plus tip, a steal for food of this quality. I can not recommend this restaurant enough. I believe that the quote was "if all the other Indian restaurants in this town were to disappear tomorrow, nothing of value would have been lost." And I like Raja Rani and Shalimar. Then, upon researching the owner, he used to be the chef at Shalimar, named Binod Dhakal.
This is where I say drop everything. Go, go now. It's on north campus and sucks to get to if you don't have a car, but it's worth the trip. I told my friend "I'm glad you twisted my arm into coming here." Support them, because a long non-student season is coming up for the next four months, and they're in their infancy. The menu is extensive, and I'll be back to sample everything on it because my new apartment is walking distance from it. I don't say that lightly, but this place was great.
Quality: 6/5
Value: 6/5
Seriously, it's that good, and it will change you on Indian food, even if you don't care for it as a genre.
-C
Cardamom: Fresh Indian
1739 Plymouth Road
Courtyard Shops
Ann Arbor, MI
Monday, April 29, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Taco Time at Tmaz
So, there was an experience I had recently that led to me creating this blog. I was reading the Hedonist's review of the various taco places in Ann Arbor, and he made mention of the most authentic tacos in the area being at a place called Tmaz. There really wasn't much about it, because he's a burrito guy and they don't serve burritos. I went one night, like at 9 o'clock, and all I have to say is this:
Go now. If you even remotely like tacos, get in your car, or catch a bus and go now. (Well not now, they close at midnight. Go tomorrow morning.)
At $1.70 a taco for most meats, $2.00 for tacos with rice and exotic meats, and $2.50 for fish tacos, they are an AMAZING deal. Now if you're the Taco Bell, ground beef and lettuce, cheese, and tomato taco fan, and are judging the price on that, don't. $1.70 gets you a Lingua taco here. That's roasted beef tongue, which tastes like an intense pulled brisket flavor with the consistency of pulled pork. In the same tier, they have carnitas, beef (think steak), pulled pork, and a variety of others which we didn't order. We got their combo deal for 15 tacos and a free 2-liter, which happened to be pineapple Jaritos soda. We got 10 different types of taco, and every single one was great.
3 asides:
1) Everything is covered in cilantro. Some people can't stand it, so be wary of cilantro if you don't like it.
2) The Pork Rinds were way too rich and the consistency was off. Two bites and I was ready to leave the rest of it.
3) The restaurant is like 4 booths and a counter. It's very fast food, but don't judge it by that. It's not the type of place for sit-down atmosphere with drink service and brews, but they do to-go if you really want to drink Tecate with your tacos.
My favorite tacos in town are still Isalita, with their homemade taco wrappers and the insane level of food they're pulling off there, but Tmaz is half the price and double the volume. For authenticity and a great experience, go to Tmaz and pick up a few tacos the next time you crave taco bell. You won't be let down, and it will probably be less expensive than taco bell.
Quality 5/5
Value 5/5
-C
Go now. If you even remotely like tacos, get in your car, or catch a bus and go now. (Well not now, they close at midnight. Go tomorrow morning.)
At $1.70 a taco for most meats, $2.00 for tacos with rice and exotic meats, and $2.50 for fish tacos, they are an AMAZING deal. Now if you're the Taco Bell, ground beef and lettuce, cheese, and tomato taco fan, and are judging the price on that, don't. $1.70 gets you a Lingua taco here. That's roasted beef tongue, which tastes like an intense pulled brisket flavor with the consistency of pulled pork. In the same tier, they have carnitas, beef (think steak), pulled pork, and a variety of others which we didn't order. We got their combo deal for 15 tacos and a free 2-liter, which happened to be pineapple Jaritos soda. We got 10 different types of taco, and every single one was great.
3 asides:
1) Everything is covered in cilantro. Some people can't stand it, so be wary of cilantro if you don't like it.
2) The Pork Rinds were way too rich and the consistency was off. Two bites and I was ready to leave the rest of it.
3) The restaurant is like 4 booths and a counter. It's very fast food, but don't judge it by that. It's not the type of place for sit-down atmosphere with drink service and brews, but they do to-go if you really want to drink Tecate with your tacos.
