Clarkston Union

The Clarkston Union is in Downtown Clarkston on the East side of Main St. just North of Waldon Rd.
 

This is a good beer bar in Northern Oakland County.  You will always find a packed house here.  Young, old, trendy, famous faces, regular folks, you name it.  We arrived at 8:30 on Saturday night and there was about an hour and a half wait for a table.  Fine with me.  There was a large selection of good beer to choose from while we waited.  Including a cask of Bell's Hopslam.

This strong, sweet nectar was served up in a snifter for $6.50.

Nice, warm, and hoppy!

There were at least 32 beers on tap to choose from including the firkin of Hopslam, two ciders, and one root beer for the kids and designated drivers.  The Union also has a full bar.  Getting service at the bar during peak hours can be rather difficult however, so be prepared.


The building is a former church and is a rather small space.  The ceilings are high as you would expect in what used to be a church.  The altar area at the back is now a cozy waiting area with comfortable seating and a disco ball.

The food comes with some premium prices but typically does not disappoint.  There is a raw bar available Thursday through Saturday starting at 6pm.  Appetizers run anywhere from $5.25 for chips and salsa to $8 for Union Dip (goat cheese with wild mushrooms and caramelized leeks served with croutons) and $12 for the Chargrilled Shrimp Salad.  There are a number of tasty salads and sandwiches and burgers are available for $9-10.

The signature dish here is their Mac and Cheese.  It is available for $6.25 for a half order and $12.50 for a full order and you can add aged ham for a little extra.  They also have a half order lobster & jalapeno version at market price.  This night it was $17.

There are plenty of specials that change regularly.  Meatloaf (duck and turkey today), pot pie (Santa Fe chicken), and plowshare are all listed on chalkboards up by the open kitchen area.

Each table also has a paper insert to the menu listing the other dinner specials.  Available were Almond Crusted Grouper ($18.50), Chicken Fried Chicken ($16.50), Corned Beef and Cabbage ($16), and Beef Tenderloin Skewers ($19).

I chose the Duck & Turkey Meatloaf which was well cooked and not too dry.  I thought that the duck added a subtle boost to the flavor, but suspect that the turkey took the lion's share of the ratio here.  It was served with carrots and chunky mashed potatoes and covered with a gravy that was well seasoned.

 

One of my companions opted for the Flat Iron Salad grilled medium rare:

"Cooked right.  Good flavor Wasabi dressing packed full of flavor but not too hot.  The cheese complemented the dressing and meat nicely."

Photographs compliments of Fermentation Nation

Rochester Mills Beer Company

Rochester Mills is located on Water St. at Fourth in downtown Rochester.

Anyone up for a game of pool?

Rochester Mills gets it's name from the fact that it is located in an old knitting mill building.  The decor keeps to it's origins with the original brick walls and wood floors, beams and posts.  Several arch top double hung windows fill two walls and nearly run from floor to ceiling providing plenty of natural light during daytime hours.

There are plenty of entertainment options and other amenities at Rochester Mills.  I counted no fewer than seventeen televisions, mostly big screen, throughout the building.  Between the raised main dining area and the bar, you will find five pool tables, and flanking the main entrance is a nice patio area for swilling a summertime pint or two in the fresh air. Nestled in the corner directly in front of the glassed in brew kettles, is a stage area where live bands play during special occasions and on weekend nights.

The bar is a long P-shaped design that stretches a good half of the width of the building.  The main bar area that resides in the U portion is where the best service tends to be had and in addition to the house brewed beer and guest selections, you'll find a full bar.  The straight section of the bar tends to suffer from sparse service due to it being a bit of a distance from where the bulk of the action is, but I've been to a number of places with larger staffs and fewer patrons with much worse attentiveness.

Calamari and Double IPA

As I've mentioned before, I enjoy a good plate of squid, and I'll make it clear here that I'm a complete fanboy of RMBC's take on it.  Here they serve calamari steaks rather than the smaller variety complete with tentacle clusters.  It is lightly fried and served on a bed of lettuce and garlic butter and topped with thinly sliced peppers.  Usually the peppers are a tangy and slightly spicy pepperocini pepper, but occasionally they will offer it up with a different type.  Today they were a little drier and packed a little more heat than usual.  The calamari is served with a amogue sauce that is very tasty and a welcome departure from plain marinara sauce.  I have been ordering this for years and it is very consistently good.  I highly recommend this appetizer.  It runs $9.99 and you simply cannot beat getting it for half off during happy hour.



