Melange

5/26/2007

Melange has an excellent menu.  I've tried the scallops, the perch, and the seabass.  All were excellent.  The two dishes I'd steer clear of are the rock beef thing and the squid appetizers.

The rock beef thing is totally gimmicky where they take a hot black stone and heat it up and bring you rare slices of beef to cook on the stone.  It's not horribly tasty and on top of that, your neighboring table will hate you from all of the smoke you create.  The squid tasted fine, but caught me off-guard as I was expecting Italian-style calamari with rings and tentacles lightly battered, but instead got body pieces that almost looked like french fries.

The wine list is excellent and the bar area is hopping on Fridays and Saturday nights with a newly-anointed trend of people wanting to be seen.  This is new in Ann Arbor since we're all used to our Birkenstocks and raggedy jeans.

I was going to write something about the cougars that go to Melange, but Sam put it so well, it's just not necessary.  I ditto his sentiments.  The only thing that keeps the cougars from mauling me is the wedding ring on my finger.

BTW, the only reason I gave this place a four instead of a five is because of a certain bartender there.  All the rest are friendly.  Although others have ranted about the drinks at this place, I'd say, at best, they're average.  The drinks/cocktails/martinis are better elsewhere in Ann Arbor.

2/4/2016

Best sushi in Ann Arbor, with fresh ingredients, unique combinations, and artful creations. The High Roller, with its salmon and almond toppings, is probably one of my all time favorite rolls. This was my first time having almonds on sushi, and I definitely hope it won't be the last. As an Asian fusion restaurant, Melange does an incredible job of bringing together Western and Asian ingredients to create food that is truly one of a kind.

I also tried the duck nachos and loved them as well. The wonton chip that served as a base for the dish was the definition of crisp perfection. The duck and guacamole went together surprisingly well, and everything I ate left me craving more.

The one downside to my experience was the service. During happy hour, the bar side of the restaurant gets pretty busy, but they only had one waiter serving 6 or 7 tables. The poor guy was taking orders, serving food/drinks, delivering checks, and I had to wait longer than usual to get his attention and order. Thankfully, the food still came out relatively quickly and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of my meal and the ambiance.

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  Interior

  Interior
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  Duck nachos

  Duck nachos
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  Burning man on left high roller on right

  Burning man on left high roller on right

11/23/2015

The 3.5 stars is an accurate rating for Melange. I went for the first time in May with a Travelzoo voucher and again a couple nights ago for a friend's birthday dinner. I enjoy going for the ambiance, but the food leaves a lot to be desired, especially when factoring in cost.

When I visited Melange with a Travelzoo voucher, my friend and I ordered duck nachos to share as an appetizer and cream puffs to share for dessert. I chose the braised short ribs as my entree, and I think she had one of the seafood entrees. I enjoyed my dish and didn't have any complaints, but I don't think I'd pay the full price of $28 for it. We paid $39 together for the voucher, and I thought that was great value.

I did love the duck nachos, so I ordered it again when I went over the weekend. For $13, you get about six pieces of fried wontons topped with duck confit, cheese, guacamole, tomato, and Sriracha. I love the flavor combination, and I'd order this dish every time! Some of my friends tried it too, and it was a hit with everyone.

In addition to the duck nachos, I ordered a crunchy spicy tuna roll. For $9, I expected something better than what I got. I liked the crunchy texture, but it completely lacked flavor. A couple of my friends ordered sushi too, and they were also disappointed. Maybe I'll give the sushi rolls another try during happy hour when they offer half off sushi, but I won't be paying full price for their sushi rolls again.

Overall, Melange is okay. The food is mediocre, and it seems like you're paying for the lounge-y, trendy atmosphere.

