The Unvegan

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A Touch of Canada at The Kroft
The Best of 2015
Duluth Grill’s Rolled Flank Steak
A Torta at Tortugas

(Not So) Great Steak and Potato Company (CLOSED)

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It’s not even really wizzed on.

If you, as a restaurant, are going to call yourself great, as the Great Steak and Potato Company does, you had better be truly great. If not, you are opening yourself up for a slew of invited criticism. As an optimist, I figured the place was worth a try, if for no other reason than I had pretty much exhausted the options at Burbank’s Empire Center.

I wasn’t expecting a fancy steak dinner joint, so when I walked in and found it to be a predominantly cheesesteak and fries joint, I was pretty happy. I cannot claim to be a cheesesteak expert, since I’ve never had one in Philly, but I feel as thought I’ve tried enough to say what a good one should taste like. I ordered their Original Philly Cheesesteak, which was offered at a discounted price, without the onions (it was only cheese, onions and steak), then ordered their Coney Island Fries, which were topped with chili and cheese.

Steaked Down at Post & Beam

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That’s some fine signage.

Post & Beam sits in a strange area that isn’t quite Baldwin Hills and it isn’t quite West Adams. Because of that, I couldn’t really decide if it was sketchy or classy, and the neighborhood around the restaurant didn’t make that picture any cleared. Post & Beam itself, however, was definitely on the classy end. With modern architecture, interior design and nice menu, it truly seemed like a great place to grab some dinner. And while the menu was certainly on the upscale side, it had sides like corn bread and fried okra to reflect that it was still deeply in touch with its neighborhood.

Taking Slows Bar-B-Q in a Hurry

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This sign is from the original, before we took off for their other outpost. Love the railroad reference in the logo.

The decline of the city of Detroit from one of the greatest cities in the world to a land of ruins can hardly be better personified than by looking at Michigan Central Station in the Corktown district. Once the tallest train station in the world with architecture on par with New York’s Grand Central Station and Chicago’s Union Station, it is now a hollow ruin. Approaching the station is like looking at the skeleton of a hero, of something that was once great and never will be again. When gazing at the Colosseum in Rome, you feel surrounded by the ghosts who were both the entertained and the entertainers of the arena. In contrast, Michigan Central Station is the ghost.

Not Having a Cow at Moo Moo Thai (CLOSED)

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Yellow soup.

Over in Palms, a relatively new Thai place called Moo Moo threw its hat into the ring of Westside Thai restaurants. The place has a decidedly authentic flair inside despite the brightly colored lettering on its sign. In this case, I mean authentic in that it has the ambiance of a little corner Mexican restaurant with hastily cobbled seating arrangements.

Succulent Segovian Swine at Restaurante Amado

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Looks Kosher enough to me.

The Spanish town of Segovia is famous for a few things:

Its Roman aqueduct — still standing since it was constructed in 50 A.D, it consists of 163 arches made of 20,000 granite blocks and not a drop of mortar.

The Alcazar — the castle which inspired Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland.

And Cochinillo Asado, a roast suckling pig that’s supposed to be insanely tender and flavorful.

Missing White at Burger Lounge

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Shaking things up.

Not too long ago, a new place called Burger Lounge made its way into Beverly Hills. Well, new is a relative term, as the place has been hanging out in San Diego for years. As with all intriguing burgers, I knew I had to test out it and recruited my buddy from San Diego to accompany me. He had frequented the lounge down in SD back in the day and I thought he would be helpful in my quest.

Biking to a Sunny Spot

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A festival of bread!

In a location that once housed Beechwood in Venice, the legendary Roy Choi has taken on the cuisine of the Caribbean and given it the name Sunny Spot. You may remember Choi as the man behind Kogi and West Side delights Chego and A-Frame. When I first learned about Sunny Spot, I marked it down for a bike brunch visit and just happened to make my way there this past weekend. I had heard the Yucca Fried were something special, but what I found went way beyond what I had imagined.

Bibigo for It

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Some things change slightly.

The food court at Century City mall is one of the best. It may have some chains, but it is a long way from the fast food filled food courts of the world. Strangely, there is some turnover in restaurants, but they always seem to be replaced by a similar restaurant with the same name. Case in point: Sorabal, a Korean place, was replaced by Bibigo, a – you guessed it – Korean place. Sure, Bibigo is a different concept from Sorabal, but my point still stands.

Indo Eats at Simpang Asia

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Balls of joy.

Indonesian food is one of those peripheral Asian varieties like Burmese or Khmer. Unlike the Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Thai restaurants that dot nearly every corner in the city, you have to work to find these more unique options. Of course if you are of Indonesian descent, you likely know where to get the best Indonesian food, but for someone like me it isn’t so easy. As it happens, though, I heard from the mouth of an Indonesian that Simpang Asia was awesome and I knew I had to try it out.

Hunting Down The Hunter House

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Now that’s a burger joint.

Like its cousin in Farmington Hills, The Hunter House in Birmingham is home to a true slider. It sits in a building reminiscent of White Castle with simple black lettering proclaiming its specialty: Hamburgers. But not just any hamburgers, these sliders are the stuff of legend. Skinny, greasy patties with buns steamed on top while cooking at The Hunter House were enough to get them named the best hamburgers in Michigan in 2009 by the Food Network Magazine. But for a place that’s been around since 1952, the accolades were hardly necessary.

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