Birmingham, MI - Chen Chow Brasserie: Are you at Chen Chow for the atmosphere? How about the flavor and caliber of food? How about for the price of the food? The first yes, two maybe, third no.

I started with the Octopus & Soba Noodles. It's a staple on many sushi menus. It was prepared with the same flavors and texture as any other sushi restaurant, just half the cost. However, it was served with a ginger sauce that isn't usually typical and it was a nice addition, complimenting the flavor. However, it also included a small cube of jello and I'm not sure why it was there. The flavor was extremely subtle to where it didn't have any flavor. It didn't add anything to the octopus and I would go as far as saying it had slightly a bad flavor. I was not a fan of that and it had no place on that plate. If it covered it in the ginger sauce, it could eat it, but what's the good in that?

Moving onto the main course, pork three ways. They redeemed themselves almost. It's served with cinnamon brine tenderloin, pulled shoulder with white kimchi, orange hoisen glazed pork belly, with a side of broccoli. Each one was cooked very well and flavored the same. Each one was unique in its own flavor and you'll want to eat take a bite of each one and change up frequently to capture their flavors. Then tenderloin was cooked very well, nice and pink in the middle, and wonderfully tender. The pulled shoulder was very delicious. The sauce complimented the tender shoulder very well and it was my second favorite of the dish. the pork belly however, stole the show. It had the crispy edge it needed while having the fatty inside capturing all the flavor. It was the home run of the dish. Now I want a whole plate of this dish.

Why include the broccoli on this dish? It's steamed broccoli with very little flavor. It's an after thought. Bad choice on the chef's part.

Lastly the dessert. Make sure you get it. It's another amazing dish that the pastry chef did an amazing job. We had the Molten Chocolate Cake with a ctrus sauce, orange, and powdered sugar. When we cut into it, the chocolate just poured out. It was fantastic, make sure you get it.

The only downside is that it's too expensive. I don't think it's worth the cost of the meal though.