2nd- big 10, hopkins
6th- frankie's, new hope
13th- bunny's bar and grill, st. louis park
15th- bakery on grand, minneapolis
22nd- hell's kitchen, izzy's ice cream, pizza luce, minneapolis
26th- scoreboard, minnetonka
27th- spice thai cuisine, savage (takeout)2nd- big 10, hopkins (b-)
i had something other than the usual. odd, eh? plus i was even on the patio. (gasp in shock!)
went with the veggie grilled cheese. cucumber slices are an odd choice to include on this and though not enough to ruin the sandwich, really shouldn't be there. and like many grilled sandwiches, they needed a few minutes more to get the cheese unctuousness level to what it's supposed to be. got the fries with that, per usual, and it came with coleslaw. fries are usually pretty good, the coleslaw in the low to middle range.
the person i was with got the egg salad sandwich off the oddly named lunch specials (it runs to at least 10 pm daily, a little late for lunch in most cases). they liked it, though i thought it was rubbery. the salad that came with it was a mess, bad tomatoes, wilted lettuce, sad looking mushrooms. ack. the brownie sundae after had the taste and appearance of a day old brownie and wasn't pliant enough for the dish.
service was slightly off, but ok enough, i guess.
a decent enough place. though i am kind of at the point where if i have no inedible objects in my food and service doesn't completely suck, etc., that qualifies as decent enough (though the food part has to be edible).
which it is here. apparently the lasagne isn't bad, and the sauce isn't the sweet version thereof. i had the fenne penne, so called because it has nothing really to do with the dish (it ain't penne and i have no idea where they get fenne unless they're trying to be amusing, which is so not working). it could have used a lot more things that weren't noodles and sauce (like the veggies or chicken bits) but it wasn't bad. wasn't good, either. it was from ok-land.
the breadstick that came with both meals wasn't horrible (though i really craved breadsticks and garlic butter dipping sauce... still do, really....), and the side salad was actually pretty decent in the realm of side salads. i would've liked more tomato, as they were tomato tasting cherry tomatoes instead of lifeless tomato slices from hell, it had multicolored veggies in it and the lettuce wasn't brown. portions are generous, and where it wasn't authentic or what have you, it was decent enough.
you order at the counter and they serve you, and i think this is mostly a delivery/to go joint but they have some tables just in case. for most of the time we were the only people inside that stayed to eat that didn't work there. the salads are prepped, so it doesn't take long for them to get to the table. though the plastic forks they offer are pretty useless for the pasta (they were ok on the salad).
for what it cost us (we had a two for one coupon and it was under $10 total for both meals plus leftovers), it was a decent enough place. i'd like to come back and try the pizza. it was chicago style (at a place called frankies? who knew? heh) and looked pretty good.
13th- bunny's bar and grill, st. louis park (b-)
mrs. bad restauarnt karma must've liked it here, she wanted to come back relatively soon after going here, even though we have a lot more new two for one cards (though this was also two for one). again, for bar food, not bad. service was a bit off. i didn't get the chicken nachos, alas, i got a chicken sandwich with swiss and mushrooms, side o'fries. the sandwich had a naked bun, which wasn't right. the fries were a bit above ok. mrs. brk had a cobb salad, which for a bar salad was complex. the blue cheese in it was plentiful and of a decent quality.
15th- bakery on grand, minneapolis (b+)
it was a dark dessert, though not scary. by the time we got around to eating it, night had fallen, and this is not the most well-lit place in the world. good for a romatanic dinner, sure, but for a large group of people, not so much.
actually, the dessert was the opposite of scary. i had the lemon mousse tart, which was lemon cookie crust with lemon mousse and lemon curd, with fresh berries in a raspberry sauce. i also tasted other desserts, which were equally as tasty, and all were also very well plated. my dessert was light, fresh, and summery as all get out besides the whole tasty thing, and i'm saying that as a person who usually isn't so much into the desserts. that good it is.
