Plakas and Astoria Bakery: Greektown, September 25

Our hallway has started a tradition of going out for dinner on Sunday nights -- mainly to escape the weekend food here, which is (believe it or not) even more flavorless than the weekday food, but also to explore Detroit. Naturally, Greektown was high on our list of places to visit. Last Sunday, we finally made it there after an impressively orchestrated ride courtesy of the Detroit Public Transit System.

First priority: dinner. Always. 

We went to Plakas Restaurant because it "looked Greek enough."

The group. Clockwise from left: Anna, Alex, Liz, Colin, me, Anthony.

Truly, there is no food more Greek than a gyro. Despite being extraordinarily difficult to eat as a sandwich, it was actually pretty good. The fries were not, but I'm a picky eater (Obviously. Why else would I start a food blog?).

Next stop: dessert at the Astoria Bakery. It was packed, and with good reason. Everything looked incredible, and there was literally a line out the door.

If you're not hungry yet, you're clearly not looking hard enough at the picture.

To stick with the theme of "Greektown," I went with the Baklava. No regrets.

It was phyllo dough-pistachio-honey soaked perfection.

Thank you to Anna for the wonderful photos!

Salted Caramel Ice Cream, The Traffic Jam, September 20

The picture doesn't do it justice, but the Salted Caramel ice cream at The Traffic Jam (511 W Canfield) is quite literally the best ice cream I think I've ever tasted. Go get some before it gets too cold, although I'm sure it would still be delicious even when it's 20 degrees below zero.

Unidentified (Teriyaki?) Chicken, September 20, Towers

I think that a common technique used by many chefs is the idea that an artful presentation of a dish will make up for everything else that is lacking... Namely, flavor.

One of the few consistencies I have discovered in the cafeteria food here is the complete inability to properly cook rice. Of the many rice dishes I have tried at this fine establishment, none have been good. I mean, it truly takes skill to make rice this bad... Especially considering that a good percentage of the population at this school comes from a background where rice is an integral part of their diet.

The chicken was also generally unremarkable and flavorless... Never a surprise.

Lunch: September 28, 2011

Since I have a Biology test tomorrow, I thought today would be the perfect time to start the blog. Clearly, procrastination is something I excel at.


Here's what was on the menu for lunch today:

From left to right: Greek sandwich, sauteed squash, pork stir-fry, and almond boneless chicken.

Surprisingly enough, everything was actually quite good. While the sandwich was unremarkable, the stir fry and almond chicken were pretty decent -- one could even consider them delicious -- a welcome change from the flavorless food in the cafeteria as of late.

Raspberries from the Farmer's Market

Wayne State has a small farmer's market on Wednesdays, and this was the first opportunity I had to check it out. I ended up getting some fresh raspberries and grapes -- definitely a highlight of my day.