spunky_monkey's Profile
Marla's Caribbean
After driving past this little place for nearly 5 years, we finally decided to stop in for dinner last night. While this place usually looked pretty dead, last night it was hopping. We had to wait a few minutes for them to clear off a table.
We ended up ordering a variety of items: the doubles, Jerk Chicken Wings, Shrimp Calaloo, and a whole Curried Fish. The waiter asked us how spicy we liked things and we asked for most of the items to be very hot. Everything was amazing!
The Doubles were a great starter. $2 for chickpea curry stuffed roti. A nice little treat to start off the meal.
The Jerk wings were searing hot and had great flavor. I was expecting more of a jerk-rub, but these wings came with a jerk sauce. The wings were cooked perfectly so that they were still moist, but the meat came off the bone easily. They were so hot, but so tasty!
Next came the shrimp calaloo, which we ordered with medium spice. This dish really reminded me of a spinach paneer, but with a stronger curry flavor. Again, the shrimp were cooked perfectly. The shrimp were cooked so they still had a slight bit of bite and were very moist. This dish came with a side of beans and rice, which we quickly devoured.
Finally, our whole curried fish came out. Wow! We had to wait a little bit longer, since this dish takes an extra few minutes to prepare (but they told us this when we ordered, which was really nice). The fish, (snapper, I think) came with curry sauce containing some chopped veggies and a side of while rice. This was not quite as hot as I was expecting, but everything had great flavor.
We debating ordering the sweet potato pie, but ran out of room Maybe next time.
This place is a great find and I hope more people will check it out. Marla even came out of the kitchen a few times to make sure everything tasted great. The prices were very reasonable ( about $12/entree) and the portions were generous.
The only negative comment is that I wish we could have washed our meals down with a few Red Stripes. As of yet, they don't have a liquor license.
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Marla's Caribbean Cuisine
3761 Bloomington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
Looking for food between St Louis and Eminence, Mo (travelling down I-55 to to I-67 tp I-72)
We're headed to Eminence, MO next weekend and are looking for unique and tasty spots to stop along the way. Any suggestions?
We'll be flying into STL on Friday night and headed south. Ideally, we'd like to find something for dinner south of St Louis, off I55.
Any suggestions for places to eat in Arnold, Festus, Bonne Terre?
Any great places to eat breakfast in Eminence?
Thanks for the help!
3 Days in MSP
Depending on how you plan to spend your time, the Nokomis neighborhood might be a good place to check out. It's fairly close to everything, but has 2 lakes, a golf course/ cross country ski course and the parkway. There are quite a few bike trails, if one of you will be biking to work or for pleasure. Being a $15 taxi ride from the airport or close to the light rail is also nice.
I live in the Nokomis neighborhood and love all the restaurants we have: Colossal Cafe (great breakfast sandwiches), Buster's (awesome selection of beer, good burgers), the Baker's Wife (excellent bakery, reasonable prices), Chris & Robs (quick chicago dog or pizza), Marla's carribean.
We're less than 5 minutes away from: Al Vento (great food & ambiance), Singapore!, Dominguez (hole in the wall Mexican), Sea Salt, Turtle Bread, Pumphouse Creamery.
We have a great butcher shop (Everett's) with a wonderful small town feel, too.
The only thing missing is a really nice grocery store. We have Bergan's (which is a little hit or miss with the produce) or the Super Target. Just a little further away, there's a Rainbow and Cub on Lake & Hiawatha.
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Pumphouse Creamery
4754 Chicago Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55407
Al Vento
5001 34th Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Marino's Deli ?
I ate here once last year and it was pretty good. Had the B1G1 coupon from the Happenings book. We ordered the mushroom chicken ravioli and an italian sub. The ravioli was a lot better than the sub. The sub had squishy wonder-like bread, but the meats were pretty tasty. If the price was right and I was in the neighborhood, I'd eat there again.
MSP - Gandhi Mahal
We were checking out the 2010 Happenings book and found this place in there. The food was spectacular and especially with the buy-1-get-1 coupon, it was a great deal. It was a pleasant surprise to see bottles of wine starting at $19. There were also several different beer to choose from.
The appetizers were well priced. We ordered the coconut soup ($3-4) and the assorted appetizer combo ($5). I was a little unprepared for the coconut soup. I guess I was expecting more of a curry flavor. The soup was intensely coconut flavored, but grew on me as I ate it. The appetizer tray had an assortment of a half dozen or so different items. It was fun to try a few different things.
