Downtown Flint, MI and Blackstone's

So here we are ... almost at the end of August and I'm still trying to catch up on my posts from over a month ago!  Although being back to work has not really created more time for me to update my blog at least I've cut down on how often I have been eating out so I am not falling further behind.

While Emma and I were still on our shopping spree in Michigan, we discovered downtown Flint completely by happenstance.  We were hankering for something different to eat ... where we were staying there are plenty of mediocre chain restaurants and fast food places (it is the States after all, what could one expect) we wanted some decent food.  The GPS was of very little help with only highlighting the aforesaid chains and fast food joints.  Eventually we decided on Lone Star but as luck would have it, the GPS was sending us somewhere that doesn't actually exist outside of the cyber-map world.  Not to be discouraged, I directed Emma to keep on driving as I had a feeling we were getting close to something worthwhile ... after all there had to be something better just a little further!  Well, how about that ... there really was.  We found ourselves in the heart of Downtown Flint and before you make any snap judgements ... it is really nice.  There were lots of old buildings that were being restored and the main street was adorned with twinkling lights from one side of the street to the other. 

And, as luck would have it there was a street festival going on just as we were arriving with a square block of streets closed off to traffic.  After our dinner we took a stroll through the festival (I believe it was called the 'alley' fest or something like that.)

There were three or four stages with bands, vendors and lots of community groups ... although by 11pm things were beginning to wrap up but we had enough time to at least stroll around for a short time.

 

On the main street there were several choices for some cool looking places to eat.  Since it was a beautiful warm night we were hoping for a place with a patio ... there was no shortage of patios but there was definitely a shortage of tables on those patios.  We picked a place called "Blackstone's".

 

 

I didn't immediately get it and thought the 'green' Christmas lights were a bit odd, until I eventually realized it is an Irish pub and hence the green lights were for the luck o' the Irish!  The interior of the restaurant is really cool.  Restored to historic warehouse detail, the ceilings are 20 feet or so high and the wall behind the bar is exposed brick, an awesome mahogany bar ... and more green lights.

 

 

We had a short wait for the patio but we got a great table right at the edge of the sidewalk and there was lots of people watching to do, what with the street festival and all.

 

For dinner, I chose the Durant Reuben sandwich with the house chips.

 

 

It is served on marble rye which was fresh and perfectly toasted with enough thousand islands dressing and sauerkraut to make it a drippy gooey delicious sandwich.  The cheese was nicely melted and stretchy when pulled.  Just the way I like it.  And unlike the chips I had the night before these chips were super light and crispy.  They were not greasy and had a nice light seasoning on them.  I was very happy with my choice.

 

Emma decided to start with the soup of the day ... Dill Pickle.  It was a bit of a decision whether she should order it because when we asked the waitress about it her only comment was that she had only served one order so far that night but the customer said it was delicious.  She herself had not tried it and she was skeptical.  I had seen a version of Dill Pickle soup featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives one time from a Polish restaurant and it looked and sounded really good to me (a dill pickle lover) and I encouraged Emma to try it (the only reason I didn't order it myself was it was a warm night and I didn't want to have hot soup).  Anyway, Emma was very glad she ordered it.  It was EXCELLENT if I do say so myself.

 

 

The pickles are not so much sour after being cooked but they add saltiness to the flavour of the soup.  The base was a kind of leak/potato with some cream but it was not a heavy thick base but more of a slightly thick creamy broth.  I would go back to Blackstone's just for this soup ... and it's not even on the regular menu but was a special that night.  I'll have to attempt to make this myself at home ... but maybe I'll wait till there is cooler weather.

 

For her main, Emma went for the traditional Shepherd's Pie.  It arrived and looked very pretty.  The piped on mashed looked very fancy.

 

 

Unfortunately, the Shepherd's Pie was a bit disappointing, especially for the price.  The dish is quite small and the layer of lamb on the bottom is very sparse.  I had a taste and for me, not being a huge fan of rosemary, it was a bit too "over-herbed" for my taste, although that wasn't a problem for Emma.  More of an issue for her was the cheese on the potatoes.  The menu does not state that there is cheese on the mashed and Emma is not a big fan of cheese.  Overall, she thought it was an okay version of Shepherd's Pie (cheese excluded) but was not good value and she definitely would not order it again.

