Thank you, everyone!!

Thanks, everyone!

I haven't eaten at Gangchen. Would you please tell me more about it?

I'm also curious about Pho Tau Bay (say, compared to Quang) and Pancho Villa.

Thanks again!

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Pancho Villa Restaurant
2539 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404

Pho Tau Bay
2837 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408

Gangchen Restaurant
1833 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403

Hello!

What are your favorite places on Eat Street? I'm looking for recommendations for a horde of hungry medical librarians who will soon be converging on the Convention Center in Minneapolis.

Here is what I have on my list thus far:
- The Jasmine trio: Jasmine Deli, Jasmine 26 and Cafe Kem
- Quangs
- Rainbow Chines
- Christo's
- Black Forest (?)
- Jerusalem's (??)
- Gangchen
- Salsa a la Salsa

I haven't been to all of the above, so I welcome any feedback.

Many thanks!

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Jasmine Deli
2532 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404

Jasmine 26 Restaurant & Bar
8 East 26th Street, Minneapolis, MN

Gangchen Restaurant
1833 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403

Hi - I'm looking for updated recommendations for the best restaurants easily accessible via the downtown Minneapolis skyway. I'm particularly looking for places that are reasonably close to the Convention Center for lunch.

Thank you!!

Oh boy, that does sound good.

Has anyone tried the chocolate bread French toast at Turtle Bread?

I'm on a quest for the best French toast in the Twin Cities. In my mind, French toast should be custardy and moist. There is nothing worse than French toast that has simply been waved through the batter and is dry on the inside. It should use excellent bread. What are your suggestions? I already know my least favorite French toast, which is the Highland Grill which is dry on the inside and yucky. Can't wait to hear your suggestions!

Had dinner at the Citizen Cafe again. The horrible flimsy napkins are gone and replaced by much more functional napkins. The tables were clean and cleared (the place was also nearly empty). We had a much better server, who could actually describe the special, which was a respectable plate of fried catfish, slightly undercooked roasted root vegetables with cauliflower (seemed better suited to autumn than summer) and tasty mashed potatoes. The bread was fantastic, as always, served with inadequate smidgens of butter and compound butter. We enjoyed the wilted spinach salad with bacon, although it was slightly sweet for my taste.

Given that several of the specific concerns shared here by Chowhounds seem to have been addressed, it seems that the citizens of Citizen Cafe might be reading this thread. If so, I say to you, hang in there and keep working on ironing out the rough spots. We want you to succeed and stick around our neighborhood for a long time.

I like the Sea Salt. I think the food is good. I accept the wait as part of the experience. If I don't want to wait, I go somewhere else on a weekend evening. I love the fried oysters. I like the po boys. I would like to request more vegetables of some kind - any kind - to go with my fish. Are you reading this, Sea Salt dudes? More veggies please!

We went to the Citizen Cafe a second time. We still enjoyed it, but I noticed some flaws this time. The napkins are the flimsiest paper napkins ever, which seem weird with the white tablecloths. The white tablecloths seem weird with the brown butcher paper. The previously glorious corned beef was tasty, but tough. The worst thing, though, was that the server was completely incapable of describing the food. She described the salmon special as simply pan seared. When I asked her to tell me more about it, she said it was cooked in butter. My guess is she didn't sell many of those specials that night; too bad for her, since they were the priciest item being served. I later overheard a different server describing it as "pan seared salmon with an herbed compound butter and wilted spinach." I might have ordered that.

By the way, the potato chips are of whatever god you do or don't believe in, absolutely phenomenal. The brick chicken is very tasty, an enormous portion, slightly dry, but still a bargain. I really, really want this place to succeed and thrive, because I want the best restaurant in my neighborhood to stay for a long, long time! I think the Citizen Cafe has great potential. I would also love to read comments from other chowhounds.

mmmm, I love those donuts. the donut hut is awfully cute, too.

