Jay's Stuffed Burgers - Plymouth, MI

Ever since I tried my first Juicy Lucy, I've been smitten.   Huh?  What's that you say?  A Juicy Lucy is two burgers melded together, and cheese is in between - essentially a "stuffed" burger, or inverted cheesburger!   They're wonderful when done right, and awful when done wrong.   I've had both, so when I heard that Jay's Stuffed Burgers were coming to Plymouth's downtown, in the former Zapata's storefront, I was quite excited and intrigued.   My wife Lynda and I had just finished mountain biking, and Lynda mentioned that Jay's had just opened a few days now.    We were quite hungry after biking, so we headed over to Jay's for a look.

Upon entering, I noticed the giant yellow menus that blazed from the overhead LCD screens.   The Jay's staff was very friendly, and greeted us.  While perusing the menu offerings, the burger chef gave me a sample of their chili (with turkey).   I was told his mother makes the chili, and it definitely had that wonderful homemade flavor that is a rarity in many restaurants.  Jay's definitely has some chili that makes it tough to choose between chili and a burger!   But, Lynda and I were there for burgers, so burgers it must be.   Lynda is a vegetarian, so she's often not able to join in on the burgery fun whenever we go out, so she was elated to be able to choose a veggie burger off the menu.   It's not stuffed, but that's OK.   I chose the Paul Bunyan stuffed burger - stuffed with mashed potatoes and sharp cheddar, and we'd share an order of sweet potato fries.

Made to order, we waited about 5-10 minutes, which is perfectly acceptable, but I can imagine this will cause the fast food crowd to wince a bit while waiting for their food.   This is hand made food, not pre-cooked fast food, so waiting is par for the course.   Upon retrieving our order, we set upon it hungrily.   Lynda was greeted by a sizeably large veggie burger, beautifully toasted bun, cheese, grilled onions, and all the nice fixings.   The remarkable thing about it, was that it achieved that nice gooey bun/burger melding that is the hallmark of all truly delicious burgers.  Vegetarians, you have another place to try!   As for my Paul Bunyan, it too had that incredible melding of flavors, burger + bun, interplay.   I'd recommend eating the burger partially wrapped in its covering for there's lots going on here, especially when dipped in the aus jus sauce supplied with the Paul Bunyan.  It's a wonderful burger, just enough cheese to not overpower the beef flavor, and the crispy yet buttery bun ties it all together.   It's just plain great.   I couldn't help but think that the only thing that would make it better would be a cold beer.  We'll be back!

So, if yer hankerin' for a stuffed burger and don't know where to go, try Jay's Stuffed Burgers, 600 West Ann Arbor Trail, Plymouth, Michigan.   https://www.facebook.com/GetStuffedAtJays/info

U.P. Pasties - Plymouth, MI

      As you may or may not know already, I live in downtown Plymouth.  I like to ride my bicycle everywhere, instead of driving my cage, so as I rode my festooned antique Schwinn 10-speed up to the Mayflower Party Store for yet some more beer, I noticed the pizza joint had transformed into U.P. Pasties.  Huh?  Whaaaatttt?!?!?!?    DROOL!   I love pasties, and every time I'm up in St. Ignace or thereabouts, I always stock up on frozen pasties, since as you well know, good ones are near impossible  to find in Metro Detroit. 
     Lucky for me, the owner was behind the counter, and I struck up a conversation with a very friendly lady, and she told me that they'd used the pizza place's ovens to make pasties after hours, to sell in the Plymouth Farmer's Market, and when the pizza place decided to shut down, she took over the place and is now making pasties, pot pies, and mini-bites full time.
     As for the pasties, I ordered a chicken (w/ chicken gravy on the side), beef (w/ beef gravy on the side), and a veggie (for my Vegetarian wife - Hi Lynda!).   I must add, that these pasties are on the larger side, which is good - I judged that I'd not be left hungering for more after tackling one of these pasties.   The owner was very fastidious to use a dedicated "veggie only" spatula to retrieve the vegetarian pastie, so no "meat" would touch the pastie - attention to detail like this really pleased my Wife.   While you can get em heated up in the store, I didn't, for I was going to have them later for dinner.   That said, I'm anxious to try the Chicken Pot Pie, as well as the Mini-Bites (miniature pasties), but that will have to wait for another visit.  But, anyway - upon returning home, I turned my oven to 350, and popped em in the oven on a perforated metal pizza stone.  It's recommended to leave the refrigerated pasties on the counter for a bit before ploppin' em into a hot oven.  Doing so ensured that my pasties crisped up very nicely, and I gravied em up, and dug in......
     AAaaahhhh.....I felt as though I'd been transported to St. Ignace, upon the first bite of the beef pastie.   Tender beef, and the potatoes, carrots, and rutabaga really play well together.  The veggies in the pastie really tasted fresh (not canned), and that lent it a very vibrant flavor - combined with the crispy crunch outer and the gravy, it really was delicious - same deal applies with the Chicken version too.     My Wife really loved her Veggie pastie too, but lamented that she couldn't use the gravy.  I guess ketchup will suffice.  
    So, in closing, I'd have to say U.P. Pasties is a smash hit - I'm so stoked to have such a favorite food so close to home.  The owner told me that you can also request custom pasties, and pre-order vast quantities if you want, and she'll even make veggie pastie bites if you pre-order them - I anticipate having them make up a bunch of mini-bites for parties - they'd be a hit for sure.  These pasties are truly made with care, by someone who cares, with FRESH ingredients, and I couldn't be happier to have em as a neighbor!  Try em, you'd be silly not to!

