12.30.2012
Cassidy's Golden Pine -
HinckleyPatty Melt
Do you know Tobie's? Off the Hinckley exit on 35W north of the cities? You've probably stopped there at some point for some disappointing cinnamon rolls and microwaved meatloaf, along with thousands of other hypnotized drivers taken in by its pull, on their way to the casino. Kind of like Emma Krumbee's down south, it's Frankensteined itself from a bakery breakfast joint into some sort of Road Trip Breakfast Industrial Complex. It's a no good. Well, off that same exit, just on the other side of the highway (away from the casino instead of towards it), perfectly juxtaposed, sits Cassidy's Restaurant. Built somewhere around the time Don Draper was taking Megan on that fateful trip to Howard Johnson's, Cassidy's has barely changed. I mean, the carpet and some furnishings are a little early-90s frumpy, but the shell of the place is very HoJo. But unlike Tobie's it hasn't been Frankensteined or marketed to death. And unlike Tobie's, my god the food was actually pretty good! I ordered a patty melt, which I find to be the go-to menu item at shabby diners and family restaurants that you aren't so sure about. It was great! And the fries... the fries. Seriously some of the best fries I've had in months. Totally homemade. Hand cut. Perfectly fried. I was expecting shitty crinkle-cut frozen things, but I got fries with soul, man! Libby had their (classic!) salad bar and chicken spaetzle soup. The salad bar also included a hot bar with baked spaghetti and some other random stuff, along with some surprisingly good bread pudding. Although at that point I had been impressed enough with the burger and fries that it wasn't that surprising. Add to that a drink menu that includes Brandy Alexanders and Peppermint Patties and a number of other vintage (but non-ironic!) drinks that Don Draper's mistress might order, and you've got yourself a fascinating, and better-than-bad, roadside stop.
12.20.2012
World Street Kitchen -
Uptown MinneapolisMoroccan chicken sandwich
I didn't know this place was a place, or that it has only been a place for a coulpe weeks, but apparently it's a place. The story as far as I've gathered (which could be wrong) is that a guy from Saffron opened up a food truck a year or two ago called World Street Kitchen, which served sort of funky fusion takes on world street food. And now, as the trend seems to dictate, he's opened up this new space, on the street facing ground floor of some big dumb Lyndale Ave. condo complex, acting as a brick-and-mortar version of the truck. They serve funky fusion takes on world street food. Of course. To be honest, the place kinda made me sad; it's big and Urban and Cool and very fussed over, a sum of a collection of far-too-familiar tropes (Cement floor! Blocky wood tables! Antique channel letters on the wall! Korean burritos!). There's a whole other discussion to be had here about the suburbanization of Uptown, or the urbanization of suburbia (topic: Why does an independently-owned world street food restaurant on Lyndale Avenue feel so damn calculated?). But I won't argue with the food, which was satisfying at the very least. I wish the Moroccan chicken would've been more Moroccan, as it was super lemony and acidic, but I got some small chickpea and potato Indian-type side dish which was very nice. All in all, yeah, I can whine all day about what I might see as pandering to some audience or another, but I liked the food, and I'll probably go back.
12.16.2012
Steve's Favorite Food of 2012 -
South MinneapolisA List
A CAREFULLY CONSIDERED, DEFINITIVELY DEFINED TOP TEN LIST OF THE BEST THINGS I ATE (OR REMEMBER EATING) THIS YEAR:
1. Red Rooster (Manhattan) - Swedish meatballs
2. Victory 44 (North Minneapolis) - "The Perfect Burger"
3. Sen Yai Sen Lek (Northeast) - Pad bai gra pow
4. Clancey's Meat & Fish (Linden Hills) - Roast beef sandwich
5. Travail (Robbinsdale) - Tasting menu
6. Kramarczuk's (Northeast) - Moroccan lamb sausages
7. Aida (Richfield) - Chicken shawarma
8. Krung Thep (Eat Street) - Everything
9. Peel's (Manhattan) - Fried chicken sandwich
10. Smashburger (ugh, I know!) - Fried chicken sandwich
12.16.2012
D&L Taco Gringo -
ClearwaterBurrito
I left D&L Taco Gringo satisfied. No real complaints. The prices were fair. The portions were plenty. But I couldn't help but feel that the nice people behind this establishment created their recipes based on the vague memories of the one time they ate Mexican food 20 years ago.
12.05.2012
The Bachelor Farmer -
Downtown MinneapolisGrilled venison
It has all led to this, hasn't it? This Bachelor Farmer place has built up more hype and goodwill than any restaurant I can remember opening in the (relatively few) years I've been paying attention to such things. New York Times articles, visits from the goddamn President. And just a general sense I've had that people, starting this summer, have been sizing each other up in secret by asking them whether or not they have, or have not, yet been to the Bachelor Farmer (it has a secret bar, The Marvel Bar, in its basement, you know. I'm sure you've been there, of course!). Well up until today (my birthday), I was one of the Have Not Beens. But now I have. Been. And I get what all the hype is about. But I also don't. Based on the food we had tonight (rutabaga apple soup, beef tartare, grilled venison with parsnips, riced potatoes, some kinda Scandinavian fish called "walleye"), I'm impressed for sure, but not any more impressed than I've been with a large handful of other "good" Minneapolis restaurants. Heartland, 112, the Craftsman, Victory 44, Red Stag, Alma, the list goes on. Trust me, it was as good as most of those places, but certainly no better. So why the epic poems and ticker tape parades? I don't know. But I can tell you that, beyond the food, it is a very pleasant dining experience. The decor is all cool and design bloggy and wareshouse districty, and very nice. The service was better than a lot of other places, in that the wait staff was very low-key, yet entirely attentive and helpful (you never felt like you were invading their turf, which is a feeling I get way too often at some joints). So, I don't know. It's great. It's expensive. It's doing nearly everything right. But there's no need for anyone to get their trosor in a knut.
12.04.2012
Masu -
Northeast MinneapolisCurry udon
Did you know that funky new sushi place at the MOA has another location? It does! In Nordeast. (That's what you call northeast Minneapolis if you're ITK [In The Know]). Anyway. Enough of that. Point is, we had nice night with friends at the Northeast Masu (which I only call "The Northeast Masu" because I happened to go to the MOA one first. Which makes me totally square, but whatever) this weekend. I think their sushi is pretty darn good. And I finally tried a noodle dish there: the curry udon. Great flavors, just maybe too much of them. After about 6 bites I hit the wall. I think maybe it would be better as a little side dish, or maybe as a big sharing dish between everybody. Still, it was good. The place was a bit of a scene, though. You're better off at the MOA location where the quality is equal, but you're not waiting for a half hour and surrounded by young professionals and condo dwellers.
12.03.2012
Broder's Cucina -
South MinneapolisSpaghetti
I hear Broder's Cucina is expanding into another space across the street. Don't they know I like it just how it is? How dare they.
11.25.2012
The Lynn -
South MinneapolisFrench toast
The group consensus on brunch at The Lynn (which I will not be calling The Lynn on Bryant, thankyouverymuch), the new Brooklyny, earthy, hipstery, subway-tiley cafe to occupy what once was a burnt out husk of Patina and Heidi's (or rather the space next to that), is that it's good. It's good. Right? But too salty. Particularly the hash brown cakes. And the bacon steak, which I'll be damned actually is a bacon steak, is borderline criminal. If you ever meet someone who can eat the entire thing: do not trust that person. There is something wrong with them.
11.20.2012
Bradstreet Crafthouse -
Downtown MinneapolisChicken and waffle sandwich
This is totally unfair to write anything about Bradstreet Crafthouse, considering all I ate was a single (a la carte small plate) fried chicken and waffle sandwich, and technically wasn't even in the Bradstreet Crafthouse. Instead, we were upstairs at Cosmos Ultraswinglounge (or so I assume it's called), because Bradstreet itself was too busy to get a seat after Saturday night's (awesome) Aimee Mann concert. (Parentheses). But the point is, here's this chicken and waffle sandwich with maple glazed bacon on their late night small plate menu, and who do you think I am? Of course I'm ordering that. It gets 5 stars for simply existing, but it let me down. Too dry, too coarse, too dense, not enough maple, you name it. So as of right now, Uptown Cafeteria still holds the title of Best Chicken And Waffle Anything In the Cities, and I don't need to go to Bradstreet Crafthouse anytime soon.
11.19.2012
Indochin -
St. PaulNoodle salad
There's a Vietnamese restaurant in St. Paul, over by Macalaster. It's called Indochin. They're open until 9:00 every day except Wednesday. They serve Vietnamese food, did I mention that? You could eat there if you chose to do so.
