The Apparatus Room

Reviews

• Tim H.

  star star star star star 18 June 2026

  I went for an anniversary meal and it was a special experience. The restaurant on the first floor of a newly-opened boutique hotel entirely sets the mood. As you can view from the Yelp photos, the hanging lights and open-industrial chic vibe absolutely works for this place. But as cool as the space was, the food was even better.
  
  The B-Side cocktail was superbly made and perfectly started the evening.
  
  The Crispy Fried Cauliflower was a standout and a strong way to start the meal and well worth the hype.
  
  We also got the gnocchi & shrimp, which was fantastic, and the hanger steak was great as well.
  
  Every dish was delicious and the bill with tip came to $140 -- but it was a special night and well worth it. I haven't been to many restaurants in Detroit, but I would highly recommend this place as a nice night out in the city.

• Lea Q.

  star star star star star 16 June 2026

  Wow! How many ways can I say AMAZING!
  
  I was expecting a great meal but what I got was far beyond that.
  
  Deviled eggs - what a wonderfully unique combo of flavors and you get so many of them!
  
  Braised short ribs - this was a fabulous dish! I haven't had such a good entree in a while. Everything on my plate paired perfectly together
  
  Peach crumble with coffee - umm yum! I knew after the short rib anything I ate was going to be good so I just asked the waiter to recommend a dessert
  
  I'll definitely be coming back here!

• Ann W.

  star star star star star 2 June 2026

  Located near Cobo at the Foundation Hotel, the Apparatus Room is a spectacular space that showcases equally spectacular food. We met up with earlier reservations than I would have liked because I was late booking our table but this turned out to be in our favor, allowing us a long evening of food and talk. My friends waited for me in the eye-catching bar area and enjoyed their creative cocktail combinations as I got caught up in event traffic. The restaurant kindly pushed back our reservation to accommodate my late arrival.
  
  The bar area is illuminated with hundreds of light fixtures and glass bulbs. You've probably seen them in countless photos of the restaurant but let me tell you that it is memorable, nonetheless. This oval bar separates the more casual bar/lounge area from the dining.
  
  I loved the comfortable seating: upholstered benches with big fluffy pillows that accommodate four easily and six snugly. Also, the tables were large and perfect for the numerous dishes we ended up ordering and sharing. The sense of space was magnified by the very high ceilings, subway-tiled columns that emphasized the height, and open kitchen. I loved the overall aesthetics. While our table was closely spaced to our neighbors, we never felt a loss of privacy or a sense of being closed in.
  
  Our server was fantastic. He explained the tasting menu and gave us guidance on the main one. We made the right choice and went with the à la carte menu, allowing us the ability to choose what we wanted but also sample numerous dishes. It was a brilliant plan. Similar to other higher-end restaurants, we placed our complete order (other than dessert) to allow the kitchen to set the pace for the meal.
  
  We ordered both the whitefish spread with grilled and buttered wheat bread and the chicken liver gougères. Both were fantastic. The wheat bread was hearty, nutty and flavorful. I loved it. The small dish of chunky whitefish was delicious. The gougères were piped with a velvety-smooth, savory chicken liver mousse. The overall richness was offset by kumquat mostarda. Other starters that sounded appealing and that I would return for included the lobster/shrimp deviled eggs, oysters, and tartine.
  
  For the main course, I had the tender short ribs that were cooked in a carrot and coconut purée and served with ramps, root vegetables, lima beans, and peas. The purée was slightly sweet and spicy, perfect for the overall richness of the dish.
  
  One friend had the tender bone-in pork chop, served with agrodolci sauce. Another friend had the coffee-rubbed filet, cooked medium rare, and was impossibly tender. Both friends generously shared bites of their dishes so that we could get a better sense of what the restaurant offers. I would return for both of these dishes, as well as the fried chicken, trout, and risotto that I saw on the menu. Yum! The fried sweet potatoes were sublime. The caramelized cubes were so tasty. I also liked the charred Brussels sprouts, which I find impossible to resist whenever I see them on the menu.
  
  I was equally impressed by the desserts here. We each decided to order different ones: rhubarb, sticky toffee pudding (date cake) and chocolate cake. The rhubarb was served with shortbread crumbles, ice cream, and roasted white chocolate panna cotta. The date cake came with ice cream and caramelized pineapple. This dessert was also incredible. Secretly, I liked this one the most. That is not to say that I did not like my dessert. I liked the Bolivian chocolate cake with blood orange sorbet and chewy sesame bites. I think the latter elevated the dessert.
  
  Service was fantastic. From the hostess at the front to the numerous people attending to our table, we were very well taken care of. So far, this has been one of the best restaurants visited in 2019; Flowers of Vietnam was the other. Apparatus Room reaffirms my love of trying new places.
  
  Parking is readily available in two nearby lots, as well as a much larger parking structure on Larned and Griswold.

• Adam P.

  star star star star star_border 26 May 2026

  Wonderful ambiance, fantastic service staff, comfy seating, not too load and not too quiet... not much can go wrong at the Apparatus Room.  Our server Jodi (sp.?) was an absolute pleasure with a subtle presence and an elegance about her as she navigated our complex and rambunctious group.
  
  The menu had a decent variety and for the most part execution was on point.  The burrata appetizer was probably the only disappointing experience with pathetic portions and a fresh burrata that was just a little too runny and with the incorrect combination of fruit garnish.  Now I might be a burrata snob so take this with a grain of salt but I found it borderline offensive.  
  
  The mains were delicious, our table experiences the salmon (could have had a slightly wider cut), the scallops (deliciously prepared, just wished there was an alternative option to the creamed corn; (and the popcorn garnish while novel, I felt deterred it from the essence of the dish), the pork chop (which looked beautiful) and the short rib (which was absolutely the most delectable dish of our evening but why garnish it with sauce??).
  
  The deserts were wonderful and the wine selection was fantastic.  I will return to experience more of the delicious things happening here!  Cheers!

• Michelle S.

  star star star star_border star_border 22 May 2026

  I've been wanting to come here for so long; today a colleague and I came for lunch. The lunch menu is limited; but with a little something delectable for everyone.  I am stuck between 3 and 4 stars...I feel like it should be 3.5, and I just can't go 4 stars right now. I'll need to go back at some point.
  
  5 stars for the atmosphere and for our server, Vanessa. She was attentive, she brought refills before being asked and she answered our questions while making some recommendations.
  
  The coleslaw was pretty bland. The description "tart apple, mustard dressing" was intriguing to me. I was really disappointed. I couldn't taste the tart apple or any mustard. Even after adding salt and pepper it was bland. This is a hard pass for next time.
  
  The Shrimp roll BLT was fairly small compared to a few other sandwiches I saw. It has good flavor though the bacon was very limited and it was a little heavy in the onion for my preference. The accompanying chips were nothing to write home about, fairly bland (especially if they were supposed to be vadouvan curry) and a few chips were greasy. All in all, this dish sounded better on the menu than it was in reality. The shrink was fresh, so a big plus for that!
  
  The Maurice salad was delicious. The ingredients were fresh and with the ingredients being chopped, every bite was the perfect bite.
  
  The French fries were delicious and had a generous amount of Parmesan and garlic. The dill dipping sauce took these over the top!
  
  There were enough "yes's" that I'll go back for dinner and will write an update when that happens.