Fresh sweet corn

We are always wondering why the best fresh corn we find is at Meijer's in Royal Oak. Their's is consistently sweet, fresh, never mealy or old. Meijer's is consistently better than what we get at the RO Farmer's Market or at Westborn in Berkley. We don't expect such terrific quality from Meijer's usually but there it is.

Ribs and Cubanos

We ordered ribs from Lazybones in Roseville. We weren't excited. The ribs were greasy. The taste wasn't bad, but the excessive grease makes them ordinary at best and who needs ordinary?

I had a nice Cubano from Vincente's in downtown Detroit. It was flavorful with crispy bread, good meat and a nice bite from the pickle. The bread had an almost flaky crust. It was a little dry, but all in all, a very nice sandwich. As part of the takeout package Vincente's included a pair of pineapple rings with maraschino cherries in the middle. I suspect that's not authentically Cuban, but it was colorful and I like maraschinos.
Vincente's is hard to find unless you know downtown Detroit well. It's on Library St across the street from the lovely little library branch that used to be in the shadow of the Hudson's building on Woodward. Now, the best way to find it is to look behind the Compuware building. You can drive there via Grand River west off Woodward, via Gratiot from the east or via Monroe to Farmer, Farmer being the northeast border of the Compuware Building. There is metered parking on Library.

Meatloaf on a stick

Meatloaf on a stick made its worldwide debut this past weekend at Berkley Days, a carnival/community swap meet in Berkley.

MOAS is a piece of meatloaf squeezed onto a skewer, dipped into a potato/fry batter mixture and deep-fried. Some friends invented this concoction.

The couple who invented this diner's delight are friends and they did it to sell at a booth whose profits support the local library. Hooray for them!

Alas, MOAS doesn't taste very good

Bahn Mi Surprise

So I was in the neighborhood of John R and 13 Mile getting my new specs adjusted. And I knew I was in great bahn mi territory. Unfortunately, Saigon Market (corner of John R and 13 Mile) was out and many of the restaurants on that block close every Tuesday. So I asked a customer and clerk at the market where else I could pick up this tasty sandwich.

On their rec, I headed out to a nondescript strip mall at the corner of 13 and Dequindre and stepped into in Cyber Cafe. It's a grim little space with bare tables and chairs, several Vietnamese men playing a kind of checkers and what is a large karaoke machine in the corner, along with pinball machines. But the lady said, he sells sandwiches.

For $2 I got a freshly made, toasty/crusty bahn mi, with thin slices of pate, and great crunchy juliened carrots, pickle, radish and a big handful of cilantro all tossed in a sweet/salty dressing. The contrast of the warm baguqette and the crunch of the cool veggies contasting to the smooth pate was amazing. After one bite, I just sat in my car and devoured the nicely sized meal.

This is a great little dive with a perfect bahn mi, best I've had in the Detroit area.

Check it out: Cyber Cafe, 13 Mile and Dequindre, Warren, MI

Gus O'Connor's F&C

Detroit area fish and chips quest continues - this time at Gus O'Connor's in Rochester.

This is a "sandwich' review of a fish and chips dinner. A sandwich review provides a slice of good news bread, the meat of the review and another good news slice of bread. Human resources professional think this makes bad reviews more palatable for employees.

The hostess was quite pleasant and helpful. (That's a slice of good news.)

It's a good thing she was helpful because the establishment certainly wasn't. When I walked in the pub in downtown Rochester I spied a little sign that read approximately, "If you want to be seated, go to the back of the restaurant." At the back there is no hostess podium, no signs that I saw. Fortunately, a pleasant young woman approached me and soon I was seated.

I ordered the fish and chips and a lemonade. Food delivery took awhile - longer than I would have expected. Perhaps they were waiting for the chips to cool down. The chips were no danger to me; I wouldn't burn my fingers on them. They weren't cold; they were warmish, at best.

The chips did not embarrass the fish, though. The fish was hot and greasy. The coating was crispy on the outside and limp and soggy on the inside. When I pressed down on the fish with the side of a fork to cut a piece, little driblets of grease oozed out. I suspect the cooking oil was not up to temperature when the fish was laid into it.

The presentation of the fish was off as well. The fish pieces were laid atop a bed of salad greens. When I forked a piece of fish, salad came along, stuck to the bottom of the fish. There are lots of food combinations I enjoy. Fried fish and lettuce is not one of them.

