AntiHero
231 W. Nine Mile, Ferndale, Michigan
Price: $$
Sunday, Monday & Tuesday: 4pm to 11pm, kitchen open until 10pm
Wednesday & Thursday: 4pm to 12am, kitchen open until 11pm
Friday & Saturday: 4pm to 2am, kitchen open until 12am
https://www.antiheroferndale.com
Downtown Ferndale has a bunch of restaurants and shops back to back on the 9 Mile/Woodward Ave strip. I mean there are a ton of classics like Imperial, Fly Trap, One Eyed Bettys etc. We ran across AntiHero, a Japanese Pub, located in the midst of downtown Ferndale for our weekly date night. When we arrived at restaurant on a Saturday night around 9pm the hostess told us the wait would be about 20/30 minutes and then directed us to a cute waiting area with benches and tables. A waitress brought by a drink menu but before we could take a good look, our table was ready. We were seated at the end of one of the communal tables. AntiHero has long wooden communal tables with wood box seating, bar seating and huge booths in a beautiful wood alcoves. There are branches organized into beautiful light fixtures. There is also a DJ playing music in the background making it a lively hip vibe. We wanted to sit side by side because it was kind of loud with talking and music playing in the background but the waiter said that would mess up their seating chart. I wouldn’t suggest this place as a first date though because it was hard to hear the other person talking.
The menu included noodle dishes, an array of meats you can cook on a hibachi grill, vegan vegetable dishes, cocktails and a long list of sake. I started with a cocktail of course. I prefer dark liquor but because I was at a Japanese place, I wanted to try sake. Low and behold there was a drink that satisfied both! The Nightly Advice includes sake, cognac, lychee, orange, dragon fruit, orchid, raspberry, lime, and yuzu (an asian citrus fruit). It was one of those fruity cocktails that will catch up to you if you aren’t careful lol. It tasted amazing! So great that you’d forget its mixed with sake and cognac. The orchid was super feminine and added to the tropical vibe of the drink.
Nightly Advice
We then ordered a couple of the veggie dishes to share. The Fried Brussels Sprouts were a hodge podge of things that seem to all work together. The brussels sprouts were crispy and the popcorn added some texture to the dish. There was a random chunk of tofu at the bottom of the bowl that threw us off though. The Fingerling potatoes were just that. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The fingerling potatoes were accompanied by a black garlic ketchup to dip them in. Black garlic is always exciting because its such a rare ingredient.
Fried Brussels Sprouts
Fingerling Potatoes
When in Rome, Do what the Romans do! With that said we decided to try to Hibachi. We chose a combination of shrimp and salmon. You could also choose between steak, tuna, mackerel, mushrooms, and okra. The hibachi is priced per piece. In addition to the meat, we were given seasoning and a peanut soy sauce to dip the cooked food in. The waiter gave us instructions on how to use the hibachi grill and we accepted the challenge.
We started with the salmon. It was a little hard to flip because it was sticking to the grill. When we finally took them off, they were nice and crispy. The sauce paired nicely and the seasoning added just the right amount to bring out the natural taste. I wish the pieces were larger though.
We then cooked the shrimp or over cooked the shrimp I should say. I guess it comes with the territory when you are cooking your own food. It was a fun experience though. It’s an activity while you’re out to eat. The shrimp could’ve been larger too.
We don’t usually order dessert because neither one of us has a huge sweet tooth but this particular dessert was interesting. It was a play on PB & J with milk. There was a berry compost and some crunchy fruity pebble texture peanut butter flavored crisps all on top of a panna cotta that played as the milk. I thought it was ice cream at first but it was more of a creamy jello. It was an ode to my childhood.
I loved the vibe at Antihero. I’d definitely return to try the noodle dishes and a sake flight!
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