restaurants

100 years ago now it seems - well, OK, 3...we ate at Pittsburgh Blue during their opening week (man, am I embarrassed that I somehow ordered Thousand Island on a wedge salad with bleu cheese.) ...and we finally just went back. Not because of any fault of the restaurant, necessarily - we just had other places to be in a city this big.

Actually the main reason we went back - they have added a patio since they opened. It was a nice day and we thought we better cash in - and it was near. The patio is very well done, even within 100 feet of 2 roads and 500 feet of I-94 you really feel secluded in the pergola-ed, evergreen-ensconced surroundings. Sadly from about 6PM until 7:30ish every night it is also extremely busy - like every patio in MSP. So by the time we got out there it was a bit past the prime patio hour...BUT....still... thumbs up.


Must Have
-----------
+ Prime Rib French Dip


Very Good
------------
+ Sidecar Cocktail
+ Steakhouse Wedge (this time, with bleu cheese dressing )
+ Parmesan French Fries
+ James River Raw Oysters -- served with lemon, cocktail sauce, (and pickled onions?)
+ Blue Point Raw Oysters -- served with lemon, cocktail sauce, (and pickled onions?)


Good
----------
+ Table Bread / Butter
+ Greyhound cocktail
+ Cape Codder cocktail


Take It Or Leave It
----------


Probably Not
----------
- Pecan Crusted Walleye -- well, this isn't foul. But only order it if you like your walleye to taste like french toast. (ie: pay attention to the small print that says "with maple rum butter".)

Wow...big breaking news with the Metro's upper-crust restaurateurs:

   Financial Mismanagement at Barrio, La Grassa

With our recent chatter about Smalley's (on Facebook - but the basic jist of the conversation was that "this restaurant should be better than it is" - much like in my dining notes about Smalley's on here.) this makes sense needing to funnel money off to that place to keep it going through dry spells.

Never have been able to figure out what people see in Japanese food. Yes, I have enjoyed a couple pieces of hamachi nagiri in my day - and we had a bowl of ramen that blew out minds in Tokyo. But on the whole I find it under seasoned and the flavors that are brought forward are not that appealing. But still I (and Coolleen!!) try.....

So take this review with a grain of salt in that I am not a fan of this food in general - if you are, maybe you will love this place.

Must Have
-------------


Very Good
--------------


Good
-------------
+ Chicken Wings in Soy Ginger Sauce - nicely breaded and crispy...lightly sauced. Nice.


Take It Or Leave It
--------------
? Beef Udon -- flavorful beef slices in broth, green onions, onions, wakame and - of course - udon noodles. I could eat the 1 oz of beef all day long...but the fishy flavor of the wakame permeates all the other items. Combine that with the rubbery consistency of the noodles and any luster this dish might have had is lost on me.
? Edamame -- Unsalted...meh. Had better a hundred times.


Maybe I should try soba....but....this visit took the wind out of my sails for a couple months at least.

In our second visit to get Equadorian food at Chimborazo, I finally got off my dead ass and took some notes.

NOTE: Chimborazo isn't going to be a speedy dine. This time was probably about 2 hours - not that we were in any rush. But the first time there were some problems in the kitchen where plates were coming out one at a time...so we literally were served 10 different times. (On the other hand they gave us 50% everything for the wait - so it is always about the customer here...no worries, as long as you don't have somewhere to be.)

Must Have
-----------
+ Chaulafan -- This is probably the go to dish here - essentially fried-rice with shrimp, beef, pork and chicken - and carrots, peas, peppers, etc. Fab. u. lous.
+ Hornado Con Patas -- A giant pile of roast pork served with llapingachos (and hominy - booorrrring...just ignore that). The magic of this is the pork drippings everywhere on the plate - the (potato) llapingachos soak it up -- unbelievably good.
+ Lomo Saltado -- stir-fried beef, peppers, onions, potatoes in a spicy/vinegary sauce.