11.16.2012
Hell's Kitchen -
Downtown MinneapolisPulled pork
The title up there says this is a review of Hell's Kitchen. It's not, though. Although I did eat there the other night, I mostly wanted to use this venue to whine about something that was running through my mind on the night where I eventually ended up eating at Hell's Kitchen, which is still tasty, despite their underwhelming non-brunch menu. Oops, that was a review. But really I wanted to go to the hot new food hole The Butcher & The Boar, and had to abort after finding that the bar was full, and the place was way too fancy-pants for me to be sitting there in my dirty hoodie reading a book and drinking ice water. I looked at their menu, though, and unsurprisingly (for a place called "The Butcher & The Boar"), it was full of succulent sounding slow cooked meats and sausages. Low-brow, hearty, meaty Man Food run through some artisanal-Brooklyny-Anthropologie-bearded whatever. Great, right? But it hit me: It seems like every restaurant that's been opening lately has been part of this same continuum. Smokehouses, gastro pubs. Low brow American made high brow. All with the same $15-20 price point, small plates, craft beers, old timey logos. It's aaaaall great. But where do we draw the line? At what point does it all just become the same restaurant? Funny that after I had this debate with myself, I ended up at Hell's Kitchen, which was kind of one of the first places in town to go into the deep end (they have sausage bread for god's sake!). And I enjoyed it. All I'm saying is I could stand to see an interesting new Chinese place open every now and then.
11.13.2012
Tiffany's -
St. PaulAsian chicken sandwich
I still swear that, crazy as it sounds and unlikely as it may be, Tiffany's food is really good! Seriously! But goddammit, in a rush to try to upgrade themselves into a slightly more fancy-pants yup-bar (I just made that up. What do you think?), they just got rid of the one thing I'd always order there, their southwest chicken sandwich. Huge bummer. But I've tried a couple other things there in the last few months, and it's all way better than it has any right to be. Plus they have Pat Lafrieda burgers, and their chili (which is great!) comes in a square bowl. Total fancy-pants. I'm guessing they'll have homemade ketchup by this time next year.
11.02.2012
Chris & Rob's -
South MinneapolisTater tots
Chris & Rob's has started putting generic ketchup inside of Heinz ketchup bottles. THIS CAN NOT BE TOLERATED!
10.28.2012
Rusty Taco -
Northeast MinneapolisTacos
Rusty Taco is a chain. But considering there's no circle-R on their logo, you can tell they're not too big of a chain (or I guess you could just look at their website). Yet. Fingers crossed. And their tacos are pretty good. Not great, but worth trying. I think the ground beef was my favorite (which is sort of sad to think about, considering they also have pretty good carnitas, roasted beef, and fried chicken. THere's something so Taco Bell about ground beef. But they're legit. Don't worry).
10.23.2012
DeGidio's -
St. PaulSpaghetti
I've somehow never noticed this place before, even though it's a very large Italian restaurant and bar a little ways down from downtown St. Paul on West 7th. Nothing about it is cool, or hip, or neat or historic (even though they've been around since 1933), but they serve big plates of no-nonsense red sauce Italian. Like, spaghetti and meatballs. Cheese ravioli. That sort of thing. It's pretty similar to Yarusso Brothers (another big dumb St. Paul red sauce place that's been around since the 30s), but a bit bigger, a bit fancier, and just a little less interesting. But whatever. I like it. Sure, the Al Ventos and La Grassas of the world are great, but sometimes it's nice just to sit down in a booth with a football game on the TV and eat some big, fat, dumb plate of sugary tomato meat.
10.14.2012
East Corner Wonton -
ManhattanRoast duck and pork on white rice
"We should go check out Chinatown and get some lunch," said a particularly unimaginative part of my brain. And so we did. And it was quite a sight. Like, it was like China. And I'm only being half sarcastic; New York's Chinatown is quite a scene. Even more so than San Francisco's. Very few English signs. Banks I've never heard of (good luck finding an ATM). A different world, man. I'm mildly embarrassed that when I saw some people exchange money for something on a corner, I was actually surprised it was U.S. currency. Even more surprised when I caught a glimpse of myself in one of the mirrored walls at East Corner Wonton, shocked to see that, "Wow, I forgot I'm a white guy!" This was after only about 30 minutes. Anyway. We chose this place, of all the hundreds of similar Chinatown restaurants, because the Village Voice named their roast duck and pork on white rice dish to be the best dish in Chinatown, and I'm a sucker for hype. The duck was too fatty and boney for me, although the skin had a great flavor. But that roast pork was incredible! It was like what roast pork at every other shitty Chinese place is trying to do. I didn't even care that it was cold. Plus the whole plate was only $5, and the service was awful to us, and the Chinese patrons, so we didn't feel too bad about it.
10.13.2012
Roberta's -
BrooklynFennel sausage pizza
There's a restaurant in Brooklyn with no windows and no signs and they have their own radio station and a secret garden on the roof, where the bartender looks like Morrissey and you have to wait two hours to get a table. Well, there's actually probably a handful of those. At least one other one on the same block, I'd bet. But this one is Roberta's, and it's the shit and their fennel sausage pizza is pretty great.
10.13.2012
Duino Duende -
BurlingtonPoutine, Japanese noodles
Duino Duende—actually it's called ¡Duino! (duende), but I refuse to type it that way on the same grounds that I refuse to call Tune Yards "tUnE-yArDs" or whatever the hell—is a "international street food" joint in the "cool" part of Burlington, Vermont. Really, the entirety of downtown Burlington could be considered the "cool" part, if you consider Phish tee shirts and organic bakeries to be cool, but if you prefer guttery half-punk burnouts performing unimaginably bad poetry to mediocre free jazz, this is the place for you. Anyway. There's actually a lot I have to say on the subject of Burlinton, but most interesting is how it's only an hour or two away from Montreal, and you pick up French language public radio, you can watch Canadian football on TV, and best of all: poutine! Not just any poutine, but hipster poutine! Sweet potato fries, tangy gravy, good cheese. Easily the best poutine I've ever had. Although every other poutine I've had has been pretty nasty, so it didn't take much.
10.11.2012
Red Rooster -
HarlemSwedish meatballs
So Marcus Sammuelson is a celebrity chef. I know this because we saw him competing on a TV celebrity chef competition. He kicked everyone's butt, and his food looked amazing. Turns out that he's the man behind Red Rooster, which I guess has been a bit of a hot spot, in the sense that I'd heard of it before seeing the guy on TV. So even though our New York trip was done mostly off-the-cuff, I was sure to get a reservation for this place (which proved a little difficult, but 5:30 on a Wednesday night was good enough for us). Turns out that, Sammuelson being an Ethiopean-born Swede, Red Rooster is actually a soul food restaurant with a good amount of Scandanavian twist. Corn bread with tomato jam and honey butter was amazing. Lox were very good. Libby's roasted chicken was okay-ish, but definitely not the thing to order at a place like this. My Swedish meatballs were by far the best Swedish meatballs I've ever eaten, and probably the best single plate I had in New York. Take a look at the photo and imagine the best you can possibly imagine them tasting. That's how they tasted. Totally awesome. To top it off, the service was great, the atmosphere was nice but not too cool or fancy, and the location is close enough to the Apollo that you can walk there after dinner with enough time left to not go to see Cedric the Entertainer.
10.11.2012
Northeast Kingdom -
BrooklynBurger
For our second NYC dinner, we met up with Libby's old friend Chris (who, insanely coincidentally, lived literally around the corner from where we were staying), and went to his favorite local spot called Northeast Kingdom. The food was fine. All you really need to know is "duck fat tater tots." Yes. But more important for me to note about this place is how it represents a eye-opening and noticeable trend in the world of Brooklyn restaurants (specifically Bushwick, Brooklyn restaurants). Maybe it's a European thing or something, but the branding happening on new restaurants there is absolutely minimal. No signs, no logos, no awnings. At most, the name of the place will be hand painted in a small corner of a window. Or written on a chalkboard on the sidewalk. Maybe some gold leaf window lettering. But it's almost as if there's an unspoken competition happening about who can make their bar/restaurant more inconspicuous (see: Roberta's). The interiors are all similar, too; dark, bricky, woody, earthy, desperately trying to feel lived-in. It works though!
10.11.2012
Peel's -
ManhattanChicken sandwich
Peel's may have possibly, maybe, maybe, possibly been our favorite meal on our trip to New York. It came recommended to us as a great brunch stop, but due to some accidental subway craziness (sorry again Libby), we stopped in for some lunch instead. It's in the "Noho" neighborhood of Manhattan (even though I was told to never, ever actually refer to it as "Noho", so from here on in I won't), and its design and decor could probably be described as "cheery 1920's French industrial diner". Old timey, but not novel. Crisp, clean, bright. Totally pleasant. I don't remember what was on the menu, but I got a fried chicken sandwich with honey mustard and pickles, and Libby got a smoked turkey sandwich. Nothing flavor-wise was funky or unusual, but everything was just done right. And to go along with the decor, everything seemed very precisely composed. No grease, no mess, everything in its right place. We were both really impressed with the place, and would definitely go back if we're in NYC in the future.
