Bert's Marketplace

Bert's Marketplace
2727 Russell St
Detroit, MI 48207
(313) 567-2030

Every time that I'm in Detroit, I invariably visit Bert's.  They have a bar and some of the best soul food there is.  Their drinks are about $6, and their plates are around $12.

This specific trip I ordered the fried pork chops.  This plate comes with two pork chops and two sides and cornbread.  The cornbread was a sweet corn muffin.  I chose mac n' cheese and collard greens as my sides.  The collard greens were obviously fresh.  They were sweet and perfectly seasoned.  The mac n' cheese was the best that I have had in a while.  It was obviously not made with any type of powdered cheese.  In fact, it was so good that G ordered an extra side of it.  

For his meal, he ordered black eyed peas, collard greens, and meat loaf.  The meat loaf was also really good. 

I have had the ribs here in previous visits, and they are also great.  They smoke them on the weekends I think.  The service is usually just average.  However, this trip the service was above average.  The building is huge.  Sometimes they even have live music.  

Upon looking at their website, they have a Sunday buffet.  I really want to go there for this someday.  All you can eat soul food sounds too good to be true.  

Dough

Dough
448 Lafayette Ave
New York, NY 11205
(347) 533-7544

There is a quaint donut place in Brooklyn that I visited last time I was in New York.  

The kitchen is viewable to visitors, so you know they are making everything fresh.  

They have a variety of donuts.  Some flavors are cafe au lait, toasted coconut, nutella, glaze, as well as flavors such as hibiscus and passion fruit.  

My only complaint is the donut holes.  Most donut holes are probably made to look that way.  These donut holes actually taste like the leftovers, so skip the donut holes.  However...

The good (well actually the awesome)... These are quite possibly the best tasting donuts that I have ever tasted.  I know that other donuts make their dough in house, but for some reason these have a more homemade taste than I have ever had.  Unfortunately, my friend showed us this place on like one of our last days in New York, so we were unable to eat them every day.  Fortunately, I don't live near there or I would be a big as a house from eating them daily.  

Toby Carvery, England

Toby Carvery
London Road
Slough, SL3 8PS
Tel: 01753 591212

On Sundays, I read that the common food is a roast, so my goal for Sunday was to find a place that served roast.  By the time, we were hungry, we were near our hotel which is near the city of Slough, outside of London.

The price for the meal was 8.99 pounds.  We chose to get all 4 meats, which the meat carvers put on our plate.  We got gammon (aka ham), beef, turkey, and pork.  You also get a large Yorkshire pud, which is like bread but kind of hollow and flakier.

You also get unlimited vegetables including cornbread dressing.  They had brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, peas, and fried potatoes to choose from.  Additionally, they had another bar area with multiple types of toppings and different types of gravy.  The cornbread dressing tasted just like what we eat in the south.  

Everything we had was really good.  

For dessert, we had a hot fruit crumble pudding, which came with a huge jug of custard.  It was the perfect end to this great meal.  

Bharat Market and Restaurant

Bharat Market and Restaurant
3675 Southwind Park Cv
Memphis, TN 38125
(901) 759-1939

Once upon a time, we were hungry and couldn't decide where to eat.  We kept driving and driving looking for someone new.  Somehow we ended up in the Southwind area of Memphis.  (I prefer not to venture outside of Midtown.)  All of a sudden I remembered that there was an Indian restaurant that I wanted to try out there.  I couldn't remember where it was but somehow we managed to stumble across it.

There is an adjoining grocery store, that we did not visit, so I cannot comment.  There was definitely a language barrier.  We had to point to what we wanted on the menu.

We both ordered the palaak paneer, which is a staple that we order at Indian restaurants.  It is spinach with an Indian cheese in it.  It is always great.  However, this one was the creamiest that I have ever had in my life.  It was to die for.  Quite possibly the best I have ever had.



We also had a soup and some bread.  I can't remember the type of soup, though.

The bread reminded me of tortillas.  The staff was super friendly, as well.

Don't walk, but run to try this delightful restaurant.

Sharks Memphis

Sharks Memphis
3183 POPLAR AVENUE
MEMPHIS, TN. 38111

A friend of mine told me that Sharks was awesome.  She said it was a chain back in Chicago where she's from.  I decided to try it the other day, when I had a chicken wing craving.  I decided to go with the 10 wings.  The wings were whole wings, and the meal came with fries and cole slaw.  I ordered honey hot.  They were great.  The slaw was just a mini portion, and it was good.  The fries were good, as well.  I noticed they also have some catfish as well as a frog legs and other types of fish. They also have other pieces of chicken.

On my second visit, I ordered the 6 piece mixed fried chicken.  It also came with fries and a mini side of cole slaw.  I am really liking the fries here.  I also like the fried chicken, which I drenched in hot sauce.  My friend ordered the wings and a side of fried mushrooms.  They also have jalapeno poppers that I am dying to try.

On my next visit, I am planning on ordering them as well as some type of fish.  

There is also a location in Hickory Hill.  The one on Poplar used to be a Backyard Burger.  

Try it!  

Ellen's Soul Food

Ellen's Soul Food
634 S Bellevue Blvd
Memphis, TN 38104

Ellen's is a Memphis staple.  I first went there probably 10 years ago when it was on S. Parkway. Back then, Ellen used to hand write her menus everyday, so sometimes each one would be different on accident.  It has been mentioned in the New York Times.  It's that good.

Now, it is on Bellevue.  However, I overheard while eating there that they are moving again out to Mt. Moriah.  I will say that I preferred the food and atmosphere when it was on S. Parkway.  Then it had 5 stars.  However, it's still really good.  Notice I gave it 4 stars.

I went with the veggie plate.  I got macaroni and cheese, cabbage, fried okra, and spaghetti. Yes, here in the south spaghetti can be a veggie even though it comes with ground beef.  G had the meatloaf with sweet potatoes and cabbage.

The cornbread looked just like pancakes.  They were awesome.  

Everything was great.  It was food for the soul.  Everything was also sweet.  The mac and cheese, the cabbage, and the spaghetti definitely had sugar in it.  I recommend you visit this place.  It's supposed to move sometime this month to Mt. Moriah, so if you miss this location, don't give up.

P.S.  It's cash only.


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Brother Junipers

Brother Junipers
3519 Walker Ave
Memphis, TN 38111


After 10 years, I make my return.  I don't know why I hadn't been back.

So... some friends were in town and wanted to go to brunch.  We decided to try Brother Junipers.  We got there and they had a ridiculously long wait. They had to leave after brunch, so we couldn't wait two hours.  I had been, but it had been like 10 years, so I wanted to try this place.  Eventually they came back, and we were willing to wait the one hour.  

I think the prices are a tad high.  However, our service was excellent.  I ordered a regular coffee and our server kept it full.  She was also very cheery, which was nice.  

One of my friends is vegan and he greatly enjoyed his tofu scramble.  

My other friend had the four cheese omelette and the cheese grits.  She said she had a cheese overload.  However, she loved her waffle.

I loved my food.  I had cheese grits.  Yes, they are really cheesy, but I love cheese.  I also had my eggs fried with sausage.  They were fine.  I also added a side of gravy for my biscuit.  I love gravy and I love biscuits.  

I like this place... I just wish the wait wasn't so long!!