Friday, August 26, 2011

(Left to right: tongue, chorizo, pork, beef)
Torta
Chicken
Menu
Tripe

Madison Heights, MI - Tienda Mexicana; It's as almost as good as it gets. Tiny little supermarket in a strip mall, hidden from the usual typical passerby, with a hidden secret in the back, authentic and delicious Mexican food. What's ironic is that it's just down the street from Taco Bell, with people marching in like a scene out of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". They walk in oblivious to the real stuff just a few hundred yards away.

One mistake I made when I first went here was I stood at the back counter waiting to order, after a few stares from people, I realized I need to order at the cash register in the front. Save yourself the mistake.

Other yelpers are absolutely correct, why go down to Mexican town when you have this right in your backyard. Save the gas and try their selection.

I've now tried six different tacos and their steak torta. I've yet to be disappointed. All the tacos are served, by request, with cilantro and onions, don't forget to ask.

All the tacos are served on a wonderfully hot small corn tortilla, the way it should be. I now have tried chicken, beef, pork, tripe, chorizo, and tongue. Every single one was tender, seasoned well, and moist and not dried out. I would gladly eat any of them again, but my favorite is a tie between the pork and chorizo. Both are filled with so much flavor, it's hard to ignore it. The tongue and tripe are excellent exotic choices if you're willing to try them.

Onto the torta, being the great sandwich it is. It has lettuce, mild pepper, avocado, choice of meat, and mayo on a grilled bun. What more do you want. It becomes a heavenly combination of flavors that makes you ask on your last bite, "I may be able to eat another one, because it's that good."

Enjoy!

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Birmingham, MI - Rugby Grille; Instead of having breakfast in the dining room, how about breakfast in bed? Rugby Grille serves their food to Townsend guests, so if you don't want to have it in the dinning room, why not in your room?

I tried their eggs benedict with side of bacon and turkey sausage. The english muffins were toasted well and not soggy from the eggs. The eggs were cooked well and perfectly runny to mix well with the hollandaise sauce. The sauce was delicious, creamy, and salty and sweet. Both the bacon and the sausage were very good, salty, charred nicely, and perfect to dip into the hollandaise sauce.

The fruit was nice, fresh, but nothing out of their ordinary. It certainly lightened the dish up a bit since the rest of it is pretty heavy. It was actually nice to have that instead of potatoes, which would have made it a really heavy dish. Enjoy!

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Ferndale, MI - Fly Trap; Fly Trap is a unique place, probably in it's own category. Breakfast, lunch, I guess either. They have some unique items on the menu and especially their specials menu. Fly Trap was also featured in Food Channel's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, which attracted me to here.

Get ready to wait in their no waiting area. They have a tiny waiting area right in front of the door. So, when you wait, you're just keep looking at each table hoping they are done. Obviously making the situation awkward for people at the tables. The grill is right in the dinning area as well, so be prepared to smell like lots of dinner food when you leave.

I've tried their green eggs and ham, from the menu, and their Moroccan mole, off the specials menu. I thought both dishes were pretty good, interesting flavors, well developed, and both were unique. I thought the green eggs were going to be eggs with some food coloring, but it turned out to be roasted pablano pesto, giving it a nice sweet flavor. The Moroccan mole was not a traditional mole sauce. It's traditionally made with chocolate, but this was a white mole sauce. I'm not sure how they made it, but it was also a nice combination.

On their standard menu, they do offer multiple vegetarian and vegan options for those with food restrictions. Enjoy!