Woah! Meijer over on Knapp’s Corner makes their own fresh Mozzarella cheese in-house! Hand-stretched and all! They do it right in front of the customers at their new cheese bar, which is amazing by the way! You can get fresh mozzarella that is still warm! I was so impressed I had to snap a photo of their mozzarella lady whippin up a fresh batch! We bought a ball of it and made a caprese salad appetizer with it for dinner. It was so tasty and soft with a pleasant saltiness. I recommend buying this rather than the packaged so called fresh mozzarella!
Over Easter weekend I was confirmed and Patrick’s parents bought me a cake from Meijer over on Knapp’s Corner. The cake was so beautiful that I had to share it on my blog. I am quite impressed with the work I’ve seen lately coming out of that bakery. The cake tasted very good too. It was a vanilla cake with a vanilla pudding inside. The fondant was a little much for me since I’m not a big sweets person but the actual cake part was very flavorful. I definitely will use the Meijer bakery for any of my cake needs.
I finally knocked this one off my bucket list! It’s been way overdue! Taqueria San Jose is literally a whole in the wall restaurant serving up authentic Mexican cuisine. I read up on this place in a few different articles I came across stating that the asada and tongue tacos were a must try. So the first thing I ordered was that. I ordered 3 tacos. 2 asada and 1 tongue and they all tasted the same to me and the asada didnt seem like a good quality meat. It was very gritty and fatty in all 3 tacos. The tacos were served with corn tortilla shells which I like, a good portion of cliantro, onions, and a charred pepper. These tacos were very authentic but I didn’t really enjoy it all that much. I think I just had really high hopes for this place and I wasn’t impressed. They had some hot sauces on the table that I squirted all over my tacos in hopes to bring some flavor to them. We also ordered tamales! Too many tamales I might add. These things are huge so beware. We ordered all pork tamales and these were very good. In the past I had no desire to ever eat tamales. I had them once long ago and thought they were disgusting. I figured I would give them another try and this was the day and I liked them actually! To be honest I don’t think I’ll be going back to this place for tacos…
Bloody Mary and the Mayberry ManhattanThe Kapusta Burger with Baked Beans
Flat Lander’s is a new eatery in town and what they like to call a Barstillery ™. They have custom distilled organic crafted liquors and other products created for them off site but still in Michigan. I tried the Recovery Room Bloody Mary. To my bloody I ordered a couple blue cheese stuffed olives, but normally this wouldn’t come with it. The bloody mary had just the right kind of kick I like. Not too much spice but just enough to wake up your taste buds. Patrick ordered the Mayberry Manhattan. He seemed to really enjoy it but I wasn’t about to taste this one because I’m not a huge bourbon fan. Patrick did mention how he liked how the drink came with one ball shaped ice cube…
For lunch we ordered the Hillbilly Poutine. Crinkle cut fries covered in a cheese sauce with bacon, jalapenos, a fried egg and chopped green onion. It was good but not the best. I’d much rather have the appetizer smothered in a gravy. The bacon was probably the best part. They had told us that they get most of their meats from the butcher next door. I’ve posted about this butcher awhile back on this blog. We also ordered the Kapusta burger to share. The actual burger meat was great. Very juicy and fresh. The kapusta just seemed like your regular sauerkraut. The grainy mustard seemed fitting for this burger and compliments the sauerkraut. The cheese on this burger was a cheddar cheese…I was a bit confused on why they put cheddar on it. I think something like a swiss would be a better fit for a Kapusta Burger. On the side came baked beans which were one of the best baked beans I’ve had. Generous chunks of pork belly in a sweet but spicy sauce.
I’d probably go back to this Barstillery ™ just to try more drinks and their pulled pork sandwich.
Salami, crackers, wine, and cheese from the Cheese Lady
The Cheese Lady is a great store. It reminds me a little bit of an ice cream parlor but instead it’s all cheese. You go up to the cheese bar and you can sample any kind of cheese they have. All the cheeses are listed on a chalk board behind the bar. Some of the cheese names look familiar to me but majority of them look foreign. That’s okay if you go in there clueless because their staff is so knowledgeable about all cheeses in the world. You definitely learn something while you are there. They not only carry cheese but they also carry wine, beer, assorted crackers, salamis, dip mixes, kitchen accessories and gadgets, other food items, etc.
When we visit the Cheese Lady we almost always end up buying a blue cheese (a real stinky one), a sharp cheddar (Patrick’s favorite), and a random one that we’ve never tried before. We always end up liking everything. We are definitely cheese lovers. Wine, cheese and crackers is definitely a dinner we enjoy quite often.
