Hazelwood Food & Drink - St. Louis Park, MN

 

Full disclosure: I wanted to show readers that I don’t ALWAYS eat garbage food or culinary atrocities – that’s what this review is. I met Trash and M.Giant for lunch in St. Louis Park since we had many things to get caught up on. Hazelwood is a slightly upscale and modern restaurant with just-short-of-tweezery dishes. Lots of instagramable decoration and plating. I think I had something going on that afternoon and didn’t want to fill up, so I ordered one of their healthy bowls with chicken. Of course, Trash asked me if I was ok or had some ailment that I was about to explain to them during lunch. But, really, I just love quinoa.

 

I’ll be honest, I did find it a little weird that all of the bowls have the exact same thing in them and you just pick what’s on top. But thankfully, everything in the list of ingredients sounded great and I just went along with it. Don’t most places have different flavors with different proteins? Just seemed a little simple for a place like this. Not complaining, just pointing out that I found it odd.

 

The bowl they brought out was picture perfect, as you can see. Green beans, baby greens, edamame, toasted pepitas, cucumbers, tomatoes, quinoa, lemongrass sauce, and plum sauce. The chicken had a roasted poblano sauce on it, as well, which was quite good. Everything was fresh and tasty and there was plenty of it, as well. The quinoa actually had flavor, which sometimes, it’s just a boring grain, so Hazelwood definitely knew how to cook it properly. The lemongrass sauce wasn’t too overpowering, either. This dish, for as simple as it is, has a lot of things that could take over the dish, but that didn’t happen. So, well done, Hazelwood. 

 

The menu has a couple of things that sound interesting, but I think what Hazelwood does well is take normal food and make it much prettier. They’re doing great at it, too. No complaints on my end.

World Famous Momo – West St. Paul, MN

Well, since I’m (semi) back in action on the food front, I figured I should re-start with an awesome new place in my own city that deserves some recognition. World Famous Momo popped up in an old check cashing location right on the main drag in West St. Paul. 

First off, what is a Momo? It’s a Nepalese dumpling stuffed with some sort of meat and vegetables. Then, they steam it (or fry it) so it’s piping hot, and served with a sort of pureed tomato-based sauce. Now you know.

The inside of the restaurant is spacious, but hopefully to set the stage for more indoor dining once it’s a little safer – I’m looking forward to all of these things. The menu is limited, but don’t let that deter you. What they’ve got on the menu, they have perfected, so you won’t be disappointed. 

 

D.Rough and I got an order of steamed Momo, a potato samosa, and a mango lassi – to go, since we were on our working-from-home lunch break. The guy working the front desk was very conversational and we chatted while our food was being made by his father in law back in the kitchen. It didn’t take too long, which is awesome. But know they this food is made to order and not prepared ahead of time, so just be a little patient – it’s worth it. 

 

The Momo was awesome. Very delicious chicken and vegetable filling inside and the pouch was not doughy at all – steamed perfectly. They’re right in that middle size where it’s a really big one-biter or a two-biter that more dainty. I’m looking forward to also trying the fried version of these to compare them accurately. 

 

The potato samosas were really fantastic. Fried little hand-pies filled with seasoned potatoes and served with some sort of tamarind sauce. I’m not usually a tamarind guy, but the sauce in this case was really great. Really crunchy and tasty. 

 

Mango Lassi is always good – it’s like a mango smoothie, so what’s not to like. We drank a whole bunch of it before I realized we didn’t get a good picture, so my apologies on that. But it was really great. 

 

Overall, this food is something you’ve been missing in your life (unless you have spent a lot of time in Nepal). I didn’t even know I needed this, but I’m glad we’ve got a place right down the street from us. Really friendly characters working and creating delicious food. Can’t wait for you to check this out and support this small business!

 

Photo credits: D.Rough

 

World Famous Momo

1318 S. Robert Street

West St. Paul, MN 55118

World Famous Momo

Lindey’s Prime Steak House – St. Paul (or Arden Hills), MN

If you’re in the Twin Cities and want that old school steak house feel, you really should give Lindey’s a shot. It’s been around a really long time and, from the looks of things, it hasn’t changed much since it opened (with the exception of them adding in a fire sprinkler system, once safety was invented around the 1980’s). It’s got that old wood paneling on the walls and ceiling and it just feels north-woods-homey inside.

