The Melting Pot - Where time and money melt together. And not in a good way.

After this lunch, I'd decided to give up on the blog. That's how bad it was. But then we had a great idea for 2014, so we figured we better finish out 2013. It also helps that I'm slightly OCD, so I have to finish or I'll never feel complete.

For December 2013, we chose The Melting Pot in Troy. And after a slight detour to the Golden Pot, we finally found the place. It seems that some little diner tried to horn in on the Melting Pot name and when you look "The Melting Pot" up on Google Maps, it directs you to a strip mall and a family diner type place. And don't you dare call Golden Pot to ask if they're The Melting Pot. They get realllly pissy when you call and ask.

When we asked the manager at the Melting Pot about it, he said that they had to get lawyers  involved to get the GP to change it's name from Melting Pot to The Golden Pot. And they're still having problems with Google Maps and things like that directing people to the wrong place. In hindsight, we might've done better at the Golden Pot.


Place: The Melting Pot
Location: Troy, Michigan

December is always a hard lunch for us. We also go to the cemetery to visit the graves of several family members that we lost in close succession. We usually try to let off lanterns in remembrance, but it was so windy that day, we couldn't do it this year. We also invite along any other family members that want to go. This year our brother, Philip, came with us.

The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant. They have the cook tops right in your tables and make the cheese and chocolate fondues right there. They also boil Filet Mignon. No you didn't read that wrong. BOIL. Filet Mignon. Boil. Who boils Filet Mignon?

This won't be like other reviews. I'm not going to list what we had or any of that usual stuff. The only thing you need to know is this: It's super expensive (like seriously. Don't come with less than $200 and think more along the lines of $350) And it took THREE FRICKIN' HOURS! Oh. And they had us cook our raw meat at the table. And by cook I mean boil.

The cheese and chocolate part were okay. But the salad and boiling meat part was horrible. And so expensive. The drinks were pretty good. But the waitstaff was not. The dishes were dirty and chipped when we received them. Unfortunately, we didn't notice some of it till it was too late.

I'm not even going to put up pictures. I don't want people getting pulled in by the "fanciness". Cause it was all fake.  We were also the ONLY people in the restaurant. I wonder why?

Terra

The Lunch That Almost Never Was...And We Kinda Wish Hadn't Happened

This month was tough. We almost didn't even make it. We had to reschedule three times. When we finally got it right, it ended up being dinner.

It was a bad dinner too. We didn't even take pictures. At all. We chose National Coney Island. A common refrain from the night was, "Not at this location." This was the answer to several questions. Beer? Not at this location. 24 hours? Not at this location. Wine? Not at this location. Good service? Not a this location. Warm food? Not at this location.

We did have one awesome highlight. We got to have dinner with Aunt Wilma! Yay! Aunt Wilma is always fun.

That was really the only highlight. I actually don't have any others. How sad.

Place: National Coney Island

Location: 23 Mile and Schoenherr, Shelby Twp, MI

Because of various scheduling conflicts, we had to wait till the end of the month and make it a dinner. Mom needed to meet up with Aunt Wilma, so we invited her along. 

This month will be different for several reasons. No drinks. No pictures. And no highlights. So let's get to it.

The Ratings: On a Scale From 1 to 5

Waitstaff

Mom - 2

Jeri - 3

Terra - 2

Susie - 1

Marti - 2

Aunt Wilma - 3

Our waitress was Molly. She said she'd been working there for a year. It seemed like it'd been only a week. We weren't impressed at all. Jeri had to get her own water. When our food was ready, she took some of it out from under the lights, put it on the counter, then got the rest and brought those plates out. She left Jeri's and Mom's food on the counter. Out from under the lights. It was cold when it finally reached them. The cucumber sauce and ranch dressing we had ordered had to be asked for twice. It wasn't busy either. I think we were just forgotten.

Food Quality

Mom - Gyro w/Baby Greek Salad; 4; There were too many onions on the salad. The gyro arrived cold and missing the cucumber sauce. The salad was tasty and even cold, the Gyro was tasty as well. 