U.P. PASTIES COMPANY

Sardine Room : Plymouth, MI

Our streetside table + PBR Pint

My wife and I decided to ride our bikes downtown to grab a bite to eat at one of the various sidewalk seating restaurants that populate Downtown Plymouth.  Seeing the hustle and bustle of the setup for the Art Fair, we decided to try the new Sardine Room.   We placed our names for an outside seat, told we'd be waiting 1/2 hour, so we left with our Sardine Room buzzer to have a drink outside at the next door 336 martini bar (great $6 blueberry vodka mojitos!).  

Our buzzer went off, after 1/2 hour, and we arrived at our table - nice clean aluminum tops and chairs - I'm liking it already.   Our server, Alyssa was very friendly and cheerful and took our drink orders right off the bat.   The wine prices are a bit spendy per glass, but anytime you can get a can o' PBR for $3 bux, at a nice restaurant, is a treat (I'm a recovering beer snob), so I evened out my wife's spendy wine selection with a frosty draft PBR pint.  

I hadn't eaten since breakfast, so I needed some hearty fare.  The Sardine Room menu has a variety of intriguing items on it, and thankfully, they do live up to their namesake and offer "Portuguese Sardines", as a small plate.   I probably would have left, if they didn't have sardines!   If you've been to tapas places before, you'll know they can vary wildly in portion size, so I ordered somewhat more than I'd planned on.   My wife got the Chop Salad (she's a vegetarian so she left off the Sopressata meat).   She absolutely loved it - way more than the Cauliflower side order she also ordered.   For myself, I availed myself of the aforementioned Portuguese Sardines, the Chicken Livers small plate special, and the Pulled Pork Poutine.

The  Chicken Livers arrived first.   This is a tapas you really don't want a lot of, for chicken livers (or any liver) is incredibly filling.   The livers were sauteed, and mixed in with a brownish sauce, accompanied by a couple crustinis smeared with a cold chopped liver spread.  I like it when the little livers are cooked so they begin to break apart, and these little crumbles thickened up the sauce incredibly well - dab a little liver and sauce on the crustini, and prepare for major flavor - it was a wonderfully gluttonous dish, and I loved every bite. 

Portuguese Sardines appeared three on a plate, drizzled with a spicy olive oil, and some different style crustinis.   The sardines are those big chubby short ones, and after eating the chicken livers, I couldn't believe how full I felt, but endeavored to gobble up all three sardines.  I found it somewhat humorous that I struggled to ingest three sardines.....That said, I really enjoy sardines, especially the tiny little delicate "sprat" style smoked ones (Riga Sprats @ Hillers - the best!).   The Portuguese Sardines are of a more burly/meaty variety, and a bit on the salty side, but not objectionably so.   Still, they were quite good, and I would get them again (my wife said I couldn't get em' again because they smelled too 'sardine'ey' - ha ha!  As they properly should!).

