1st- brit's pub, minneapolis
8th- vincent a restaurant, minneapolis
17th- murray's, minneapolis
22nd- suzette, jordan
24th- grand city buffet, st. louis park
29th- mix fusion bistro, eden prairie
1st- brit's pub, minneapolis (b)
i was once more too lazy to pack a dinner or go elsewhere before pub quiz. so i got a cheese toastie (aka grilled cheese) with the cup of soup ($8.95). i swapped out the menu-listed tomato for cock-a-leekie, and not just because it had a more amusing name, but because i was in the mood for chicken soup. they use real chicken and such- i think they make it there. and it's very good in winter, especially when you feel under the weather. the sandwich was nice, too. just right.
8th- vincent a restaurant, minneapolis (c-)
though the dining room is still good, or at least it was a few months back, but the bar here, a sometimes iffy proposition, well... let's just say with the addition of a television, reduction in the happy hour length, and the selection of happy hour items i am not so sure i will be eating in the bar again for a good long time.
plus i hate the overly tall tables they choose for it. it wasn't that busy, why they didn't let the two of us use the empty the whole time we were there four-top i will never know- there were also several other tables that remained empty during this time- it's not like anyone would've had to wait. it was not that busy- no one came in the bar to eat while we were there.
i figured service (sometimes a problem in the bar, especially when busy) may be ok, what with the lack of parade or concert nearby... and it was decent. but the server (not the guy at the bar who's been there years) was one of those people who don't seem to be present in their job. like they're playing the role of server. it's not that they were bad- after overhearing my mom liked lots of ice in her water, they brought her a new glass chock full of it, for example, and they recalculated the bill so that we may use the buy one get one (more or less) certificate we had, as, they're not valid during happy hour (they had something not valid during other promotions so it was cheaper to use menu prices).
perhaps i would've been less irked about things here if i hadn't have just gone to my new favorite local place for french food and french fries- meritage. because the fries here ($5 for the bowl mom got, $3 at happy hour) were pale and as soon as they cooled off in the slightest, not that good. i went with their version of poutine for mine ($7, $4 at happy hour), which added cheese curds and green peppercorn sauce to the pale fries. and unlike mom's fries, it was cold when i got it, with the cheese just a wee bit melted.
ick. so i asked them to heat them up, the server said they would make a new one... and i am not so sure they did that because what came back was pale fries with overly melted cheese wilted into a pile of sauce. i think they just heated it up. it is not something i'd order ever again and it wasn't good where the cheese was not.
mom's frenchy hot dog ($6, $4 at happy hour) is the best plated hot dog ever- it came with a pile of colorful pickled veg and a shot glass of dijon mustard. it's a kosher beef hot dog baked in baguette, cut in sections with points, and served points up on a long plate. nice looking, tasted fine, but needed something in there with the beef and bread to make a bit more interesting.
the main reason why i was in the bar, by the way, is that i wanted to try to mini duck burgers, served with shoestring potaotes ($11). the shoestring potatoes- also cold. i didn't eat them or tell them they were cold. i figured the poutine would be enough. they were also served with pickles. and they needed something on the buns. the hoisin sauce mentioned in the menu description may be in the burger itself, which was tasty enough. it was a bit of a letdown.
i did at least have a nice beverage, kir royale ($9, $5 during happy hour). and after overhearing it was my birthday, they brought out a dessert with a candle and 'happy birthday' on the plate (they said to make up for the disappointing poutine), the three creams ($8), with a mini crème caramel that seemed to have a bit of booze in the sauce, a mini not too-sweet (the way i like it) crème brûlée and a chocolate pot de crème served in a tiny espresso cup. that was the best thing served to either of us for the meal- the thing we didn't order.
17th- murray's, minneapolis (c-)
i should've listened to the voices in my head telling me to get the truffled mushroom and humboldt fog cheese on garlic toast app instead of a dinner. they were probably right. instead both mom and i (it was her birthday dinner pick) went with the three course early bird menu- for $19.95 you pick from a predetermined selection of appetizers, main courses and a side, and a dessert.
the bread basket was nice- the garlic toast was just as mom remembered from her days of eating here for special occasions when she worked downtown many decades ago. i liked the pretzel and the white roll, also. the balls of butter are a nice touch.
my trouble hit early- for the first course you get a soup, salad, or onion rings. apparently they fry everything on one machine... so since crab cakes are done there, i couldn't the o-rings, which was my preference. so i got the soup of the day, tomato basil. when i got it, i noticed some darker pieces of things floating in it, which i suspected were bacon- something i never thought to inquire about before i ordered, as i have never ever seen it in tomato basil soup before. it's always been a vegetarian item.
