2nd- the scoreboard, minnetonka
9th- rainbow chinese, minneapolis
12th- dickey's barbecue pit, shakopee
15th- dangerfield's, shakopee
16th- heidi's, minneapolis
23rd- lone spur, minnetonka
26th- grand city buffet, st. louis park

2nd- the scoreboard, minnetonka (a)

ok, well, the salad bar i always get here, most of it was the same as usual. (reminder- when i don't get the salad bar here, it's never pretty). they refill it, it has some nice choices for a smaller salad bar. neither soup was for me (pork, crab). the breadsticks were warm and decent. i always like the soft-serve ice cream with toppings. service was pretty good.

but what made the visit excellent was the surprisingly great chicken thighs on the salad bar (they always have a hot entree)- grilled perfectly (which is really hard to do without drying things out) and seasoned very well on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. they sized them to be slightly larger than chicken wings, and it was only the one bone in there, and they were so much better than chicken wings (though i did try them in the blue cheese dressing which actually kind of distracted me from the flavor, though something like famous dave's rich and sassy barbeque sauce would make them even better, i'd guess). i would like to see those on the menu or something, those i would risk not ordering the salad bar to get.

9th- rainbow chinese, minneapolis (d with a bonus 'meh')

ok, so when the dish is called chicken with nuts and the menu description lists no less than three kinds of nuts in it ("chicken with peanuts, cashews, peas, carrots, diced water chestnuts, & bamboo shoots, garnished with honey glazed walnuts," $12)?

that's right, mofos... i want nuts like it's a squirrel's birthday, not three half walnuts total. getting just that is bad and wrong. and going back and adding them? makes the chicken chewy which doesn't help the brown brownness that was this dish. it looked and tasted brown.

even with the nuts, i didn't get any bamboo shoots, and the peas seemed frozen. it just brown and boring, nothing soood out, there was nothing to bring the ingredients into one harmonious whole. i am not sure why this dish is on the menu at all and it didn't taste seasoned at all, except for a bit of heat. seriously, i was so down on this dish that i didn't want to take it home to fix the leftovers. it was just umpressive.

and this is nothing like i remember from when we went here for restaurant club, when we were all pretty impressed with the freshness of the food and the service. here? no water refills without asking even when the glass was empty when the server set the appetizer down- it was a dump and run, no chance to ask.

the egg rolls we started with (two large ones for $4) were pretty good. that was before it went all downhill. and mom liked her hunan triple crown ("shrimp, chicken, & beef with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, baby corn, bamboo shoots, & bell peppers in a spicy sauce" $17).

at least we had a groupon, $15 for $30 of dinner. and by the way my leftovers were boxed up vs. my mom's, i bet the server didn't think i'd be the one paying the check. pretty much most of the whole dining experience was disheartning. and i could make the stuff they gave me better at home.

12th- dickey's barbecue pit, shakopee (c+)

well, the turkey was good. that much is for sure. i had the one meat plate (because it was not clear if i could get a sandwich with not pork) which turns out to be the same as a sandwich only more expensive and with fewer toppings and what looked to be less meat. either way you get two sides.

that i don't get. anyway, if i go again i'll ask for the sandwich. but i digress. the plate was about $9, the sandwich a buck or two less. (we did have a card that saved a few bucks- buy a plate, get one free, but you have to get beverages which are about $2.25ish.)

the roll on the plate was fine, though they offered no butter. so i used it to make my own sandwich with a bit of the slaw. don't know if i just chose the sides badly, or all sides are not so good. the better of the two was the mac and cheese was about the same as kfcs, only less cheesy (cheezy?).

the cole slaw was significantly less tasty, even on the 'sandwich.' it was billed as creamy, but was missing the mayo or whatever it was that was supposed to make it so. it didn't even have the hint of sweetness that kfcs has. i'd try other sides before i'd go for the mac again, i wouldn't reorder the coleslaw.

