Food tour of Ann Arbor, MI
Hello Everyone!
I just got back from a quick little trip to Ann Arbor, MI to visit one of my oldest friends, Andy. What do you want to do this weekend? she asked me. Eat! I answered. And eat we did. We lucked out and made really good choices when picking out meals. I have hardly any complaints. So let’s get right to it!
Friday brunch
Café Zola- Ann Arbor, MI
When it comes to brunch I can never decide between something savory or something sweet, luckily my companion obliged me and we ordered one of each and then did splitsies. So we started off with a Frittata Zola Italian style omelette served open-faced, with cubed sweet potatoes and caramelized onions, topped with challah croutons and tangy goat cheese. I’d never actually had goat cheese before, so I was excited to try it because I do like soft creamier cheeses. Unfortunately I do not like tangy. So after I gave it a few fair shots, I picked the goat cheese clumps out, which then my friend ate with her potatoes because she loves it. After the cheese eviction, the omelette was delicious, the caramelized onions really made it fabulous.
The toast was sourdough, which I already knew I wouldn't like but I took a bite to be polite. I let Andy pick the crepe because I knew I would default to my usual flavor palette and I wanted to try something new. The selection was the Normandie Sautéed apples, walnuts and cranberries, drizzled with honey and crème chantilly. I didn't love the apples because they were on the sour side, but the bites with cranberries and walnuts were delicious and I truly enjoyed them. The theme here is clearly that I don’t like tangy or sour flavors. But hooray for trying new things.
Tea Time
TeaHaus - Ann Arbor, MI
I’ve only ever had english tea once before and I loved it, so I was super excited about doing it again because I love lots of small cute things you can eat with your hands. We ordered a pot of Black Mango Pineapple tea, which smelled AMAZING, but tasted like hot water. Womp. I added a little sugar and now it just tasted like generic tea, Oh well. The meal I ordered was the Quickie English Tea Three finger sandwiches, a scone with clotted cream + jams, and a sweet ending. I’ll list the three sandwiches I got in order of most to least favorite: Brie & Fig (so good I even ate the rind), Cucumber (A classic but a goodie), and Chicken Salad (this one was also pretty tasty, it was a tad peppery and had an interesting mild sweetness). The thing I missed most about the first English Tea from many years ago was the clotted cream. I talk about it a lot and how much I need to have some again and yet never do. So I slathered up my scone and delighted in my reunion with Clotty McCreamy. The fruit spreads were (from favorite to least favorite): Blueberry pomegranate, Mango butter, and a Orangey Lemony Jam. And the sweet treat, as if the meal itself wasn't sweet enough, was a simple strawberry crepe, it was up to standard and therefore was inhaled in 3 bites.
Saturday lunch
The Pita Grill - Windsor, Canada
With nothing to do but drive around in beautiful weather, we decided that a trip across our national border for a Canadian staple was in order. Poutine is like cheese fries, but with gravy, and with way better cheese. It was oh so delicious. We ordered the poutine with some sandwiches, which were fine. And if you see it at Buffalo Wild Wings, don’t have it there. In fact don’t have it anywhere here. Go to Canada, order poutine and lick your fingers clean.
Dinner
Lupita’s and La Gloria Bakery Detroit, MI
My friend knows me and flavor palette well, so she took me to Mexicantown. YAY! I LOVE CILANTRO! I had a chorizo taco, a beef tongue taco, a chorizo taco, a lomo taco, and a fish taco. Right off the bat the fish taco sucked. (There is a bar here in NYC that serves the most amazing fish taco in all the world, albeit not very authentic. But this fish taco has basically ruined me for any future fish taco, and I’ve gone fish taco tasting in Mexico and California. So I declared after tasting this one that I give up my mission to find another great fish taco.) Okay now the other three tacos. The tongue meat was a little bland but that’s better than it tasting like liver which it sometimes can. The chorizo was also on the bland side. The blandness however, was easily fixed with the array of lovely salsas, so all was well with this meal. The lomo, or pork loin, was definitely the best taco, requiring no adjustments. The salsa for the chips was delicious. Clearly freshly made and chock full of onion and cilantro. I have high standards for my salsas, because often times it’s super obvious it came out of jar and that is unacceptable. The tacos were just as good as my taco standard, so I was pleased.
After the tacos we headed to the corner bakery for a treat. Our intention was to have one treat but everything was priced .50 to 1.00 so we ended up with 4 each. Strawberry empanada, chocolate enormous cookie bread thing, churro, and pineapple basket. The big round thing and the churro weren't anything special for me so that’s all I’ll say. The pineapple basket was really tasty- but the ratio of fruit to bread was not ideal. There was too much pineapple and after I ran out of bread the remaining goopy pineapple was a bit too rich for me. Now..the strawberry empanada: the bread was like a denser kind of croissant and the strawberry was just enough to sweeten it but not overwhelm it. This was probably one of the favorite things I ate this weekend, so now I have to go find a Mexican bakery in Queens that has these scrumptious lil triangles.
