Queen of Sheba is celebrating their 4th Anniversary, November 11th and 12th. They are putting a full spread out each day, I would definitely suggest trying to visit during that time.

Before coming to Queen of Sheba I had never had Ethiopian food. Due to my friend Jacob’s, and my brother’s enthusiasm for Ethiopian cuisine we wound up hearing from a young lady about Queen of Sheba; in particular their beef tartar. I’m always up for trying something new (except for Balut… unless I am REALLY hungry), so off we went to try Queen of Sheba for lunch.

Normally I write my reviews immediately after, or shortly after eating at the restaurant. In this case, I had eaten at Queen of Sheba and taken some notes on my phone… and then promptly became a lazy shit and didn’t write anything for months. I’ve since eaten there several times (most recently went for dinner with my roommates and one of my friends, Jamie, when she was in town this previous weekend). I’ve lost some steam from my original notes, so I’ll post what I had noted and let you suss out my experience from that (lazy, I know):

*2nd time here, had the buffet the first time, it was excellent. Costs around $10.

*Note the hand sanitizer, traditional Ethiopian eats with hands using “injera” as your fork, amd it’s a little plate basically.

*Harar beer is basic lager but good. The Hakim stout is delicious, recommend.

*Music is really laid back, and the setting as you can see is very casual. Fresh butcher paper goes down for each table and the proprietress, Seble Gizaw, works everything with a good word for all customers. She explains how to go about eating Ethiopian for any first timers.

*Ordered Queens Special (cook’s choice of items), Beef Tartar, and the Chefs Choice Veggie Combo Platter.

*Jake and Dan talking “shop”, discussing boring work nonsense.

*Food came out and impressive. Each time we come we enjoy the food thoroughly. The tartar was tender, spiced without a lot of heat in it. All of us thoroughly impressed but we all agreed that the veggie dishes are our favorite. Rich flavors, satisfying cravings for curry flavor. With the tartar you get an assortment of sauces and spices to add heat and we added those in providing an additional kick. Definitely advise coming back.

Synopsis: Definitely try something new and go to Queen of Sheba. Every trip has left me feeling contented and with a smile on my face. I give it a consistent Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

-Matt in Tampa

Anyways, Matt and I wanted to catch some lunch.. and I couldn’t for the life of me think of anywhere near our work that had quesadillas so Matt suggested Chilis. It took us 5 minutes to get over there, the service was great and the decor was awful.  The food was  subpar.  My Jalapeno Steak Quesadillas were entirely passable but not worth the $10 or so they cost.  Matt ordered the “large” nachos.  Apparently “large” at Chilis constitutes 10 chips covered with beans and cheese.  I’m not sure how this is large, I’m afraid to find out what the small nacho is.

Our server was kinda furtive but really on the ball with getting our orders, bringing refills and bringing our check.  He didn’t pester us with any nonsense which was nice, but his tossing the check down with our food was a little odd.  Did I smell?  Was he encouraging us to leave?  Or did he recognize a “business” lunch since I was wearing my shitty polo and jeans. I’m sometimes afraid that I push business casual a little too far.  Do cut off jean shorts count as business casual?

I was really jonesing for a quesadilla and it must have clouded my judgement.  I mean, I know Chilis is just lackluster.. but why did I hope to have a stupid awesome quesadilla?  I think the key when eating at Chilis is to manage your expectations.  If you’re looking for a great experience with amazing food, keep walking.

I give Chilis a Rating: 2 out of 5 stars rating.  Perfectly passable over priced food.  If your company is paying it might be more enjoyable. If you really like Crapplebees you’ll probably enjoy Chili’s.

P.S. – So what, no pictures. I’ll leave you with this cat instead..

