Latest Restaurant Reviews
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Al & Alma's Supper Club (Mound, MN)
Talented hands using fresh ingredients are the focus of today’s restaurant menu. And the speed with which trends boomerang through the industry turns every new idea into everybody’s new idea in a matter of weeks. Or so it seems.
Dining out has never been so good. Nevertheless, yesterday’s typical restaurants can still be found; places that, with their very name, strike fear into the heart of the modern gourmand. There still exists the “Supper Club.”
Our wondering whether there was any room in today’s market for such a seeming anachronism, and curiosity over the state of dining on the Upper Lake, took us to Al & Alma’s Supper Club on the shores of Lake Minnetonka in Mound…
Tak Shing (Lakeville, MN)
The thing about Italian food in America is that, at its worst, it can be so very very bad. Think beans in the school lunch spaghetti and you realize how badly Italian can be misinterpreted in America. On the other hand, nearly every Chinese restaurant is run by members of a Chinese family with at least a couple of recipes they really like.
At Tak Shing in Lakeville, we had the good fortune of ordering some of those marvelous dishes.
The best thing we had was the Tak Shing wonton soup. The broth has that particularly excellent quality one finds in a great wonton soup: it’s not heavy, like a European chicken soup, but is densely flavorsome and still as light as water. The Tak Shing presentation is heartier than most, with baby corn, broccoli, pea pods, carrots, mushrooms and water chestnuts. This soup comes in one size only (large) and makes a good meal for one or a fine appetizer for a group. Either way, you’re in for a treat…
Poblano's Mexican Restaurant (Lino Lakes, MN)
There are many reasons why the influx of Hispanic immigrants is good for this country, but our favorite is the restaurants they open. We still have our share of Tex-Mex American restaurants, and fake Mexican dishes at corporate chain restaurants, but now it seems that every community has an authentic family-run Mexican restaurant.
Lino Lakes got its version last December, when Poblano’s opened up in a small strip mall. Run by the husband and wife team of Mateo and Janine Salas, they cook their own versions of standard Mexican favorites. The results are mixed…
Evergreen (Minneapolis, MN)
It’s hard to just wander into Evergreen, given that it’s in the basement of a small, nondescript office building. But it’s scrupulously clean, brightly lit and filled with people. They know something you’re going to learn: Evergreen is the perfect Chinese restaurant for the budget-conscious vegetarian.
The spectrum of vegetarian practice runs from casual avoidance of some animal-based foods to the strictest veganism, but everyone can enjoy the Taiwanese cooking at Evergreen. They keep a separate wok for cooking vegan dishes. Heck, they even serve meat dishes…
Pastrami Jack's (Minnetonka, MN)
A deli stands or falls on its corned beef and pastrami. Pastrami Jack’s versions are either good or mediocre, depending on what kind of deli meats you’re used to. If you’re used to supermarket versions of these, Pastrami Jack’s will impress you. But if you’re familiar with the housemade meats of the great New York delis, you’ll remember that you’re not in New York. Neither had the richness and depth of flavor we would have liked.
There are good things on the menu, though. The roast beef is tasty, and the brisket is tender and flavorful.
The tongue sandwich is delicious. If you can get over the fact that you’re eating a cow’s tongue, you’re in for a treat. We recommend ordering it hot on rye, with coleslaw and horseradish sauce…
Yafa Grill and Pizzeria (Columbia Heights, MN)
So there we were, eating with a couple of South African exchange students, talking to our Palestinian waiter and exchanging pleasantries with the Arabic-speaking men at the next table smoking from hookahs. Right here in Anoka County. It’s moments like this that make this job fun.
Lewis Carroll introduced the hookah into Western consciousness, and now we all know what it looks like. Also called a nargila or shisha—depending on where in the Middle East you are—this sort of smoking is a social affair. That’s surely true at Yafa Grill, a gathering spot for aficionados of the sweet, fruity tobacco smoke. You can have a pipe of your own for just $6…
Sambol (Eagan, MN)
India is home to a huge variety of cultures and cuisines, and they all have their unique tastes. But in this country, most Indian restaurants tend to have similar menus. If you’ve eaten at a few, you’ve learned that kormas are creamy and not spicy, rogan josh dishes are medium and vindaloos are hot. You know that biryani is a seasoned rice dish and tikka masala is tomato-based. But far too often the tastes blend together, and it seems as if the only difference between Indian restaurants is the time it takes to get to one or another.
Sambol has a treat in store for you. Not only are most of the dishes more unique and flavorful than you’re used to, but also you’ll find delicious Sri Lankan menu items that you’ve never heard of before…
Claddagh (Maple Grove, MN)
Any of half a dozen companies in Ireland will build an Irish pub to suit your space, ship it and install it. They’ll provide you with faux decor and advise you in the finer points of Irish conviviality.
Several of these pubs have popped up around the Twin Cities, including Claddagh, an outpost of an Ohio chain now anchoring a corner of the new Main Street in Maple Grove.
Once you get past the too-perfect fakery of it all, Claddagh is a nice place. It has cozy corners offering a little quiet and privacy and a bustling bar area for a livelier time…
Babani's (St. Paul, MN)
If you took some ideas from Indian cuisine, a bit of Greek cookery, and a handful of dietary traits from around the Mediterranean, you’d end up with something that looks and tastes a lot like Kurdish food. You’d find flat bread and more vegetables than meat, all with lots of flavor but not much spice.
Babani’s claims to be the first Kurdish restaurant in the United States, and we’re not going to argue. It’s certainly been a downtown St. Paul institution since it opened in 1997. It’s in a charming space: two small rooms tucked away on the first floor of an old apartment building, decorated with Kurdish art and artifacts, and lots of framed restaurant reviews and awards…
Three Sisters Asian Cuisine (Coon Rapids, MN)
When we do a review meal, we bring a group of friends to help us try more dishes. We try to bring people who like and dislike a range of foods, because we want opinions from fussy eaters as well as those who will eat pretty much anything.
This being Minnesota, we never have trouble finding friends who don’t care for spicy foods. Most of the time, finding mildly spiced dishes is no problem at all, because restaurateurs tone down the heat in spicy cuisines for those Minnesota palates.
Not so at Three Sisters, a pan-Asian hole-in-the-wall in a Coon Rapids strip mall. They use the common one-through-five scale, but they make it authentic. A “three” was hotter than even we liked. “Two” was plenty hot…
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.