The Chop House

The Restaurant: The Chop House

The Genre: Steak and other American fare

Where to Find It: 322 South Main Street; Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Reservations helpful

What We Spent: $142.14 (including their fantastic birthday special)

What We Ate: A house salad and a caesar salad, Kobe Steak, Cowboy Steak, seasonal root vegetables, bananas foster bread pudding, carmel chocolate tart.

What We Drank: A bottle of Cabernet Franc (we can't remember the name! terrible.)

Matt's review: The Chop House is one of those places that I have a hard time finding too much fault with. The food, service, wine list and atmosphere are consistently excellent and if you can get past the cost, it remains one of my favorite special occasion destinations. There are a few soft spots on the menu but they are outweighed by the generally excellent steaks (if you go, go for steaks). Last night, we both started with salads, which were fresh and crisp but nothing particularly stunning. Your best bet for a started is probably the lobster bisque, which is fantastic. For dinner, we had the Kobe and the Cowboy Steak (ribeye), both of which were sizeable and perfectly cooked, though I would note that you should probably order your steaks cooked one step above what you would normally order. Any steak that you get at the Chop House will be top of the line, so go for your preferred cut. For my money, the bone-in Cowboy Steak is the most flavorful, with lots of marbling, though you will have to navigate through some scattered pockets of fat. We had roasted seasonal root vegetables on the side, as suggested by our server, which were delicious, though not usually on the menu. The servers are a great resource, so use them. They'll let you know what shouldn't be missed and what might better be avoided. The wine list is deep and varied; you shouldn't have any trouble finding something to fit your tastes and budget and there is usually a sommelier on hand to guide you.

The Chop House gives you the option of having dessert at your table or going downstairs to the associated La Dolce Vita, which serves desserts, coffee, cocktails and a selection of fine cigars. If you plan on lingering for a while, La Dolce Vita offers comfy couches and a more relaxed atmosphere. Desserts can be hit or miss here. The bananas foster bread pudding was a definite hit; the chocolate caramel tart was not. Again, listen to the servers. They haven't steered us wrong yet.

A-

Seoul Garden

The Restaurant: Seoul Garden

The Genre: Korean and Japanese

Where to Find It: 3125 Boardwalk Drive; Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Reservations helpful but not required

What We Spent: $71.32

What We Ate: Ginger salad, shrimp tempura, california rolls, Korean BBQ (shrimp, beef bulkogi, kalbi and chicken), green tea mochi, vanilla ice cream.

What We Drank: A Kirin apiece.

Stephanie's Review: We got suckered in to ordering the Valentine's Day dinner for two, so we ended up with way too much food. The ginger salad was crisp and refreshing, though it was drenched in that unappealing chunky orange dressing. The salad was followed by a blended oyster soup (can't provide much feedback, am not an oyster gal) and shrimp tempura. We received a generous portion of well cooked shrimp tempura - the shrimp was hearty and tender. The california rolls were the usual fare. They actually tasted pre-made to me, not fresh. We then got to the BBQ portion of the evening. Our waitress placed a large grill on our table and tossed on the shrimp, bulkogi, kalbi and chicken along with mushrooms, onions and sweet potatoes. The kalbi in particular had a great, sweet marinade. The sweet potatoes were a total miss - we left them on for the entire duration of our meal and they still weren't cooked adequately. Dessert was vanilla ice cream for him; green tea mochi for me. The vanilla ice cream was standard. I didn't love the green tea mochi. The outer shell was too thin; the inside too runny. Overall, the dinner was average. It was special for us because we went to the same restaurant three years ago for our very first Valentine's Day together, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it - or at least not the prix fixe menu - to others.

Who are we?

We are Matt and Stephanie. Stephanie is a graduate student in Ann Arbor. Matt graduated from school in May, completed a fellowship, and is now hunting for gainful legal employment. In August, we're getting married. In September, we're moving to Chicago where Stephanie will begin her own gainful legal employment.

And we love food.

We love to cook. We love to eat. We love to go out to eat. We love wine. We hope this blog will be a good place to put out information on restaurants, our cooking adventures and our favorite spots.

Enjoy!