not to say that dinner was bad. i got the duck two ways (quack). a duck breast and confit in a mustard sauce with mashed potatoes and asparagus. the confit was lovely. i've not had it prepared that way before, i think they pan fried it so the skin was all lovely and crispy. and both duck bits went well with the sauce. the tatoes were kind of standard, ditto the asparagus. as a plate it somehow worked well. i pretty much inhaled mine.
other people also commented on how good things were, from the other people that had the duck (quack), the pork chop, steak, soup, salads, and even the vegetarian plate. though i think everyone was oddly disappointed in the bread. maybe because it was late in the evening, the baguette especially had the day old texture about it. would've been good as toast.
i don't think the place is set up well for large groups. we had a table of 10, though we were split into two tables in the back room, where the stereo system didn't reach and it was dark. second-class diner land, i guess. service was as well as could be expected with two servers working the whole place, including the outdoor tables. i wish they had a few lower price options on their menu, the appetizers especially as they were all about $9. it's a nice neighborhood place. though around this hood i'd go to corner table if i were going for dinner. i'd try here for breakfast or lunch.
22nd- hell's kitchen (b), izzy's ice cream (b), pizza luce (b), minneapolis
three bs, or not three bs, that is the question. ha. ha.
it was a slightly above average day, foodwise, hanging in downtown minneapolis. hell's kitchen was not as good as last time. my guess it had something to do with the size of the group (9 people). the seasonings were off a bit. the breakfast stir fry was kind of bland, even with the excellent homemade ketsup, but that and the toast were not as warm as they should've been. the rosti tatoes were hit a bit too much with the herbs, as was reported.
some things were still really good, however. the veggie panini, the special of shrimp benedict, and of course the wild rice porridge were all good. besides the world's best ketsup, i got to finally sample the jams and homemade peanut butter, and took a jar of the peanut butter home with me.
some people thought it overpriced for what you got- those were mostly the people who got the all-american breakfast, which can be had at many chain restaurants (a highly inferior version, taste and quality wise, imho) for about $4 or so bucks less. so don't order it here, i would say. get other things.
izzy's is pretty good ice cream, i picked up a cone at the store formerly known as dayton's, they have a counter in the basement. i got an m and m cone with the cotton candy izzy scoop. the izzy scoop rocks. that's smaller scoop of ice cream on top of the regular scoop. that being said, i thought the single cones were overpriced at over $3. the ice cream was very smooth and creamy and nice. i like it better than grand ole creamery but not as much as ben and jerry's.
pizza luce needs more feta on their slices with feta. otherwise, the spinach and tomato version was pretty decent. murph from dinosaur jr liked it, too. they had some free bits of brownie and chocolate covered rice krispie bar on the counter, which was nice. and the music was stuff from the 80's i've not heard in ages- i had a molly ringwaldian moment or two there.
26th- scoreboard, minnetonka (b+)
same thing as last time, only with better soup (turkey dijon) and mini corn dogs (ok, according to mrs. brk) instead of bad nachos. i thought it had been longer than last month since we were here last. oh, well. i'll live. the black olives were better this time.
27th- spice thai cuisine, savage (takeout) (b)
a decent little place in a boonie-like area near the burnsville savage border. i had the mock duck pad thai (i usually go for the pad thai the first time i try a thai place, as a standard dish... if they do well, i'd go back, if not, no use trying anything else at the place).
it was quite good, though not the best i've had. the cream cheese puffs that came with it weren't at their best (they got cold during the trip). it came with an unidentified clear sauce. whatever it was wasn't bad. i would've liked lime on the side and not the lemon wedge.
the specials are very reasonably priced, and you get a lot of food with them, but many of the regular menu items seem kind of spendy. $9 for lunch is a bit too much, but lunch specials (seemingly some of the same things on the menu) are $6. maybe that's a strategy so they only have to make mostly a few chosen things per day unless someone really really wants something else.
anyway, it's nice to have a little food diversity in the area.
© The bent sun as risen