They keep things simple at Lindey’s. The menu is probably the most simple I’ve seen. There are four items on it. Three steaks and one grilled shrimp dish. The server brings over a large sign that’s on a post and sets it next to your table to help you decide. Do you want steak, steak, steak, or shrimp? With each meal ordered, you get a salad with homemade dressing, unlimited garlic bread, what they refer to as “greaseless hashbrown” – smashed red potatoes, and pickled watermelon rind. Oh wait, there IS another menu item – sautéed (in 2 pounds of butter) button mushrooms for the entire table. Which our table DID order.

 

Guess what I ordered? A steak. Lindey’s Special Sirloin. I read on a sign in the lobby that if you want to order your steak medium or medium rare, you should pay the one dollar extra and get the special steak. I have no idea what the difference would be, but I went for it, so I like a pink steak. I also go t an Old Fashioned, since it seemed like the right atmosphere. The Old Fashioned is VFW-level ratios of 90% booze, so be ready for that. And it was delicious. Not too sweet, not too much bitters, just right.

 

The steak is served table side and cut in front of you. So, it comes in one giant, baby-sized slab, and then they cut it into four pieces – each person gets two large pieces. Like, two 8-12 ounce pieces. Extremely generous portions put on your molten hot plate to ensure your steak stays warm. Also, I’m sure the entire steak is coated in butter, which is always a plus. Regardless, the steak is extremely delicious. The char on the outside is outstanding and the meat doesn’t have any gristle at all. It’s an amazingly good steak.

 

The greaseless hashbrowns are cooked red potatoes that are smashed and then covered with some amazingly salty seasoning that makes you unable to stop eating them. The nice thing is that if you run out, they bring you more. They’re quite impressive.

 

The garlic bread is cut into many small pieces. Plenty of butter and garlic salt on them. Delicious (and fight-inducing).

 

The button mushroom have also been sautéed in multiple pounds of butter (sense a theme here?) and are great. There’s a huge mound of them, so they truly are for the whole table. You can put them on your steak or just pop them in your mouth. There’s no wrong way.

 

They also have a sort of palate cleanser – watermelon rind that has been pickled. I’m not sure the origin story of this particular thing, but I’ve never had it before. I think overall, the table was split half and half on who liked this thing. It’s got a pickled beet texture and some of the brine associated with that. So if you like pickled beets, which my mother-in-law and I definitely do, you’re really going to like this sweet treat.

 

After the meal, they do have some different cheesecake options from Muddy Paws Cheesecake Shop. We got the turtle cheesecake and were pretty happy with that. I’ve been meaning to make it to Muddy Paw’s store, but I haven’t yet.

 

We ended up taking home four to-go containers with steak, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and mushrooms home. There was enough steak left over that we made steak fajitas the next day, and still had a huge chunk of steak left over for the following day. It’s an impressive amount of food, honestly. Now that we’ve actually be inside the place and know how good it is, we definitely will be back. It isn’t talked about widely, but if you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about.

 

Also, of note, during the lunch hours, they have a few other things on the menu, like a hamburger. Hahaha. I think that’s the only addition, but you can also order that if you really need to during dinner. It just amuses me that THAT is the additional item they do at lunch. Probably so people don’t fall asleep at work by eating 32 ounces of steak during the workday. Just go here. Please. And you can thank me later for telling you about it.

 

www.theplaceforsteak.com

Pizza Karma – Eden Prairie, MN

I actually made it here on opening day. I’d been reading about this place for months now and a friend I was eating Indian food with (on Friday) reminded me it was opening the following Monday. I had the day off of work and convinced a few friends to join me – it wasn’t difficult. 

The place is in a strip mall three doors down from an Indian restaurant and grocery store. But it’s a completely different animal. It’s Tandoori-fired pizza topped with various Indian toppings. There are quite a few articles to read about this, so I won’t rehash all the details, but suffice it to say, the owner knows what he’s doing and intends to take this bigger than just a strip mall in Eden Prairie. It took us a while to decide what to eat, but we ended up splitting three appetizers and three pizzas to make sure we could get maximum coverage out of our visit. 

We ended up with the cayenne dusted crispy deep-fried okra fries (Served with a black salt and buttermilk sauce), stuffed potato cakes (served with golden raisin ginger sauce), and roasted smashed eggplant pate (served with naan) for our appetizers. Then, for our pizzas, we got a Chicken Kebab pizza, a Paneer pizza, and a Potato & Tandoor-Roasted Vegetable pizza.

A couple of us also got beers, since we weren’t going back to an office anywhere. The beer dispensing system is a thing of mystery. It’s got a magnet covering a hole in the bottom of the cup and when you set it on the dispenser, it pours the beer from the bottom-up. Magic.

