Pro-Choice Potluck at Hai Hai - Minneapolis, MN

I don’t always post “reviews” (I use that term very loosely) for once in a lifetime experiences that you’ll never get to duplicate, because sometimes it comes off as bragging or something. But, in this case, I’m going to rave about an event that we went to that was pretty amazing.

After Roe v Wade was overturned recently, Hai Hai decided to host an event to raise money for reproductive rights and awareness. They called their closest chef friends and asked then to whip up a potluck-style dish that would bring some folks in for a fundraiser. They has so much interest that they needed to host two separate dates. Both of these dates sold out in under a day and we were lucky enough to buy some tickets.

The putluck brunches were both held at Hai Hai on July 31^st and also August 14. Some chefs made food for both dates, but it was a difficult decision on which date to pick because some of our favorite chefs were only cooking at one of the days. The events raised over $50,000 for Just the Pill and Whole Woman’s Health Alliance. There was also a raffle with multiple really cool prizes from local businesses that also support reproductive rights. Also, great work by DJ Keezy, who really nailed the songlist and got many people up from their chairs and dancing.

 

We started with some fancy cocktails that were also in partnership with some local restaurants like Hai Hai, Hola Arepa, and Meteor. There were also some N/A cocktails from Tres Leches and Hi-Lo Diner, but we were in the mood for some full-alcohol coctails. 

 

When you read this food list, though, you’re going to be very mad that you weren’t there enjoying these delicious dishes. 

 

·      MEKONG SALAD I Chef Christina Nguyen I Hai Hai

Lao sausage, tom yum coconut milk dressing, herbs, peanuts

·      BRAISED CORN I Chef Alex Roberts I Alma

on the cob with whole spice coconut sauce

·      JAHPCHAE I Chef Ann Kim I Pizzeria Lola

sesame-soy dressed sweet potato noodles with marinated vegetables

·      EMPANADAS DE HUMITA I Chef Daniel Del Prado I Martina

creamed corn & provolone with chimichurri

·      BUDIN AZTECA I Chef Gustavo Romero I Nixta

Mexican lasagna with layered corn tortillas, chicken tinga, queso chihuahua, nopales salad

·      SMOKED CHICKEN LARB I Chef James Winberg I Travail

with sweet rice, shiso vinaigrette, herbs

·      SPICY SPINACH PANEER I Chef Janene Holig | Hot Indian Foods

coconut rice, mint-cucumber raita

·      BIRRIA ENCHILADAS I Chef Jon Wipfli I Animales BBQ Co

Braised beef, adobo, cheese, salsa, corn tortillas

·      ALBONDIGAS I Chef Jorge Guzman | Petite Leon

en mole poblano with sesame seeds

·      BORICUA “ARROZ CON POLLO" I Chef Nettie Colon I Red Hen Gastrolab

Puerto Rican rice with chicken, Longaniza sausage & pigeon peas

·      CHICKEN SKEWERS I Chefs Nikki & Brian Podgorski I The Salsa Collaborative

mojo marinated chicken thighs with deep fried plantain

·      PAN-FRIED DUMPLING | Chef Peter Bian | Saturday Dumpling Club

with brisket, carrot & onion, Chinese vinegar chili crisp sauce

·      MINI PRETZEL DOG I Chef Sun Cowles | Create Catering

with kimchi scallion ranch

·      SAVORY DOUGHSCUIT I Chef Tim Niver | Muccis

with tomato tartare and chèvre vinaigrette

·      STRAWBERRY PANNA COTTA | Chef Katie Elsing | Lynhall

with roasted plum & salted white chocolate crumb

·      PASSION FRUIT DIVA CAKE I Chef Zoè Francois | Zoe Bakes

almond jaconde cake, passionfruit buttercream, blackberry, ganache & toasted meringue

 

In the food line, I didn’t tell a single chef “no thank you” – just put them anywhere on my plate that you can find room. It ended up being a really impressive display of food. I felt like it would be MORE rude to tell someone you didn’t want the one thing that they brought to the potluck. Plus, I REALLY love to eat and I didn’t want to miss anything stellar.

It’s basically impossible to rank these in order of my favorite, since I’ve changed my mind about 20 times on what was the best. Just know that ZERO of these dishes were bad. In fact, none of them were even ho-hum or average. They were all fantastic. I can probably narrow it down to the best five dishes that I can determine as of me sitting on my couch right now writing this. So, in no particular order, I’ll list five of my above-and-beyond favorites:

·      Mekong Salad

·      Albondigas

·      Spicy Spinach Paneer

·      Savory Doughscuit

·      Strawberry Panna Cotta

·      (And yes, I’ve already gone back and edited this list – DAMMMIT! They were all so good!)