10.02.2012
Petite Abeille -
ManhattanChicken stew, waffle
I was going to wait until we were home from New York to post anything about it, but I figure I better do this now before I forget about this place completely (zing!). It's called Petite Abeille. It's an adorable little Belgian cafe in adorable little West Village (or maybe Greenwich Village?) with an adorable little logo and an adorable little chalkboard menu. Its menu was on par with Barbette, and the quality was as well—so it was slightly less good than you'd think it would be (zing!). Granted, Libby said her mussels were delicious, and my fries (sorry, "frittes") were Barbette quality as well, but my chicken stew was about as good as homemade chicken stew your grandma would make. So, good, but maybe not for the price and for a single trip to an adorable little cafe in the West Village. Not to mention the fact that I actually ordered the beef stew. My biggest takeaway: I should've gone with the burger.
09.28.2012
Masu -
BloomingtonSushi
Forgot to mention that we went to the new Masu location at the Mall of America. It's great! It's been open for a couple years in Northeast, and while people like it, I don't think it's become a hotspot or anything. But I can tell you that, pretty much by default, it's already the best restaurant in the MOA. And sort of funny to see that the design of the MOA location is attempting to create almost a carbon copy of the Northeast one, right down to the white brick and Roman columns of the exterior.
09.22.2012
Northbound Smokehouse -
South MinneapolisPulled pork
The day has arrived! The long-awaited, Kickstarter-funded, local-news-ballyhooed Northbound Smokehouse Brewpub is open! And it's... not... bad? I can't really critique it too harshly, as 50% of its reason for being is that it's a brewery, and you know me and beer. But that other 50%... "smokehouse"! Right? I liked my pulled pork sandwich, although it had a bit of that 'wet pork' (eww!) quality to it that you'd expect at a place that doesn't posit itself as a smokehouse. But it had a good flavor, and a homemade sauce with a very unique taste. There were a couple little chunks of something in it that sort of shocked my system. Some herb or chunk spice, like maybe sage leafs or something? Very odd. Also a bit of a bummer that the sandwich is served alone, fries only come as a side order for 5 bucks. No cole slaw, nothing. The fries were technically garlic fries, with garlic oil, not chunks. They weren't too garlicky, and they weren't hand cut as far as I could tell. But not bad by any means. Let's see. What else? I can say that my fears of this "smokehouse" being a threat to the very nearby, tinier, less-brewhousey Ted Cooke's are unfounded. Instead of offering a bunch of barbeque items, they treat the smokehouse aspect a little more widely. Smoked salmon, turkey, cheeses, roast beef. That sort of thing. I overheard the guy next to me claim his buffalo wings were the best he'd every had. Really. So next time, then. Aside from the decentness of the food, my biggest takeaway from my first visit was the atmosphere of the place. It sounds like a terrible insult, but I couldn't help but feel it was a little bit... "Maple Grovey". Granted, if it was in Maple Grove, we'd probably say, "Huh, this place is really great for Maple Grove!" But it's on 38th Street. They've gotta aim higher than painted drywall, old timey photos, and Becker Furniture World tables. Just the fact that it's called "Northbound", and the logo has the skyline and some pine trees. The whole operation, image-wise, screams "take the first exit towards downtown Rogers" than "neighborhood brewpub in south Minneapolis." But anyway. I'll be back, I'm sure. I wish they made their own root beer though.
09.15.2012
Tracy's Saloon -
South MinneapolisBurger
Ten (ten!) years ago, when I lived kind of near Seward, a guy my mom worked with told me how I should go to Tracy's, how they have great burgers and all that. But he was also sort of a skeezy weirdo, so I didn't. Although every time I've gone past it for the last ten years, I've seen it and said to myself, "I'm gonna try Tracy's one of these days." Then, a couple years ago now, I read somewhere that they had some new owners, and were turning it from dive bar to good dive bar. Not really a gastro-whatever, but at least a neighborhood place with a good menu of interesting items and high quality ingredients. And so it is. It's got that great divey atmosphere (but not scary divey), and some interesting stuff like curry and stroganoff and whatever. So yeah. Other than the annoying old drunk who sat right next to me at an otherwise empty bar (and proceeded to name the title and artist of every song that played from the speakers, followed by an apology for taking so long in thinking of the title and artist, the caveat that he's "no Casey Kasem or Dick Clark, but I do know my music), my bbq bacon burger was good, and it seems like a decent place to have a decent meal.
09.08.2012
Pat's Tap -
South MinneapolisBrunch
It never even crossed my mind that Pat's Tap offered a weekend brunch, and apparently it hasn't crossed anyone else's either, because when we popped in there this morning on a whim, it was d-e-a-d. Every other time I've been there it's been shoulder to shoulder, almost too busy, usually late Thursday or Friday nights I guess. But the brunch menu is one of the best I've seen; plenty of sandwiches as well as plenty of breakfast items. And odd stuff, too; chicken curry hash, bacon steak, that sort thing. I, obviously, had the bacon steak. Duh. I think it's actually just the burger patty from their bacon burger, along side some hashbrowns and eggs. Which is totally, totally fine. The eggs were cooked perfectly, and the hashbrowns were just about as good as they get. Loved it. I'll be back.
09.07.2012
Travail -
RobbinsdaleTasting menu
Huckleberry compote shot, lemon curd lollipop, melon and yogurt plate, steak tartare with Japanese salad and tamagoyaki, fried grit balls, roasted corn soup, cheese agnolotti with apple, curry rice krispy bars, grilled marlin, caprese salad, pheasant with wild rice, bacon wrapped rabbit, exploding freeze dried cherry gelato thing, ribeye steak with mushrooms and heirloom tomato torte, huckleberry pie bite, peanut butter cookie dough with bacon cream, macaroon with cinnamon butter, caramel pie with maple ice cream dots made in nitroglycerin. I think that's all. Tartare was the winner. Curry rice krispy bars and corn soup tie for second. And as always, friendship and laughter a distant third.
09.07.2012
Bagu -
South MinneapolisSushi
Despite my deep seeded fear of fish, I like sushi. And despite my liking of sushi, I am pretty much wholly unable to discriminate between good sushi and great suhi (or for that matter, bad sushi). Kowalskis or Lunds deli sushi, sure! Expensive downtown Nami or Origami sushi? Absolutely! They all taste the same to me. But good-same! So take this review with a grain of salt (although I'm probably not even going to review the food itself). But after seeing the fantastic documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" the other night (it's on Netflix! Go watch it!), I was dying to eat some raw fish and vinegar rice. So our choice was Bagu, over on Chicago, near Pepitos. And it was good. How good? I don't know. But I liked all of it. Happy hour prices were a LITTLE steep (we ended up paying $45 for dinner for two... so...), but I didn't leave hungry, and I was totally satisfied. Also, they have a good handful of Thai dishes and curries as well, so there's always that option. My point is, I'll go there again, for sure.
09.02.2012
Kramarczuk's -
Northeast MinneapolisSausages
We picked up some Kramarczuk's sausages for this weekend's cabin grill-out. Moroccan lamb, apple gouda, and caribbean jerk pork. The lamb is officially my new favorite sausage in town (not that I had an old one). Grill it up, throw it on a pita with a little hummus, some tzatziki and some hot sauce... holy moly! Good stuff. The apple gouda is also wonderful. Tame, subtle, whatever. It's great. Finally, the caribbean jerk: good god it's spicy! Seriously. Not even just "Polish sausage market" spicy, but legitimately painful. But still edible! We cooked it up, tossed it in some dirty curry rice with some shrimp, voila. Not too bad. I fell in love with Clancy's meat this summer, but I think Kramarczuk's, the old faithful, has a bit of a leg up.
09.02.2012
Minnesota State Fair -
St. PaulState Fair roundup!
Harry Singh's jerk chicken roti: Great as always.
Blue Moon Cafe Korean pork tacos: Somehow different than last year, not quite as "Korean" as I remember. Still very good.
Vescio's fried ravioli: Totally middle of the road. Kinda like Vescio's!
The Lamb Shoppe lamb chops: A little fatty, still good.
I'll try to eat far more next year.
08.30.2012
Citizen Cafe -
South MinneapolisMeatloaf
I like the Citizen Cafe, haven't had a bad meal there, haven't had any sort of problem at all, really. But I've decided that, despite their name and general constructivist brand aesthetic, their food qualifies as very good hotel restaurant fare. In a good way. In a good way.
08.21.2012
Wise Acre -
South MinneapolisSloppy joe
And with this review, I think Wise Acre now holds the record of most Music and Food entries, with the grand total of way too many. But I had to do it, because as of last night I still hadn't tried any of their window food, where you can get hot dogs, egg salad, sloppy joes, and that sort of thing at the same takeout window as the custard. So I had the sloppy joe and Libby had the egg salad sandwich. Verdict: Good, but a buck or two too expensive maybe. Also, they need to do something about their sloppy joe bun strength. (Don't we all?)
