Miss Phay Café – Davenport, IA

Visiting my folks in the Quad Cities, we heard a couple of people tell us we needed to check out Miss Phay Café in downtown Davenport. We had been to that specific location before, but it was a few different things before its current and amazing new restaurant. 

The menu has quite a few things on it, and from a number of categories. Very thorough! And also, great descriptions of things, so people not as familiar with Thai food would be able to tell what most of the ingredients are. We had a tough time deciding, but we narrowed it down. We were a little bummed we were headed to a wedding that evening, since the cocktail menu is really impressive. We may have to go back just for drinks. 

 

We (obviously) started with the red pork summer rolls. Vermicelli noodles, thin-sliced pork, carrot, mint and a peanut hoisin sauce. It’s hard to get these wrong, but these were definitely better than average. We always threaten to order one set for each of us, but we never do. Maybe we should consider that again when we find fresh rolls this good.

D got the combo vermicelli salad. It’s got a little bit of everything in it: beef, chicken, shrimp, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, pickles, herbs, peanuts, and even a crispy spring roll. The shrimp was definitely one of the more flavorful we’ve had. Really great flavor in both the chicken and the beef, and the other flavors were bright and fresh. A really solid choice.

 

I got the Green Curry Noodles with Chicken, which came with bamboo, basil, kra chai (which is sort of like ginger), and served with vermicelli noodles. Really a deep and flavorful curry. Glad I got this one. I (for once) didn’t finish the bowl and ended up taking some back to the hotel with me. Mainly, just because it was so good, I wanted another go at it. This was a really amazing curry. 

 

As we found out, pretty much anything on the menu is going to be delicious. Be adventurous and get something different if you go here. I’m sure the pad thai is absolutely stellar, but there are so many fantastic other dishes available here. The folks working are really helpful and friendly and we’re looking forward to going back here again when we’re in town.

 

Miss Phay Café

512 Brady Street

Davenport, IA 52801

www.missphaycafe.com

 

Tom’s Burned Down Café – Madeline Island (Technically La Pointe, WI)

I’m not sure this place really needs my review, but I loved this place so much, I am just making sure it doesn’t slip under anyone’s radar. 

Tom’s is a magical wonderland filled with booze. Imagine if you will, the perfect three-way marriage of pirate ship, junkyard, and circus tent, then fill it with bizarre but loveable characters and fill them full of booze and drama. This establishment is literally the only open on the entire island after the last ferry leaves for mainland Wisconsin (which is 7pm – I’m NOT kidding). So, the whole island shuts down, leaving Tom’s to stand alone in the Madeline Island after-hours entertainment scene.

There are so many things I love about this place. There is a huge number of seating options for its patrons: benches, indoor chairs, outdoor chairs, stools, steps, boxes, crates, etc. Just find a spot where there isn’t a human and park yourself there. When you’re finished with your beverage, there are a bunch of bins or boxes for you to throw the receptacle into – bottles, cans, cups, etc. Just do your best. There is a full bar, with lots of booze and different kinds of beers. But they also seem to have some sort of pre-made mixed punches or other types of drinks that are mainly booze. Great idea! There’s also a trailer parked in the “front” of the building that is clearly plumbed for booze or a soda gun that is probably an overflow bar. I was bummed that it wasn’t running when we were there. And there’s just a LOT to look at on the walls, ceiling, and floor. 

 

If you want to have a good time, just guy yourself a drink and sit down and watch the show. People from all walks of life are here co-mingling and having a good time. Don’t pass judgement, just sit back and be amused. 

 

And if you really want an experience, go to various review sites and read all the complaining reviews about it (clearly written by Karens) and make a mental note so you can look for those things when you go there. The complaints aren’t wrong, but those very things people are complaining about are what actually make this place magical. Yes, the bartenders aren’t going to be your best friend. Yes, the entire place looks like it’s being held together with duct tape and license plates. Yes, you might feel dirtier AFTER you go to the restroom than before you went in. But all of these are what makes this place special. 

 

You can thank me later after you go here.

 

Tom’s Burned Down Cafe

274 Chebomnicon Road

La Pointe, WI 54850

Tom’s Burned Down Cafe

Wendy's Breakfast Croissant Sammich

Yes, I know Wendy's has had breakfast sandwiches since 2019, but I finally got around to eating one. And I'm posting it here, in case I forget and need to be reminded at some point in the future - I'm not getting any younger and the memory is starting to fade...

Full disclosure: I'm a die hard Burger King Croissan'Wich (or Crow Sammich, as I call them) fan from way back. Nothing in the fast food breakfast world can touch this. So, obviously, I compare all breakfast items to this. I knew Wendy's had rolled out a similar sandwich, and I knew I needed to compare and contrast them. 

