Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop – Kansas City, MO

We popped into Lulu’s to check out the noodles here. We didn’t know much about it, but we were all up for some tasty Thai food. It’s in a triangular-shaped building and it’s really fun inside – some good decorations and varied seating options, although there’s still some front-of-house areas being used for storage, which always changes the vibe. The menu has some good options on it – various street food appetizers, soups, salads, curries, and of course noodles. We thought we’d better check out the sampler platter, and then each of us got our own noodle dishes to try some things out. Drunken Noodles, Spicy Beef Jantaboon, and Rainbow Peanut Noodles. I also got a tiki drink (Mai Thai) since it was calling to me….

The appetizer platter came out pretty quickly. It had Vietnamese spring rolls, crab rangoons, pork dumplings, veggie dumplings, and some dipping sauces – a sweet carrot sauce, a gyoza sauce, and a sort of yellow curry peanut sauce. The Vietnamese spring rolls were good – I like mine with a peanut hoisin sauce, but the carrot sauce worked just fine. Tasted fresh and not like it’s been refrigerated all day. The crab rangoons were especially good – light and fluffy and crispy with plenty of filling. The dumplings were also really good – we asked the server if we should get them steamed or fried and she liked them steamed, so that’s how we got them. Really good and plenty of filling in them.

The drunken noodles arrived and though we had ordered our food with a medium heat, there wasn’t any at all. The noodle dish was good and satisfying, but not what I was hoping or expecting. There wasn’t a lot of seasoning nor flavor in this. It was perfectly fine, but the drunken noodles I’ve had at many other places are a bit darker and seasoned well (especially since I like thing medium-to-hot). The photo even looks a little bit white/plain. I will say that the basil flavor was the best and most prominent flavor in this dish, for what it’s worth.

I didn’t get photos of the other dishes (as they weren’t technically mine), but we made sure we each tried each other’s dishes to see what we got. The Rainbow Peanut Noodles were also just ok. The yellow peanut curry sauce from the appetizer sampler was the base for this dish (more curry than peanut) and it was also not up to the spice level ordered.  The Spicy Beef Jantaboon was also in that same ballpark of just fine but not the spice level requested. The sauce in this dish was probably the best tasting and the right amount, but there really wasn’t much in the way of seasoning for this one. Two or three jalapeno slices and some cilantro wasn’t what we were hoping for.

I think this dish might work well for people without a lot of spice tolerance or who are new to Thai flavors. I am always glad there are sort-of “gateway” restaurants like this, but we were all surprised this place has been cranking out noodles since 1997. They’re also serving noodles at the CPKC Stadium, which is also a good way to get into people’s brains, but if you want something with some heat or some flavors, there are a lot of other options to chose from in the KC area.

 https:www.lulusnoodles.com

 

Tori (Ramen) - St. Paul, MN

This old train car (literally an old railway passenger car) has been a few restaurants in the past. Probably more than I even know. I know I went here when it was Chris and Rob's. But, Tori (formerly Tori Ramen when they were up in the Summit Hill area of St. Paul) has taken it over and given a totally new vibe and menu. They consider themselves noodle specialists and it shows in the menu they have put together. I know this opened up during the pandemic in this location, but for some reason, it has taken me a bit to get here.

The inside is… unusual… in that it has a sort of dining room in the train car portion, then a very small bar area – apparently housed by local regulars – and then there’s this unusual area with one of those open-atmosphere garage doors that sort of spreads out onto the sidewalk. Not complaining at all, but I just didn’t want you to walk in expecting a traditional 90-degree-angles everywhere situation. 

We were seated pretty quickly and spent some time deciding what we were going to get. The menu has a handful of delicious sounding starters, a list of various ramen dishes – the items in red are the ones that are spicy – and then some add-ins. Super easy to understand. They’re also known for pretty advanced cocktails, so I went with the tiki-est of the drinks “Will There Be Rum?”, and the server assured me that yes, it DOES have plenty of rum. D got a strawberry lemonade. We opted for some cold sesame noodle to start and then D got the Dra(MN) – which is the chicken noodle, miso, and bali ramen’s combined – and I got the Com Saw Mi Da, which is chili crisp, gochujang, chicken, and a soft egg.

Drinks were fantastic. The strawberry lemonade was sweet, but not too sweet, and downright refreshing. The Will There Be Rum drink was an excellent tiki-style drink and it was a challenge not to drink it down in like three drinks. Would highly recommend this one.

