3rd- dosa king, blaine
5th- spice thai cuisine,savage
11th- brit's pub, minneapolis
16th- nick and eddie, minneapolis
21st- el azteca, apple valley
26th- maynard's, excelsior
29th- depot tavern, minneapolis

3rd- dosa king, blaine (a-)

the lunch buffet here ($7.95 i believe) had some of the most complex curries and condiments that i recall ever having at any indian restaurant, and many items i've never seem before on a menu, let alone a buffet. this could be because they're all vegetarian (and many of the items seemed vegan, but you never know what has ghee without asking) or they're cooking out of a different region than most other places. but it works.

as mentioned, even the condiments- tamarind sauce, raita, mint and coconut chutneys- had flavors that were bright and stood out, like they added something, or used really fresh ingredients and made them there. you could taste tamarind, mint and coconuts, for instance. a lot of time these things are muted and seem to come out of jars. well, i've never seen coconut chutney on a buffet before. that i liked most with the kheer, which also had pistachios you could taste and was fresh and cold.

since the place is named after them you better make sure your dosa is good. you get one with the buffet- ours had potato and cauliflower (aloo gobi maybe? who knows) in a tasty, thin crepe. and yes, worth the name. i had one of the two soups (a spicy tomato), iddly (steamed rice and lentil patties)- that's more about texture and i liked these, veggie pakora that could've been a shade warmer but were still crispy and had wonderful texture, papadum (yes, more lentil things), and whole wheat paratha.

they had nothing with paneer, so i was disappointed in that (cheese freak than i am), and not a lot of dal items, which was surprising- no curries with lentils or chickpeas or anything. few potato dishes (one curry, one not that was more of a side dish) curries with okra, a mixed veg, and a few other that i forgot. they had white rice, a cold white rice dish that reminded me of kheer only thicker and savory, and lemon rice with nuts, seeds, and a bunch of other things.

this used to be a pizza place and still kind of looks it- the decor leaves something to be desired (as does the restroom). but i liked having a buffet i didn't have to ask questions about (re: things i can't or don't eat) that had a bunch of new things that were excellent. worth it, and vegetarians would love it.

5th- spice thai cuisine, savage (c)

admittedly i forgot to check to see i should've had the curry v. the pad thai but it has been slightly under a half decade since i've eaten here, it seems. the lunch specials are $7.49 now- in 2005, they were $6. still seems reasonable. with everything but the pad thai, you get your choice of starter, an entree and white or fried rice.

i forgot that the cheese puffs don't travel well (we got it to go- there was a line so it took a while, i was told). they were still edible, just not optimal. they serve them with a sweet, clear sauce. the pad thai had a few pieces of chicken, a few bits of onion, not a lot of sauce, a few sprouts and a tiny amount of peanuts, besides noodles. not a lot of flavor, not enough veg or chicken. i should've maybe turned up the heat a bit for a medium, my usual go. perhaps that would've helped a bit.

11th- brit's pub, minneapolis (c+)

another i'm too lazy to go anywhere before pub quiz dinner at brit's, plus i wanted soup again, so once more with the cup of cock-a-leekie (tee hee) ($2.95)- it was a bit cold and barley packed. i also split some items off the off the happy hour menu ($5.95 each): cod pieces (again, tee hee), which were also bit cold (but not barley packed) but decent enough, some surprisingly good and not cold chicken fingers (crispy, not greasy, and the meat was real, served with an ok ranch dressing and a not so good bbq sauce), and the warmish chips (meh) and curry (nice).

maybe i should be less surprised when things aren't awful here? oh, and we had the good server (i think there may be only one or two here that we've run into) so that was all good.

16th- nick and eddie, minneapolis (f)

extra-bad restaurant karma here- so many bad and wrong things, ending with the most dick move ever by a restaurant. a partial list:

• after many minutes of a while of standing at the door and being told by many many people someone would seat us soon, the first person who told us that finally took pity on us and showed us to a table (they were not a host or a server or manager).
• we order. i get tea. they bring a teacup to the table. not only does it have dirt on it, it has chunks (plural) of stuff on it. i think they wash that rather than just get me the next one in the stack, so not sure if all were like that or what.
• it takes 25 mintes for a pancake and hashbrowns to get to the table. that is too long. as is the wait for a hot water refill for the tea.
• during this time i decide to head to the restroom. i'll be a bit delicate and say it needed cleaning badly. plus it was freezing and the towel thing was broken.
• i notice the pancake is burnt along about half the edge. and hard and crispy. i ask for syrup or something like that to cover the burned bits and make it easier to eat the dry pancake (it had some dried fruit and a bit of what i think was apple butter on it, but not much- i can't be specific as of course the online menu is old). first they argue it isn't burned (which i thought odd, as usually pancakes aren't black on the surface at any point. this one clearly was), then they say they don't have syrup or anything remotely like it. finally they ask me if i wanted something else.
• i re-order. i ask for a cheese omelet because i thought it'd be quick. meantime, the hashbrowns we order are brought to the table. the top is crispy, the other side is pale and vaguely warm. i eat them anyway, as i was getting peckish. (they do ask mom if she wanted anything while i was eating and did bring her something, so there's that one tiny bit, but at first forget to mention it's on the house so it just looked like upselling.)
• the omelet comes. it's rubbery. meh. (the bialy is fine, though. as are the homefries).
• now the dick move- noticing the bill didn't contain the tea, i tell mom to point it out because i wouldn't not point it out. no reason not to be honest. the server, the server does say something like 'oh, yeah, we took it off because of the problems you were having...' but doesn't leave it at that... and adds 'but we'll add it back on.' so utterly and complete a fail.