11/10/2015

I don't like high priced "Asian Fusion," generally it's what we called "leftovers," at home.  I've always found sushi to be better at Japanese restaurants, the best at Japanese restaurants that are trying to be authentically Japanese.  But we didn't choose the place, and half their menu isn't fusion, it's American nouveau cuisine.  Sticking to that side of the menu, which light up by the way, a very nice touch for those of us who are middle aged in vision, the food was quite good.  Parking was problematic on a home football game weekend, but our reservations were honored on time, the hostess and initial wait-service was welcoming, polite, good.  The service declines steeply towards the later side of the evening as the restaurant transitions to a night club.  Considering the adjoining dance club, the noise level isn't outrageous however.
   The main negative is that the food and drinks are slightly overpriced, but the feeling is that the prices are very overpriced by the pricing schemes.  I don't use the word, schemes, lightly here.  There are deceptive hidden up-charges for drinks, even more insulting than the usual nefarious ice/no-ice up-charge.  I had a tack-on "up" charge for getting a vodka martini (with the house featured name brand vodka) in a martini glass.  That's just so insulting.  For dessert, our initially friendly and attentive waiter was both tardy as well as a little tricky.  He offered us a short choice of featured after dinner drinks "on special," so we went with cognacs.  Although we did enjoy them, and they did pair up well with dessert, we were a little shocked to find out on the bill that they were $50 a snifter.  I'm familiar with the cognac, it's $50 a bottle if you catch it on sale, so I think a little warning was in order when we made the order, or better yet, when offering up the specials.  We may still have ordered them, but we wouldn't have been so unpleasantly surprised.  For four of us, we racked up over $400, which given the high quality of the food, I might have been okay with, but the hidden drink up-charges really gave me a feeling of having been deceived.  
   Add to this the decline in service quality towards the end of the meal.  I do understand that there's a declining amount of energy on a Saturday night, so I'm not going to say that the waiter was terrible, but there is a pattern for the whole staff.  Ironically, we were talking about the new security measures for many credit cards, on the way up here we all had problems with our hotel check-ins.  Suddenly, in order to stay a step ahead of increasingly tech savvy thieves, the default for banks is to initially decline credit when the cards are billed out of state.  The relatively simple solution is to whip out the smart phone and call up the toll free number to verify identity, but we haven't established that habit yet, so when confronted with a hotel or car rental clerk, or a waiter who gives one's card back saying sternly "your card was declined," with a vaguely accusatory look, the initial reaction is puzzled shame.  We were already a little taken aback by the amount of the bill, but tried to cover by quickly producing credit cards, and the waiter came back acting like this never happens because most of their customers are decent people who pay their bills.  We quickly realized what we had forgotten to do, call up and tell our banks we were out of town, so eventually a card was produced that was accepted, the whole time the waiter acted as if this just never happens.  And yet, the same thing happened at two neighboring tables at about the same time, with the same judgmental response from those waitresses.   How hard would it be to see the pattern and helpfully suggest that customers from out of town call up the toll free number and get payment cleared for travel?

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  The menu lights up.

  The menu lights up.

2/11/2016

I ate here about 10 years ago and remembered it being good. A decade ago, I had less money and probably ordered an appetizer. Recently (January 2016) ate here again and had the duck. It was divinely tender! I always expect to be let down when ordering something that would probably taste better at home or in NYC. This duck did not let me me down. Crispy skin too!  The only thing I did not enjoy was the blueberry sauce. Sure it's "different", like the ridiculous flavored crime brûlée fad of recent years that a few restaurants partook in, doing something to be trendy and different is immature, if the taste isn't complementary. Blueberry sauce does not pair well with duck. Also the blueberry sauce ended up all over my delicious green been a in my doggy bag. Blueberry green beans is the stuff of nightmares!  Still, I would ask for no sauce next time. They definitely know how to cook here!

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  Clean and romantic. Hard to get ambiance correct in a photo

  Clean and romantic. Hard to get ambiance correct in a photo

10/14/2015

I love this place. Truly a very nice classy spot for dining, drinking, or even dancing!