The sesame noodles were perfect. A nice tall pile of noodles and red cabbage and cucumbers with tahini and black sesame seeds (the most evil of the sesame seeds). Not necessarily spicy, but there was some zing there somewhere. We slopped tahini sauce all over table by sharing this one, but fighting over a dish just means its really good and fight-worthy. You should try this one.

The ramen arrived more quickly than I expected, which ruled. The rich broth in both of our bowls looked the same, but this proved to NOT be the case. The Dra(MN) had a little bit of heat (it was in the spicy section of the menu) and had really good flavor. Lots of tahini flavor from the bali, without it being too peanut butter-y, and a surprisingly generous portion of noodles. Really good dish. 

The Com Saw Mi Da was incredible, though. Plentiful noodles and lots of chicken, but the broth was so tasty and spicy. Growing heat, too. By the end, I was sweating. This place doesn’t mess around. Both ramen dishes were some of the more memorable ramen dishes I’ve had, so we will definitely go back here again.

A couple of random notes about this place:

• This place is great for vegans and vegetarians, and they’re willing to make changes to dishes to make sure you’re happy.
• I heard the table next to us say they had called “bullshit” on the heat level and ordered the Fire Shoyu and the Vegan Fire Shoyu. Both of them commented to the server that they may have ordered outside of their expectations and it definitely wasn’t Minnesota hot. Hahaha
• This place has a reallllllly weird vibe. Like Portlandia almost-jokingly quirky atmosphere. Apparently, on weekends, they’re open until 2am still serving ramen, but they have a DJ and it turns into a club atmosphere. Super out-of-the-box. Just didn’t want to forget to mention that it won’t be a chill Japanese restaurant vibe here.

Neither of us could finish our ramen, and we brought a whole additional meal of leftovers home. You can also have them throw in some extra noodles for like $4 and bring some home to reheat with your leftovers. …which I did. And they were so good the next day.

I would definitely recommend this place and I’m looking forward to going back and trying some different dishes, but I doubt anything is going to beat what I got this first time.

https://toriramen.com 

Apostle Supper Club – St .Paul, MN

 

We finally booked a double date with SVB and the Weathermatologist, after months of me forgetting to check my calendar and confirm days that actually worked for all of us. I take full responsibility. There’s a new supper club in downtown St. Paul, right across from the Xcel Energy Center, and somehow we accidentally managed to pick a night where nothing was going on at the X, so we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. 

 

The website says it is a 1960’s Palm Springs inspired supper club, piano lounge, and tiki bar. And it’s also a funny coincidence that D and I were recently in Palm Springs at various tiki bars, so we have a close comparison. But it definitely has that feel once you get inside. 

 

The first thing you’ll notice is that there isn’t a parking lot. I’m not sure why people get so bent out of shape about that, especially since this is a downtown metropolitan area, where tons of restaurants exist perfectly fine without parking lots. There’s multiple parking ramps right across the street, so just suck it up and park there. If it’s an event night, you’ll just have to suck it up. Welcome to the big city. 

 

Once you walk inside, you’re already getting vintage vibes. Tufting on the green leather door and some seagrass behind a modern tiki painting. I’m already digging it. You’ll walk into a lavish and beautifully dark piano lounge. There are multiple rows of chairs and stools circling the piano player (who was slaying the night we were there). 

You can see the tiki bar on the side as you walk in, as well. There are rolling garage doors that undoubtedly lead out to an outdoor space. In the rear of the restaurant, there’s more of a dining room feel and you can also sit near the kitchen area and watch the goings-on there. Just make sure you get reservations, as this place fills up. 

D and I got there early (intentionally), so we could check out the tiki bar, called False Eyedoll. The drink menu is slim, but does have a good showing – better than some bars that sort of have a tiki offering. They’ve also got a small snack menu that had some delicious sounding dishes (wings, smokies, tacos, pickle roll ups, etc.). I started with the False Eyedoll – rum, lychee, peach, pineapple, lime, and mango. D got the Pain Killer – rum, pineapple, coconut, lime, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Both drinks were actually quite delicious and didn’t come from a mix. The bartender did a heck of a job and kept us entertained, too. I blew through mine too quickly and had to order a Glove Drop – jalapeno-infused tequila, pineapple, and lime. I’m not a fan of “spicy” drinks (but I AM a fan of spicy food), but this was actually really good. Lots of jalapeno flavor, without the spiciness. I really liked this one more than I expected. Then our friends showed up, so we went over to our reservation-booked table – eatin’ time!