 

We didn’t end up winning anything in the raffle, but honestly, this was one of the best ways to kick off a Sunday that we’ve had in quite some time. I know the pandemic isn’t over, but it really is nice to ease into social events like this again. Of course, now the bar is set really high and we’ll never be able to assemble quite a lineup like this again, unless it’s at some spectacular event like this one. All the people working the event were having a good time; all the chefs and food servers were having a good time; all the people eating and drinking were having a good time. It just made you feel good!

 

Click on the links for the sponsors above and send them some dollars. It really makes a difference!

Hope Breakfast Bar - St. Paul, MN

We’ve driven by Hope Breakfast Bar many many times and every morning, especially weekends, there’s a line out the front. We’ve heard our friends rave about this place and it’s been on our list for a long time. We finally made it happen and it was definitely worth the wait. It’s kind of a breakfast and brunch place with really nice atmosphere and really top notch food.  

You CAN get reservations, instead of waiting in line, but we took our chances. They said it was a 30-45 minute wait, and it was right about 35 minutes. Easy. Even while standing outside in the drizzle with our coats on watching people. We got a chance to check out the menu while we waited, also, which meant we were ready to rock when we finally got seated at the bar. If I’m not mistaken, if you have reservations, you get a table and they turn spots at the bar around pretty quickly for walk-ins. Just trying to make sure you know what to expect. (Meaning don’t walk in and expect to get a table for 8)

They’ve got some regular coffee drinks and juices, but also some cocktails, wine, and beer. Really adventurous ones, not just bloody marys and mimosas, either. D got a caramel coconut coffee (not pictured) and I got a 7^th Avenue Cereal Bowl, which is a cocktail made with Rumchata, milk from Cap’n Crunch, and crunchberries on top. Really impressive and delicious, as well. Even had a couple customers ask what I was drinking so they could order one.

We had some trouble deciding what to order since everything sounds great. We saw a couple of people order pancakes of various flavors and they all looked good and fluffy and fun. We decided to get Baby Cakes, which are a set of small pancakes with various syrups (blueberry, maple, and banana cinnamon cream cheese. These were everything we expected and more and we couldn’t decide which syrup was our favorite. In fact, we ask for lids for the syrups, so we could take them home and eat them on other things.

We decided to get our own entrees that we wanted and then share them. I finally decided on the chicken fried steak, covered in mushroom sausage gravy, with a biscuit, scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns. D got the Hawaiian Bowl, which is Hawaiian bbq beef, peppers, cilantro rice, poached egg, avocado, and some fried noodles. 

D’s Hawaiian Bowl was more in line with my taste than hers. She liked it a lot, but I’m a rice bowl fiend and can’t get enough of stuff like this. I had almost ordered this dish, but when I heard she was going to, I went with my second choice, knowing I could steal some bites of hers. Aside from the pineapple pieces in the bowl, there wasn’t a ton of Hawaiian flavor in it. It was sort of an Asian/teriyaki rice bowl without many noodles. It had great flavors and everything was fresh and colorful, but it wasn’t the Hawaiian breakfast she was hoping for. Thankfully, I get to eat all of her leftovers, so I win twice.

 

My chicken fried steak was really pretty impressive. I’m sort of a gravy snob – not even sort of – and this mushroom sausage gravy stood up pretty damn well. The chicken fried steak wasn’t greasy at all and had really great flavor. The hashbrowns were plenty crispy (without me having to ask for it – which I forgot to do), the eggs were scrambled just right, and the biscuit was flaky and not dry. Even D was all in on my chicken fried steak and that’s never really been her jam. That should speak volumes, my friends.

 

The service was really impressive, with servers/bartenders checking on us without being overbearing. They were very friendly and chatty about the various foods people ordered and how fast the cooking staff was. Made the whole atmosphere even more friendly and welcoming. This place is busy for a reason and now we know why. We both said we’ll be going back as we drove back home with our leftovers. 

