Clawson, MI - I've been asking around for an authentic Filipino restaurant and it was recommended that I try out Royal Kubo. I am told it is the only Filipino restaurant in the area, so without a doubt, I was on my way. The recommendation was to try two of the most famous dishes, Lumpia and Pancit. So, I first tried Lumpia. It is the Filipino egg roll, if you will. However, you can see, it not only looks different from an egg roll, but it also tastes differently and better. You can get it deep fried or pan fried, I choose to try it pan fried this time. It is similar to a pancake in texture. Inside, it is loaded with all kinds of fresh vegetables. One of the best parts is the sauce on top. The sauce is made of soy sauce and brown sugar. I scrapped the plate clean.


Onto the main dish, Pancit. It is typically cooked with small thin noodles and sauteed in a soy sauce. I expected it to be saucy, but to my surprise, it was not. It was dryer than I expected. It is loaded with all kinds of vegetables and different meats. In this case, it came with beef, chicken, pork, and shrimp. However, I saw on the menu that you can get most of the dishes vegetarian style.

Now that I've tried these two, it has enticed my pallet and I would love to try more Filipino dishes. The one that I've heard about is Balut, but I haven't found a place that has it yet. Stay tuned for that one! Enjoy!

Battle Creek, MI - I have only had fried pickles twice, but both times, I LOVED them. I'll rarely turn down pickles and when you fry them, they are getting devoured. I happen to be in Battle Creek for a wedding and this is from the hotel restaurant, which I apologize, I don't remember the name. It is a creole style restaurant. I didn't leave one fried pickle on that plate. I eat every single one. If you have a chance to order fried pickles, get them, you'll love it.

I also ordered the spicy crawfish wrap. I thought it was prepared well, the crawfish was good, but it wasn't the best crawfish out there. I didn't have extremely high expectations because of the looks of the restaurant, but it still was very good. It was better than getting a hamburger at an Applebees. I would still get it again if I had to choose between the two. Enjoy!

Mvuu, Malawi - Even though the resort did not serve traditional Malawian food, they still did an excellent job of presentation and flavor. We first started with a vegetarian spring roll. It was deep fried and packed with all kinds of veggies. It was an excellent start, but it was a little heavy to begin. I was slightly worried if I was going to be able to eat the meal as well. As you can tell, it was definitely not a tiny, wimpy, spring roll.

The entree was sauteed eggplant in a spice I don't believe I've had before. I didn't recognize the flavor, but it was very good. I could not allow myself to waste any of it. It was served with potatoes au gratin, which were good, but I primarily focused on the eggplant. The meal also had a two little condiment side dishes, one being fried pairs, and the other is sauteed cabbage. Over all it was an excellent dish.

We then finished the meal with a lemon meringue pie. I was very eager to start it, I actually took a bit and then realized I didn't take a picture yet. It was wonderfully sweet and delicious, but after all that food, of course I couldn't finish it. Enjoy!

Mvuu, Malawi - The Mvuu resort feeds you very well, very well indeed. Malawi's staple food is Chambo (fish) and chips (fries). They prepared a very delicious version of Chambo, deep fried, and standard chips. The Chambo is typically served whole, but the clientele at the resort may not like it very much, so they serve fillets. Either way, it's still quite tasty. It was also served with a side of vegetables and macaroni and cheese. The macaroni and cheese was surprisingly very good and cheesy! I didn't expect it to be very good, just some basic mac and cheese, but it surprised me. The chef added some spices for flavoring that really enhanced the flavor of the dish.

The desert was a fruit plate, that to me, looked a lot like a little bird. Don't you think? Anyhow, it was very fresh and a nice little dollop of cream on top for some extra sweet flavoring. Enjoy!

Mvuu, Malawi - While staying at the Mvuu resort, they fed us very well, very well. They get all their fruits and veggies from very close by local villages, which are basically right across the river. We started with Bruschetta, a very nice lightly toasted piece of bread with wonderful mozzarella and tomatoes and green peppers on the side. It's a nice little starter dish.