 

Before I go further, let it be known there is a fuzzy wall on the way to the restroom. I love a good fuzzy wall, ever since Get Him To The Greek came out. This one is pretty spectacular.

 

The menu is pretty interesting. Lots of upscale and cheffy dishes to choose from. We had heard the portions aren’t large, so we kept that in mind. D and I started by splitting the coconut miso noodle salad. We also ordered some crinkle fries, because why not? D got the halibut & caviar and I caved and went with the waygu manhattan steak (our Lyft driver asked me if I was getting a steak as soon as he heard we were going to a supper club, so he is to blame for planting the seed). The waiter kept getting a bit confused with our order for some reason, which was weird, since it was pretty straight forward, both ours and our friends. He came back to our table no less than three times asking what we had ordered. Hmmmmm. 

 

The server brought us a small table relish tray – various things like peppers and pickles and such. Good colorful showing to start with. We waited a bit for our food, which is fine, since we had plenty to get caught up on (see the aforementioned delay on me booking dinner with these wonderful people). The coconut miso salad arrived and it was FAR better than either of us expected. Noodles, herbs, cucumber, cabbage, carrots, edamame, and sesame seeds all combined into a pleasant hillock. And we both thought it was a pretty reasonable portion size. This was absolutely the best thing we ate at Apostle. Would recommend highly. 

 

I had to order another drink (since we took a Lyft), and went with the Passionfruit Collins – vodka, passionfruit, lemon, and soda water. Since I usually just get a Collins with vodka, I can’t tell if they’re usually separated like this one was, but the passionfruit puree was settled at the bottom and hard to stir, so I either got a mouthful of goo or a mouthful of straight vodka. Not sure I’d order this one again, even if that’s how the presentation is intended to be. Just weird.

We waited a bit more, and they brought everyone’s food out, but mine was not what I ordered, so they sent it back and said they’d start on my steak right away. Remember all the confusion at the beginning? That was part of it, although we had a pretty lengthy discussion of what temperature the steak should be cooked at, so I know what I ordered. D’s halibut was pretty small, especially for a pricey entrée. And it came with two asparagus sprigs. I know caviar is expensive, but I don’t get the impression this is the million-dollar stuff. The halibut was cooked about right, but even with the caviar and herb butter, the dish left a little bit to be desired. 

 

A little while later, the waygu steak showed up. I’ve had waygu steak a few times and this one was the ok-est of the ones I’ve had. It was cooked like I requested (thankfully), but there wasn’t a ton of flavor with it. The two baby bok choy stalks didn’t really add much to the presentation and the “chron sauce” that was supposed to be topped with herbs and capers (which it wasn’t) was unremarkable enough that I honestly couldn’t figure out what it was made of. The meat flavor was perfectly fine, but the most expensive item on the menu should probably knock my socks off, or at least make them itch.

 

We had to remind the waiter that our fries had never arrived. So, we ate those for dessert instead of ordering anything additional. The fries were actually cooked really well and perfectly crispy and salty, but I didn’t know until just now what the dip was supposed to be until I looked it up to remind myself. It didn’t taste like much, so I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be cheese or honey mustard or bechemel – it was supposed to be horseradish hollandaise, for what it’s worth.

 

We thought we were done with the mix-ups, until the waiter brought the bill which again, we thought was straight forward and didn’t have shared dishes, but had swapped some of our items. We didn’t even bother bringing it up and just figured it out amongst ourselves. We’re pretty easy going couples and just rolled with it and didn’t complain. But, when we left, the waiter said he hoped we enjoyed our meals and he hoped we got a better waiter the next time we were in. hahahaha. I’ve never actually had any staff say something like that before. I wasn’t even sure how to respond or if he was joking. But, probably an appropriate finisher to this extraordinarily lengthy and pricy meal that we could have expected. 

 

http://www.apostlesupperclub.com

Apostle Supper Club

253 Kellogg Blvd. W.

St. Paul, MN 55102

Phi Chay Thai Cuisine – St. Paul, MN

 

D and I wanted to check this place out, since we saw it had changed names/ownership. It used to be called Supatra’s and we really liked that place. So, we had high hopes as we went into check out this new iteration. 

