Tahoe Mountain Brewing Company – Tahoe City, California

A-Wow, Stü, and I took a road trip to the mountains of California. It was lunch time and we all like drinking beer in picturesque locations. So we decided to hit up Tahoe Mountain Brewing Company. It’s a nice little brew pub overlooking Lake Tahoe, right on the main road that runs through the small town there.   They’ve got some upscale bar food and of course, a great beer selection (both brewed there and around the region). I got some beer battered cod tacos and a South Pacific Provisions farmhouse ale.

 

Right off, the beer was pretty delicious. It’s got some lychee flavors in it, but it isn’t sweet. Very interesting without being weird. I ended up getting a couple of these…  

The Cod tacos had great beer batter flavor on them. The cole slaw was a bit bland, but the chipotle aioli saved it. Great light snack before we headed back on the road.

 

…well, AFTER we put out feet in the waters of Lake Tahoe, of course… Great little brew pub that I’d hit again the next time I’m in town.

 

www.tahoebrewing.com

 

Origami (Uptown location) – Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I had some friends in town and we decided to get dinner with them. Much to our chagrin, they had chicken wings the previous night so we couldn’t take them to the world’s greatest wing place – D-Spot. They love sushi, so we decided to go to Origami. We hadn’t been to the new location in Uptown yet, and they have a really reasonable happy hour.

D.Rough and I showed up early, specifically so we could have a drink and a chat about our day. I really like doing that, for that record. She got a Penny Dropper (I can’t remember what was in it, but it was damn good) and I got a Mango Chu-hai (fruit puree, vodka, and club soda). Both delicious and refreshing. We also (our friends don’t know this) ordered some Takoyako, which is deep fried octopus dumplings – basically the octopus version of the conch fritters we ate in the Bahamas every day – like a hush puppy.

It came with a drizzle of eel sauce and a dab of seasoned mayo – delicious. There were only five, but D.Rough and I were able to share the remaining 5th wheel and both eat half. Great crunch on the outside of the puff ball and the octopus was soft and not chewy/rubbery. Great appetizer. The server even cleared it away from the table before our friends go there to judge us. Hahahaha

Once our friends arrived, we pretended like everything was all bright and new and we had just gotten there. It’s like two separate happy hours!!!! I ordered the lychee-tini that I had my eye on earlier, and D.Rough got a pinot grigio.

The happy hour menu has a lot of different drinks on it, but the food menu is just as impressive. It was difficult to decide what to get. We made our server laugh when we ordered, “Futo Maki through Spicy Crab Maki”. The server heard those two rolls, and we corrected him by emphasizing THROUGH. So he added Spicy Yellowtail Maki, Spicy tuna Maki, Spicy Scallop Maki, and Spicy Crab Maki to the order. Hilarious. Thankfully, he hadn’t brought up the appetizer we had snuck in before our friends got there. Hahaha.

I’ll make this review really short, we made a mistake and ordered basically five of the same thing and one roll that actually tasted different than the other five versions. Completely our mistake. That being said, the rolls were pretty good, they just all tasted too similar in our minds. The Futo Maki is quite good, despite it being vegetarian (have to get my digs in where I can). The ingredients were fresh and it’s kind of an oversized roll. I liked it a lot.

The other rolls, like I said, were good, but they all tasted pretty similar. So you have five bite rolls, and five of them that tasted the same. That means you have twenty five pieces that tasted the same. Thankfully, they WERE good, otherwise, it could have been an nightmare.

Overall, aside from ordering error, we were happy with our meal. The happy hour menu will for sure keep us coming back, and I’m looking forward to trying some of their whiskey – which is one of the best selections in the area.

Top 5 things about Origami Sushi (Uptown)
1. Takoyako – octopus dumplings
2. Substantial happy hour menu
3. Very friendly staff
4. Futo Maki roll
5. There’s a parking ramp above it and a parking lot right outside (both cost dollars, but are close)

Bottom 5 things
1. We ordered all the things that taste the same (delicious, but the same)
2. The Chu-hai wasn’t very boozy
3. The restaurant isn’t visible from the main street – you have to mean to go there
4. Nothing else was a down-side
5.

www.origamirestaurant.com

Kat's Cafe - Eden Prairie, MN

I had driven by Kat’s Café once while I was lost on the endless curving dead-end roads of Eden Prairie and knew I wanted to eat there. I checked it out on line and knew if I didn’t put it on my calendar at work, I’d forget to do it. The day arrived!

