Lansing, MI - I'm always looking for a small, quaint, little breakfast place where you can get specialty breakfasts. I found one in Lansing called the Korner Kitchen. This is their veggie skillet. It doesn't look it, but there's enough food! It has two eggs your style, cheddar cheese, hashbrowns, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, onions, green pepper, and comes with toast. It's probably not the healthiest breakfast, but it's a good one! Enjoy!

Lansing, MI - When fall approaches, some cities have one of my favorite festivals, chili cook offs. This year, Lansing did a chili cook off along the river trail with over 40 restaurants offering their chili. Here are four samples from the festival. I had some mild ones and I even had one that was so hot, I couldn't finish it and I love spicy food. So, you can imagine how hot it was. The top two were very good and they were presented well, some fritos or corn ships. One of my favorites was from Mitchells Fish Market that was a seafood chili with wasabi sauce on top. That is the second to last picture. It was very good and the wasabi sauce complimented it very well. The last picture was a vegetarian chili that was delicious. They had about ten to fifteen vegetarian restaurants, so if you're a vegetarian, don't avoid the festival. So, if you get a chance to go to a cook off, take your appetite and don't burn your taste buds too much. Enjoy!

East Lansing, MI - This is a huge bowl of soup. HUGE! It is a Vietnamese dish called Pho from a restaurant called Asian House. I think they have the best Vietnamese in East Lansing. It is authentic, delicious, and the portions are huge. So, Pho is a soup; beef broth, large noodles, cucumbers, green onions, and thinly sliced beef. Bean sprouts and mint leaves come on the side for you to add to your liking. It also has two types of sauces that come on the side for you to add, which are hoisen sauce and a hot sauce. Add the hoisen and hot sauce to your preference. The hoisen sauce is a sweet one, so it is very very good. After you combine it all, the soup is superb! Enjoy!!

East Lansing, MI - Do you like Korean? This is bulgogi from Korea House, which comes with rice, dumplings, and some sides. It's very traditional for Korean food to have small sides that you would eat with your food. In this picture, you can see pickled turnips and bean sprouts. The meat is sauteed thin slices of beef. When you walk away, you'll be very full and you'll be happy to tried this because it's so good! Enjoy!

East Lansing, MI - So, when you go to East Lansing and you want to get some excellent Korean or Japanese food, try Korea House. In the last two or so years, they expanded to include sushi, which has been very tasty. This is Salmon, Eal, and California Rolls. It's fresh, fast, and so so good. Enjoy.

Detroit, MI - If you live in the Detroit area, there's no escaping one thing in the news; The Detroit Tigers in the second series of the playoffs! Well, when you go to the ballpark, the Ballpark Frank is a staple. This frank here is Comerica Park during their regular winning season. Don't worry, this Friday I'll get another one during their post season success. Oh, ballpark franks, MMMM! I'll bet they taste even better during post season. :) Enjoy!

Birmingham, MI - This is what's called, a desert you'll never forget. It is Chocolate Mousse Semifreddo from the 220 Restaurant. I had already started eating mine, so I had to take a picture of Pooja's, my friend. It's a huge portion of Chocolate Mousse, caramel topping, and raspberry sauce. This was better than the last desert, but it was very rich and sweet. Compared to the last desert, the cream puff, it was much sweeter, so it worked out well going back and forth with this desert and the other. By itself, it may be too much and you might not finish it. Who am I kidding, just eat the whole thing. The Mousse looked so good that when it arrived, you immediately started salivating. Eating it, was orgasmic! ENJOY!

Birmingham, MI - This may have been the desert of all deserts. It's a pistachio cream puff from the 220 Restaurant in Birmingham MI. Can I give you one piece of advice, GET IT! This was delicious. Have I mentioned how delicious this was! :) It was a cream puff with pistachio ice cream, hot chocolate syrup, powdered sugar, and a few pistachios as an additional topping. Surprising, it wasn't an overly sweet desert. The pistachio helped to calm the sweetness to make it a full experience. ENJOY!

