Blimpy Burger & Mighty Good Coffee in Ann Arbor, MI

 中文：安娜堡的BLIMPY BURGER 和 MIGHTY GOOD COFFEE

Although it is only two hours drive away, we don’t go to Ann Arbor as often as other people do.  If we go there, we go there for one clear purpose: food!  

As a college town, Ann Arbor has a wide variety of restaurants to offer.  Among them, there is a burger joint called Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger which I always want to try.  It has been featured in FoodNetwork’s Diner, Drive-ins, and Dives, Travel Channel’s Hamburger Paradise 2 and Man VS Food shows.  Last time when we were in town, it was closed for renovation. So I have to try it this time.

It is just a block away from Main Street, not far behind Starbucks. 

Menu on the wall

Ok, here is how to order your food properly…….

Looks like this burger joint has been featured in food magazines too.

I remember this funny cook from TV shows.

This is a open kitchen.  You get to watch how your burger is cooked when waiting in line. 

What makes the burgers here special is that the never-frozen-beef is freshly grounded in store.  And you can choose between double and quint patties plus grilled items and condiments.  You can have as many as 2,147,483,648 different flavors burgers here, wow!

He ordered triple plus American cheese, grilled onion and bacon.

The beef is juicy and tender.

I ordered double plus American cheese, grilled onion and fried egg.

The egg is a little bit beyond well done.

We shared an order of fried mixed vegetable. It is crunchy and crispy, not bad. 

Burgers are between ok and good.  Not as good as what they say on TV.  When we were eating there, there were only a few people, barely a line up.  We probably will not go back again.

According to the cook, it is all because they moved away from the original spot.  

After lunch, we spent a couple hours in the downtown area, window shopping those cute and interesting stores.  And then it is coffee time. 

I picked Mighty Good Coffee because they have quite a reputation online. 

There isn’t much decoration inside the store, but it still makes you feel quite cozy.

We ordered two cups of cappuccinos. What a perfect ending for a short trip to Ann Arbor！O(∩_∩)O~

A Day at Traverse City, Michigan

中文： TRAVERSE CITY看樱花，尝美食，喝美酒

Michigan’s spring is finally here, hooray!  Last weekend was sunny and warm.  We spent a day in Traverse city.

It was less than 3 hour drive.  When we got there, the farmer market was still crowded.  So we stopped by to check it out.  I scored several yellow tomato plants and guess what, a Goji berry plant!  Goji plant tips are a special treat in my hometown.  I have seen it for years after I came to America.  I bought one and planted it in my vegetable garden, hoping it will grow bigger and bring me back my childhood memory too.

We were planning to have lunch at an Italian restaurant with good reviews. But when we got the front door only to find out that no one was eating inside the restaurant...  Not a good sign at all.  So we switched to another restaurant, Bubba’s. 

It was not a big restaurant and quite crowed.  We waited for about 15 minutes for our table.  The staff here was very nice.  That made good first impression.

When we were waiting, we went over the menu.  So we ordered as soon as the waitress came to our table, who by the way was also super sweet and nice young lady.

Appetizing snacks. 

I ordered steak fajitas, medium rare.

The taste was good.  The steak was a little bit overdone for medium rare.  And the vegetable was a bit too salty for my taste.

The steak came with another large plate and tortillas. 

I made myself a couple delicious steak tacos.

He ordered Bubba’s tacos.  One was steak and the other one was shrimp.  Good flavor and taste. 

What impressed us the most was the service.  Everyone we met in the restaurant was nice and kind. We will definitely go back there again. O(∩_∩)O~
Food ★★★★☆
Service★★★★★
Ambience ★★★☆☆

We decided to do a winery tour on old mission peninsula.  There are many acres of cherry trees there. It was about to be the peak time for cherry blossoms. 

Guess what?  Turned out my guessing was right.  Thousands of cherry trees were blooming.  It was so beautiful!

I wonder why people don’t rush to Traverse City to see cherry blossoms just like cherry festival.  It is like a post card from any angles. 

There are eight or nine wineries on old mission peninsula.  We have 3 to 4 favorites.

First, we stopped by peninsula cellars.

The tasting room was crowded.  And our bartender was very impatient.  Ok, let’s move on to next one. 

We saw a newly opened sign for Bonobo winery.  Got to check it out!

The interior design is very comforting, modern and bright all at the same time.  I liked it already by the first look.  The bartender was very nice and entertaining.  He introduced with very detailed and educating information every single wine he poured for us, which is so awesome!

One of our favorites is Chateau Chantal. 

We bought wine by glasses here.

A glass of tonight for me.  It is very crispy and bubbly.

