Royal Oak Brewery

The Royal Oak Brewery
215 East Fourth Street
Royal Oak, MI 48067
(248) 544-1141

As far as public houses and biergartens go, this one is not the best atmosphere. But I'll quash the anticipation now by saying up front that I found it wholly acceptable.

Their beers are, well, flavorful to say the least. I'm a beer drinker and can quaff most any stout with gusto, but straight hop extract is a bit too much for me. Still, their light beers... (light beer. I never thought I'd let the words exit my mouth)... their light beers were well balanced and citrusy, with a nice blend of acidy and flavor. Best of all they offer a very reasonably priced sampler that is plenty enough to cause your friend to want to take your keys.

The waitress was exceedingly helpful in describing all the beers, making suggestions, patiently listening to Chris try and order (if you've never eaten out with her you don't know. No, you don't know.), and might have even checked on us once or twice. I don't remember, I was drinking.

Try the India Pale Ale. It's the best.

Burgers were well prepared and predictably burgery. Onion rings were round and light brown. Chris substituted her fries for veggies and was very happy with the arrangement. Even the chips were crispy. Oh, but the salsa sucked.

Here's a fun link to browse before you go.

The Beer Advocate

Overall Rating: Acceptable

Rating Breakdown: Taste-Acceptable, Presentation-Acceptable, Service-Good, Atmosphere-Poor.

Price: 29.98 for two, with the beer sampler, no need for dessert. (But I can't wait to try the fried twinkies next time. Mmmm, twinkies.)

Cameron's Steakhouse

Cameron's Steakhouse - Birmingham
115 Willits Street
Birmingham, MI 48009
(248) 723-1700

We visited this restaurant for our 14th wedding anniversary. Fortunately the beauty of my lovely wife brightened up the atmosphere, and the scent of her perfume tantalized my nostrils and moistened my palate. I hungered for her! The dull roar of the other conversations could not distract my attention from her eyes, and the frowning, non-attentive waitress could not depress my quickly escalating mood. (If you know what I mean.)

But enough of that.

First of all, when you tell the waitress you don't like the crab-cake appetizer (it tasted "fishy"), wouldn't you expect her to at least offer something more satisfactory? Send the manager to check on us? Something?

Second, why must I pay top dollar for a meal, and still be expected to assemble it myself? I don't want to order my sides a-la-carte. I'm paying them to plan my evening pleasure. They're supposed to match my sauces with my spices, my tastes with my textures, my vichyssoise with my victuals.

Third, I can't even agree with my beloved on a bottle of wine, but they expect us to share a single, gi-normous plate of potatoes? Screw the potatoes then. I'll wait for the port for my carbs.

But all that aside, the food was just ok. I mean, really nothing to write home about. I had the filet oscar and my wife had the filet. Preparation was perfect to order, but taste was really rather bland. I expected better for the equivalent of an average American's day's labor. My wife passed on dessert because we just didn't want to pay $12 for another average dish. AND MY WIFE NEVER PASSES ON DESSERT!

Because of the average dining experience and the astronomical price I'm going to give this one:

Overall Rating: Poor

Taste: good, Presentation: poor, Service: acceptable, Atmosphere: acceptable.

Price: $93.07 for two, NO DESSERT, one Mohito that was rather tasty.