Café Felix

Ann Arbor Restaurant Week was last month, and I had really wanted to go to Café Felix as their restaurant week menu sounded quite appealing. Needless to say, that didn't happen, but I did get the opportunity to go the week after.

For whatever reason, Felix is one of the Main St restaurants that always slips my mind. Big mistake. This was my first time at Café Felix (definitely not my last!). The interior is classy (I mean, "Café" is spelled with an accent. It's gotta be classy, right?), cozy, warm and romantic if that's the context, cute and hip if that's the context. I'm sure it's a totally different vibe in the evening versus the afternoon.

JH and I got there around 9.45pm, just in time to beat kitchen close. We were seated at a small round table at the front window, which was nice when it started snowing by the end of our evening. Our server brought over multiple menus (dinner, tapas, and martini), reminding us of 1/2 off specialty martinis as it was Monday night (my inside info for the readers, Wednesdays are 1/2 off bottles of wine). JH started by requesting a custom martini for me and rattled off select ingredients, to which our lovely server very happily obliged. Something girly, but still boozy. We got something off the menu for him, with the assistance of the server's recommendations. I think it was the Lazy Limbo? I seem to recall there being coconut involved, and a second look at the martini list tells me that that is the only drink with anything coconut. In any case, it was not spectacular, and we both much preferred my custom concoction, which was actually pretty delish. As it was so late, neither of us were particularly starving, so we ordered off the tapas menu. Surprise, Nari isn't starving for once. I probably could have had an entrée off the dinner menu, but I suppose I should be a lady and restrain from gorging alone when my dinner companion wants to take it light. I think I made the correct decision because our selection was absolutely divine. We got the Giant Portobello Mushroom Caps, two large portabella caps with gorgonzola and a sage cream sauce. I don't think you understand. It was to die for. I love portabello mushrooms, I love gorgonzola, I love sage, I love cream sauce, put them together and it's a delectably polygamous marriage.

If length is a sign of endorsement, I wish I could make this review longer! But I didn't sample a whole lot that night. I was definitely more than pleased with my experience, and there are many other items I'd like to try off the tapas, dinner, and martini menus. I also think it would be fun to get outdoor seating in the summer and do brunch. Crêpes, yum. Hm, now I'm craving Café Zola. I sense another review coming up...! Café Felix, yummers!!!

$$

www.cafefelix.com

Grand Lux Cafe

It's 3:00 in the morning. Just came back from seeing friends, reuniting with old friends, and making new friends. Can't seem to get to sleep. Am watching Millionaire Matchmaker online, figure I should do something productive, but clearly schoolwork is not the productive activity of choice.

So let's get a start on recapping Vegas with Grand Lux Cafe, owned by California Pizza Kitchen. We went twice, once for dinner and once for lunch. Not so much sharing going on here, so most of my review will be on my entree of choice.

Two weekends ago, we went to Las Vegas for JC's birthday. For the record, best birthday celebration ever!! We stayed at the Palazzo, so, partly out of convenience, partly out of curiosity, we did dinner at Grand Lux one night. Jung-Ah got the Jamaican Pork Tenderloin, my memory tells me JC got the reuben but I can't find it on the menu, not quite remembering what JL got, KL had the Asian Nachos, BT went for the Chicken Pot Pie, and I had the Madeira Chicken. I only got around to trying Jung-Ah's and BT's dishes in addition to mine. The Jamaican pork was really good. It comes with rice, mashed sweet potatoes, and mango salsa. Hearty. If there's one criticism, maybe it was a bit salty. The chicken pot pie was the biggest. pot. pie. EVER. The area of the crust was as big as both my hands together. Ok, so I have midget hands. But still! Creamy. Delish. My Madeira Chicken served with mashed potatoes and asparagus was perfect. I'm always a fan of any creamy wine sauce. Mashed potatoes equals comfort. Asparagus equals love. It's nothing super fancy, just exactly what my taste buds were asking for.

Fast forward to one day later. We had been up till 9am playing blackjack and were running on no sleep. Slightly dejected after losing a fair amount of money, but mostly needing showers, we went back up to our room to shower and get ready for checkout, then Jung-Ah, JC, JC2, BT, TC, and I had our last lunch at Grand Lux. Not remembering what everyone had this time. I'll venture to say the DeLux Drive-In Burger, Grand Club, and the Santa Barbara Chicken Sandwich were among the choices. Definitely not remembering what Jung-Ah got. She was too preoccupied with getting back to the blackjack tables. So Jung-Ah is huddled in the corner struggling to stay awake, conflicted between her desire to take a nap and her significantly more urgent need to get back to the tables. I ordered the Spicy Flat Bread Chicken Sandwich, which was excellent. A chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato, kicked up with pepper jack and avocado-corn salsa. I want to say it was one giant sandwich cut into quarters, but it was really four still-giant sandwiches. Before I got to my second sandwich, Jung-Ah had already finished whatever she ordered, threw her credit card down on the table for us to pay with, and ran back to the casino. By herself. Addict.

In the past, I've also had the Crispy Thai Shrimp & Chicken Spring Rolls, Lemon Chicken Piccata, and Banana Cream Pie, all of which I would recommend. I've always had great service, the atmosphere is great, and it's just the kind of place you want to be. Comfortable and consistent. Unfortunately there aren't as many pictures as usual, as I was too preoccupied with my meal companion or we were too concerned with getting back to the blackjack tables, but there are a few that will hopefully suffice. In summary, it's simple, nothing absolutely crazy gourmet, but definitely hits the spot and more than satisfactory. Huge portions and so good! Yummers!!!!

$$

www.grandluxcafe.com

Ann Arbor

Any Ann Arbor readers? Any readers, period?

We've clearly done a bad job of writing up restaurants from our Thanksgiving extravaganza, but it will be done! Also to be reviewed are a couple of places from our trip to Las Vegas a couple of weekends ago. And to the joy of all (ha!) of our Ann Arbor patrons, I'll be making some stops around campus and downtown, so get excited for that.

Requests for A2 and/or DC? Please leave comments :)