The person working the register and hosting was really polite and helpful. And the interior of the restaurant looks like they didn’t change it a huge amount, so it still felt home-y. The menu is very large, so it took some time to narrow down what we wanted. We went the adventurous route today and tried some things we wouldn’t normally get. 

We ordered the Salt and Pepper Tofu Puffs, Coconut Curry Noodles with Chicken, and Pad Woon Sen, (stir-fried silver thread noodles) with pork. 

The tofu puffs arrived quickly, and piping hot. The little cubes of tofu were fried crispy and came with some peppers and onion, and also two dipping sauces – one was a rice wine vinegar sauce and the other was a peanut sauce. The tofu was seasoned with salt and pepper and the fry on them was perfect. I liked the peanut sauce a little more than the other, but both were very good. Really a much better appetizer than we expected. 

The coconut curry noodles were different than we expected. D took a bite and said, it’s sort of like the Thai version of macaroni and cheese. The noodles were in a very mild and light curry sauce with a couple pieces of broccoli and chicken. The sauce was good, but didn’t have much kick, despite us ordering it medium. However, D added a scoop of the dried pepper that was on the table and it totally changed this dish. Made it much better and more flavorful. Even seemed to bring out more of the curry flavor. This dish ended up being really good, after we massaged it a little bit. 

The Pad Woon Sen was perfect right off the bat. A rich brown sauce coated all the silver thread noodles and vegetables. It had good spice level to it and the pork was really delicious, as well. I always wish there was a ton more when I’m done eating it, even though I was super full. This is one of those dishes that I would probably order again and I’m not usually an -order-the-same-thing-twice kind of person. Really good. 

Overall, an impressive showing from Phi Chay and an excellent replacement for a restaurant we really loved when it was around. We’ll be back here again. 

King & I Thai – Mendota Heights, MN

My favorite Thai restaurant used to be in downtown Minneapolis – King & I. It closed down due to its lease being up and people in the Twin Cities were really upset about it. It announced it was re-opening, but in a new location: Mendota Heights. The internet was angry about this, even though it’s a 15 minute drive from downtown Minneapolis, and for most people the same amount of time it took to find a parking spot and walk to the restaurant anyway. People just like to complain. Additionally, recent reviews of the restaurant have complained about the change in atmosphere (it used to be dark and a little dive-y and in a basement of an apartment building – and had an awesome multi-level dining patio), and the lack of its elaborate cocktails. I’m here to tell you to ignore those reviews. The real reason to go to King & I Thai is the amazing food – and it HASN’T changed a bit.

First off, Mendota Heights is right on Highway 62 – the Crosstown highway. Yes, it changes names when it crosses the river to 110, but it’s still the same road. Seriously, it’s REALLY easy to get to this place. And they have a huge parking lot, so you don’t have to walk or valet park. It’s perfect.

The menu is still the same – everything I remember ordering at the old location, I think they carried over to the new location. D.Rough and I got an order of Cream Cheese Rolls. These were one of our favorite things at the old location. When they arrived, it was clear they were exactly the same. We loved these little crispy logs filled with cream cheese. They’re great!

I got the Roasted Hot Pepper Sauce with Chicken – it’s a bunch of meat, peppers, garlic, onions, cashews, and peanuts. It’s apparently their top seller. D.Rough got the Pad Kee Mao – rice noodles with garlic chili sauce, tomato, Thai holy basil, and broccoli. I remember loving their Thai holy basil ANYTHING at the previous locations to my hopes were set pretty high.

The Roasted Hot Pepper Sauce was wonderful. I was worried about the spice level, since I can remember having painfully spicy meals at their previous location. The rich sauce was absolutely perfect. I loved that they had both cashews and peanuts in the dish and the chicken tasted really fresh and not rubbery. There’s a reason this is their best seller. I would totally get this on any subsequent visit here.

The Pad Kee Mao was exactly what I needed – a comparison to the original restaurant that actually held up against all the negative reviews. This meal tasted EXACTLY like the ones I had at the previous location – the Thai holy basil hasn’t changed one iota. It’s perfect. It’s spicy without being painful and isn’t a one-note pony. It’s got the kind of flavor that makes you keep eating it. We both really loved both of our dishes (and our appetizer, obviously).