Hey, who has been to the Citizen Cafe on 38th St in Minneapolis? We went the other day after reading the mention in the City Pages and quite enjoyed it. By far the best things we had were the sea scallop appetizer and the delicious corned beef sandwich (truly, the best corned beef I've ever had). There are some minor problems - like the cole slaw was really dry and needed more dressing and the service was slightly rough. Even so, the food deities have reached down and blessed us with a good restaurant within walking distance. Hooray!

Jasmine Deli. Excellent peanut sauce. Yum!

*dies*

No more City Pages for me. Dara was the main reason I read it.

Dara has never steered me wrong (except, perhaps, for the Town Talk).

I don't really want to subscribe to Minnesota Monthly, so this is really too bad.

thanks for the review, Abacus. sounds like they have worked out some of the bugs, which I delighted to hear.

Had a *fabulous* dinner tonight at the Birchwood! My sweetie and I both had the salmon special, which involved some sort of mustard greens, fancy wild mushrooms, figs and mashed turnips and potatoes. Every single item was excellent and the entire entree was only $13!

I generally really love their entrees and find them to be an excellent value. Also, they have an excellent bread baker. I've found the desserts to be inconsistent recently, clumsy mistakes like putting disgusting amounts of icing on cakes and not making good pastry crusts. They now serve Izzy's ice cream.

Oh, and yes, it was loud.

I've never been to any of the other places, but we went to 112 Eatery last night and LOVED it. We had a gift certificate, so we could order lots of items without worrying about cost. The two of us shared the hearts of palm salad, the cauliflower fritters, and the godlike creamed corn. I got a small plate of the lamb sugo and littlefoodie got a small plate of the pasta with marinated ahi tuna (sorry, we've forgotten the actual name). The hearts of palm salad was lovely, with tiny bits of bacon and a yummy avocado dressing. I very much enjoyed the cauliflower fritters and didn't find them the slightest bit bitter. The corn is, as I said, divine. There's no actual cream, they use fresh corn off the cob and truffle oil. I enjoyed my lamb pasta very much and the tuna was superb. My only criticism is that the desserts (we got the chocolate pots de creme and butterscotch budino) are ridiculously enormous, even for sharing. We ended up bringing most of ours home. The chocolate pots de creme is delicious, but is bigger than most creme brulees. Everything else about the entire experience was wonderful. I asked our server loads of questions about the menu and she was incredibly helpful and well-informed. The service was truly fabulous - attentive, friendly, relaxed and gracious.

Here's the very best thing: 112 Eatery is actually quite affordable. Next time we go, our plan is to each get a sandwich or small plate and then share either a salad or side. I expect that will cost about $15 a piece. One can spend more than that at Applebee's, for heaven's sake.

Excellent, thank you for the recommendation. I work in that area and have seen Yummy Yummy, but have never tried it. Now, I have no excuse not to go there right away!

Oh good. Today, perhaps my impression was different because I was sitting waiting for my takeout and kind of watching what was happening and it didn't look good. I heard Le say that they were down three staff, so hopefully it was just a glitch.

We went to Midori's for dinner one early evening last weekend and had a lovely time. Just thought I should report on this since I have been critical in the past. Looked like they had a couple of new waiters, who were doing just fine. As I said, it was early evening, so they weren't very busy, but, it was still nice to see everyone calm and under control. We enjoyed delicious soup and sushi and very much enjoyed ourselves. I'm crossing my fingers that this will continue.

Hey, has anyone else been to Jasmine Orchid on Oak St. recently? What was your experience? I ask because the last two times I've gone (today and a couple months ago), it has been utter chaos. My soup was still delicious and restorative, but I feel sad to think that it is going downhill. Other impressions?

Oh no! I am sad to hear this. We recently returned to Midori's and everything went well, so I was hopeful. Have other people been recently?

Tommy's on Coventry is the only thing I miss about living in Cleveland Heights. http://www.tommyscoventry.com/dinein/. It is just up the hill from the Cleveland Clinic a few miles.

RE; "They need to decide if they are upscale, or if they are a family restaurant and stick to it." That is really the crucial question, isn't it? I hope they figure it out.

