diesel's Profile
Dining around St. Cloud
I usually go to Jules Bistro when in St. Cloud. Fresh and good sandwiches, soups, pizzas, and salads. http://www.julesbistrostcloud.com/
Bravo Burrito has been good, too, but it has been a few years since I've been there so I'm not as confident recommending it.
Must respectfully disagree about Anton's - did not care for the meals I had there, and prices were quite high considering the quality of the food.
Please let us know if you find a new gem!
Is Sea Salt Worthy of Mother's Day
This mother thinks it's worthy - there's not much better than a great beer (their beer selection is quite nice), fried fish, and a beautiful afternoon or evening at Minnehaha. However, if you're looking for a sit-down, indoors dining experience, look elsewhere.
Attention MSPD - Torta Alert. I repeat, a Torta Alert for Taqeuria Los Paisanos
Thx for the tip - tried a torta Cubans at Los paisanos las week and yum!
Saturday lunch in Hopkins with younguns. . .
This east-metro gal is seeking recs for Saturday lunch/brunch dining with kids (one of whom tends toward unruliness) in or near Hopkins.
Criteria:
1) In or within 5ish minute drive of downtown Hopkins
2) Not too quiet - we want our noisy moments to at least somewhat blend in with the ambient noise
3) Open by 11:30 am on a Saturday
4) Relatively quick service (lightning-speed not necessary, but I don't want to be waiting too long for drinks, food, etc.)
5) Low to moderate prices
Also:
Bonus points if there is a changing table (double bonus points if there is one in the men's room).
High chairs not necessary.
Thank you for wracking your brains. :)
Where to purchase Ida Reds or Northern Spys in Mpls-St. Paul?
I saw Northern Spys at the market at Heartland a few weeks back. I wasn't paying particular attention, but they usually carry other heirloom varieties too. It's worth stopping in - they really have gorgeous produce and other stuff too. (Warning, not the cheapest.)
http://www.heartlandrestaurant.com/index2.php#/info1/2/
Saigon Closed. Reopening "soon" - with new owners
Pho, eggrolls, bun salads. Some people love their bahn mi, I'm not so into it (the meat has a particular smokiness to it that doesn't work for me).
Saigon Closed. Reopening "soon" - with new owners
All the info I have is from FB too. I hope the food and service stays the same and the prices don't change, but even if prices go up a bit I'll still be a regular. Just maybe not AS regular.
Sweetango apples - good for baking?
Thank you! We ended up mistakenly picking a different variety, so didn't end up with Sweetangos. Oh well.
Sweetango apples - good for baking?
We're headed to the orchard this weekend, and it looks like the Sweetango variety apples are ripe for picking. This is a new variety to me, and internet searches for more info about bake-ability led nowhere.
So . . . does anyone out there know whether Sweetango makes a nice pie? Crisp? Etc.?
Our State Fair 2011: it's the Best State Fair in our State!
Here are my reviews:
#1 Farmers Union coffee - depth charge (brewed coffee with a shot of espresso - not on the menu). Nummy. They know what they're doing. (run by the folks from J&S Bean Factory of St. Paul)
#2 Creperie - breakfast crepe. This is a crepe with scrambled eggs, cheese, and bacon. The eggs and cheese were pretty good, but the bacon was teeny and flavorless. Still, a nice way to start the day.
#3 Blue Moon Dine In Theater - sweet corn ice cream with honey butter bacon sauce. I agree with previous posters that the corn flavor wasn't as pronounced as I'd like. It was hardly detectable, in fact. The honey butter part of the sauce was dee-lish, but the bacon pieces were tiny and flavorless and I wished the sauce as a whole brought more salt to the dish.
#4 Pickle Dog - fire dog. In general I like pickle dogs, but I think I've been spoiled by having high quality pastrami around the house to make them with. The meat on the fire dog had an unappealing rubbery quality that didn't sit well with me. Disappointing, because I knew how good it could have been with high quality pastrami!
#5 MN Wine in the ag building - Raspberry wine. It's been my experience that MN Wine producers don't do dry wines well, so I tried something sweet. It was nice enough. I probably wouldn't buy it if I wasn't all Minnesota-agricultural-products-happy though.
#6 Harry Singh's in food building - chicken curry roti. This was my favorite thing at the fair this year. The roti (a chewy flatbread) was wrapped around a satisfying portion of juicy, tender curried chicken. It would have benefitted from a bit more salt and spice, but still was real good. I will try the jerk chicken variety or doubles next time.
#7 Holyland in Int'l bazaar - hibiscus tea. Waaaaay tooooo sweet for me. I added lots of water and it was still almost unbearably sweet. I remember that being the case with their lemonade too (except that adding water to the lemonade made it perfect).
