1st- little tijuana, minneapolis
4th- pablo's, shakopee
4th- red lobster, bloomington
13th- big 10, hopkins
18th-fhima's, st. paul (guest review)
19th- szechuan star, edina
21st- leeann chin's, maplewood
21st- restaurant alma, minneapolis (guest review)
26th- snuffy's malt shop, edina
1st-little tijuana, minneapolis (a)
it's 1 am. you want food. greasy (in a good way), hot, fast, inexpensive food.
go here.
it's real mexican, none of that chi chi's taco bell chipotle crap. and the music simply kicks ass. and they're crayons to play with.
it's all good.
strangely, most of the stuff here had no flavor, after someone assured me it was spicy (as in hot). perhaps i am now more used to spice, as i tasted nothing in most of the meal. the salsa, good, though extremely watery, but not spicy. beans, not spicy. burrito, not spicy. and i've come to expect more than meat and cheese in a burrito. but that did explain why the pile o'lettuce and tomato were on the plate. the chips were blah.
4th-red lobster, bloomington (b)
the b is more for the service than the food. it was one of those times when the server is so on that you have to work at getting your water glass more than half empty before it's topped up again, bread products are brought to the table before you run out, and plates are removed seamlessly.
alas, the food. the tiny shrimp, usually chewy, tasted great. everything else... not so much great. the scallops were tiny and a bit chewy, the crab tasteless. perhaps i have no taste buds left, or they are only responding to really hot stuff (see above... maybe i am just getting food with no taste...). anyway... flounder, boring as usual, salmon was ok, shrimp pasta so so. the baked potato was bad (not as in rotten, but as in not tasting good). not a good sign, that. the 'cheddar bay' (that's in vermont, right?) biscuits were better than i've tasted.
anyway, don't come here for the food.
better than last time, though the fries a bit worse. turkey sub, good. someone i was with ordered onion rings, i had a few, they were acceptable. (mainstreet does 'em better). service was good.
though i thought it was a bit weird that the server, who was younger than i, kept calling me 'hon,' in the traditional diner way (unless they thought i was german and called me 'hun' though that seems a bit tenuous). no one else at the table got called that. huh.
18th-fhima's, st. paul- a guest review (a-)
my first visit was within weeks of their opening and i was hesitant to return. the service hadn't worked smoothly and the food was not good, my risotto tasted as if they'd used tap water instead of stock. overall a disappointment. however, invited to return by friends who'd reserved the chef's table, i found fhima's much improved.
the chef's table is in a semi-private alcove, surrounded on 3 sides by a clear 20 foot tall u-shaped wine cellar stocked full w/ fabulous wine from all over the world. the chef's table does not order off the standard restaurant menu. instead chef de cuisine jeremy lafond (yes, he is related to the famous vintner and deli owner pierre lafond of santa barbara) comes to your table and talks to your group about likes, dislikes, allergies and such.he then prepares a unique menu just for your group, each course a surprise until it's brought to the table. we had a vegetarian in our group and jeremy prepared similar but unique dishes just for her, accommodating her dietary restrictions without enforcing them on the rest of the table. dinner at the table is $75 per person, not including the wine pairing that can be added at a budget chosen by your group, we opted for $50 per person for wine.