The place is a little difficult to see, but thankfully, they have a sandwich board sign out in the grass out in front of the place. One reason it is difficult to find is it is on the ground floor of a residential apartment building. Odd location, but it really makes it unique once you’re inside. Despite this statement jeopardizing my male card status, this place is so cute, it will make you want to squeeze a panda bear’s cheek. It is super tiny in the section you order your food in and then it opens into an equally cute and happy green dining area with four tables in it. Seriously, this place makes you smile. The friendly woman behind the counter and her cute 3-year-old son walking around adds to the charm.

The food menu isn’t huge, but they have some appetizery things and some sandwiches. It is basically a Vietnamese sandwich shop that sells coffee and bubble tea smoothies. I’ve had a few Banh Mi sandwiches that were just ok, but I thought I should give this one a shot. I also got an order of fresh spring rolls and a lychee bubble tea smoothie. Al the food here is REALLY cheap, so keep that in mind and don’t skimp on ordering – the portions aren’t small, just the cost. The sandwich costs 3 dollars and the spring rolls were either 2 or 3. Very affordable for a light lunch.

It didn’t take long. I think the lady made the spring rolls fresh after I ordered it – at least they tasted like that. There were two of them and they were quite large and delicious. I’m glad I got these. There was a cold peanut sauce to dip them in and they really hit the spot.

The bubble tea smoothie was quite good, but they usually are. I was just happy to have one since it was over 100 degrees outside.

The sandwich came out a short while later. I am not even sure what was on this sandwich. It was on a hard baguette, which I normally don’t like, but this one was crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. There were slices of cucumber and carrots, jalapenos and pork, but then there was also some white thick layer that I couldn’t tell if it was a soft root vegetable or a piece of meat with something in it. I know some places put head cheese on the sandwich as a sort of pate, but I don’t even know if this had it. The same goes with mustard – I couldn’t taste it, but it might have been on there. The whole thing had a great fresh cilantro zing as the aftertaste that was really good.

This is one of the best banh mi sandwiches I’ve had. I’m not an aficionado or anything, but I was really quite happy with this entire meal. I’ll definitely be back here. It is extremely close to where I work, and I’ll see if I can talk some of my friends and coworkers into going here. It’s worth a trip. But only during the week – they aren’t open on Saturdays or Sundays.

Just go here and make sure this place stays open. It’s a little gem hidden in deep, dark Eden Prairie. This place is awesome.

Top 5 things about Kat’s Café
1. Banh Mi sandwich
2. Fresh spring rolls
3. Super cute on the inside
4. Lots of bubble tea smoothie flavors
5. VERY close to where I work

Bottom 5 things
1. Small menu
2. If this place gets more than 5 people in it, it will be packed
3. Not open on weekends
4. Small food menu, unless you like appetizers
5. It simply difficult to find, unless you know where you’re looking

www.katscafemn.com

Hmong Village – St. Paul, MN

D.Rough sent me the newspaper article for the grand opening of this Asian mall back in October of last year and we’ve been meaning to go ever since. The place has gotten great write-ups in the paper and on various food blogs, so we rearranged our schedule to make this happen. We are glad we did.

The first thing the articles warn you about is the parking. And frankly, the parking isn’t’ atrocious. It’s just packed and insanely busy. The parking lot is enormous and there are TONS of spots. However, ALL of the spots are taken. It is seriously that busy at this place. Just drive around and circle the lot for a bit, you’ll find something. The traffic flows fairly well, so you won’t get too trapped or anything. Just be patient.

We went in one of the many lettered-entrance (door D, I think), and found ourselves in what looks like a mini-storage unit facility. Seriously. I think it is. If it is, it’s probably the best use of a storage facility ever created. There are over a hundred small booths and shops set up in small spaces. Stores are selling everything from DVDs, clothing, custom made clothing, bubble tea, food, jewelry, herbal bust enhancers and stimulants, to hats, sunglasses, ice cream, swords, toys, lingerie, and insurance. It’s an overwhelming hodge-podge of consumables in an indoor market atmosphere. There’s even a large refrigerated fresh fruit area that has huge amounts of fruits and vegetables.

