Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine – Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I needed to meet for lunch and we usually find something about half way between where we both work. I sent off a couple of suggestions and she decided on Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine. It has a fun website and also has a good story, which she’s a sucker for every time.

We arrived at this small but homey diner in South Minneapolis and grabbed a booth. The place is decorated in a happy Mexican/Carribean/Rasta décor and some fake trees wrapped in tinsel scattered around. It isn’t a large place by any stretch, but there are plenty of tables (maybe like 12-15) for people to sit and enjoy.


We got menus and began to have some trouble deciding on just what we wanted. Everything on the menu looks really good. I mean everything. There are good descriptions of most things (which helps immensely – but doesn’t help with the pronunciation). There is one section with Roti – which is described as a sort of burrito-like wrap with fillings inside. I have this thing where I mentally read text with capitals as shouting – like we all somehow learned to do when reading inflammatory e-mails and txts. Anyway, with these Roti Wraps, you get your choice of fillings from the long list of various meats, tofu, and vegetables. But the menu reads that you can get any of the wraps “with your choice of filling FROM BELOW”, so I naturally read that last part as shouting. It got to the point where I couldn’t even glance at the menu without giggling like an idiot.

D.Rough is familiar with some Caribbean food as she had Trinidadian and Tobagan friends in college and her Bahamian friend, SecretMeat, currently lives in the Twin Cities. She said we needed the Doubles (which we didn’t know if we were supposed to order A Doubles or SOME Doubles. It’s hard to tell from the menu). We got a doubles – luckily the waitress knew what we were talking about. D.Rough ordered the Callaloo with beef, and I needed some help deciding on what I wanted. Despite the fact I wanted to try everything on the menu, the waitress helped me get to an order of Jerk Chicken. I’ve had Jerk Chicken at other places and always liked it, but I thought it might be a bit more authentic here. D.Rough got a Ting soda (grapefruit flavored pop) and I got a Soursop blended drink (no alcohol – sadface).

The drinks came out and we sampled each other’s order. I REALLY liked the Ting - much more than I thought I would. I’ve had some grapefruit flavored things before and they always taste a bit too sour for me, but this was perfect. Almost like an Orangina, with some small bits of pulp in it. Delicious! My Soursop was also top notch. It had some cinnamon in it, which tasted delicious with this fruity tropical drink. I loved it. It was also in a giant glass and came with a specific giant straw. I did well ordering this, fo sho.

While waiting for our food, we saw this short man eating at a booth across from ours. He wasn’t a dwarf or anything, but his feet didn’t touch the ground while he was sitting in the booth. This contributed to the hilarious-ness of him eating. Every bite he would take, he would lean forward and lift his legs straight out in front of him. It’s like watching a 4-year-old eating. Very funny! [D.Rough chided me – yes, I said “chided” – for making fun of this guy.]

Our Doubles came out. Or is it one double? We have no idea. The Double(s) is/are like a mixture of chickpeas and green salsa curry on two deep fried bread patties. It doesn’t sound like much, but it absolutely delicious. We both really liked this. I’d love half a dozen of these things while I’m chilling out watching a movie or something. I have the feeling they take way more effort than I’m willing to put into the whole thing though. Thankfully, Marla will make them for me and I don’t have to bother! I spilled as many chickpeas as humanly possible onto the table, but none of them managed to hit my clothing – I call that a win.

We waited a while for our food (which did seem to take a while). But based on our appetizer, we had a feeling they weren’t lollygagging – they were putting serious effort into making our food, so we won’t ever complain about that. When the food came out, we knew it was going to be worth the wait.

D.Rough’s Callaloo was pureed okra, spinach, crab [D.Rough claims there wasn’t crab in her version, but with it pureed, how could you tell?], and coconut milk normally served with rice but in this case, they were out and replaced it with Yucca. I know this sounds like a weird combination, but it was really quite good. I liked it a lot. It had a mild flavor, but wasn’t bland at all. Just more subdued, especially with the neutral flavor of the Yucca. The beef pieces were almost all fantastic and not gristly and were perfect bite sized pieces that didn’t require cutting. This dish was really good, especially if you’re not into blazing hot food.