and now, the dinner...aperitif: a lovely glass of crisp champagne started the meal (a)
primi: lobster risotto paired with a chardonnay from the marlborough region of new zealand. i cannot say enough about the lobster risotto. it was perfect, not chewy and not mushy. delicate and rich with nice chunks of lobster throughout, one of the most...no, the most memorable and amazing risotto i've ever had, and i really love risotto. the chardonnay chosen by josie, our server, was a fat, buttery chard, uncharacteristic of new zealand chards but a great match w/ the fat, buttery lobster risotto. (a++)
secondi: baked brie over mixed greens w/ sun dried tomato vinaigrette and pistachios accompanied by a lovely tavel by e. guigal from the rhone region. the tavel was a lovely dry yet chewy rosé from the rhone region of france. if there's one place in the world that can produce a great rose it is southernfrance. these rosés aren't cloying and sweet like american blush wines. even if you hate white zin, give this rosé a chance. especially complimentary to our salad course, it accented the tomato in the vinaigrette perfectly. (a)
intermezzo: blackberry sorbet - handmade fruit sorbet, cleansed the palate and was a nice touch, a lot of restaurants leave out the intermezzo now and it really does clear the way for the flavors of the entree. (a)
entree: black angus t-bone with fried onion crisps, potato tartin and mango demi glace. this course was accompanied by two wines, a bonny doon le cigare volant and then a barbera d'asti. this is the cause for the minus. while others steaks were perfectly tender, mine was chewy. not tough, but not as tender as my hubby's. for that, they lost points. the potato tartin was wonderful, perfectly cooks and i can still remember the mango demi glace, 3 days later....that's definitely a good sign. did i mention that this was a full size steak? quite a surprise, typically tasting menus provide small portions of each course, not so here. (b+)
dessert: this was the fun part. Each person received a dessert and instructions: take a bite and pass it along. not much fun for hygiene fanatics, but lots of fun for friends who don't mind sharing. the stars were the crème brule and the run raisin cheesecake, but no dessert was left unfinished. the desserts were paired with a 5 outanyos tokay from Hungary, which was unfortunately scrumptious, as this is not something i can afford to take too much of a liking to. (a)
finale: after all that food a cheese course seemed crazy, but a few slivers of aged parmesan on a crouton with mixed greens and aged balsamic was just the right finale. (a)
Our server and wine steward, josie, provided a wealth of information on the wines and why each was selected. the staff was attentive and ensured that we were comfortable and content. (a)
the place is fabulous, the environment is very modern Scandinavian with bold splashes of color. valet parking is available for a meager $3, well worth the price for the convenience.
a bit expensive, but a memorable experience and a great way to celebrate a special occasion with a group.average was pretty much the theme note here. the food came out to average... the veggie lo mein was cold and icky, but the imperial shrimp was pretty good. the cashew chicken had noncrunchy cashews (how long did it sit out? ack.), but the cream cheese won tons were tasty... that kind of thing. (yes, i had the buffet). a lot of the food would have tasted much better if it had survived the trip from the buffet to the table (about 10 feet) in a state of being warm. the service was pretty good, so that balanaced that out. it's all a zen thing.
21st- leann chin's, maplewood (d+)
the food wasn't great (yes, it is too much to ask for to have nonchewy cashews in the cashew chicken, see above), and the fried rice had no real taste to it, the counterperson forgot to give us our drink cups and forture cookies, and being that the place was underwhelmed with lunchers, it's not a good sign. at least we had a buy one entree get one free coupon so it was cheaper than the not good food would have been otherwise. i've had much better stuff here, i would think that it's a volume thing... more people, hotter, better food, etc.
anyway.... maybe i'm getting more adapted to hot kinds of spice, as a dish someone told me was spicy didn't taste that way to me at all. who knows. perhaps i should slam a few red pepper flakes to see what's up with that. maybe it's just a cold weather adaption.
21st- restaurant alma, minneapolis- a guest review (a)
all i can say is wow! ihad a spectacular meal last night at alma: we split two appetizers of malpeque oysters on the half shell with pickled ginger & a lovely dollop of chile oil, and a delightful twist on the typical bruschetta (chicken liver pate, apricots, bacon & sage-port wine sauce). entrees were roasted berkshire pork loin with savoy cabbage, bacon, an intriguing quince mostarda (when we asked about it, our waiter even went and picked up a whole quince from a table by the front door to let us smell it), and sherry sauce, and i had the wild acres duck breast & confit, which included orzo roasted with pumpkin and sage, sauteed kale and horseradish sauce. to top it all off, a bottle of saintsbury pinot noir and a small nouveau beaujolais tasting since it's that time of year...mmmm!
honestly one of the nicest meals i've ever had in the twin cities - our waiter was extremely knowledgeable and attentive without being domineering (oddly attractive, too, which certainly didn't hurt). the decor is airy and comfortable but still classy, and the ingredients themselves were certainly the star of the evening. so fresh, so perfectly cooked, and gorgeous presentation. loved it!26th-snuffy's malt shop, edina (b)
i really just want to put in 'see first review,' as it was pretty much the same thing, but replace 'crowded with families' for 'crowded with soccer teams.' it's better to go during off hours in the evenings and weekends and such. the second review, alas... this time it was 60's music with the 50's. 'monday monday,' of all things. a very good song, but out of place in the wanting to keep things happy as they were in the 50's that didn't exist kind of manner. weird.
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