Tuesday, January 26, 2010



Warren, MI - Ready to become an adventurous eater? Liang's Oriental BBQ immediately makes you feel like you're either in China town or actually in China. If you've never really walked around China town, you may not be familiar with butcher shops that have hanging ducks, pigs, geese, etc..., but here, you get to see exactly what you are going to eat. In the first picture, there is hanging duck and a pig, then underneath are pig intestines, stomach, and other things that I didn't get to try. This place is amazing, plain and simple.

So, I had some bbq pork, duck, and pig intestines. I of course have to try as much as I can eat. Both the duck and the pork were prepared so well and packed with flavor. The duck, which I normally don't like, was excellent. I haven't had it in a long time, but thought it was very good. I particularly don't enjoy the meat because it's so greasy. The pork was by far the best part of the dish. I literally could have eaten plates of it. I didn't want to stop. Now for the pig intestines. Well, I can't say that I've tasted it before or anything like it. It was very chewy and did have a dirtiness flavor, if you will. I could really only muster what was on my plate. I really don't think I could order it again. Don't get me wrong, it was terrible, but if I have a choice between that and the bbq pork, I'm going for the pork. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 24, 2010


Pontiac, MI - Fried food is great isn't it? How about candy bars, also delicious. How about putting them together? Last year at Arts Beats and Eats Festival, Union Jack's had Fried Mars Bars. The treat was probably what you would expect. It was delicious, having the fried flavor with the sweetness of the candy bar. Since it's being deep fried, you can image what the heat does to the Mars bar inside. I pretty much melts it, not quite into a soup, but a very very soft candy bar. One thing that was nice was when it does melt, it mixes the candy bar's flavors, still tasting like a Mars bar, but not an ordinary one. For as little as it is, it is quite heavy with the fried batter and the candy bar combined. What a nice treat, try it next time. Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010


Frankenmuth, MI - Not the best looking food pose, but it's the best I could do with it. Recently I was in Frankenmuth, a very neat little German town in MI and there is a very famous sausage shop called Kerns. It's a very well known place and I thought I would try something from there. They of course had a variety of cut meats, it's a standard butcher shop, but I saw Smoked Blood Sausage. I've only seen it on Bizarre Foods, but now that it's staring me in the face, I have to try.

Well, I tried it, and I don't think I'll be getting it again. The texture is slightly different from regular smoked sausage. It has a softer texture, but something you can easily palate. It does have a hint of the regular smoked sausage flavor, but what it does have the regular smoked sausage doesn't, is the ripe flavor of iron. The blood in the sausage gives it an irony flavor, one that becomes a bit too much for me. After eating half of it, I had to stop. I really couldn't eat much more of it. Sorry. Enjoy!

Monday, January 18, 2010


Clawson, MI - Can you find vegetarian Vietnamese food? How about vegetarian Pho? Good luck! For vegetarians, Vietnamese food, particularly Pho, has traditionally been ruled out because it is made with a beef broth. Even if you ordered it without the beef and tripe, etc..., you still couldn't get around the beef broth. Well, now the wait is over. At Da Nang Restaurant, they actually have Vegetarian Pho on the menu. The whole idea completely intriguing me. I ordered the vegetarian pho to go and I was extremely impressed with it. Starting with the broth, it did taste just like the original. I spoke to the owner the last time I was there inquiring about it and she was very happy to describe all the vegetables they use to make the broth. I did not do a side-by-side comparison, but just by itself, wow, I really enjoyed it. Then you add the rest of the additions to help compliment the dish such as noodles, tofu, fresh mint, bean sprouts, jalapenos, lime, chili sauce, and hoisen sauce. After you put it all together, you have a perfect Pho dish.

If you're a vegetarian and you've wanted to taste Vietnamese food, here's your chance. Great job Da Nang! Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 06, 2010


Birmingham, MI - How would you like to wake up, walk to the local bakery and pick up muffins that were made that morning for YOU? And they are still warm? Bagel Factory Cafe is a place that makes all their bagels and baked goods from scratch that morning.

I used to come in and have to pick what they made, but sometimes not exactly what I want. So the owner told me to call the night before and she'll make the muffins that I want that morning. Every Friday night, I call and leave them a message for low fat oat-bran blueberry on Saturday mornings. I can wake up, walk over, and pick up warm muffins. Where can you find another place. The picture above is the blueberry muffin that we order and it is perfect. They are warm, perfectly moist, and slightly crunchy on the outside, but nice and soft in the middle.

Definitely go and pick up one of these muffins, you'll start ordering them each week. Enjoy!

Friday, January 01, 2010



Detroit, MI - You want real Mexican food? I mean REAL Mexican food? You first start by going to Mexican town in Detroit. The next best thing is to get off the beaten path and head to Los Altos. This place not only has authentic food, but the experience is authentic as it comes. I've been there twice now and both times I had to order in spanish. My server didn't speak english either time. Since they could tell my spanish was horrible, they called over someone else who could speak some english so I could at least ask some questions. I loved the experience!

The first dish was a taco platter so I could try multiple kinds of meats. It's not on the menu, so just ask for the four taco dish. Since I couldn't decide on only four, I got five. MMMM. All the tacos are on a double-layer corn tortilla, served with fresh onions and cilantro. You also get a lime with chips and salsa before the meal, make sure you squeeze the lime onto your tacos. It really enhances the flavor and is quite delicious. Some of the tacos were tripas (tripe), lomo (pulled pork), and carnitas (beef). My favorite out of all of them was the lomo. It is marinated shredded pork. It's very moist and has intense flavor to it. There are also some other taco options that are typically not on menus and I highly encourage you to try them... The tacos are served with real means and rice...beans with bacon in it.

The second dish is Nopales (cactus leaf). I've never had cactus before, but it can be common in Mexico. Once I saw it, I had to try it. It's sliced into long pieces, which almost resemble green beans. However, the flavor is far from it. It's actually quite sweet and really delicious. It's not terribly filling, but it is delicious. I would get it again on the side, but not as a main dish. Enjoy!