My favorite tacos in town are still Isalita, with their homemade taco wrappers and the insane level of food they're pulling off there, but Tmaz is half the price and double the volume. For authenticity and a great experience, go to Tmaz and pick up a few tacos the next time you crave taco bell. You won't be let down, and it will probably be less expensive than taco bell.
Quality 5/5
Value 5/5
-C
Monday, April 22, 2013
C Dreams of Sushi: Miki
So, lots of people ask me what my favorite type of cuisine is, and I usually stick to the stereotypes. I'm a stocky Italian boy, and I like Italian boy food. Pasta, pizza, and classical French fare littered my childhood, and I like to think that I'm pretty well-versed in my Mediterranean foods. I cook a mean pasta, and have made everything from spaghetti and meatballs with homemade pasta down to Kraft mac and cheese. That being said, when I go out to restaurants I tend to hold these foods to the closest scrutiny; one step off from Mama, and I'm not enjoying myself. So that's why my favorite food to get out is non-Chinese eastern cuisine. I like everything from Korean to Vietnamese, Middle Eastern to Indian, but I especially love the simplicity and clean flavor of Japanese Sushi. I grew up in Traverse City. Until I moved to Ann Arbor, I had little to no access to good sushi (with one exception, which I'll have to justify with a full piece), and I was overwhelmed when I came down here to Ann Arbor. However it disappointed me when nothing really blew me away like my experiences out in Florida and Denver.
Enter Miki.
I'd known about this place for a few years, and from what I'd heard, they were expensive and trendy, not quite what I look for in a sushi place, but recently my brother was in town and we were feeling sushi lunch. This place is serious. My brother has lived in Chicago for almost as long as I've been alive, and worked for Lettuce Entertain You as a manager of multiple restaurants for a number of years before saying "screw it" and opening his own Jimmy Johns-killer on the DePaul campus. He has a sommelier license and he has eaten at some of the best sushi restaurants in the midwest (go figure, the taste runs in the family). He and I sought it out in Florida and had the best sushi either of us had experienced then, and here we were, walking into a place that looked on the outside like a trendy restaurant.
The striking style is impressive, over an immaculate sushi bar and intensely clean feel. This is a very important criteria for me when I'm ordering raw food, and it showed that the chefs care about what they put out and what image they project to the customer. I had their "Chef Special," a $17 lunch plate featuring whatever they want to give away at the time, and my brother had a $16 sushi plate. Both came with soup and salad. To note, their Miso isn't overpowering, and actually had a flavor to it, while the salad is about the same as any other salad at any sushi restaurant, with that orange vinaigrette that seems to be a staple at every Japanese-American restaurant.
My brother and I knew immediately that the value was impressive. He had 7 pieces of fish, all large, and all of impressive freshness. My dish came with a squid ink rice dish, a hand roll with salmon, three types of sashimi (largest I've ever had), and chirashi tuna. Every bite was better than the last, and the service was awesome, letting us stay past their lunch shut-down. Our server told us apparently it was within the last year that the management changed, and I say it changed for the better.
I was scared going back with a friend about a month later, because sometimes you have a good experience and talk something up and it sucks. I was pleased to see that not only did it not suck, it was a ton better than the last time I went. This friend of mine went back three times that week, taking other friends there. If that doesn't say something about a restaurant's quality, I don't know what does.
The only big fault was on the drink menu. The cocktails suck. Like mislabeled, cheap liquor suck. But sushi for me is a hot sake/cold sake/Japanese beer food, which they have in droves.
So, if you're looking for a trendy-looking place to woo your lovely lady on an anniversary or just have some extra cash to throw around, this place seriously rocks.
4.5/5 Quality
5/5 Value
-C
*Editor's Note: This restaurant review I've had in my yelp box for awhile, laying unpublished. This is about as high as I'm going for the sake of price range in this review series. The only places more expensive off the top of my head in this town are The Chop House and The Gandy Dancer, and I won't say never, but it's not likely, outside of restaurant week.
Enter Miki.