For mains, we ordered Coconut Curry with lamb and the Birayani Kazana, also with lamb. We asked for the Coconut curry medium and the Birayani very hot. They delivered on the spices and the the dishes were really well flavored. It was also great that the food was not greasy, either. Even after stuffing ourselves, we still took home enough leftovers for another few lunches.
Additionally, the service was also great! We'll visit this restaurant again.
Best and worst on the Outer Banks
We're headed to Carolla over Thanksgiving week. I'm looking for similar updates. In particular, is there a good seafood market north of Kitty Hawk? I checked out Austin Seafood Co, but they are closed for the season. Many thanks!
Tell me about your CSA, please....
Thanks everyone for their replies! It's been really helpful to know I'm not the only one who feels a little skunked about their weekly deliveries. (The math works out that our CSA was $500/summer, about 20 boxes, so $25/box.)
CSAs are a gamble, but the idea behind them is great. This year, I've already given the farmer my money and I'm not asking for a refund. I'm just going to try to be more patient and keep eating my greens. Sauteed greens, boiled greens, greens in salad, etc, etc.
I'll probably switch CSA subscriptions next year, so it's nice to know who is really pleased with their farmers.
Tell me about your CSA, please....
This is the first year that I've done the CSA box. I signed up for a full share from Celestial Harvest CSA. After receiving delivery # 6, I'm really beginning to wonder whether it was worth the money. Even though my back yard garden has green beans and small tomatoes, I'm getting an overload of greens in my CSA box. I do like greens, but this is getting a little ridiculous.
For example, here is what was in this week's box:
-3 bunches of beet with greens
-2 bunches of collards
-2 bunches fennel
-1 bunch of kale
-1 bunch of swiss chard
-2 cucumbers
-2 1/2 pt containers of black currants
-1 bunch of basil
-1 bunch oregano
I was wondering if anybody wanted to share what they are receiving in their boxes? I know it's been a difficult summer for MN farmers, but I was wondering if the grass was really greener in somebody else's CSA box...
MSP -- dog/puppy friendly locations for people-chow
Whenever the weather's good, we take our hound up to Town Hall. The manager there has always made us feel very welcome there. She always brings us a water bowl for the hound, and usually a few treats, too. The food at Town Hall usually isn't particularly outstanding, but they do have great beers.
I'm pretty sure that Buster's allows dogs on their patio, too. I haven't tried it, personally, but I have heard from friends that they've taken dogs there.
(MSP) Simple Provisions Dairy Delivery?
I thought I'd add an update to this post.
For the past month, I've been receiving delivery from Simple Provisions. I've been extremely happy with the quality of their milk and eggs and would highly recommend using this service. The milk is $3.60 per half gallon of organic non-homogenized milk, so it's pretty comparable to the price of milk from a co-op.
I haven't had any problems, so maybe the owner was able to straighten out his organization problems. Every time I've emailed to ask for a delivery, he has delivered what I requested on the day that he said he would.
Citizen Cafe, MSP
I just ate at Citizen Cafe for the first time last week. We were going to go to Colossal (the usual breakfast standby), but my friend didn't have cash. Citizen Cafe takes plastic, so we decided to try something new. We were the only people in for breakfast, but it was the middle of the week.
We were both very happy with the food. We also received a little snack, I think it was a few slices of apricot scone and some blueberry bread. There was a really good jam that was served on the side.
We both ordered the scrambled eggs, hashbrowns and fruit. I was really impressed with the quality of most of the food. I added mushrooms and gruyere to my eggs. The fruit was also remarkably fresh. My only complaint was that the hash browns were not as crisp as they could have been. Along side the hash browns, there was some house-made ketchup. It was different, there was almost a squash-y flavor to it. The breakfast special came to around $6 per person (before tip), and we both felt that this was a lot of food for the money.
I'll be back to Citizen's to try more of their menu.
MSP Happenings book?
Kabab's in Bloomington is great. Not much for atmosphere, but some really great Indian food. Other restaurants I've enjoyed from the Happenings books are Marino's Deli (in NE Mpls) and Red Pepper (in Richfield).
Nut-free restaurants? [MSP]
I don't think you will be able to find nut-free restaurants. If your niece only has a peanut allergy, a totally nut-free restaurant is probably a little extreme. I think the best bet is to chose places where they will be able to help your niece meet her needs.
For example, the wonderful ethnic hole-in-the-wall places might be out. I'd stick to more Asian ''americanized'' restaurants. Or, you can just choose cuisines which don't use peanuts in the first place (ie: Italian, German, etc).