Top 5 things about Hope Breakfast Bar

1. Chicken Fried Steak

2. Baby Cakes

3. 7^th Street Cereal Bowl

4. Atmosphere

5. Really vast menu for brunch

 

Bottom 5 things

1. There’s going to be a wait – deal with it

2. On-street parking only – deal with it

3. Right after you order, you’ll see the kitchen send out food that you wished you had ordered – deal with it

4. Literally everything here is instagramable – look at all the pictures that I took, so everyone will be taking photos of their food – deal with it

5. As you can see, anything I could even think of that people might complain about are irrelevant and people should just deal with whatever their issues happen to be - hahahaha

 

www.hopebreakfast.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

Shish – St. Paul, MN

TattooBoy and I needed to get some breakfast after a hard night of after-partying. I had been wanting to check out Shish in St. Paul, and he was game, so we headed over. The menu is on large boards hanging on the walls, so it was pretty easy to figure out what we both wanted. They’ve got a lot of Middle Eastern-leaning dishes, but also a wide variety of more traditional American items for those less adventurous (no judgment). I was drawn to the Chaksuka, and TattooBoy went with a serious Turkey and Cheese Omelet. 

While we waited for our food to come out, TattooBoy had a great view of the fancy cake display case, so it was only a matter of time before he caved…

My Chaksuka looked fantastic, and better yet, it TASTED fantastic. It was a cast iron pan full of grilled sweet red peppers, roasted roma tomatoes, garlic and onions, and an egg. It came with a bunch of accoutrements like kalamata olives, feta, pineapple slices, pepperocinis, tomatoes, fried potatoes, and a ton of pita triangles. The people here do not want you to leave hungry EVER.

TattooBoy was really happy with his omelet with turkey sausage and cheese, but that certainly didn’t stop him from grabbing a piece of incredible pistachio cake. Which made me think, “I should get something to bring home to D.Rough!” I’m glad I did – that Bailey’s cake they made here was top-notch!

There were a bunch of things I’d get on the menu here, so I look forward to going back here.

www.shishongrand.com

Nighthawks – Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I hadn’t been to Nighthawks, even though many of our friends had recommended it to us. We set up a time to meet our lovely friend AllBlack and have some brunch. The place is bright inside, but still has an upscale diner kind of feel. We waited less than five minutes before getting a table, even on a Saturday around lunch.

The menu has all kinds of delicious sounding really inspired and unique food items, especially the pancakes. We decided to split a table poutine and each of us would get our own meal. I went with one of the specials – the Brisket Hash. D.Rough got the chorizo cheddar corn pancakes and AllBlack got the breakfast sandwich. And since we were right next to Five Watt Coffee, both the ladies ordered a Big Watt Circuit Bender Cold Press.

 

The entrees arrived pretty quickly, and I was impressed with the size of these things, as well as the presentation. The brisket hash was outstanding. Really tender and flavorful pieces of briskets on a bed of three different potatoes, with some salsa, guac, and pickled onions – then, covered with an egg. Every bite had all the components in it and it was a really heavy duty brunch meal.

The chorizo cheddar corn pancakes were surprisingly great. It sounds weird to put al those things together, but it totally works. They had layers of ingredients worked in, not just put on the top section. Nicely done, Nighthawks.

The breakfast sandwich was also great (I heard), and the hashbrowns were perfectly cooked. Not soggy and limp – they were crispy and tasty all the way through.

Sadly, our table poutine came out after we were finishing our meal, so none of us were really in the mood to eat it. I lied – *I* was in the mood to eat it. It was great. It had a ton of cheese curds and a wonderful gravy. It was covered with a LOT of banana peppers (maybe too many) and then another fried egg. The flavors were great, but I embarrassed myself by only being able to eat half of it myself. Hahaha

I liked this place even more than I expected to like it – which was already going to be a lot. I should have listened to people sooner and gone here. Highly recommended!

www.nighthawksmpls.com

The Copper Hen – Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I thought it would be fun to take her sister, SalsaSandwich, out for a nice birthday lunch. Mainly, we knew Copper Hen had brilliant desserts, which is a favorite of both my wife and sister-in-law. The Copper Hen is a very quint “farmhouse-chic” restaurant and bakery with farm-to-table food and a nice-but-still-casual atmosphere. 

The first thing you see when you walk in the door is the dessert display case. It’s got all kinds of upscale and unique cupcakes and cookies, and even some gluten free items. I’ll get to the desserts later, but here is a photo of SalsaSandwich in front of the case. It’s hard to tell whether she’s getting a closer look or genuflecting to the dessert gods for this bountiful dessert manifestation.

