Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub - Minneapolis, MN

I know this place has been open for years and I've just never found my way to it. I'm very glad I was in the neighborhood and D.Rough and TheArchangel and I figured we'd better check it out.

The restaurant has a really beautiful outside patio space for seating, including some cool foliage blocking it from the street/sidewalk noise. It was too hot to eat outside, but we found a table quickly and scanned the menu. Lots of delicious sounding “BBQ” items like ribs, brisket, pulled meats, wings, and the usual sides you’d expect at a place like this. They’ve also got bowls, salads, soups, sandwiches, and burgers – plenty of things for you to mull over. They also have their own craft brewery on-site with a great selection of things to try, as well. 

I started by ordering a flight of beers, so I could try lots of things. Here are my thoughts on those:

·       Castro’s Vintage – cigar-smoked Imperial Brown Ale aged in red wine barrels: 4 out of 5

·       Bridge Hanger – Dark Belgian Strong Ale: 3.75 out of 5

·       Meanwhile IPA – 3.25 out of 5

·       Doppelbock – Double gold medal award-winning: 4.25 out of 5

Really a good quality of the beers I had and much better than I even expected. I was glad I tried a few different ones. Makes me want to try all the other ones the next time I go in there. Looking forward to it, in fact. 

Making decisions about food is a bit harder since the menu is … robust. I ended up making a decision so I wouldn’t’ have to make decisions. Classic BBQ Platter – ribs, 18-hour porketta, Texas brisket, pulled BBQ chicken, and pickled veggies and white bread. D.Rough got the brisket philly sandwich with a side of fries. TheArchangel got the burnt ends. 

The BBQ Sampler was pretty awesome. I shouldn’t have eaten it all, but I could not stop myself. The pulled chicken was really moist and not overly sauced – plenty of flavor in the meat itself and good smoky flavor that didn’t taste like liquid smoke. The brisket was solid – not the best I’ve ever had, but it was really flavorful and tender. Would definitely order that separately in the future. The ribs were really good, with excellent bark, flavor, and tenderness (without being fall-off-the-bone sloppy). Really enjoyed these. The best part of the whole plate and the meal, in my opinion, was the 18-hour porketta. It absolutely slayed. Tons of fennel flavor and deliciously tender. It was surprising how good it was and I was thinking about it all day after that. Just order the porketta and you can thank me later. 

D.Rough really enjoyed her brisket philly. I had a bite or two and was really happy with it. The brisket stood up to the cheese and didn’t fall apart and the cheese and peppers didn’t take away from the brisket flavor. I didn’t get a picture of this one, but I can totally vouch that this sandwich is worth eating. Really happy with this one. 

I asked TheArchangel about his burnt ends and he seemed really pleased with them. He reported good flavor and not fatty nor gristly, which is pretty much a rave review. They didn’t come pre-sauced, but they came with a dipper of sauce that he said was delicious. I didn’t get a pic of the burnt ends – I’ll do better next time. 

Overall, I’m really pleasantly surprised at how amazing this place was. I wish I had been coming here all along, since I feel like I’ve been missing out on years of delicious BBQ so close to home. I would highly recommend going here for porketta, ribs, brisket, and especially the beer. These folks know what they’re doing. 

http://www.northboundbrewpub.com

CrunCheesse Korean Hot Dog – Minneapolis, MN (Dinkytown)

 

A friend of mine recommended this place, but had described it in such a way that I thought I may have imagined it or made it up in some dream I had. But sure enough, this place actually exists (and it sounds like they’re trying to make a franchise go of it, since the original one is in Las Vegas – where other crazy dream-like scenarios happen). Note: I also just looked and have discovered that CrunCheese in Las Vegas is a block away from one of my favorite tiki bars – The Golden Tiki – so I’ll have to make that combo the next time I’m in Sin City.

 

What is a Korean hot dog, you might ask? Well, it’s actually a corn dog (known as a gamja hot dog), so it’s a standard-type hot dog in a batter. So, yes, Americans would call it a corn dog. The batter is dairy free – at least at CrunCheese – and you can get it with a variety of toppings and sauces. That’s the basic explanation, just so we’re all on the same page. You know how when you get Korean chicken wings at a restaurant, they’re like chicken wings you’re used to and then they’re fried like 30 seconds longer to make sure they’re EXTRA crispy? Yeah, these corndogs are like this. But the variations are pretty slick. 

 

You can get a plain corn dog, sure. But why would you when you can get one that’s got some pizzazz? You can get them half hot dog and half cheese stick (mozzarella or cheddar) – keep in mind this half and half version is like top-half cheese and bottom-half hot dog, so you won’t get both flavors in one bite. Or entirely cheese on the inside. Or you can get them with sausage. Or with a squid ink batter. Or with a premium hot dog – likely pandering to American’s refined palate hahaha. Or with a rice cake instead of a hot dog.

 

Once you get the insides figured out, then you have to determine what’s on the outside. You can get the entire thing rolled in cubed potatoes or cubed sweet potatoes (for an upcharge that’s totally worth it). Think of it like you’re at the state fair or some street market in Korea. You want the full experience, so get the add-on. Then, while they’re frying up your magical corn dog, you can stand and stare at the list of sauces they have available to slather your crispy corn dog in. I should have taken a photo of them, so you could see them all. It’s an impressive list. Yes, they do have ketchup and mustard and even honey mustard, but go right past those. Consider cheese mustard, hot sauce, sweet chili, or garlic parmesan. Then you can continue the adventure by adding different dry seasonings to that – parmesan cheese powder, cheddar cheese dust, or honey butter seasoning. Probably a few that I’m missing. 

 

I went with a mozzarella and sausage covered hot dog, rolled in potato cubes, and then covered with sweet chili sauce. And it was truly the right choice. And, like I assumed earlier, like a dream I had, but this was real life. Super crunchy potatoes and batter, cooked perfectly. The hot dog is pretty much a hot dog, so I’m not going to wax poetic on flavor profiles and nuances of textures. I’ve never had chili sauce on a corndog before but now I’m a convert. It’s just really amazingly good. I’m looking forward to going back and trying some of the other combinations. 

 

I wrote way too long about this corndog, but I really wanted you all to pick up what I’m throwing down on this one. You’re going to want to go to Dinkytown (or better yet, LAS VEGAS) and pick up a couple of these for your family. One was plenty for one person, even me, once you get all the attachments and accoutrements. So, keep that in mind. But, you won’t be sorry, no matter you get there. It’s a super small and efficient shop – order at the counter, go outside and wait until they call your number, go inside and tell the cashier how you want your corn dog finished off, and then pay the person. Easy.