 

No worries though.  We enjoyed some cold beers on the patio, on a beautiful warm night in what turned out to be a surprising find both in terms of the restaurant and the location.

 

 

Next time we are shopping in Michigan we will be heading back downtown and we'll definitely be checking out the Flint Crepe Co. located door to Blackstone's, and possibly some of the other restaurants on this main street which is seeing a much needed revival of buildings, businesses and customers.

 

"Eat Meat" at Famous Dave's in Michigan

The summer continues and Emma and I engaged in some massive retail therapy at the outlets near Flint, Michigan.  We were there last fall and had dinner at 'Famous Dave's BBQ' restaurant ... which was the start of my three meat obsession.  Hell, their slogan is Eat Meat ... can't go wrong with that I say!  Before we even got in the car heading for the U.S.A., Emma was already planning our return to Famous Dave's and their legendary three meat platter (I'm not kidding ... it literally brought tears to our eyes!  Ahhhh, what is better than two meats????  Three meats, of course!)

After a few hours of driving and marathon shopping on day one, by about 10pm we hit Famous Dave's for our three meat platter.  But wait ... there was no three meat platter on their menu this time.  Very disappointing.  I even asked the waitress what happened to the three meat platter.  Seems they have taken it off the menu.  I guess the Americans were not as enamoured with the concept of three meats as I am.  So now we had tears of sadness in our eyes rather than tears of happiness.  Ok ... there was still some happiness at the table -- it's still barbeque after all!

Famous Dave's makes a variety of sauces to spice up or sweeten up or zing up your barbeque.  Here is the gorgeous selection.  My favourite was a toss up between Sweet & Zesty and Rich & Sassy.  I guess because they both describe me so perfectly.  Ahahahaha!

If you go there and want to try the sauces, take note of the RED cap on top of Wilbur's Revenge.  It's not red just because they ran out of white lids (as I thought when I doused a bite of meat with it).  This is some es~spice~y sauce!  It almost brought tears to my eyes (again) and the bite lingered in the back of my throat for several minutes and after drinking some water and beer!

Now to the food.  We both chose the baby back rib combo which comes with your second choice of any of these additional meats:  Texas Beef Brisket • Georgia Chopped Pork • Southside Rib Tips • Barbeque or Country-Roasted Chicken • Chicken Tenders • Hot Link Sausage •  Beer-Battered Cod • Traditional or Boneless Wings.  Again, we both went with the Georgia chopped pork but with different sides.  Emma had two sides of the Wilbur beans (baked beans loaded with smoked pork, brisket, hot link sausage and jalapeño peppers) so in actual fact, the beans alone are three-meats!

Emma loves these beans!  They are v-e-r-y spicy.  I tasted them last fall and they are not for me (in fact, no baked beans are for me) but clearly they are good enough for her to forgo any other side dish.  She also doesn't like the corn bread, which I freakin' LOVE so I get double corn bread!

For my sides, I picked the cole slaw and barbeque chips.  The cole slaw is creamy and cuts the spicy richness of the meat.  The chips are dusted with Famous Dave's house bbq spice, but they don't taste spicy so much as smokey ... in fact, the spice dusting is a very similar flavour to Lay's BBQ chips.

Some of the chips were crispy and crunchy but many were soft and soggy so they were far from the best.  We also both found the Georgia chopped pork a bit fatty.  Aside from the barbeque sauce slathered on top, the pork itself had very little flavour.  They also serve the pork (as well as the beef brisket) on a slice of plain white bread.  Eeuuuwww.  I don't get that.

Anyway the baby back ribs are fantastic.  They are fall off the bone tender; smokey and a bit spicy and although they don't need it, you can add more of the side sauces to make your own unique flavour for the ribs.  You get a half-rack of ribs and this is a very good sized portion.  For me, the cornbread is DELIC!  Luvs it.  It is moist but not dense or dry and has a soft sweetness from the corn.  It is perfect in combination with the spicy smokey barbeque ribs.  And also a perfect vessel for delivering additional dollops of side sauce to your mouth.

Notwithstanding that we only got two meats, and not three, we were both stuffed.  This is a h-u-g-e meal and very decently priced for all this food.  Even though everything on our meal was not perfect, the good stuff (ribs, corn bread, Wilbur beans) is sooo good that I'm sure next time we are in Flint we'll be back for more barbeque!