Lamp lollipops11oz Filet with the blue cheese topping
The Chop House is by far my favorite restaurant in Grand Rapids. They are expensive but the food is definitely worth it. They always cook my steak perfectly to a medium rare. I also love how I get a sense of nostalgia when we order our share able side dishes. The delivery of your entrees is quite extravagant but I tend to enjoy this part though I can see that other people may not. It’s all about the presentation in my book. On your birthday The Chop house will discount your bill 50% off which is absolutely the best deal in town!
Patrick and I ordered an appetizer. We ordered the Lamb Lollipops and those we cooked perfectly once again! The flavor wasn’t too gamey at all, I tend to taste a bit of gaminess when I eat lamb and I can’t say that I like that taste all that much.
For our entrees we both ordered the 11oz filet mignon. Both came out medium rare and you literally could cut this piece of meat with a butter knife. Patrick ordered the blue cheese topping for his filet (pictured) and I ordered the crab oscar topping with mine. I probably won’t get that topping again even though I love crab. I happened to like the blue cheese topping more. It was just a good creamy texture with a buttery bite of filet.
Here in Grand Rapids we enjoy our West Michigan summers. We have near by beaches, rivers to kayak and fish in, and summer concerts held at Rosa Parks circle. One of the most enjoyable summer activities and pastime is attending baseball games. Lucky for us, we get to cheer on the West Michigan Whitecaps right here in Grand Rapids at Fifth Third Ball Park. Fifth Third is currently hosting a 2014 Fan Food Submission contest until Feb. 4th. Past winners of this contest have been the Baco which is a bacon shelled taco and the Westsider Po’ Boy. I haven’t had the opportunity of trying either but they sound scrumptious. Fifth Third as made National Television and news article listings with their outrageous concession items such as the Fifth Third Burger which is a 4lb specialty burger that contains almost 5,000 calories! Wow! The Baco has also made these listings. So if you have any crazy ideas for the ball park submit them before Feb. 4th and you just might see your food item on the menu this summer. Below is the link to follow to submit an idea
This past Saturday Patrick and I visited a new butcher in town; Grand Butchers located at 855 Michigan St. Grand Butchers emphasizes on local meats and they offer natural beef, pork, chicken, lamb and veal. The shop is pleasant and they also sell some grocery items. We were greeted right when we walked in and were offered samples of their in house jerky. I tried the teriyaki flavor and Patrick had the peppered flavor. Both tasted really good and fresh. We ended up buying 2 New York Strips and a pound of ground beef. The New York Strip is one of our favorite cuts. We enjoyed the steaks last night and made them on the stove top, we usually will grill steak but since the weather is below freezing we decided against it. We like our steaks medium/medium rare but I over cooked them to medium well. Even though I overcooked them they still were delicious and tender. I didn’t even pound the steak! I just let them reach room temperature before cooking and seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic powder and a little bit of olive oil. We definitely will be visiting Grand Butcher’s again!
So today I went on a lunch date with my co-workers and the decision was Ju Sushi off of East Paris in the same complex as Bonefish. This was my second time at the sushi lounge. Both times I took advantage of their lunch special which was select 2 or 3 items from their lunch menu for either $9.99 or $12.99. I opted for the 3 item choice because lets get real sushi doesn’t fill you up that much. I ordered a ginger salad, the spicy tuna roll and the salmon nigiri. The ginger salad was larger than I expected and contained a spring mix, shredded carrots, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes with the ginger dressing on the side. The ginger dressing made the salad. It wasn’t over powered by the ginger flavor either, which was nice. The spicy tuna seemed very fresh and tasted like any other spicy tuna roll I’ve had. The salmon nigiri was my favorite. The salmon had the consistency of butter, that melt in your mouth feeling. Loved it! It was probably the freshest sushi I’ve had in Grand Rapids thus far. To be honest, it’s hard to find fresh sushi here in Michigan because…well..we’re Michigan…
My only negative review on JU Sushi is that it took a long time for our meal to be prepared. We only had a party of 4 and all ordered off the lunch menu. Some of us even ordered the same thing. There wasn’t too many people in the place either. We definitely went over our 1 hour lunch, which I don’t mind especially on a Friday and because I was in good company, but if you’re in hurry don’t choose this place. Service was good and the server was very knowledgeable about all the items we had questions on and said she had tried everything on the menu, which is a plus in my book! If you work at a restaurant what’s stopping you from trying everything!? It’s like a free pass!
616foodbliss 