Birmingham, MI - After moving to Birmingham, I had to seek out new Thai restaurants. Well, there is a very good place called Bankok Bistro that helped satisfy my yerning for Thai food. This is Pad Thai and it was delicious. Just like the others, it's a noodle dish, in this case with tofu (but you can get meat if you wish), in a peanut sauce. They have a whole menu for me to try! :) Enjoy!

East Lansing, MI - If you were at student at Michigan State University, you would have gone to Lou and Harrys. It's a Greek staple in every students diet. Well, before I moved out of East Lansing, I had to make sure I had one last Gyro from Lou and Harrys. Now, if you're planning on going up to East Lansing, MI and want a fast and delicious lunch. Check it out. Their Gyros just make you stop and enjoy it because it is so flavorful and delicious. They usually put the meat, onions, tomatoes, and lettuce on it. I get the onions grilled, mmmmm. Anyhow, enjoy.

West Bloomfield, MI - You can't go wrong at a place called The falafel House. It's a place in West Bloomfield and I was very surprised to find this on the menu. This is Sujuk in a sandwich. Sujuk is a Lebanese sausage cooked with lots of different spices. It's delicious. You can also see some hummus in the background. That too was delicious. I think they need to put a little bit more olive oil on the hummus, but I'm cool with it. If you go to a middle eastern grocery store, you can usually find Sujuk there too. I recommend getting it. Enjoy.

Brimingham, MI - Now that I'm back in the Detroit area, the deli's are everywhere. This is from the Bagel Factory in Birmingham MI. It's a nice classic jewish breakfast, bagels lox and cream cheese. These are Nova lox, which are very very good, but the best lox in my opinion is Belly Lox. It is very flavorful, but salty. So, be prepared to drink a lot of water when eating it......and throughout the day. I'm not kidding. So, this lox sandwich is actually on a multigran bagel. I felt if I was going all out for breakfast, I should be healthy too. My favorite would be on an everything bagel, but I have to make sacrifices to get the lox and cream cheese. For those of you who do not know what lox are, it's smoked salmon. It sounds weird, fish in the morning, but it's perfect. Some sandwiches come with capers, tomatoes, and onions. I don't like to get all that because it blands out the taste of the lox. Start with out it, then get the rest of the stuff next time. Enjoy!

Kawklin, MI - I love beef jerky. There's no way getting around it. So, when ever I have an opportunity to try out some jerky, you better believe I do. There are lots of places throughout MI that has tremendous homemade jerky, especially as you travel up north. The key to getting excellent jerky is getting the freshly made kind. Do not even try the prepackaged, over-produced, stuff from Meijer or Kroger. So, this was hot and spicy jerky from Kawkalin MI. This was pretty good, but it was a tad-bit too greasy for me. As I find some more, I'll keep posting them. Enjoy!

East Lansing, MI - I went back for middle eastern, this time, for Lamb kebob. This is from Sultans in East Lansing, MI. They have one of the best lamb kebob dinners in town. The meat was so filled with flavor, that you'll purposely not finish it so you can take it home and have some later. It's that good. The meal came with Arabic style rice, which I think is the best rice. Enjoy!

Bloomfield Hills, MI - Do you like pizza? Oh, this was so good! This was from Pizza Poppalus in Bloomfield Hills. This is the first pizza that was so cheesy, that it actually extended down from my mouth down my throut. It is very thick and cheesy! We also got fresh crushed garlic on the top! MMMM! Just to for-warn you, two pieces will be enough! Enjoy!

Grand Rapids, MI - This is another Thai dish, surprised? Of course, as you can tell, I love Thai food. Well this is called Tom Yom Goon from Grand Rapids MI. It's a beef broth soup with lots of tasty veggies and tofu. It has great mushrooms and some other greens. Try it if you get a chance. Enjoy!