Speaking of blazing hot food, let’s talk about my Jerk Chicken. This dish comes with either white rice or red beans and rice. I’ve been a long time fan of RB&R, so I went with that. The first couple bites of the rice were fantastic – lots of seasoning, but you could still taste the beans. The heat began to build a little bit. Even after the first few bites, I had already declared it well past Popeye’s red beans and rice – which I know is going to anger a lot of people, but I don’t care. I love the RB&R at Popeyes (I DO own stock in the company)and compare all other places to that. Marla's RB&R had whole red beans mixed in with seasoned rice and you can tell some effort went into these. They were amazing… and the heat continued to build. The first few pieces of chicken were the same way. About 3 or 4 bites in, I was hooked – the best Jerk Chicken I’ve ever had. Tangy, delicious, borderline-sweet sauce, until about bite number 5. Then the first bead of sweat appeared on my brow. About bite number 7, my nose started running. The back of my throat was on fire, but sadly, I couldn’t stop eating. It was delicious. The heat is very sneaky on this one but I wouldn’t change a thing. I LOVE the fact that I was sweating and eating delicious food. These people don’t care at all about what “Minnesota Spicy” is – they’ve far surpassed that, thankfully. Well done, Marla. Tastiest food I’ve had in a while.

Thankfully, the Soursop and a couple glasses of water chilled my face out for a bit (as did a couple bites of Yucca from D.Rough’s plate). Marla came over and made sure we were doing alright and was happy to hear we loved it. We told her we’d be back and I’m already trying to figure out how I can swing a long lunch again. This place is a hidden gem of the Twin Cities, especially if you think Minnesotans can’t make spicy food. This will change your mind. We will be back – sooner rather than later.

Top 5 things about Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine
1. Jerk Chicken and Red Beans & Rice
2. Doubles
3. Callaloo
4. Soursop
5. Super nice staff were very helpful and friendly

Bottom 5 things
1. Food took a while to come out – but was worth it
2. Closed Sunday and Monday
3. If you don’t like spicy, you may want to be cautious
4. There aren’t any bad things about Marla’s – we loved it!

www.marlascuisine.com

New Beijing - Eden Prairie, MN

I’m all about trying new Chinese food buffets around my work place. Sure most of them are very standard and have the same options, but every once in while you find a gem, right? I popped by New Beijing on a lunch break and figured I’d do the buffet and get in and out of there quick, so I could get back to work.

They did have some of the standards on the buffet, but there really weren’t very many items in total. I was a little disappointed in the selection, actually. That didn’t slow me down though. I heaped on Kung Pow chicken, vegetable lo mein (which are basically just noodles), sesame chicken, an egg roll, a cream cheese wonton, something called “juicy green beans”, Mongolian pork, and egg drop soup (well, I didn’t heap on the soup to be honest – I put it in a bowl like a civilized person).

The food was underwhelming, truth be told. Sometimes things get cooked too long or sit on the buffet too long and get the flavor cooked out of them. I think this was the case. The egg roll was really greasy and had too much cinnamon (my most common complaint with Minnesota egg rolls). The flavor was nice, but the whole thing was just in sad mushy shape. The sesame chicken was the best part of the meal, but the kung pow chicken and the lo mein were limp and didn’t have much flavor. The juicy green beans were more shriveled and not juicy at all, but that’s harder to fit on a small tag on the buffet and slightly less appealing. The egg drop soup looked snot-like when I put it my bowl (again, a common complaint of egg drop soup), but it was also an unholy shade of orange. I was hoping it would be like a hint of sri racha to spice it up, but it wasn’t. I think it was just grease. Sad reality.

Sure, it sounds like I’m complaining, but it really didn’t slow me down that much. I did get a second plate.

Then dessert – chocolate and lemon puddings. I didn’t realize it was lemon and had assumed it was vanilla. The lemon chocolate combo wasn’t the greatest, but I powered through.

Overall, I wasn’t impressed with New Beijing and probably won’t be back. I know FireRetarded had tried to steer me away from it a few months back (which is why I went without him). Next time, I will listen to his advice and he and I will go some place awesome. I think he and I are about due for some lunchtime adventures!

The best part about New Beijing is you can go clothes shopping next door at Turnstyles – a consignment/second hand clothing store with some super deals – cha-ching!

