I'm going to roll out of this city

[bella]

Again, old news, leaving NYC for a few months to live in Michigan.

I've been trying to sample the best of my favorite foods not easily available in the Metro Detroit area. Meaning I've been stuffing my face with bibimbop, pad woon sen, spicy beef ramen (the homemade kind with egg, fish cakes, bok choy, etc, not the brick o' noodles kind), real lamb kebabs, kurma, etc etc.

I've gained almost 15 lbs as a result!  I'm sure a lot of it is water weight, and I'm sure to slim down when back to the motor city where my most exotic option is Jet's Pizza, but holy crap!  

Thank god I'll be able to afford a gym membership once I get to MI

[tomgallagher]

You must live down near Mott Street.

[Tyler]

Enjoy Detroit!  Say hello to Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker and Eminem for me.

[MikeM]

Are you at all serious?

Metro Detroit has some outstanding Middle Eastern food, due to the large Middle Eastern population. Good Mexican (not Tex-Mex), if you know where to look. Very good Japanese, if you know where to look (Nissan and Toyota have a presence in the region). Good Thai and Vietnamese, if you know where to look. Good Indian (need I say "if you know where to look"?) Good Polish.

Uninspired Chinese for the most part, though.

I'm not very knowledgeable about Korean, but some coworkers (before I joined the team) did a bebimbop tour of Ann Arbor a few years back -- trying every place in town before deciding on the best. There's talk of doing it again this summer.

[bella]

MikeM- I haven't lived in Metro Detroit for over a decade, so I'm going based on what I remember.  And yes, I am being tongue-in-cheek, I'm not one of those people that thinks NYC is the only place in the country with decent food or anything like that, though I am perhaps overindulging in my favorite local eats before I go.

Thanks for the reminders on the good ME and Mexican food, I did totally forget about that. The ME food here is good but I have to say I have not been able to find a decent Mexican meal in NY.  I will have to get hunting for the Japanese and Vietnamese, especially, and I'm fascinated by the idea of a bebimbop tour of AA!

I feel much better now!  Maybe I should stop stuffing my face

Edited to add: I really do apologize if I came off like a jerk in my OP.  I was mainly having a laugh at the excuses I've been using to eat totally unhealthy as I move out.  NY does not need anyone pretending to be a jerk on its behalf.   

[Tyler]

I'd be very interested in trying Mexican food in Detroit.  In my travels around the country I have yet to find a decent Mexican restaurant that far North.  This is usually due to the lack of real Mexican spices. 

Is there a food that Detroit is known for?

[tomgallagher]

MikeM- I haven't lived in Metro Detroit for over a decade, so I'm going based on what I remember.  And yes, I am being tongue-in-cheek, I'm not one of those people that thinks NYC is the only place in the country with decent food or anything like that, though I am perhaps overindulging in my favorite local eats before I go.

Thanks for the reminders on the good ME and Mexican food, I did totally forget about that. The ME food here is good but I have to say I have not been able to find a decent Mexican meal in NY.  I will have to get hunting for the Japanese and Vietnamese, especially, and I'm fascinated by the idea of a bebimbop tour of AA!

I feel much better now!  Maybe I should stop stuffing my face

Edited to add: I really do apologize if I came off like a jerk in my OP.  I was mainly having a laugh at the excuses I've been using to eat totally unhealthy as I move out.  NY does not need anyone pretending to be a jerk on its behalf.   

They always have Mike Bloomberg..LOL.

[MikeM]

Edited to add: I really do apologize <...>

No worries. I'm not from here, and there's a lot I don't like about the place, but I actually consdider the food one of the bright spots of living here, so YMMV.

Not to belabor the point, here are roughly 20 places in/around Ann Arbor that have/have had (don't know when the list was compiled by coworker) bebimbop on the menu. I believe Kosmo and Rich J.C. were the top picks on the original bebimbop tour several years ago. We did Tianchu last week, to mixed reviews. I really enjoyed my bebimbop with beansprouts. Others liked the kimchee version. Standard bebimbop was rated good, but overshadowed by the memory of other places (yet to be visited on the new tour).

Arirang 3135 Oak Valley
Bells Diner 2167 W Stadium Blvd
BeWon Korean Cuisine    3574 Plymouth Road
Biwako Sushi (Ann Arbor)    2276 S Main
Biwako Sushi (Saline)   1355 E Michigan Ave, Saline
Broadway Café   1139 Broadway
Hana Korean Restaurant  1346 E Michigan Ave, Ypsilanti
Kang's Korean Restaurant    1327 S University
Kosmo   407 N North 5th Ave (kerrytown)
Lucky Kitchen (Central Campus)  611 E University
Lucky Kitchen (North Campus)    1753 Plymouth Road
Maru    414 E William
Panda Korean and Chinese Restaurant 3020 Packard Road
Rich J.C. Korean Restaurant 1313 S University Ave
Rod's Diner 812 S. State
Seoul Garden    3125 Boardwalk Dr
SeolStreet3 1771 Plymouth Road Suite 101
Teriyaki Time   314 Detroit St
Tianchu Korean Restaurant   613 E. William
University Café 621 Church St

I'd be very interested in trying Mexican food in Detroit.  In my travels around the country I have yet to find a decent Mexican restaurant that far North.  This is usually due to the lack of real Mexican spices. 

In Ann Arbor, there's Sabor Latino -- which is mostly Mexican on weekdays and not-just-Mexican on weekends. Then you have some Mexican grocery/taqueria combo places like Taco King.

(Be warned: on review sites, people just seem to love saying stuff like "not as good as it used to be," etc. about these (and similar kinds of) places. And there's all the standard authentic! no not authentic! stuff.)

In Detroit you have the whole Mexicantown neighborhood. La Gloria bakery is a definite place to visit for Mexican sweets. The story with Mexicantown is that everybody says avoid the tourist strip places and hunt down the small neighborhood restaurants and grocery/taquerias. Me, I've only been to one of the tourist places, and thought it was OK, so I can't make any real recommendations. I person I trust says try Taqueria Lupita's. (I'll have to give it a try myself now.)

Is there a food that Detroit is known for?

Middle eastern, I'd say.

[bella]

Thanks MikeM!  (No thanks from my waistline  )