We then had our main course, Potato Curry. At first glance, it probably doesn't look all that well. On the contrary, I wanted to lick the plate clean. This is roasted potatoes in a very delicious curry sauce, by the way not spicy at all. It came with sauteed carrots and green beans. I am not a green bean eater, however, I would have gladly eaten another portion of it. It was prepared in a way I have never had before. I'm not sure if it was the spices they used, but it was fantastic.

We finished the meal with one of the best deserts at the resort the whole time we were there. This is a banana fritter. I miss this dish and would fly all the way back to Africa for it. A thirty-two our plane ride, worth it. This is a banana lightly deep fried, covered in powder sugar, and a light drizzle of caramel. The apple helped provide enough citrus to help compliment it. Well done to that team! Enjoy!

Birmingham, MI - Food stands are the best. If you see one, chances are, the food is going to be very good. This is a Chicago style hotdog from Hotdog Carl's stand on the corner of Adam's and Lincoln. If you're driving by and see the cart, hit the brakes. This was quite tasty. It is a hotdog in a sesame bun, topped with mustard, onion, sweet pickle relish (usually neon green), a dill pickle, tomato slices, sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. I also added jalapenos to give it a little extra kick. This goes without saying, the hotdog has lots of flavor and surprising enough, it compliments each one very well. Enjoy!

West Bloomfield, MI - Dim Sum Time! I've gone several times to a place called Shangi-La for lunch for Dim Sum. Dim Sum are similar to tapas, where these are small Cantonese appetizers where you order several of them and share with your group. Sometimes your eyes will want more than your tummy though, I speak from experience. Below are pictures from different lunches, but still so delicious. Enjoy!

This is shrimp in a noodle wrap in soy sauce. This is probably one of my least favorite. I thought it was going to be very good, but the noodle part turned out to be disappointing. It overpowered the shrimp and soy sauce.

These are one of my favorite. They are shrimp and chive dumplings, slightly sauteed. They are packed with flavor and the shrimp and chives really compliment each other. I get this one every time I'm there.

These little guys are shrimp puffs. They are quite tasty, but they are not as healthy as the others since they are deep fried, where as most are steamed. Put a little hot sauce on them and you have a nice little dish.

These are simple shrimp dumplings, however, their taste is far from simple. They are delicious. They have shrimp and cilantro inside, which works well together. They are wrapped in a rice noodle casing that doesn't take away from any of the flavor. This one is a staple as well.

Pork noodle dim sum are pretty good, very nice flavor, but not at the top of my list. I usually get these if I'm running out of choices, but I don't shy away from them. If you've never had one, definitely try it.

The notable dishes here is the eggplant in the center. Oh, it's a must. I didn't want to share them at all. The mussels on the right, prepared very well in a nice soy sauce base, shrimp in a green pepper at the top which was very good, and the shrimp pork dumplings on the far left. Shrimp and pork are a great combination. The dish at the bottom is hot chili peppers that you put onto all the dishes to give it a great zing!

Well, I thought this was desert. It looked like some small little lemon pastry. Well, it turns out to be an egg-drop pastry. I personally didn't like it and will not get it again. Maybe it was my expectation of it being lemon. Who knows.

The new dishes here is the beef puff at the top, which I thought was ok, but not fantastic. I think it is prepared well, but I prefer the steamed options over the fried. It also gets a little doey too. On the right is pork noodle. That was very good and helped redeem itself from the beef puff.

Mvuu, Malawi - African tourist food. I would say this is traditional African food, since this really only served at the Mvuu resort. By the way, Mvuu means hippo, in Chichewa. You really wouldn't find this food in the city or in any village, so this is really catered to tourists. However, it does not negate the presentation nor how delicious it is. This is Vegetable and Egg Quiche served with a very creamy coleslaw topped with fresh tomatoes, and lightly marinated shredded carrots and sliced cucumber. I would normally not order quiche; I tend to not like it. However, if I had the opportunity to order this again, I would. I thought it was a very well prepared quiche, light and fluffy, and the vegetables did not over power the flavor of the quiche. The coleslaw was eatable, but very creamy. I could double up on the cucumbers and carrots and forgo the coleslaw. The cucumbers and carrots were excellent. They were fresh and the light dressing on it really helped compliment it well.

For desert, we had a sweet roll and bananas. This was a wonderful and light desert after the quiche. It had a wonderful cinnomon flavor and the bananas was an excellent choice to serve with it. Enjoy!