On this visit I also sampled the Asian Spring Rolls filled with sprouts, cabbage, pepper, onion, ginger and garlic served with an Asian stir-fry sauce.  Both my companion and I found the sauce to be a little too oily for our taste and it didn't really impart much flavor to the rolls after dipping.  She did say that she has had the spring rolls before and enjoyed the sauce more when it had cooled and the oil had separated more.  $7.95

Chuck from Fermentation Nation and his girlfriend ordered the Brewhouse Nachos sans meat and as usual it was piled high and covered with melted cheese, tomatoes, onion, sour cream, guacamole, and plenty of jalapenos.  Not much different than your typical Nacho you can get just about anywhere, but it sure does go well at happy hour with some beers and is perfect for sharing.  $9.95 add chicken for $2.95 more.

Other Appetizers run $6.95 to  $9.95 and are all half off during happy hour.

Rochester Mills also offers Beer Cheese soup and Clam Chowder in cups, bowls and beer grain bread bowls for $3.95, $4.95 and $8.50 respectively and a selection of salads from $5-10.

The selection of entrees and sandwiches is varied and eclectic and there are some excellent pizza options as well.  As this visit was primarily for a quick snack and to meet up with the rest of our group, I will write more on the rest of the menu at a later date.

Today's beer selection consisted of: Lazy Daze Lager, Harvest Lite, Rochester Red, Brickshot ESB, Water Street Wheat, Wits Organic, Cornerstone IPA, Pleszures Pale Ale, Imperial Stout, Paint Creek Porter, Sacrilicious Stout, and Double IPA on the rotating special tap.  The Michigan Guest Tap was Short's Chocolate Wheat.  Rochester Mills also has a selection of import taps pouring Stella Artois, Lindeman's Framboise, Woodchuck Amber, and Guiness.

"The Princess of Ales" described the Pleszures Pale Ale as:

Citrusy with a strong hops backbone.  Perfume flowers in the nose.  Think field of wildflowers on a warm spring day.

Rochester Mills Beer Co. is one of my favorite places to unwind after a long day at work and catch a Tiger game with mug number 134 filled with a fresh tasty beer.

www.cplanet.com/destwindow.aspx?destid=pleszurefoodgroup47D209D9AFECD84F8E7453FDB5DE19FFD

Photographs compliments of Fermentation Nation

Copper Canyon Brewery

Copper Canyon is located on Northwestern Highway (11 mile service drive) between Telegraph and Lahser in Southfield.

We decided to stop in here for a few happy hour pints while catching the beginning of the Oakland University/Pitt basketball game.  Inside, the place is well decorated and has a bit of an upscale lodge vibe.  There are wood floors and ledgestone walls with rich wood columns with copper trim in the dining area along with wood tables with padded upholstered seating.  The ceiling is high and arched and there is an inviting fireplace toward the back.  The bar/lounge area has a little more of an industrial look with an open ceiling ceiling and exposed metal beams and ductwork that is almost standard with brewpubs.  The bartop is comprised of laquered cement slabs emblazoned with the copper CC logo medallions.

 Copper Canyon does serve liquor at the bar as well as cater to those who don't know what good beer is (or want to pay a lot of cash for lightly flavored water) with offerings like Corona, Miller Lite and Mike's Hard Lemonade.  There is also three big screen televisions which on this day were showing various march madness games. 

They also sell cigars at the front and to my sheer delight (NOT) of the four people at the bar when we arrived, three were sucking on giant stink logs.  At first my space was briefly invaded by the foul smoke, but the ventilation system did a good job for most of our stay.  I'm not sure how well it would have held up if the bar was packed though.  Ah well, May will soon be upon us and I will then be able to truly enjoy good beer and food without my olfactory senses being overwhelmed.

Copper Canyon had two seasonals on offer, Heidrun - a brew inspired by a Finnish Sahti and The Beer Wench - inspired by a beer blogger who interviewed the brewer and asked him what kind of beer he would brew if she contracted him to brew one for her, so he told her and then he actually brewed one.

