By Crysta Coburn

Stray Hen Cafe

Downtown Ann Arbor is home to a diverse landscape of breakfast, brunch, and lunch restaurants. Stray Hen Cafe, located at the corner of Washington and Division, has been a wonderful addition. The prices are moderate, and the portions are large!

Being so close to the heart of downtown as well as steps from U-M’s campus, it’s a bustling place. At least it was on the early Sunday afternoon that my husband and I arrived. But the staff have the whole process down pat and move patrons through ordering and seating like a well-oiled machine.

When you walk in, a cooler filled with bottled drinks is on the left. Menus are located inside a bit and on the right, and you may peruse one as you wait in line to order. When you near the register, you can also eye all of the delicious plates that come out of the kitchen before they are delivered to their respective tables. This may sway your decisions.

Once you place your order and pay at the register, you are escorted to a table with a playing card in a stand. Your food will be brought out to you, but any cafe beverages you ordered, you pick up from the separate coffee counter when they call out your drink. While you wait, enjoy the ambience. Though I was there on an unseasonably warm day, it was still nice to soak up the unseasonably floral green decor. There is a bright, outdoorsy garden feel even sitting indoors.

When our food arrived, my jaw dropped at how thick the slices of bread were in my husband’s apple churros French toast. It was difficult for him to choose between those and the cinnamon roll French toast, which we saw on a plate as it was carried to another table. I ordered the North Side scrambler, which was made up of egg whites, chicken sausage, avocado, spinach, tomato, and gouda cheese. I chose a cup of fruit over potatoes as a side. There was so much food that I almost had trouble finishing the plate.

The breakfast menu also contains a selection of savory toasts, including pesto, filet, and salmon toasts; breakfast bowls of various grains as well as grain-free; breakfast sandwiches; sweet pancakes; French toasts; waffles, including a waffle flight; and a dairy-free oatmeal bar. As for the lunch menu, choose between 15 different sandwiches, seven salads, and a protein plate as well as a small selection of sides.

Stray Hen is only open until three, so keep that in mind when planning your day.

Stray Hen Cafe is located at 403 East Washington Street in Ann Arbor. They are open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information call (734) 929-2590, email strayhenannarbor@gmail.com, or visit strayhencafe.com/ann-arbor.

K&D Bistro

Family-owned K&D Bistro is not only a counter-service restaurant that serves super authentic Vietnamese food, everything is made from scratch with fresh ingredients, and there are gluten-free dishes on the menu. Conveniently located right off the highway, K&D Bistro is worth the trip.

The two main parts of the menu are divided into pho and banh mi. You have nine choices for pho, a naturally gluten free (if you don’t add the packet of hoisin sauce) noodle soup of beef broth, scallions, onion, bean sprouts, and optional cilantro. There are six types of banh mi, six-inch French bread submarine sandwiches with meat (often pork, but not exclusively), pate (yes, in addition to the meat of choice), pickled carrots, daikon, cucumber, mayo, and optional cilantro. The banh mi can be added to a combo with a drink and egg rolls.

I have always wanted to try a banh mi, but my wheat allergy steered me toward the pho. And I am glad it did! I ordered dinner to go. While my husband’s banh mi combo came packaged all together, my pho came in parts. When ordering ahead, you are asked to make sure you have a large bowl. If you don’t, then one is packed with the meal. I had my own, so no large plastic bowl for me. And when they say large, they mean like a ramen bowl or serving bowl. A cereal bowl is way too small to contain everything. You can also request uncooked noodles that you cook yourself at home. I ordered cooked noodles, but they were a bit hard until I let them soak in the hot beef broth. Many of the vegetables were also raw and cooked slightly when added to the broth.

This was some of the most savory and delicious broth I have ever tried, let alone pho, which I ate regularly when I lived in California. This felt much fresher than the pho I had then as well. I literally stood there and watched as the pair in the kitchen made it for me. Serving the different parts of the pho in separate containers was the extra step that sets K&D Bistro apart.

In addition to the pho and banh mi, there is a kids menu and a vegetarian menu. There is only one option for dessert. I couldn’t resist ordering the mysterious honeycomb cake, which neither I nor my husband had ever heard of before. Made with tapioca flour, honeycomb cake is gluten free. It has an almost mochi-like texture, but fluffier. (Mochi is gummy and made with rice flour.) The flavor is on the lighter side of sweet but satisfying. I think it would go wonderfully with a cup of tea. Also, the color is green. It comes from the addition of pandan extract, which is similar to vanilla extract.

K&D Bistro is located at 1290 Anna J Stepp Drive in Ypsilanti Township. They are open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information call (734) 961-8908, email info@kdbistro.com, or visit kdbistro.com.

Aroma Indian Cuisine

If you like Indian food, are you ever in for a treat! Aroma Indian Cuisine, located in downtown Ann Arbor, has the largest menu of any restaurant I’ve ever seen, let alone Indian restaurants. I have no doubt this will keep me coming back again and again to try old favorites as well as something new. There is a reason they made Restaurant Guru’s recommended list in 2021.

I would call this a pan-Indian menu with dishes from the north and the south, including a list of Indo Chinese dishes. Both spring rolls and samosas are on the appetizer menu. For breads, you can choose between naan, chapati, and paratha (which originated in Peshawar, Pakistan). Each one pairs perfectly with the plethora of biryani, curries, tikka masalas, and lentil dishes—just to name a few! Meats include fish, shrimp, lamb, and chicken. For vegetarians, there is no shortage of plates made with chickpeas, lentils, and/or paneer.

I was delighted with my choice of Shahi (Royal) Paneer, which hails originally from Punjab, India. This would be beautifully paired with garlic naan. I chose basmati rice instead, though, which was equally satisfying, soaking up the gravy. I’ve heard good things about Aroma’s masala chai, but I chose a mango lassi for my beverage.

The mango lassi was sweet enough that it could have served as dessert, however, I wanted to give the rasmalai a try. The menu describes this as “a creamy and milky syrup [with] Chenna (cottage cheese) balls.” This turned out to be even sweeter than the lassi. The cheese balls were soft, almost spongy, and really soaked up the sugary liquid. Another traditional Indian dessert on the menu is gulab jamun, or “fried dough balls that are soaked in a sweet, sticky sugar syrup.”

If you are worried about Indian food being too spicy, or not spicy enough, you can choose the spice level. I picked mild because I don’t like a lot of heat. A side of bread or rice also helps soak up some of the spices.

Aroma Indian Cuisine manager, Elton Pinto.

Interestingly, Aroma also has a small breakfast menu. You will find Indian favorites like vadas (fried savory snacks), idlis (steamed rice cakes), irani (onion) samosas, and pongal (a sweet rice dish from southern India). I had never considered Indian food for breakfast, but now my curiosity has been piqued. I’d love to try any of these with a cup of hot masala chai.

Aroma Indian Cuisine is located at 221 West Liberty Street in Ann Arbor. They are open Monday through Wednesday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday through Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 12 a.m., and Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information call (734) 800-4198 or visit aromaic.com.