The naan with the roasted smashed eggplant pate (which a certain unnamed member of our party referred to as “slurry”) was good. We all decided it needed a little more zing to the pate, but a lot of Minnesotans will be extremely happy with this – especially because it’s drizzled with clarified butter before it’s served. 

The Paneer pizza was quite good. The non-melting cheese cubes on top were really a treat when you bit into one, which is good because they were plentiful. There was a generous amount of peppers on the top of the pizza, as well. The tomato-fenugreek sauce on the top was different from any pizza sauces I’ve had, but definitely in a good way. A solid pizza overall. 

The cayenne dusted crispy deep-fried okra fries were one of the highlights of the meal. One of our guys doesn’t even like okra, but was ALL really liked these. They were almost hyper-fried. Like way past any fried okra I’ve had (and my family is from the south, so I’ve eaten my fair share of okra), but it made them little crispy chip-like things. Sooooo amazing, especially with the black salt and buttermilk sauce. And there’s a ton of them – just get these and thank me later.

The Chicken Kebab pizza was also good – and very similar to the paneer pizza (but with chicken instead of non-melting cheese). Lots of peppers and that delicious tomato-fenugreek sauce – like the paneer pizza. I’m not complaining, I assure you. I loved this pizza.

The stuffed potato cakes were stuffed with chili-spiced spinach green. I’ve had something this, somewhere else, but it wasn’t nearly as good as this one. Especially with this awesome ginger golden raisin sauce. A great appetizer. 

The winner of the day was the Potato & Tandoor-Roasted Vegetable pizza. It’s a good mix of roasted vegetables and has mango powder (which I can can’t even comprehend what that even is) and black salt. But the amazing part of this is actually TWO amazing parts: habanero harissa sauce and the fact that it’s served on potato-chili naan, instead of the plain naan that the other two pizzas were served on. It definitely had some zing to it and we all loved the heat. It might need a warning for Minnesotan’s who are spice-adverse. It was the best thing I’ve eaten in a while. I’ll be recommending this to tons of people.

Amazing job, Pizza Karma!! You’re nailing it!!!

www.pizzakarma.com

Crystal Garden – Minneapolis, MN

A-Wow and I had finished our work-based-biometric-screening-that-impacts-how-much-we-pay-for-health-insurance-premiums, so it is time again to let our bodies go for 11.5 more months. We usually hit up a buffet to really maximize our caloric intake and today was no different. We picked a spot neither of us had been, so we were really going into this with low expectations. I mean, one of our worst experiences was Wang’s, and they’ve since closed – so it couldn’t be worse than that.

The place is a challenge to get to, first off. You can only see the place from one direction on Hiawatha Ave, and if you SEE it, you’ve already driven past it and can’t get back to it. So, you have to circle behind a couple of buildings and a gas station to find it. Then, add on a bunch of construction to the mix and you consider yourself lucky to get to the business. However, A-Wow and I are tenacious, when it comes to food.

The inside is a pretty typical mom and pop Chinese restaurant, so not much to note here. A lot of older Caucasian folks in this particular lunch crowd. The buffet does have a decent spread, which was nice. However, many, if not most, of the name tags above them were scrambled in a pretty hilarious way, so you really didn’t know what you were getting. (Note: during our second trip to the buffet, there was an attempt made by the staff to correct this slightly)

As you can see, a lot of the food is friend and/or brown. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I like to point it out for my vegetarian friends who expect a little more color on the plate. The vegetables that DID exist were actually pretty good. The first plate ended up being more appetizer-y things than entrees, but that happens when I haven’t gotten a good feel for buffet items in relation to plate real estate. I’m not an egg foo yung guy, but the old people here were literally eating it up – it had to be replaced multiple times while we were there. The food was actually surprisingly delicious – better than expected, which was nice. They know their way around a fryer, clearly, and the food didn’t taste greasy. The cream cheese wontons were actually some sort of pork product packets, but whatever. The egg drop soup, which I know everyone likes different styles, is of the “snot” variety with lots of egg yolks and not much broth. It was tasty though.

Plate two – more of the same, but with more entrees. Delicious.

What? There’s more? Yes. Plate three. A-Wow is more polite than I am, so he stuck with only two plates. Will power: Something I don’t excel in.