Pulled Pork Poutine + neglected PBR

Now, I'm really feeling double full, and my poor PBR is neglected, for I really am really running out of room in my gullet.  I'm hoping the Pulled Pork Poutine indeed lives up to the portion size everyone associates with Tapas restaurants - small!......But, no - the Pulled Pork Poutine that I received was gigantic.  Normally, I'd be overjoyed, but there was no way I could gobble all that food.   But, I'll still try it.   The Pulled Pork Poutine fries looked really thin and crispy.  Large chunks of cheese curds populated the upper level, sharing the space with slivers of jalapeno peppers and plops of pulled pork, all of which was bathed in a thin brown gravy sauce.  It was quite delicious, and I could see myself ordering only the Pulled Pork Poutine as a full meal.

The Sardine Room has so many other interesting items on the menu, and I'll definitely be back to explore the menu.  If you can, wait the extra 1/2 hour to sit outside, weather permitting.   The service is great (plates cleared promptly, water refilled, and utensils supplied without needing to ask), and the the place definitely achieves an upscale, yet casual vibe that's so hard to manufacture - I like it!  The Sardine Room definitely surprised me, and really adds to the fun of Downtown Plymouth.  Try it!

Black Tulip Grille, Wixom Michigan

Stopped in while driving thru Wixom, I'd heard about the place from a local friend and was curious.    The restaurant is in an office building, and the street signage is very visible when driving on Beck Rd.  There  are two menus - one for breakfast, and one for lunch.  I was in a breakfast mood, and asked for that menu.   It's always gives me a good feeling when I see a menu with a handful of interesting choices, instead of a huge menu with a bunch of predictable and boring offerings.   Black Tulip has some very nice choices, and none of the boring stuff.   Feeling like some sturdy fare, I ordered up the Corned Beef Hash breakfast.  Sure, it was late morning, but what the heck!  

What greeted me, upon being served was a very sizable portion of one of my favorite concoctions!    Apparently, the corned beef is bought locally, then prepared to order, and is very apparent since there were visibly  hand cut pieces in the mix - nice to see.   The hash brown bed was nice n' crispy - done to perfection, with that multi-layered golden brown flakiness that is ever so hard to come by.   Three perfectly done poached eggs perched on top of the layers of Corned Beef hash, and potato hash browns, with a slight sprinkle of melted cheddar over the whole lot.  

For fans of corned beef hash, of what I consider a delicacy,  Black Tulip's version is a major home run.   The crispy potato hash, the tender corned beef hash, and the perfect gooeyness of the the poached egg, all combine to elevate the dish to truly awesome proportions.   If one were hung-over, this would truly be a magic bullet of a cure.   However, I was not hung-over, andI really didn't want this meal to end - it was that good.   Chef Dave even brought me over a cup of Chai tea to try - he has a new machine that makes it.  I'm not really a tea guy, but the drink really was an eye-opener and could possibly be addicting!  I'll be looking for that one again.  Also,  the place should have a real bar opening up soon, so those after work folk can have someplace to have a beer/wine and some light chow, before heading home - that's cool.

Great place, and I can't wait to explore the menu a bit.  Czech em out on the intra-netz!
Black Tulip Grill 

Panache 447 - Plymouth, MI

Stopped in for a bite to eat on a Friday nite, with my wife, and inlaws.  I've been to Panache before, and have always wanted to try their Burger, but never got around to it.   They do have an interesting burger for "burger-fans".   If you look at the menu, they have about 24 options for toppings, and also states that you can order ALL the toppings on your burger if you so choose.   I've been wanting to do this since Panache opened, so this was the night!  Of course, my wife was horrified by my decision, and everyone tried to discourage me from this venture, fearing that I'd be plated with a heaping monstrous pile of burger buried by toppings - a sorta giant nacho platter gone horribly awry.......

Our nice waitress, took my ALL OPTIONS burger order, informing me that I'm only the third person to attempt such a feat.   That realization only served to further galvanize my tablemate's prejudice against my uber-burger order - ha ha!  I'll show them!    As I sipped on a pint of Palm Ale (nice option) in Panache's breezy outdoor street patio, I couldn't help but wonder how the kitchen would approach such a feat - pile tons of stuff on the burger, or parcel out each topping in proportionate amounts?

