As you may recall, JT and I took a little road trip down to Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois to meet up with old friends and make new friends. To make the drive a bit more manageable we decided a stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan was in order so we booked a night into a nice hotel downtown and did a few touristy things (to come).
We chose Grove for dinner from the reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor and it was certainly spot on; an unexpected culinary experience in Grand Rapids, who knew? And even more so surprisingly it was not expensive at all!
The restaurant is nicely decorated in a contemporary style but if you ask me, it had a few too many hard surfaces making it rather noisy for a quiet, romantic dinner. I also found the TVs in the bar area distracting because they are visible from the dining area and although I understand why they have them, I personally feel it takes the dining experience down a notch.
Service was prompt and efficient, our server was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the food, but dinner lasted only an hour and I would have liked it spaced out a bit more.
I ordered the bouillabaisse ($11) and it was OUTSTANDING! My only complaint is that that there was not enough broth! It is a rich saffron, tomato seafood broth generously filled with fresh shrimp, scallops and a variety of fish. It was almost as good as the one I had in Marseille, but then again we were in France eating outside! For the reasonable price of $11, I could have easily had another bowl, it was so tasty!
JT enjoyed the sweet corn soup ($6) but kept dipping his spoon into my bowl of bouillabaise! As you can see from the soup’s colour, it had A LOT of cream which diluted the sweet corn flavour a touch. It was not nearly as lovely as the one at Toca JT recently had.
For my main I had the steak tartare ($12 also a starter) which was very nicely seasoned and had a twist of crumbled hard boiled egg on top and some bread and butter gherkins on the side. It was roughly chopped and I generally prefer a finer chop it was seasoned perfectly to my taste and I enjoyed it very much.
JT had the Chicken Confit ($10) which compared to my bouillabaisse seemed a little lack-lustre although there was nothing technically wrong with it. Sorry, forgot to take a photo :-(.
All in all an excellent experience we’ll tuck away for our next visit to Grand Rapids.
Overall rating of Grove, Grand Rapids (in my opinion): Decor 3/5, service 3.5/5, food 4/5, Value 4/5, Noise: 2/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet).
Disclaimer: We purchased our meals for full price and my opinions just that, my opinions.
Grove, Grand Rapids, Michigan
919 Cherry Street S.E.
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
P: 616.454.1000
Hours of Operation
Sunday – 5pm-9pm
Tuesday – Thursday 5pm-10pm
Friday – Saturday 5pm-11pm
[…] afternoon and evening in Grand Rapids to help break up the driving time to Wisconsin. After a delicious but unfortunately quick dinner at Grove we decided that the night was still too young to be packed […]
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OMG, this Bouillabaise looks amazing!
Wish I could visit this place ones.
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Hi Daniela, it was very tasty and for the price it was pretty darn amazing!
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i wish to go there one day
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There are indeed so many beautiful places to visit in the US and Canada.
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How wonderful to take a drive and enjoy some dinners out after the rain you were having. I hope the weather’s cleared up for you, I’ve not checked the weather network, but it’s sure been hot out west.. almost summer still. I love Bouillabaisse and wish I could make my own but it seems so complicated! xx
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Hi Barbara, we went through a bit of a cold spell particularly while we were traveling to Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois but Tuesday and Wednesday it’s so hot and humid in Toronto, it’s crazy! Unfortunately it’s going to cool down tomorrow and throughout the weekend.
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well you definitely have persuaded me to go! Only wish I lived closer to actualy go! I would have to try that bouillabase
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There are so many lovely places to visit in the US and Canada, so little time!
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It sounds as one more excellent meal outside. The bouillabaisse doesn’t look traditional at all but it looks at least equally delicious as the French one (and definitely not expensive!). I also prefer steak tartare with minced meat, not chopped, but roughly chopped version seems to be very fashionable in recent years… We have had an extraordinary steak tartare this week in Lyon (very good beef race and of course good cut!) and I also thought it would have been perfect if minced not roughly chopped. I have never seen it with boiled egg (it’s always raw). Very original.
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I wish I had asked your suggestions for Lyon for restaurants Sissi because for the gastronomic capital of France we certainly did not have great experiences. The Bouillabaisse is usually priced $30-$40 so I was particularly surprised by the quality this was. The boiled egg on the tartare was a very interesting approach probably because they aren’t permitted to serve a raw egg for health reasons! Interesting non-the-less.