08.13.2012
Homi -
St. PaulSteak burrito
Second trip to Homi, this time with Libby in tow. The place was dead empty again (thanks a lot, guys!), and I feel like I shouldn't even be writing because it was sort of a bust. I had a steak burrito, which was okay I guess, but what I actually ordered was the beef birria. Apparently my Spanish is so poor that the waiter though I said burrito. So kind of a bummer, because I was looking forward to the birria. And Libby got some chicken enchiladas, which I thought were great, but they were too spicy for her to really enjoy. (Weakling!). So, whatever. We'll get'em next time Homi.
08.12.2012
The Lowbrow -
South MinneapolisBBQ bacon burger
I've been a little harsh on the Lowbrow since they opened. Not because they're bad, but because they're not better than not bad. But they won me over this weekend with something as simple as a barbeque bacon burger. Best thing I've had there. Not too greasy, homemade BBQ, decent fries. They're back in my good graces.
08.06.2012
Pei Wei -
St. Louis ParkSpicy chicken
I've seen these Pei Wei places around the burbs here and there, and I'd somehow always associated them with, or gotten them confused with, Chin's Asia Fresh, which is Leann Chin's failed attempt at creating somewhat higher quality fast food Asian. Little did I know that Pei Wei is actually P.F. Chang's attempt at creating somewhat higher quality fast food Asian. Or rather, their attempt at creating a somewhat cheaper P.F. Changs. And being a consummate P.F. Apologist (in that I will not apologize for my love of P.F. Chang's), I practically ran through the front door to give Pei Wei a try. It was better than I even hoped it would be. The food was only a tiny half-step down from Chang's, but for about five dollars less, and with no stupidly long waits hanging around Southdale's parking lot with the type of people who wait in line to eat at P.F. Chang's. This particular Pei Wei location was near the new St. Louis Park "West End" shopping center, but just far enough away from it that you don't have to deal with that, either. Wei to go!
08.05.2012
Red 88 -
DavisSpicy pork noodles
My last food stop on my Davis trip was takeout from a hip little noodle bar called Red 88. The Yelp reviews (insert mooing cow sounds here) were actually pretty middling, but their menu looked good and the photos looked good, so screw Yelp (one of the reviewers actually complained that the chicken chow mein was bland. Well that's what you get for ordering chicken chow mein!) I got this spicy ground pork noodly dish thing, along with some thai chicken wings, and since I needed to order $20 worth of food in order to use my credit card, an order of steamed dumplings. And it was all fantastic! Best meal of Davis! Aside from an excess of salt in the dumplings, I don't have a single gripe. I'll take a Red 88 in Minneapolis any day.
07.27.2012
In-N-Out Burger -
DavisCheeseburger
Alright, ready? Can you handle this? I can wait. Okay. Okay? Ready now? I think I like Five Guys better than In-N-Out. There. Sorry.
07.27.2012
Crepeville -
DavisDenver Crepe
This place called Crepeville (really) has a bit of a mini empire in Davis. There's Crepeville itself (think of French Meadow if it franchised in Minnetonka and only served crepe-related dishes), a mega-popular college hangout burger place called Burgers And Brew (really), and soon a pizza place, which I can only hope will not make their pizzas on crepes. I was only able to eat at Crepeville itself, getting breakfast there the other morning. Essentially a denver omelette inside a folded crepe, the portion was surprisingly huge, and there was nothing that I can really complain about. Which is unfortunate, because I really feel like complaining. I kind of got tired of eating it, so I let it be and bid it adieu.
07.26.2012
Thai Nakorn -
DavisBasil chicken thing
You know that whole thing about "Minnesota Thai food", the stock response of stuffy online food reviewers complaining about the blandness of Thai food in Minnesota? It's a myth. Bland Thai food can be found anywhere, even in California.
07.26.2012
Tucos -
DavisBrazilian stewed beef
And so begins my onslaught of Davis, California food posts! So Davis is this mid-sized town in north-ish California, just a twenty minute drive from Sacramento. It's primarily home to UC Davis (a big ag school), but is also home to lots of rich white liberal Californians. Put those two things together and you've got yourself a quaint downtown loaded with Thai restaurants and organic yogurt shops! It's a nice place. You really should visit. Anyhow, perhaps I shouldn't have been shocked, but I did notice quite a few cafes and bistros serving classic California cuisine, straight out of 1995! It should't have been a shock, considering that it's California, but still interesting to see that type of place still have such a huge foothold. The one I was able to eat at was this little wine bar and cafe called Tucos. For being a tiny place with organic-y, slow food-y tendencies, their menu was huge. Dozens of options, and everything from lamb meatballs to anchovy biscotti to chile rellenos. I had this sort of Brazilian (air quotes) stewed beef and sausage dish, served with black beans, collared greens and some crispy pollenta. I liked it. It was good. And respectably priced. I have nothing funny to say about it.
07.16.2012
Homi -
St. PaulEnmolada
Hey you. Go to Homi. It's a tiny little Mexican place in the middle of the University construction wasteland that needs your business. But don't go out of pity, go because it may well be the best Mexican food in St. Paul. And it wouldn't kill you to order the enmolada, basically a chicken mole enchilada. It was some of the best mole I've ever had, and tasted very different than most other moles, almost leaning into red curry territory, as opposed to the dark brown stuff you're used to. Anyway, I was there at 12:30 on a Sunday, and it was dead. They need you. And you need them. So go! Andele!
07.10.2012
Scott Ja Mama's -
South MinneapolisRibs
If this was a customer service blog, this review would be a perfect 10, with flashing text and animated .gifs, and maybe it would rhyme. Because I showed up to Scott Ja Mama's—a tiny little take out barbeque joint that only takes cash—without cash. No problem they said, just run across the street and use the ATM. Okay! Then I realized I had no ATM card. Oops. I apologize, apologize, tell them I can come back in an hour, all of that. "No, no, don't worry," says Scott Ja Mama himself, "take the food and just pay us next time you come in if you feel like it. Want anything to drink? Take your pick!" Wow! No joke! And then after I ate (great, homemade style sauce, but unfortunately they use babyback ribs instead of spare, which is a bummer), I back to where I lost my ATM, got some cash, and came back later in the day to pay. Their response, "Geez, we didn't mean to make you come back today! Thanks! Come again!" I will, Scott Ja Mama.
07.05.2012
Roscoe's Barbeque -
RochesterRibs, root beer
Spending the day in Rochester to see Wilco, I looked briefly into where to eat. The consensus: "Eh, Rochester isn't much of a food town." Well. So, barbeque it is! And the Rochester barbeque scene seems to be locked up by two places: Roscoe's and one other joint who's name I forget right now. But I'll think of it eventually. The general consensus was that there was no general consensus. Some said Roscoe's, some said [other]. Before I could flip a coin though, I noticed not only was it called Roscoe's, it was called Roscoe's Root Beer and Ribs. Root beer and ribs! And even though I'm trying to be "off" of pop at the moment, what kind of self righteous fuddy duddy would turn down root beer a place that specializes in barbeque and root beer? So we braved the 100 degree heat (it's a walk-up place with outdoor seating) and got some ribs, pulled pork, jo-jo's, cole slaw, and beans. The meat was super tender, but didn't have the nice crust I like, the sauce was tangy but a little bit generic, and everything else was just as good as it needed to be. I'd put this down as total middle of the pack barbeque. Same with the root beer. Next time we're in town (most likely whenever Wilco appears again) we'll be sure to try [remember to find the name of the other place and edit this later].
06.30.2012
Mosaic Cafe -
South MinneapolisBanh mi'tloaf
I have about 15 negative criticisms to make about the newly rechristened Mosaic–formerly Glaciers–Cafe, but all of them would just make me sound like a nitpicking a-hole who doesn't appreciate what he's been given. So instead I'll just give the imaginary anthropomorphized personification of Mosaic a firm handshake and a pat on the back and a brotherly "You keep up the good work now," because for the most part Mosaic has improved its game on every level, even if the entire atmosphere of the place comes off as a little desperate, like the imaginary anthropomorphized personification of Mosaic is walking around with a sandwich board that says "I'm a real restaurant, look at my subway tile and funky stools!" (1 of 15.) But I cannot complain about the food, despite its crass sloppiness (2 of 15)—which was a step up from the competently humble Glaciers—the effort, or anything else. Go there. Let them know you care. They need you.
06.30.2012
The King and I -
Downtown Minneapolis34 with Beef
All I need in life is a bowl of 34 with beef and a spoon.