Very good
----------
+ Camarón Encocado - if you are a curry person, this yellow curry over perfectly-cooked shrimp and white rice
+ Llapingachos - potato pancakes, chorizo, eggs and peanut sauce over rice...tasty but not motivating. Llapingachos are ssooOOOOooo much better with the Hornado con Papas.
+ Pescado Frito - whole fried tilapia with yellow rice, beans and patacones (fried green plantains).
+ Empanada de carne
+ Ceviche de camarón -- GIGANTIC shrimp in here...probably too big...can't get it to stay on the plantain patacones. The tomato chunks are also huge and hard to manage. But once you get it in your mouth you don't mind anymore.
+ Negra Modelo


Good
-------
+ Churrasco -- grilled flank steak with rice and fried egg with sides of beans, sweet plantain and fried yucca. Just doesn't quite fire on all cylinders.
+ Pacifico Claro


Take it or leave it
---------------
? Muchín de yuca -- blandish, gluey...not that one should expect much from yucca. The dipping sauce is magic. (Maybe salt could have saved the day?)

It was hot technology news all over the planet that Izzy's Ice Cream had installed a new RFID system to auto-update the available ice creams in their St. Paul storefront. Time to get back over there.

   http://flavorup.izzysicecream.com/flavor-grid

We had to go reward them for this cutting-edge improvement to modern society, no?

PS: Julio Ojeda-Zapata's Tech Blog

The people who participate in our workplace weightloss contest gave me a thank you gift certificate to The Barbary Fig for administering the contest. (PS: Thanks y'all!) So we went and cashed it in for some northern African food.


Must Have
---------------


Very Good
----------------
+ Chicken Cous Cous
+ Special of the Day: Chicken Bisteeva
+ (warm) French Bread
+ Hummus -- actually hummus, feta and tomato-ginger chutney


Good
------------------


Take It Or Leave It
-------------------
? Grain Belt Premium

I am not as vehement about this - but....it's a valid point.

"Back The Heck Up, FSN!", by David Brauer; MinnPost

Minnesota Monthly's April 2010 issue reports that: "[Budweiser Deck] space is reserved for groups most nights, but tickets are available most Thursdays and Saturdays for public purchase."

Heads up.

• *Most importantly, AT&T got off their dead asses and increased available voice and data circuits in the Target Field area - we had very few hiccups in service even though it was again a 40k-person full-house. Nice recovery, AT&T.*
  
• They are starting to confiscate bottle caps again. (Perhaps it was just poor training that they didn't know to enforce that dumbass rule the first week.)
  • Huh. I just had an interesting idea....in my Twins survival bag I should pack 2 Mountain Dew caps...to keep my Dew fresh.
• The Kramarczuk's line is still insane...probably 100 people deep all the way to the 7th inning. At that point it was down to 20...which is still bad.
  
• It is nearly impossible to be able to temporarily sneak a seat in the 3rd deck.....even if some of these games are not sellouts...it is crOOOOWDed.
  

Our Opening Day certificate says:

TARGET FIELD Be it known to baseball fans everywhere that on the afternoon of the Twelfth of April, Two Thousand and Ten at 3:10pm [blank] witnessed the first regular season game ever played at the Target Field, between the Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox in the city of Minneapolis, in the State of Minnesota. Witnessed and signed by: Dave St. Peter, President Jim Pohlad, Owner Ron Gardenhire, Manager

"THE Target Field"? What is this, Ohio State?

Remember the feeling that first time you made sweet love to Anne Hathaway? Yeah, me neither - but I am pretty sure that tasting your first Mountain Dew outdoors in the sun and sweet breeze of a Minnesota Twins ballfield is just a tiny bit better than that is.

It is hard to describe the angst of long-suffering Twins fans to backers of other MLB clubs. Our having to watch the Metrodome scoreboard animate the phrase "Pepsi. The Official Soft Drink of Major League Baseball" for 13 years and yet never be able to taste its forbidden pleasure inside the confines of that teflon prison. (Since the Twins-owning Pohlad family also own the local Coke bottling operation they robbed us of our constitutional rights to the nectar of the gods by claiming a pre-existing agreement with Coke in the Metrodome.) Only those people with brass cajones as big as Jack Morris' have ever been able to risk sneaking in a contraband bottle to enjoy whilst watching America's pasttime.

But now...Target Field; baseball, sunscreen, humidity, a light warm wind, glistening sunglasses...........and Mountain Dew.

This is the number one most important thing to have in Target Field. It is the taste of freedom. It is the taste of baseball. It is the taste of America. You don't hate America, do you?

Rating? Must Have

Size: 20oz bottle
Where: "a nacho cart"
Cost: $4.50

Size: 20oz bottle
Where: vendors roaming the seats
Cost: $?.??

Size: ??oz fountain cup
Where: Hennepin Grille
Cost: $4.00


PS: Ask me in a couple more years about the Anne Hathaway thing...but I am pretty sure I am right.