Grand Rapids, MI - You may not be able to tell from this picture, but this was a great Thai dish. It's Mango Tofu from a Thai restaurant in Grand Rapids, MI. I wish I could remember the name of the place because if I can find it again, I'll have a few more dishes. This was a great dish. The mangos in the dish were so good. If you love mangos, definitely try it. Enjoy!

East Lansing, MI - This is a favorite Vietnamese dish of mine. It's Bun Veggie and Tofu from Asian House in East Lansing MI. The Bun is pronounced Bune. If you've ever had any types of Bun dishes, it has these great thin noodles on the bottom with fresh veggies and then you get this sweet sauce that you pour over it. It makes the whole dish delicious. Watch out vegetarians, the sauce I believe has some type of fish sauce in it. You can also get all kinds of Bun dishes with beef, pork, and egg rolls. Enjoy!

East Lansing, MI - So far, this is one of my favorite Thai food dishes. This is Nahm Man Hoi from Taste of Thai in East Lansing MI. Usually this is served with beef, but this time, I got it with tofu. For you vegetarians, watch out though, it has an oyster sauce. It's a brown sauce, not very sweet, but just a hint of it. At the end of this dish, you'll love it so much, you'll want to lick the plate. Eat up!

East Lansing, MI - At the same restaurant in East Lansing, Sultans, I had this salad. It's almost like Fattouch, but it doesn't have green peppers and such. The contents of this salad are pretty standard, but its the dressing that makes this salad blog-worthy. It's this vinegar, parsley, dried mint, olive oil, and spices dressing that makes it so delicious that you want to turn it into your whole meal. Then you realize that you still have a whole dinner coming. Eat up!

East Lansing, MI - Sorry for the bad picture yall, it's from my phone. This is baked kibbee with tabbouli and hummus. This is from a middle eastern restaurant in East Lansing called Sultans. The kibbee is the oval shaped objects which are meet and spices that are deep fried in this breading. It is so good to eat straight or dipping into tahini sauce or hummus. You can also order vegetarian kibbee which is made of mostly potatoes and spices. The tabbouli is to the left of the kibbee and it is fresh parsley, cracked wheat, tomatoes, olive oil, and lemon juice. It's a perfect compliment to kibbee. Lastly, the hummus which is hard to see in the back was perfect for dipping. Hummus is ground chickpeas with olive oil and tahini sauce. Also very excellent. I'll get some more pictures of hummus for everyone. Eat well!

East Lansing, MI - Have you ever had Ethiopian food? If you've never had it, you're really missing out in trying something new. I love it, but there are people I know who do not enjoy it. What you see here is a very large platter that is served for several people all sitting around a traditional single small round table. It's community eating style, so everyone eats off the same plate. There are rolls of bread on the edge of the plate, you use this to scoop of the meal. It is a very spongy-like sour dough bread. It can be an acquired taste for some (substitute rice if you wish). You tear off a piece and scoop up any of the following: ground spicy peas (far left), yellow peas (top), spicy lentils (far right), spicy beef (center left), spicy lamb (center right), or salad in their home style vinegar pepper dressing. This plate is a meat and vegetarian combo combined. This is at a small restaurant in East Lansing, MI called Altu's. The owner is Altu and she will come out and talk to you all about the food and your experience.

East Lansing, MI - Do you like Middle Eastern food? This is beef kebob and rice from Sultans in East Lansing, MI. I was really surprised how good the meat was. I have no idea what kind of spices they put on it, but it was perfect. I specifically saved a few pieces, even though I was not full, for the next day so I could have that flavor again. I would love to have the recipe for the rice too because it was so good. Well, definitely don't miss the kebob if you get a chance at a Middle Eastern restaurant.