The menu has some delicious looking cocktails and a decent beer and wine list. I went with a Bauhaus Uber Duber Bock, and D.Rough got a super delicious fancy Cosmo Chemistry, and SalsaSandwich got a Coke.

The menu has plenty of things to choose from, all of which sounded good, so I felt pretty good when we had it narrowed down quickly. D.Rough and SalsaSandwich were going to split a classic rustic pizza and also a Cheddar Ale Burger. I had the server help me decide between the Pot Pie and the Mac and Cheese. He talked me into the mac and cheese, but added steak on the top – I’m not sure why he and I aren’t best friends at this point.

The Cheddar Ale Burger got a decent review from both D.Rough and SalsaSandwich. They liked it and it was plenty juicy, but I think both of them have had better burgers. Lots of onions and neon orange cheese looked a little unusual to me, but I was happy letting them enjoy it amongst themselves. 

The pizza got some pretty rave reviews (and I even had a slice of this one). I think it’s the cheese mix that made it so good (it usually is) – although, I say that anytime there’s pecorino cheese on something. But, it’s a nice rustic cracker crust and the right amount of toppings. This is a great pizza that makes me want to try some of their more unusual pizzas.

The mac and cheese was absolutely awesome. It’s baked and has breadcrumbs on it, so you know it’s already delicious. It’s a bechemel cheese sauce, so it’s nice and thick and it’s the squiggly cavatappi noodles which rule. The steak on top was just an added punch that made the whole thing even better. I didn’t share much of this with the rest of the table.

Of course, we were all full, but decided to get a little dessert for the road… and wait, maybe just a little something to split for D.Rough and I. So you know, The Copper Hen usually has some sort of boozy cupcake. And by boozy, I mean they have a little booze injector built right into the cupcake. See the photo.

You squeeze the plastic tube and booze goes right into the already moist cake. Brilliant! It’s served in a little jar, which is very farmhouse and cute, but honestly, the cupcake is delicious, and I’m not even a cupcake fan (for clarification, I AM a booze fan, however). 

We had to get a couple more non-boozy cupcakes for the road, since it was SalsaSandwich’s birthday. I don’t even know what these cupcakes were, but they looked fantastic. 

I think you’ll be pretty happy at The Copper Hen, no matter if it’s for lunch, dinner, brunch, or just dessert. It’s pretty fantastic. 

Top 5 things about The Copper Hen

1. Baked Mac and Cheese

2. Desserts

3. Classic Pizza

4. Crafty cocktails

5. Cheddar Ale Burger

Bottom 5 things

1. Parking can be a challenge on Eat Street

2. By the time you buy 300 desserts, the bill will add up (otherwise, it’s really reasonable)

3. It’s a slow-casual restaurant, so be ready for a more relaxed time frame

4. It’s just rude to put the dessert counter right at the front, so all you think about is dessert the entire time you’re eating your other delicious food – I’m SOOOO kidding

5. Totally a minor thing, but I wish there were more photo of the food on the webpage (just ignore me. I just had a really hard time finding any downsides to this place)

www.copperhenkitchen.com

Pub 819 – Hopkins, MN

On weekends, sometimes it’s difficult to get up for breakfast. That’s why brunch is such a great idea. I had seen a few reviews and some photos of this new-ish place in Hopkins that had delicious looking breakfast and brunch items. D.Rough and I got out of bed early enough to make this brunch thing happen.

The inside of the place is cut in half by the bar. One side has booths and the other side has lower tables for larger groups. We got a booth with a couple of drink menus and started perusing cocktails. I found one that intrigued me more than the others and ordered it – A New York Sour: Hochstadlers Slow and Low whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, and a pinot noir float. Sounds weird, but it was fantastic. Truly incredible, to be honest. D.Rough had something with gin in it and what appeared to be part of a Christmas tree. She liked it just fine.

The menu has a lot of really unique things on it, all of which sound good, but I finally narrowed it down to two things: the stuffed French toast and the donut breakfast sandwich. I think you guys all know which one I chose – the donut sandwich. I really ordered this thing because it sort of sounds like a monstrosity. To my surprise, it was actually absolutely delicious.

It’s a maple glazed donut from my favorite donut shop (Yo-Yo Donuts)  cut in half like a bagel. Then they load it up with scrambled eggs, bacon (or sausage), hashbrowns, and cheese. The maple is about the perfect level of sweetness for this sandwich – not too heavy on the sweet ,but a nice maple flavor. And the fillings were plenty generous. This was definitely the right choice.