Through Facebook and friend chatter we have overheard some food reviews we need to disseminate (with expressed written consent) until we can get around to tasting them for ourselves:

"Michelbob's ribs is the best food so far." --Beth

"the Cuban was delicious, but needed to be much warmer." -- Greg

"Thumbs up on the Murray's Steak Sandwich" -- someone

"The Nacho cart nachos are superior to Señor Smoke's" -- Abbott

...more to come...

(Alright, alright... I'll admit - that headline wasn't as successful as I would have wished...but you get the gist.) Our lofty goal for the 2010 Twins baseball season is to taste every food that can be eaten in our seats and rate it within these pages. We have 14 game tickets with which to get it done. (With the plethora of new food options in the inaugural year of Target Field I am not sure that is enough...even with my probably incomplete list of food offerings we are looking at more than 4 items per game ...but I have failed at less interesting challenges before.

Shopping List
Target Field Fountain Water (bring your own bottle) Mountain Dew Dinger Dog Cheese Curds (@ many) Killibrew Root Beer (seat vendors) Big Dog (@ many) Juicy Twists: Strawberry (@ many) Barrel o' Fun Potato Chips (@ many) Pizza (@ Frankie V's Italian) Tony Oliva's Cuban Sandwich (@ Tony O.'s) Corn Dog (@ State Fair Classics) Turkey Leg (@ State Fair Classics) "Pork Chop on a Stick"™ (@ State Fair Classics) Grain Belt Premium Beer Big Brownie Vincent Burger (@ Hennepin Grille) Talendi Sorbet(s) Talendi Gelato(s) Murray's Steak Sandwich (@ Mill City Grill) Walleye Fingers (@ Mill City Grill) Roast Beef au Jus (@ The Carvery) Lund's and Byerly's Wild Rice Soup (@ Halsey's Sausage Haus) Polish (@ Kramarczuk Sausages) Hungarian (@ Kramarczuk Sausages) Bratwurst (@ Kramarczuk Sausages) The Loon Café Pecos Red Chili (@ Halsey's Sausage Haus) J.D. Hoyt's Cajun Pork Chop (@ State Fair Classics)		Hennepin Grille fries Hennepin Grille chicken tenders Calzone (@ Frankie V's Italian) Italian Chopped Salad (@ Frankie V's Italian) Ice Cream (@ North Shore Creamery) Twins Helmet Sundae (@ North Shore Creamery) Italian Sausage (@ Halsey's Sausage Haus) Polish Sausage (@ Halsey's Sausage Haus) Empanadas (@ Señor Smoke's) Nachos (@ Señor Smoke's) Burritos (@ Señor Smoke's) Tacos (@ Señor Smoke's) Beer Steamed Brats (@ Taste of Twins Territory) Jumbo Hot Dogs (@ Taste of Twins Territory) Pretzels (@ Taste of Twins Territory) Walleye-on-a-Stick (@ State Fair Classics) Veggie Kabob (@ State Fair Classics) Summit Beer (@ Twins Brews) Schell's Dark Beer (@ Twins Brews) Finnegans Irish Amber Beer (@ Twins Brews) Leinie's Beer (@ Twins Brews) Michelob (huh?) Beer (@ Twins Brews) Stir-Fry(s) (@ Asian Wok) Peanuts Cracker Jack Michelbob's Championship Ribs (@ State Fair Classics)

And if that is not enough, beyond concessions, we could also poke into one of the full-service restaurants:

• Hrbek’s will be open prior to and during all Twins home games. The restaurant is located behind home plate in the main concourse and will feature pub fare such as the Rex Burger, a one-half pound, all-beef burger stuffed with caramelized onions and pepper jack cheese, served on a brioche roll. Another tip of the cap to Hrbek will be Bloomington onion rings: sweet yellow onions seasoned, breaded, crispy-fried and served with a tangy campfire and ranch dipping sauce.
  
• The Town Ball Tavern, themed after Minnesota’s strong amateur baseball tradition, will feature Target Field’s own Juicy Lucy with the cheese inside the burger, the Southpaw Walleye Sandwich, Twin Towns Turkey Sandwich, Give ‘Em the Heater Nachos and the Double Dipper Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip. The Town Ball Tavern is located behind the left field foul pole on the Club Level.

(I probably missed a bunch here...someone send me things I missed that you saw.)