Troy, MI - Indian food doesn't always have to have curry. This is Baigan Bharta from Royal Indian Cuisine. I received a recommendation to try out Royal Indian Cuisine as one two very authentic Indian places to eat. They had a very large vegetarian entree selection, which gave me an opportunity to try something I've never seen on the menu before. Baigan Bharta is mashed eggplant, then cooked in a tomato sauce with onions and a variety of spices. I found the dish to be excellent. I also had it prepared a little spicy, which was nice to have a kick to it, but it may have covered up the flavor a bit though. I literally scraped the bowl clean it was so good. Enjoy!

Birmingham, MI - Who can say no to chocolate or desert? These are two beautiful deserts from the Cupcake Station, one being carrot cake and the other is a mudslide. I already expected the mudslide to be delicious, which it met all expectations, but I wasn't sure about the carrot cake. Once again, the Cupcake Station was able to deliver an authentic carrot cake with all of its impact of flavor, in a little cupcake. Both are a must to try! Enjoy!

Royal Oak, MI - Is a heart attack worth good food? I might have to say yes on this one. I know, it looks like it's a heart attack waiting to happen. It hasn't happened yet, thank goodness, but may have been worth it. This is called the Philadelphia from Redcoat Tavern. It's their version of a Philly cheese steak. It's sliced beef, sauteed onions and green peppers, topped with their swiss cheese, and then topped with Zip sauce (which is similar to a french onion soup flavor). The Zip sauce normally by itself or with a burger, in my opinion, is not very good. However, on the Philadelphia, definitely a major component. I was also surprised that the pickle almost tasted like a New Dill. Not bad at all. Enjoy!

Livonia, MI - Chocolate lovers beware, be prepared to fall in love with this. This is Chocolate Lava Cake from Goucho, a Brazilian restaurant. After a fantastic stuffing meal, I had to to satisfy my craving for chocolate. This is a delicious chocolate cake, still hot and soft in the middle, that basically melts when you open it up. It also comes with vanilla ice cream on top to help compliment the flavor and lastly the raspberry sauce to add a little extra sweetness. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again. It's a must, get it. Enjoy!

Birmingham, MI - Since I loved Larb so much, I thought I would try Tum Neau. It's shredded steak sauteed in the same manner as Larb, served on top of lettuce and celery. It was very good, but a little dry. I wish it could have been prepared in a way to keep its moisture. I would still recommend trying it. Enjoy!

Blantyre, Malawi - Chocolate time! Hot Chocolate time! This is the Chocolate Sizzling Brownie from an Indian restaurant. It comes with the brownie placed onto a very hot plate with ice cream on top. On the side is the chocolate sauce and you pour it over the ice cream and when it hits the hot plate, it immediately starts to boil and sizzle. This is one desert, you don't want to miss. It is delicious and great for any chocolate lover. Enjoy!

Blantyre, Malawi - While in Africa, I found an Ethiopian restaurant, so of course I had to try it. I found out that really only travelers end up eating there and Malawians really stick to their own food. So, I had to try this out and it was very similar to Ethiopian food in the US as well. The fresh Mango Juice, however, was fantastic. No extra water, ice, flavoring, just pureed mangos. It was fantastic! The lentil dish was equally fantastic, but the bread was different from what I'm use to. It had the same flavor, but it was thinner and grainy. While it was still good, I would have preferred the smoother style bread. Enjoy!

Blantyre, Malawi - I know, it looks pretty disgusting. Since fish (Chambo) is very common, we went to a Chinese restaurant and they had Sweet and Sour Fish. Chambo is also usually served whole, yup, it definitely is. It turned out to be very good. Anything deep fried is always tasty! Enjoy!