The food at Copper Canyon is a bit pricey.  I'm a big calamari fan and almost always get it when I see it on a menu to see what that particular chef's take is on it.  Here, I just couldn't do it.  The full price is $12.99 and even with the $2 happy hour discount, I passed on it and chose the $9.99 Sausage Sizzler. 

 This was essentially an eckrich smoked sausage (not really but close enough) fajita platter served without tortillas or any accompaniments at all.  It was a mound of thinly sliced sausage served atop sauteed onions and green peppers on a sizzling platter.  It tasted okay, but it was just too much.  I would have liked to see a variety of sausage to break things up a bit or something to go along with the dish to add some texture or additional flavors.  This selection might be more suited to a group of people eating from it along side another appetizer.

Other options of note were a Fish Sandwich for $12.99 and a $11 Rueben.  Burgers are a couple dollars more on average than most places ranging from $10 for a standard 1/2 pound angus to $13 for the "Grand Canyon Monster Burger" with two patties of meat.  Pizzas are 12 inch and go for $14 for pepperoni to $18 for a supreme.

Overall, I like the beer selection and the bartender was well educated on each offering.  The location and prices of the food lead me to believe that Copper Canyon caters pretty heavily to a business crowd dining on expense accounts, but I can't speak to the quality of most of the food at this time. 

I'll add more on that as I visit again in the future.

http://www.coppercanyonbrewery.com 

Photographs compliments of Fermentation Nation 

Kuhnhenn Brewing Company

Kuhnhenn is located in Warren, Michigan on Chicago Road just east of Mound.

Chuck and I stopped in to enjoy the Breakfast of Champions celebration on St. Patricks Day.  One thing that I truly enjoy about Kuhnhenn is that they have no fear regarding brewing unusual beers and showing what can truly be done with their craft.

Their location is not exactly ideal, but knowing the interesting history of the brewery, it is understandable.  Prior to brewing and selling their beer on the premises, the Kuhnhenn's ran a hardware store that also carried home brewing supplies in the same building that the brewery now occupies.  When they first opened, the eastern half of the building was still dedicated to selling homebrew supplies, while the other half contained the brew kettles and small bar.  Not too long ago, they moved the homebrew sales across the parking lot and expanded the brewpub.  There is now a nice U-shaped bar in the center of the building and plenty of seating at wooden high-top tables.  Unfortunately the parking lot was sometimes crowded even before the expansion and on big event days like this, getting a good spot can be quite difficult.

The decor is that of your typical industrial style brewery of mostly brick and cinder block construction, but here it harkens back to it's days as a neighborhood hardware store.  The ceiling is textured and bordered with ornamental molding.  The lighting is primarily drop lighting with a run of conduit tracing a path around the building.  Hanging from the conduit are T-shirts for sale and the many medals Kuhnhenn has won in competitions over the years for it's beer.

In addition to having a number of beers on tap, they also had three casks on this day as well as one hand pull.  They also serve their own wine and mead and an assortment of cheeses (many, if not all from Traffic Jam in Detroit) and crackers, and some sausages by Dan the Smoking Man.  Kuhnhenn also provides free popcorn to it's patrons.  They have no kitchen, which is sometimes a bummer considering some of the big ABV beers they serve, but guests are more than welcome to bring food in with them.

Today's Breakfast of Champions affair included a free breakfast from 7-11am consisting of blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, corned beef hash, biscuits and gravy and quesadillas.  A very tasty Irish stew went on sale at lunch time for 6 dollars per bowl.

The special line up of brews were varied and a welcome departure from just about every other St. Patrick's day celebration around town and the mass quantities of crappy beer with green food coloring.  The special selections on offer were: Kaptain Krunch Koco Berry Ale, Breakfast Sausage Ale, Imperial Creme Brulee Java Stout, Blueberry Pancake Ale, Banana Bourbon French Toast Mead, and Sticky Bun Olde Ale.  See The Beer in Joe's Belly for my brief descriptions of each as well as a few other beers I sampled on this day.  Also, take a peek at  Chuck@Fermentation Nation's take on the festivities of the day.

http://www.kbrewery.com

Sushi House

Sushi House is located in Farmington, Michigan, in a strip mall located at the corner of Farmington Road and 9 Mile.