Le will tell you that she doesn't strive for total authenticity. She seems to think that there are things Americans won't eat. I think she is both wrong and correct about this. I think many of us are willing to try new foods and extend ourselves outside our comfort zones, but, at the same time, I hate tendonous meats in my soup. So, there you go.

Thanks for writing in, churchka. I'm looking forward to reading additional opinions of Jasmine 26.

Jasmine 26 is the newest venture by Le of Jasmine Deli. It is located nearly across the street from the Deli, on 26th next to Bad Waitress. We ate there for the first time tonight. As a loyal and longtime customer of Jasmine Deli and a big fan of Le's cooking, I have mostly positive but definitely mixed feelings about Jasmine 26. I think 26 has much potential, but it needs some work to refine it.

Jasmine 26 is definitely aiming for a different audience and experience than the Deli. There is a rather handsome bar. The decor is reminiscent of Azia or Rainbow, with dark, rich colors, card wooden art and screens, and black marble tables. It is almost entirely lovely, except for the doorless kitchen entry through which one can't help but see an entirely unattractive pile of boxes and such (they really, really need a kitchen door). The menu is printed on two different sizes and shapes of paper that are held together in the corner by a single staple. Not very classy.

We ordered the Empress Fried Rice, the Jasmine Crepe and the Banana Flower Salad. I tried to order iced Jasmine tea, but there wasn't any, only raspberry. The crepe was delicious and came with a lovely fish sauce, lettuce for wrapping, and fresh herbs. The salad was kind of like a papaya salad and was also delicious. The fried rice was a snooze and kind of disappointing. Tasty grilled pork and tiny shrimps sat atop some bland rice mixed with frozen peas and carrots, garnished with anemic, bland tomatoes. Frozen vegetables and bad tomatoes in the middle of summer doesn't fit with the more sophisticated menu and image of 26. I hope that Le with upgrade or abandon this dish. Other folks seemed to be enjoying the beef pho and various hot pots. We will try these next time.

Service was also a little bit uneven. There seemed to be plenty of servers (including many familiar faces from the Deli), but they seemed a bit at loose ends. Le was waiting on many tables herself. When I asked a server about dessert, he said he would check, but then never got back to me. Again, if 26 is to compete with Azia and Rainbow, they will have to become more polished.

The other odd thing is that, according to a posted sign, 26 does not accept credit cards at this time. I very much hope they will start accepting them soon.

Jasmine 26 has been open only a couple of weeks, so, hopefully, some of the issues I cite will work themselves out over time. I will certainly return to find out.

near the Metrodome, you could go to Sawatdee.

littlefoodie and I went to Blackbird last night and very much enjoyed it. It was very busy and there were some service problems. We had to send up a flare to get water after being seated for 10 minutes, for example. That said, the food was excellent. I had the wonderful fried chicken livers salad and the chef kindly indulged my irrational dislike of frisee and gave me different greens. Also, the frites with Bearnaise were equally fabulous, the best I've had in a long while. littlefoodie had the special, which was braised short ribs with an apple salad and glorious au gratin potatoes. Even the decaf coffee was excellent. The pricing is deceptively low, since one has to buy vegetables and other sides ala carte, which can add up quickly.

Overall, we were quite pleased with Blackbird and only wish we could afford to live in the neighborhood so that we could walk there ;-)

We *finally* went back to Midori's tonight and - good news! - everything was excellent. The service was speedy and attentive, the fish was yummy, Midori personally thanked us for coming back. Yay! Order has been restored to the universe.

*there was great rejoicing in the land*

Just curious about people's recent experiences at Midori's: how is the service these days? Please tell me it is prompt, attentive and friendly like the old days.

let's all go!

Dara mentions it here: http://citypages.com/databank/28/1378...

I adore Crema, Izzy's and Pumphouse, in that order. I am not a fan of Sebastian Joe's.

Favorite flavor: Izzy's peanut butter. Best. Thing. Ever.