Hilton Road Cafe

For the last few years whenever I'd roll into town, I'd pass the Hilton Road Cafe on believe or not, Hilton Road. For some reason it caught my eye and made me think that the place held promise of something good inside. The store front is simple. But still it speaks to my inner "greasy spoon loving gut".

One morning on a whim I stopped by. A few minutes before eight am (yes, I get up before eight sometimes) I pulled on the door. It didn't open. A few more tugs and the waitress unlocks the door and lets me in. "We open at eight, "hon". Odd time for a breakfast joint to open. This is not a good sign. A quick glance around and my concerns begin to be melt away. The place is small, three or four booths and about 10 stools along the counter. It's got that old diner look. Pie cooler on wall behind the counter, old school coffee warmer burning coffee that's been sitting too long, kitsch stashed necessarily around the room.

Scanning the menu raised my hopes as well. All the diner staples are there along with a few twists. I'm an absolute sucker for good corned beef but too often it's not made in house. It's not made here either, ugh. So now I'm worried again. "Everything else on the menu is homemade though", I'm reassured by the waitress.

I'm not gonna bore you with a detailed description of each dish. I've now been back several times and let me say that this is extremely good breakfast food. I've been blown away by the every potato dish I've had. The hash browns are grated every morning and the guy on the griddle top is a master of oil and spud. The potato pancakes are creamy and crunchy. In the middle of my farmer's omelet are more potatoes. This time cubed and browned. Amazingly, they too are crisp and creamy. Every thing I've eaten has been damned good, even reheated. Ever reheat an omelet? Usually it's, blech! With these omelet's I count the minutes until lunch before I can pop em' the nuker and mangia once more. One of the surprising little perks is their bread. Order a breakfast which comes with toast and you'll also be offered a mini loaf of banana, pumpkin, blueberry or some other sweet bread, baked that morning. My friend digs them so much they're now part of her diplomatic tool box, whenever she's in need of sweet talkin' or bribing someone.

I haven't been there for lunch or dinner but it's on my list. I've been enjoying cooking again lately so I haven't been eating dinner out much. Anyway, the lunch/dinner menu is made up of all the diner staples, sammies, soup, chili, salads. The specials board is where you'll find the real gems. Meatloaf, chicken and dumplings, pastichio, grilled lamb, etc.

So for reals, check out this little joint. It's a throw back, hidden in plain sight. One bite and one drink at a time I'm rediscovering my town. Digesting Detroit has never been so fun.

http://www.hiltonroadcafe.com/about.htm

Breakfast at Mae's

Sometime in junior high we moved from South Ferndale to Pleasant Ridge, a considerable step up from the old neighborhood at least architecturally. Shortly after moving, some rich douche from the West side of Woodward reminded me I lived on the Peasant Ridge side. Can't remember if I ever got the chance to punch that prick in the head or not. For those of you who don't know, PR is a sliver of a town tucked in between Ferndale and Royal Oak, quite literally a half a mile North to South. At any rate a block from my house was Anna's Diner. Anna's was a sliver of a diner in a sliver of a town. My guess is the place was built in the 60's and was never updated. Original counter with stools, old tables with chrome legs, even older equipment lined the kitchen work spaces and then there was Marion. Miss Marion wore a uniform the way they use to. She also wore a beehive doo like few could back in the day. That hair was an engineering feat the Egyptians would've been proud of. Marion had run the place for decades and knew everyone. As long as their name was "Hun", she remembered who you were. For all that was cool about the place, the food wasn't. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad it just wasn't anything to be remembered. There was questionable health standards practiced as well. Y'all know I love a good dive but reusing food brought to the table is where I draw the line. OK, so that was Anna's. She passed not too long ago and Anna's was no more.

The joint that was Anna's has been reborn as Mae's, a funky retro breakfast and lunch spot. The counter is still there and so is the cool. Old Faygo bottles and cans line the place along with just enough kitsch to make you smirk but not so much that makes you wonder if you're in an Apple B's nightmare that you can't wake up from. If you haven't noticed yet, I hate Apple B's and any other corporate half assed attempt at creating cool.

I've now been to Mae's a half dozen times and only for breakfast. In short this little joint churns my butter. This is good food. High quality ingredients, breakfast staples and just enough originality to keep a jaded, cynical guy like me smiling. Some items in particular deserve high praise. The potato pancakes which have received little attention from the three published reviews I've read so far, deserve to be noted. These pancakes are at first crispy and then creamy and are full of deliciousness not found very often these days. Seriously, can you name three places with good potato pancakes? I doubt it. Next up is something you won't find at your local coney island or anywhere for that matter, æbleskivers. These Scandinavian little balls of pan fried dough deserve all the praise which is being heaped on them. Reading the description and then seeing them go to table after table led me to believe that they'd be heavy and doughy. Not true. They're light and unlike anything this foodbag has ever eaten. Truly yummy. Everything I've eaten there is done with thought and precision. Like I said I haven't eaten lunch but I will soon and I'm certain it's going to be good.

Word is getting out and it's a little bit of a challenge to get in on the weekends. Once you get a table, relax and take it all in as it may take a little while. The staff busts ass but a full house is tuff on the little kitchen. Weekdays is not problem, just walk in an sit down.

The world needs more places like Mae's. Good people, doing good, honest food. The next time someone tries to take you to a chain restaurant that looks the same as the one you visited in Orlando, politely refuse and suggest somewhere like Mae's. Soon, you'll be rediscovering your city one drink and one bite at a time. Then you'll be digesting detroit, too.

http://www.maesdetroit.com/