Jeri - Gyro w/Chili Cheese Onion Rings; 2; All of my food came cold. There was almost no cheese or chili on top. I prefer it when my food comes warm.

Terra - Hani Special w/Fries; 5; My food came out nice and warm and the fries were tasty. The sandwich was great. I love the pita.

Susie - Patty Melt w/bacon and Fries; 4; The bacon was crispy and my food came out warm

Marti - Chicken Bacon Ranch Hani w/Chili Cheese Fries; 4; It was warm and tasted good.

Aunt Wilma - Mr. Pop's Favorite w/Fries; 5; Burger was excellent and I asked for my fries to be well done and they were. (I did not know you could do this. I love crispier fries!! - Terra)

Food Value

Mom - $9.38; Yes

Jeri - $10.28; No

Terra - $8.49; Yes

Susie - $8.00; Yes

Marti - $10.89; Yes

Aunt Wilma - $10.00; Yes

Drinks

Not at this location!

Overall

Mom - 3; "Oh My Goodness! Mom!!! You've never given a 3 before!" - All of us

Jeri - 3

Terra - 3

Susie - 3

Marti - 3

Aunt Wilma - 4

Overall we weren't impressed with this location.  But we did learn one very important lesson. You can ask for crispier fries!

Garfield's - Mondays Suck. Except it wasn't a Monday.

Turkey Avocado Club

This took an extra long time to get out. Sorry about that. But personal life intruded. This month we decidedon the pub restaurant Garfield's in the Birchwood Mall. We've each been there once before, but never together. And we had a weird feeling there was a reason we hadn't been back. We weren't mistaken.

I'm gonna say right off the bat. The food saved the experience. This was an AMAZING lunch, food-wise. If we could've we would've complimented the chef and fired everyone else. Including the bartender. But we'll get to that.

Restaurant: Garfield's
Location: Birchwood Mall, Pine Grove Ave, Fort Gratiot, MI

We had no Susie this time around . She spent Spring Break in Ohio with her sons. The slacker. So it was just Mom, Jeri, Marti, and me. Or is that "I"? Whatever. Everyone, except for Susie. This is the month I forget what things are called , "I need a...what's it called? Oh yeah! A box." and Dora the Explorer is revisited. Even reading Midori on a menu cause's us to go into this bit. It's becoming a thing. Mom asked, "What's Midori?" and we said, "Remember? Dora the Explorer?" And she got it right away.

Garfield's was chosen because, Hey!, shopping when we're done! And I needed to get my nails did. And there's always a nail salon or two in the mall. And we were pretty sure they had the prerequisite alcoholic drinks.

Highlights

Drawing on the Table!

Chicken Quesadilla Heaven - They had chicken quesadilla everything. "Aw Hell!!" - Marti. Even a salad. Which one of us ordered. Chicken quesadilla's are never a bad thing. We could all use more in our lives.

Cranberry Walnut Salad

Crayons! - Garfield's is one of those places that has crayons at the table and you can draw on the tablecloth. We love that. I helps with SUPER long wait. Just sayin'.


Candied Walnuts - The candied walnuts on the Cranberry Walnut Salad are amazing. "I could eat just a giant plate of this!" - Mom. Jeri agreed. I guess the salad was pretty amazing. Marti and I didn't partake. I'm not a fan of feta cheese, which was on the salad. Marti and I like basic house salads. Jeri and Mom like those weird salads.

The Ratings: On a Scale From 1 to 5

Waitstaff
We all gave our waitress, Mel, a 1. Don't worry. We still tipped. We understand that maybe some days are

French Onion Soup

off days. But an effort should still be made to make the customers experience a good one.

We remembered why we hadn't been back. The service had been awful. And it hadn't changed. She didn't listen to us at all. I ordered a baked potato and the others had a salad or soup. I asked for it to be brought out with the starters. She brought out Loaded Baked Potato Soup instead. When I said that's not what I ordered, she said she take it back and fix the order. So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. When we finally got a chance to ask where my potato was she said that it was gonna come out with our lunches. Which is not what we asked or expected.