I'd known about this place for a few years, and from what I'd heard, they were expensive and trendy, not quite what I look for in a sushi place, but recently my brother was in town and we were feeling sushi lunch. This place is serious. My brother has lived in Chicago for almost as long as I've been alive, and worked for Lettuce Entertain You as a manager of multiple restaurants for a number of years before saying "screw it" and opening his own Jimmy Johns-killer on the DePaul campus. He has a sommelier license and he has eaten at some of the best sushi restaurants in the midwest (go figure, the taste runs in the family). He and I sought it out in Florida and had the best sushi either of us had experienced then, and here we were, walking into a place that looked on the outside like a trendy restaurant.
The striking style is impressive, over an immaculate sushi bar and intensely clean feel. This is a very important criteria for me when I'm ordering raw food, and it showed that the chefs care about what they put out and what image they project to the customer. I had their "Chef Special," a $17 lunch plate featuring whatever they want to give away at the time, and my brother had a $16 sushi plate. Both came with soup and salad. To note, their Miso isn't overpowering, and actually had a flavor to it, while the salad is about the same as any other salad at any sushi restaurant, with that orange vinaigrette that seems to be a staple at every Japanese-American restaurant.
My brother and I knew immediately that the value was impressive. He had 7 pieces of fish, all large, and all of impressive freshness. My dish came with a squid ink rice dish, a hand roll with salmon, three types of sashimi (largest I've ever had), and chirashi tuna. Every bite was better than the last, and the service was awesome, letting us stay past their lunch shut-down. Our server told us apparently it was within the last year that the management changed, and I say it changed for the better.
I was scared going back with a friend about a month later, because sometimes you have a good experience and talk something up and it sucks. I was pleased to see that not only did it not suck, it was a ton better than the last time I went. This friend of mine went back three times that week, taking other friends there. If that doesn't say something about a restaurant's quality, I don't know what does.
The only big fault was on the drink menu. The cocktails suck. Like mislabeled, cheap liquor suck. But sushi for me is a hot sake/cold sake/Japanese beer food, which they have in droves.
So, if you're looking for a trendy-looking place to woo your lovely lady on an anniversary or just have some extra cash to throw around, this place seriously rocks.
4.5/5 Quality
5/5 Value
-C
*Editor's Note: This restaurant review I've had in my yelp box for awhile, laying unpublished. This is about as high as I'm going for the sake of price range in this review series. The only places more expensive off the top of my head in this town are The Chop House and The Gandy Dancer, and I won't say never, but it's not likely, outside of restaurant week.
Welcome to the Accessible Gourmet
The idea to create this food review blog came to me one Sunday night in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For readers not privy to the area, Ann Arbor is a bit of an anomaly of the mid-west. Located in close proximity to the Detroit Metro Area and housing a major university, this town is a hipster take on a city. Crawl into any alley-way or back door entrance to almost any building downtown and you find yourself among thrift shops and funky college bars and restaurants. Then, if you have access to the rest of the town, there is a bit of everything from breweries and Korean BBQ to taco stands and Coney islands in the many corners waiting for you to explore.
Ann Arbor isn't the only place I wish to shed a culinary light on. I'm starting here because of proximity and my unique take on food. The Food and Wine Hedonist (http://foodandwinehedonist.com/, check him out because he has great things to say about food as well) is the closest to a real freelance food critic this town has, and he caters to the older, career driven crowd. I know my target audience is the Gourmet on a budget, the college student who is sick of ramen from a microwave on a Thursday night, the grad student who is awake at 3:30 in the morning after working all night at the Law Library. I wish to document the strange experiences I've had at classic establishments like the Fleetwood, as well as locate the best of each cuisine in the area. I regularly visit Detroit and the outlying areas, and love to travel as well, so this will be an outlet for those experiences as well.
I'm aiming to put out content 2-3 times per week, with a regular piece about a non-Ann Arbor establishment coming once every 1-2 weeks. This project is more for me to put together a portfolio of my experiences to share with the world then truly being judgmental. If I can quantify the value or quality of an experience, I will try to, and every review will have a recommendation of what to try or avoid. I'm doing this for you, and I look forward to embarking on this quest for great food.
-C
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