after having to ask the runner where the server went, they finally made their way over to the table... just as mom was finishing her salad. when they said it was indeed bacon... i asked if i could swap it for a salad. it was only then that the server thought... oh, some people may not eat bacon. and yes, i could.
the salad was probably one of the better standard dinner salads in town (mixed greens, three cherry tomatoes, a few cucumber slices and red onion slices) with good dressing, but dinner salads are the most boring option. not what i wanted by far.
second course, i went with the broiled salmon (instead of the chicken picata), which was done right. a bit more done than i like, but most people don't like it as rare as it do. i went with spaetzle for a side, it was inoffensive and... there. i added a bit of sour cream (mom had a baked potato), salt and pepper. it helped remotely.
mom ordered a medium sirloin 8 oz steak and got something close to rare, maybe medium rare. she still thought it was good, but from what happened when the server checked in, it didn't seem like they had placed the order for medium... after i asked mom if she was going to mention it during the 'check in' a few minutes after starting the main course, she said no. then the server came back saying (paraphrase)... oh, you wanted it medium, should we redo/cook more for you?
the chocolate cake mom had for dessert was a bit cold and didn't hold together well. my warm bread pudding and whiskey sauce was more like a dessert french toast but was the tastier of the options. (no one opted for the creme brulee).
per mom, back in the day they had the old-school classic stick-around forever career servers. our server was the opposite of that- amateurish at best, perhaps just hired after never having worked in the job before. they didn't even seem to know the menu. yet another place where service was not up to the price points for this place, i found it interesting that what looked to be managers just walked by my table after witnessing my sitting there with soup growing cold and mom and i scanning the room fruitlessly for our server. the bread/water/table cleaning was the only bright spot.
mom mentioned the room is much brighter than it was before, and not just because of the holiday decorations. it used to be more clubby- red and black, with booths along the walls. now it's cream highlights and generic furniture. the lighting fixtures fit well in there, but it doesn't have a sense of specific place.
having cause to see the menu a while back, i've wanted to go here for a while. it seems kind of different from most places to eat in scott county- more minneapolis in menu, if you will. so two of us made it for a joint birthday celebration.
we split the portabella mushroom with chicken mousse to start ($7.95 i think, i don't have the receipt or a menu to go from)- the mousse was made up like a stem (with a carrot in the middle) to the cooked mushroom. interesting plating, though a bit difficult to split. i liked the mushroom, but wasn't quite sure how to eat it all together with the mousse.
dinner comes with soup or salad. we both went with the (bacon-less, see above) tomato-basil soup. it smelled nice but we both thought it may be based on tomato paste or have some in there. the flavor was a bit unbalanced. it came with a roll. i would've liked more rolls, not just because i am great friends with bread, but also because it was tasty. i suppose i could've asked...
my main course was the duck in bordelaise off the specials menu that came with a bit of perfectly al dente veg (we were told asparagus, but think they ran out- we had one spear plus a few green beans) and some decent mashed potatoes ($21.95). for me, if everything else had been awful (it wasn't), the duck would make it work it for me... i've not had duck cooked that well in ages (and have stopped ordering it quite so much just for that reason). so that alone made it worth the trip.
though my friend also was appreciative of the crab cake dinner- they had about 4-5 with the same accomapniments, and it was about $13 or $14.
i don't recall seeing any crepes on the dessert menu, depite the name of the place. we did split a dessert napoleon for two (i believe it was $7.95), which is their signature dessert- vanilla pudding and whipped cream, fresh berries, kiwi, and banana between two bits of puff pastry, dusted with powdered sugar. pretty good, and for large-sized dessert (even half of it) it was quite light.
the bill came to about $30 each, which for what was a three course meal, it way reasonable. but then again, we were in the middle of nowhere in what we were pretty sure was a former bridgemans- they have hidden it as much as possible, though they still have the blue booths and touches of blue paint on white. but you don't think bridgemans when you get in, it's a bit more dressed up yet stil casual (perfect for minnesota, no?).
as most people think... this is very unexpected in the middle of nowhere. but hey, at least there's a nice place for birthdays in that area,
24th- grand city buffet, st. louis park (b)
our usual chinese buffet place is now permamently closed (i found that out a few days ago, and can't say i'm surprised). i ended up picking this one based on proximity, decent enough reviews online and also because whenever i've passed the place in the past, it's pretty packed.
unlike szechuan star, where they had one steam table and the buffet was $12 or so, this one you pay a a couple bucks more ($14 or so) but you get about 4 times the amount of selections, including a mongolion bbq style station and sushi. and lots of things that i'm sure are very popular that i can't eat- tons of shrimp and shrimp dishes, plus crab legs, plus most of the sushi, for that matter. and there's also a bunch of random american food, so the one person who may hate chinese food in buffets can cope.
