My apologies to my readers. It's been a crazy month. Our dear 18 year old cat Louis Wu died in early April. He is survived by his humans and his brother and litter-mate Abbey.
Work has been especially hectic with several projects in critical phases, leaving me little inclination or energy to spend more time on the computer after work. On top of the workload, our department just moved to new quarters, and I'm in the process of being hired "permanent", which is university-speak for "salaried with benefits" (Yeah! Benefits!) as opposed to an hourly temporary appointment without benefits.
Food-wise, last month's Ann Arbor Observer reviewed Asian Legend on William St. (not related to the Asian Legend chain in Toronto as far as we know) and mentioned that they have a separate Taiwanese snack menu. Joe and I gave those a try and I'll be posting a photo review of the different snacks we enjoyed Very Soon. Thanks for your patience!
Glad you are back!
Posted by: | May 06, 2007 at 09:32 PM
Hi! Kitchenchick, great job on your site! It was such a delight to see a high quality local blog covering Ann Arbor. Personally, I have not been to some of the restaurants you reviewed. They are on my list now.
I did not see you reviewing the following restaurant. This is possibly the best Japanese restaurant in town in terms of quality to expense ratio.
Ajishin
42270 Grand River Ave
Novi, MI 48375 View Map
Phone: (248) 380-9850
Here is a slight different perspective on this restaurant.
1) Their menu has not been changed for more than 10 years. So has the price. But, the quality is consistently good.
2) In summer 2003, the whole Metro Detroit was in one-day power outage followed by water outage. Ajishin was closed for a week and the owner threw away all his fresh stocks, while other restaurants in the area reopen immediately after the blackout.
3) The restaurant is closed on every Tuesday and on major holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Independence Day. They have a usual annual week of rest at the end of the year.
4) Their order is customizable. You can either size down in portion (being charged less) or pick and choose.
These are why I am loyal to this little restaurant in Novi for 10 years, since moving to Michigan.
For lunch, my favorite is Curry Rice ($6) and Today's Special ($7). The Curry comes a big bowl of curry rice with tempura shrimps and a bowl of salad with house special dressing. I cannot figure out how they did the dressing. If you find out, please let me know. The Special is usually a plate of rolls or bowl of sushi rice with different toppings and a bowl of udon noodles. This is the super bargain and the rice bowl keeps changing every day. They also have quite a few varieties of udon noodle. They all are worth trying.
For dinner, try
Himuro ($9): Thin cold undo noodle with seafood and house special sauce),
Grilled Fish ($12): Personal favorite: White Tuna if available. Other choices are good too.
Sampler ($15): 5 little bowls of sushi rice with different toppings of your choice
Sushi Dinner($16): 8 pieces of nigirin of choice plus an order of California rolls or Tuna rolls.
Anyway, all the items on the menu are worth trying. You won't get wrong by blindly picking! I am interested in your review on Ajishin. One caveat though, the place is very crowded during lunch. You can call before you go and put your name on the waiting list. You can save some waiting time. We had waited for more than an hour because we forgot to call. For dinner, reservation is accepted but it needs to be made at lunch time.
Many thanks! Have fun!
A Loyalist
Posted by: Ajishin Loyalist | May 20, 2007 at 11:31 AM
So sorry to hear about your kitty.
Posted by: Barbara | May 30, 2007 at 12:52 PM