I’ve been coming to El Oasis for several years now and am just now getting to a review, what’s that about?  Anyways, I remember going to El Oasis for the first time…  My friend Jacob’s place was just up the street and a group of us were all hanging out around dinner time and he said “Hey man, we should go get some street burritos”.  Street Burritos? In my Lansing? That moniker stuck for quite a while.  This trip however was after a bout of unlucky fishing and spending $30 on cheap plastic and sharp metal.. (lures).  The Dunham‘s is just east of El Oasis so Jacob and I opted to go hit up some street burrito.

You can’t go wrong with street food.  I feel like a vendor who is selling out of a truck or a trailer, or whatever the venue might be, really needs to have stellar food.  There is no real scenery, or decor, or a vibe beyond the neighborhood that the vendor is at.  El Oasis is no exception.  Whatever you get will be excellent.  I love sandwiches so I lean towards the Torta , that said.. the tacos are excellent as well.  There are a variety of meats and you can’t go wrong with any of them… however I prefer to get things that I can’t get at other restaurants.  For instance, Barbacoa which is shredded beef cheek and slow cooked to a tender roast beef-like status.  The Carne asada is also ridiculously good.

The sandwich is a fairly simple affair.  Crusty bread with onions, shredded lettuce, fresh avocado slices.  They also have an assortment of hand crafted salsas, I like spicy so I go with the hot salsa.  Drizzle the salsa on and then dig into the mouthwatering sandwich.  My only beef with El Oasis is that there isn’t any type of seating.  So you’re going to have to eat on the car, or in the car.. or take it home.  A picnic table would be pretty righteous.  Another bonus is that they sell Jarritos and Mexican Coca Cola (with real cane sugar!).  Also this is the first time that I’ve gotten food from the big truck.  Normally there’s just the little cart when I drop by.

**EDIT** I have been informed by reliable sources that there are places to sit.  A couple of stools and a bar around back? Thanks Phil!

Rating: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars .  Just shy of 5 stars.  The food is always excellent.

2900 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 332-9700

It has been a while since I’ve written anything for the site.  I’ve been working on the theme and some backend stuff for the website.  This is a bit of a throw back (aka I should have written this thing months ago), which is a nice reminder of summer.  I ended up running errands with my father in Ann Arbor and we were going to stop by the University of Michigan admissions while we were there.  My Dad asked me to find somewhere to eat while he opened a bank account or something for his business.  Anyways, I ended up wandering around looking for places to eat nearby.  I was a little leery of this place because I thought the prices might be too high.  My options were Cottage Inn or Mediterrano, and there is no way I was going to chowzer down on some pizza before meeting with admissions.

I decided to order some coffee while waiting for my Dad.  I opted for dining outside.  Nothing beats eating outdoors on a beautiful day.

The coffee was pretty decent, I’m not really sure what the stuff on the plate was.  I think it was some spread for the bread, ya know… olive oil poured over it then smash it all over your bread.  I was starting to get a little antsy, 10 minutes turned into 20 or 25 minutes, while waiting so I gave my Dad a ring and decided to order for the both of us.  I went for the Greek Style Baked Summer Vegetables; It had Semolina orza pasta, tomatoes, feta cheese and Kalamata olives on top.  I ordered the Grilled Chicken Kebabs for my Dad.  The Summer Vegetables were absolutely fantastic.  They were perfectly baked, and the melted feta added a nice little punch.  It was full of textures, the soft artichokes, the green beans still had some snap.  The tomatoes didn’t seem to be overly acidic nor over seasoned.  The chicken kebabs looked pretty delicious too.

While eating I spoke with my Father about how I feel that good Vegetarian dishes are the hallmark of good restaurants.  Even when I’m not eating purely vegetarian, I like the option for a vegetarian dish just to try new things that I wouldn’t cook for myself.  I can make a damn fine steak or an amazing hamburger, however making something like these tomato baked vegetables?  It just wouldn’t cross my mind to put those things together since I grew up with meat as the protein for most of our meals.

