The Ann Arbor News Spotlight – Thursday, August 4, 2005

By:  Will Stewart

NORTHFIELD ROADHOUSE:  THE REAL DEAL

Authenticity – and delicious food – is the rule at this out-of-town destination.

When a restaurant’s ambience is a perfect match for the food it serves, the combination strikes such a harmonious chord that it tends to make the food taste better and the atmosphere feel more appropriate.

Having said that, you wouldn’t want to eat crepes or braised lamb shanks at the Northfield Roadhouse; they would hardly complement the loud and gritty blues coming through the PA or imbue the torn seat covers on the booths with a continental flair.

But put a Lightnin’ Hopkins CD on the stereo (or international blues star Michael Katon live on stage) and there isn’t a better setting to enjoy the Roadhouse’s self-styled “Southern soul picnic” food.

We settled in at the Roadhouse on a quiet Monday night- when the blues comes courtesy of the stereo rather than from live bands – for what turned out to be one of the most authentic southern feasts we’ve enjoyed north of the Mason-Dixon line.

There’s nothing fancy about the Roadhouse, and that extends to the menu, which comes printed on one side of a single sheet of plain paper slid into a plastic sleeve.  But what it lacks in presentation and variety, it more than makes up for in content.

In keeping with the Roadhouse’s lack of pretense, our friendly server slid onto a seat at our booth to take our order, freely recommending sides and frankly steering us away from certain dishes in favor of others.

We started with a gumbo that, instead of overpowering with spiciness, relied on spoonful after spoonful of flavorful baby shrimp, sausage and okra for its flavors.  The brown broth was somewhat lacking in substance but overcame this lack of roux with a bold flavor and a generous portion of tender rice at the bottom of the bowl.

On our server’s suggestion, we passed over fried shrimp in favor of the fried-catfish appetizer.  It far exceeded our expectations, thanks in part to a golden brown batter that proved the perfect crunchy counterpoint to the moist, tender strips of catfish.  Catfish doesn’t need a lot of help to taste good, but (again at our server’s suggestion) the Roadhouse’s own house sauce- Gorgonzola cheese stirred into ranch dressing – proved the perfect alternative to tartar sauce.

The catfish alone makes it worth the short drive to North territorial Road, where the Roadhouse-and it’s most definitely worthy of its title-looms over US-23.

Lots of restaurants serve po’boys, but it seems the concept of a simple sandwich served on French bread (preferably day old, in order to make the affordable to the “poor boys” that are their namesake) is lost on most chefs, who try to make them into something fancy or innovative.

Here the po’boy is a real po’boy.  The fried-shrimp version that we tried came overloaded with huge shrimp, fried to a golden brown but still tender inside, lettuce and a tangy, delicious pico de gallo sauce that was a perfect counterpoint to the shrimp.

A few quibble:  We’d love the baguette to boast a little more crustiness, while we found a generous sprinkle of Tabasco provided the level of heat necessary to raise the sandwich to its Big Easy origins. 

It’s hard to find fault, however, with the Roadhouse’s ribs, unless you consider that they tasted far, far better than their initial appearance suggested.  While the full slab was large enough to dangle over each end of the plate on which it was served, the ribs looked as thought they had been burnt to a crisp.

But when we tried to cut into them, we found the meat falling away from the bone in juicy hunks that belied any suggestion that they had been left over the coals too long.

Likewise, the first bite exploded with flavor, while the crispy outer crust provided just enough crunch and chewiness to hold the flavor on the palate.

We ate the entire plate.

Barbecue at the Roadhouse – the kitchen also serves a slow roasted half-chicken dinner – comes in hot, mild and sweet varieties.  We enjoyed the hot sauce, but felt it would have benefited from even more spice in order to live up to its name.

No rib dinner is complete without side dishes, and we found the Roadhouse’s collard greens to be the best of the bunch.  Salty and slightly bitter, they came slow cooked, melt-in-your-mouth tender and heaped onto a plate.  Red beans and rice, however were pedestrian at best and lacked any semblance of character, let alone soul.  We’d try the succotash next time, instead.

Food like this enjoys musical accompaniment, and there’s no shortage off that here.  Friday and Saturday nights are reserved for live blues bands, while head cook Chef Chris and his acclaimed Nairobi Trio play every Sunday afternoon.  Wednesday nights Katon, when he isn’t on tour overseas, hosts a lively open stage that attracts not only the area’s best blues musicians, but also a packed house of locals and bikers.

There’s nothing fancy about the Northfield Roadhouse, but that’s just the way it should be.

RESTAURANT REVIEW – Northfield Roadhouse

Good food and good blues are what the Northfield Roadhouse is all about.  The restaurant’s gritty music and unpolished atmosphere are a perfect complement to its menu, which provides a survey of southern classics, including ribs, fired fish and down-home side dishes.

The bottom line…..The Northfield Roadhouse doesn’t try to be an authentic blues honky-tonk.  It just is.