This place is about average or slightly better than average in the grand scheme of Chinese food buffets. I’m not sorry I ate here, but I know there are other buffets to try before I end up back here. Not bad, though! Definitely worth a try if you fully intend to go there – you’re not going to swing past it and remember in time to make the turn to find it. Plus, the price is right - $7.75 during the week.

http://www.crystal-garden-mn.com

Café d’Marie – Davenport, IA

D.Rough and I were headed out of town and needed to grab some coffee and a snack for the road. The number one place from Trip Advisor was Café d’Marie – I’d never heard of it, but if everyone thinks it’s great, then we’d have to go there.

There’s a newspaper clipping just inside the door with the history of the place – Dr. DeAnna Walter operated a chiropractic office out of her home and would serve coffee, tea, and sometimes whatever she baked in her kitchen in the waiting area. People began asking for more food items, and within a few years, she hung up her chiropractor jacket and started a breakfast and lunch place – and is KILLING IT!

It’s not a big place, so you may have to wait in the hall way of her really beautiful house (literally) for a seat in the dining area, but there are all kinds of coffee and tea options, scones, cakes, cookies, and a bunch of amazing-looking quiches. We grabbed some coffees and a slice of quiche, and then while we waited, we caved and got a slice of this really attractive chocolate cake (somehow, I managed to talk myself out of the signature bread pudding, which I still regret).

The quiche was even better than we expected, and we wolfed that down pretty quickly, even though the slice was generous.

The chocolate cake was extremely moist and rich without being overwhelming.

Overall, the people at Café d’Marie know how to work magic. Give these folks a visit and you’ll be glad you did!

www.facebook.com/cafedmarie

2018 Minnesota State Fair – St, Paul, MN

Here’s my review of some of the state fair foods I ate this year. Yes, I ate too much. Yes, I spent too much money. Yes, I am sunburned. Yes, I probably hit the beer harder than the food this year. Yes, I will be back next year! (I didn’t go into detail as much this year, since it’s towards the end of the fair and people just want a list to go on, not a story. This is all I had time to put together.)

Wild Bill’s Breakfast Bake at the Blue Barn – I need to figure out how to make this delicious breakfast concoction. Corn chips and eggs baked with cheese into a cube-format, then covered with scrambled eggs and salsa. It’s awesome. People say this is way too heavy to start the day off, but I don’t agree. I love it.

Tangerine Boozy Red Bull Slushy from LuLu's – It’s vodka, red bull, and tangerine juice in a freezy situation. It’s magic.

Also, I got a Schell’s Red Sangria beer, which was my favorite last year. It’s pretty incredible.

Nordic Waffle with berries – we waited in a massive line for this and I was bummed that it was small, but it did really have good flavor. I’m glad we got it and it was just about worth waiting in the longest line I’ve ever been in at the state fair.

Had to try the Two To Tango, Three to Mango mango sour beer from Starkeller (in the back corner of Lulu’s Public House). One of the best beers of the day.

Then off to try the Key Lime Pie beer from Lift Bridge. People told me to drink this very fast since it gets a little “off” when it warms up a bit. They’re right. Drink it fast or the chemically-lime taste grows quite a bit. It was fun while it was super cold, though!

I ate the Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl from the Café Caribe. It was good, but with the avocado, mango, and tomatoes, it tasted like a tuna salsa. The rice was just filler, so I skipped about half of it, but it was slightly better than meh.

I had a bite of my sister’s Campfire S’mores Rice Kristie Treat (golden grahams, chocolate chips, and marshmallow). It was good, but I don’t care much about S’mores (insert all kinds of outrage from my friends here), so I probably wouldn’t get it again. She loved it, though.

Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs were next. I was a big fan of these, and people told me I would be. Lots of fun Greek cheese stuffed inside a flaky dough and then covered with honey and powdered sugar. Dino’s does some killer stuff at the fair.

We headed to the Hanger next for some Brisket Sliders and Bacon Wrapped Pork Belly – yes, multiple pig meats. The bacon-wrapped pork belly was pretty incredible (thanks for the tip, Motz), and Uncle DumDum loved it. The brisket sliders were much better than I expected from any sort of “fair brisket”. It had three different toppings – coleslaw, BBQ sauce and pickles, and crispy onions – and all of them were surprisingly good. 

Since it was nearby, Uncle DumDum and I split a couple of beer flights. 