While you do pay for the dishes your wallet won’t be too much lighter;  my Greek Veggies cost $11 and the Chicken Kebab was $12.99.  Not terribly expensive considering how much food you get and a great atmosphere for a dining experience.  Most of the dishes were between the $10-$20 range, with the majority around $15.  If you’re looking for a casual dining spot, with some great Mediterranean inspired foods, give Mediterrano a shot.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars  Decor and atmosphere were great and really fit the mood of the food.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Price of everything was reasonable.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Food was perfectly cooked and all of the flavors really went well together.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars Overall.  Definitely deserving of 4.5 stars, if you’re in Ann Arbor give it a shot.

The next day we went to the UofM football game.  It was one they actually won too!

Shiki is located in an unassuming location; tucked away in a strip mall. To Shiki’s right is a Dollar Tree, and to the left is… well I can’t remember but there is an Ace Hardware and a Publix on the same lot. In essence, there is a lot of generic strip mall bullshit. Before walking into the restaurant for the first time I had a crippling desire to spray-paint ‘da’ preceeding Shiki, it just felt so right. I put my desctructive tendencies on hold to see what this joint offered.

When I walked into Shiki, the first thing I noticed was the complete lack of goofy shit on the walls.  The place was austere and clean.  There were a minimum of wall hangings and statuettes.  You weren’t crushed under the swinging paws of 30 smiling cat statues or the gleeful gaze of 50 gilded buddhas peering over your shoulder at your food.

The sushi is made by two chefs who spit Nihongo (Japenese) back and forth in a quickfire.  The lead chef is an older guy who has a glint in his eye that says, “I can cut the shit outta some fish.”  Either that or a look of, “Sweet baby Ray my hands reek like a fish market! Yucky, Yucky, Yucky!”

After we sat down, menus were brought to us along with hot towels to wipe our hands (traditional practice prior to eating sushi/sashimi).  Along with the towels was a peculiar concoction that is essentially cold and sweet ramens.  The noodles were slightly al dente and delicious.

My old lady ordered edamame (baby soy bean sprouts).  They were warm and lightly covered in salt, absolutely wonderful.  Eating this edamame was like getting a fresh order of tender, hot, salty nuts at the ballpark.  I could just order a big bowl of edamame from Shiki and eat that for my meal (maybe with a cold beer on the side and a game on the tv).

With our entrees we received miso soup and a salad dressed with ginger dressing.

I find something decidedly wonderful about “Asian salad dressing” (ginger dressing).  It’s sweet, tangy, and always leaves me wanting more.  The bright ginger flavor brings a unique element to the standard salad from a restaurant.  The ginger flavor is complimented well by the miso.

Sia ordered the Chirashi Sushi Box.  It came loaded with Sushi rice as well as a slew of fish, pickled veggies, and a nori ‘salad’.  I can’t speak to how the dish tasted, but it looked delectable:

I ordered the Kaisendon.  This isn’t a dish that a person new to Sushi should try unless they absolutely fell in love after their first visit/experience.  Essentially it’s a bowl of sushi rice, raw fish, fresh vegetables (nori, ginger), pickled vegetables, and topped with sesame seeds.  The textures available were amazing; in the same bite you could have fresh salmon and then a bit of cabbage that’s been treated to cumin.  When you get the dish, you also receive a spicy sauce that you can add to to really marry all the flavors together. The sauce had sesame seed oil, wasabi, and chili powder.  It really carried some kick that accentuated the existing flavors in the dish.

Shiki has been my best restaurant experience thus far in Tampa.  They offer a wide variety of sushi rolls that start at $3.50 and can bump above $10.

Here are their sushi specials (there is another list of more generic sushi choices):

In the end, I was extremely pleased with the experience I had at Shiki on two occasions.  The sheer excellence of what I received made me forever curb my wanton desire to spray paint the joint, but in my heart this place will always be known as “Da-Shiki Sushi, home of Deliciousness.”

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars (An easy decision to rate this a 5 star experience)

-Matt