More Small Plates

A very pleasant outing with the family to Small Plates again in Royal Oak. I was surprised that we had no problem calling at 7:30 on a Friday night and secured an 8:00 reservation. The place as pretty full at 8, but there was no line of waiting diners and by 9:30 when we left, the place was 1/3 empty.

Food was very nice. We all shared ribs (with a modestly sweet/sour sauce) and fries, Asian lettuce wraps with chicken chunks and a soy-based sauce, crab cakes, Caesar salad and a margherita pizza. The ribs are good - not greasy, falling off the bone. The crab cakes were very nice - crispy outside, tender crabby interior with a minimum of filler so they just barely held together.

The pizza was quite tasty. It has a nearly cracker-thin and -crispy crust. The four cheeses and the tomato were lovely. The basil was pretty sparse - I could barely taste it.

This is getting to be a favorite spot just because the sharing and comparing is fun, but, yikes, we've eaten most of the menu by now.

Bagger Dave's

Little need be said about this new Berkley establishment. Pleasant site, pleasant service, terrible food. I'd like another good, casual restaurant in my hometown. This aint it.