Review - Firkin & Fox (Burton, MI, member of the Firkin Pubs Nationwide)

Firkin &Fox is your typical English pub (or at least what I imagine an English pub to be) but with better lighting. Their menu has all of the typical English dishes such as Bangers and Mash, Shepard's Pie, and Fish and Chips, along with American favorites such as burgers, chicken strips, and ribs. On Tuesdays they have a special on their tacos.

Since I had never had the tacos, I figured I'd give them a try. There was nothing special about them...except the shell. It wasn't deep fried like I usually go for, it was your standard corn shell, but the texture was different. This was the lightest, thinnest, crispiest shell I've ever had. If the meat were seasoned a bit better, I'd order them all the time, but for the $0.49 special I can't complain.

I really went there for the Fish and Chips. I'm not a big fish eater, but once in a while I get an overwhelming craving for fish and chips, and where better to go than an English pub? When they arrived they were piping hot, and smelled incredible. I of course doused them in malt vinegar and squirted a generous amount of ketchup (not catsup!) on the plate. The batter was crispy, the fish was flaky, and there wasn't any hints of grease anywhere! Each bite was perfectly balanced between the smoothness of the fish, the tang of the vinegar, the sweetness of the ketchup and the crunch of the batter. I couldn't have asked for better fish. The Chips (fries) were fresh, hot, and almost had a creamy texture. The perfect fried potato!

I don't know about other Firkin Pubs, but I like Firkin & Fox. Maybe someday I'll be able to go to a real English pub in Jolly Old England and then I'll be able to give an accurate comparison.

Anyone wanna sponsor a trip? :)

Review - Casa Real (Oxford and Flint, MI)

A new restaurant, Casa Real (billed as having "Authentic Mexican Cuisine"), opened in Flint not too long ago. It is in a prominent location, and the parking lot looked pretty crowded, so I decided to drop in for dinner.

When I walked in it looked like a cliche. The walls were painted in this wannabe adobe finish, and all kinds of other gaudy decorations filled the room. Usually a good restaurant will smell heavenly when you walk in, but not Casa Real. It had a very faint smell of tortillas, but not the usual appetite inducing, mouthwatering aromas. There was a wait for a table, but there were seats at the bar so I decided to have my dinner there.

The menu is extensive, with just about any Mexican dish you could want. Since I wanted to try a variety of things I ordered the "Casa Real Specialty (serves 2)" which consisted of 1 Ground Beef Tostada, one ground beef hard taco, one ground beef enchilada, one pork tamale (which I exchanged for another taco), one chicken burrito, one chile relleno, with rice and beans. While I waited for my food, I snacked on the complementary chips and salsa. The salsa is very good, but the chips taste like they came out of a bag. When the food arrived it was hot and looked incredible, but didn't smell like anything. I took a bite of a taco and the texture of the tortilla was very much like a shell from Old El Paso, but at least Old El Paso has flavor. Out of everything I ordered NOTHING tasted like much. The chile relleno had a flavor; it was nasty! It was nothing more than a mouthful of mush with a chili pepper in the middle. The outer layer of the pepper had some sort of crust on it, but it wasn't thick enough, or fried long enough or something. The rice was nothing more than white rice with some tomato paste to turn it a faint pink, not the rich orange-red that Spanish rice should have. It too was flavorless.

Desperately searching for flavor I ordered the Pastel de Tres Leches (Three Milk Cake). This was served ice cold, and hard as a brick. The cake itself had the texture of a dense cornbread, but the milks did soften it a little, very little. I wouldn't have minded this so much if the cake had been warmed just a little. It felt like they took it straight out of the refrigerator, plopped it on a plate, threw some chocolate sauce and whipped cream on it and sent it out.

Overall this was a disappointing experience. I don't think I'll be returning to Casa Real, nor would I recommend it.

Review - Senior Lucky's (Davison, MI)

I'm always in search of good Mexican food, so when DivaMom told me about Senior Lucky's I was skeptical. But when she said that the parking lot was packed, I saw a glimmer of hope. I was not disappointed.

The building looks like it use to be a Big Boy. But when I got out of the car I could already smell the food, and it smelled good! Walking in, it's not spectacular. There is a full bar, and some TVs, a couple video games, and of course tables and booths. We took our seat and looked a the menu. Everything sounded good! They have some American favorites like Buffalo wings in addition to their Mexican fare.

When Melissa, our server, came to take our drink orders she brought chips and salsa. Both were fresh and tasted wonderful! Melissa was handling a large table (about 10 people) as well as our table (2 people) but never made it seem like she was too busy to answer our questions or attend to our needs.

I ordered a specialty margarita (rocks, no salt), Fried Corn Shell Tacos (ground beef), and 2 chicken flautas. The Tacos came with a side of rice and beans as well as a choice of soup or salad. I chose Chili for my soup. DivaMom ordered 1 Golden Taco (fried flour shell, ground beef), and 2 shredded beef flautas.

The margarita was perfect. It had 2 types of tequila, as well as cointreau. It was mixed well so that I didn't get a mouthful of mixer or a mouthful of tequila right off the bat. Bonus points to Melissa for remembering no salt amidst the chaos of the table next to us. DivaMom and I had the chili and it was quite good. It was a little thicker than what we like, but it had very good flavor, the meat was well seasoned and tender, there were just the right number of beans, and the tomato base was flavorful. The tacos I ordered were fantastic! The shell could have been fried a little longer (maybe another 30 seconds), but the tortilla was fresh, the ground beef was seasoned perfectly, the lettuce and tomatoes were fresh and firm, and the cheese actually tasted like cheese (unlike some places where the cheese has no flavor, or worse tastes like mold). The chicken flautas were nice and crispy on the outside, the chicken was also well seasoned (not at all gamey), and they were covered in a slightly spicy cheese sauce. YUM! The rice and beans were fantastic as well. DivaMom enjoyed her Golden Taco and flautas as much as I enjoyed my meal.

We couldn't leave without trying their apple empanada, and we were not disappointed! Imagine a burrito filled with fresh apples, and a light Cinnamon caramel sauce, slightly deep fried to crisp up the tortilla, then topped with more light Cinnamon caramel sauce and french vanilla ice cream! I could have died a happy girl right then!

I will be returning to Senior Lucky's, but really I feel like I'm the lucky one! If you are in Davison, MI, or the surrounding areas, go to Senior Lucky's and ask for Melissa! You won't be disappointed!