Paul R. Potts
To celebrate Grace’s 32nd birthday, last night we drove to Milford and ate dinner at Brian Polcyn’s restaurant, the Five Lakes Grill.
The space and atmosphere were pretty decent, but not wonderful. I have no love of Muzak, and there was a lot of it, but at least it was not loud.
The food was great. We’ve been meaning to make the trip ever since reading a review in the Atlantic several years ago. The review has been stuck to our closet door with a magnet ever since then. Now we can take it down!
Grace had the rack of lamb, which she described as the best she’s ever had. The only flaw was that the wilted spinach with it was too salty. The salad was good. We split glasses of a house Shiraz, which was quite tasty.
I had a special, marinated skirt steak with a sweetish currant sauce, served with vegetables including blue potatoes and asparagus. The meat and sauce was excellent, and the vegetables excellent, but the combination didn’t really sing. Not all specials wind up working out as well as the tried-and-true dishes; that’s OK. It was quite good anyway.
We had a charcuterie platter appetizer; it is one of Polcyn’s specialties, and he teaches charcuterie. The sausages were all excellent, including a seafood sausage. He also had a great prosciutto.
Isaac had a Greek salad with fried calamari on top, which he enjoyed very much, and a pot pie with pearl onions and duck confit, which was wonderful. He loved it, although he was getting a bit full and had to take some home.
For dessert Grace had creme brulee, which she again described as the best she’s had: a great crackling burnt sugar coating on top, fresh berries, and a custard that was not overly sweet. I had a lemon tart, which was excellent, and which came with a little chocolate cup with rasberries that tasted house-made. Isaac had a thick hot chocolate, which was bittersweet and rich, although the combination of caffeinated soda and dark chocolate got him pretty wired up, so perhaps it was not the best thing to give him at ten o’clock at night. The coffee was excellent.
The entire meal cost us $150, before tip, which is quite a bit, but it was one of the best restaurant meals we’ve ever had, so I don’t consider it an unreasonable amount to spend for such a special occasion. We took baby Veronica with us, and that worked out fine; she didn’t fuss much, and even slept on the seat of the booth for part of the meal.
It was a good time, and a good reminder of how unimpressive most of the downtown Ann Arbor restaurant have become. I would not be surprised if we were back there soon.