maybe the sweetness went into their sweet bbq sauce- that tasted more like pancake syrup of all things. very maple indeed, which is not what i think when i think bbq sauce. that was really bad and wrong. the original flavor was fine, i didn't try the hot and spicy. and the sauces were very thin, they seemed kind of watered down. that just may be their bbq tradition from wherever the chain came from.

i enjoyed the free pickles (probably too much), though they could've been more dill. or garlicky. just a tad. and the free ice cream tasted a bit more like ice milk, but it was fine. a nice touch. and the service was quite good, which was nice. it was counter service and bus your own plates, so i refilled my own beverage. ha.

oddly it was kind of the opposite of famous dave's- i tend to enjoy their sides (especially the cornbread muffin and the steak fries when hot) and i love their 'rich and sassy' bbq sauce, but don't think their chicken is anything impressive, and they don't have turkey. can these two places merge so i can have one great bbq dinner?

15th- dangerfield's, shakopee (c+)

hey, it was quite a bit less crappy than last time. in part because it was a smaller group of people (for work, though... otherwise? i'd never come here again), and in part because i just stuck with soup.

the southwestern chicken soup of the day ($4.49 for a bowl), which was kind of like queso dip only a soup and with chicken chunks. i've had worse cheese soup, at least it wasn't floury. though that may be because it was velveeta or the like. it did taste more like cheeze than cheese but i couldn't tell 100%. it could just be meh cheddar. and i got a popover to start, like everyone else did, but also another one with the soup. weird, but i went with it.

service was mixed, mostly because the first server got busy and ignored our table (and also completely reeked of cologne, a big fail even when you're not as allergic as i am... my stance remains i want to smell the food, not the server). a bit too late in the proceedings, they handed us off to a much better server. who was also nicer and wasn't scented. still didn't like the plate auctions, though.

16th- heidi's, minneapolis (a-)

ok, it is a bit weird that the server we had remembered me from the last time i was there in may. and i wasn't even one of their tables that night. and it's also a bit weird that i was here at all considering the whole odd and uncomfortable thing that went down last time i was here- i was so certain that i wouldn't be back that i gave away the gift card i got last time i was here. but... then mom wanted to try the place. and we had $25 off. so i went with mom.

and the old server that was a bit off? not there (at least not this evening). hopefully not working there anymore at all. it wasn't the place for them. the new server, besides remembering me, was a bit busy at times but knew the menu and had the correct personality for the job, though did take off once or twice after asking a question, not waiting for the answer. the host made sure water glasses were filled, so there wasn't a problem with that either. they were quite good on the service tip, though a few of the waiting times for bread were a bit long, and some of the breads were on the cold side.

i went with a few different things off the apps and such list- it was mostly a different menu from last time. i wasn't feeling so much feeling 'entree' wanted to try a few new things. though as i liked it last time, i went with the eggless benedict again (still $4) to start. though it didn't have the novelty value of last time, it was still quite tasty.

woodman has gotten so much better over time using new techniques not for their own sake, but for the sake of the dish. the caviar sundae ($9) was a perfect example of that- it was listed as 'scrambled egg “ice cream” and local caviar' and it had microgreens and a few edible flowers on it, the plating was very unusual and interesting.

the eggs were rich and smooth and did indeed look like scrambled eggs, the caviar salty, and it was all served on a block of ice with a very nice pattern in it. and yes, it tasted like scrambled eggs, too, but with smoother texture. i'm thinking that had nitro written all over it, very heston blumenthal. it does shoot to probably number two on my ice cream list, after the morel, but before the squid ink. weird, yet true. (see: i am generally not a dessert person.)

and i will say this, the butternut squash soup was probably the only version i will ever have that is not remotely like any other butternut squash soup ever, in a good way ($8). the menu description was 'spicy butternut squash and potato soup, toasted pepitas, brussels sprouts, drizzled with banyuls vinegar & plum oil.' probably the best-smelling soup i've ever come across. the squash was more of a broth than a puree or anything. the sprouts and cubed potatoes added interesting textures. it was lovely. i would've liked a bit more of it, but then again i was using it for a main course replacement. i expected a few more pepitas, though (i only recall a few). and more heat, but spicy doesn't always mean heat.

