BlackFinn Restaurant & Saloon
530 South Main St.
Royal Oak
(248) 582-9460; blackfinnsaloon.net
Appetizers: $7.99-$9.99
Salads: $5.99-$14.99
Entrees: $6.99-$25.99
oung, noisy
elicious.
BY DAVID MOSS I PHOTOGRAPHY BY
•
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Platinum Plates
The heat of summer doesn't mean it's too hot to eat — just too hot to cook. So we turn to the
local restaurant scene's great options to keep our appetites satiated. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
in Troy has a summer celebration menu for two: For $89, two people can each enjoy a three-
course meal of salad; a choice of five entrees, including a petite filet, plus two sides to share;
and dessert. Just down Big Beaver Road in Troy, the brand-new Ocean Prime (Chilean Sea
Bass is shown, left), from Cameron Mitchell Restaurants (Cameron's Steakhouse and
Mitchell's Fish Market were sold to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse), offers a full menu of steaks,
chops, fish and seafood in a contemporary setting — as well as an outdoor patio — while live music creates a supper-club atmosphere.
Chef Don Yamauchi, who left his mark at Tribute before leaving to be executive chef for MGM Grand's new restaurants SaltWater and
Bourbon Steak, has returned to his first love, hands-on cooking, at Forte Restaurant in Birmingham. Cafe Kabob Mediterranean, on
Evergreen north of 10 Mile Road in Southfield, has a variety of Middle Eastern dishes. This expanded version of Mr. Kabob (at 12 Mile and
Coolidge in Berkley) offers a full dining room and a 25-seat patio. Lastly, go international in a simple strip mall on Opdyke Road in Auburn
Hills, where Azwnl's Garden offers 40 dishes inspired by the cuisines of Thailand, Japan, China, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines.
Bon appetitl
B8 • AUGUST 2008 • INT platinum
— Lisa Brody
Established in New York City in 1994
before branching out to six national loca-
tions, BlackFinn Restaurant & Saloon made
its Royal Oak debut in late May. If invoking
a New York saloon means noise with decibel
levels approaching that of a Ramones con-
cert, the restaurateurs have hit their mark.
Walking into BlackFinn is like walk-
ing into a wall of people and sound. Thirty
flat-panel TVs are displayed overhead, along
with personal flat-panel TVs in all booths.
The crowd stands several deep at the large
oval bar, where busy bartenders mix martinis
and pour a half-dozen draft beers. Every
Tigers game day is marketed with $2 Miller
Lites, and weekly happy hours benefit pri-
vate groups, including several nonprofits: For
a $10 donation to HAVEN (dedicated to
eliminating domestic violence), my party was
seated in a private area for half-priced drinks
and complimentary appetizers.
The menu is a hodge-podge of bar food
and other favorite dishes. We began with a
plate of delicious beef sliders (shown), four to
an order, topped with American cheese and
grilled onions, served on fresh potato buns
with au jus on the side for dipping. Other
appetizers include quesadillas, chicken and
steak skewers and tri-colored nachos.
For my main course, I chose the grilled
AM tuna sandwich: a generous piece of
ginger-lime–marinated fresh sushi-grade
Ahi tuna grilled to medium rare, topped
with wasabi mayonnaise and served on a
ciabatta roll. With fries on the side, this was
a tasty and reasonably priced meal. Other
sandwiches include the Black Angus saloon
burger, blackened chicken, hot roast beef
and fried haddock. My dining companion
ordered the salmon smoked penne, a rich
combination of salmon filet, capers and dill
tossed with penne pasta in a lemon and
white-wine cream sauce. Also featured: a
rib-eye steak, Black Angus filet mignon
marinated in Guinness Stout and fish and
chips. For dessert, we passed on the choco-
late-chip ice-cream sandwich sliders and
chose the richly scrumptious dark chocolate
and Bailey's mousse, served up in a pint glass
to resemble a pour of Guinness Stout —
more than enough for two. Also appealing is
a deep-dish apple pie served a la mode.
For a quiet dinner, I'd keep walking down
Main Street. But BlackFinn will be a blast
for the "big game," and that's its goal.