starburst's Profile
Taiwan-style Breakfast
I've had doujian, shao bing, and you tiao at Taiwan Restaurant on Clement in SF. Obviously it's not as good as what you can get in Taiwan, but it's not bad for a fix.
Noe Valley Rec's
There's a Barney's on 24th and Castro, they have decent burgers. http://www.barneyshamburgers.com/
cake flour & baking supplies in the bay area?
In Noe Valley, there's a cookware store, Cooks Boulevard on Castro St and 24th. Not sure what stuff you need, but they have various extracts, chocolates, food coloring gels, sugars, etc. Check out their website: http://www.cooksboulevard.com/Cooks/
I'm sure you can call them too, to check ahead of time if they have what you need.
wedding help for friend in MSP
I think Nami Sushi in Downtown Minneapolis has a private party space, as well as Azia on Eat Street.
Indian for Birthday Dinner [MSP]
It's been awhile since I've been there, but we went to India Palace in Roseville for my mom's birthday one year. I've had wine there and they do have both meat and vegetarian options.
MSP - Need ideas for a mixer space
How about Azia's Caterpillar Lounge?
http://www.aziarestaurant.com/
Last year, my friend had her graduation party there. She didn't reserve the room, just had people show up. Not everyone will be able to sit down, but there's enough space for walking around, mingling by the bar, lounging on the sofas and you can order food as well.
MSP: Greek Yogurt?
Trader Joe's has Greek Yogurt. I usually get the Fage brand. There are Trader Joe's in Maple Grove and St. Louis Park, not sure if either of those are handy for you.
Eggpuffs w/ custard in or around San Jose
If you ever are in SF, Genki Crepes on Clement has Egg Puffs.
24-hour food in MSP?
this option is only slightly better than the fast food joints....
but Uptown Diner on Hennepin is great if you're craving breakfast in the middle of the night.
Twin Cities: Need a Pho Update
Another vote for Saigon on University in St. Paul. Always consistent, fast service, and lots of options! You can't go wrong.
Korean Restaurants in Minneapolis/St. Paul
the one Kate is refering to as being reviewed by Dara, is Dong Yang in Columbia Heights. It's essentially a small cafe in the back of the Korean grocery store. I guess the perfect way to do grocery shopping and have lunch. I've heard great things about it, unfortunately, never got a chance to eat there before I moved.
MSP Cookies
I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but have you ever had cookies sold at Noodles & Co.? I haven't tried any other ones except for their 'Snoodledoodle' cookie, a soft, chewy, cinnamon, toffee cookie -but it's pretty darn good, especially for one you can purchase at a chain "fast-food' joint.
[MSP] Where to buy naan bread?
the best, not fresh naan i've found is from Trader Joe's. It's packaged in the frozen section, i believe 3 come in a package. They have regulalr naan and garlic naan. It's convenient to just stock up on it and to heat one up in the toaster oven.
Fogo De Chao coming to Minneapolis [Moved from Midwest]
I have never been to one. But based on one of the reviews on it's website. It looks like these are the prices:
The Travel Lady
April 1, 2006
"At first glance, prices at Fogo de Chão may seem a bit expensive, $44.50 for dinner, $29.50 for lunch, but when one factors in what’s included in the price (only dessert and beverages are extras), they end up being more economic than other a la carte steak houses in Dallas. Lighter eaters or vegetarians can also gorge on the extensive salad bar alone, which includes meats like prosciuto and bacon, for $19.50 at either meal. "
Twin Cities - best Peking duck?
A couple places that come to mind that have Peking duck with pancakes are:
Grand Shanghai on Grand ave. in St. Paul (haven't been in a long time, but they used to do a 3 course duck meal - soup, duck/pancakes, and stir-fry duck w/veggies)
Recently my parents were telling me that they had it at Princess Garden Restaurant on Rice and Larpenteur (it's supposed to be very good here, but you may have to call a few days in advance to make sure they will have it ready)
Best Sushi/Sashimi in Minneapolis/St. Paul?
I believe Sakura in St. Paul has shabu shabu on their menu. The non-sushi food is actually quite good there as well as their sushi.