We roamed the aisles for a while – the vendors were very friendly without being pushy. If you stopped to look, they asked if they could help and then left you alone. No hard selling or hawking of items. On one side of the building, we found an entire row of food stalls. Some of them are smaller booth-versions of larger established restaurants and some are just stand-alone booths. Many of them have some of the same items, but most of them have some sort of specialty items they’re known for. D.Rough and I cruised the entire area before deciding on a place. We kept seeing signs for papaya salad (which neither of us had ever had) and we knew we wanted that. Fortunately, most of the booths made it fresh right there in front of you (you can select what goes in it and how spicy you want it). There’s also all sorts of fried meats and tons of wraps and rolls.

We decided to eat at Moon's Kitchen – the food looked delicious and the line was moving quickly. I ordered fried crispy pork and fried rice. And we got a papaya salad, of course. The counter lady (who turns out is the owner’s wife and does much of the cooking) asked me how hot I wanted it and what I wanted and she cut it all up fresh and threw it all in the salad for me. Delicious. Her husband came out and chatted me up for a while – SUPER nice guy and hilarious. She cut up the crispy pork and put it in a to-go container with some very dark fried rice and handed everything over. It was extremely inexpensive – see for yourself on this one.

D.Rough and I hadn’t had any of these things before, so we were anxious to try it out. I loved the pork most of all. It was like extra thick cut bacon mixed with ham and the deep fried. I’m sure it was pork belly – which is exactly what ham and bacon combined is. There were a couple of fatty pieces that D.Rough steered clear of, but those were the ones I went for first, so we made a great team. It had a delicious spicy dipping sauce that went extremely well with the cooked meat! The rice was a very dark color and ended up being like sticky rice. I didn’t know if it would have an odd flavor, but it really didn’t. It just tasted really good. It wasn’t plain rice, but it wasn’t soy or hoisin or anything else we could figure out. It was just delicious.It is a little weird upon first seeing it, but I assure you, it IS delicious.

I think we are officially undecided on the papaya salad. It’s a cold salad, but it’s got cut up peppers in it along with papaya slices and tomatoes and these green things that I have no idea what they are. The flavor changes from weird to delicious to spicy to weird to a little off and then back to delicious and then weird. Overall, I think I liked it, but D.Rough currently is down the middle on this. We will both change our minds the next time we talk about it. I think it takes getting used to, but you could tell it was fresh – even if I hadn’t seen her cut it up in front of me. That’s what made us happy. A Fantastic meal from Moon's Kitchen!

We walked towards the door where we were parked and got sidetracked by Blueberry – a bubble tea stand that has more than bubble tea. They have bajillions of flavors and the guy working the counter was very friendly and helpful. D.Rough asked if the cupcake flavor tasted like cupcakes and the man working assured us it did. He had us pair it with another flavor (coconut) and we got a shake of some sort with lychee jellies in it. I really don’t like bubble tea, so I had low expectations for this. It blew me away. I was really mad I didn’t get one for myself. It actually tasted like some freaky liquid cupcake. It was awesome. Go to this place.

All in all, we had a super successful day at the Hmong Village. I didn’t buy any martial arts DVDs, as my willpower was particularly high. We will go back to this place many times. People there were friendly and some asked if we’d been there before and if we were having a good day. It is a very friendly place. Don’t be intimidated if you aren’t of Asian descent. It’s perfectly fine and you won’t be black listed. Simply ask what certain things are if you don’t know and maybe try something new. You’ll be glad you did.


1001 Johnson Parkway
St. Paul, MN

Tantra: Asian Fusion – Davenport, IA

Belcher rounded up a handful of people to go to dinner before we went to SuperGreat and OrrmanRyan’s wedding reception. She had seen this Tantra place over in Davenport and thought we should try it out. I was told to be there at 5:30, which I should have known, given who was coming, that that would mean after 6. Didn’t matter, I knew it was going to end up being a long night of revelry, so I got there at the appointed time and prepared to do some pre-drinking. I also sent a text or two reminding people we said 5:30 and some certain people hadn’t left the house quite yet… nice…

The place is really quite nice inside. I was here was it was two different restaurants and none of them looked this nice. Very impressive.