06.24.2012
Aida -
RichfieldChicken shawarma
Three things to know about this miraculous new (new?) Mediterranean place called Aida. 1.) It's in Richfield. 2.) It's indiscreetly housed in a building that very obviously used to be a Taco Bell. And 3.) After one meal there I'm already prepared to crown it best restaurant in Richfield. Yeah, move over, Joy's Pattaya and, well, Potbelly? Think Shish, but less fussy. And cheaper. And if I dare say it, better? Stray observations: a.) For being housed in an old Taco Bell, they've actually done a good job cleaning it up and making it their own. There's money invested here, it's not some crummy hole in the wall. b.) They offer a homemade hot sauce that the middle eastern guy working there though tI was crazy for getting. "It's so hot outside! I don't know why you'd want it!" c.) A lady came in while I was eating and ordered a gyro for her husband. She said he's eaten there 3 times a week since they opened. He might be crazy, but I'll call that a good sign.
06.18.2012
Clancey's Meats and Fish -
South MinneapolisRoast beef sandwich
I've always heard whispers about this Clancey's place in Linden Hills being the best meat market in the Twin Cities, having all this amazing stuff to choose from, and to top it off, having some of the best deli sandwiches around. I'd eaten some sausages from there once or twice, always delicious, and the legend grew, with me never quite convincing myself to go there, because, ugh, it's in Linden Hills (I know, right?). But in order to pick up some lamb, blueberry, and pinenut sausages for a trip up north, I finally went. And it is everything they say it is. Maybe more. Beautiful meat, everywhere. Leg of lamb. Korean short ribs. Ground goat. Steaks that made me want to break through the glass case and eat them raw. All so expensive, however, that I'd never dare even try to cook them, which would just be setting myself up for devastating failure. And then I ate their roast beef sandwich. I nearly cried.
06.12.2012
BLVD -
MinnetonkaLamb flatbread, wings
The first thing you'll notice about BLVD is that you don't belong there. And if you do belong there, you're probably not reading this blog. I did the math. The second thing is that BLVD really, really doesn't want you to remember that it used to be a Don Pablos, and that it's next to a Michael's and an Office Max and a Dick's Sporting Goods, and that you can see 394 from there and that you're only an 8 iron away from a Great Clips. Nope. You're in the big city! The big. city. In a fancy place. See, there's some subway tile! And there's some mini antlers all over a wall! And one of the menu items even says "organic." Ooh la la! And the worst part of all is that I can't complain about the food. Nuts.
06.12.2012
Shish -
St. PaulChicken shawarma
I'm eating this cookie right now, from Shish, of all places, that's about an inch thick. Maybe an inch and a quarter. Truly a monster monster cookie. You'd think a cookie so thick would fail somewhere, either too cakey in the middle, or too dry on the edges. But let me tell you, dear reader, that this is one of the best monster cookies I've ever had. Convincing me more and more that Shish can't do wrong.
06.11.2012
The Red Stag -
Northeast MinneapolisShort ribs
There's this thing about how you're not supposed to go to nice restaurants on Sunday, because all the food is getting old, the cooks are the B-squadders trying to learn the ropes, and everything is generally less good than it should be. And last night's short ribs were definitely Sunday night short ribs. Still, it's the Red Stag, and at their worst it's still "good," and I can't imagine this was their worst; maybe like 2 notches up from it.
06.09.2012
Wise Acre -
South MinneapolisFrozen custard
Still too frosty. Total bummer. But if we could bottle their hot fudge and salty caramel toppings, drive down to St. Louis and pour it on some Ted Drewe's custard, we'd be on to something.
06.06.2012
Pardon My French -
BloomingtonFrench onion soup, french chicken sandwich
There's this video going around the internet this week, of a high school girls track meet. In the video, one of the runners, physically unable to finish the race due to injury/exhaustion/something, is helped across the finish line by a fellow runner, who forfeited her own place in the race in order to help her fallen competitor. Inspiring, heartbreaking, supposedly. Yet I feel like there's something wrong about the whole thing. ("Of course you do, Steve.") First, it feels like a purposeful imitation of that similarly inspiring/heartbreaking video from a few years ago, where the softball player hits a game winning home run, injures herself rounding the bases, and is helped to home plate by the opposing infielders. As if the runner saw the other runner go down and said, "Oh, I should help her like those softball players did. That's a thing I'm supposed to do." But in the case of the softball game, something was at stake. The injured girl had to touch home plate to win the game, and the team that lost because of it helped her do it. Sportsmanship. In this race, the injured girl was already in last place. By a lot. The girl that helped was in second to last. Nothing was lost or gained here. It wasn't a once in a lifetime achievement that had to be fulfilled. It wasn't going to decide who did or didn't win the state title. It was just to finish a single race. Which leads me to think that, if I was the runner that collapsed, would I want another runner to help me across? There's something oddly shameful about the situation. Like, "I understand and appreciate your support, but please just keep running, I'll be fine, I'm in last place anyway, don't make a big deal out of this." Finally, the injured girl, upon crossing the finish line, looked seriously ailing. It almost looks like all the heartfelt struggle of getting her across the finish line made things worse. Maybe she should've just had a doctor attend to her on the track when she first had problems. Maybe getting some tearjerking footage for everyone's Facebook page wasn't worth the possibility that this girl may have had a goddamn heart attack.
And that's what I think about Pardon My French.
06.06.2012
Skydeck -
BloomingtonPhilly cheesesteak
Do you really, really miss Gameworks? Are you planning a complicated crime and need a hideout where you and your accomplices will never, ever be found? Are you contemplating suicide, but need that final little push to get yourself over the hump? Go to the Skydeck, on the fourth floor of the Mall Of America! They have food. From a menu. They'll cook it for you. The bartender will call you "champ."
05.30.2012
Victory 44 -
North MinneapolisA little bit of everything
I'm totally down with Victory 44. I think I even like it better than Travail (even if it's a bit more expensive), and I get the feeling that everything they could possibly serve you is at the very least interesting. But all the bacon powder, marrow butter, beet foam and haystack mushrooms in the world can't make up for the fact that their cheeseburger is the best thing on their menu. And those fries. Yes.
05.26.2012
The Left Handed Cook -
South MinneapolisHoisin pulled pork
It seems that the Midtown Global Market, the grand monument to, and fighter of, the push/pull polarization of urban gentrification (a word that so loaded that I feel like an idiot for using it), is itself becoming gentrified. What started out as a well-intentioned vehicle to bring the exotic, often times overlooked cultural experiences of Lake street to terrified but superficially curious white people like myself, seems to be changing into something... else. Many of the original food booths seem to be closing, which is understandable, but in their place, instead of other small Lake Street businesses (like, say, an Ethiopian deli or a pupuseria), we're starting to see brand new foodie-hipster restaurants. First Sonora Grill (admittedly awesome), and now this place called The Left Handed Cook (disappointing, but in a good way, and that's where my official review ends, sorry). Not to mention the fake food co-op, the "Market Kitchen" high end kitchen store, the Salty Tart. I guess I'm fine with the idea of the Midtown becoming a haven for startup restaurant ventures that couldn't afford a food truck. But what if I just want some oxtail curry, and some homemade chorizo? The place always had a lot of weird kinks and imperfections, chintzy gift shops that no one needs, depressing minimart type convenience stores, a general air of chaos. I don't know. Their heart was in the right place. They could really make it work in a way that's true to the original vision. This smells a little like giving up.
05.25.2012
Merlin's Rest -
South MinneapolisFish and chips
Last time I went to Merlin's Rest, I ate one of the saddest burgers I've ever had, but was nonetheless impressed by the general coziness of the place. But the sadness of the burger outweighed the charm of the interior, so I hadn't gone back. Since then, I kept hearing nothing but great things about it, with people talking up their traditional British pub fare, and City Pages giving it a handful of "best neighborhood bar" awards. So this time out I went with the "award winning" (why not?) fish and chips. And they were fine. Not as good as Anchor's, but better than Van de Kamps. They came with a nice sauce, sort of a tartar mixed with horseradish type situation. I also had a pastry-wrapped sausage appetizer, which along with some HP brown sauce was enjoyable as well. I had to put up with a loudmouth conversationalist next to me at the bar who kept talking to everyone and no one (you know the type), and a classic old-dude bar band playing random rock hits of the 50s and 60s, but I suppose that's what a neighborhood bar is all about, right?
05.23.2012
The Modern -
Northeast MinneapolisSmoked beef brisket
Forgot to mention that we popped into the Modern last weekend to get away from Art A Whirl. I apologize for any trepidation I might've had about them over the last year, because this brisket sandwich was just about enough to make me cry. Which is more than I could say about the art.