When our food did finally arrive, Marti and I had to ask for the fries that came with our lunch. She thought we didn't want them.

We rarely saw her. And it's not like it was busy. There were maybe five other tables in the whole restaurant. When we asked for the check and paid, she never brought the change or receipt back. After we finally tracked her down, again, she said she had assumed that the change was her tip. Which just seemed rude. Don't you usually give the customer a chance to decided their own tip on small parties? Who just assumes the change is your tip?

Food Quality

Chicken Quesadilla Salad

Mom - Half Turkey Cheddar Melt w/fries and Cranberry Walnut Salad; 5; Best. Salad. Ever. The candied walnuts were to die for. The sandwich was delicious and they had amazing fries.
Jeri - Chicken Quesadilla Salad and French Onion Soup; 5; Fresh homemade guacamole and tortilla strips on the salad. I stepped out the box by ordering a salad this month and I wasn't disappointed. I actually took a salad home. It was delicious.
Terra - BLT Sandwich w/fries and Baked Potato; 5; Amazing everything. The bacon was crispy and perfect. The toast was just right and the fries were awesome. I've never had a BLT that was so wonderful in my life. The potato was loaded with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and green onions and it was fantastic.
Marti - Turkey Avocado Club Sandwich w/fries and French Onion Soup; 5; Freaking delicious soup. Perfect bacon and bread. The avocado was a good addition. And it was all nice and melt-y.

BLT with Baked Potato

Food Value
Mom - $6.99; Way worth it. Perfect lunch price.
Jeri - $11.68; Worth it.
Terra - $7.49; Totally worth it.
Marti - $11.48; Worth it. Plus there were leftovers.

Drinks (Out of 10)
Mom - Chocolate Martini; $6.00; 5; It was kinda tiny. It looked nothing like the picture.
Jeri - Jamaican Me Crazy; $6.50; 5; There was no fancy glass or garnish like on the menu. It was plain
Terra - Pineapple Spritzer; $6.50; 2; I sent it back cause it was so nasty. My second drink was a Jamaican Me Crazy; $6.50; 9; There was no garnish. So it lost a point
Marti - Jamaican Me Crazy; $6.50; 9; There was no garnish. Presentation is important too.

We were not impressed with the bar overall. The drinks were plain and they took FOREVVVERRRR to arrive.We didn't even take pictures of our drinks our ourselves with our drinks. We were too disappointed in their appearances.

Turkey Cheddar Melt

Overall
Mom - 3
Jeri - 4; The waitress didn't take all the fun out of it.
Terra - 3
Marti - 3

We might go back. If we forget again that the service is horrible. If you only have an hour for lunch, avoid Garfield's. Between the wait time for the drinks and the food, it took longer than expected. The food truly did save the entire experience. It's the saving grace. If you have more than an hour and can brave through bad table service, go for it. You'll enjoy the food.

Terra

A Study in Contrasts: Art & Jakes vs. bd's Mongolian Grill

First the BAD (and frankly, the UGLY):

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

Red Robin, Yuuummmm!..Or Not.

It is the 2nd year anniversary of our Grandfathers death. And what would've been his 90th birthday. This post, our first official one, is special. It wasn't just "Us Girls" at lunch. This time we also had our brother Philip, Jeri's husband Mike, Aunt Kathy (Mom's youngest sister) Aunt Wilma (one of Mom's younger sisters) and her husband Larry.

Restaurant: Red Robin

Location: Clinton Township, Michigan. Hall Rd.

Red Robin's main dish is burgers. All kinds of burgers. They also have never ending fries, which is a plus. Especially if your starving because you've been waiting to eat in anticipation of lunch with the girls. Just saying'.

Our waitress was Dawn and she was nice. We love it when the waiter or waitress is friendly, smiles and doesn't make you feel like you're imposing on their day. She took our orders and then asked if we wanted our fries brought out while we wait for our burgers. That elevated her to Waitress Goddess in our eyes.

Our food came out in a timely matter. It wasn't a very long wait at all. When we needed to re-fill our drinks or ask for mustard (Jeri. What's with you and mustard? Susie too. Remember the waffles in Daytona? OMG), it was easy to get her attention to ask for what we needed.