Top 5 things about New Beijing
1) It is close to my work
2) Sesame Chicken
3) Cream Cheese Wonton
4) Very friendly workers
5) Next door to Turnstyles

Bottom 5 things
1) Kung Pow Chicken
2) Snotty orange egg drop soup
3) (non-) Juicy Green Beans
4) Cinnamon-y egg rolls
5) Chocolate-Lemon pudding combo

New Beijing
962 Prairie Center Drive
Eden Prairie, MN 55344

Bryn Mawr .10K Triathlon – Minneapolis, MN

TheDoctor has had an idea steeping in his head for a few years now and finally put it into action. It’s a .10K Triathalon. Now go back and read what I just wrote there. POINT TEN KAY. …As in one-tenth of a kilometer. …As in 100 meters. …As in 328 feet. As you can see, the people I hang out with are absolute geniuses on cerebral levels you won’t ever attain. This is... TheDoctor:

Here’s how it breaks down:
First section of the event – a half a block sprint with a 90 degree turn immediately after a challenging downhill elevation change. Half-grass, half-cement (which we were too lazy to sweep before starting the event). Stop at the hydration station before the next section.

Second section of the event – a quarter-block grueling uphill ride on a children’s bike without pedals (called a Strider). Both tires must be on the ground and some portion of the participant’s body must be touching the seat. Maximum weight capacity for this vehicle: 50 lbs.

Final section of the event – 50 ft sprint through the grass to the custom Slip N Slide (also known as a blue tarp covered in liquid dish soap and hosed down with a garden hose). The clock is stopped when the participant reaches the far end of the Slip N Slide.

This is how it looks when done by expert Triathalete, Josh Dibley:



This is how it looks when Chao does it:

The event was an absolute blast and made more fun by the enjoyment of more Skittle-infused vodka!

The second annual Bryn Mawr .10K Triathalon will happen in the summer of 2011, so be on the lookout for registration information. Thanks for hosting such an amazing event, Doctor. Next year, we’ll make sure there’s a first aid kit:)

Lunch at work - Eden Prairie, MN

I love it when workplaces feed their employees. I know none of you care what I had for lunch, but I felt obligated to post it anyway. I'll also have you note, I stood in line with about 2,000 other employees in the sun to get this food, as well.

Pulled BBQ Pork sandwiches, BBQ Beef Brisket, Corn on the Cob, and Rice Crispie Treats. f it was 200 degrees outside, I would have eaten somewhere other than my cube. Either way, it was a good lunch. Thank, bosses.

Uptown Market (again – I can’t help it) – Minneapolis, MN

I try not to review the same place too many times, but when I find different things or have people and places I like a lot, I make exceptions. I try to go to the Uptown Market as often as I can. There are tons of people that I know there and I always get fantastic food.

D.Rough and I stopped by the Ballentine VFW to meet some friends for eyeopeners – who doesn’t love a.m. drinking for cheap?!?!?! Losers, that’s who. We trekked over to the Magic Bus Café for an appetizer hot dog for me. I’ll rave about this place every time I come here, if I have to. The people here are awesome and the food here is equally awesome. They are pretty adventurous with their hot dog toppings. (This is me, SB, and CarpetKing ordering at the Magic Bus Cafe.)

This time around, I got another half-and-half dog. One side of the dog was the Buffalo Springfield (I LOVED it last time I got it and couldn’t talk myself out of it this time). It’s a hot dog with buffalo sauce, blue cheese diced celery, and sour cream. The other side of the dog was the Meet Me in the Morning Dog – scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese! Seriously, it sounds bizarre, but is delicious. I’m super tempted to try some sort of 6-dog sampler next time and get 12 different dogs. I may have to sweet talk the ladies there, but I can work some magic if I have to for delicious hot dog toppings. Thanks, Magic Bus Café!!

We walked around the market and taste tested some of the salsas there. We found some super tasty ones at the SalsaLady booth and I scored a half pint of the medium strength salsa verde there. It was fantastic. It was a little pricier than I had realized, but I think it is worth it. D.Rough and I also found out that the half pint container is a single serving - hahaha. Yeah, we liked it a lot.

The previous week we were there, we got a bottle of Sadia’s East African Hot Sauce from Sadia herself! We sampled all three varieties and loved the HOT version the best. I almost bought all three kinds, since Sadia is a really good saleswoman – she has a knack for the business and really knows her stuff.