A glass of Pinot Grigio for him.

Another glass of Pinot Noir.

Well, their glasses are really small。。。。

The best part of this winery is that there is a huge deck just right outside the tasting room.  You can get a beautiful overlook of the hills and Grand Traverse Bay.

We spent most of the afternoon on the deck.  It felt really good to just relax and enjoy the wine and view.

When we got hungry again, we drove back to downtown to have dinner. Earlier I had my eyes on a little street corner surrounded by several food trucks.  We went there directly.

He bought pulled pork tacos from this food truck. 

The taste was good but the pulled pork at the bottom was too dried out.  Vegetable toppings were awesome.

I bought chicken wings in BBQ sauce from this food truck. 

After a really big bite, the chicken wings turned out to be still raw inside.  I took them back and they made me a new batch of chicken wings.

The taste was good.  

We just walked along the streets in downtown area.  Traverse City downtown is quite neat and clean.  The streets are crowded with all kinds of restaurants, coffee shops, and cute little shops. 

We went into a coffee shop round the corner.

I ordered a cup of cappuccino.  He ordered a latte. 

To be honest, the coffees were not good.  Even I can do much better than that. 

On our way home, we parked in a lakeside park to

 enjoy this gorgeous sunset. What a perfect ending it is for such a perfect day!

A Day at Grand Rapid, Michigan

中文：GRAND RAPIDS (MICHIGAN) 一日游

We stayed in Grand Rapids for the weekend.  It is the second biggest city in Michigan.  We have been there before for a couple times but didn’t take time to explore the city.  So we decided to just relax and walk around the city this time. 

We grew more and more found of Grand Rapids.  People here are very nice.  The downtown area is tidy and clean.  It was early spring time.  Tulips and daffodils were sprouting.  Bright sunshine and cozy breeze made it a perfect weekend for us.

It was about lunch time when we drove there.  So we went to Marie Catrib’s for lunch.  It is such a highly recommended deli that I have to try it. (The restaurant’s picture is from Internet.)

Food           ★★★☆☆
Service       ★★★★★
Ambience ★★★★☆

It was easy to find but hard to park.  Parking lot was small and crowded.  We waited for about 40 minutes before our table was ready.

This is the roof top of bakery.  Well, I did have some time to kill. 

Our waiter was really nice.  He recommended us some popular sandwiches and house potatoes.

My Vermaire sandwich is composed with chicken, cranberry sauce, provolone cheese, cream cheese, spinach and Challah bread.

The sandwich was just ok.  Chicken in the middle was really blank and tasteless. 

He ordered the Sweet Potato & Quinoa Burger。

It was also kind of blank.  He didn’t like it. 

Marie’s seasoned potato.  Finally we had something flavorful.  They were hot from the grill board and perfectly cooked.  However, they were too salty for us. 

The food was just ok for us.  But the service was super!  Thumbs up for that!  Restaurant ambience was great. 

We went to Grand Rapids Art Museum after lunch.  Awesome place! And then we drove around the Heritage Hill Historic District area.  It was a nice warm sunny day, so we took a walk in the neighborhood.

 We came across an ice cream shop Furniture City Creamery.  Time for ice cream! O(∩_∩)O~ 

(The restaurant’s picture is from Internet.)

Food ★★☆☆☆
Service ★★★★☆
Ambience ★★★☆☆

We had a chocolate flavor and an Ethiopian coffee flavor.

Chocolate 

Ethiopian coffee

I used to make ice cream the same way.  Grind the coffee beans supper fine and add to ice cream batter.  You can taste the coffee grounds.

We didn’t like the ice cream here.  They were are creamy and smooth enough.  They tasted more like sorbet than ice cream.  And the flavor was also kind of blend.  Nothing popped out other than the sweetness.

We drove back to downtown for coffees.  There is a coffee shop called Madcap that I wanted to try. (The restaurant’s picture is from Internet.)

Coffee ★★★★★
Service ★★★★★
Ambience ★★★★½

I ordered a latte.

This was the best latte I had ever had so far.  It was creamy, smooth, and had bold coffee flavor.  

He ordered a cappuccino.  It was great too.  The service here was also awesome!  Our barista was very cute and nice.  

We were planning to have dinner at the Winchester, but neither of us was hungry.  So we skipped dinner and went to Founder Brewing Co for local beers. (The restaurant’s picture is from Internet.)

Beer ★★★★★
Food ★★★☆☆
Service ★★★☆☆
Ambience ★★★☆☆

The bar was so huge!  It might be the biggest bar I had even seen.  It was very crowded and people kept coming.  Wow!

