Happy Birthday to Me! A couple weeks ago, that is. I’m a little slow on posting this. But it was a really fun day, with lots of new foods, so I can’t move on without sharing.
My husband took the day off and my youngest didn’t have school, so the three of us went to Detroit for the day. First was breakfast at Joe Louis Southern Kitchen.
This place. It’s so cute. You walk in and the host is standing behind a BBQ grill. There’s AstroTurf. It’s all decked out like you’re hanging out in someone’s backyard. My three year old LOVED it and promptly started dancing to the jams as soon as we were in the door. He’s got some moves.
We were seated on the “porch” with a long bench that looked like a porch swing. The menu had so many new things to try it was hard to choose! I went with the fried catfish and grits. It was delicious.
Then it was off to DIA! No, not the airport. The Detroit Institute of Arts Museum!
This is not a great photo. But it was amazing.
I could have spent all day there. But we still needed to check out the big Asian grocery store in Detroit. 168 Asian Mart. I’ve been wanting to check it out since moving to Michigan and this was finally my chance!
Though I was disappointed that they didn’t have jackfruit, there was an extensive selection of produce. And a ton of new and interesting things for sale. Sliced cow tongue. A variety of hot pot dumplings. Some kind of grubs?? (called Dak Dae on the back.) Duck heads! Duck tongues! So many things I’d never seen before. I should have taken more photos. Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to go back!
After the Asian Mart, we headed to Fuji Japanese Buffet for lunch, which was in the same strip. Holy cow! This place had it all. It reminded me of Mandarin, in Ontario. (I don’t think that chain is in the US, but I could be wrong) But actually, this place was better. Sorry, Mandarin, I still love you.
There was so much to choose from here. Lots of different sushi options. Dumplings. Seafood. Noodles. Chicken and beef and veggies and fruit and desserts. I can’t even begin to list it all.
Here’s my plate. Yes, that’s a chicken foot on there. A CHICKEN FOOT! I’ve seen them for sale at Asian markets before. I assumed they were used for broths and such. I’d never heard of eating a chicken foot like this. Of course I had to try it!
Pretty good, I’d say. Not bad. The novelty of it definitely outweighed the deliciousness but I’m happy that I can now say I’ve tried a chicken foot.
After that we had to book it back home before the big kids got back from school. Here’s what we brought home from the Asian Mart. I didn’t bring home any meat or produce this time. I wasn’t prepared with a cooler and they would have probably been in the car too long. Next time.
Mushroom powder.
Bitter melon and mangosteen teas! I’ve never seen either of those before. I would have grabbed some bitter melon for sure if I’d seen it. I LOVE bitter melon. For now, I’ll see how the tea is.
Glutenous rice flour! This does not actually have gluten in it. It’s just rice. But I got this because I recently saw a recipe for making dumplings with this flour and so I needed some. Now I need to figure out where I saw that recipe. Details.
Different kinds of gluten free noodles! Fabulous.
Crispy Anchovies! Why not? The ingredient list was minimal here. Anchovies, salt, sugar, and white sesame. (I tried these and they’re spicy. Where does the spice come from?? Hmmmm.)
Asian Pears. I lied. I did get some produce. I got asian pears. Couldn’t pass those up.
Ramen, pocky sticks, mochi, some kind of jelly-? in a backpack? for the kids.
And pickled ginger–without dyes! Score.
That’s about it! Oh, we swung over to the Coldstone that was also right there in the strip for an ice cream cake to take home.
Which we had with the kids after dinner.
It really was a fabulous day.
Cheers!
Jessi
For the YUM 