D.Rough is a mastermind in the kitchen (and I’m sure she’ll tell you other places, as well) and has been coming up with some creative uses for this sauce. She came up with an awesome Steak Salad idea with the African hot sauce as the dressing. Well played, D.Rough. It was perfect.

D.Rough threw some greens on a plate, and then counted out individual mozzarella balls to make sure no one had a cheese advantage (I’m going to get punched for mentioning that), and then some cherry tomatoes. I grilled out a couple of steaks for the three of us and we cut those into strips and put them on the salad. Then we poured some of the sauce all over the salad. This sauce has some serious build to it. It doesn't seem that hot at first, and then once you stop eating for a second - something I try to limit as much as possible - it kicks in something fierce. Awesome, Sadia! The salads were fantastic. All three of us loved it!

I’ll quit raving about the awesome-iosity of the Uptown Market, but only for a week or two…

Duplex – Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I were in a celebratory mood and needed to do a special occasion kind of 6-month anniversary dinner date type of thing. She had purchased a Groupon a few months back and we needed to use it. Both of our plans got canceled for the night, so we even got to go a little bit early and relax a bit. It was also sweltering outside and the weather stations had issued heat advisories for people, so we had that going for us.

Duplex is set in Uptown in a kind of old Key West house-style restaurant. It’s next to another Key West-style house-restaurant that I’ve reviewed before – Namaste. This place used to be called Pandora’s, which previously had amazing coffee and was a hot spot for D.Rough before she could drink. She’d hang there and drink mochas and smoke clove cigarettes – like all rebel teens do. We thought about eating inside in the air conditioning, but when we got there, there was enough of a breeze that we thought we could tolerate eating outside. The temp had cooled off SLIGHTLY and we were hoping for the best with the breeze.

We got our menus from a really nice host/waiter and tried to figure out what we wanted. Both of us wanted wine, and something light, so we got a bottle of Pinot Blanc from Alsace, France. It ended up being awesome. We also knew we needed Poutine, since people rave about it from this place and when they tried to take it off the menu, people revolted (that might be an exaggeration).

We had some difficulty figuring out what we were in the mood for, and the one thing I was looking forward to wasn’t on this particular iteration of the menu – the Elk Wellington/Turnover – so I had to figure something else out. We eventually decided to split a larger dinner salad – the spinach salad looked great – and also split the House Made Pappadelle with Duck.

We drank some awesome wine and had some enjoyable people watching – Uptown always has good people watching. The Poutine came out – house-cut fries with Eichten Acres raw white cheddar cheese curds and brown gravy. If you’re not familiar with poutine, then change something because it’s the greatest invention ever – thank you Canada for sending us this great gift. D.Rough and I have been comparing poutines all over town (wow, that sounded dirty) and we’re slowly building a sort of ranking system. Duplex’s version had a significant layer of melted white cheddar on it. To the point where it was difficult to cut through. The gravy itself was basically a simple brown gravy – nothing special. I will preempt this next statement by saying there is no such thing as bad poutine. It’s good anywhere you get it – just some are better than others. In the overall poutine rankings, Duplex doesn’t rank high – but it’s still REALLY good. In fact, if you’re new to poutine, then start at Duplex and work your way up. Duplex’s is better than Triple Rock’s version, but not even on the map compared to Forepaugh’s (#1) or Dakota Jazz Club (#2) or Bennet’s Chop House (#3).

Our food came out shortly after. Not rushed, but not slow either – just about perfect. The salad looked really good and fresh. It had spinach leaves (giant leaves), bacon, roasted apple, a goat cheese croquette, and a nice cinnamon walnut vinaigrette. The salad was fine, but even a little boring. Obviously, the bacon was the best part, but the other things were just kind of meh. The goat cheese was also good, but the apples didn’t even look like apples. In fact, I lied to D.Rough and told her they were oyster mushrooms. All the flavors seemed really downplayed for some reason and just didn’t taste vibrant or fresh. Bummer.