#8 Mouth Trap cheese curds (from food building). Now, I have tried both the Original and Mouth trap curds before, and was always an Original kind of gal. But I bucked tradition today and revisted Mouth Trap. I was glad I did. They were crisp on the outside, plenty salty (but not too salty), and best of all, had a definite squeak to them. Praise be to Mouth Trap. I may have been converted.
#9 Ballpark - Lift Bridge Chestnut Hill. Ladies and gentlemen, I think wishes can come true. Finally there's a very nice craft beer selection at the fair. I went planning on a Surly Furious, but when the moment of choice came, I went with the Chestnut Hill - it's a favorite of mine, and I didn't think it would knock me out like a furious will in the sun. LOVE that we have these options these days!
#10 Cream Puff stand - chocolate cream puff. This is a tradition for me. Always the last thing before I leave at night. It's consistently good and somewhat overloaded with whipped cream. A tip for the uninitiated: scoop half the whipped cream onto the top (using the top) and eat the top and bottom halves separately. Otherwise the whipped cream squeezes out all over the place.
That is all. Gawd I love the fair.
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J&S Bean Factory
1518 Randolph Ave, St Paul, MN
Puerto Rican Food in Twin Cities or anywhere in the State
Manana in St. Paul does some Puerto Rican dishes from time to time, and at one point they were talking about offering Puerto Rican food once a week (not sure if that happened or not). It might be worth calling them. They sure as heck can make Salvadorean food. Oh man.
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Manana Restaurant
828 7th St E, Saint Paul, MN 55106
Duluth restaurants
If you're into beer, Fitgers is good for their beer (they brew their own). The food is perfectly serviceable too.
I am enamored with the Positively Third Street bakery too, for cookies (Thunder cookies are probably their most famous) and the ultra neighborly hippe vibe.
Rusty Taco
Update: after visit #4, I'm concluding that RT is quite inconsistent, except the fish taco, which is consistently terrible.
When the brisket is on, it's really really on. But when it's not, it's ho-hum. Same with the pork. Inconsistency will kill a place. I hope they can fix the problem.
New York pizza?
are you referring to the pizza place within Grand Ole Creamery on Grand in St. Paul? 'cause the link goes to a Stillwater location. . . ?
Also, THEY DELIVER ICE CREAM?
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Grand Ole Creamery
750 Grand Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55105
First date suggestions for St. Paul?
I'll echo the recs for Ngon and Tanpopo. They both offer quiet, calm, solid but not-too-fancy dining experiences.
Sea Salt would probably be good too, if it's close enough to St. Paul to suit you, although it's not as "easy" because it tends to be more crowded and confusing, which (to me) would be distracting on a first date. However, there is the plus of great scenery and the option of renting a surrey to tool around in afterward.
Good luck!
First date suggestions for St. Paul?
You might be OK for an early dinner at Barrio St. Paul, but it becomes extremely loud (as in dance music so loud you can't hear the person shouting at your from across the table) later at night - at least on Fridays and Saturdays.
Dining up and down University Avenue
I went to Homi a few times. The first meal was wholly mediocre, if I recall correctly. The second time I had the green chilaquiles which were good. There was a formidable language barrier that resulted in MAJOR over-ordering for our kids, and major spending more than we wanted to. In sum, I'd say it's worth a try - to gather more intelligence! Report back if you go, please.
Asian Deli at 388 Western - What a GEM
My coworkers and I recently confirmed the catering connection with the neighboring adult day care too. I want to know what I can do now to ensure that I have food this good when it's time for ME to attend adult day care!
Just to add to the body of shared experiences about AD, a dining companion recently ordered Kao Poon, which is a coconut milk based soup with noodles, meat, and bamboo, and maybe a few other items. I was lucky enough to sample a bite. Yum! Total comfort food. He says it's usually served room temp, so if you want it served hot, you have to specifically request that. I will be ordering my OWN bowl on my next AD visit. Cheers.
Rusty Taco
Went back Saturday night. They were out of brisket (horror!). I tried:
Fish taco (fried) - pretty not good. The fish was tough. I do not appreciate tough fish.
Shrimp taco - OK. The shrimp were plentiful and crisply fried, but were not of great quality.
Roasted pork taco - That's what I'm talking about. Nice and tender, smoky, not too salty, yumminess. Still not as good as the brisket.
Overall impression: Parking was a beast. The lot was absolutely swarming with cars (going the wrong way in one way zones!) and there were a few cars parked in non-spots. We had to park on the street about a block away.
Also, I'm starting to think this is not the place for seafood - having tried the fish tacos both ways and found them tough both times, and the shrimp just meh, I'll lean toward beef and pork in the future. The jury's still out on chicken.
What a disappointment
I went once to the old space, and once to the new space. I was underwhelmed at the old space, but my visit to the new space was exceptional. The service was attentive and professional, the drinks and food were excellent, and the space was beautiful. I'd love to go back, but my budget doesn't allow for that level of expense with any frequency.