When you make it down the stairs there is a long awesome lit bar to your left, and the dining section to your right.
Its a great place to come with a date for some late night drinks and fun!
you can enjoy premium spirit cocktails, choose from there selection of beers, or enjoy some of Napa Valley's finest from their enormous wine collection!
After a drink , why not try your moves on their dance floor. Its a little small, but its set up very well.
Once you're tired from dancing and maybe need some time to sit and relax and just chat, the dining section is always open and you can relax at a nice table (away from the loud music) and talk the night away.

This is my go to spot for a date that just wants to go to a bar, it should be yours too!

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  The bar, yes there is a movie on ( a good one too).

  The bar, yes there is a movie on ( a good one too).
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  The exterior

  The exterior

9/26/2015

I visited this place for drinks because they have a decent size bar area for a large group.  There were 3 folks behind the bar and maybe 25 people around the bar the evening I visited.  The place is in the basement of a building and had a decent decor.

Like the other reviews, the service here is poor.  The bar staff could be friendlier and pay attention to customers looking to order a drink.  They appeared to be working (getting drink, stocking the bar), but you can tell it was just a job to them. A smile goes a long way.  The crafted cocktails were great; if you look past the service this place does have potential.

10/3/2015

One of the hipster places in A2, particularly for a Tuesday night.
Food and service were excellent. I highly recommend the Barrimundi.
Nice ambience and a good selection of beers & liquors. I plan to visit as often as the wallet will allow.

1/23/2016

Great drinks and sushi! Duck nachos and the soups/salads are a must. Great for a fun night out or birthday dinner.

11/10/2015

The restaurant was packed of parents and University of Michigan students. They were not taking any other reservations even 2 weeks before! The sushi I ordered was superb, I also shared two different t salads and my entree was a risotto with fungi. It was really good and tasty. For desert we shared a crepe brûlée and a coffee sorbet that was good, nothing impressive. The service was ok, considering how busy they were. I belive max capacity!

2/8/2016

I went to their New Years Eve party and honestly, I'm still upset in February about my service. We reserved a large table and paid extra for the event. Our server was irritated he had to work on NYE and had a bad attitude the whole night. My table ordered 4 bottles of wine and food when we arrived, at least an hour before midnight. Our server comes to our table and says they can't find the bottles we ordered with 15 minutes until midnight. How can you "not find" bottles of wine? Then he comes back, 5 minutes until midnight, no bottles of wine in hand, and says they're out. It's NYE and you're out of wine? That's lack of preparedness and poor service. You don't leave a table for over an hour without drinks, then make us order something else without some kind of an apology or discount. Later on, our server let us know he had been drinking in the back with the other servers. That's probably where all of the wine went.

The sushi was mediocre. There are  places much better in Taylor, MI, for a lot less.

Also, at the beginning of the night, we asked to have our checks split and the server said no problem. At end of the night, our server brought out one bill and refused to split it. I asked a different worker if he was the manager (he was actually a bouncer) because I would like to talk to him about some issues we had been having. He said no and rudely pushed me aside to stop a girl from using the men's restroom. Never came back to help me or find me the manager.

One of the people in our party had to calculate each of our bills and have someone else reprint the correct bills. Next day, come to find out, the tips had been changed and increased by a few dollars on each of our bills. That's illegal. We had poor service and I still left the server a 15% tip (even though he deserved no tip) and it had been changed to around 18% tip.

I have never had such horrible service in all of my life. Horrible management, horrible servers, horrible food, extremely unorganized and incompetent.. I would NEVER recommend this place to anyone!

6/10/2015

If you enjoy TGiRedRubyChiliBee's, Melange is way better. Don't be put off by the names of the dishes,  you'll love it. Just order, drink, eat, repeat.

If you don't frequent the TGiRedRubyChiliBee's because you feel it beneath your culinary prowess,  Melange will not impress you.

10/13/2015

Went here on 10/12/15 and the food was incredible. It was appropriate for the price. The environment was downlit, romantic and tasteful. The duck nachos were savory and elegantly displayed. We had sushi and scallops and both were prepared expertly. The wine paired well, and was one of the more inexpensive at $40/bottle. The chocolate mousse was a perfect blend of not too sweet cinnamon cake with a layer of mousse in between. It was, in short, a perfect dinner date. We were there on a Monday, which was very quiet, but I personally prefer quiet over too many people chatting or obtrusive music.

