Eastern Accents

5/25/2007

Oooh baby, this is my dream food come to life - sweet buns with tasty meat inside of them. I'm already a big fan of WowBao in Chicago, so to find this place in Ann Arbor makes me living here a teeeeeny bit less painful (also, being drunk 20 hours a day helps too).
The bacon (pork?) ones are out of this freaking world.

4/7/2013

So, so sad to hear that this place is now closed! When I was an undergrad at U of M (2005-09) this was my place to go for Asian treats. I loved the chocolate buns there although I don't really think they were Asian :) they had the same sticky bun exterior as the pork buns but had a chocolate pudding-type thing inside. I also would get the BBQ pork buns and their sweet rolls.

Eastern Accents will be missed!

10/1/2010

This place is legit! Cozy, good-smelling, and the most broke-da-mouth baked manapuas (aka BBQ pork buns/char-siu bao) in Michigan, I'm sure.

OK, so it is $2 a bun, but how many buns are you gonna eat? And if you think about it, that's the same price as an Egg McMuffin, except this stuff is down home fresh baked! Take that corporate!

• 

  dear pork bun, i'm gonna eat you.

  dear pork bun, i'm gonna eat you.
• 

  buns on display :)

  buns on display :)

11/2/2012

Great cake.

The bi bim bop is good. It's a good place to study -- it's usually pretty quiet, they have lots of light, and it's never too full.

4/8/2013

It was with sadness that I read the annarbor.com article that said this place was closing. My husband and I really liked their cakes: not too sweet, for a change. Layered with fruit. Can't go wrong there. Maybe now I have to come up with my own version of their delicate white cake layered with fruit. Goodbye Eastern Accents! I'll miss you.

2/2/2013

3.5 stars would be spot on.

I came here and tried the bibimbap: $8.35 for the beef version, $8.15 for the vegetable version. You get your choice of white or brown rice, and it comes in a large metal bowl with beef (assuming you ordered beef), cucumbers, bean sprouts, spinach and an over easy egg. The bibimbap is solid: nice flavors and satisfying.

I didn't try any of the buns, but steamed buns were $2.40 each, which I find pretty ridiculous. Overall, the things here aren't particularly cheap. Most food entrees ran above $8. And as much as I enjoyed the bibimbap (4 stars), paying over $8 for a bowl with no side of free banchan isn't very attractive to me.

The staff here are really nice and service overall is great. If only this place were cheaper.

• 

  bibimbap!

  bibimbap!

3/10/2013

Love Eastern Accents! Their baked pork buns are delicious, as are the custard buns, plain buns, cinnamon buns, red bean paste buns, sponge cake... I have yet to try the bibimbap but I plan to do so soon! So sad that they are closing! This is a great little shop with excellent service, and I hope they'll be back at some point.

As for the complaints about price... $2/bun is not that much when only 2 of them fill you up quite nicely.

Also the cinnamon tea is delicious!

6/15/2011

I always enjoy dropping in on Eastern Accents for a weekend meal when I'm in Ann Arbor. The food is good, the help friendly, and the ambiance very pleasant. And how many places in Michigan are there where you can get good Chinese baked goods?

Not everything is great. The BiBimBop barely meets the definition, and with all the good Korean food available in A^2 it's not worth bothering  with. The gazpacho is more like a chopped vegetable salad floating in tomato juice, nothing like the delicious Spanish and French versions. Where's the olive oil? The garlic? And the chocolate croissant is filled not with a proper chocolate ganache, but ... chocolate pudding?

But I'm being picky. Most of the baked goods are really excellent. The pork buns, the tuna bun, the chicken, the tuna bun,  the curried beef, the moon cakes, the egg tarts... all delicious. There's canned soy milk and chrysanthemum tea, either of which makes a great accompaniment to a dim sum lunch. That's why I keep coming back.

5/11/2011

Eastern Accent fills a niche in Ann Arbor, in that it's one of the few places you can get Asian pastries. That being said, they are not *that* good... just okay. The chocolate bun I tried was a little bland, and the pork buns are a bit "off" (I think it's the bread they come in). The Asian-style cakes are light and not too sweet, as they should be. The bibimbop is also tasty. The mochas are usually too sweet.

The service is good though, and anyone I've ever spoken to behind the cash register has been very friendly.

Still waiting on a more authentic Asian bakery though.