Highlights

Sand In My Shorts - Sound like something awful, doesn't it? It's actually a drink. It has Chambord, vodka, peach schnapps, Midori (or if you're Mom, Dora the Explorer. "Why is Dora in your drink? What about Sid the Science Guy?" -Mom "No Mom, not Dora, MIDORI. And it's Sid the Science Kid." - Terra and Susie "Then who was the guy?" - Mom "It was Bill Nye the Science Guy" - Terra [That was our actual conversation and I blame it on the Screaming Red Zombie. But more on that later]), triple sec, orange juice, cranberry juice, and sweet & sour. It was $7.49 and totally worth it. It tasted fabulous. Mom was surprised it didn't taste like sand. 

Sweet Jim Bean Bacon Swiss Burger - This was the favorite dish of the day. Marti ordered it and she let us each take a bite and we were jealous of her lunch. This burger is what would bring me back again and again. It's a Jim Bean bourbon-glazed burger with melted Swiss cheese, hardwood smoked bacon, caramelized onions and a garlic-buttered toasted brioche bun. Your mouth is watering now, isn't it? I know mine is. I can't remember how much it cost. But I don't care. It was worth whatever we paid.

Screaming Red Zombie - This isn't so much a highlight as a warning. Have a DD if you plan on partaking of this drink. It's strong and makes you ask odd questions.

The Ratings: On a Scale of 1 to 5

Waitstaff

Mom - 4; She had to order her drink twice but Dawn was very friendly. She joked with us and smiled a lot.

Jeri -  5; "She's practically our sister!"

Terra- 4; She was really friendly and easy to grab her attention. But if I wanted a re-fill I had to ask, she didn't ask me if I wanted one.

Susie - 4; She smiled and was friendly. That's important. She had a good technique for taking orders.

Marti- 3 1/2; I have no idea why a 3 1/2, but that's what she rated. 

Food Quality 
Mom - Tropical Sunburn Tavern Double; 3. I wasn't too impressed with the burger or the toppings.

Jeri - Tropical Sunburn Tavern Single; 2. I thought it was awful. The mango slaw wasn't very impressive.
Terra - Sauteed 'Shroom Burger; 2. It was bland. I had to add salt and even that didn't help much. I think if it had more of the garlic Parmesan spread (or any at all, since mine seemed to be missing) it would've been much better. 
Susie - Clucks and Fries; 5. It was really good chicken. The tenders were nice size and the ranch dressing for dipping was tasty.
Marti - Jim Bean Burger; 10. It was so good it far surpasses the rating scale. All of us except for mom had a bite and we loved it. This burger would be the sole reason to come back.

All of our burgers came with Bottomless Steak Fries. The fries were tasty. The seasoning salt that they had on the table was a good addition over regular table salt.

Value
Mom - $7.99 for her burger and her drink was $6.99. The cost of the food was not worth it.  
Jeri - $7.99 for the burger. It wasn't worth what we paid.
Terra- $9.99 for the burger and $7.49 for the drink. Definitely not worth what we paid.
Susie - $9.49 for the entree and $7.49 for the drink. The chicken was tasty but not worth almost 10 bucks.
Marti - We don't remember how much the burger cost. The drink was $7.49. We really don't care how much the burger cost. It was worth whatever we paid. Marti's lunch was the only one worth what we paid.

Bathroom
They fail at women's bathrooms. There was toilet paper shredded and all over the floor. The trash was overflowing with used paper towel and other things. And the floor was sticky. Do you know what has to be on the floor to be that sticky? It's nasty. Everyone rated the bathroom at 1.

Overall
Mom - 4
Jeri - 1; "I'd rather go to Steak N Shake"
Terra - 3; "The waitress made it tolerable and the Sand In My Shorts was really good."
Susie - 3
Marti - 3 1/2; (Again, with the half a point. I'm not sure what's up with that.)


We enjoyed our time mostly because of the company of our party and the waitress. We probably won't visit Red Robin again. Unless we are craving the Sweet Jim Bean burger.


Terra