It's concerning to hear so many have had poor experiences. I hope the restaurant can succeed - they've done the space justice, and there's a lot of potential.
Can I advocate for a turn toward more respectful discourse in this thread? The personal attacks are pretty ugly.
st. paul suggestions
Bon Vie is an excellent choice for your breakfast. Let me put in a rec for their Eggs Benedict, if that's your thing. Their hollandaise is brilliantly lemony.
If St. Paul Grill is overbudget for your dinner, I'd suggest crossing Heartland off your list. It'll cost you about the same amount of money to get full (portions are smaller at Heartland so you would probably want to order more courses). Meritage is in the same price range, too.
Considering that leaves you with Brasa, Pazzaluna, and Faces, I'd definitely go with Brasa if it was me. If you do end up at Brasa, my top recs would be the roasted pork, catfish, and especially the collards. Sprinkle a little spicy vinegar on those babies and enjoy!
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Pazzaluna
360 St. Peter St, St. Paul, MN 55101
Meritage
410 Saint Peter St, Saint Paul, MN 55102
Bon Vie
518 Selby Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55102
Rusty Taco
1st Rusty Taco visit on Tuesday this week:
Fish taco - I accidentally ordered grilled instead of fried (what was I thinking?). This was my least favorite taco. The grilled fish was pretty bland and the toppings couldn't make up for it.
Brisket taco - Holy buckets, I'm with San Antonio Rose on this one. Soo goood. I've been thinking of it ever since. Big, slightly smoky, tender chunks of beef. I don't even remember what else was on it. Um, yum!
Fried chicken taco - I almost loved this too - nice flavorful and tender fried chicken with really tasty, crunchy cabbage slaw and a jalapeno ranch sauce. It worked. I loved all the textures and the tangy creaminess of the sauce. The only negative I have to say is that the chicken seemed like it had been fried hours ago - it lacked the crispiness I was hoping for.
Other notes:
Parking might be an issue - TJ customers tend to prefer parking above ground, and it's often hard to find an above ground spot. I didn't notice whether TJ allows RT parking in the TJ lot.
Staff were very friendly, if a little clumsy. I attributed it to new job jitters.
Best tuna fish sandwich in Minneapolis?
I never tried Fishman's - what made it good, in your opinion? That might help us hone in on what you're looking for.
Rehearsal Dinner
What's coming to mind at the moment is W. A. Frost. Absolutely beautiful space, and I've had consistently excellent service (though a few others on this board have not). The food was consistently excellent for years, then became inconsistent for a few years, ranging from excellent to mediocre - I'm not sure what the current status of the food is as I've only been there once in the past year (but the food was wonderful then). Never having eaten at Piccolo or La Belle Vie, I am not certain whether this is on your price range - it might be a bit high.
http://www.wafrost.com/privatedining.asp
I thought maybe Muffaletta in St. Anthony Park, but according to their website, your group exceeds their capacity. I'm sure others will have some other good ideas for you.
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La Belle Vie
510 Groveland Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55405
Asian Deli at 388 Western - What a GEM
Uisge, was it you who also loved the fish in banana leaf dish at the former Thai Bazil? I know someone did.
If it was you, try the catfish roll at Asian Deli. It's not exactly the same (lots of dill and not *quite* as good, and not served with rice and steamed veggies that made the Thai Bazil version a wonderful, full, healthy meal), but the fish is along the same lines, and I liked it a lot.
If it was not you, sorry I got corn-fused.
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Asian Deli
388 Western Ave N, St Paul, MN 55103
Asian Deli at 388 Western - What a GEM
Finally tried the catfish roll. It's catfish seasoned with dill and I believe coconut milk, wrapped and steamed in a banana leaf. Pretty tasty - the fish was tender and yummy.
I also tried the Tom Yum with fish last time I was there. Super nummy - strong lemongrass and basil flavors, and the fish worked well. Again, huge portion - two meals' worth for me.
As someone else posted (below), they have been pretty empty lately. I hope they hang on - the food is great, reasonably priced, and the people who run it could not be nicer.
Alcoholic dessert
I know you said a small amount of cooking - would you consider blending ingredients "cooking"? 'Cause I was thinking alcoholic malts . . .the now defunct Town Talk diner (in Minneapolis) served these - they were great. The one that really stands out was dreamsicle flavored. I'd guess it was made of orange sherbet, vanilla ice cream, and vodka. . .? I'd imagine you could do some great things with chocolate ice cream plus benedictine, kahlua, chambord, or something else.
Accidentally bought juice oranges - what else can I do with them?
Make salad dressing - vinaigrette but use OJ instead of vinegar. I like the pairing of orange and tarragon quite a bit, but there's lots of room for experimentation.