The Wendy's breakfast sandwich is very similar to Burger King - Croissant for a bun, sausage, egg, and cheese. Yes, the croissants are very similar - light and flaky and fun of delicious butter/grease. The sausage  patty is probably from a different company, but it isn't noticeably different in seasoning or flavor. The egg is basically an egg - yes, the Wendy's one is sort of a two-colored ordeal to make it look real, while the Burger King egg is more of a square shaped omelet. The only real difference is the type of cheese. Wendy's uses a slice of Swiss cheese, and the Burger King one uses a slice of American cheese. So it kind of comes down to personal preference on these, honestly. Some people don't like the slight funk of Swiss cheese and some people don't believe that American cheese is actually cheese. So it's up to you. 

The bottom line is that they're EXTREMELY similar. I'll still give a slight edge to Burger King for nostalgia's sake, but it's good to know that if there's really a breakfast sandwich emergency, I can get what I need at Wendy's.

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

Back In Action - Mostly

It’s been a long time, friends. I’ve missed forcing my culinary opinions down your throats for the past year and a half. But I’m glad to be back and enjoying a much more reasonable amount of food from restaurants, safely. Please keep in mind that businesses, especially restaurants and bars, are struggling, so I will do my best to keep this all positive and not throw people under the bus. I understand that restaurants can’t put their best foot forward when packaging things for take-away and with limited staff, there are changes in kitchen and service standards. I can deal with that, without any problem at all. Just wanted to level set with ya’ll.

Estelle – St. Paul, MN

It’s my birthday week, and D.Rough is really good at spoiling me. She managed to get a reservation at this restaurant in the Tangletown/Macalaster/Groveland neighborhood area. I’ve been reading things about this place, so I was really excited to check it out.  This place is roughly focused in southwest Europe – think Italy, Portugal, and Spain mostly. It’s tough to get a table here and the bar-side of the restaurant is first come first serve, so it can be a challenge to get in here from 4-10. 

We started with some cocktails – D got the regular sangria (the seasonal sangria had too much going on for her particular mood), and I got a nice Sasseo Primitivo red wine. Both of us loved our respective openers. It was hard not to. 

The menu has so many delicious items on it that it’s difficult to decide. Small plates, small sandwich-y thigs, and bigger portions. We knew right away we wanted the Patatas Bravas, but then we also wanted the Arancini, and then we threw on some baked oysters, too!

The Patatas Bravas arrived first and were pretty much the star. The roasted potatoes are covered in a homemade picante tomato sauce (that’s the brava sauce) and then drizzled with a lemon aioli. There were some minor squabbles about who was going to each the last remaining potatoes, but since it was my birthday, I played that card. Bam. 

The oysters were also delicious. I enjoy a baked oyster from time to time – takes that snot texture out of it a little bit. They were cooked in a chorizo butter and covered with spinach, parmesan, and breadcrumbs. Totally delicious. 

D.Rough and I are suckers for any type of arancini (Italian fried rice balls). These were perfect. Small little mozzarella filled balls of happiness. Every time I have these, I wonder why I can’t buy them in a five gallon bucket. 

I also needed a new glass of wine, so I got a glass of Udaca Dao from Portugal.

Making decisions on the larger plates was a little more difficult. We had to make strategic decisions. But we powered through and came up with splitting an order of Creste De Gallo – housemade noodles with jalapeno pesto, almonds, lemon, and parmesan. And the Fideuà – fideo-style noodles, with clams and shrimp, ham hock, white wine, tarragon, and parsley. 

The Cresto De Gallo was fantastic. The jalapeno pesto wasn’t spicy, but had a very surprisingly light jalapeno flavor, and paired well with the lemon and parmesan. The unsung hero of this dish was the almonds. Delicious flavor and a fun crunch to this dish. The more of this we ate, the more flavors came through and it just got more and more delicious. Loved this dish.

The Fideuà won the night, though. So many flavors in this dish and it was very rich and hearty. The shrimp and clams were little surprises of flavor in the dish, but they flavored the whole dish. The seasoning on this dish was so good and substantial – not an afterthought or subtle at all. I’ve been dreaming about this dish since we ate it. Sooooooo magical.

Since it was a birthday celebration, and my wife is Italian, we had to order cake. D.Rough got the Blood Orange & Olive Oil Cake and I got the Cereal Milk Soft Serve. 

The Olive Oil Cake had some white chocolate, cardamom, pickled citrus, and tuile and was really pretty to look at. We thought it was a tad heavy on the olive oil, but the citrus part was really delicious. 