• Mankato Brewing – Cake’d Up Celebration Beer – I actually liked this one a lot
• Tin Whiskers – Wheat Stone Bridge - not a fan
• Insight – Crazy Aunt – really an awful beer
• Summit – Skip Rock - decent beer, I'm ok with this one
• Insight – Sunken City - decent beer
• Mankato Brewing – Mad Butcher – I liked this one, since it wasn’t as hoppy, for an IPA
• Tin Whiskers – Flip Switch - it was fine
• Surly – Furious – Always good
• Castle Danger – Ode IPA – I liked this one a lot, as well

We headed over to Giggle's Campfire Grill for some weird beers. Tin Whiskers Dill Pickle Ale was a hit last year, and this year was no different. It’s a solid beer without being too overwhelming on the pickle flavor. I also got the Beaver Island Uffda Ale, which has a piece of Lefse and fresh lingonberries in it. I really didn’t like this one, especially when it warmed up. 

Off to O’Gara’s for some Irish Tater Kegs, which are jumbo tots with corned beef sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and sour cream in them. I really liked these. The sauerkraut wasn’t too strong and they were really filling, and came with thousand island dressing. I liked these more than I expected to. I also got one of the new Surly Gaelic Dark and Stormy beers. I liked this one a lot – great ginger flavor to give it a good amount of tang without being too bitey.

Thought we’d check out the BBQ Split from Mama D’s. It was the worst thing we ate all day. It’s simply BBQ (beef or pork, whatever you choose), mac and cheese, and coleslaw in a sundae boat. If you’re going to do something that simple, you should make that BBQ meat something to talk about, rather than something to avoid. The best part of this was the coleslaw, which is sad. Avoid this one at all costs.

Since I was close, I tried a Helles Ya, You Betcha lager from Summit Brewing. It was just ok. I’ve had much better Helles-style beers, but I managed to drink this one, without TOO many problems. 

I’ve heard some negative things about the Moroccan Sausage Bowl from Sausage by Cynthia but I was really happy with it. It was a smaller portion, but I was pleased with the portion size when I was done eating it all. Great seasoning, and great veggies in it. I liked it a lot, especially the chopped green olives they put on top!

I had a Honey Cream Soda Float on my list, so I managed to find one at the Minnesota Honey Producers Association. This was surprisingly good and I am glad I got it. Also, I was amused that the young high schoolers there were scared of the bees that were buzzing around the stand. Hahahaha

My annual stop at the Mouth Trap for cheese curds! I love these things so much.

I thought I’d split a Zesty PB&J Sausage from the Gass Station Grill with Uncle DumDum. I honestly couldn’t even taste a hint of peanut butter nor of cherry jelly, but that sausage was one of the best I’ve ever had. It was delicious.

Off to the Ball Park Café for some more beers – I got a Kirby Pucker #34 from Eastlake Brewing (which is still amazing and I love it), and a Passion Fruit Pils from Bent Paddle (this one I didn’t like as much, but still drank it). 

I heard people talk about the Spumoni Tsunami beer from Bad Weather Brewing. This was the worst beer I had. Totally undrinkable and I pitched it after two drinks. Sorry, but it was bad.

I had a couple of Sweet Martha’s Cookies that I stole from my sister. They’re fine, but I truly don’t get the hype. 

Headed to Coasters to try the Funnel Cake Cream Ale from Lakefront Brewery (which was just ok, but the powdered sugar helped) and the Margarita-Style Kettle Sour Ale from 612 Brew. This one wasn’t as tasty as the Funnel Cake beer. 

I figured I’d better try the Pepperoni Chips with Roasted Red Pepper Queso from Lulu’s Public House. I’d heard bad things about this, especially about them being super salty. But, since I’m a salt-fiend, I tried them anyway. They’re fantastic and I think everyone should eat them. I am so glad I ignored the muggles that told me not to get it! I also tried the Slipstream Black Current Apple Cider from Social Cider Werks – which was amazing and exactly what I needed to stave off the heat and sunburn I was working on. This was really great.

Finally, as a cap off to the whole day, I split a Swedish Meatball Smörgås from the Blue Barn. It was really awesome. People got weirded out by the white gravy and pickles on top, but it was fantastic. Trust the Swedes, my friends – they know what they’re doing.

15 foods and 24 beers/drinks partaken in - not a bad year at the fair!

Top 5 foods to try:

1. Bacon Wrapped Pork Belly

2. Zesty PB&J Sausage

3. Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs

4. Brisket Sliders

5. Swedish Meatball Smorgas

Top 5 beers to try:

1. Two To Tango Three To Mango from Starkellar

2. Slipstream Black Current from Sociable Cider Werks

3. Kirby Pucker #34 from Eastlake Brewing

4. Schell’s Red Sangria Beer

5. Mankato Brewing Cake’d Up Birthday Cake Celebration Beer

Another Minnesota State Fair in the books!!! Thanks for coming to visit, sister and brother-in-law!!