The hostess picked out a table for 6 in the back of the restaurant and I looked at the drink menu, which was really impressive for this town. 15 different Asian beers and lots of “beginner” wines priced reasonably – Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay, Reisling, Moscato d’Asti, Zin, Pinot Grigio, Merlot. The waitress came back and asked me if I needed anything. I scored a Lychee Martini, complete with two lychees on the umbrella and everything!

The waitress came back a couple of times to keep me company. She was hilarious. We crap-talked the late people and discussed the benefits of an open bar and taking advantage of drinking at a restaurant before the open bar event. No one knew if the reception would be an open bar and I wasn’t willing to take a chance – I had packed three flasks with me for the event. And it didn’t hurt she was … uh… easy on the eyes… and fun to gab with while sitting by myself.

JoMomma and Mr. Burns showed up just before 6 and he announced where people would be sitting (he’s 4). The waitress said she was going to sit down and play with his action figures he brought and he said, “No. Belcher will be sitting in that seat.” Burn. Belcher showed up about 6 and then Trey-Lo and CareBear showed up after 6. Right on time for them, believe me.

The menu had a ton of good things on it. Some distinctly Thai dishes, but some fried rice and other unique things as well. Lots to choose from, including some good appetizers. I ordered fresh summer rolls, Trey-Lo ordered Thai Jerky, and JoMomma ordered fried spring rolls for Mr. Burns’ dinner.

The dishes came out and looked wonderful. The fresh summer rolls were really good (though there was an issue with one of them, which didn’t get eaten – no worries though). The hoisin sauce was fantastic and peanutty. The jerky was actually really tasty. It had this spicy dipping sauce that added some kick to it. And Mr. Burns ate a couple of fried spring rolls and got full.

And I needed another drink, so I went with a Mango Martini. Since Mr. Burns was bored, we played with the toys he brought. This picture pretty much sums it up. Martini and Star Wars guys – winning combination.


I ordered the Singapore Street Noodles, and the waitress told me those were great for breakfast. I commented to the table in an obviously loud whisper that the waitress just invited back to her place for the evening and would make me breakfast in the morning. She blushed and started cracking up. I am pretty hilarious. Belcher ordered some bird’s nest deal, CareBear ordered the pad thai, JoMomma ordered some spicy pepper dish with chicken, and Trey-Lo ordered the green curry. Everyone’s food looked really good, impressive even!

My food was really good. Lots of noodles and some cabbage, tomatoes, and carrots. Really quite good. The bird’s nest thing was a noodle-based dish with some hard boiled quail eggs. Few people were adventurous enough to eat them, so I ended up with them. They weren’t bad, just odd, but the food itself was good and came in a sopapilla-type bread bowl. The spicy pepper dish was good, but not amazing. I ended up finishing CareBear’s pad thai, so I know that was good. I usually order it spicy, so this was a little on the mild side for me, but still really good. But Trey-Lo had the winning dish – the green curry was one of the best I’ve ever had. She thought there were too many green peppers in it, but I thought it was perfect, especially with the coconut milk and egg plant in there. Tons of flavor.

While we were eating, a frat boy in an Iowa State coat (but shorts and flip flops) (it was freezing outside) sat down with his hot Asian girlfriend. The guy was a tool. He blew out the candle on the table and laughed like a doosh – she yelled at him. He stole the umbrella out of her drink and laughed like a doosh – she yelled at him. He talked loudly on his cell phone with his elbow up in the air, insulted his girlfriend, and laughed like a doosh – she yelled at him. It was infuriating.

The waitress eventually brought out a lava cake for me, to make up for the slight problem with the summer roll. I told her she didn’t have to do that, but she insisted. It wasn’t even a huge deal, but she was making sure I wasn’t offended or thought less of the place – which I didn’t. The food was fantastic. I then asked her if this was to seal the deal on me coming home with her, and she blushed again…. BUT she didn’t say “no”… I’ll take that as a sign (one that I didn’t follow up on, as usual). I’m not much of a cake eater, but I didn’t mention that. I shared the love since she brought out 6 spoons as well. I’m pretty sure everyone got a bite, including me, so we were all REALLY full when we left the place.

Go to this place. I don’t want it to close like the other places that have been here. It is great food, and a great drink list, and super fun staff.