There was live band playing.

I had a Pale Ale.  It was perfect.  

He ordered a Red Eye IPA and loved it too. 

A Reuben Sandwich and chips

They were just ok.  Anyway we were here for the beers, not food. 

We drove Holland nearby the next day.  It was Sunday and most stores and restaurants in downtown were closed.  So we stopped by Lemonjello’s for coffee. (The restaurant’s picture is from Internet.)

Coffee ★★★½☆
Service ★★★½☆
Ambience  ★★★☆☆

We ordered two lattes. 

It was pretty good.  The latte we had at Madcap was so good that any latte I have after that doesn’t not good enough.  

A Day at Frankenmuth (Michigan)

中文： 密西根的德国小镇FRANKENMUTH 的吃吃喝喝

Frankenmuth is a Bavarian town located in central Michigan.  There are all kinds of cute little street front shops that sell everything from popcorn to chocolate, from jewelry to herbs.  With festivities year around, it is a nice place to take a tour or spend a relaxing weekend with family and friends.

However, the streets can be super crowded with people when a certain festival is going on.  We always prefer to go there between holidays and festivals, so that we can really relax and enjoy the historical culture and beauty there.

Shortly after we arrived, it became windy and cloudy last weekend.  So I took most pictures indoor. 

Everywhere you look, you can see local beers and wines. 

Desserts are amazing here.  

Pecan cinnamon rolls.  The rolls may have been sitting on the countertop for too long that they are kind of tough to chew. 

This is one of the famous chicken dinner restaurants. It becomes a landmark for Frankenmuth. 

The bakery is also a must see. 

Aren't they pretty?

A lady was preparing funnel cake.  With her permission, I took a couple pictures. 

After deep frying, sprinkle them with powder sugar. 

You don’t know that Michigan is famous for its cherries?  Alright, let’s remind you that by adding cherry to coffee!

All kinds of local fruit jams

Local wines

Window shopping is also fun here!

It was Easter last weekend, so there were a lot of eggs and bunnies. 

Isn’t he adorable?

To me, Frankenmuth equals sweet candy heaven! 

The sesame crunch is our favorite.  They are so crunchy, sweet and loaded with toasted sesame.  

Pop corns come in all kinds of colors too. 

Fruit jams are popular here too. 

Live show about how to make fudge.  

Chocolate with caramel samples

Interesting candy machine

Another our favorite

Ok, it was dinner time.  We went to a local brewery by the river.  

They offered beer tour too.  I double checked with the tour guide that taking pictures was ok. 

That is how beers are made. 

Storage room was smaller than I thought. 

Time to enjoy the beers

We were not sure which one to order so we ordered a sampler set. 

They were so beautiful that I couldn’t help taking a bunch photos. 

Cheers!

He ordered a Philly steak sandwich.

It was very good.  The steak was thin and juicy.  Flavor was awesome.  However, it was a little bit too salty for our taste.

The potato fries were awesome.  They were hot; crunchy and crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. 

My Reuben sandwich is great too.  The corned beef was very tender and juicy.  

We switched with each other with half of our sandwiches. 

The Cheese Hut is also a must see little store.  You will find a lot of interesting things here. 

Cheese samples

The clouds began to clear up.  Time to go home!

A Tasty Trip to New Orleans

 中文：新奥尔良法国区FRENCH QUARTER觅食记

My husband and I traveled to New Orleans last week.  I planned ahead to make it a tasty trip.  We stayed in Sheraton on Canal Street so that we can sample local food in French Quarter area.

We got to New Orleans on Friday night, just in time to see the Mardi gras parade.  The streets were crowded with cheerful people everywhere.  What a wonderful scene! 

There was a Polish hot dog food truck around the corner.  

Well, it was kind of blank.  And the sausage was too salty for me. 

I got some souvenirs from the parade too.

I always have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar place, so I got up quite early next day.

The morning of French Quarter was quiet and beautiful.  The streets had been cleaned up.  

We took a morning walk around French Quarter and saw there was a long line in front of this restaurant.  What do I learn from watching all those Andrew Zimmer shows from Travel Channel?  When it comes to food, you got to follow the longest line! 

About 20 minutes later, we got in.  

I had black coffee.  My husband asked for orange juice.

My Bananas Foster Pain Perdu .  It was French toast with sliced banana, raisins, syrup and sprinkled with powder sugar.   The texture and taste was good, but way too sweet for me.  I left about half on the plate uneaten. 

My husband ordered Corned Beef Bennie.  The bottom was a buttermilk biscuit, with corned beef and a pouched egg on the top.  I had a couple bites. The hollandaise was too sour that other flavors did’t really stand out. 

