The first time all of us had lunch together was at Art & Jakes in Washington, Michigan. And we had a horrible time.
The waitress was awful. Not even one smile. She made us feel like we were imposing on her time and life. Susie and I ordered Cherry Coke and Martha ordered a regular Coke. When the Awful Waitress refilled our drinks, she had a pitcher of regular Coke and poured it in all of our cups. Including the ones that were supposed to be Cherry Coke. It tasted icky.
Our table was sticky and still had the previous patrons credit card receipt still on it when we were sat and when our drinks were finally brought. Which took a super long annoying time.
Jeri had the Nachos and Meatballs. You know how when you microwave taco meat and it kinda balls together unless you mix it fully? That's what her Nachos were like. Nachos and Meatballs.
Susie and Mom ordered Chicken Fajitas. And it came piecemeal. First came the sizzling hot chicken which smelled amazing. Unfortunately, it had cooled completely by the time the toppings came out. The tortillas came out very last. The Fajitas were ruined by the timing of delivery of the food.
Martha and I ordered the Big Benny. It's two grilled cheese sandwiches, one Swiss and one American, with a 1/2 pound Angus burger sandwiched between them. It was $9.65. It was very tasty. It was the only tasty item.
I also ordered fried pickles. I've had them before at Buffalo Wild Wings and they were delicious. Not so much at Art and Jakes. Marti had one and told Mom, "They're good. You should try one." But she was making this face when she said it:
As you can see, it wasn't a very trustworthy face.
I think our total was over $70 with food and drink for all 5 of us. And it wasn't worth it at all. We will never go back to Art & Jakes again. Not even to give them a second chance. Our experience was that bad.
We went to Art & Jakes before we decided to rate things, or take photos, or notes or anything. But when I asked the girls what they thought, we all agreed that Art & Jakes gets a -4. On a scale of 1 to 5. That's bad.
Now for the GOOD:
Our second lunch was at bd's Mongolian Grill on Hall Rd in Sterling Heights. And it rocked. To date (I know, I know. We're only three lunches in, but still.) it is our favorite place. And it has nothing to do with the Top Shelf Long Island Iced Tea, Hawaiian Volcano, or Margaritas we had. Mostly.
If you've never been to bd's before, let me explain briefly. There are Three stations. Meat/Chicken/Seafood/Noodles, Veggies, and Spices. You can pick any combination of ingredients and put them in your bowl. You pick your spices and put them in a little cup and then line up at the grill.
The chef puts them on the grill and you watch your food cook. When it's done he slides it (very neatly and with much skill) onto a plate and you eat it.
Not only is it fun, but it's mighty tasty.
We decided on the unlimited bowl which is around $12. You can choose just a single bowl which is $8.99. If you want to take your leftovers, it's an extra $2.99. Unless you buy the unlimited bowl. Trust me, buy the unlimited bowl. You can go back as many times as you want and make as many different combinations as you can think of.
They have recipe cards near the first station, in case you are unsure about what to choose. Our first time through we each chose a card and followed the instructions.
You'll have to forgive me this time through. There still aren't many details. I can only remember the exact ingredients of my own dish and some variable of the others.
My first time through I chose "The Original Mongolian BBQ". Instead of pork (which, except in bacon or sausage form, I'm not really a fan of) I picked NY Strip Steak. I also added rice noodles. At the veggie station I chose pea pods, baby corn, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, mushrooms (Yummy! I love me some 'shrooms!) For the sauce, I followed the recipe pretty closely; 1 scoop Shanghai BBQ sauce, 1 scoop Teriyaki sauce, half a scoop ginger, and half a scoop, less some, chili powder.
I then got in line for the grill. You hand the bowl to the griller. Ours was named Will. He has these big spatulas that kinda remind me of machetes. But they weren't. No worries, there isn't someone wielding large dangerous weapons while handling your food. Well, at least not sharp ones.
He cooked our food on the grill and added our sauce at the very end. When the food was done, he scraped it onto a plate and handed it back.
At the table you have a choice of chopsticks or forks. I tried to use both and mostly failed with the chopsticks. (It was a really strong Long Island Iced Tea.)
We also had white rice and tortillas on the table. I tried my dish without first and it was heavenly. I also tried it wrapped in the tortilla with rice and it was okay, but I preferred my dish by itself.
Susie had chicken with hers and so did mom. They enjoyed it very much. I think Marti and Jeri both had beef. Marti really enjoyed making hers into the wraps with tortillas and rice.
My second time through I choose beef again. At the veggies I had mostly mushrooms and water chestnuts. I mixed up my own sauce. It had chili powder, ginger, Shitake mushroom sauce, and schezwan sauce. I have to say it was good, but not as good as the sauce recipe that bd's offered.
The drinks were amazingly good. And strong. I was drunk for quite a bit after. My mom had to drive me home. Not only did they taste good, the were pretty too. We don't have an official rating for bd's either. But we all agreed the get an overall 5.
Our waitress was pretty nice. Friendly and asking if we needed refills or anything else like that. Our griller was very friendly and kinda cute. The food was definitely worth what we paid.
The bathrooms were nice and very clean. We would all recommend bd's to anyone who asked for a good place to eat.
At the end of our lunch, we decided to start the blog. And the rest is history.
Terra
Awesome!
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