Top 5 things about Tantra
1. Green Curry – without a doubt
2. Singapore Street Noodles
3. Super fun waitress who took my abuse
4. Great wine/drink list
5. I have the greatest most fun friends in the world

Bottom 5 things
1. Gerd loved Asian food of any kind and would have been super happy going here and hanging out with our friends
2. Mr. Burns and I kept getting shushed for having too much fun – geeeesh, mom…
3. Mango Martini wasn’t the greatest martini in the world – I should have gotten the Mai Thai that CareBear got
4. Iowa State D-bag
5. I need to give the Fresh Summer Rolls another try where I get to actually eat all of them

Palomino – Minneapolis, MN

I was unsure of what to expect from the Palomino in downtown Minneapolis. I’d heard it was pretty upscale, but that’s never scared me before. I checked out the menu online and it seemed like it had some unique offerings and wasn’t THAT expensive. Despite it being the topic of a controversial yet hilarious Wesley Willis song, Gerd and I decided to check it out.

We headed to the bar when we got there – something we’ve been doing more of lately (I mean eating in bars, not going to them all the time). Kind of like dinner and a show – plus easy access to the drinks… cha-ching! The bar was mable topped and multi level – that’s class. Places for my Asian brother Yao Ming and places for Peter Dinklage – everyone wins. The guy working the bar looked like a leprechaun (having never seen one, I can only assume), which worked out well since gerd has been typo-ing the word “me” instead of “my” in her e-mails recently – and she has red hair – coincidence?... I think not. Heath, the aforementioned leprechaun, was brilliant! Great suggestions and descriptions, the appropriate level of mocking when I asked for a girly drink menu, and catered to us like we were the only ones there. Heath has a pointy beard, that’s the only reason I mention the leprechaun thing. Aside from that, he’s awesome.

Gerd and I had a hankering for an appetizer, so we decided on the gorgonzola cream covered criss-cut fries (invented by Kris Kross). Heath said they were stacked high and then the sauce was poured all over them – gesticulating wildy while giving the description. Like I said, he was awesome. Give this man a raise (or at least another pot o’ gold)!

Gerd got some sort of fancy margarita (served in a martini glass with salt-rim). It was quite tasty. I got something called “White”. My good friend Al would ask, “Why’s it gotta be white?!” I asked the same thing, my friend, I assure you. It was white wine with grand marnier, cranberry juice, maybe some grape juice and garnished with a lychee (the tastiest of the eyeball-shaped fruits – as you all know). I’m going to making 55-gallon drums of this stuff at home in the future, just so you know. It was like amazingly sweet wine/sangria. I could have had 26 of these things, but I kept it toned down – this time…

Gerd went with the Grilled Steak Salad (healthy and meaty) and I went with the Duck Confit Cassoulet (sounds fancy doesn’t it?). The steak salad was awesome. All kinds of greens and hazel nuts and blue cheese, and onion strings. It was really really good. The steak was actual steak and top quality steak at that. Every bite was as good as the next. The duck cassoulet, to my surprise, came in a freaking tagine!!!! Awesome. Picture this: a huge haunch of duck (do ducks have haunches?), a fat smoked lamb sausage, Italian sausage, white beans, taters, and tomato sauce cooked in a tagine. There is no place for you to go wrong. Simply amazing. The duck was perfectly cooked, the taters were fork-ready and silky smooth, the sausages were stellar, and there was a perfect amount of beans. Despite the duck being a high-labor food, this one was worth pulling meat off bones. Totally worth it. It’s going to be difficult NOT to get this the next time we’re at the Palomino. Tagine 2, Chao 0.

Top 5 things about the Palomino
1. Multiple tagine dishes, some not even identified as such
2. Really tasty girly drinks
3. Very attentive staff – mainly Heath in our case
4. Steak was the perfect complementary flavor for the greens and cheese in the salad
5. Duck was perfect as were its friends in the tagine

Bottom 5 things
There seriously aren’t any. We TRIED to come up with some. Parking is good and validate-able, prices were fair for the quality of food, bathrooms were nice, staff was awesome, tolerable number of rich d-bags in the bar area, fast, and classy. We have nothing bad to say about this place. Sorry. We tried.

http://www.palomino.com/index.php?cook=1&locations=Minneapolis