ShinyCake's Profile
Genuine Home-Baked Cakes
Visited Antie Angel's today and had a chat with the owner, who confirmed that she'll be closing up the downtown shop at the end of the month to focus on baking her cakes five days a week for Lunds/Byerly's. I tried a sample of her coconut cake, which tasted good and... real. But I bought a slice of caramel cake, which wasn't great. The cake part was very dense and rather dry, and the caramel frosting was super-sweet, grainy, and hard. Honestly, it was an absolutely typical homemade cake, complete with the typical errors. But I'd still much rather eat that than the chemical hazards they produce at places like Cub. I wish her luck and plan to visit her shop a couple more times while I'm still working downtown and before she closes.
Genuine Home-Baked Cakes
I tried visiting yesterday during my lunch break, at around 1:10 p.m. or so, and the gate was down with a note stuck on it saying they'd be back at 1:30 p.m. Kind of a strange time to take a break. The place is arranged very strangely - seems like way too much space for what they have to offer. And it looks like all the cake is pre-sliced and packaged in plastic. I'll try again later this week and hopefully be able to taste something.
Bakeries and restaurants in/near St. Paul
For what it's worth, I meant "crazy" in the best possible way. It's what I call anyone - loved ones and strangers alike - who is enjoyably odd. Certainly didn't mean to offend.
Bakeries and restaurants in/near St. Paul
He IS crazy! My boyfriend and I drove out there a couple months ago (after our second attempt to actually get donuts at The Donut Cooperative failed). Good donuts, very amusing crazy man. :)
Ngon Bistro Virgin
I usually get the rib eye pho or the tofu noodle salad. They're both excellent. But I ALWAYS start with the shrimp egg rolls, which are the best egg rolls I've ever had the pleasure of eating. Light and crispy, super flavorful, usually not greasy at all. Yum. I haven't tried any of their non-traditional options.
Bakeries and restaurants in/near St. Paul
As most here have said, Mac-Groveland is your best bet for restaurants and bakeries in St. Paul. I used to live a few blocks away from Como Lake and wished there were more good things to eat in close walking distance. St. Anthony Park was just a short bike ride away, but there's not much there. Finnish Bistro is only OK. Better for baked goods than for food food. Como is walking distance to University Ave. (Ngon, Little Szechuan), but the walk can be rather dismal.
My favorite bakeries (for treats, but not bread) in St. Paul are A Piece of Cake (and its sister restaurant Bon Vie) and Bars, both of which are on Selby. They don't compare to Rustica in Minneapolis, but then nothing does. I'm happy to hear that Kopplin's carries Rustica treats. For bread, Mississippi Market carries a good selection from various local bakeries. If I could afford it, I would have bought a house in Mac-Groveland. (I ended up buying one on the West Side, and I'm looking forward to lots and lots of awesome Mexican food.)
Downtown Vietnamese-The Bamboo Shoot
Also stay away from the bun. It's terrible. Mostly lettuce, hardly any noodles, weird ingredients like crappy pink winter tomatoes and huge slices of raw white onion. Gross. It's like they have no idea what bun is.
Rye Delicatessen - Minneapolis
My boyfriend and I went there about a month ago, and it was pretty bad. We both got the smoked meat sandwich, his on rye, mine on challah. I could not eat it. The meat looked lovely, and I imagined that it would be tender, salty, and a bit smokey. But it was almost completely bland and very difficult to bite through. It also seemed to be 50% fat. Even my boyfriend, who loves meat and usually eats all the fatty parts, had a tough time finishing his sandwhich because of the fat content. I was glad I only got a half sandwich, but the chicken matzoh soup was bland as well. Not worth the money, at all.
Best Breakfast Ever - Your Favorites
I heartily second Bon Vie's eggs benedict. They also have excellent quiche. But they have a chronic cold-toast problem.
Citizen Cafe's eggs benedict beats Bon Vie's. The first time I had it there, it was so wonderful that I was afraid to try it again lest it not live up to its own standards. But it did. It's perfect.
Best Croissant?
I also vote for Rustica. I love how dark they bake them. And their chocolate croissants have the perfect amount of delicious chocolate inside.