Bath, MI - This was some great Mexican food. Recently, East Lansing, MI had a folk festival and one of the food vendors was Fonda Celaya from Bath MI. They were making all the Mexican food fresh right there and I of course had to try some out. I got the Tamales, which you can see came with rice and beans, and all the fixings. The rice and beans were cooked very well and seasoned perfectly. Its main attraction were the three tamales underneath that pile. Wow, it had sliced pork in it and man it was tasty! I'm not sure if Fonda Celaya has a store or just caters, but if you see them at your next festival, try out the tamales!

East Lansing, MI - Lets satisfy the sweet tooth now! This is freshly made chocolate mousse from a restaurant called Beggars Banquet in East Lansing MI. If you have a sweet tooth to satisfy, I'm pretty sure this will do it. It's very light, but still rich in flavor. My first thought was that it wasn't enough, but it was and loved every spoonful.

East Lansing, MI - Last week East Lansing had their Great Lakes Folk Festival. I would kick myself if I didn't stop at several food vendors to try out their delicious offerings. Here's an unusual one. It's Zemer's Homemade Slushy Rootbeer. This one isn't rocket science, it's just a slushy rootbeer. However, it was very refreshing and wonderful on a nice hot day at the park. I thought their rootbeer was just a good, if not better than A&W, faygo, or IBC. If they are at your next festival, check it out!

Ft. Lauderdale, FL - When I went down to Ft. Lauderdale, FL to visit my great aunt, I happen to drive past this Thai restaurant. I wish I could remember the name of the place because I really enjoyed their Pad Thai. If you've never had Pad Thai, it is a great introductory meal to Thai food. It is made up of noodles, bean sprouts, green onions, carrots, tofu (or any meat you choose), peanuts, and in a peanut sauce. Wow, it sounds so good, in fact, I think I'll have it for lunch today! :)

Frankenmuth, MI - These tasty treats are Swedish Rosettes from Zenders in Frankenmuth, MI. Just like any great pastry, it is deep fried batter mix with a hefty portion of powdered sugar. Your face looks great after eating it and your taste buds / sweet tooth thank you during each bite. My wife and I tried making them at home, especially during the holidays, but they didn't come out looking as good as they did from Zenders. They did taste great, but they weren't picture worthy like these were.

I recently received some feedback on how I should include the name of the place where I get the food. I apologize for not included it. So, I went back and edited most of the previous posts to include them. In most cases, I remembered where it was at, but there were a few that I couldn't. I'll try to include them where I have them in the future. Thanks for visiting the blog!

Frankenmuth, MI - Move over Nestle, Zenders in Frankenmuth MI has you beat! This is a decadent peanut butter cup that was enormous! Best of all, it was dark chocolate instead of the standard milk. Zenders in Frankenmuth has a cafe with a chocolate shop. When you try a few things there, make sure you try this cup, it's out of this world.

East Lansing, MI - These are two spring rolls from a Vietnamese restaurant in East Lansing MI called Asian House. These are really good spring rolls. They are wrapped in a noodle wrap, thin noodles, it also has veggies in it with some shrimp. It comes with a peanut dipping sauce which makes it perfect. If you order them, make sure you ask for the spring rolls, not the egg rolls.

East Lansing, MI - Allow me to introduce Tofu Pad Prik Haeng, one of the best Thai food dishes I order. This is from a Thai restaurant called Taste of Thai in East Lansing, MI. It is my favorite Thai restaurant in East Lansing. They are so nice and family owned. This dish has such a unique sauce, which is what makes the dish. This one can be served with any meat, in this case I choose tofu, it comes with veggies, but I the sauce is what makes you wanting more.

East Lansing, MI - It's Thai food time. This is Pad Thai from a restaurant in East Lansing called Taste of Thai. This is my favorite Thai restaurant in East Lansing. The food is out of this world and the people that own it are so personal and wonderful. This is a great starter dish to be introduced to Thai food. It is mostly noodles mixed with some veggies, tofu, eggs, etc..., but you get this dish because of the sauce. It is a peanut sauce that is just delicious. You can also get it as spicy as you want. I get it extra spicy, but if you get it mild, it's not spicy at all. Enjoy my favorite food!