I have been enamored with Sushi House for several years and when one of my suppliers at work gave me the option to choose where to go to lunch, it was a no-brainer.  They just recently expanded their dining room, and unfortunately there is still some strong odors from the new carpet.  The decor isn't quite as nice, since they chose a rather bland shade of pink to color the walls, but hopefully they will put some decorations up to break that up a little.

First, I need to point out that Sushi House has some of the best spicy tuna that I have ever had the pleasure of eating.  Every time I sit down at the bar and see the large heaping bowl of it I secretly desire that they will just put the whole thing in front of me so I can gorge myself on it.  Luckily for my gastrointestinal system, I don't see them doing that anytime soon.  No worries, I'll enjoy a nice Summer Hand Roll (spicy tuna, egg, avocado, wrapped in cucumber hand roll) while I'm waiting.

Sushi House is very similar to most sushi restaurants and have an extensive Japanese menu as well as the common sushi standards.  I'm not sure I've ever eaten there without at least getting one California Roll or Asparagus Roll to go along with the one or more special rolls that I absolutely must get every time.

Sure every sushi joint has their fair share of rolls that allow the chefs to showcase their talents, but one thing I really like here is that they also have a number of customer creations.

Some of these are utterly repulsive to me.  Take the Cheese Roll for instance, which is wrapped with American cheese in place of the traditional nori.  I'm guessing the non-sushi eaters who get dragged along to Sushi House by their raw fish loving friends are the likely (I sure hope so anyway) target for this selection, but it just looks gross to me.  There are also a couple of rolls that are covered with ample portions of seaweed salad, but I'm not a fan, so I'll pass on those too.

One day, I'd like to try the Piston Roll (imitation crab salad, avocado, cucumber, soybean wrapper) but I can't help but get stuck in a rut.  You see, I'm an addict and I am proud to admit it.  I don't know who Don is, but Don's Roll is so good I can't help but get it every time and have to confess that I just might have a bit of a man-crush on the guy for having invented it.  First take some of the spicy tuna that I already raved about and some cucumber and wrap it with the ubiquitous sushi rice.  Then drape some thin slices of avocado on top and cover that with a tuna trifecta of tasty red tuna, white tuna, and albacore tuna and you've got a roll that I simply cannot resist.

Prior to the remodel, they had photos of all of the customer inspired rolls on the wall, but I have not seen it return since.  I did confirm today that Don's Roll is still available so if you are interested, take a look at the "New Rolls" tab on their website to see some of these super special rolls before you go.

If you find yourself in the neighborhood, stop in and give them a try.  You'll be glad you did.

www.gosushihouse.com

Đà Nẵng Restaurant

Đà Nẵng is located at the corner of 14 Mile road and Main in downtown Clawson.  We decided to stop in for dinner Friday evening after having a few rounds at Black Lotus Brewing Company which is located just across 14 Mile.

I've never eaten Vietnamese cuisine before and Đà Nẵng was a pleasant introduction.  This quaint little restaurant looks deceptively larger from the outside due to the design of the building, but that is just fine by me.  They were not overly busy and our group of four was seated immediately at a table right next to the hostess area, which is not right by the front door as is typical of most places, but rather more centrally located and somewhat near the kitchen.

The staff was very warm and attentive and asked if we had been to Đà Nẵng before and whether or not we had any questions about the menu.

For starters, we chose the Tempura Green Beans with sweet and sour sauce and the other couple dining with us chose the Vegetarian Imperial Rolls.  Upon bringing the appetizers to the table, our waitress suggested dipping the imperial rolls directly into the sauce rather than cutting them and dipping the pieces.  The sweet and sour sauce was different than I was expecting, but pleasingly so.  It wasn't overly sweet and had just the right amount of a sour punch to it that went well with the beans.

After pointing out to my friends that Phở is actually pronounced "Faa" and them not believing me until the waitress validated my claims, we got down to ordering our main courses.  We all stuck to the regular menu despite a number of tasty specials.  I ordered Shrimp and Sausage Fried Rice topped with an egg cooked over easy and the rest of the group ate Vietnamese Crepes, Spicy Shrimp Soup, and Vegetarian Soup.  The entrees arrived promptly and again the waitress was very helpful in providing suggestions and explained each of the sauces that were brought to the table to help add some kick to the meal.