When my burger arrived, I was surprised by it's arrangement.  It was taller than it was wide, almost as if the Leaning Tower of Pisa was now transformed into a burger!   However, all the ingredients were artfully stacked, as to keep the prerequisite radial symmetry so critical in a proper burger.   I decided the best way to tackle the tower, was to just pick it up and dive in.  First bite - a little burger edge, then another small gouge at the upper topping level.  It was awesome....all those little flavors, coming online to my taste buds as I chewed.  Each subsequent bite, offered up a new mystery combination of flavors, all bolstered by a juicy, well grilled 'medium' burger.   The most surprising topping flavor, which I'd never thought would even be good, was the peanut butter - it goes remarkably well with the burger meat.

Ok, ok, no - I did not finish it, but I came darn close.  I could have finished it, but I wanted not to fall asleep when I got home.   All in all, Panache really has something incredibly unique and fun, with this burger.   If you are a burger fan, I encourage you to try this $12.99 wonder.....even if you only get one topping, it's still a well crafted burger.  Top Notch, Panache!

Joe's Gizzard City, Potterville MI

  So I heard about this place from my stepmom (of whom I really like - no kidding!).  She knows I like food that most people avoid.  Pickled tongue, smoked clams, sauteed chicken livers, fish heads and necks, bull testicles, etc. are all some of my favorite and exciting foods for me to eat - I like the unusual, and enjoy creative presentations of these oddballs.   So, she was very excited to tell me about this place that specializes in GIZZARDS!!!

   I was having a slow work day, and decided to road trip it on my wonderful Suzuki Vstrom - what could be better than an afternoon stab on the road to git me some tasty gizzards!?!    I couldn't and wouldn't disagree with myself, so I hit the road.  Two hours of back road meandering (the highway is too boring), and I arrived in sleepy little Potterville.  I was pretty excited by the prospect of a place that touts gizzards as a major menu draw.  Upon my arrival, mid afternoon,  I was happy to see a Bell's Oberon special for $3 bottles, so I ordered an Oberon, and the Gizzard Sampler platter off the appetizer section of the menu.  I imagine this platter is pretty popular for first timers at Joe's, for it offers four styles of gizzard preparation.

My platter arrived, and my waitress pointed out each quadrant of near identical appearing, but differently flavored gizzards.  My expectations of greatness started to diminish when I realized the 'garlic' version amounted to someone sprinkling powdered garlic over the deep fried nuggets, not very promising.....Anyway, I unhesitatingly picked one up, dipped it into the red shrimp cocktail sauce (? why cocktail sauce?) and popped one in my maw.   The first thing that I thought is  "MUSHY".   Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooo............

I read that Joe's pressure cooks the gizzards to soften em up, but jeezuss, but there is absolutely no texture to these gizzards - they're mush.   And, after trying all four styles on my plate [it was impossible to tell if they were flavored differently, aside from the obvious use of old garlic powder], the breading used is identical.     These poor gizzards have WAY too much breading on them, and the breading somehow manages a real rare trick - to be both a sponge for the deep frier oil, and be flavorless at the same time, and yet hermetically contain a watery juice from the gizzards to be released upon the first bite - squirty!  Combine that with the mushy meatlets of the gizzards and you truly have a plateful of drech.  

Joe's, I hope your fryer chef was hungover, or having a PMS attack, or even generally having a real bad day, and threw in yesterdays re-frozen pre-breaded gizzards for my dismal platter, for there's really no excuse for such awfulness.   I'm at a loss as to how something so simple, and so potentially delicious, could  turn out to be such an abject failure.  Thank Crom! for my Bell's Oberon to wash the graveyard taste from my mouth.   I really, really wanted to like these so much. 

That said, I am a bit embarrassed for Joe's Gizzard City to place so much of it's notoriety on such a miserable offering.  I'm shocked people actually like em.  Can you tell I'm vastly disappointed?  So, if you want to treat someone to a truly "memorable" meal, take em to Joe's Gizzard City, 120 W. Main in Pottersville!