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The bouillabase is quite chep for tons of seaffos and fancy saffron based soup,
lucky you my friend!
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Thank you Dedy, it did have a lot of seafood for the price, and it was nicely flavoured with saffron.
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The bouillabase looks amazing! Sounds like a great meal!
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Thanks Anne, it was a very delicious meal.
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Yes, something about being outside on the southern coast of France would have a way of making everything taste a little bit like magic! I love broth too — my husband makes pho and his version is full of noodles with just a wee bit of broth — my version is mostly broth with a wee bit of noodle and tons of cabbage ;-).
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I’m with you Kelly, I adore the broth with Pho with a few noodles! You must post your recipe one day, it’s a dish we make mostly in the winter. I find the one’s served in restaurants way too salty.
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wow, a bouillabaisse for $11? You sold me on that!!! Looks amazing!!
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It was pretty amazing, particularly that it was so delicious.
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Hi Eva, the food looks very good – did they serve the bouillabaisse with rouille? I find that stuff definitely makes it! The steak tartare… I’ll leave that for you – I like carpaccio, I like my beef rare, but completely raw chunks aren’t my thing. I’m glad it was a good dining experience though… life’s too short to eat crappy food in rubbish restaurants, and God knows that’s something that happens far too often when so many restaurateurs take no pride in what they’re serving! 😦
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No, Charles there wasn’t a rouille or even aioli which was missing a bit, but the flavours for the soup were so delightful that the missing rouille was just a passing thought. Life IS to short to eat crappy food.
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I drive through Grand Rapids sometimes in the Fall. It’s the most northern route to Zia’s and I let the foliage’s colors determine which route I’ll take to-and-from her home. I bet I would enjoy this restaurant, Eva. That bouillabaisse alone would be worth the trip. I would stay away form the corn soup, though. It’s a shame when a chef uses that much cream in his soup. Either the corn isn’t fresh or the chef hasn’t confidence in his recipe. Even so, I’ll just order a 2nd bowl of bouillabaisse and call it a night. Together, those 2 bowls will still be cheaper — and I bet tastier — than any I can get here. 🙂
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Thanks for your comment John, I do hope you give this place a try, just for the bouillabaisse, and it’s so reasonable! I agree that adding so much cream to a soup is a rookie mistake, hopefully the chef will learn and adapt.
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Wow dinner in one hour! That’s is quick and yes if you’re going out for dinner, you want it to last for a bit longer 🙂
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Hi Lorraine, I’m sure they just wanted to turn tables and get us out of there. Next time we’ll know how to slow them down.
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The food seems very reasonably priced. It’s not often we can find a restaurant in Sydney that serves anything for $6.00. Your bouillabaisse looks very good xx
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Hi Charlie, indeed it was one of the most reasonably priced restaurants we’ve been to in a very, very long time.
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I too would love the bouillabaisse, and for a bargain price of $11.00 I would have 2 bowls and call that dinner. I so dislike dining in restaurants with too many hard surfaces, the noises bouncing off the hard surfaces always give me a headache.
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I wish I had thought of that when I ordered both my courses, but I know when we get back there for sure.
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Sounds like a good meeting place to me! 🙂
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There’s a great wine bar too…looking forward to meeting up in the new year.
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I wouldn’t mind visiting Grand Rapids if they served food like this 🙂
Yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Thanks CCU, there are a lot of interesting things to see and do in Grand Rapids.
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I absolutely hate TV’s in bar areas and in a fine dining establishment, they just shouldn’t be there! But the food looks really good and I’m glad overall it sounds like it was a nice experience.
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Hi Betsy, I think they put the TVs in to encourage families to dine there because the guys seem to need to watch their sports 24-7. I’m fortunate with my guy, he keeps up with sports but isn’t glued to the TV like most.
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The bouillabaisse sounds wonderful. I should really renew my passport one day so I can visit the States again.
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There are some lovely touristy things to do in Grand Rapids Maria, and it’s only a two and half hour drive for you! Well worth it.
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I would love to try that bouillabaisse too! So flavourful!
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Thank you kindly Angie, ever since I had it in Marseille a few years ago, I’ve been hooked!
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I have family in Grand Rapids, so might actually get a chance to dine at this spot one day. Sounds like there are some winners on the menu…I’d definitely try the bouillabaisse!
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I’d love to hear your thoughts on the place if you ever get a chance to dine there Liz; I know we’ll be back because it’s the perfect almost halfway point to Paul and T and even Kristy and Mike!
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