The Duck Pappadelle was fantastic, however! We both loved every bite of this. It was duck braised in white wine with tomatoes, carrots, onions, and pancetta served over house made pappadelle pasta topped with parmesan. The pasta was cooked al dente which is pretty much how you’ll find these super thick noodles at most places. The sauce in the dish was incredible and all of the flavors of the vegetables were very fresh. There was enough cheese to taste but not enough to overwhelm. The duck itself was perfectly cooked. I’m always a big fan of eating duck while it’s still hot as the fat congeals quickly once cool – we didn’t have to worry about this with this dish, as we devoured it and fought over the last bites.

We opted out of dessert since none of them really sounded appealing. I think these change from time to time, so you may not be sure of what is an option until you go there. Nothing for us, but then again, we had a movie to catch – Coco & Igor.

Overall, I think Duplex is nice, but maybe not fantastic. There are a lot of other places we’ll go before we come back here – one of those places is right next door – Namaste. The waiters are really good and fun and the wine list is pretty good, especially if you’re there for happy hour. But the food was just alright. Not terrible, but not stand-out quality.

Top 5 things about Duplex
1. House Made Pappadelle with Duck
2. Great wine list, ad not terribly expensive bottles unless you want them
3. Very friendly waiters covered in interesting tattoos
4. Great patio for people watching
5. The brunch items look fantastic – might have to go back for that…

Bottom 5 things
1. Spinach Salad just meh
2. Menu not reflective of seasons – lots of heavy dishes in the summer
3. Poutine, though good, was meh in comparison to other poutine pushers
4. Menu items on the website aren’t on the actual menu and can’t be ordered (I tried)
5. I understand the Dijon mustard glazes are pretty overpowering – not verified since I knew this ahead of time

www.duplexmpls.com

Kilimanjaro Café – Minneapolis, MN

For some reason, I made it to class after work in record time. I’m not sure if there was some sort of zombie apocalypse or not, but there were no cars on the road. I made it about half an hour earlier than I normally do. This means I had time to check out Kilimanjaro Café. I assumed it would be African fare of some sort, since Mt. Kilamanjaro is in Tanzania (I totally looked that up on Google while writing this review… hahaha). Maybe East African style (chicken and rice), maybe Ethiopian style (mush with injira) – I was about to find out.

I walked in and was greeted by a friendly woman who seated me and gave me a menu. I scanned the menu, which was very well described in English, and decided on a few things. It appeared most things were similar to Ethiopian food: lots of tibs and stuff served on injira bread. Then I saw they had daily specials. The one for today was the Tibs Fit Fit. I opted for that. Even though the waitress warned me it was spicy. This is Minnesota… I wasn’t concerned in the slightest.

I checked out the environs of the place. It’s very simply decorated but nice and clean. There’s a large screen television which most of the staff were quite engaged with. There’s a small bar with two or three seats near the back. And there’s a small stage with a VERY large sound system in the front of the place. I’m not sure if they use it for Karaoke or the live show for the Rolling Stones, but there are plenty of speakers going on. Weird.

The food took a little bit of time, but I really wasn’t in much of a rush (aside from having class in like half an hour). When it came out, it looked really good. The food came on a large piece of injira and also had a basket of injira with it.

There is a salad (as usual with this kind of food) with some lettuce, jalapenos, tomatoes, and some light vinegary dressing. It was perfectly tasty. No complaints on the salad, but it isn’t rave-worthy or anything. The Tibs Fit Fit is spicy chicken pieces in berebere sauce with all kinds of insane seasonings. It also has injira actually cooked right in with the chicken. I’ve never had Ethiopian food like this before, but it was really good. The spice level was much more mild than I was led to believe (this also makes me correct in my assumption), but was really quite good. There was plenty of meat and seasoning. And one thing I hadn’t seen before was a scoop of some sort of sour goat cheese on the injira. Almost like a finer grain cottage cheese. It was delicious and went really well with the spice of the meat. I really like this addition to the meal! The addition of the injira in the dish itself made for some heavy duty eating. So I basically ate three large pieces of injira. Seriously heavy – I was asleep in class about 15 minutes in, sadly.

The food at Kilimanjaro Café is delicious. Maybe not the absolute best I’ve ever had, but it was really good and I’ll be back here if I ever make it to class early again. I’d LOVE to bring it into class and eat it there. Sometimes, people bring sandwiches or Chinese food to class if they don’t have time to eat beforehand. I’d love to bust open a huge platter of Tibs Fit Fit and some injira and slurp food off my fingers and cause a scene. Maybe next time. Just go to this place. You will most likely like it! I know I did.