05.19.2012
Pupuseria la Palmera -
South MinneapolisPupusa, carne asada
"Pupseria" is a funny word, right? Hilarious. I had no idea what a pupuseria was when Pupuseria la Palmera took over the space formerly home to--wait for it--ready?--Stabby's, but I liked the sound of it anyway. Turns out a pupusa, for which a pupuseria is (obviously) named, is an El Salvadorian stuffed bread sort of dish. So, great, awesome, a new El Salvadorian restaurant in the neighborhood! Exciting. Problem is, at least in these early days of their young establishment, the food is totally unimpressive. I'd even say "dreary." They were out of the guisada, which was what I really wanted, so I settled on a chewy ol' flank steak with rice and a plain lettuce salad with ranch dressing? Just like back home in El Salvador. Homemade tortillas were nice in theory, but were sort of mushy in the middle. And on and on. Their hearts are in the right place I guess, and they were well staffed. And the pupusa itself (served with some pickled coleslaw type dressing) was nice. But we'll see what happens once they start figuring things out.
05.16.2012
Taqueria El Ranchito -
RichfieldTacos
Shabby little taco joint. Richfield. In a strip mall on Lyndale and 60-somethingth. You get the picture. I've been riding my bike past this place for the last couple years, always saying "some day" but never quite feeling up to it. Well "some day" was tonight, as you could've guessed if you were the guessing sort. Which you are. And despite the three year buildup, I'm going to go ahead and say "maybe next time" on this one. I got the feeling that the food here could be fantastic, between the nicely flavored homemade chorizo, a decent enough al pastor, and the best carnitas I've had in a while (I've had bad carnitas luck over the last year, I feel). But there was also a distinct sense of microwaved warmth to it; that heat that's just too thoroughly hot. And my al pastor taco shell fell apart. And the beans seemed canned. Maybe when they're not an hour from closing time on a Wednesday everything might be a bit fresher. Or maybe I should stop complaining and just be happy that the fine people of Richfield (hi, Scott and Abby!) have a place to get some tacos. As long as they eat meat (sorry, Scott and Abby.)
05.13.2012
Burger Jones -
Uptown MinneapolisPulled pork hot dog
For the crime of not living up to some make believe and ill-defined standard which I decided to create for it, Burger Jones had been off my list for the last two years or so. I never hated it, or even disliked it, really. It just never seemed worth the trouble. So this weekend I decided to give it one more shot, and did so without even ordering a burger. I know, right? Enter, the "Pitbull". A grilled hot dog topped with barbeque pulled pork, cole slaw and fried pickles. I'd been too focused on their burgers to notice this on the menu in the past, but I made no such mistake this time; they may as well call this thing the Steve Marth dog. And it didn't let me down. Each individual element tasted just how you'd want it, between the dog itself (split, then grilled), the pork (with a nice vinegar sauce), the fried pickles (not the best I've ever had, but perfectly fine), and the cole slaw (cole slaw-y), and the result was pretty much exactly equal to the sum of the parts. It came together just like I hoped, but didn't reach much higher. But, you know, I'll take it. Burger Jones still seems somehow not quite right, but I feel good enough about it to take them off my shit list for the time being.
05.10.2012
Granite City -
RosevilleKorean tacos
The thing I like best about Granite City is how it's not terrible. Really!
05.08.2012
Target Field -
Downtown MinneapolisBacon sloppy joe, buffalo mac and cheese
It was dollar dog night at the ballpark last night. So since I'm made of money, instead of spending $2 on two reasonably acceptable hot dogs, I decided to spend $20 on a bacon sloppy joe and some buffalo chicken mac and cheese. Then I burned a $50 bill for good measure. There's just one food booth in the park, down on the main concourse near the train side, that serves these two, which won some Food Network contest or something. I don't know. The bacon sloppy joe was actually pretty good, and plenty big. $10 is a stretch, but all things considered, whatever. The buffalo mac, however, was pretty disappointing. It was good enough just as mac and cheese, but there was very little buffalo as far as I could detect. Supposedly there was some bleu cheese in there, as well as hot sauce, but it just tasted mostly like mac and cheese with chicken. Pass.
05.07.2012
Pardon My French -
BloomingtonAlmond cookie
There's this new place in the Mall of America, in the corner by Nordstrom's where that Wolfgang Puck pizza place used to be, called Pardon My French. Now before you go jumping off a bridge at the very thought of it, let me say, it might be good! I haven't eaten any real food there yet, which seems to be mostly light sandwiches and a couple burgers and some 'flambe' flatbread type things, but I did have an almond and chocolate ganache cookie from their bakery. And it was tasty! And all the other sandwiches in the case looked to be quality. So who knows! I guess his isn't so much a 'review' as it is a heads up: Pardon My French might actually be worth trying out. And now that Bagu is opening an MOA location, things could start to get interesting. The Mall might not be a food black hole after all!
05.05.2012
Sen Yai Sen Lek -
Northeast MinneapolisPad bai gra pow
I know I already claimed Krung Thep to be my new favorite Thai place in the city, but Sen Yai totally turned the tables on me today. I got this pad bai gra pow dish, which is basically a stir fry with basil and ground pork and green beans and whatever else. Good lord, I couldn't eat it fast enough. So good. Then Libby orders this other noodle stir fry dish with some dry curry seasoning (pad woon sen, I believe), and my head just about explodes from excitement. I hadn't ordered either before, but they were both pretty much everything I want out of Thai food. I'm not sure if Krung Thep can top it.
05.02.2012
Crystal Garden -
South MinneapolisSzechuan chicken, shrimp lo mein
Based on the foggy memory of a single mediocre lunchtime buffet, I've been ignoring this Chinese place Crystal Garden over on Hiawatha for the last 6 years, claiming Bill's Garden (no relation) as the best mediocre Chinese food in town. But out of desperation we've grabbed takeout from Crystal Garden twice in the last two weeks, and it's actually satisfying! Perfectly okay! Acceptably tolerable! Bill's still has the best general tso's, but otherwise we'll be making this place our go-to 'Chinese, I guess' destination.
04.30.2012
Guest Post by Libby
Pumphouse Creamery -
South MinneapolisLavender ice cream cone
This is why I can get behind Pumphouse Creamery, the little ice cream shop down Chicago Ave. at 48th Street: The folks there are trying to do it right. Their handmade ice cream is made from natural, organic and local ingredients ("from plows to pints" = clever). They've won several local "Best Ice Cream" awards and named one of the Top 25 Ice Cream Spots in the U.S. by Food and Wine Magazine (well la dee dah). They're a solid member of the neighborhood over there, scooping ice cream for 9 years. And, along with the gold standards, they make an array of flavors that are different: Lavender, Fresh Rhubarb (they get an extra star for rhubarb), Malted Vanilla, Salty Peanut Butter (made locally by The Good Life) with Homemade Chocolate Caramel Nougats. A little red-headed boy even chose the Grapefruit Sorbet and was heartily enjoying his cone (best of luck to that kid). Plus, they have home brewed root beer and seasonal sodas on tap!
I can appreciate all of these things. But. Both Steve and I thought the ice cream was a little frosty. Now, perhaps that's the side effect of the whole organic/homemade/small batches/whatever else factor, but I need my ice cream to be, well, creamy. Like, say, a Sebastian Joe's scoop (my personal Minneapolis favorite) or Izzy's (my personal St. Paul favorite). That said, the Lavender was a really nice, subtle flavor that I thoroughly enjoyed. A small gift that kept on giving. (Side note, albeit non-culinary: I think their branding is too juvenile. Yes, yes, ice cream is for kids, but with the aforementioned organic/homemade/small batches/whatever else factor, their brand would benefit from a level of sophistication.)
All in all I'd go back, perhaps after a nice meal across the street at Bagu or a belly full of Mexican food from Pepito's, before a night of fine cinematic viewing at The Parkway Theater down the block. What a nice summer evening that'll be.
04.28.2012
Dickey's Barbecue Pit -
Coon RapidsPulled pork sandwich
These Dickey's places have been popping up everywhere in the last couple years. And by 'everywhere' I mean 'in the suburbs'. And by 'in the suburbs' I mean 'in the middle-to-upper-middle-class suburbs where people are are willing to occasionally pay $11 for a meal, but don't feel ashamed at the idea of going to a national barbecue chain called Dickey's.' So it was with this noble lack of shame that I had lunch there today. It's exactly as mediocre as you can imagine. Not bad. But not much else. Considering the wide net that Famous Daves has cast on the cities in the last decade, I can't think of a reason to go to Dickey's instead (and if you're already in Coon Rapids, good god just go north on highway 10 and go to Q Fanatic!) The prices are comparable, and as far as fast food chain barbecue goes, Daves is heads and shoulders (pork shoulders!?) better. But get this: free ice cream! They have an ice cream machine near the exit that's free! Amazing idea. Unfortunately it was some of the worst soft serve I've ever had, so I'll just leave it at that.
