This is a combined review of two meals at Seva. We ate here Thursday evening when we first got into town and again tonight after driving up to Frankenmuth and back. Thursday evening Sarah had Grilled Eggplant with Cilantro Peanut Sauce and I had the Caribbean Quesadilla. We started off with Seva’s awesome Yam Fries. My quesadilla was stuffed with beans and onions and so on. The tortilla was whole wheat, which was fine, although I prefer flour or corn. It came with fried plantains, which were very good, jalapeno cornbread (which I turned over to Sarah), and pineapple mango salsa, which was very spicy. Sarah loved it. Her eggplant was to die for. (I took her word for it as I don’t like eggplant). Seva offers wine flights, which are three different mini-glasses of similar wine. I had the red wine flight that night. All excellent.

Tonight we were going light, so I had Spinach Ravioli, which was delicious. Sarah had Enchiladas Calabaza with squash and cream cheese. Her meal was good, but she wasn’t thrilled with the tomato sauce. Tonight I had the white wine flight. Again a very tasty meal. 

Tonight before we headed off to Shakespeare (Macbeth) we stopped in to Shalimar on Main St in Ann Arbor. Shalimar is fairly upscale, with a clean, open, and nicely decorated dining room. We were eating early so we could get to the show, so we had no problem getting a table. However, it seemed they must have just turned the a/c on before we came in, so it was a bit on the warm side.

Sarah noted that they had Balti on the menu. Balti is one of our favorite Indian dishes and we’d only seen it at Mitali East in NYC. So Sarah ordered the Balti and I went with my favorite, Murgh Makhani, which is chicken in a deliciously rich tomato cream sauce. We also requested naan and a side of raita.  The balti was not served in the traditional bucket (balti = bucket) and included paneer cheese instead of chicken. It was very good nonetheless. The murgh makhani was superb. The raita and naan were both excellent as well. We’ll definitely be going back on our next trip to Ann Arbor.

Tonight we had dinner with Betty, a colleague of mine. Betty is just as adventurous as we are when it comes to restaurants, so we decided B Won on S. Neil would be a good choice. Sarah and I had stopped in for lunch once on our way to Chicago, but I never got around to writing it up. I figured dinner would be a good chance to sample their main menu.  And with three of us ordering, I knew we’d have a nice variety.

I’d been wanting to try their Bul Go Gi, which is stir fried beef with scallions. Odd thing about B Won, many of their stir fried dishes are done tableside and they won’t do a single meal that way. So if one person wants stir fry and the other doesn’t, you’re pretty much out of luck or forced to buy two servings of the stir fry entree. Luckily Betty and I both wanted an entree from the stir fry menu, so we were all set. Betty ordered a barbecue pork dish (the name escapes me now). Sarah decided on the Chap Chae, which was a noodle dish with vegetables.

Oddly, the waitress who prepared the two stir fry dishes did each one separately, so the whole reason for having to order two entrees escapes me. Sarah got her meal first, but then politely waited while the other two meals were prepared consecutively. I really don’t understand why they don’t just cook all the meals in the kitchen and deliver them at the same time.

My bul go gi was quite tasty, though. I didn’t get the hot pepper paste I was supposed to get, not that I minded, but Sarah said her meal could have used some of it to liven it up. Betty’s BBQ pork was really good and not too spicy, although it had a late kick which snuck up on you. We all ordered mixed rice, which was purple and had some sort of beans in it. All meals come with an assortment of small side dishes like kimchi and vegetables in sauce and rice cakes. Everything was super fresh and authentically prepared.

B Won is as close as you can get to eating in Seoul without leaving town. If you like Korean food, you’re in for a treat. Now if they would just drop the quirky ordering requirements.

Tonight we were in the mood for something different. We’re talking way different. In Champaign, that means only one thing; a trip to Radio Maria on N. Walnut. Radio Maria is a little slice of Greenwich Village chic out here amid the corn and beans. The menu is constantly changing, which is a very good thing, and the beer list is extensive and eclectic. And now they added a tapas bar on the side. Variety is good.

We were famished when we arrived, so Sarah ordered a Mixed Greens Salad and I opted for the Neenah Cheese Plate. Both were excellent. The cheese plate was very generous with three chunks of cheese, melons slices and grapes, and a sliced baguette. It would have made a great lunch by itself. For dinner Sarah ordered the Apricot Curry Chicken and I got the Adobo Pork. Sarah really liked her chicken dish. My pork tenderloin was juicy, but a tad spicier than I like. The plantains were quite good, though, and offset the spicy barbeque sauce that came with the pork. I’m not a fan of jalapenos, so Sarah had my jalapeno-cheddar cornbread. Thanks to the appetizers, we both took part of our meal home.

And I almost forgot, with dinner I had very good London Porter, although something drier like a good Pils may have gone better. Next time.

We stopped at Papa George for dinner tonight. It’s basically still Pickles; same sign, same menu, albeit with a partial Greek menu available. The waitstaff were even wearing Pickles T-shirts. I’m guessing the transition will be slow to allow the Greek offerings to gain in popularity before the Pickles menu is abandoned. Or maybe not. In any case, we were there for the Greek food.

We started out with our favorite, Tzatziki. It comes with either veggies or grilled (but cold) pita triangles. The tzatziki was really tasty, but they only gave us four small triangles of pita. And for this they charge $5.95, which is way too much for a half cup of tzatziki and a few pieces of pita. The Parthenon in Greektown gives you a dinner plate piled high with tzatziki and loads of free, fresh bread for 75 cents less. I’d like to see Papa George drop the price by $2 and give you warm pita. We asked for more pita and got three more triangles. I guess they’re in short supply or something.

For dinner Sarah ordered the Pastitsio, only to be told they were out of it. Ok, a few glitches are common in new restaurants. She settled on the Spanakotiropita. I ordered Souvlaki. We both ordered the large meals so we could have something to take home. Sarah’s spanakotiropita was light and tasty, but nothing to write home about. The rice pilaf was bland but the green beans in tomato sauce were pretty good. My souvlaki came with the same sides. I was surprised how quickly our meal came considering mine was a grilled dish, but it was obvious mine had been precooked and reheated, and not very well at that. My pork was room temp at best. It was tasty enough, but it would have been better if it was hot.

Neither of us had anything left to take home and we were glad we ordered the large portions or we would have left hungry. Our bill came to $35 before the tip. Too much for too little.

To think restaurant reviewers could be sued for libel. This is not good. Reviews are clearly opinions and are therefore protected by the 1st Amendment. This lawsuit seems more to be aimed at unmasking the critic than anything else. Let’s hope the judge sees fit to toss this case before witness are called. 

We haven’t stopped eating out, but this past week and weekend we’ve been hitting some local places I’ve already written up fairly recently. But just for the record, Roc’s Blackfront in Charleston still has excellent ribs, P.F. Chang’s in St. Louis is just as good as the one in Indy, and Basmati in Champaign is still putting on a great buffet. (And my Kingfisher beer was being poured as we walked in the door. Now that’s service.)