3rd- brit's pub, minneapolis
4th- istanbul bistro, wayzata
10th- cafe twenty eight, minneapolis
18th- tuttle's, hopkins
25th- highland grill, st. paul
27th- culvers, shakopee
3rd- brit's pub, minneapolis (b+)
my hypothesis was that when in an english pub, do what the english do to get decent chow... order indian food (i tried that last time with some success). samosas- fried dough stuffed with peas and potatoes. quite good, served with a curry sauce (i think), and what they bill as cucumber raita, but is more like a relish. and hey, it worked. i couldn't decide what side i wanted, and got the fries/chips, which was stupid as i know i don't like them. (rule number one of life, n'est pas?) service was better than usual, though after the dinner (during the pub quiz) i couldn't get my water filled. but that's not dinner, so....
4th- istanbul bistro, wayzata (b-)
once again averaging food and service.
the food was pretty good. mrs. brk did not think she would enjoy her dinner so much. she got a combo plate of gyros and chicken shish kabob, with basmati rice. she went with a cup of chicken and couscous soup. all the food was seasoned well, and well-cooked... you know how kabob can get all weird on you if you do it wrong, but here, not so much.
my scallops kumkapi (pan-seared scallops with a sauce of white wine and feta) were quite good... cheese and scallops, who would've thought? but there were only six of them, and the sauce supposedly had mushrooms in it, which was barely literally true (there were two of them). with the basmati rice, it wasn't that filling. i went with the pureed red lentil soup, which was not overly thick. the pita served was good, but there wasn't much.
alas, service. they were woefully understaffed in a surprisingly filled place, and there were takeout orders, too. couldn't get beverages refilled, i had to jack some fake sugar from another table, this sort of thing. not good at all. the lunch buffet may be a more fulfilling experience, i suppose.
10th- cafe twenty eight, minneapolis (a-)
not that i revel in the misery of others- it wasn't too miserable, anyway- but i always find it amusing when someone has worse restaurant karma than i do, as it just so very rarely happens. and we had both been here before, too, for sole food. as it was not as packed (indeed, when we got there, there was one other person who left almost as soon as we sat down, then no one else showed up for about another 20 minutes), nor did we have a large group so service was easier.
and may i take a moment to say i've not had that good water service in a while- the lowest the glass got was 1/3 full. and while i'm on the subject, also points for having their menu- except for daily specials- updated and correct on their web site, complete with prices. more places should follow their example.
anyway, we had a $50 tco gift certificate to spend, so we ended up ordering a lot more than we usually do. me, i enjoyed my meal. mrs. brk, less so but still was overall pleased.
mrs, brk and i split the guacamole with red and green salsa, queso fresco and sour cream. it came with corn tortilla chips that they fry in-house, which tasted like giant fritos, but in a good way. alas, mrs. brk does not like spicy (she is minnesotan, don'tchaknowyoubetcha) foods, and everything in the sauce category was a bit on the spicy side for her. we both liked the very good bread, though.
after that, i had a bowl of the tomato black bean soup. though mrs. brk preferred sunday's soup, i liked this one better- you could taste each ingredient while it worked as a whole. it was fresh and light, which is not something that you get in many warm soups.
though many of the entrees looked good (and very seasonally appropriate), i went with a pizza. which mrs. brk recalled i had last time, but the portabella mushroom, blue cheese and caramelized onion one looked tasty. the mushrooms were very flavorful, and there were lots of them. the crust could've stood to be a bit crisper, but i was very happy with it. (most of it i took home... i was getting kind of full by that point).
mrs. brk went with the rockfish special with a gratin of potatoes and green beans, and that was the opposite order of how good the things were. the green beans were great- i don't recall ever having green beans that good. i think they were grilled or oven roasted- crisp with a bit of char. i mean- how often do you rave about green beans? the potatoes gratin, also quite good, with some very nice cheese. the fish, alas, was underseaoned. or maybe not seasoned at all- i couldn't detect any salt or pepper or lemon. kind of disappointing. plus there were a few missed bones.
for dessert, we went with the apple crisp served with a scoop of sebastian joe's vanilla ice cream. i had mostly the ice cream while mrs. brk went for the crisp, which was not so crisp, and kind of on the not-warn side.
all and all, a tasty repast with good service- that so rarely happens to me.
better food, worse service, so it stays about the same. after i went to the bar to refill my water glass, we got a pitcher, but it had sat empty for a quarter hour before that. don't know if we had a new person or what... it took 15 minutes or so, also, to find out what the soup of the day was (and may i say that one of the selections... pork fajita soup... is just an odd concept). so that sucked.
not sure why mrs. brk wanted to go back here, but i do recall wanting to get there before 6 to try something on their happy hour menu, the mac and cheese wedges... aka deep fried mac and cheese bits. lovely. crisp on the outside, cheese inside. i wanted to get a salad, but apparently dinner salads don't count as an entree on the two for one, so i got a portobello mushroom 'burger.' said it was giant, but the bun outmeasured it by half an inch around. anyway, it had artichoke dip and cheese on it, so it wasn't bad. i remembered to avoid the fries. the chips were really got with ketsup- better than most. odd, that.
anyway, though, with the so-called non-smoking section right next to the smoking, and the air system not the best, not sure we'll be back soon.
25th- highland grill, st. paul (b+)
mrs. brk went out for lunch instead of dinner tonight. it's good to shake up routines now and then.
though i like the spaciousness of the longfellow and edina grills (though i've not seen the new edina location), this one is the same thing only smaller. i went with the grilled cheese with chutney, which i thought i hadn't had before, but it turns out i had it at longfellow. who knew. it's still quite good, though still not the best in town. it's cheddar, cotswold and chutney on grilled sourdough. i got the sweet potato fries with chipotle peanut pesto aioli on the side. quite good, but i expected them to be crisper. i paired it with the fresh-squeezed lemonade, which was nice and tart. though for some reason i got a refill of iced tea in it. i'll live.
mrs. brk went with the basic burger, a 6 oz. burger patty with lettuce, roasted tomato and mayo, which she liked so much she ate the whole thing (usually she's the 'eat half, save half' kind of person). she got cole slaw on the side, as her restaurant club had gone to longfellow not too long ago where someone pronounced it great, but it was just pretty good.
besides the tea for lemonade, the service was pretty decent. it was busy enough so we couldn't get a booth.
i recall not being into the chicken sandwich before, but as i had a coupon for a free meal (sandwich, fries, drink), i figured... why not. and then when i ate, i remembered why not... my meal, except for the pickle, didn't really taste like anything. blackened chicken wasn't spicy, the roll tasted... well, like bland white bread, and the crinkle cut fries were kinda potato-tasting. it was like eating nothing, only not. boring, bland. not horrible, but what passes for average.
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