11/14/2012

I only go to Eastern Accents for their Bi Bim Bop. I've ordered it 100 times, and I love it every time. It's not a flavor overload like No Thai, but some times Beef, Spinish, Sprouts, Cucumber, and Rice are all the only thing that will satisfy your lunch cravings.

The Bi Bim Bop is all I can speak to,
and it is delicious!
Friendly staff,
nice, clean dining area,
good prices,
nothing too fancy.
They just make great food.
I very much recommend this place.

7/11/2012

First time here n totally impressed!! Loved the Tiramisu in the cup and the Mango Delight. The girl at the register was polite and friendly. Must try, i highly recommend!!!!

• 

  Mango pudding

  Mango pudding
• 

  Tiramisu in d cup!!

  Tiramisu in d cup!!

1/7/2011

Although Eastern Accents is categorized as a bakery, I only come here for lunch.  Actually I think I first came for coffee, on my then mission to hit every coffee shop in Ann Arbor.  I know, I know, a fools quest... I think I must have been young back then.

I first tried the Kim Bop, the sushi roll like things.  I then moved to the light lunches.  Once I found the BiBimBop, however, I really never needed to go anywhere else.  I have eaten an amazing number of meals here.  I think it's the hot sauce for the BiBimBop they got just right.  That and the frying of the shredded beef, everything else is just basic; sprouts, cucumber, spinach and rice.  Somehow the combination is near perfect.  The other dishes are good too but there really isn't another great dish.

The place lacks anything that resembles atmosphere, and not in that "we just don't care" way.  The only thing of possible interest is that you can see into an adjoining business which isn't a business at all, but rather appears to be a landing pad for random ideas.

The staff is great, but I think they have figured out that my constant visits are contributing directly to their bottom line, but that's OK, I'll take nice in any form.

Atmosphere *
Food ****
Service ****
Overall ***

2/6/2010

I think I have tried every bi bim bop in town.

This is one of my favorites. Great hot sauce, good fresh vegetables, tasty beef and consistently really well prepared fried egg with nice lacy crispy edges.

I don't know enough about the bun genre to say if these are authentic, but they sure are tasty!

3/17/2009

Eastern Accents is one of Ann Arbor's best-kept secrets. The cakes, buns, and desserts are great: much lighter than standard European-style bakeries and not nearly so cloyingly sweet.

Most of the dough used for the buns and rolls is a light, buttery dough similar to brioche. This dough is used for both sweet and savory items: custard, lemon, on the sweet side - or roasted/BBQ pork, vegetable, or curried beef on the savory side.

The cakes are very light and have a whipped-cream frosting and choice of fresh-fruit between the layers. I frequently order small cakes for birthday parties and there are never any leftovers.

The lunch menu is small but everything on it is very good/high quality. I love both the beef and the veggie bi-bim-bap - the toppings are very fresh, abundant, and the staff will nicely give you 1/2 rice (white or brown) if you can't eat that much starch at one sitting. It's not traditional/Korean b0bim-bap but it's a great version worthy of a try.
The other stir-fry dishes are quite tasty and don't seem to give me "Chinese-food Coma" the same way some other places can...perhaps EA uses less oil?

Staff are very nice, the place is always spotless, customers are laid-back. Again, this is not a big-city/Chinatown bakery...but for A2 it fits the bill nicely.

6/2/2012

Eastern Accents saves us from driving to Chicago or Toronto for Asian baked goods.  This is something reviewers should consider when they whine about $2 buns.  Think people.  The business costs of paying restaurant workers in big city Chinatowns is NOT the same as in Ann Arbor.  And thank goodness for that!  If people can apply the same thinking around paying more for local or organic goods, then it should work with this small, Asian American, family owned business.  Everything tastes better without exploitation!

The BiBimBop is amongst the best in town.  The sprouts and spinach are made properly, banchan style, not raw and randomly thrown in by hipsters riding some Asian fusion wave.  Any Korean ajuma would be proud to take her kids here and teach them that yes, it's authentic to mix it all up and eat BiBimBop with the long Korean spoon provided.  Folks submitting reviews and delicately eating BiBimBop with chopsticks need to watch more Korean dramas.