Sunday brunch
Aut Bar - Ann Arbor, MI
I’d like to start off by saying that this place is cool right off the bat because they support their local LGBT community and are often the location for fundraising efforts. Read more about it here. Now for the food. I ordered chilaquiles Eggs scrambled with crisp corn chips, tomatoes, onions, jalapeños and green peppers. Topped with cheese. Served with two tortillas, rice and beans. I love scrambled eggs in general, and the addition of the crunchy tortillas made it quite fun. The black beans had good flavor and helped season my eggs, which needed a little more salt anyway. Definitely something I look to order again once I find a menu with them on it.
Sunday dinner
Aventura - Ann Arbor, MI
For our last meal together we decided to go to a tapas bar and get paella! I studied abroad in Spain 10 years ago and I always have a soft spot for Spanish food and Sangria, so again like the English tea, I was excited to get some saffron in my system. The paella was going to take 45 minutes to make so we killed some time by drinking Sangria, which was a little heavy on the cinnamon, and some cheese and meat snacks. We had some cured lomo and Serrano jamon. I liked both a lot and then realized I definitely do not have enough cured meats in my life. I was afraid of the Manchego, even though surely I had it when I was abroad, but I liked it, but not as much as the Queso L’alt, which was a soft cow cheese with a very subtle nutty sort of smoky flavor. So as far as cheeses go, I like the mild and softer variety. Half a pitcher of sangria later, our paella came out and it was so tasty. The rice was creamy and lemony, the Spanish chorizo was cured and dense like salami, and was my favorite meat in this particular paella. The chicken wasn't special but it was fine. The prawns were HUGE and still had eyes! “I see you man, lookin at me!” OH yes I am looking at you prawn, I'm going to eat you! I ate a few of the mussels just to help out in the food absorption effort, but honestly I don’t like them because I feel like I’m just eating a big fat booger. I apologize for ending my paella review on that note, but I made sure to bury the boogers in a lot of rice so my last bites would be memorable.
The whole weekend was full of really great food and company. Before I left, Andy asked me what my favorite foods were and I wasn't sure when she asked. But looking back now, I think I've figured it out: The strawberry empanada, the chilaquiles and the brie and fig tea sandwich. There were some of the new things I've never had that I've decided I need to have more often. Some of the other great food I had this weekend I've either had before or know where to get it in NY. In any case, I had a great time and I hope that if anyone is going to Ann Arbor and need some food recommendations, this review helps narrow it down!
May your meals be ever in your flavor,
-Estha
I just got back from a quick little trip to Ann Arbor, MI to visit one of my oldest friends, Andy. What do you want to do this weekend? she asked me. Eat! I answered. And eat we did. We lucked out and made really good choices when picking out meals. I have hardly any complaints. So let’s get right to it!
Friday brunch
Café Zola- Ann Arbor, MI
When it comes to brunch I can never decide between something savory or something sweet, luckily my companion obliged me and we ordered one of each and then did splitsies. So we started off with a Frittata Zola Italian style omelette served open-faced, with cubed sweet potatoes and caramelized onions, topped with challah croutons and tangy goat cheese. I’d never actually had goat cheese before, so I was excited to try it because I do like soft creamier cheeses. Unfortunately I do not like tangy. So after I gave it a few fair shots, I picked the goat cheese clumps out, which then my friend ate with her potatoes because she loves it. After the cheese eviction, the omelette was delicious, the caramelized onions really made it fabulous.
The toast was sourdough, which I already knew I wouldn't like but I took a bite to be polite. I let Andy pick the crepe because I knew I would default to my usual flavor palette and I wanted to try something new. The selection was the Normandie Sautéed apples, walnuts and cranberries, drizzled with honey and crème chantilly. I didn't love the apples because they were on the sour side, but the bites with cranberries and walnuts were delicious and I truly enjoyed them. The theme here is clearly that I don’t like tangy or sour flavors. But hooray for trying new things.
Tea Time
TeaHaus - Ann Arbor, MI
I’ve only ever had english tea once before and I loved it, so I was super excited about doing it again because I love lots of small cute things you can eat with your hands. We ordered a pot of Black Mango Pineapple tea, which smelled AMAZING, but tasted like hot water. Womp. I added a little sugar and now it just tasted like generic tea, Oh well. The meal I ordered was the Quickie English Tea Three finger sandwiches, a scone with clotted cream + jams, and a sweet ending. I’ll list the three sandwiches I got in order of most to least favorite: Brie & Fig (so good I even ate the rind), Cucumber (A classic but a goodie), and Chicken Salad (this one was also pretty tasty, it was a tad peppery and had an interesting mild sweetness). The thing I missed most about the first English Tea from many years ago was the clotted cream. I talk about it a lot and how much I need to have some again and yet never do. So I slathered up my scone and delighted in my reunion with Clotty McCreamy. The fruit spreads were (from favorite to least favorite): Blueberry pomegranate, Mango butter, and a Orangey Lemony Jam. And the sweet treat, as if the meal itself wasn't sweet enough, was a simple strawberry crepe, it was up to standard and therefore was inhaled in 3 bites.