my only disappointment was the lack of cream cheese wontons. yes, not anything authentic, but hey, i love them. they did have cream cheese stuffed buns which were nice, though a bit sweet. but i started with a bowl of the rich, noncornstarch-tasting egg drop soup and a few things from the 'fried' area- onion rings, vegetarian egg rolls, and chicken. they were all pretty good, especially when sauced. i didn't select any of the two kinds of fries, chicken wings, etc., available there.
i stupidly went to the mongolian bbq station next. i had to wait a while... not that there was anyone in line, but the dude wanted to finish making sushi first. but that wasn't the stupid part- i didn't think that hey, they cook shellfish there too. i did end up with an itchy tongue, i put it down to that. (go, team benadryl!) anyway, the choices were ok, but they hadn't filled in the pineapple and a few other selections, plus there's no peanuts. i did add the addictive stir-fry peanuts they had elsewhere too it. and it was undersauced i wouldn't go this route next time. though it is probably a healthier option than much.
after that i did a small sampling of a few other items. the lo mein was good, the peanut butter chicken was no match for my peanut butter and jelly chicken but an interesting idea- mom also thought the chicken dishes were generally pretty good, she sampled a few. the octopus was rubbery. the garlic bread was surprisingly tasty.
i avoided most of the baked desserts you see in a lot of buffet places, like the napoleons. i was surprised to see palmiers- they were not that sweet (which i liked, but most people may not). the egg custard was in a very adorable tiny pie tin but not really that good. the vanilla ice milk was good with the stir-fry peanuts (loved those, still) and pineapple.
it's not as huge as some of the buffet places, which i also liked. i'm not fond of the massive, can't find your way back to your chair through the maze of people and rooms concepts. the plate removal and water refill was done well. we were satisfied with our venture here.
29th- mix fusion bistro, eden prairie (b)
something a bit different on the eden prairie scene- a french/asian (well, fusion, no?) upscale place. it's where pastrami jack's used to be. they kept the booths, but recovered them in purple, painted it, removed the pickle bar and such, and redid the lighting. it doesn't look like a deli.
but... wasn't it a different restaurant before that too? is this one of those cursed restaurant spots? not that i didn't like it, but there were a total of 8 people in for dinner, which is about what jack's had, plus i am guessing they did a larger breakfast and lunch trade. i'm surprised they've lasted this long with this concept in the spot, really. i'm surprised anything there lasts, it's in an obscure part of town,
we had a restaurant.com gift certificate for $25 off $35 (which i probably got for $5 or less), so we ordered a few more things than we usually do. i started with a very fine coconut tomato basil bisque ($3 for a cup), which seems to be my soup theme of the month. you could taste the basil and the coconut milk added something new to the dish.
mom got a cup of the chicken wild rice soup that used their black rice risotto in it (soup of the day, same price for a cup) after asking if it had anything dairy in it, and they said no. when she asked again when it hit the table, looking very creamy, the server then asked the chef and found out it did have dairy in it. um, better to check with the chef before serving, no? this way it's wasted.
we split the fried calamari that came with garlic parmesan aioli with chili oil ($8) which leaned towards rubbery and slightly underfried. still edible, just not as good of a dish as the rest of the food. i liked the sauces served with it. and the plating was quite nice- served with a bit of mixed greens.
freshly baked french bread was brought to the table with some whipped honey butter. loved the butter. the bread was underdone in a few spots inside, but had an awesome crust. though apparently they do get it elsewhere and either bake or heat it there. i wonder where it comes from... i'd like more of both the bread and butter.
for the main course, mom had the rice noodle 'pad thai' (their quotes, not mine) with bean sprouts, scallions, egg, tofu and crushed peanuts ($12 for chicken in it, you also have the option of shrimp or steak for more money). it was light on scallions and peanuts, plus had a few other things not usually seen in pad thai, like quite a bit of carrot. but it was flavorful and mom liked it.
i had read a review someplace that recommended the ratatouille. mine had basil, lemongrass, jalapenos, herb rice, peas, edamame/soy beans, squash, mushrooms (and possibly other veg i forgot) and coconut curry sauce. you can also get it with a garlic soy-sherry wine sauce ($14 for the chicken version, shrimp or steak again spendier). the curry version was recommended and the sauce? was awesome. they were spot on there. the veg were all cooked perfectly. way mad tasty, eve if it was not what you think about when you think 'ratatouille.'
portions were ample- both mom and i took enough home for another dinner. the server seemed, as hinted at, not someone who's been doing it for ages, but was ok (slow on water refills, which is odd for what was 4 tables at maximum)- it wasn't offputting, let's put it that way. i also enjoyed the soundtrack- a fiona apple album (one of her later ones) followed by a later r.e.m. album (when they were still a four-piece). anyway, for the area, a nice addition. i do hope it lasts...
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