date: 11/4/08
location: st. paul
grade: b+

whereas the previous incarnation of 128 was a bit foward, culinarily, this one's more of a neighborhood cafe that repeats some of the 'greatest hits' and keeps the rest to a less show, but still appropriate seasonal, mostly upscale comfort food sort of menu. (i base the bit on the previous version on what people told me, as i'd not been before, though sole food has.)

currently, it's a solid performer, foodwise. the braised lamb dumplings with goat cheese, pine nuts, and currants in a creamy tomata sauce with wilted arugula ($17) were the most interesting dish ordered, something a bit new.

the dal soup that i started with that had coconut milk, and i think sour cream, one of the two soups of the day, ($3 cup/$5 bowl) was interestingly spicy and would not have overwhelmed a minnesota palate. i would've prefered a shot or two of hot sauce in it, and also i would've liked to see it a bit more thick.

for my 'main course' i opted for roasted garlic with apple chutney, goat cheese, and grilled baguette ($9). i was in the mood for something like roast chicken or duck or turkey, but the short menu had no such option. there was a lot of meat, two veg, one fish and one chicken option... though the chicken option... well...

it was the roast chicken enchiladas with cheddar, roasted pobalno peppers and tomatillo salsa in mole ($16). when i asked the person who ordered it how they liked it, they replied... in what context? to which i could only reply... the context in which you ordered a dish in a restaurant that does not specialize in mexican food and you know deep in your heart you shouldn't have ordered it. it was... ok.

so back to the roasted garlic plate. you get two heads o'garlic, two piles of whipped chevre, a large pile of apple chutney, a few apple slices, and a ton of grilled bread. except for the lack of bounty in the garlic cloves and the chevre seemingly less bounteous, it more or less did look like the picture on their web site (on their 'wine and beer page' when i last saw it). so hey, truth in advertising. and with the mass quantities of tasty warm bread and tasty butter served with the rest of the meal, i took half of the thing home. it's pretty huge. and going two whole heads of garlic before going off to work... well, i'm possibly not that mean to my co-workers. (then i bathed in fresh mint when i got home?)

the fresh pappardelle with mushrooms, carmelized leeks, dried cranberries, and herb-butter sauce ($14) is a good comfort food dish with nice flavor, but could use a bit of a visual pop. it's a very brown dish. as for the other dishes, i heard tell that the risotto with bacon, butternut squash, sage, pepitas, and pumpkinseeed oil ($8) was great, the caesar salad ($6) was also quite good.

most at the table shared a bottle of the barbera d'alba 2004 ($42), which was reasonably priced and went well with all the things ordered.

we had great service by owner, too, very competent and non-intrusive. i always respect that.

it's a pretty great neighborhood cafe, but let me stress the neighborhood part. as someone who really hates paying for parking i wasn't happy that my choices were more or less pay $5 for valet parking (this isn't downtown st. paul, by the way), or most likely have to walk three or more blocks, as the vast majority of the parking is basically none before 8 pm monday-friday due to the proximity to the college. there's not lot. to me, it's not a place to drive and eat. and they should put a bit about parking on their web site (unless it's there and i missed it...). and get a lot or work a deal or something.

to me, it's very close to an 'a' grade, but in my mind, someplace that's an 'a' at this sort of price point would've done something with the decor. to me it felt i was in the middle of an upscale basement. it's ok, just not a priority in their whole scheme of things, perhaps. but to me it wasn't that comfortable of a spot to be in. maybe because we were in the middle of one of the rooms at a round table, and i hate being in the middle of a room. and there was a lot of wood panelling in our room, and generic carpet of the kind you see in lobbies throughout the place.

also, i think an 'a' grade place of the sort that charges $14-$30 for an entree would fix the toilet, versus leaving a sign on it that asks you to hold the handle down when flushing.