 

 D.Rough got the brisket grilled cheese. A good-sized sandwich with lots of delicious brisket and tons of onions (if you like that sort of thing). She was really happy with this choice and was even happier that the fries were worth raving about. They were really good.

Note: I'd steer clear of the housemade BBQ sauce. This may sound weird, but the flavor of it doesn’t go well with the sandwich. It immediately changes the sandwich into something you’d get at Sonic or some other fast food joint. Don’t use the BBQ sauce – it stands on its own just fine.

We were both really happy with this brunch outing and we look forward to going back here. There are plenty of other breakfast and brunch options for me to get, and I need to work my way through the whiskey menu they have there.

Great showing, Pub 819!!

Top 5 things about Pub 819

1. Donut Breakfast Sandwich
2. Brisket Grilled Cheese 
3. New York Sour 
4. Delicious fries 
5. It has a comprehensive whiskey list and great local beer options

Bottom 5 things 

1. Housemade BBQ sauce 
2. Cocktail menu isn’t on the website 
3. The rampant use of apostrophes in the phrase “Bloody Marys” 
4. Weird that they put children on one side of the bar and drinkers on the other side of the bar 
5. It’s on the opposite side of the Twin Cities from us (but we’ll still go there!)

www.pub819.com

Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club – Prior Lake, MN

Full disclosure: I screw up Valentine’s Day every year. I try really hard, but multiple things inevitably go wrong, despite all my planning. This year was a pretty spectacular fail, in particular. Why does this even matter? Because this particular activity, one of many I had planned for Valentine’s Day 2015, was scheduled to happen in February, but ended up happening in November, due to weather, schedules, and a bunch of other issues. But it finally happened.

D.Rough and I went skeet shooting. I’d like to claim romantically skeet shooting, but that probably isn’t the case.

The Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club lodge had recently suffered a serious fire and had been rebuilt. The place is NICE. Really nice. It’s a large complex full of all sorts of shooting areas and hunting areas, and probably horses (which we didn’t see at all). We showed up, figured out where to park, and went into the lodge. This is going to sound weird, but we were completely out of our comfort zone. This doesn’t happen very often. Everyone was in camouflage and bright orange and D.Rough and I were in jeans and sweatshirts. There was just a weird vibe to the whole place. Not a bad vibe, just something we were totally unfamiliar with. It took some getting used to. What’s even more bizarre is how nice everyone was. It was clear we weren’t regular members here, and the staff and other members were really nice to us and made sure we were taken care of. Well done, MHHC!

D.Rough and I signed our waivers holding no one liable when we shot our own foot off. We told the woman behind the counter we had an intro lesson scheduled with Dennis and she double checked to make sure we didn’t have a gun. So apparently, you can easily rent a gun form places like this. We rented a 20-guage and the counter woman handed us four boxes of shotgun shells. I can’t tell you how out of our element we were at this very moment. Dennis, our instructor, showed up and introduced himself and grabbed our shotgun. We followed Dennis out to this beautiful lakeside shooting stand – it looked like the world’s smallest patio. 

Dennis went through a quick lesson on how to click the button on the remote control and fling the clay discs into the air from different angles. Pretty easy. Then he went through a pretty quick (alarmingly quick, in fact) description of how to load our newly rented shotgun. Shell goes in the side with the metal side facing backwards, push the button on the side to load it, then click off the safety. Really. That was it. Then he showed us how to track the disc as it flies through the air. Cheek to the butt, butt to the shoulder (which 12-year old Chad can’t stop saying now). With your cheek to the butt, when you move your head, the barrel moves – pretty slick. Surprisingly not unlike the Big Buck Hunter game at your local redneck bar.  Your turn, Chad!  Seriously. This was quick. Remember when I was out of my comfort zone? Yeah, this was suddenly worse.

In a split second, I freaked out a little. Did we have enough safety instruction before giving me a lethal weapon? Should I be wearing orange? Will these ear protector things stop me from being deaf? Will I end up with a black powder coated face like the cartoons? How far do these projectiles travel? What is my middle name? Do I have a fidgety trigger finger? Who’s hand is this? What the hell am I doing here? Happy Valentine’s Day, Rambo. Sack up and shoot this thing! Breathe.

Safety on? Check

Load the shell? Check

Click the thingy on the side (technical term) to load the gun? Check

Cheek to butt, butt to shoulder? Check

Click off the safety? Check.

