The Plymouth Crossing

Went there for the first time to celebrate an old friend's arrival back in Plymouth.  I'd never been in before, so I figured "why not"..   We got there late, so we didn't order food, but the Bartender was great.  He even made us up a new creation drink called "SD coffee"....SD?, well you just had to be there.

The bartender did say they were throwing out the old "stuffy" menu, and coming up with a whole new plan.  I checked the website, and the menu did not seem new, and since the previous poster mentioned a burger [not on online menu?], I have to believe the website has not been updated.

I like the place, just have to get in for a bite!

Ironwood Grill - Plymouth

I keep trying this place every few months, since they opened, hoping it will somehow get better.....it didn't.  I like the location, the open kitchen/dining room, and the street life/view - it's a fun place.  But, the food standards are just plain LAZY.   Ordered the hummus platter - I liked the pickles/peppers/asparagus in addition to the nice warm pita triangles.  The Hummus was a fine puree, a bit loose and watery, but was decently flavored.

For my entree - I ordered the 1/2 slab of ribs.  My other tablemates ordered a pizza and a veggie burger.   The food arrived super quick, which made me a bit suspicious.  Sure, the ribs are always cooked ahead of time, and my oversauced ribs were a bit overdone.  Not dried out, but overdone as to where one could shake the slab, and the entire side of meat would fall off -  kinda like overcooking pasta.  But, the ribs were pretty good flavor wise, and they had plenty of meat on the bone [before it fell off].   My sides were an utter disappointment.  The cornbread muffin was straight out of the box - dry and no cornbready texture, it was a yellow cupcake.   The dollop of cole slaw was at a unnervingly tepid temperature, and half liquid mayonnaise - blech!  The crusher was the Onion Rings.  How do you fugg-up Onion Rings?  Ironwood's got the technique down.  They must have been leftovers from the previous night, because they were like rubber bands entombed within a oil soaked twice deep fried batter.   I've rarely seen such a sad onion ring.   I complained and they did bring out some freshly deep fried ones that were barely acceptable, but really, opening a box of Gordon Food Services frozen onion rings is not going to win any accolades - dull and lifeless flavor from what is normally such a delicious side.   For the prices Ironwood charges, one should really expect more than pre-made Frozen food.  Lazy Ironwood, Layy-zeee!

My tablemate's veggie burger was OK for a pre-made patty microwaved to perfection [?], but the squeeze bottle streak of guacamole on top of the patty was a head scratcher - why not real pieces of fresh avacado?  Oh yeah, you can't buy those frozen and pre-made.....   The pizza resembled a pizza, but was a curious mix of wet and watery in the center, and the Crust looked as if it were already pre-cooked a day previously,  topped with toppings then thrust back into the wood fired oven to melt the cheese - Not the way to make a wood fired pizza.   I surmise that the prep cooks wood-fire a batch of  blank pizza crusts, then as the orders come in, they top them and heat em up - very fast, but even Domino's doesn't do that....    A goopy flavorless mess - I was embarrassed for the wood fired oven.   The pizza could be so good with that oven, if the management really cared about standards.   The one saving grace was the cold beer that thankfully provided some relief from the tedium of the cuisine.  Thank you beer!

I really want to like Ironwood, but the food continues to disappoint.  This place is hoppin' on the weekends and always has a good crowd.  I'm sure I'll get dragged back here again, but I'll make sure to eat beforehand.  Perhaps the management's food standards don't really have to be up to snuff, as long as this restaurant remains a popular place to see - and be seen at.   That only takes you so far, and I'm done with this trip - adios Ironwood! http://www.ironwoodgrillplymouth.com/

Addis Ababa Ethiopian Restaurant - Plymouth

Incredible flavors, great service, just plain wonderful -  a real delight.    This place is way better than Ann Arbor's Blue Nile, so if you like Blue Nile's food, you'll love this place too.  Sidenote - they play some seriously awesome world music/space jazz here - definitely adds to the fun experience of a meal here.  Normally, it's a deal-breaker if I can't order a beer at a restaurant, but I gladly make the exception because the food is so very good.

On another visit, we brought our in-laws and their kids.  The kids absolutely loved the food, which really surprised me [you know how kids are!].   The owner is a super nice guy, and makes everyone feel welcome as if you were a guest in his home.