The cereal milk soft serve was awesome, though. And, a really hefty portion (maybe because D.Rough spilled the beans that it was my birthday). The cereal they used was Cinnamon Toast Crunch, so it was sweet and delicious, and it was topped with chocolate-covered cinnamon toast crunch – brilliant idea. This was sooo delicious. I’m glad I caved and ordered it.

www.estellestp.com

Travail Basement Bar – Robbinsdale, MN

D.Rough and I continued celebrating my birthday week with a visit to Travail’s newest offering – an upscale basement lounge experience with upscale food and very crafty cocktails. I understand it’s a challenge to get reservations here, and that they have three different “time slots” available, so if you’re interested, get on the website and reserve your spot! Totally worth it.

Like Travail’s other establishments, it’s sort of European-style seating – you WILL be seated at a table with other diners. I like to let people know this so they aren’t alarmed. It’s as fun as you make it – you may end up best friends at the end of the night or you might exchange a few questions about the food or drinks that the other people ordered – you get to decide. Pro Tip: Show up early for your reservation and you may get to decide where you sit, before the space gets filled and you’re stuck with whatever is left open.

The hostess, servers, bar tenders, and food delivery folks are all professionals. They want you to have a good time and enjoy yourself, and they are very gracious and helpful.

We started with a few cocktails, which is really what this place is known for. If you look around the rooms, they have most of the cocktails presented in little nooks, and deconstructed so you can see the ingredients. Bottles of booze and also some of the flavors you’ll be tasting – very interesting concept. Classy and informative (something I’ve never been accused of being). D.Rough got the house tiki-style drink – the Many Faced God (vodka, macadamia nut liqueur, pineapple, coconut, and damiania). I got the Ronaldo Burgundy (Bacardi heritage white rum, pomegranate, pineapple hibiscus milk punch). I'll apologize in advance for the photo quality - the dim lighting wasn't doing my camera any favors - but you'll get the general idea.

D.Rough’s tiki drink was REALLY good. Not too much macadamia and the pineapple and coconut were magical. Fantastic. 

My rum-forward drink was also incredible. It came with a smoky bubble on top AND in a bat-painted tea cup (on a bat painted saucer). A little bit fruity and plenty of rum flavor – I loved this drink!

We ordered a couple of food items to tide us over for the night. The Broadway Burger, the poutine, Salt & Peppa Shrimp, and the lobster egg. The kitchen sends out the folks who prepare this stuff and they explain what’s in some of the dishes and answer any questions – very top-notch.

The lobster egg is a soft boiled egg with lobster, truffles, brown butter, and tarragon, all served in an egg cup. Beautiful presentation and it tasted great too. It’s nice when you can recognize the flavors of each of the ingredient and none of them are overpowering. This is a well-put-together dish.

The Salt & Peppa Shrimp are deep-fried shrimp with garlic butter and jalapeno slices. A relatively simple dish but the garlic butter and jalapeno elevated it a lot. I considered ordering a second round of these, they were that good.

The poutine was fantastic – perfectly fried fries and a rich gravy that clearly was not an afterthought. There weren’t curds, but the gruyere foam was a fun change that I approve highly of. Great job!

The Broadway Burger was not just a restaurant burger. It had a lot of pickled things going on and some mustard situations, but it was a VERY juicy burger. Not sloppy, just really moist and juicy. I loved this thing.

I needed another cocktail and the Travail Basement Bar is not short on them. In fact, they’ve got a few different kind of drinks. They’ve got some small cocktails, for if you’re feeling like you just want a little bit or if you’re toasting someone (very fun idea). And, they’ve got a handful of fancy non-alcoholic drinks, as well. I politely asked the server if they could just add a bunch of rum to the pina colada-style non-alcoholic drink they had on the menu – The Bird C.R.E.A.M.  He assured me it wouldn’t be a problem at all to do so. And since he was already there, I also ordered the Potato Pavé – a thick stack of super-thinly-sliced potato covered with gruyere and cheddar sauce and serrano ham.

The drink was as good as I had hoped it would be – I actually liked it more than the Many Faced God, but only because it was rum, not vodka, and not nutty, otherwise, they were pretty similar. Delicious! And the Potato Pavé was fantastic. Cut-able with a fork and lots of cheese flavor. I’m glad I got to try this one.

Additionally, since my wife’s family is Italian and literally do not believe something is a celebration until there’s cake, we ordered a slice of chocolate cake. Not just any cake – a serious cake, with chocolate mousse layers and a chocolate ganache outer layer. It even comes with a bit of edible gold foil on top – see? Super classy! And, amazingly moist and tasty.

Overall, zero things to complain about at this new restaurant. The staff are all very “interchangeable” and everyone can help you with any request you have. They’re all there to make sure you enjoy yourselves and return to the basement. We even joked with our server that in the basement, everyone looks tan! We will definitely return here and enjoy some additional menu items. We understand this will be an ever-changing menu, so we’re excited to see what new cocktails and food items are available the next time we go there!

www.travailkitchen.com/basementbar