Saturday lunch
The Pita Grill - Windsor, Canada
With nothing to do but drive around in beautiful weather, we decided that a trip across our national border for a Canadian staple was in order. Poutine is like cheese fries, but with gravy, and with way better cheese. It was oh so delicious. We ordered the poutine with some sandwiches, which were fine. And if you see it at Buffalo Wild Wings, don’t have it there. In fact don’t have it anywhere here. Go to Canada, order poutine and lick your fingers clean.
Dinner
Lupita’s and La Gloria Bakery Detroit, MI
My friend knows me and flavor palette well, so she took me to Mexicantown. YAY! I LOVE CILANTRO! I had a chorizo taco, a beef tongue taco, a chorizo taco, a lomo taco, and a fish taco. Right off the bat the fish taco sucked. (There is a bar here in NYC that serves the most amazing fish taco in all the world, albeit not very authentic. But this fish taco has basically ruined me for any future fish taco, and I’ve gone fish taco tasting in Mexico and California. So I declared after tasting this one that I give up my mission to find another great fish taco.) Okay now the other three tacos. The tongue meat was a little bland but that’s better than it tasting like liver which it sometimes can. The chorizo was also on the bland side. The blandness however, was easily fixed with the array of lovely salsas, so all was well with this meal. The lomo, or pork loin, was definitely the best taco, requiring no adjustments. The salsa for the chips was delicious. Clearly freshly made and chock full of onion and cilantro. I have high standards for my salsas, because often times it’s super obvious it came out of jar and that is unacceptable. The tacos were just as good as my taco standard, so I was pleased.
After the tacos we headed to the corner bakery for a treat. Our intention was to have one treat but everything was priced .50 to 1.00 so we ended up with 4 each. Strawberry empanada, chocolate enormous cookie bread thing, churro, and pineapple basket. The big round thing and the churro weren't anything special for me so that’s all I’ll say. The pineapple basket was really tasty- but the ratio of fruit to bread was not ideal. There was too much pineapple and after I ran out of bread the remaining goopy pineapple was a bit too rich for me. Now..the strawberry empanada: the bread was like a denser kind of croissant and the strawberry was just enough to sweeten it but not overwhelm it. This was probably one of the favorite things I ate this weekend, so now I have to go find a Mexican bakery in Queens that has these scrumptious lil triangles.
Sunday brunch
Aut Bar - Ann Arbor, MI
I’d like to start off by saying that this place is cool right off the bat because they support their local LGBT community and are often the location for fundraising efforts. Read more about it here. Now for the food. I ordered chilaquiles Eggs scrambled with crisp corn chips, tomatoes, onions, jalapeños and green peppers. Topped with cheese. Served with two tortillas, rice and beans. I love scrambled eggs in general, and the addition of the crunchy tortillas made it quite fun. The black beans had good flavor and helped season my eggs, which needed a little more salt anyway. Definitely something I look to order again once I find a menu with them on it.
Sunday dinner
Aventura - Ann Arbor, MI
For our last meal together we decided to go to a tapas bar and get paella! I studied abroad in Spain 10 years ago and I always have a soft spot for Spanish food and Sangria, so again like the English tea, I was excited to get some saffron in my system. The paella was going to take 45 minutes to make so we killed some time by drinking Sangria, which was a little heavy on the cinnamon, and some cheese and meat snacks. We had some cured lomo and Serrano jamon. I liked both a lot and then realized I definitely do not have enough cured meats in my life. I was afraid of the Manchego, even though surely I had it when I was abroad, but I liked it, but not as much as the Queso L’alt, which was a soft cow cheese with a very subtle nutty sort of smoky flavor. So as far as cheeses go, I like the mild and softer variety. Half a pitcher of sangria later, our paella came out and it was so tasty. The rice was creamy and lemony, the Spanish chorizo was cured and dense like salami, and was my favorite meat in this particular paella. The chicken wasn't special but it was fine. The prawns were HUGE and still had eyes! “I see you man, lookin at me!” OH yes I am looking at you prawn, I'm going to eat you! I ate a few of the mussels just to help out in the food absorption effort, but honestly I don’t like them because I feel like I’m just eating a big fat booger. I apologize for ending my paella review on that note, but I made sure to bury the boogers in a lot of rice so my last bites would be memorable.
The whole weekend was full of really great food and company. Before I left, Andy asked me what my favorite foods were and I wasn't sure when she asked. But looking back now, I think I've figured it out: The strawberry empanada, the chilaquiles and the brie and fig tea sandwich. There were some of the new things I've never had that I've decided I need to have more often. Some of the other great food I had this weekend I've either had before or know where to get it in NY. In any case, I had a great time and I hope that if anyone is going to Ann Arbor and need some food recommendations, this review helps narrow it down!
May your meals be ever in your flavor,
-Estha
Comments
Post a Comment