West Bloomfield, MI - Feel like Italian? This will sound crazy with all the interesting food I eat, but I have never had Gnocchi. So, I was Antonios, an Italian restaurant recommended to me and thought it was a perfect opportunity to try it. This particular dish is potato gnocchi. I can say that I liked it. I wouldn't say that I love it so much I would get it every time, but it was interested. Gnocchi in Italian means "Lump", and as you can see, it's a lump or dumplings. These did not have a lot of flavor, but it does retain some of it's original flavoring. Sometimes they are made out of flour, so they take on that flavor as well. Due to the original ingredient, potato, by the end of the meal, it becomes a little too starchy. The sauce on the other hand is made from scratch and was very delicious. Most Italian sauces prepared for Americans are very salty, but this was prepared more traditional style and very little salt is added. Therefore, you get a delicious fresh tomato marinara flavor. For vegetarians, it's an excellent choice. In the future, I would prefer this dish as an appetizer rather an entree. Enjoy!

Southfield, MI - This is not for the weak hearted. This is an Ethiopian dish called Kitfo from Taste of Ethiopian. This is beef mixed with lots of spices that give it a BBQ flavor. However, it's a unique flavor, one in that I have not tasted before. It comes with goat cheese to help balance a nice smooth flavor and texture, salad, and extra cayenne pepper on the side to make it spicier if you like. The meat has a very interesting texture, very smooth, and surprising that it was so tender. The reason why its not for the weak hearted is because its raw! Raw beef! It's like raw kibee, but much better. The spices make it. I highly recommend it. Enjoy!

Southfield, MI - Dessert should have that flavor and experience where you take a bite, close your eyes, and just enjoy. This is definitely the case with the Chocolate Mousse Cake with three layers mousse glaze from Sweet Loraines. They have very elegant, simple, but delicious deserts. The cake is very thick and fairly dense, but not too rich though. It doesn't overwhelm you to where you can't finish it. It will be gone by the end of your evening. It is plated with a drizzle of chocolate and raspberry glaze to help compliment it. With the different layers, the density and texture differ slightly, adding to the complexity and how delicious it is. Enjoy!

Madison Heights, MI - I'm going on a Vietnamese food kick. I'm back to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant Thuy Trang having two things I've never had before.

They had a new dish, Bun Bo Hue, on the specials that I had to try once they described it to me. The server explained that it is like Pho soup, but it is more spicy than the standard Pho, and it has some unorthodox items, such as pigs feet, brisket, some kind of salami, and pigs blood. I've never had this before, so the minute I heard that, I had to try it. I told her to stop there, I'll take it. It was spicy, but not as bad as I thought. The pigs feet were actually very gelatinous and not very tasty. The salami and brisket were very tender and delicious. I was so excited to try the pigs blood. I know, it sounds disgusting. It turns out, it's solidified into cubs, like tofu. It actually looks, tastes, and feels just like tofu. It has a slight irony flavor because of the blood, but other than that, it was very basic. I definitely recommend trying it.

This time, I tried a new milk shake. It turned out to be much better tasting than the one last time. It is a Jack Fruit Milk Shake. I did finish this one, even though I was very full. It was definitely tasty, very delicious. I highly recommend trying this one! It was sweet, but not overly sweet and has a very distinct flavor. Enjoy!

Madison Heights, MI - This appears to be an ordinary milk shake. Maybe even a vanilla milk shake. MMMMMM. Well, it's a little different than that. It's a Durian Milk Shake at one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants called Thuy Trang. Durian is a very interesting fruit grown in Southeast Asia and is banned in many hotels throughout the region. It's banned mainly because of it's smell. It literally smells like rotting and decaying garbage. Not a pleasant smell at all. I did not have the opportunity to smell the whole fruit, just the shake, but it was enough. Without even tasting it and just putting your nose up to you, you can immediately smell how rancid it is. Tasting it almost is the same experience. I recommend drinking it in larger quantities rather in sips. I've never had this flavor before, but when you take a drink the smell immediately rushes through your nose to give you a wonderful smell of garbage. After that, the smell goes away and the flavor is actually good, not excellent, but good. It's just when you stop drinking and decide to take another sip, that's when you hesitate. I didn't finish it, got about half way through, but was massively full from my meal. However, if it were a chocolate or strawberry milk shake, I think I would have forced myself to eat it. Eating something that smells like garbage on a full stomach, not my first choice. Enjoy!