Have a recommendation? We'd LOVE to hear it!
Salutations Readers!
Kalamazoo has good food.
Great food, in fact. We have made it our mission to check out all the local eateries one at a time - and more for our own poor memories than any other reason, we'll be chronicling our adventures in food here. And some places float our boats way more than others, which is why we have developed the very scientific five golden forks rating scale. Ok. It is not scientific at all. It is actually quite unscientific. But, it is something. And now, you can search all of our reviews by the forks rating. YAY!

But, wait! There's more!
Kalamazoo Foodies no longer just eat at restaurants then review them. There are recipes posted, some easy, some less easy, all delicious. There are, or will be, book reviews, the new Foodie Movie Review-y which will focus on movies about food or ones that have a lot of beautiful food in them. There are other food musings, and hopefully soon contests and so much more. But, Foodie Friends, it is all about food. Because we love it!
And, we want to hear from you!
We want to hear your comments on our recipes and reviews. We want to know where you love to eat. And, we are looking for GUEST bloggers to broaden our horizons a bit. And, if you haven't found us on Facebook, you should do that too. Like our page for other fun Foodies stuff like photos, polls, and more.

SO KALAMAZOO PATRONS - where do YOU love to eat? Because we'd love to check it out and share our thoughts here. Give us a comment below, and quickly! Our tummies are grumbling in anticipation.

A Note from the Foodies about our typical fair:
So, you may notice as you read our blog that we often order the same thing wherever we go. OK, maybe not quite, but we do often order similar things. Kristin has her caprese salads and mushroom dishes. Kate has her baked goat cheese and things with tofu. Well, readers, we wanted to let you know that this is absolutely intentional. A) We love those things, so why not order what you love? And, B) It is a lot easier to compare apples to apples than it is to compare apples to comquats. So, we like to order similar things to have a good sense of how to compare them. Just wanted to let you in on that little secret. Bon appetit!

Monday, December 1, 2008

The Union Cabaret & Grille

Kristin: Electric Goat Cheese and Seared Duck Salad
Huzzah. Being the year's first snow, we didn't want to venture too far from home in competition with the 'crazy first snow drivers' (you know what I'm talking about), so we headed toward the downtown walking mall to check out a reader suggested restaurant called Mangia Mangia. Sadly... that's not open on Mondays. The Union was the closest way to get out of the cold from there, and so to the Union we headed.
Kate immediately sprung for the goat cheese appetizer, which I whole-heartedly participated in. Total yum. I tried to chase it down with a glass of iced tea, but the tea I was served had a strong hint of "I'm not actual tea, I'm that powder crap that restaurants add to water and call it tea." Even after trying to mask the flavor with lemon, I had to switch to water. Boo.
Past the tea that should have come with a Mr. Yuk sticker, the meal was fantastic. The salad was made with greens, dried cherries, candied walnuts, bleu cheese, a sweet vinaigrette, and then of course, the seared duck. I loved all the flavors together, though I was a little dismayed at the size of the greens in the actual salad (I know this is picky, but I dislike my salad coming in pieces as big as the plate. It weirds me out). Yummy enough that I cleaned my plate, but not a big, heavy thing that will sit in my stomach for the rest of the night. A little pricey for a salad, but really reasonable for having duck in it.
four golden forks out of five.


Kate: Electric Goat Cheese and Spinach and Feta Veggie Burger with the featured side (Feta pasta salad)
Man! I was psyched to try Mangia Mangia! But, as Kristin mentioned, closed on Mondays. So, don't plan to go there on a Monday. But, the Union was on the tip of my tongue as another choice, so that worked. And, I don't remember the Electric Goat Cheese being on the menu during my last visit, as I SURELY would have ordered it. So, I was excited to order it today. And, was not disappointed. It is still no Baked Goat Cheese from Vino Vino, but it was tasty. And, the bread that was served with it was very fresh and yummy! I will order this appetizer again. YUM!
My burger was also very good. Not a typical veggie burger patty, it was made with lentils and spinach, which was a nice change of pace. Served on a vegetable bun of some sort, this was a tasty treat. The featured side, was a bit disappointing. I was looking for a lighter option than fries or chips, and she said "feta" so, I was in. There wasn't much flavor, and I actually only took a few bites. I will likely not order this side again.
Overall, a pretty good visit to the Union. Our server was super nice and friendly. She took a while to take our order, but was super attentive after that. So, I say...

four golden forks out of five.
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