The fried rice was somewhat similar to every other fried rice dish you would get at any Asian restaurant, but was more sweet.  This was mostly due to the sausage in the dish that is very similar to the sweet tasting cured meat I encountered often when I visited China.  I did find the egg to be overcooked as the yolk was very firm and I wanted a runny yolk, but it tasted fine all the same.

My friend Chuck from Fermentation Nation added plenty of Siriacha and Đà Nẵng's smoky house-made Sate sauce to his already spicy soup and enjoyed his way through his sweaty experience despite making some sort of bizarre sound at one point that even he couldn't believe he made.  His girlfriend Liza made her way through close to half of her tofu laden Phở while pointing out how large the bowl was.  To be fair, she probably could have worn it as a helmet if it were sufficiently padded.
 
I did also get a sample of the crepes, which were also not quite what I'm used to when eating crepes.  First off they were folded rather than rolled, and they were crispy and a bit thicker than your run of the mill crepes.  The shrimp and pork stuffing was cooked perfectly and tasted excellent.

As we were preparing to leave, we learned that due to a large volume  of requests, they now sell jars of their Sate so that you can add some spice to those scrambled eggs next Saturday morning.  We were also told that they hope to be getting their liquor license soon so we don't have to do our drinking across the street.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that beer is my thing, but I'll be back regardless.

danangrestaurant.com

Black Lotus Brewing Company

Friday was my first visit to Black Lotus in downtown Clawson.  The brewery is in a nice location at the corner of 14 Mile road and Main and has plenty of free on-street parking nearby as well as a municipal lot in back.  

Inside, Black Lotus is a hybrid of your typical brewpub and a coffee house.  This makes sense, since in addition to their beer selections they have an impressive coffee and tea list.  There are a number of wooden tables and chairs surrounding the bar and there is a small stage area for live entertainment up front by the door.  

The bar itself looked nice and is fronted with fieldstones.   My colleague from Fermentation Nation informed me that the comfort level is not quite as good as the look, however, since the overhang of the bar top is short and fieldstones rubbing against your knees isn't particularly pleasant.

The "kitchen" is interesting as it is essentially a flat-top area directly behind the bar reminiscent of your neighborhood diner.

Black Lotus had a fairly decent variety of beers on during this visit.  They were pouring Detroit Hip Hops APA, Red Tao Amber Ale, The Gift (Strong Belgian Ale), People Mover Pilsner, Winter Wheat, Funk-n-A Apricot Wheat, and a Honey Chamomile Ale. 

My first selection was the Pilsner, which I found to be very drinkable.  The first thought that came to mind while drinking it was that this particular brew is the perfect example of what Miller Lite claims to be with its "Tastes Great, Less Filling" slogan.  The target audience for this beer is likely the group that bombs in looking for the typical American mass marketed selections.  I could see most of that crowd being satisfied unless they are the new breed that is looking for ultra low carb options, in which case I would suggest they stick to water.

For my second pint, I opted for the Red Tao.  Fermentation Nation report:

Very balanced, big caramel malt presence, medium body, a little bready yeastiness, mild hops, clean finish.  Rating 6 out of 10. 

My Companions also tried the Honey Chamomile, of which Fermentation Nation says:

Blonde -- 6.8% abv, creamy mouthfeel, herbal character from chamomile, low bitterness, big honey flavor but not overly sweet.  Rating 7 out of 10.

The menu was typical bar fare consisting of mostly burgers, nachos, a few salads, and appetizers.  We shared an order of the deep fried pickle spears served with the ubiquitous cup of ranch which were pretty tasty.  One of the vegetarian options on the menu was a lentil burger, which was an interesting option compared to what many places offer.  The most unusual item was battered and fried salmon which just seems the wrong thing to do with such a tasty variety of fish.

Overall, my first impression of Black Lotus was not bad.  While the food did not particularly appeal to me on this visit, I would like to sample more of the beer selection and will make it a point to do so next time.

www.blacklotusbrewingco.com