We went for a swamp tour after breakfast.  It was on my schedule on previous trip to New Orleans but we didn’t have time to do it.  We finally made it this time.

Can you believe Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler and some other celebrities had been here? 

Winter swamp is beautiful. 

We had companies!

It was a nice warm sunny day.  A few alligators came out to enjoy the sunshine.

I was planning to try alligator meat for lunch, but we were too hungry to drive that far.  So we had lunch in a Panera Bread restaurant nearby.

Back to French Quarter for dinner.  We went to Acme. It is so famous that no introduction is needed here.  The oyster house appears in many foodie shows and articles.  There was always a long line at the door whenever I passed by. 

It was too dark inside, which makes it very difficult to take photo.  This was the best I could do without flash.  O(∩_∩)O~

 A dozen charbroiled oysters.  They were smoky and very tasty.  

The bread here I assumed was French bread.  They were so awesome.  The texture was very soft, light, fluffy and chewy all at the same time. 

Seafood gumbo.  It was thick and hot and loaded with small pieces of seafood.  Tasted good too.

One dozen fresh oysters.  They were very tender and juicy.  We like them more than the charbroiled version. 

I have to say this was the best fried crawfish during the whole trip.  They were served right after coming out of frying pan.  It was light and crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.  It tasted almost like tempura claw fish.  

The third day is Sunday.  We went to Mr. B's Bistro for jazz brunch. 

The restaurant and entry have an elegant look. 

The interior design was beautiful too. 

There was live jazz.  That is why it is called jazz brunch. O(∩_∩)O~ 

There was a sign next to my seat.  I think that means President Reagan dined here on stated dates.  

APPETIZERS 1-1-1; a coconut beer shrimp, fried oyster on the half shell, and a duck springroll.  All were very tasty. 

Seafood gumbo was quite tasty too.  

This was their signature dish: BBQ shrimp. The sauce was rich and buttery; shrimps were big, and they were perfectly cooked.  You can dip bread to the sauce. 

We took a walk tour around French Quarter.  We passed by Central grocery which is famous for muffuletta sandwiches.   We were still very full, maybe next time. 

Parade began  in the afternoon.

We went to Deanie's Seafood for dinner.  Their seafood and BBQ srimp dishes have been feature in a Man vs Food episode.  So we got to try it too.

I wanted to try and BBQ shrimp and boiled crawfish, but was told boiled crawfish was not served that day.  The waitress suggested me switching to Crawfish Quartet, and I did so. O(∩_∩)O~

BBQ shrimp.  The shrimps were bigger and fresher than the ones we had at Mr. B's Bistro.  They were cooked with butter infused with spices.  The flavor was bold, spicy and hot.  Shrimps were cooked to perfection but a bit too salty.  There might be tremendous amount of butter in this dish because the sauce is on the greasy side.  Other than that, it is still a good dish.  

Side salad

Crawfish Quartet: Crawfish Étouffée, crawfish au gratin, fried crawfish tails and crawfish croquettes。

Liked all of them but crawfish croquettes.  Fried crawfish tails were good.  But the fried crawfish tails we had at Acme were so great and it raised the bar high for others.

Crawfish Étouffée was thick and tasty. 

condiments

We had coconut custard bread pudding as dessert.  It was very dense and too sweet.  

Deanie's Seafood became our favorite restaurant for the trip.  BBQ shrimp is truly a delightful dish here.  It would be perfect if they can make it less salty.  Our waitress was very nice and sweet.  She was smiling all the time.  She brought fresh glasses of water whenever our glasses were just half empty.  That was the best service I have had in a really long time.  We would definitely go there again. 

The forth day morning, we had breakfast at hotel.  We went to Antoine’s for lunch.

There were ads for this restaurant on streetcar too.

There was $20.15 lunch special going on.  You can pick one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert.  And cocktail was 25 cents each.  

This is the appetizer I chose: Oysters 1-1-1 - Oysters Rockefeller, Thermidor and Bienville.

I was kind of shocked when appetizer plate was brought to me.  What is the nicest way to say I think they suck at food presentation?  Do they look appetizing at all?

Well, they tasted blank too. 

My husband picked shrimp tomato basil soup.  It was ok.  

We both ordered stuffed pork tenderloin as entrée.  To be honest, the taste doesn’t stand out.  And the pork was a bit too salty too. 

The bread was the best I had in New Orleans.  It was warm when brought to our table; crispy on the outside, and soft, light and fluffy on the inside.  