East Lansing, MI - These my friends are Dolmades or grape leaves. This dish is very common among Mediterranean countries. I got it from a middle eastern restaurant in East Lansing, MI called Woody's Oasis. These grape leaves are vegetarian, but you can get them with beef as well. Here is a great description from another website: "An Arabic term meaning "something stuffed." Dolma (stuffed vegetables) became "Dolmades" in Greece, which is a dish prepared of grape leaves stuffed with rice, meat, lentils, and seasonings. This dish is typically served as an appetizer or as an entry." http://whatscookingamerica.net/Vegetables/StuffedGrapeLeaves.htm Growing up, my friend's mother use to make this all the time and it was truly the best. They can be a bit oily depending upon how they are prepared, but don't worry, it's good stuff!

East Lansing, MI - Are you asking yourself, what is that? Usually that question will lead into, I don't know if I would like that. Well, this is Bulgar. It is very common in the middle eastern regions of the world. This happens to be from a restaurant from East Lansing, MI called Woody's Oasis, but I've also had bulgar from a friend who made it and he was from Turkey. If you like stuffed cabbage, then you will definitely like this. It is cracked wheat that's cooked in tomatoes and other spices. So it tastes very similar to stuffed cabbage or red peppers. You can also eat this hot or cold, either way it is still quite tasty.

East Lansing, MI - Here's one more dish from the Malaysian restaurant in East Lansing, MI called Ria's Malaysian. As you probably can tell, I went there a few times. It was so good, I had to try everything. I'm sorry, I can't remember the name of this dish. It was very very good, right up there as one of my favorites. It was tofu over noodles in the remarkable spicy and tangy sauce with bean sprouts and cucumbers flanking it on both sides. They did a great job in preparing the tofu as well. It was cooked very well. Sometimes prepared where it is still pretty mushy inside, but not this time. Enjoy your Malaysian experience!

East Lansing, MI - For an appetizer at the Malaysian restaurant in East Lansing, MI called Ria's Malaysian, I got Roti Canai w Dipping Curry. The bread was almost like nan Indian bread. It was very soft and served nice and warm. I was expecting the curry sauce to be very thick and deliver a curry punch, but to my surprise it was the opposite. It had a higher viscosity and not as strong curry flavor. For the non curry lovers, I would probably stay clear, but it wasn't as strong as you may think. The bread and sauce were very good and I would be happy to get it again and again. Try some...

East Lansing, MI - This is called Malaysian Mee Goreng. This is from the Malaysian restaurant in East Lansing, MI called Ria's Malaysian. This has now become my favorite Malaysian dish. I first ordered it extra spicy and it almost kick my ass. So now I just get it the way it comes, spicy and it still has a nice kick and awesome flavor. It has lots of veggies and traditionally comes with chicken, pork, and shrimp, but you can get it any way you want. Just saying the name of the dish makes me salivate. Enjoy.

East Lansing, MI - Here's another dish from the Malaysian restaurant from East Lansing, MI called Ria's Malaysian. This is called Malaysian Hokkien Mee. It consists of very thin noodles, I forgot the name of it, different kinds of meats such as beef and shrimp, veggies, and then cooked in a sweet Malaysian soy sauce. The sauce is not a salty soy, but a sweet one. This dish is at the top of my list at this place. This one was a good find.

East Lansing, MI - Now that the Malaysian restaurant is open in East Lansing MI called Ria's Malaysian, it's time to experiment. This is called Malaysian Hokkien Mee Hoon. Lots of flavors going on. From the picture you can see that it is made up of noodles that have been cooked in this sauce that is a sweeter flavor. It also has lots of veggies and of course the large fried egg on the top. It's not one of my favorites, but it was good to experiment a little with some food I never had before.