Good, cheap lunch catering for large group (400+)
Thanks so much for the suggestions! I ended up ordering from La Loma for this Friday. Taco bar with different fillings (beef, chicken fajita, marinated pork) plus beans. You place the order online and they follow up with an invoice. They didn't have any qualms about filling this huge order on three days' notice. I'll let y'all know how it goes.
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La Loma Restaurant
1510 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407
Good, cheap lunch catering for large group (400+)
I've been asked to order lunch for 400+ employees this Friday and next, maximum $4/person, and I'm wondering if any of you have ideas for good, cheap catering downtown. In the interest of time, I ordered Jimmy John's (blech) for tomorrow, but I'm hoping to get something more inspiring next week.
La Loma is the best option I can come up with so far. Here's their catering site, to help folks who search this topic in the future: http://lalomatamales.com/?page_id=3. They do a make-your-own-taco set-up that sounds decent. Does anyone have any experience with their catering?
Any other ideas? I sincerely wish I could spend more than $4 per person, but alas - no.
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La Loma Restaurant
1510 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407
The Lowbrow
I really want to like this place, and I'm planning to give it another try, but so far... eh.
The nachos were really good, but they skimped on the cheese to a rather severe degree. I liked the fresh jalapenos on them, though. And while I prefer corn chips, their flour chips were nice and crunchy.
The french fries were excellent. Some of the best I've ever had.
The veggie burger was atrocious. Like someone overcooked quinoa, added about a quarter cup of cumin, and mashed it together into something resembling a patty, which disintegrated upon first bite. Definitely the worst veggie burger I've ever had.
My friend ordered a medium hamburger, which arrived with only a hint of pink. He was unimpressed.
Best bún (Vietnamese vermicelli noodle salad)?
I just had tofu bun from Jasmine Deli, and it was excellent. I really like the pickled carrots, and the cucumber, lettuce, and bean sprouts were are fresh and crunchy. The noodles were maybe a little bit soft, but they didn't stick together at all. Good fish sauce, flavorful tofu (sauteed with onions in a peanut-y brown sauce). The woman behind the counter was very friendly and helpful. I'll definitely be back.
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Jasmine Deli
2532 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Thanks, iL Divo. I hope you like 'em as much as I do. :)
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Thanks so much, auburnselkie. This is the first time anyone's ever tried one of my recipes. :) I'm glad they turned out well. I like adding the chips when the dough is warm to get some nice-looking melty chocolate goodness, too. And yes, I love the fact that no creaming is required.
You really just brightened my crappy day. Thank you!
Bar La Grassa
Finally made it to Bar La Grassa last night for a birthday dinner with three friends and had the best polenta and the best gnocchi I've ever tasted. We shared:
- Soft eggs and lobster bruschetta. Very, very good. Tender, creamy eggs. The lobster was slightly tough, but I'll admit I've had lobster maybe two other times in my life so I don't really know what the texture is supposed to be like. The flavor was excellent.
- Charred red onion with goat cheese bruschetta. Amazing. I will absolutely get this again. The onions were dark and sweet and soft and went perfectly with the goat cheese.
- Blood orange, date, and marcona almond salad. Delicious and beautiful—a great combination of flavors. I want dates in everything.
- Soft polenta. This was the highlight of the night for me. So rich and creamy and... soft. I loved when it sat a bit and I'd get a bite that was cool and sweet on the rim of the spoon but still warm and richly salty in the middle. Unbelievably good.
- Gnocchi with cauliflower and orange. Ridiculously good. Perfectly tender. The flavors were subtle, and the texture of the cauliflower was an excellent complement to the gnocchi.
- Silk handkerchiefs with basil pesto. I've never had better fresh pasta. The texture is perfect—silky smooth and fine.
- Brussels sprouts with pancetta. Very good, if a bit oily.
Service was attentive, warm, and friendly. Not at all pretentious. She recommended that the four of us share 6–8 dishes and stick to the small sizes of the pastas, and we ended up with only slightly too much food. Food that I get to eat for lunch today. :)
It was loud and packed, but conversation was still very possible.
I can't wait to go back.
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Bar La Grassa
800 N Washington Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55401
La Sirena Gorda at Midtown Global Market
Have to report that I tried the octopus tacos. The best word I can use to describe them: gross.