I have the same allergy, but this has not stopped me from eating out at Asian resturants. I eat a Quang regularly, and have not had any problems with their soups. None of them have peanuts, and they are cooked separate from fried dishes. I do avoid the food which is cooked or fried, since some of their dishes do contain peanuts. I have also had really good luck at King and I, Chang Mai, and Pings. I would not recommend going to Thum Rup Thai, since it took sending the order back twice to get peanut-free food.
Another precaution is some of the Mexican restaurants use peanuts in their moles, but most of their other foods are fine.
Finally, even if she's going to get a burger and fries, you should probably call ahead and be sure that the fries are not made in peanut oil. If the fries are made in peanut oil, odds are the oil's all over the kitchen.
Also, I'd avoid Hell's Kitchen. I've read so many wonderful posts on this board about their food, but their house-made peanut butter will keep me away. Since the peanut butter is served at every table, it's also probably all over.
Good luck!
(MSP) Simple Provisions Dairy Delivery?
I was at the Food & Wine show this weekend and picked up some information about Simple Provisions. It's a home delivery service for organic farm products around the Twin cities. Has anybody tried this yet? The prices seem very fair for the dairy products.
Here's a link to the site:
http://www.simpleprovisions.com/
MSP - Bali Restaurant on Nicollet?
I was wondering in anybody's been to Bali and has any comments. I am thinking about booking an event there and was looking for feedback.
El Meson's lunch buffet....or other suggestions? [Minneapolis]
We're taking family out to lunch tomorrow. They are BIG eaters, so we were thinking some type of buffet-style lunch.
El Meson looked fun, since it would be a little different. But, it looks like El Meson's lunch buffet had a mixed review from Dara a few months back. Has anybody been there recently?
Does anybody have any other suggestions for a lunch buffet in the Minneapolis area?
Wild Goose Liver Pate? Hmmm....
My s.o. has recently gotten into hunting goose and duck. We've been trying to be more adventurous in our cooking, so he's been saving the livers from the birds. Any ideas what I can do with these? I have a few dozen livers, about 4 cups of raw livers which are currently frozen.
Has anyone ever made liver pate with wild goose livers? Right now, I'm thinking about adapting chicken liver pate recipes, but I'm open for suggestions.
(MSP) Money's tight. Any cheap date suggs?
Broder's has a great date special, from Sunday through Thursday, after 8 pm. For $26, you get 1/2 bottle of house wine, bread, olives, 2 salads and choice of 2 pasta dishes. The pastas aren't their fanciest, but there's about 5 to choose from. Off the top of my head, I think the choices were: bolognese, mariana, puttanesca, carbonara, and al fredo. You can also upgrade the pastas with $2 sausage, $3 chicken, and $5 shrimp. We went last week and were really pleased with the quality of the food.
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Broders' Southside Pasta Bar
5000 Penn Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419
Chow worthy spots between MSP and Hayward
Stop by Burnett Dairy Co-op in Alpha, WI (on Hwy 70). The cheese is amazing! Most of the prices are about 1/2 of what you'd pay in the Cities. If you're headed to Hayward (taking 35W towards Duluth) it wouldn't be too much out of your way. The aged white cheddar is sooo good, but I think Alpha's Morning Sun is my favorite. The dairy also has farm-fresh eggs, many different flavors of cheese spreads, excellent sausages, and ice cream products. Even when it's not cabin season, we've made the drive from Minneapolis to Alpha to stock up on the dairy goods.
Here's a link the Burnett Dairy Coop Website:
http://burnettdairy.com/
If you take the 35W/Hwy 70 route, Trade River Winery is also on your way. I've never been there, but have heard mixed reviews.
There's quite a few farm stands selling produce that you'll pass, too. In particular, Hayward has a few organic produce stands near their downtown. There's one on the corner of a gas station that always has amazing corn and melons.
wedding help for friend in MSP
Al Vento might also be a consideration. We're considering them for our wedding. Their proximity to Minnehaha Falls makes a reception hosted there pretty attractive. It's not next door, but they're less than a mile apart.
They offer a catering menu on their website, $40 per person, including wine or beer. Here's a link to their site:
http://alventorestaurant.com/catering.asp
Please help me pick another side for my St. Paddy's Party.....
So I'm having a St. Paddy's party on Sunday. I've done most of the shopping already, but feel like my menu's lacking something: mainly another veggie. So far, I plan to serve dishes than can mostly be prepared ahead of time, leaving me plenty of time to enjoy the party. Here's what I'm serving:
Baked ham & rolls, Cheesy Potato Gratin, Coleslaw, ????, Oatmeal Cookies, Sugar Cookies.
So, my menu's a little sparse on the veggies, unless you count the mayo-slathered cabbage as a veg. Tasty, yes. Heathly, no. I was thinking about making some type of dilled carrot salad for the other side dish, but then I thought that the sour in that dish might be a little similar to the coleslaw flavors.