East Lansing, MI - A new Malaysian restaurant opened in East Lansing, MI called Ria's Malaysian that I had to try out. The only other Malaysian food I had was in NY, so I was compelled to compare. The menu was formatted very well for those inexperienced Malaysian eaters. They have a picture for every dish! So I started with the curry puff, seen above. First I have to say, get it if you have the opportunity. It is very good. It consists of a flaky pastry shell and potatoes cooked in a curry sauce for the middle. Surprising enough, I was expecting a strong curry flavor and it wasn't that strong at all. So for all you non-curry lovers, but can tolerate a small amount of it, this would be an excellent appetizer to start with. Enjoy.

Detroit, MI - Japanese fast food? Yeah, I tend not to dabble in that, but I was actually surprised by this. I was at Metro Airport in Detroit MI and they had a fast food Japanese restaurant. I decided on the curry beef dish and was pleasantly surprised. This was made up of potatoes, veggies, beef, over rice with a strong curry sauce. I admit, it wasn't the best in the world, but it was much better than the Burger King there! :)

Southfield, MI - Deserts are an important part of a meal or just a snack. This desert is from the same deli as the new dill pickles in Southfield, MI called Star Deli. This is a jewish desert called Rougalah. Oh man is it delicious. Some places have these, but make sure you get it home made. It makes a big difference for freshness and FLAVOR. I believe a few of them were either apricot, cinnamon, or blueberry. They have crystallized sugar on the top and a flaky dough shell. Try one if you get a chance.

Southfield, MI - In case you missed the first picture I put up, here are some delicious new dill pickles. They are better than any other pickle out there. They are still like a cucumber, very crunchy, but lots of garlic! My feeling is that you can never have to much garlic. This is one of those cases. You can never find them in standard grocery stores. You have to go to a jewish deli and ask for new dill pickles. They'll be happy to sell them and you'll be even more happy to have them. Oh, I forgot to mention that this was from a deli called Star Deli in Southfield, MI.

Okemos, MI - There is a little place in Okemos, MI called the Tuba Museum. They have a plethora of menu choices, but also excellent beer. Every month, they have a different international special. They makes dishes from around the world and this month, it's from the Caribbean. This is called Pork Griots. It came with these delicious black beans, similar to cuban style beans. They were very hardy with chunks of pork cooked with it and the pork griots were quite delicious. They had a lot of jerk spice, very tender, and full of flavor. It wasn't "spicy", but it had a little kick to it. I look forward to their next special! :)

Lansing, MI - This little Korean restaurant in Lansing MI called Rivi's Deli not only has fantastic bulgogi, but has amazing customer service. This is true customer service when I spoke with the owner and asked her what other Korean dishes she makes. This is a small deli and only two or three Korean dishes on it, the rest is American deli food. She said, "well, I'll make what ever you want" All I have to do is come up with the name of a dish I would like to try and she will do it. She said to try the Kimchi Stew next time, so I think I'll have to try that one. As for this dish, Bulgogi is very thin sliced beef marinated and sauteed with the vegetables. The meat is so tender and flavorful. Her bulgogi was actually had a bit of a sweet taste, which was refreshing since I ordered it spicy. It was definitely hot, but it had this slightest sweet flavor that made it perfect.

Southfield, MI - If you are every really hungry, one place you will not leave hungry is a Jewish Deli. Get a sandwich from a Jewish Deli and the thing is so big you can't fit it into your mouth. This is a Corn beef Sandwich from a Jewish Deli in Southfield, MI called Star Deli. It has cheddar cheese, coleslaw, and russian dressing on rye bread. The meat is so soft and fantastic! Sorry for the bad pic, it is from my phone.

Detroit, MI - I think this was the desert of all deserts. Don't you just say wow when you look at this? I do every time. Instead of having dinner, just have this. Why not? It is so seductive looking. This is a desert at the Whitney in Detroit MI. It is Peanut Butter Mousse Dipped in Chocolate with Carmelized Banana. Each bite of this desert was pure pleasure!