Troppo – a Lansing Gem

My friend Will from New York was kind enough to take me out to dinner for my birthday. About 8 weeks late, but I would never complain. We initially planned on going to Mitchell’s, then the line was outrageous, so we tried Bravo, again outrageous. We called around, ended up driving down by the Capitol building and I saw Troppo. I had heard it was good and suggested we give it a try. And with no wait, this was definitely our place to be.

Troppo Restaurant in Lansing, Mich.

This small restaurant is decorated in dark wood and rich colors and gives off a very sophisticated vibe. We were casual dressed in jeans and sweaters, and while I didn’t feel out of place, I could have easily worn a dress and felt fine. Will is a somewhat plain eater–no creamy white things, all American boy–so I was a little worried about what we’d decide to split for an appetizer. The Stuffed Butternut Squash immediately caught my eye, “Baked Squash Cup with Israeli Couscous, Spinach, Gorgonzola and Pistachois, $8.95″ This was calling my name in every way possible! I pretty much love every ingredient, and pistachios are my all time fave nut. Will wasn’t feelin it, so he got the sausage and meatballs (borrrrrring…)

Butternut Squash Cup

The Butternut Squash was absolutley delightful. The texture was amazing! The cous cous are a little bit bigger in size  so its almost like mini little pasta balls. The butternut squash is sweet, and the mixture with the blue-cheese adds a little tartness (don’t think I’m using the right description) for an wonderful blend of sweetness and … The waiter said I had a large portion (the cooks must have seen me) and I saved half to take home to save room for all the rest of the food we would be ordering. I convinced Will to try a “bite,” but he wasn’t feeling it. Hey, I tried.

The sausage & meatballs weren’t bad either, except since I’m 50% Italian and used to my grandmother and mom making homemade everything Italian, I wasn’t blown away. The description on the menu reads, “Hot Italian Sausage, Homemade Meatballs and Roasted Peppers tossed with Marinara served with Warm Bread and Whipped Ricotta-Mascarpone, $9.95″ They could’ve worked on the presentation, in my opinion. Will thought his meatballs were better You can’t even compare the squash to the meatballs, in my opinion. Meatballs: B

The flavor of the butternut squash was so exquisite and a creation that I had never tasted before. A+

Sausage & Meatballs

Next up was the entrees, while in all honesty I could have just eaten the Butternut Squash Cup for a meal (I’m thinking a great lunch place to venture to sometime soon at work…hmmm.) I was torn between the Seared Duck Breast (seared Duck Breast cooked to your liking with Grand Mariner, Warm Figs and Dried Apricots served with Risotto and Fresh Vegetables, $19.95) and the Swordfish. Of cousre I asked the waiter, and he recommended the swordfish over the duck. Even though I was near full, I was so pumped to get our entrees and excited to be trying out a new resturaunt.

The “creme brulee coffee crusted swordfish with vanilla bean pinapple chutney, cinnamon risotto and toasted almonds, $18.95″ came at the perfect time, once my stomach was beginning to settle and ready for round 2.

Swordfish

The swordfish tasted a little too blackened for my liking, but overall it was good. The cinnamon risotto was rather plain in taste, but I felt like they literally scraped a cinnamon stick over the risotto. Cinnamon risotto was definitely one for the books.

The piece of swordfish was a pretty good size, and the mixture of flavors of the cinnamon risotto with the pinapple chutney was nice. I ate about half and saved the rest for the next day–I got a full days worth of meals out of all of my takeouts.. score for a poor college kid!

Will enjoyed his Filet a la troppo, “served with Zip Sauce and Gorgonzola Whipped Potatoes. $29.95″ and while he asked for it medium and it came more medium rare, it was a great cut of meat and the gorgonzola mashed potatoes were superb.

Filet a La Troppo

As if I hadn’t stuffed my face enough, if you know anything about me it’s that I always, always, always, always, save room for dessert.

Will eye-balled a server bringing out some some cannolis right when we walked in, but we didn’t see them on the dessert menu. I could have gotten just about anything on the all chocolate dessert menu, but when we inquired about the cannolis (one of my FAVORITE desserts) our waiter he told us that they did have them as a special today.

The cannolis were filled with a chocolate cream that had a hint of raspberry. Will couldn’t taste the raspberry, but I sure could! These chocolate raspberry cannolis were another “first time” for me, and I will definitely search for this kind next time I’m pickin out cannolis.

Canoli Special

Overall this dinner was FAB-U-LOUS!!! I ate enough for 2 (easily),  and Will & I had a great time celebrating our friendship & our birthdays (corny, I know.)

Thanks Will, my favorite New Yorker!

Advertisement