West Bloomfield, MI - I was told to try out a Caldian restaurant called New Saharas. Years ago when I was younger, several friends were Caldian and they would be very gracious to invite me over for dinner. Well, I really fell in love with the food. The recommendation was to get a few different things off the menu and one that is not even on the menu. That's usually my favorite. The first picture is of pickled cabbage. It's a nice vinegar flavor, but you use pita bread and dip it into a homemade ranch dressing. People come to the restaurant just for the dressing, it's so good. Some customers just purchase the dressing to go. Well, the whole meal is delicious with the dressing. Anyhow, the next picture is something not on the menu and you have to ask for it. It is called Cahre. It is a tomato stew usually with potatoes in it. You take that and pour it over the rice. This makes for an outstanding dish to eat. Lastly, is the Beef Cream Chop. It is a deep fried steak, similar to a country fried steak. Anything deep fried is delicious, but of course, once you also dip this into the ranch dressing, it's to die for. Enjoy!

Blantyre, Malawi - Chambo at it's best. When I was walking around downtown, there is an open market that people sell various items. As I was meandering through the market, I came across their "food court" if you will. Now, it's mainly little shacks were people fry up fish (Chambo) or chips (fries). So, I found this one gentleman who fried up the fish you see. The size is about as big as my palm of my hand, so it's pretty small. It tastes very similar to fried smelt. It has very little meat, very crunchy, but tasty! He also gave me some salt to sprinkle onto the fish for more flavor, which also complimented the batter. I thought this was going to be pretty spicy, but it actually wasn't spicy at all. I was mostly worried about how long it was sitting out, but after I ate it, it was ok. Enjoy!

Blantyre, Malawi - One of the great things on my Malawi trip was that the professor with which we stay, had a cook named Simoni. He made all different sorts of dishes and would even attempt to make new dishes if you were willing to teach him. On other occasions, he would make his own style dishes and this is one of them. It is called Sobo Chicken. It is chicken marinated in different spices and in a broth, but he would not reveal his recipe. All he told me was that it had Chili spice and other variety of spices in it. MMMM. The dish is also cooked with raisins, so it gives the whole dish a wonderful sweat flavor and it compliments the chili spice very well to help calm down the kick that it had. If you can find a good recipe or have someone make it for you, Enjoy!

Dedza, Malawi - Another cultural influence in Malawi is Indian. There are several dishes you'll find with curry and a little kick. Well, the first picture is Poppadom, it is an Indian wafer or sometimes describes as a cracker or flatbred. It is made with lenitl, chickpea, black gram, or rice flour topped with tomatoes and mangos. It was nice and lite, with fresh fruits, and surprising, it had a little spicy kick to it. If you get a chance to go to the Pottery Lodge in Dedza, try it out. The second dish is another appetizer, deviled eggs. Actually, it turned out to be just that and nothing special, so I don't recommend it. The last picture is of the main dish, Chicken Curry. It turned out to be a lot more chicken curry than I noticed from the looks of it because there was actually more underneath the rice. Overall the dish was good, but they added an interesting ingredient, sugar on top. I didn't expect it and I'm not sure why, but it made the dish a little more sweet. I also ordered it spicy level of Hot, but I didn't think it had a strong kick. I may have noticed that it had something, but it definitely wasn't hot. If I had the chance of being there again, I would try something else. Enjoy!

Johannesburg, South Africa - I had the fortunate opportunity to have my flight canceled in Johannesburg and Air Malawi put me up for the night at their guest house. In addition, they took me out for dinner and went to a great seafood restaurant called Ocean Basket. The seafood is fresh and delicious. You can also see the English influence as well. I first started with some simple bread they bring to the table, but what is special is the minced garlic and jalapeno peppers that compliment it. It is very customary to smear the garlic and peppers on the bread, giving it a strong flavor with a kick. It was awesome and spicy! Then the main course is called the Seafood Platter that comes with prawns, squid, cod, muscles, and fries. The cod and muscles were prepared very well in a lite olive oil and garlic, but the best part of the dish was the prawns and squid. The prawns are always interesting to eat, especially when they look back at you. It has a delicious shrimpy flavor, but not as strong. I heard you can eat the head, but I chose not to. The squid was by far the best part of the dish. They were prepared to perfection; soft and packed with flavor. I ate every piece of the squid and wanted more! Enjoy!