mom though the lamb shank entree ($.20) was the best lamb she's ever had. 'anise scented lamb shank and a six spice rice rind with orange scented jasmine rice and salsa verde.' as with all portions here, it was smaller than most places- she usually ends up taking half her dinner home. this time she ate it all, in less time it took me to finish my soup (she liked it that much).

and quite unusually for me, we split a dessert. more unusually, it was a pastry i usually don't like- donuts. the coffee-cream filled donuts dusted with cinnamon sugar and cocoa ($8) called to me. there were three good-sized ones on the plate. maybe i knew they wouldn't be like other donuts- they weren't made with a sweet dough, nor was the filling overly sweet. the cinnamon sugar added just a bit of it. it was basically dessert for the non-sweets eater. mom was less thrilled with them.

later that evening, someone had remarked on the price points for heidi's as being among the higher in town. yes, perhaps, i said, but unlike some places, i think the ingredients and techniques they're using makes it worth the prices. i'd say the $20 for the lamb here seems way more in line and makes more sense to me than the $18 for the swiss chard cake entree i had at in season.

23rd- lone spur, minnetonka (b-)

usually i try to space trips to restaurants out a bit better. but i wanted buffalo chicken wings for dinner (and to avoid the hell out of the salad). i knew they'd probably be decent if not good and really i was too spaced on extra decongestants (yes, again. fall tries to kill me often.) to think more.

and they were quite decent. i kind of wish the blue cheese cups were easier to dunk in, but that's quibbling. the celery was real (not precut elsewhere) which was nice. the sauce was hot but not overpowering, and they were all the drummie part, which is easier to eat. it was happy hour, so they were even $3 off ($5.49), i managed about half of them. the rest will probably make a nice sandwich tomorrow.

mom got a rib dinner ($13.45 for a 2/3rds rack), i had parts of it (perhaps why i couldn't eat the other half of the wings), including a cup of the chicken noodle soup again. this time it was oddly lemony, which was not a plus, it made me wonder if they used lemon chicken in it. still the same creamy base. her fries tasted like the seasoned part of the steak fry but lacked a potato taste. that was odd. and her toast was a bit more breadlike than toastlike and needed butter. so clearly my wings were the winner.

the service was vastly improved, so much so that the server went and checked the game score in the bar when we asked if they happened to know it. points for them, too.

26th- grand city buffet, st. louis park (b-)

odd as it seemed, we went here as i really wanted some good garlic bread, and i remembered it was oddly tasty here. not

some things were better, some thing were worse. the cream cheese wontons were present and accounted for, and quite good, which was good as the cream cheese buns weren't. most of few fried things i tried were off- the egg rolls were too stuffed with cabbage that was too raw, for instance. they had egg drop soup, which i don't recall from before, but didn't taste like much of anything.

since i knew what to avoid, more or less, and they still had a bunch of meat and seafood dishes, i didn't have the variety i had before. the chicken dishes were average- most of them were, actually- to pretty ok. i still liked the sauce on the peanut butter chicken, of course, the best but the chicken was a bit stringy. the lo mein was still a solid choice. i was disappointed that the garlic bread that was out when we got there had sat too long, but they refreshed it soon after and it was... ok, not what i remembered, but still hit the spot. i'd go back here again, but not specifically for that.

the fresh pineapple on the dessert table was the best pineapple i've had in a while, the stir-fry peanuts would still make a lovely bar snack. the 'apple pie' (a dumpling-like thing) was not the worst dessert i've had in a buffet restaurant by far.

but they weren't staffed up like they were for the holiday, so things were a bit slower in that area. and also they was some harsh chemical smell coming from the buffet area, like they had to do an industrial cleaning on something. (oddly, no allergic reaction per se, just a headache). that was not pleasant. oh, and it was, as i suspected, a few bucks cheaper to go not on christmas (i think it was closer to $12).

 

 

 

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