Troppo
101 South Washington Square
Lansing, MI 48933
(517) 371-4000
For our second group outing, The Blog that Ate Lansing visited Troppo in downtown Lansing. In addition to our six member group, friends Dan, Eric, John and Josh joined us for dinner.
What's on tap? There are about five or six beer options on tap (Stella Artois, Guinness, and some run of the mill mass-produced yellow lagers) of which the best choice for us was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. No Michigan beers in the tap line up or in bottles. The geographically closest was the Burning River Pale Ale from Great Lakes Brewing Company of Cleveland, OH. A good beer but SNPA on tap is hard to beat. Pints were $5.50 each.
Rod and I started out with the Sweet & Spicy Calamari appetizer ($11.95), which we shared with our end of the table – Mike and Keith ordered one for their end too. This is our favorite appetizer at Troppo and one of the best calamaris in town. The squid is cut into thick meaty strips with a light breading before being deep-fried. The accompaniment is a sweet and spicy chili sauce and mango salsa. The sweetness of the mango and slightly spicy chili sauce complement the crispy and meaty squid. The only downside is there a no tentacle pieces – both Rod and I really love those guys! All-in-all a fantastic appetizer and all five at our end of the table got a fair share to eat from the generous portion. Cassie's right – it could certainly be a meal all to itself!
Squid was followed by the house salad – a nice blend of fresh greens, dried cherries, grated Parmesan and a cherry vinaigrette. The salad was decent overall but maybe a little too much cheese.
My entrée was the pork tenderloin ($17.95), described as follows on their menu: “Thin Pork Medallions with sautéed Washington Apples and Hot Damn Schnapps, topped with Crumbled Bleu Cheese and Roasted Walnuts on Gorgonzola Whipped Potatoes.” Overall this was a really enjoyable dish. I was a little surprised at the sweetness of the glaze. Tasted on its own, it was a bit cloying. However, paired with the creaminess of the potatoes and the salty bite of the blue cheeses it worked. There was no mention in the description, but the glaze seemed to taste of maple syrup – I didn't really pick up the Hot Damn. To say the pork medallions were thin is an understatement. There were three or four quarter-inch slices of pork. I'm not sure why they wouldn't have kept the loin whole for cooking and then sliced it upon serving. Tenderloin is such a low-fat cut, it benefits from being a bit thicker and that would allow for the meat to be cooked to the customer's desired level of doneness. Although I did enjoy this dish, it would have been over the top with two half-inch slices of pork tenderloin seared on the outside and cooked to medium (or even medium rare) on the inside.
Rod, like Scott, chose the halibut special ($20.95). It was a very upscale version of fish and chips. Beer battered halibut with a generous portion of hand-cut French fries. The presentation was very cool – fish stacked high on the fries with a martini glass to hold the, not one, but two aioli dipping sauces. The first was a garlic lemon aioli and the second was a black truffle infused aioli. The fish was crispy on the outside and tender and flaky on the inside.
Our server was Matt. We've had him as a server several times before and he is typically quite friendly. On Friday he didn't seem to have a smile for anyone. He was very matter of fact about the service. He was attentive but not engaging. We have always been impressed by the staff at Troppo and have had good experiences in the dining room, on the patio and at the bar. I would not consider this a bad experience but it was definitely not what we have come to expect. After learning that the tip was included, many in our group wondered if our server was just “phoning it in” since his level of engagement would not increase or decrease his potential tip. I can't say if this was why he wasn't engaged or if he was just having an off night, but it certainly isn't the conversation I would want my guests having on their way out of the restaurant.
The only other negative was the substantial wait between our salad and entrée. The appetizers and salads moved a long at a pretty good clip and then it was significantly longer than thirty minutes before our dinners arrived. Food seemed to be coming out of the kitchen at a decent pace but there only appeared to be two members of the cooking staff. It wasn't horrible since we had good friends and good conversation, but it did seem weird that neither Matt nor the manager addressed the delay, even upon serving the food.
Our bill came to $70.40 for the food and beverage -- with the 20% gratuity added automatically, we were out the door for $83.87.
We will certainly go back to Troppo. The food is consistently good and the atmosphere is enjoyable. A plate of calamari, a cold beer and their patio is hard combination to beat.
- Dani 3/22/09
e ordered the fish and chips. He is always looking for the place to have fish and chips. There is always next time. The steak was fine, but the fries and salad were pretty good. I had the halibut, wild rice, and salad. The halibut was yummy! And, the salad was good. It included tomatoes, cucumbers and croutons. Not sure what was on tap as Scott likes Corona in a bottle (no lime, please). And, I had water. Our billed totaled $45.00 with tip.
e ordered the fish and chips. He is always looking for the place to have fish and chips. There is always next time. The steak was fine, but the fries and salad were pretty good. I had the halibut, wild rice, and salad. The halibut was yummy! And, the salad was good. It included tomatoes, cucumbers and croutons. Not sure what was on tap as Scott likes Corona in a bottle (no lime, please). And, I had water. Our billed totaled $45.00 with tip.