Blantyre, Malawi (Africa) - Malawi was a British colony and gained their independence in 1964. Therefore, you could guess that there is a lot of British influence in their food. This is Chambo and Chips with a side of "coleslaw" from Hollywood Cafe. Chambo is Chechewa for fish. It's a generic term, so you really could get any fish when you order it. It is usually served whole like in the picture, but sometimes you can have it served also opened. In this case, it would be sliced down the middle and the fish would be open like a book, but still whole. Many times it is deep fried with some very basic seasoning. Because it's also a very cheap dish, you can tell that you don't get a big piece of fish with lots of meat on it. It's fairly small, but enough to tie you over. The chips are just like french fries, but not as long and skinny. They are prepared in the same manner. The coleslaw is really just shredded cabbage with some carrots and they give you oil and vinegar to sprinkle onto the salad. In one way, it's much healthier. The chambo is not bad, a little greasy and hard to eat, but not bad. Enjoy!

Blantyre, Malawi (Africa) - That's correct. AFRICA! I had the fantastic and unique opportunity to go to Africa, Malawi, and try some basic and common, but also unique and extraordinary food. Here's my adventure. This is the most common indigenous food in Malawi. It is called Nsima from a restaurant called Temptations. It is pronounced N-Sea-Ma. Usually you order Nsima with either beef, chicken, or fish. I ordered mine with beef. It also comes with a small vegetable, which they call a relish. The actual Nsima is the mashed potato looking mounds. Nsima is made of ground maize and water. It has very little to no flavor, but what flavor it does have, it is like cream of wheat. Not the most appetizing thing to eat. Which is my Malawians have the meat portion with the vegetable. The beef is prepared in a slightly curry tomato sauce and the vegetable sauteed and similar to a spinach/celery. The way to eat this is by taking a little piece of meat and little piece of Nsima. Then a little piece of vegetable and Nsima. Since the Nsima doesn't have much flavor, you get most of it from the other pieces. Even though the meat and vegetable is a small portion, the Nsima is not and it just expands in your stomach. Since not everyone has money and food can be expensive for Malawians, Nsima is a fast, cheap (around $2), slightly nutritious, but a very filling dish that people don't have to eat much of the day later. I was very glad I tried it and although I enjoyed it, I probably wouldn't get it again if I had other choices. Enjoy!

Southfield, MI - A delicious desert after a fantastic meal at the Taste of Ethiopia. This is fried plantains in a homemade caramel sauce and you get the choice of either soy or regular vanilla ice cream. This was so delicious and I now get it every time I'm there. The dish is called Afo Plantain and definitely get it when you there. I had the soy ice cream it was delicious. It was very soft and a little icy, which really was very good. I couldn't tell the difference at all. Enjoy!

Oak Park, MI - Yet Thai food again! This is Nam Sod from Sukhothai. It's a cold salad and delicious. It's minced chicken on top of lettuce in a lightly sauteed lime sauce. It also had fresh tomato and cucumber. It's very very good. Enjoy!

Madison Heights, MI - This was great Vietnamese food. This is Pho Dac Biet from Thuy Trang. They have very authentic Vientamese food and it's delicious. If you have every had Pho soup, this is the Pho with everything. It has beef, tendons, meatballs, and tripe. It's a plethora of meat in a delicious beef broth with noodles, fresh bean sprouts, mint, jalopeno peppers, and green onions. It also comes with a side of hoisen sauce and Vietnamese chili paste to mix into the soup to make it sweet and hot! Mix it to your liking and enjoy every bite! It's a small little mom and pops place and it's fantastic! Enjoy!

Berkley, MI - Tasty food at Sweet Lorraines! A simple lunch at this place turns into a feast for the afternoon. I started with a dish I thought was slightly unusual, at least, not very common, Clam Ceasar Salad. I wasn't sure how the flavors were going to compliment each other, but it turned out very well. I would be very happy to order this again. In the center, was a fused parmesian cheese waffer-like piece and it was delicious. I'm not sure how they did that, but it was good. We then had two kinds of desert. The first picture is of a Cherry Chocolate Cheese Cake and the second is a Mix Berry Layered Cake. I would get both again, but the Cheese Cake stood out in my mind. The Mix Berry Layered Cake was very soft, moist, and abundant of berry flavor, but it was a little too much cake for me. On the other hand, the Cheese Cake was perfect. It had the perfect amount of cherry flavor that didn't overpower the chocolate flavor. Well done Sweet Lorraines! Enjoy!