I've had shabu shabu at Kikugawa before (2 years ago?), it's essentiatlly a hot pot where you cook your own food, so it can't be too hard to screw up. As i recall it was fine, not particulalry memorable.
Twin Cities Dim Sum - what's good these days?
Sundays is normally really busy at Mandarin Kitchen. The earlier the better on Sunday. A good idea would be to have 1 or a few people arrive earlier to put your name on the list, and that way the rest hopefully won't have to wait.
MSP - Authentic French Bistro
Not really a bistro atmosphere, but maybe Vincent's for happy hour? You'll get the authentic french food for sure.
Twin Cities Dim Sum - what's good these days?
Amazinlgy enough, I've gone on a Sunday at 12:30 pm, and 3 of the dishes we happened to get were cold, one tasted like it came out of the fridge.
Twin Cities Dim Sum - what's good these days?
I have yet to been, but Lucky Dragon on the west bank of the U of M campus has dim sum.
I think my favorite is always Mandarin Kitchen, if i have a big group, i try to go by 10:30 on Saturdays. If that doesn't work and we have to eat later, we'll go to Jun Bo. I think you can make also reservations on Jun Bo too. The dim sum at Jun Bo is pretty good, however, i've had experiences where some of the items were cold when brought out (even though it had been on the steam cart) . As long as you got the hot, fresh items, you should have a good experience.
Vegetarian Restaurants - MSP
Any recommendations for good vegetarian-friendly restaurants? We're looking somewhere to go for my mom's birthday this Thursday and she's a strict vegetarian. The restaurant does not have to be fancy at all, we've gone to Tampopo and Evergreen Taiwanese Restaurant before. I would prefer a restaurant in Minneapolis or St. Paul. While the restaurant does not have to be big, hole-in-the-walls are fine too, it needs to be able to seat 7 of us. Previously, I would have considered Uduipi, but not sure now that it has changed owners/name.
MSP Month End UPDATE - inform your fellow chowhounds
I'm a little behind in posting. But I think I tried 4 new restaurants, the others were my typical places.
Wasabi - This was dissapointing, I went with 2 other friends and we are all huge sushi fans. We got the fried squid for an appetizer, the breading was off, and it was served in huge pieces (we were expecting more calamari like squid). the sauce that came with it, was a bit sweet which was odd. We got the sushi for 2 which was perfect for the 3 of us, you get a lot!! The sushi was alright, if you wanted a sushi fix, you got an assortment of fish, it seemed fairly fresh, but nothing specatcular. to finish off, we got tempura ice cream for dessert!. It wasn't as good as other places and they use vanilla ice cream, instead of having you pick. (if you ever want tempura ice cream, go to Koyi, Sushi Tango or Fuji-Ya!)
Cliquot Cafe- Stopped there for a piece of carrot cake, which was gigantic, very rich with thick cream cheese frosting, i couldn't finish it so i brought it home. I also got a paninin to go, so i had a lunch for the next day. The paninni had proscuitto and goat cheese in it and was delicious reheated.
Longfellow Grill - This was the first time i had been to any of the longfellow chains. I picked it so my non-chowish boyfriend would be easily able to pick out something to eat. :) he got the basic burger and I got the turkey burger. we both throughly enjoyed our burgers. I would come back when i crave a good turkey burger.
Vincent- went for the BOTB. first time there for me, and I loved it!
[MSP] Restaurant Week?
Had dinner at Vincent last night. It was my first time there and the dinner was great. I was so stuffed afterwards!