The visual presentation was the worst part: the rice and beans looked delicious, the empty corn tortillas looked fine, but the pile of hot, soupy, creamy (? it seemed like there was cream in the sauce) octopus (some chopped bits, some tiny little entire octopi) mixed with onion, tomato, and corn (I think it got dumped on top of the pico de gallo) sent me a very strong do-not-eat signal.
I bravely assembled a taco and took a bite. It didn't taste as bad as it looked. Or smelled (kinda fishy). The octopus was tender, and the flavor was good.
But every time I looked back down at my plate, it was difficult to take another bite. I think I managed two tacos before I gave up, saying, "I can't believe I ate that much."
So, I only recommend trying the octopus tacos if you're not visually squeamish. Or maybe something went wrong with the presentation this time. I doubt the octopus mixture was supposed to be combined on the plate with the pico de gallo.
I'll still be back, though. I really want to try the ceviche and crab cakes.
Afghan Restaurant - Crystal
I'm bummed, too. Just went there last week, and the owner is absolutely hilarious. He was berating a couple people for not finishing their food, and he actually started feeding this woman whom he claimed to be his sister (but I have no idea if she was actually his sister or if he even knew her at all). The entire restaurant was laughing.
Oh yeah, the food was good, too.
Big Changes at Cosetta's
"The current building would be remodeled and additional space would be built on the Cossetta parking lot on the corner of W. 7th Street and Chestnut."
We were thinking of the same parking lot, but I got my directions confused because that city block is on a diagonal. That corner IS south. Sorry about that!
Big Changes at Cosetta's
No kidding about the parking. The article makes it sound like the expansion will eat up the parking on the west side of the building. The owner says something about having plenty of parking space in an adjacent lot. I beg to differ.
I'd like to see them start using real dishes instead of plastic for dining in.
Do you have a recipe that works so well that you have no interest in trying another?
I would also like to see that PB cookie recipe. Very much. I used to love the Better Homes & Gardens recipe, but my tastes must have changed.
vegan desserts
French Meadow always has some vegan desserts, and in general I think their stuff is better than what you get at The Wedge. You could call and ask if you could special-order a vegan key lime pie.
Moving to the Twin Cities - best neighborhood for big eaters?
I agree with many others that Cathedral Hill is an excellent choice. If your job were in Minneapolis, I'd wholeheartedly recommend Whittier (my new neighborhood), but the drive would likely be unpleasant.
In Cathedral Hill, you're walking distance from a LOT of great places. A two-mile radius (maybe a smidgen wider) encompasses downtown (the farmer's market, Tanpopo, Meritage, Cossetta's), Grand Ave. (Brasa and Punch), and University (Ngon, Saigon for your banh mi, the Asian deli off Western that folks have been raving about). You'd likely live right off Selby, which has a high concentration of good spots (Bars Bakery, Mississippi Market Co-op, WA Frost, Bon Vie, A Piece of Cake). The neighborhood's fairly quiet (unlike Grand, which gets annoyingly busy on the weekends).
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
I realize that this posting is four years too late for flipkeat's afternoon of baking.
I took tips from Smitten Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated and tinkered and tinkered until I made the best chocolate chip cookie recipe EVER. That's my own opinion, of course, but it has been corroborated by all tasters thus far. Highlights:
- Browned butter. No need to wait for butter to soften or to spend forever creaming it with sugar.
- No mixer required. A wooden spoon does the trick.
- They look wonderful. Homemade chocolate chip cookies often sink into themselves as they cool, but these retain a nice height. Also, the browned butter and greater proportion of brown to white sugar gives them a darker color that usually only comes with over-baking.
- They are crispy on the edges and chewy on the inside.
- The dough tastes amazing. That might be a bad thing, actually.
Give 'em a try. I dare you. :) I posted the recipe here on Chow, even.
http://www.chow.com/recipes/29451-shinycakes-chocolate-chip-cookies
La Sirena Gorda at Midtown Global Market
I didn't see a stand-alone thread for La Sirena Gorda, but it deserves one.