Breathe? …………………………………………….. Check, eventually.

Yell “pull!”, but phrased as a question? Check.

Follow the orange disc as it flies straight ahead? Check

Pull the trigger? Check

I’ll be damned, but I blew it apart. First Try. FIRST. F. N. TRY.

Dennis was shocked. D.Rough was shocked. No one was more shocked than me, I promise.

I began to tell these two shocked people about how much Duck Hunt, Golden Eye, House of the Dead, and Big Buck Hunter I have played over the past 30 years, but D.Rough excitedly told me to DO IT AGAIN! I have the best wife ever.

Repeat all the steps. Put the thing in the thing. Click the thing. Cheek to butt, butt to shoulder. Click the other thing. Pull. Track. Trigger. Clay explosion. I’m now 2 for 2 on reducing the clay pigeon population of Minnesota. DO IT AGAIN!

I did the things. Shell. Click. Butt. Butt. Click. Pull. Track. Shoot. Explosion. THREE FOR THREE. This is sooo easy!!!!

Then... I promptly missed a whole slew of targets to bring me back to reality. It actually isn’t that easy, but it’s oddly fun. Not like white water rafting or swimming in mac and cheese fun, but it’s fun. I just happened to have a little beginner’s luck to start the day.

D.Rough stepped up and went through all the steps. She was as nervous as I was. But she’s also a bad-ass. She missed the first few. Dennis gave her some pointers. She winged the next one. Dennis gave her some more pointers. THEN, she nailed one. It was on. My wife doesn’t like to do things she’s not good at, but once she gets a couple of wins under her belt, she’s on board. She is now on board – hahahaha

Dennis told us we could walk around the campus and shoot from different stands. Some in the woods, some on the bluffs, some on the water, and a couple of other places. We headed into the woods to see how we’d do without supervision. And frankly, we did pretty well. Neither of us were going to win any marksman/markswoman awards, but we blew up enough clay discs to keep it fun. At some point along the way, D.Rough stopped saying “Pull” and started saying “DRAW”. This was hilariously awesome. This is why I married her. She apparently adopted some old west gun-slingin’ boss swagger and would make the most hilarious comments when she hit a target. …which was increasingly often towards the end. You rule, D.Rough. We finished up all of our shells and high fived each other (with our lips). 

We headed back to the lodge while commenting on how the walking areas weren’t marked off at all and how easy it would be to walk someplace dangerous if you weren’t paying attention. Thankfully, we were paying attention.

We got back to the lodge and went to the restaurant part. It’s actually really nicely decorated with taxidermy and nice photos.

The servers were all really nice and helpful, which sounded like it may not have been the case in the past (based on comments online). The menu has a couple of interesting game items on it (elk, pheasant, bison, duck, etc.), but we opted for a grilled chicken sandwich and a triple threat sandwich. 

The chicken sandwich was good. Not mind-blowingly good, but it had a nice smoked gouda melted on it and caramelized onions. We really liked the soft pretzel bun that held its structure through the whole sandwich. The fries were pretty standard, so nothing to report there.

The triple threat sandwich is pulled pork, pork belly, and bacon with gouda and bbq sauce. All of the meat was really good and not dry. Again, the pretzel roll was wonderful with this usually sloppy sandwich. And the tots were REALLY crunchy and tasty. We were both glad we got these and even shared nicely!

Overall, we had a good time at MHHC. Granted, it wasn’t all that romantic and valentine-y, but it was still fun to do. It’s good for people to step out of their comfort zone and we were glad we did that. I’m not sure we’re going to sign up to be members at the club, but at least we know we’re competent in defending ourselves in the event of the zombie apocalypse. And a big shout out to Dennis for helping us out and giving us pointers without making us feel like the morons we are. Hahaha

Top 5 things about Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club

1. Dennis – the guy was a champ and we couldn’t have done it without him

2. You don’t have to own a gun to do this – you can rent them

3. This will help you out of your comfort zone and then back to a new comfort zone

4. It’s both easier and more difficult to do than I thought

5. The restaurant is actually much better than we expected

Bottom 5 things

1. Safe walking areas aren’t very defined

2. It’s a long drive out there from the Cities

3. It can get loud out there with all the gun shooting

4. If you haven’t done this before, you’ll feel uncomfortable, but it’s pretty easy to get re-comfortable

5. I don’t suppose they’re in the business of romantic, valentiney-y type things out there – I could be wrong about this.

www.horseandhunt.com