04.23.2012
Pig & Fiddle -
EdinaLamb pasty
What struck me most about Pig & Fiddle, surprised me really, is its sheer lack of irony. The placed is designed to feel like a cozy but classy Irish pub--not where you'd watch the footie match while you're in Dublin, but more like where you'd stop to rest your weary feet because you're a Hobbit trying to bring a ring back to a volcano. Considering that it's a brand new gastropub at 50th and France, I was expecting some Mozza Mia or Salut style overthetopness. There are no oversized photos of pig ears on the walls, no custom fabricated light fixtures, the bartenders don't wear Rovers jerseys. The whole place exudes uncool. And the food, as far as I can tell, abides. It's not some new American twist on pub food, nor is it some cheap attempt to get people to come in and eat burgers and drink. It's "traditional" grub from the British Isles, based on the "peasant" thing, but prepared by people who actually have taste. Or so I assume, because I just had one thing, and it was good, but maybe not prepared as well as it should've been. A little on the starchy side. But the flavors were nice, especially the pickled onions, which were essential to keep it interesting. Really not a whole lot to talk about. Mostly I'm very impressed, in an odd way, with how unhip this place is once you get past the front door. Commendable. But...
04.22.2012
Smashburger -
St. PaulChicken sandwich
In lieu of writing about the wonderful dinner we had with friends at Craftsman on Saturday night, I thought I'd share this amazing discovery I made regarding Smashburger. When we last left Smashburger, it was a new addition to the Twin Cities burger scene, along with Five Guys and the newly opened Burger Jones. Certainly you remember the great Burger Wars Summer of 2009? Anyway, Smashburger came in with a wimper for the bronze, as the burgers are disappointing and far too expensive, and now there's about 100 of them around town and nobody really cares. But, but, get this--they have fantastic chicken sandwiches! Who would've guessed? Especially the fried chicken, and to a lesser extent the grilled. At least as far as fast food chicken sandwiches go. They're juicy and marinated (and probably filled with weird chemicals), and they seem like they're actually battered and fried... not just thrown frozen and pre-fried into heater. It actually tastes like fried chicken! They're a far cry from Chik Fil A, but they're hands down better than the closest competition. And I admit I kind of like their rosemary fries. So yeah. Smashburger. Chicken. I don't actually recommend going there if you don't have to, but if you happen to be in the vicinity with few other options, I say go for it.
04.19.2012
A Baker's Wife -
South MinneapolisDoughnuts
The City Pages Best of 2012 is here! Finally, we can know what the best of things is! No more guessing! No more opinions! Just facts! I still like reading the list every year when it comes out, I won't lie. But there does seem to be a real randomness to the selection. I suppose they want to let everyone get a crack at being on top, especially the new cool trendy whatever places (cough-bachelorfamer-coughcough). But criticizing a best of list for being snotty is just about the snottiest thing you can do. So I won't. Instead, I'll use this space to give City Pages a big pat on the back for naming A Baker's Wife, for the second year in a row, Best Doughnut. Take that gutter punk art school Donut Collective! Kidding. I like the Donut Collective. Really. But you'd be crazy to deny the perfection of the Baker's Wife doughnuts. Crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle, not too sweet, not too big. It really does hit you with one of those "Oh, this is what a doughnut is supposed to taste like" moments. The only thing better is their ham and cheese croissant, which I hope will someday get a list category of its own.
04.15.2012
Smalleys Caribbean Barbeque -
StillwaterRibs, brisket
Although I'm completely repeating myself from the first time we ate there a year ago, it's just as true now as it was then: Smalley's should not be good. It shouldn't. There's no way. A pirate-themed barbeque restaurant and bar in a converted warehouse shopping center in downtown Stillwater? Give me a break! But if last time I went, I left completely satisfied, this time I left downright impressed. This is legitimately good barbeque. If you took away the stupid pirate stuff and bad menus and questionable atmosphere, and stuck what's left (the food) on Chicago or Nicollet or (god forbid) Hennepin, name it, like "Blackjack" or something, people would be going bonkers about it. You'd never hear the end of it. The ribs were honestly some of the best I've had lately. The brisket had Libby raving. The beans were uniquely tasty. The sauces are all robust. The mac'n'cheese, which City Pages recently called some of the best in the cities, was perfectly mac'n'cheesy. Coleslaw, cornbread, beer battered fries, yes yes yes. Curry roasted vegetables! Curry empanadas! At a pirate themed Stillwater barbeque joint! What!? I don't know. It's so good. I just can't think of another place in town that succeeds so wildly with such low expectations.
04.14.2012
Victory 44 -
North MinneapolisThe Perfect Burger
They really do call it that. And I'm going to go ahead and let them, because I can't think of anything imperfect about it. Other than that there could've been pickles on it. And the cheese and bacon made up for 75% of its perfectness, which one could argue takes away from the purity of the burger proper. So let's say 95% perfect. And the fries. Good god, the fries. Those actually were perfect, 100%.
04.13.2012
Republic -
U of MPulled chicken sandwich.
Republic. Republic. Pub. Get it? Re-pub-lic? See what they did there? So anyway, we stopped there last week before the Van Dyke Parks show, having heard very little about it, other than that it's a "gastropub" that took over the old Sgt. Prestons spot on 7 Corners. The food was all good, but whatever. But what really struck me was the realization that this "gastropub" thing (I will always use quotes around that, refusing to admit it's a real word that someone could use without shame) has officially become the new standard. Busters and whoever else were sort of special when they started, but now if you're opening a bar and you don't make your own ketchup and you don't use 1000 Hills beef, and you don't offer some form of compote (or chutney), good luck. It's gone from trend to norm. I'm not complaining, mind you. I'm happy about it. It's just funny to sit down and look at the menu at a bar that's so diverse and interesting, and think "here we go again."
04.12.2012
Target Field -
Downtown MinneapolisMeatball
At the ballgame last night (a depressingly rare Twins win, where we saw Torii Hunter nearly end his career by falling head first into an outfield wall) I set out to find the fried pickles that Target Field is supposedly hawking this year. No luck. I settled instead on their other "big" new food offering, a cheese-stuffed meatball from some place called Valentini's, which has a location in both Duluth and Chisolm. $9 for a single meatball covered in some red sauce, no bread, no nothing else. But I'll be damned, it was great! It could've used a bit more cheese in the middle, and was a little on the luke-warm side, but for being a big meatball from a baseball stadium, it was just about as good as you could get. I would've been proud of making an comparable meatball at home, if that says anything. $9 is a bit steep, but it's big and filling and I don't regret it. So there.
04.07.2012
Sonora Grill -
South MinneapolisTacos
Would City Pages ever name a Midtown Global Market kiosk their Best New Restaurant? Is that within the rules? Can we change the rules to make sure Sonora wins it this year? And then give them a pile of money so they can open a brick and mortar location of their own? Preferably on 34th and 45th? Because I say this without reservation: Brasa quality, Chilis prices. I guess it's a boon for the Midtown, and it's better than having them being stuck in Uptown and becoming obnoxious, but someone needs to start printing up some "Free Sonora" t-shirts. I'll buy two, because I've already got pork grease on my first one.
04.07.2012
Classic Saigon -
EaganBeef pho
Don't go to Eagan. Just don't. There's nothing for you there. There's nothing for anybody there. My thesaurus tells me it's "supererogatory." But if fate compels you to start biking east from the MOA, across the 494 bridge, and south down Pilot Knob Road past Lockheed Martin, you'll be there, and you'll be hungry. And it's either Buffalo Wild Wings, Houlihan's, Smashburger, or Classic Saigon. Do the right thing. Get the "classic" beef pho. It will be the only thing Eagan has ever done for you.
04.01.2012
The Donut Cooperative -
South MinneapolisDoughnuts
I wonder how many votes it took for the Donut Cooperative to decide on the spelling of "Donut" instead of "Doughnut." I mean, if it really is a cooperative, there were surely long, tedious discussions, passive aggresive arguments, a little name calling, a bit of grandstanding, and at least one person who pulled the 'fascist' card. Half of the members threatened to splinter off and form a new doughnut co-op. It was a mess. Aaand... End of schtick. So these guys did the Kickstarter thing, designed a hipster logo, and took over another hipster Seward bakery and make doughnuts and stuff. And they're good, don't worry. They're re a bit doughy and chewy, and not super sweet, as if to say, "Hey man, we're like a total artisanal doughnut shop, not some Krispy Kreme corporate bullshit!". But really, isn't that the point of a doughnut? Do I really need to try to focus on the subtleties of flavor when I'm stuffing my face with sugar and butter and chocolate on a Sunday morning? But they're good, they're good! Don't get me wrong! I just wish they weren't so precious about the whole thing.