The choices were:
1st Course
Your Choice of:
Tomato-Mint Soup, Crème Fraiche
or
Vodka Tempura Battered Mozzarella, Mushroom-Tomato Ragout, Parsley Oil
2nd Course
Your Choice of:
Roasted Duck Breast, Taro Root Puree, Brussels Sprouts, Tarragon, and a Red Wine Shallot Jus
or
Pan Seared Skate Wings, Leeks Fingerling Potatoes, Brown Butter Sauce
3rd Course
Your Choice of:
Cheese of the Moment
or
Orange Tart, White Peach Sorbet
or
Vincent's Favorite Dessert (vanilla ice cream, madelines, hot fudge sauce)
My friend and I shared everything, so we were able to try all the choices. The tomato-mint soup was very smooth, and the mozzeralla was very lightly battered. The duck breast with the taro puree was fantastic, i'm love with the taro puree, very yummy and the combination of flavors was great. Since i tried the skate after, i felt that it paled in comparison to the duck, but it might have been different if i ate the skate first. The orange tart was a perfect light dessert after a rich meal.
MSP: Anything to say on Peking Garden?
I haven't personally eaten at Peking Garden in a long long time. I know a lot of family friends have dinner parties there (they are Chinese). I think the food is pretty good if you know what to order, and you order family-style, and a variety of dishes. (It's probabaly best with big groups) Hopefully, others who have been there have better suggestions for specific dishes?
MSP- Hot Pot
I know some of the Japanese restaurants have the Japanese version of it, Shabu Shabu. Kikugawa is one of them.
I believe Seafood Palace used to have a seafood and vegetarian one, but i think you had to call ahead for it.
Let me see if I can think of any others. I normally just do a hot pot at home. It's easy enough if you use a electric skillet, fondue pot, and get all the yummy ingredients at United Noodles (they have the thinly sliced pork, or beef all ready to go!)
MSP---- Good Spot for a Pho Virgin?
My personal favorite is Saigon Resaurant on the corner of University and Dale.
MSP: Little Szechuan is back!
i saw the daily specials the other day, but there weren't any that we were interested in. as I recall, they were written in Chinese but had the english translation below it? On saturday, there was a fish fillet dish, and some pork ribs dish.
MSP: Little Szechuan is back!
We went to LS today (Saturday) at 12:30, I had made reservations for a table for 8. Our table was ready when we got there, and it was really busy. Not sure if the crowds were due to the nicer weather outside, Dara's recent CP article, the Chinese New Year weekend or Saturdays normally being busy. As others as previously mentioned, the service was a bit spotty which was understandable since they were swamped. We enjoyed ourselves though, and were really pleased with everything we ordered! (Thanks to me reading the recs on this post)
Our Menu for 8 (in order the dishes came out in)
Dan Dan Noodles (this came out first, and was a favorite, we only ordered 1 serving of it, just so everyone had a taste, i would definitely order it again)
Fried Szechuan Cucumbers - this was really different from other dishes i've had, the texture and flavors were great
Crispy Spicy Chicken - this was my least favorite, it was a bit dry, and it was really salty
Fish in Brown Bean Sauce - This was fantastic, a bit on the spicer side, but it's a relaly well-done fish dish
Lamb with Cumin - this is really different from most Chinese dishes I've had, almost had a medterranian taste to it, the cilantro gave it a different kick,
Cripsy Shrimp in Special Sauce - this is the honey shrimp dish, it was a bit overly sweet (but that may have been enhanced because of the spiciness of the other dishes), it was just okay for me
Green Beans with Special Sauce - loved these green beans, i had been imagining a different dish with more of a chili-soy sauce based flavor, but these were different and quite delicious
Stir-Fried Pea Tips - nothing too fancy or new, but a great vegetable dish to complement the intense flavors of everything else.
Everyone loved our lunch, including one vegetarian, a couple not-so-spicy eaters, and a guest from Taiwan (who's had excellent Chinese food all over). Since the service was a bit slow, lunch did take awhile, we were there till 2 pm, but we were enjoying ourselves. I'll definitely be back to try some other dishes.
Chinese New Year in Mpls/StP area
While many Chinese restaurants do not have advertised Chinese New Year specials, many of them could probably put together a set meal for you.
Some places to look into are:
Mandarin Kitchen
Jun Bo
China Jen
Peking Garden
Seafood Palace
Yummy
MSP: Little Szechuan is back!
are there dishes at LS that aren't as spicy but still delicious? any recs like the honey crispy shirmp? I'm planning to go try it with my family, but some of my family members can't handle really spicy items.