Articles in the same vein:
A Map of the Locations of Each Vendor (and more interesting info)
Andrew Zimmern's Target Field Food First Thoughts
Amelia Santaniello Gorges At Target Field

Nothing satisfies after a hard 5-mile orienteering run like some Caribbean BBQ....or maybe we were just miles away from Stillwater after being at William O'Brien State Park.

Smalley's Caribbean BBQ & Pirate Bay (No, not Roy Smalley's ) sits on the the south end of Stillwater's tourism strip; two stories and a west-facing patio - grab the patio if you can.


Must Have
-------------
+ Mac n' Cheddar (make sure to get the optional bacon and chiles)
+ 3 Dives Jerk sauce -- even though it is the mild sauce it still has a nice bite for dipping.
+ Homemade Root Beer -- nice mix of herbs and caramel. Mild carbonation, the way god intended.


Very Good
------------
+ Fried Grouper Sandwich -- tasty, nice finishing heat in the aioli.
+ Grilled Curried Vegetables and Jamaican Sauces -- grilled peppers, onions and cauliflower with a curry dressing.
+ Gosling's Black Strap rum -- more please.
+ Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Sausage and Caramelized Pork -- just a nice essence of sweet potato, glad they didn't decide to get too creative here.
+ Dark & Stormy -- ginger beer, rum and lime...don't forget this if you are on the patio


Good
----------
+ Bourbon Beach sauce -- somewhere between balsamic and all-spice, adds a nice edge.
+ Chicken -- good with the jerk sauce. Leads us to think that jerk wings - further increasing the jerk-to-chicken ratio - are the way to go for (if and when there are) future visits.
+ Cornbread -- buttery, cheesy, greasy...nicely done.
+ Tortuga Gold rum -- I'm not huge on spiced rum....but it sure went down easy.
+ Fire Roasted Pork and Beans -- plenty of smoked pork, which probably would have been sufficient, but it seemed like they decided to add more bam! and put in additional liquid smoke, a bit too much unfortunately.
+ Creamy Cole Slaw -- basic, on point, with a touch of heat from chiles.
+ Skin-on Potato Salad with Bacon and Eggs -- your garden variety Lutheran-style potato salad, but grossly over-sauced. I did like the large chunks of hardboiled egg mixed in though.
+ Pork Shoulder -- tender, a bit fatty. We got it with barbeque sauce...probably would have been better to go with the jerk option.
+ Ribs -- a bit small, but good toothiness. OK.


Take It Or Leave It
--------------------
? Ginger-Jicama Slaw with Spiced Cashews -- meh. Only decent where one hit the cashews and/or maybe the mandarins supremes.


Probably Not
---------------
- Beer Battered Plank Fries -- crazy over-salted, you actually have to dip these fries in ketchup to knock that down a bit...perhaps if you order them with no "flavor dust" on them they would move right up to "Very Good"....they were cooked perfectly at least.
- Rice and Beans -- frankly it is unforgivable to be any kind of "island" restaurant and not be able to cook rice & beans. HORRIBLY overcooked, dry as a bone, flavorless.


I guess in the end we all agreed that there are better places to spend your time and dollar if you are looking for "island food". This is passable - but when it comes from Tim McKee - it really becomes a disappointment.

We ate at Kindee Thai Restaurant a couple of years ago and were underwhelmed. ...but as usual I am a huge failure and took no notes. So today in a desperate search for lunch while working downtown, Mona and I popped in. Again it was mixed bag of success.

Must Have
---------------


Very Good
---------------
+ Cranberry Cream Cheese Puffs, with sweet & sour dipping sauce -- cranberry preserves inside the wonton with the cream cheese, just like the Ming Dynasty perfected 1000 years ago. PS: Who cares about authenticity?...it is darn tasty.


Good
--------------
+ Crispy Green Beans, with chilli-lime dipping sauce -- lightly tempura-ed, nice.


Take It Or Leave It
-------------
? Beef Lettuce Wraps -- a nice spicy vinaigrette over beef chunks and mostly lettuce....but putting salad in a lettuce wrap seems a bit extraneous. It would have been exponentially better with rice-based filling instead of salad. (We evidently should have gotten the "Larb Lettuce Wrap" listed on the online menu - except it wasn't on our menu at the table )


Probably Not
--------------
- Fresh Spring Rolls -- worst I have had in a while, waaaAAAAaay too much lettuce (grossly out of proportion with the veggies, noodles and shrimp)...and horribly bitter lettuce as well. Massive failure for a Thai restaurant.