Besides the BiBimBop, the biggest win are the steamed buns that are kept in the back so that they won't dry out in the front cases.  Pure magic.  They're freshly made unlike other buns in town, without preservatives or chemical weirdness from the frozen stuff.  Actually, almost everything is made from scratch which is why the baker is there at the crack of dawn.  If Eastern Accents had styled themselves as being artisan or exotic bakers working from century old traditions, then people would be eating their "oriental" food fantasies like there's no tomorrow.  Instead the place is spartan, clean, and focuses on what they do best; making excellent food for excellent prices.

Other winners are the hotdog buns (made with MI-made Koegei hotdogs), red bean buns, curry buns, pork buns, spicy ginger tea, and sponge cakes with fruit between the layers and whipped topping.  In the 1980s my mother brought a birthday cake like this back from a trip to California, carrying it on her lap the entire flight home to Michigan.  I'm so relieved that I don't have to do this for my own children.

Best of all, Eastern Accents has the ever elusive changing table not usually found downtown.  This isn't just a place for foodies to be educated in basic Chinese pastries and Chinese-Korean homestyle dishes.  Eastern Accents is a place for families and community members.  Look around and you'll see professors, local politicians, Mom groups, book clubs, and startup geeks.  You'll also see first, second, even fifth generation Asian American families indulging in an ancient Asian secret that's also common in other cultures; we don't bake, we leave it to the pros.

Full disclosure, I worked here years and years ago as an undergrad.  The number of times I was complimented for my excellent English, asked about my nationality (vs. ethnicity), or bowed to made me think that people come in with really weird expectations.  My favorite question was, "Where's the baklava?"  It's Eastern Accents as in FAR EAST, not MIDDLE EAST.  The Chinese script on the awning should give this away.  This is not Chinatown (do people complain about taco prices at Latino restaurants?), there are no bagels or croissants, and yes, the owners and bakers are Asian.

2/25/2012

I had Malaysian Curry. I'm giving 4 stars only because of the price---$6.75 (after tax, no tips), which is pretty cheap in A2. The ingredients were not too generous (some chunks of potatoes, carrots, some strips of chicken), the curry was somewhat watery and not nearly half as spicy as what you'd get in Malaysia (though this was my bad, I should have asked for extra spicy).
A decent little lunch nonetheless. And for the price, I am happy to give it 4 stars.

On the other hand, I had entered Eastern Accents thinking of buying egg tarts, but I was dismayed to find that they cost $1.75. In any of the big cities (NYC or SF) I don't think they'd possibly cost more than $1 or $1.20, and they are certainly better there. And of course anywhere in Asia it'd be cheaper.

12/9/2012

This is the first place where I can find genuine Asian style birthday cakes! Other than that, they also sell traditional Asian desserts, like egg tarts, sesame balls, moon cakes, etc. Asian desserts are a little bit more delicate than American styles. And I prefer them to the American ones. It's a small store, but definitely has great stuff.

1/21/2013

Poor options for vegetarians. No tofu with bi Bim Bop. Also no kim chi, and the sauce is mediocre. Nice to have brown rice as an option but it is often lumpy. The staff is friendly but isn't empowered for special requests or menu suggestions. Skip this place if you like healthy or vegetarian food.

11/2/2012

Ok so not the fanciest place in town but the only place in main street to get some korean food. Always clean and fresh ingredients. Weird building but this is a wonderful little place. I am gonna go again today. Healthy!

1/31/2010

It seems there is a dearth of places for a quick bite on Main Street-- Quizno's? Jerusalem Garden? Eastern Accents is one of the few (especially since Cafe du Jour closed). I'll often come here to eat lunch then stick around to study for a few hours. It's quiet and there's almost always a place to plug in my laptop. The staff's also very nice.

The BiBimBap is good, as are the other dishes. The prices aren't super cheap, but portions are quite large. I haven't tried many of the baked goods, but I've had some of the savory buns, which are pretty good. I'm curious about the steamed buns, which are also available.

And Eastern Accents is also a good choice to get a cake for a special occasion, especially if you're not a huge fan of frosting or dense cake. Their "Asian style" cakes have fresh fruit, whipped cream and a light fluffy white cake. I happen to think frosting is the best part of cake, but these cakes manage to be pretty delicious without it. This seems to be the consensus-- I've ordered cakes for two big parties and they were a hit both times.

So in summary, I'll always recommend this place for a quick bite or study location, or for special occasion cakes. I only wish they were open in the evening.

8/31/2012

I love this place for their Bi-bim-bop!  We meet here every Thursday lunch for the group A2B3.