21st- el azteca, apple valley (a-)

since it's hinder-numbingly cold right about now, i figure i can't get to mexico, at least i can have decent food derived from there. and hot sauce is also a good idea on days like today.

i couldn't remember what i had eaten here before, and it turns out i ordered the same thing as last time, the vegetarian selection of a spinach burrito, cheese enchalada, and mushroom quesadilla (still $7.99, they had a buy one get half off lunch special, so we got a few bucks off. nice... ). i actually like you don't get rice and/or beans with it, as i have almost no tolerance for rice in mexican restaurants ( i don't like the tomato sauce most places use) and the beans are usually just kind of there.

the only difference was the enchalada sauce was on the burrito vs. the pico de gallo-esque salsa sort of thing i had last time. it's fine though the other worked better with the spinach in it, counteracted the texture and the grassiness you can get with spinach sometimes a bit more. i ended up dunking the warm chips in the leftover sauce, also good.

they've added tableside guacamole now, though we didn't get that. the music's still a tad loud. we had a better server than last time, we did get water refills and such. (i'm upgrading due to better service and lots and lots of the mushrooms in the quesadilla. love those. they should do a spinach and mushroom burrito. i should ask about that if i remember...)

26th- maynard's, excelsior (c)

mom wanted to go here. she had been here once and remembered it well. and she had a two for one card that you had to get beverages with, so it's around $5 off or more depending on what you get (we usually don't get beverages). you can't use it during the high months, of course, when people are on the lake.

but it was still very busy for a random wendesday, with an almost-full parking lot. there was a wait when we left, too. and it still looks vaguely like a lake place restaurant even in winter- lots of windows, kind of nautical... not sure why the christmas lights were still strung around the bar... may be vague irony if they're there in summer, right now it just looks like they forgot.

from looking at the menu in advance i was thinking there would be no standout items. the menu looks generic, something for everyone sorts of crowd pleasers. mom got the pot roast dinner ($13.95) that came with mixed vegetables (carrots, red peppers and some rubbery green beans) and mashed potatoes that weren't the worst or the best ever. the pot roast was underseasoned and a bit boring, but was the correct texture. it came with a salad (or soup) to start, she went with the salad. the lettuce was a bit rubbery, i would guess it came pre-torn and pre-bagged, and the dressing a bit watered down.

my buffalo chicken sandwich ($8.95, $1 less than the buffalo chicken wrap... perhaps tortillas are spendy?) with chips was also ok, though it had some sad tomato on it. restaurants should leave those suckers off in winter. it was a pretty big sandwich and lots of chips... i refused to upgrade to fries for $1.50 as i felt i would be disappointed in them and why waste the money? they used buffalo chicken tenders instead of one chicken breast in the sandwich, which seems like a chain restaurant move. it seems like a chain restaurant only it's not, that's pretty much it.

i think we had the bad server there, not much interaction, they had a lot of help from the managers in checking in, clearing plates and such, plus all tables that they weren't waiting on had bread baskets. ours and the rest in their section did not (and it wasn't that we were only two people and only one ordered a full dinner and the other a sandwich, others in the same boat got bread... if they were served by others). denying me bread is major points off in my book.

so meh. we ate. it was ok. i guess they didn't try to kill me with shrimp or such and nothing was horrible. it could be worse.

29th- depot tavern, minneapolis (b)

a pre-concert bite to eat. i was surprised at how many people here looked like they were eating maybe pre-wolves game vs. pre-show at ave, but then again it is one of the better places around in their price range... and maybe up a few notches. i'd certainly take it at present over many nearby options, that's for sure. they're still on their game.

since i was fond of the guinness-cheese soup last time, i got a cup ($3) of it with my dinner. it cooled off a shade quickly and the croutons needed downsizing for the cup, but it still tasted very good. and it is good in winter.

i went with the 'bavarian' grilled cheese (must... have... more.. cheese), swapping kettle chips for fries ($7 for the sandwich, $1.50 for the fry upgrade). the bavarian was on a 10 grain bread and had cambozla cheese and slices of granny smith apple. it had clover honey, too, which left it a bit sticky. i would've liked more cheese (not surprising) and the sandwich to have been grilled a shade longer, but liked the flavor combo with the apple and the bread. maybe a stronger honey too? that would be good to experiment with at home.

the fries are triple-cooked and quite nice for larger fries- they're somewhere between a steak and a trad pomme frites. crispy for sure, tender inside, and almost salty enough for me, so just salty enough for most, i'd say. i think it was worth the upgrade, and not just because i'm not so fond of kettle chips. i would like to try them dipped in some sort of mayo. they do have a plate of three dipping sauces for $1- a caramelized onion ketsup, a 'cafe' aioli and a sriracha mayo, that would've been good with these.

still liking the service, too, and they were on their game with the water. and fyi- the restroom is well worth a stop before you head to ave, despite the weirdly small airplane sort of sink.

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