5/21/2015

This place is horrible.

Service was horrible. Took one hour with an empty restaurant to get us a few rolls of sushi.
I feel sick to my stomach after eating their food.

I told the I was allergic to Tobiko and they still served us a rol with that on their.

5/21/2015

Drinks are ok, nothing special. DO NOT eat here, however. I've been here for several drug company sponsored dinners and every time someone in our group gets violently ill. this most recent time I had the salad, which was actually pretty good... Until I spent the rest of the night vomiting and completely miserable. Have a friend who worked in the kitchens and he swore to never eat there. Now I know why.

So... Moral of the story - if you want to drink and dance, it's a fun place. Just avoid the food. Trust me.

3/18/2015

Went on Tuesday night and was shocked to get our bill for two people had an 18% tip already added to it. When I took issue with this I was told "its normal" for restaurants to do this.
I've never been to a place that includes gratuity for a party of less than six.

1/27/2016

I would give Melange a 3-3.5. I had the duck, which was OK. For the price I paid, I expected a better meal than I got. It was still good, but it wasn't the best I have ever had either. The service was OK too. Compared to other restaurants in the area, it's hard to compete. Overall, this place was OK.

10/19/2014

I've been here several times. I love the half circle booths for a romantic date. The sushi is pretty good too. The drinks here are yummy. This place is good for a mid twenties crowd on a Saturday night at 1am, the music was fun and the bartender was amazing! However, during the week and earlier in the night it's suitable for an older crowd as well. The bathrooms are clean. I love the red carpet throughout. Just be careful on the stairs on the way down because this place is located in the basement. Definitely an AA gem!

10/18/2015

Went to Melange on a date night and realized it's not so great for the occasion. I mean it's fine but nothing special. I am a big sushi fan and I must say sushi here was pretty good. They have good selection of cocktails. Our waitress was not so nice to us. I would rate this place 3.5/5.

1/6/2014 Updated review

Made reservations at 7pm for dinner. It was busy and we didn't have a very private table but service, atmosphere, and food were all perfect.  They didn't stick us at a tiny two top so we had some room to be comfortable.

Skipped the alcohol, as the NYE party would have plenty.  Enjoyed the crab stuffed lobster tail special. So good. You always take a chance with seafood being overcooked especially when they are busy, but this was done to perfection.  Hubs had pork loin with parm polenta. He loved it.  Also impressive was the potato bisque starter with bacon jam and chili oil drizzle.

This has always been my go to place for happy hour, but will be in our top five for dinner out from now on.

10/31/2013

Melange may pass as a decent restaurant to an innocent diner, but to people who have had authentic Chinese and French cuisine, Melange offers what is an embarrassment to "Asian fusion."

River Rock: for $11, you get six paper thin slices of meat. Perhaps 1/2 oz each slice. You are supposed to grill the meat to doneness of your liking on the rock. The ginger ponzu dipping sauce tasted neither like ginger nor ponzu. Adding soy sauce to a dish does not make it Asian fusion. For the same price, if you want more food, and a rock that is more functional, get a stone bowl bibimbap (somewhere else).

Also, those beet shavings - don't put it on the plate if it's not something I can eat. The flower (orchid?) is fine because I'm smart enough not to eat a flower.

Curry coconut: On paper, this is a great idea - you get the spiciness and saltiness of the curry, and the sweetness, depth, and solid body of coconut. On plate, however, I cannot get over how bad this tasted. Not sure what went wrong in the execution. Better yet, not sure what went right in the execution here.

Service and décor are great though.

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  Thai Pasta

  Thai Pasta
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  The river rock. For $11, you get six slices of paper thin meat.

  The river rock. For $11, you get six slices of paper thin meat.
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