04.01.2012
Yarusso Brothers -
St. PaulDago sandwich
Libby's mom/Tom recently alerted us to this "hidden" gem St. Paul Italian restaurant called Yarusso Brothers. I use quotes because there's nothing all too hidden about it, and it's been around since 1933, so it's not like some big secret. I had never heard of it before, so shame on me I guess. I would, though, count the neighborhood it's located in as "hidden," up in the "Swede Hollow" area of the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, just east and a bit north of downtown St. Paul. I've never really spent any time around there, and have never had a reason to, until now. But enough geography. This place has been around since 1933, and claims to serve the same hearty red sauce italian as they did back then. The interior has clearly undergone enough renovation in the last 80 years that you'd never guess it was that old; it has the general character of any of 1,000 Italian restaurants you could find anywhere. Black and white Italian family photos on the walls. Sinatra blasting through the speakers. 3 TVs behind the bar playing all three Godfather movies. No joke.. They could tone down all that phony Italian crap, though, because the food is super. It's all big fat red sauce pasta and meat fare, but it's done just about perfectly. Their sauce is just a little less sweet than your generic red sauce, with just a little bit of extra something to make you remember it. (LIbby and I tried to figure out what that something was. Cinnamon? Nutmeg? Anise? No idea). The meatballs and italian sausage and dago were all homemade, and all delicious. Not a single complaint. Really, there's not a ton of analysis to be done here. It's big dumb Italian food and it tastes great and unique, it's priced reasonably, and there's way too much of it. Sign me up.
04.01.2012
Mickey's -
St. PaulCheeseburger and mulligan stew
It's easy to forget, or to have never known to begin with, that Mickey's has a second location, way out where west 7th seems to drive through the woods, just up the bluff from Pike Island, in that St. Paul no mans land that's always kind of given me the creeps. Anyway, it's technically "Mickey's by Willy," and has been around since 1960, surely having gone through multiple rounds of ownership and now run by what seems to be an entire middle eastern family. Considering it's sort of the 'fake' Mickey's, it's actually still pretty cool. The same awesome/terrible atmosphere, the same awesome/terrible food. I had the "classic" which was a tiny cheeseburger on a gigantic bun, with hash browns (top notch!) and a little bowl of mulligan stew. The meat-bun ratio was laughable, but it didn't take away from anything. It's no Matt's, it's obviously no Blue Door, but it was fine. Hell, it was Mickey's. And even if it's second rate Mickey's, I'm glad it's there.
03.20.2012
Mort's -
Golden ValleyBrisket sandwich
I swear to god reading reviews of Twin Cities delis is like reading college essays on the shifting morays neo feminism. Meaning: It is not fun.. I don't know what it is about Jewish delis and barbeque, but food writers just get so stuffy and dogmatic with those two subjects. Oh, they don't brine their own pastrami, the real way. Oh, they don't use caraway rye, the real way. Back when I was a kid, delis did this and that. As if anyone in Minnesota has any real history of eating at these places. Hell, even New York hardly has any "real" delis anymore. So why worry? Let's throw any qualms about "authenticity" and "integrity" aside for the moment, and just focus on "sandwiches." Mort's makes good ones. I like eating them. They taste good. They're better than Subway. They're better than Cecil's. (Sorry Cecil's. Although, dollar for dollar, I'd choose Cecil's $8 sandwich to Mort's $13 one. And Cecil's latkes were much better overall). They're better than Rye (I'm not sorry, Rye). I don't care if they ship the meat in from New York. It's good meat. It's cooked and flavored properly. It's a disaster to try to keep together. It's expensive, but so is Katz's in Manhattan. So in that sense, yeah, it's authentic.
03.17.2012
Harry Singh's -
South MinneapolisLamb roti, doubles
Now that Harry Singh's has taken the State Fair food building by storm, things have really changed. 30 minute waits. Line out the door. People taking pictures by the sign.
Kidding. I was the only person there. But man, what great food! I ordered the lamb roti, essentially a lamb and potato curry folded inside a big piece of roti bread that could be eaten like a sandwich, but only if you have zero shame and a mouth the size of Chaguanas. (Did you know Chaguanas is the largest city in Trinidad and Tobago!? It is!). I also ordered something called "doubles," which sounds like a game that Brooklyn kids in the 50's would play, but is in fact some chickpea curry mixture between to pieces of doughy eggy bread. Also good. So when you're at the State Fair this summer, go to the food building and get some Harry Singh's. And when you're not at the State Fair this summer, go down to Nicollett and get some Harry Singh's. Just don't take home leftover roti because it gets a bit gross.
03.15.2012
La Mixteca -
BloomingtonShredded pork
You know that creepy looking little Mexican place in the strip mall by where you live that has terrible lighting and advertises cuts of meat you've never heard of? You should go there some time. It's probably good. Not great, but at least good. La Mixteca, for instance, in a strip mall JUST on the Bloomington side of 494 (on Portland), made my night last night. They have a ton of stuff on their menu, including short ribs and pork shanks, which is a bit unusual (but compelling), as well as tongue, face, and less scary shredded pork and creamed chicken. I just had a straight-up platter of the spicy shredded pork with rice, beans, and corn tortillas, and I couldn't have asked for anything more. Great flavor, nice and tender and juicy, top notch! I will definitely be back (the barbacoa looked incredible). And like every other random strip mall Mexican place, it was served on a cafeteria-style styrofoam plate, so I'm destroying my intestinal track, and the earth!
03.14.2012
Sun Street Breads -
South MinneapolisSteak sandwich
The "Latin Cowboy", as it's called (why didn't they call it the "Gaucho"??? Wasted opportunity!), is an impressive looking plate of food. If I was judging a meal on looks alone, we're talking 10 here. Hearty looking slices of perfectly cooked steak, pristinely grilled peppers and onions, a luscious deep green chimichurri sauce, golden brown fries. That sounds like it was swiped directly from the notebook of a professional chain restaurant menu copy writer, but it's true. I could've eaten an inkjet printout of this sandwich. But since I had the real thing, I ate that instead. Low 7.
03.11.2012
Sticks -
Downtown MinneapolisShort ribs, chili
I guess you could eat at Sticks if you really wanted to. Especially if it's 1994 and you're a ball bearing salesman from Mankato on a business trip to the big city. Or if you had no choice but to buy the dinner tickets to see Marc Maron next door at the Acme Comedy Club. You could. Otherwise, you're probably better off choosing just about any other restaurant in the city.
03.07.2012
Which Wich? -
St. PaulBuffalo chicken sandwich
Oh, Highland Park, my suburban getaway in the middle of big dirty smelly urban St. Paul! As if the Smashburger wasn't enough, they've now given us Which Wich? (the question mark is theirs), a sandwich place that is sort of like Potbelly , but with 150% less whimsy. And 100% more white drywall. Other than their funky write-your-order-on-a-bag ordering system and intimidatingly large menu, there's nothing too special to report. The ingredients all seem pretty middling, the flavor profiles aren't shocking. But all in all, both sandwiches I've had satisfied me. Plus they have a TV on the wall, so I can ignore how sad the place really is. On the plus side, I'm sure the Ford plant redevelopment will give Highland Park at least two new Potbelly locations. Next to the CVS, of course.
03.03.2012
Sonora Grill -
South MinneapolisPork sandwich
So I'm at the Midtown Global Market, getting Libby a torta (because she's at home sick and I'm a really great guy), and I decide that maybe I want to get myself something other than Manny's while I'm waiting. Thinking, oh, maybe a slice of pizza of a plate of spicy caribbean gunk, I walk about ten feet and turn the corner, and bam! Sonora Grill! I hadn't seen or heard of this place before, but it was swarming with people, and the food in front of everyone looked incredible. I peek at their menu and I'm instantly sold. It's sort of South American meets Tex Mex style sandwiches, tacos, and kabobs (skewers, whatever). Chimichurri beef, turkey chorizo, pulled pork. Every last thing on their menu looked incredible. I went ahead and ordered a pulled pork sandwich, went back and picked up LIbby's measly torta, and took it to go. And if this isn't high praise, I don't know what is: I ate it all before I even pulled out of my parking spot to take it home. Delicious! Moist. Tender. Perfectly seasoned. Good fries with a sort of herb mayo. It's like if Brasa opened up a sandwich shop... but more sloppy, less fussy. I'm sure Libby enjoyed her Manny's (it's good! I'm not belittling Manny's!). But I know where I'm going to eat for at least the next four times I go to the Midtown. Maybe I'll go back tonight.
03.02.2012
Krung Thep -
Uptown MinneapolisNoodles, sausages, pork stuff
Hi everybody! Welcome to Music and Food, the site through which I give you my opinions about music and food! After a 6 month layoff where I no longer cared about giving you my opinions about music and food, here we are! Mostly I just wanted an excuse to teach myself some Jquery and AJAX, thus all the pointless bells and whistles you'll see on this new site (check out those arrows up and to the right!). Anyway. Krung Thep! I haven't eaten there in a couple months, but I figured I had to at least get it on the record on my first post back that Krung Thep, a new Thai place on Eat Street (by the owners of some famous Thai deli in St. Paul), is the real deal. Maybe right up there with Sen Yai Sen Lek. Maybe even better. Really. Really? Really.