Tartar sauce, cole slaw and lemonade were fine. The lemonade was quite sweet. I like it that way, but some may not. Dinner of F&C and lemonade with 20% tip was about $18.00. Gus O'Connor's is a pleasant spot - the chairs and tables are of ample size, well-spaced, comfortable, the Irish jukebox tunes were played at a low enough volume to be enjoyable, the view out onto Main St is pleasant. Would I go back? Perhaps for a beer or some more lemonade. Surely not for the food.

That's the meat of the review. Now for the last piece of good news bread.

The hostess was quite pleasant and helpful.

Northside Grill

I took Terrific Son for breakfast at the Northside Grill in Ann Arbor. Not bad at all, I say.

A friendly staff welcomed us and we chose to sit at the small counter rather than wait for a table or booth, though at noon on Sunday the wait would not have been more than ten minutes. I like that they give the waiting customers one of those little vibrating messangers to carry while they wait outside in the spring sun drinking coffee supplied outdoors by Northside.

I had a pancake with eggs OE, hash browns, a biscuit and bacon. High marks for the bacon - thin and crispy and clearly good quality. The hash browns were pretty good. Just potatoes, but very well cooked - crispy on the outside and soft inside. Eggs were fine, properly done with firmish whites and runny yolks and the yolk was filmed over nicely. The biscuit was just ok - a little on the heavy side. I have the opinion that biscuits are wonderful in the first five minutes after they come from the oven. After that, I would stick 'em in a barrel and sell the barrelful to the British Navy.

I ordered a single pancake because I like to make a pancake sandwich with my eggs. This single pancake could have made a meal by itself. I usually make buttermilk pancakes that are very light and fluffy. This buttermilk cake was thick and cakey and covered an entire dinner plate. It tasted fine, though I did not notice a buttermilk bite. It was not the ideal shape and texture for a egg sandwich, but I don't suppose I can fault Northside for that. For those looking for this style 'cake, Northside does a very decent job with these. If you're a light and fluffy sort, order eggs or something else here. Northside offers pure maple syrup for $1.45 extra, which seems reasonable to me.

Terrific Son had the corned beef hash. It was very nice, almost all meat, not greasy at all, and it had some spice to it. He enjoyed it.

I put Northside Grill on a par with Angelo's and The Broken Egg in Ann Arbor. All serve a tasty breakfast in different styles - tho it's easier to make a pancake sandwich at The Broken Egg.

Incidentally, Terrific Son graduates soon with a double major in film and communications. He has not yet selected a job and is still willing to listen to offers. You can contact hm through this blog if you're in need of a terrific filmer and communicator.

Leftovers night

Stopped at LeSoups in Ferndale for a lunch today. I had the crab/corn chowder with some bread. The chowder was pretty good with real pieces of crab in it. It was peppery, pretty potently peppery - I am kind of a wimp with spicy things, but this was peppery enough for a normal person, but not so peppery that I couldn't handle it. The bread was OK, French they said, and it had a crispy crust though the inside was insubstantial. Sadly, when I looked in the bag back at work I realized they put two containers of margarine in there. The bill was about $4.75 for a 10 oz. cup with bread and margarine and a nice bag to carry it back to work in. LeSoups is on the south side of Nine Mile, a couple blocks west of Woodward in downtown Ferndale.

Much of Metro Detroit believes that the Red Coat Tavern in Royal Oak serves the finest burger in the area, in the state! in the world! Knowing this, I stop in there every few years hoping that I will notice what seems so obvious to every one else. I did so again recently. I now believe that Red Coat makes a decent burger. The one I got was rare, though I ordered it medium rare, and the bottom of the bun was soggy. The fries were crisp and hot. Service was competent if not the friendliest. My bill for a cheeseburger, fries and iced tea, with tip, was $16.72. Red Coat Tavern is on the east side of Woodward Ave between 13 and 14 Mile Rds.

Here is one terrific meatloaf recipe I copied off Chowhound.com.

1/4 lb pancetta, diced
1 cup minced onion
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1-1/2 TBS worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp hot sauce
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 pound ground veal, pork or turkey
3/4 lb 85% ground beef
ketchup
shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cook the pancetta in a skillet until the fat renders. Pour off most of the fat and saute the onions and garlic in the fat until they soften and the pancetta starts to crisp. Mix all the other ingredients together in a bowl, add the onion mixture, and mix well with your hands. Form a loaf and place on a rack so it doesn't sit in grease while it cooks.
Cook 40 minutes of so until the internal temp is 155 degrees F.

Note: I used 1 lb of 80% chuck, 1/3 lb ground veal, 1/3 lb ground pork sausage.
Note also: I have one of those electronic thermometers with the long cable so I can watch the temperature rise outside of the oven. Take the meat out of the oven at 155F; if there's a little residual heat temperature rise, it's OK.