Jambo Cafe - Santa Fe, NM

I visited here in July 2016.  I just hadn't gotten around to posting my visit.

It was dark inside in contrast to the bright NM afternoon outside.  Kind of artsy like so much of Santa Fe. There were two people in African robes. Another white guy dressed like a 16th century Chinese peasant. Not sure what was up with that. Definitely interesting.  I heard lots of different accents; one table of Brits, another table sounded like South Africans maybe.  There were all kinds of African nick-nacks everywhere.

Probably the coolest thing is that the restaurant exists to support the jumbo foundation. The Gemma foundation is a medical clinic in Africa the prince medical care to people who might otherwise not have it.

They had an interesting menu.  I suspect that explains the popularity.  I ordered the salmon salad.   It had some really distinctive spice rub. I'm not sure what it was.  It also had moist capers on top.  It was okay.

Service was good and really fast.

Overall, I would give this place an 8.9.

A couple of storefronts down his jumbo imports. Jumbo imports has African art and spices. Make sure to save your money before coming in here. Some of the art for example to Afton bases were selling for $2500. I saw one vest that was decorated it was also going for $2500.

Jambo Cafe
2010 Cerrillos Rd
Santa Fe, NM 87505
jambocafe.net

Guy's American Kitchen and Bar - New York City

I wasn't even looking for a triple-d restaurant when I stumbled on this place while walking around Times Square.  I really didn't expect to find Guy's restaurant.  I think of him as a California dude and I had no idea that this place even existed until I stumbled upon it.

I visited the restaurant when it was still pretty new and before the New York Times did their hatchet-job of a review on them.

I've visited one of Guy's other restaurants, Tex Wasabi's Rock and Roll BBQ in Sacramento, California.  So, the benchmark was pretty high to start out with.

I was really excited to find this place but, when I first walked into the I struggled to figure out what the theme was.  It was nice but, I could have been in Houlihans or TGI Fridays if I didn't know better.  I'm guessing that the theme was just what the name says, American food. I'm guessing that it is meant to appeal to foreign visitors to Times Square and not to Americans.  Purely speculation on my part.  Although one big clue was the big American flag they made from cases of Miller light and Rolling Rock beer.

I had the salmon grilled and served on a cedar plank.  It came with garlic mashed potatoes.  It was okay.

The beer menu was kind of interesting.  It said right on the beer menu "All beers are formulated and brewed specially for Guy by Heartland Brewery."  If Guy poured all of his creativity into the beer menu then I'm onboard.

I also really liked Guy's creativity with the dessert menu.  Half of the selection were just traditional desserts but, the other half were drink desserts.  So, another theme seems to be emerging and it is alcohol.

Music selection was also pretty interesting.   They played all kinds of alternative music that I'd never heard of before which I might have enjoyed if they hadn't played it so loud.

Overall, I would unfortunately rate Guy's American Kitchen and Bar an 8.6.  I really wanted this place to blow me away and I looked hard for reasons to let it but, unfortunately it didn't.  If I'm looking for a beer or a meal in Times Square then I'd be willing to give it another shot.  If Guy can make Tex Wasabi's incredible then he can do it here as well and I'm sure he will.


Guy's American Kitchen and Bar
220 W 44th St
New York, NY 10036
(646) 532-4897
www.guysamerican.com

The Fly Trap - Ferndale, MI

The Fly Trap was kind on an unusual place.  The outside is painted a bright yellow-green color.  You could imagine yourself a fly walking into a venus flytrap plant.  When you first walk in you notice the reggae music turned up kind of high.  There are  people eating strange piles of grass in these huge bowls that could be mixing bowls except for the fact that they are a little too delicate.

I found it to be part normal American diner and part vegan restaurant.  It seemed to me that a diner would be the last place a vegen would want to eat.  But, they had a lot of Thai dishes made with tofu that the non-meat eaters like.  Not me though.

I got the red chili salmon burger and a salad with blue cheese dressing.  I started with the salad.  The salad was more like what you would find in an upscale restaurant.  It had several types of greens. I could not identify all of them.  The blue-cheese dressing was really nice.  It was obviously fresh made, not out of a bottle or can.   I'm not quite sure what kind of magic the cook used but it was at the same time like a normal blue-cheese dressing in that it was creamy and had the distinctive sharp blue-cheese taste yet, it was also somehow light. 

The salmon wasn't a slab of salmon but actually a salmon patty.  I didn't see that coming.  The salmon sandwich had a splotch of mayonnaise with some cucumber slices on it. The mayonnaise was their garlic lime aioli.  I tried it first just the way that it was set down in front of me.  It was nice but, a little on the bland side.  The cucumber add a light crunchy taste to the fish.  I really didn't pick out the aioli taste.

The waitress offered a jalapeno and a habanero carrot sauce.  I dabbed on some of the green habanero sauce which made a huge difference.  It just picked up the whole sandwich experience.  It added just a little pepper kick and somehow made the whole sandwich more exciting. 

The service was pretty good.  There was just one waitress working but, she seemed genuinely excited about the menu and eagerly asked how I liked everything as I got to it.

I would give the Fly Trap a 9 out of 10.  I would eat there again.  I'd like to try some of the Thai food next time.


The Fly Trap - Ferndale, MI
22950 Woodward Avenue
Ferndale, MI 48220
(248) 399-5150
http://www.theflytrapferndale.com