Top 5 things about Kilimanjaro Café
1. Tibs Fit Fit
2. Daily specials
3. Really generous portions
4. Sour goat cheese
5. Excellent menu with thorough descriptions in English

Bottom 5 things
1. Not spicy at all (which is probably good for you Nancy Minnesotans)
2. A little bit slow on service, but not terrible
3. No parking anywhere without paying
4. I was the only one eating and it was 5pm
5. I feel like Ethiopian food should be shared with at least one other person

Kilimanjaro Café
324 Cedar Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55454

Pho 83 – Shakopee, MN

Another lunch road trip needed to be taken, so I consulted the list of Shakopee dining establishments I’ve compiled and headed to Pho 83. It’s right across the street from the fancy horse track – Canterbury Park. It’s in a small strip mall, so I drove past it once and had to come back to it.

The inside is nice and clean – decorated nicely, as well. And the place was full of Asians, which is a good sign. The nice man behind the counter seated me at a booth and I started scanning the menu. I was hungry for fresh spring rolls, but was in a rush, so I ended up ordering the wrong ones. I ordered Vietnamese Egg Rolls accidentally and didn’t notice what I had done until they arrived at the table. My own fault. I also ordered a Dew, since they’re one of about 6 places in Minnesota to carry Pepsi products. I was in the mood for Pho, which based on their name, I assumed was pretty good. The Pho menu was pretty small, but I found what I needed, so I got P2 – Pho with sliced rare beef and meatballs.

The Dew came out with a bendy straw, which sadly, made my day up until that point. The Vietnamese Egg Rolls also came out and were super hot – fresh out of the deep fryer. I waited until they cooled a bit and bit into one. A bit pork-y for my taste, but still really good. Also a little greasy for my taste, but maybe that’s because I was actually in the mood for fresh rolls. Either way, these were pretty good. I didn’t care much for the light sauce that came with the rolls. It just didn’t have enough flavor. So I was thankful to see a bevy of sauces on the table for me to choose from. I grabbed the hoisin and sri racha and whipped up a better sauce for my tastes. That made the egg roll much better.

The waitress then brought out the Pho and the traditional plate of basil, bean sprouts, limes, and jalapenos. I was tempted to eat with chopsticks, but since I was in a rush and had noone to impress with my skillz, I went with the fork. Actually, it was a threak (a threak has three tines, a fork has four – dur). I began tearing up basil and throwing it in the soup along with the sprouts and jalapenos. I squeezed both limes into the bowl and then slathered the whole thing in hoisin and sri racha. Then, because I was feeling sassy, I threw in a scoop of chili peppers also on the table. This is what you do to Pho, just to get it ready to eat: add a bunch of spicy things to it! Sounds like it's high labor but it’s worth it, though.

The Pho was quite good, honestly. It’s not the best I’ve had (thank you for ruining all other Pho places for me, D.Rough), but I’d eat here again (if it were closer). The sliced beef was good and not gristly. The meatballs (which look like sausage but aren’t) are cut in half and were pretty good. There were plenty of noodles and I didn’t really run out of any ingredients. I drank some of the delicious broth separately since it’s hard to drink with a threak, but it was delicious. And since I was so generous with the peppery things, my face was a tad warm when I finished. And also my nose was running badly. And I had broken a considerable sweat. I’m sure I impressed the staff there (who probably didn’t even notice).

Overall, this place was pretty good. Super nice staff people and all of the customers appeared top leave happy and full. If you’re in the Shakopee area and it’s not 85 degrees out (like it is today), grab yourself some Pho.

Top 5 things about Pho 83
1. Pho with sliced rare beef and meatballs
2. Super nice staff people
3. Large menu (minus the Pho section)
4. Vietnamese Egg Rolls
5. They have Dew

Bottom 5 things
1. The dipping sauce for the Vietnamese Egg Rolls didn’t have any flavor at all
2. Limited Pho offerings
3. It’s much farther from the office than I thought
4. It is set off the main road behind a gas station so it’s easy to drive past
5. I melted my own face off with the added heat - totally my own fault

Pho 83
1141 Canterbury Rd. S.
Shakopee, MN 55379