Ate there for the first time this Saturday and was impressed in every possible way. The mahi-mahi tacos were great, and I was surprised by how much I loved the inclusion of pineapple. They were also a great deal at two tacos plus a generous portion of rice and some black beans for something like $6.75. The owner (I can't remember his name!) chatted with me while the cook was making the tacos. He didn't just make boring chit-chat, but talked about good restaurants around the Twin Cities and steered me toward Travail and Haute Dish (both of which have been on my list of places to try).
When I directed my friend to La Sirena Gorda after getting my own food, the owner gave him a complimentary piece of some kind of layered key lime pie for us to share as thanks for the referral. He even came out into the common seating area and asked us how our food was (delicious).
I'm making it a goal to try everything on their menu. Next up: octopus tacos. What else is awesome at La Sirena Gorda?
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Midtown Global Market
920 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407
La Sirena Gorda
920 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407
Favorite Asian Grocery Store in St. Paul?
I second the cleanliness of United Noodle. The first time I walked in, I said, "Wow! It actually doesn't smell in here!"
Thoughts on Duplex?
I'm not sure. The server heard my friend's complaint, spoke to the chef, came back to our table, and said something like, "I spoke with Chef [maybe the dude from South Park? not sure why she omitted the article], and yes, the potatoes were undercooked. Sorry about that." I can't remember her exact words.
My guess is that gratin is prepared in a large pan, baked, sliced into individual portions, and those portions are reheated as ordered. Whoever did the slicing HAD to know the potatoes were nearly raw; they just made a decision not to say anything/serve them anyway.
Thoughts on Duplex?
This is a super-belated reply, but I figured I may as well add this review to an existing thread on Duplex.
Went to Duplex with a friend last night and were treated to pretty bad service and mediocre-at-best food.
We had a GroupOn, and we did everything right: made reservations, came on time, handed the thing to our server right away. Both of us felt like we got sub-par service because the server was assuming we'd leave her a crappy tip.
The place wasn't busy at all (maybe 40% full), but it took a good 25-30 minutes to get our food.
I got the gnocchi, which was OK. Bites with a tomato or mushroom were really good, but the gnocchi by themselves were bland, dry, and on the chewy side. Disappointing.
My friend got the steak. When he ordered, he asked the server if he could get a different side to replace the broccolini (which he hates). She couldn't come up with anything other than to double the other side (a potato gratin, which she puzzlingly pronounced "gruh-TEEN"), and he said that would be fine. When she came up to refill our waters five or so minutes later, she mentioned that there would be a $2 up-charge for that replacement. Again, fine.
Not fine: the potatoes were barely cooked. They were thinly sliced and stacked in a big slab, with some kind of cheese/cream sauce. I had a bite to confirm that he wasn't crazy, and the potatoes were truly raw. He said his steak was good (although medium rare instead of the medium he ordered), but the potatoes were inedible.
Sadly, our server decided to ignore us for about 15 minutes, so we didn't have a chance to say something until it was too late for her to actually do something about it. I say "decided to ignore us" because she DID come upstairs a bit after bringing us our entrees to give another table their check, but she (seemingly) purposely didn't make eye contact with either of us and just went back downstairs.
When she finally came to the table, my friend said, "This was terrible." She looked uncomfortable, and then she said, "Oh, you're actually serious!" He explained about the raw potatoes; she apologized and offered us a free dessert. We accepted it, and it was good (an apple crisp), but the fact remained that all my friend got to eat for dinner was about four ounces of steak. When the server brought out the dessert, she said she spoke with the chef and he said that the potatoes were undercooked. I guess it's nice of them to acknowledge it, but we kind of already knew that.
My friend tipped really well (about 30%) to prove her wrong about GroupOn-ers. I wouldn't have done that.
Despite the free dessert, I can't imagine I'll want to go back. And I live only a few blocks away from the place.
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Duplex Restaurant
2516 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55405
Restaurants near MofA
Two of my very favorite restaurants are out in that area.
Grand Szechuan is about five miles away from the mall. I always get some combination of sauteed cucumbers, green beans, Kung Pao Tofu, and Chung King Chili Shrimp, all of which are absolutely delicious.
Tandoor is even closer—maybe two miles away. Their naan is leagues above any other restaurants', and their bangan bharta is complex and delicious.
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Tandoor Restaurant
8062 Morgan Cir S, Minneapolis, MN 55431
Grand Szechuan
10602 France Ave S, Bloomington, MN 55431