Any ideas would be appreciated. Especially those dishes that could be either served at room temperature or could easily withstand being cooked in a crockpot for 3 hours.
Colossal Cafe, Minneapolis MN
Colossal's open from 6-3 Tuesday-Sunday, closed on Monday. If we want to eat there on the weekend, we usually call ahead to see how busy it is. 612-729-5766. If they're packed, we just order the food to pickup.
MSP-Happy Hours and Specials for the cash strapped
A little while ago, I wrote about jP's awesome happy hour. Here's a link to that board:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/121975
Also, Al Vento has 1/2 price bottles of Wine all day Sunday and Monday, as well as every day from 4:30 to 5:30.
Another great deal is Stella's hh. B1G1 drinks & 1/2 price apps until 6 (I think). The walleye fingers are nearly a meal in themselves. Free seafood buffet on Fridays (usually with shrimp and ceviche) and $1 oysters. Fridays the bar are gets packed, so if you'd like a seat get there before 5.
Colossal Cafe, Minneapolis MN
Just wanted to add that Colossal has added a new delicious sandwich to their menu: Egg, Prosciutto, sunsried tomatoes, and Swiss. Had one today, it was wonderful!
Sausage Puffs (heart attack on a plate)...trying to make them healthier
Just wanted to add that the reason I'm anti-crescent roll is because of the trans fats. I checked on the label and the reduced fat crescent rolls also contain trans fats. I'm thinking about trying wheat bread or pizza dough for the crust. I'm giving them a go tonight, and if they're successful, I have to make 4+ batches (and freeze them) for the various holiday parties that I'll be going to within the next week.
Sausage Puffs (heart attack on a plate)...trying to make them healthier
I was at a party this weekend and was served Sausage Puffs. The thing that sold me on them is that they are easy to make ahead of time and you can just pop them in the oven when the guests arrive. They were pretty good and were a huge hit at the party. I'd like to tweak the recipe a bit. I'd like try to remove some of the fat and take out the prepared stuff, in particular the cresent rolls.
The original recipe calls for 1# Jimmy Dean Sausage, 1# cream cheese, a chopped bunch of green onions. The sausage is sauteed, mixed with the cream cheese and green onions, then rolled up in the cresent rolls.
I was thinking about making homemade sausage out of ground turkey, maybe adding onions, garlic, mushrooms, and jalepenos to the mixture. Swaping out the cream cheese for Neufchâtel. But, I'm stuck at cresent wraps. Homemade biscuits don't seem like they'd be puffy enough. Anybody have suggestions what I can replace the cresent rolls with?
Food near MOA?
You'll be only a hop, skip, and a jump from Al Vento, if you're in the mood for Italian.
Their address is: 5001 34th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55417
Help! I'm craving a steak in MN, how can I make it indoors? [moved from General Chowhounding board]
I was looking for advice about the best way to cook a steak inside. It's winter in MN and I don't feel like firing up the grill when it's near freezing out. I don't have the fancy stove-top grill, so I'm trying to decide the best way to cook the steaks. Is it better to broil or pan-fry a steak? Which cuts work best? Thanks for you help!
Jp An American Bistro (Minneapolis) is great.
Just wanted to revive this older post to vouch for jP Bistro's happy hour. In the bar area, from 4-6 daily, jP offers possibly the best chow-ish happy hour in town. They offer an amazing pasta special (last time it was harissa, roast corn, and chicken) for $5 and a great tuna burger for $8. All their specialty drinks with the high-end mixers are also 1/2 off. The frites and olives are also on special. For those days when you need a quick bite without the fuss, jP's happy hour is worth the consideration....
MSP - Buster's on 28th Report
Just got back from a few brews at Buster's. After reading the previous posts on the place, my expectations were LOW. However, I've come back from the place exicited and hope for many happy returns
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Although we didn't go there looking for a chow-ish meal, it has met our standards for an excellent neighborhood bar. In the Nokomis area, our choices for local hangouts are seriously limited: Adrians, the Cedar Inn , Fat Lorenzo's, the Cardinal Bar, Matt's, etc. Anyway, for a few beers and bar treats, this bar was up to par.
Yes, service was a little on the slow side. But, the bevy of beer selections seemed to compensate for this. It was nice to see a tap beer list which changes regularly, as well as a weekly special beer.
Members of our party ordered the onion rings, ceasar salad, and the bison burger. Everyone thought their food was good, but we all agreed that the onion rings were amazing. Crispy and delicious!