Logan - Ann Arbor - Casual Gourmet Foodie food!

I like restaurants like Logan, http://www.logan-restaurant.com/.  Interesting food, casual yet upscale atmosphere, non-pretentious.    It's got a nice friendly and welcoming vibe, and our hostess was very welcoming and got us drinks while we waited for our table - nice start.

Now for the food - the menu is very fun.  Lots of unusual preparations, and combination of ingredients.  Anyone who is interested in food will enjoy this menu.   I selected the Crab + avocado, and the Lobster roll for our table's appetizers.   The lobster rolls were nice, cut into 6 individual pieces, with crispy outer hull, and a nice blend of crunchy cabbage and tasty lobster.  But, this nice appetizer was it was overshadowed by the brilliantly flavored Crab + Avocado parfait.   Simply wonderful.

Our entrees were equally delicious.  Nice thing about Logan is that they offer 1/2 portions of the pasta dishes.  This is a great idea, because it allows one to enjoy more appetizers and not be stuck with leftover pasta to take home [which is never quite as good the next day].   My wife got the Gnocchi Bottarga, which was perfectly cooked and has a nice creamy flavor to it - great for a vegetarian, and very satisfying for even a carnivore like myself.   I selected the Moroccan hen.   I love little birds and this one's complex flavors were a delight.  The skin was nice and crispy, yet the meat was still juicy and tender.  I eventually put down my fork and went to fingers to finish off the bird - it was that good, nothing left but bones when I was done!

I really like Logan - it's a fun restaurant, and it's very reasonably priced for the quality of the ingredients and how they are prepared - top notch food.  This restaurant will no doubt be compared to Grange [another superb restaurant], but Logan is less of a 'formal' experience than Grange tends to be.   It's nice that A2 has a few of these types of restaurants that the foodie in all of us can enjoy - you'll definitely enjoy Logan.   Top notch!

Espresso Elevado - Plymouth - Awesome Coffee!

Pretty much the only place I know of that actually roasts the beans in-house.   So many coffee places who charge premium prices usually have the coffee pre-made and kept in those anonymous pump-carafe dispensers -  blah.    Espresso Elevado actually makes your cup fresh when you order - it's very quick via the process they employ.   In my opinion, E.E.'s process allows a cup of probably the freshest, most flavorful coffee possible.  It's THAT good.    Usually, I drink my coffee black - no sugar, no milk, no nuthin', so it's easy for me to discern if there's something special goin' on - and there definitely is.

On my last visit, I tried the Bali Blue Moon beans, and liked it so much I bought a bag for home [I use a french press/burr grinder setup].  It's very hearty, yet has a nice earthy taste I really enjoy.  I even got one of their coffee cards, where on your third bag of coffee beans, you get a free cup of whatever coffee you want - not a bad deal, since I'm hopelessly addicted to their fresh roast beans.

Fantastic coffee, for a true coffee fan to enjoy.

Le George Mediterranean Bistro

Fantastic food, professional attentive service, and great atmosphere.  I really like this place.  First time here.  Went with another couple, and for starts, we ordered up a plate of hummus and a plate of baba ganoush.   Very fresh tasting hummus, light with a tinge of lemon - excellent.  As you know, baba G. can be a bit random - Le George's is mildly smoky, yet has a full flavor - I don't like super smoky Baba's anyway, so it was perfect - and we received  A LOT of the fresh house made mini pitas [don't quite know what the other reviewers were complaining about!].   It was so good, I ended up eating way too much and was kinda full by the time my entree arrived.   I selected the red lentil soup, which is indeed of a finer texture, but I found it to be hearty and very flavorful - comfort food city!  The others ordered up the the yogurt based gazpacho, which is apparently an acquired taste.  They didn't care for it that much.