We both had dark chocolate mousse for dessert.  It amazed me. The mousse was dark and rich with a silky texture; denser than regular mousse; sweet but not too sweet.  It was just the way I liked it.  It had a texture between chocolate ganache and truffle.  

We went to Café Begnet for afternoon tea.  Alton Brown from Food channel introduced the begnets here on The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  I have to try it. 

There were two locations.  One was in Musical Legends Park on Bourbon Street.  The other one is on Royal Street.  We went to latter one.

 It was a small coffee shop.  We missed it the first time and then came back again to find it.  It was very close to Antoine’s where we had lunch.  

We ordered begnets and two black coffees.

The begnets are fried to order.  You get a number after you pay. When fresh batches of begnets come out, they distribute them according to the number.  

They were soft and warm; tasted like something across from donut and puff, and dusted with lots of powder sugar.

 They were good, but a little greasy.  I couldn’t finish mine. 

For dinner, we went to Drago’s.  

One dozen charbroiled oysters.  Good flavor and taste, similar to the ones we had at Acme. 

One dozen fresh oysters.  They are bigger and cleaner than Amce’s oysters.  They taste tender and juicy, and kind of sweet too. 

Fried alligator nuggets.  They did taste like chicken or something across between chicken and fish.  

The food at Drago’s was great.  However, the service was horrible.  We hadn’t seen our waitress the entire meal after we ordered.  It took a really long time to find her and got the bill.  After we signed the bill, she ripped it right off the table when we were still sitting there.  That was extremely rude.  I regretted I even tipped her. And there is no way I am going back to that restaurant ever again.  

We took a walk after dinner and passed by the famous Café du monde.  Every tour guidebook will tell you it is a must go place.  There is always a long line in front of it.  Now it was late on a week night; no one stood in line anymore.  

So we just walked in and sat at a street front table; ordered begnets and two black coffees. 

They were indeed very good.  They were served warmed and sprinkled with more powder sugar.  Compared to the ones from Begent Café, they were smaller, crispier with lighter texture.  

For the fifth day, we had breakfast at hotel and lunch at Mother’s.  I wanted to try the famous po’ boy sandwich.

Adam Richmond introduced this restaurant in Man vs Food.  It was just two blocks away from our hotel.

There was a long line in the restaurant.  We ordered and paid, and then found a table to sit at.  A waitress came get the receipt and brought the food we ordered.

It was a small crowded place.  There were many celebrities’ autographs on the wall.  Looks like it is a popular spot for tourists.

Hot sauces on the table.  I love hot sauces. 

There are prefilled water cups at front desk.  

Food was prepared and served right in the store too. 

Ta-dah, po’ boy sandwich.  We ordered combo shrimp & oyster.  

The fried shrimp and oyster were the best I had in New Orleans.  They were hot when brought to the table.  The crust was crispy.  Shrimps and oysters were tender and juicy, and they also had a very fresh taste. 

However, the whole sandwich is a little bit too dry to my taste.  

I ordered the World’s Best Ham Dinner, with red beans & rice, turnip green and French fries as side dishes.

As the signature dish, the ham, to my surprise, was quite blank.  Some pieces were too dry and some others were just ok.  Nothing impressed me on the plate. 

In the evening, we had dinner at Cook’s Place. The reviews online said it was a good place for authentic local food.  We stood in the line for about 25 minutes.  People before and behind us said the restaurant was recommended to them by local friends.  I got excited, expecting a wonderful authentic local food adventure.  However, it didn’t turn out to be the way I expected at all. 

Hand-written menu on the wall. 

My beloved hot sauces

Seafood gumbo.  The broth was very thin, almost watery.  And the taste was quite blank too.  

My husband ordered Combo Fried Oyster and Shrimp Dinner. This was literally the worst dish we had ever had in New Orleans.  Shrimps were very very dry and rubbery.  Oysters were definitely not fresh because they had that kind of bad fishy smell.  Compared to the combo fried shrimp and oyster we had at Mother’s, I declared this dish was barely edible. 

I had the popular Cooper’s Taste Plate.  First of all, the plate might have been sitting in the kitchen for too long that it was just lukewarm when it was brought to our table. The rabbit meat was also way too dry and hard to chew.

And yes, there was a giant feather sticking out on the top of fried chicken wing. 

The only highlight for the entire meal was this LA amber beer. It has a dark, deep and rich taste.  I found them sold in local store too after we got back to Michigan.

On the scale of 1 to 10, this restaurant should rate only 1. The food was so horrible that we would never go back.

On our way back to the hotel, we passed by Café du monde again.  So we walked in to enjoy hot begnets and coffees.  It was a perfect sweet ending for our tasty trip to New Orleans.