One of our party ordered up the Lamb Shank - very tender meat on the bone wonderfullness with a tangy tomato'ey sauce underneath, superb flavor and perfectly cooked.   My vegetarian wife, Lynda, really enjoyed the majadra lentil bowl entree [forgot the name?], the exotic spices therein had us wondering what they were, but all agreed it was a very tasty dish - and the lentils were cooked nicely, which most places don't manage to do.  I ended up ordering the 'dinner for one' [of which another of our party also selected], which is a platter containing a broiled lamb kibbee "log" [?], and one lamb kabob, and one chicken kabob [on real metal skewers].   I've rarely had better - the lamb kabob was so tender and had that wonderful hot char-grill flavor.   The kibbee log had a nice black peppercorn spicy snap to the flavor and was very addictive.  The chicken also was cooked perfectly - juicy with nice char on the outside.  All the kabobs reminded me  of how many times I've gotten these things only to be disappointed by overcooking - these three were simply delicious - - Le George's has it locked down solid when it comes to the cooking.

As for the service, no complaints here.  Very attentive, friendly and polite.   We asked for another bread basket of pita, and it arrived promptly.  Water's were filled up regularly, and they made sure I had a replacement beer right as my first one ended.  The dining room is nicely laid out, the L-shaped bar is pretty cool, and I enjoyed being able to see the chefs cooking in the open kitchen.  Nicely done!

Side note here:  I originally ordered the stuffed Kousa [a baby winter squash stuffed with rice and lamb] and the Baby Eggplants stuffed Kousa-style.   I'd never had this before so I was a little bummed out when Mr. Le George came over and told me that they ran out, and only had the vegetarian versions.   After seeing how awesome my friend's 'dinner for one' plate looked, I requested that as my dinner substitute.  The very gracious and apologetic, Mr. Le George nicely brought over four of their house made spicy cheese pastry rollup appetizers to make up for the inconvenience.  It's nice to see an owner care about his restaurant like that, and I'd rather eat at a place that runs out of "made today" stuff, than a place that grabs another tub of pre-made out of the freezer, so win-win, in my book.

Le George is not your typical steamy/greasy windowed gut buster Mediterranean-ish restaurant.   Unlike some of the negative reviews, I found the portions to be a bit on the large side, if anything, so I'm a bit skeptical of the naysayers complaint.  The prices are not cheap, nor expensive.  I do agree that for what you pay, the quality of the ingredients and the care in which they are prepared and cooked, are well worth the price.   I will definitely be back [to try some of the french oriented fare] - it was awesome!

Plymouth - Downtown

Cellar 849 - Plymouth Downtown:  Since moving to downtown Plymouth a few years ago, I've observed a transformation from a scene with relatively few compelling eateries, to a place where the quality and variety of options are worthy of the curious.   Cellar 849's schtick used to be all about house-brewed Wine, and fussy appetizers for the multi-colored sweater and chino crowd.  Boring! - not my scene, give me a beer, please!   However, over the summer, the Cellar installed a wood fired pizza oven.   Big deal, right? Well....For those who know about pizza, the thing about an oven like that is that it can get HOT.  An oven that gets up to 900 degrees can do magical things to pizza.  

Yeah, I'm the guy who says "ohhh, well, yeah - when I was in Italy, we got pizza like....blah blah" ...shut-tupp!  And it's true, I've not really gotten my fix [Supino's is awesome but a pain in the neck for a quick eat, and Tomato's Apizza, in Farmington, approaches the door, but can't find the key] of real thin-crust, chewy-yet-firm, awesome pizza - - until I got to Cellar 849.   I ordered a Salumi - fresh mozzarela, salami, sopressatta, sausage, a wee bit of tomato and spices, and that's it!   Since the oven is so hot, it doesn't take long to arrive, and once you take a bite, it's all over!  It's pizza the way pizza should be made.  I'd say it's an slambang equal to Detroit's favorite for real pizza - Supino's in Eastern Market, without the commute to the D.  Appetizers and Salads?  Yeah!  I really liked the assorted meat and olive/cheese platter, and the Caprese salad was terrific.

And, if you have an open mind, and are not a wine-snob (yes, I'm talking to you), the large variety of house made wines are very drinkable.  Not wine to be savored and dispensed with an eyedropper, but wine for eating dinner and quenching a hungry thirst!   That's how I drink wine, and so should you.   Best deal day is Wednesday - you get a free App if you get a pizza and two "big-pour" glasses of wine ....it's a super deal.

Finally, the real deal pizza, and it's right out my door....!