Do yourself a favor if you’ve been wondering whether this place has changed. If it has, it got better. You can do without the cocktails – they still have wine and beer (including Surly). The atmosphere isn’t as sketchy a the old location, but we think it’s much nicer and fresher. The only thing that may have changed is the spice level – it’s a little less spicy than it used to be. I love the heat, but if you ever ordered a 4 or a 5 at the previous location, you’ll now need to order a 5 or a 6. They can still bring the heat, but I no longer feel scared to order a 4-level spice here. This makes me happy because now I Can finish an entire meal without bursting into tears. Hahaha.

Top 5 things about King & I Thai

1. Roasted Hot Pepper Sauce

2. Pad Kee Mao

3. Cream Cheese Rolls

4. They have Surly

5. It hasn’t changed a bit!

Bottom 5 things

1. Nothing – it’s even better than it used to be!

www.kingandithai.com

EE Sane Lao-Thai – Milwaukee, WI

EE Sane is one of my favorite Thai restaurants in Milwaukee (yes, they have a Lao influence in their cooking, but I generally think of it as Thai). We have a long history together, so naturally, I wanted to bring D.Rough and some others there to share in the experience. We dragged along Fluzzi with us and called Rita to see if she wanted to meet us there. Oddly enough, her kick-ass friend Bromar had taken her there and they were already eating! Hilarious coincidence!

The place is sort of known for its surly service. That’s all I’ll say about it, so don’t expect over-courteous servers and such. Just deal with it and enjoy your food - it's never bothered me in the past, and sometimes, it's really hilarious. Also be very wary of the spice level here – you get to choose between 1-10. They sometimes tell you 3 is "medium". I’d start on the low end if you’re scared of some heat. Anything above 5 will make you cry and may possibly be inedible. I’m not joking.

We pulled up some chairs with Rita and Bromar (and somehow Fluzzi backed up right as I took the photo), and set about the menu. It’s a large and comprehensive menu, so it’s tough to decide. But I finally settled on some curry with chicken pork and beef, and D.Rough got Pad See Ew and Fluzzi got the Volcano Tofu (but then ordered a low spice level, smart move). D.Rough and I love our fresh spring rolls, so we got one of those, as well.

The food isn’t fast, but it’s tasty. The spring roll was massive: burrito sized. It was a lot of filler (lettuce), but it had a great flavor and they didn’t skimp on the peanut sauce. Pretty good showing on the spring roll.

The dishes came out next. My curry was really quite awesome. I could have gone with a 5-level spice, but was pretty happy with the heat it did have. Very good and deep curry flavor and the meats were good quality. No gristle or chewy bits. Plenty of other veggies in this dish, as well. I’m a fan of the curries here and this was one of the best things I’ve ever gotten at EE Sane.

D.Rough’s Pad See Ew was just ok. It lacked some color and also some flavor, but the noodles, even though they looked floppy and puffy, were actually cooked pretty darn well. The spice was a little safe on this one, but I think with a higher number and maybe if you ordered ti with extra vegetables, you’d be raving about this one.

The Volcano Tofu was decent. The tofu is fried really awesomely crispy and the sauce on it I’m guessing could pack some heat if you get above 5 on the scale. As it was, it was above average but not life changing.

Thankfully, no one ordered anything they couldn’t eat – I have witnessed (and been part of) this in the past. You just kind of have to get it dialed in over the space of a few trips. I’m certainly willing to go here as long as it takes to get the spice level right. Again, be patient and you’ll eventually get served and taken care of.

Top 5 things about EE Sane
1. Chicken, Pork, and Beef Curry
2. Fresh spring rolls
3. Bromar raved about the peanut sauce (which I KNOW is delicious)
4. It’s not expensive
5. Really generous portions

Bottom 5 things
1. It’s hard to get the spice level right on the first shot
2. The spice level CAN be dangerous – to the point of inedible – order accordingly
3. Could use some vegetables in some dishes both for color and flavor
4. Service is just something you’re going to have to get used to being not there
5. Menu is REALLY large


EE-Sane
1806 N Farwell Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53202

Thai Ginger – St. Paul, MN

D.Rough and I have driven by here a thousand times and sometimes it looks like it’s abandoned, and other times when we drive by late at night, it looks like it’s packed to overflowing. I thought I’d pop in and check it out during the daylight hours and see what’s what. When I pulled into the parking lot, it was clear they do a decent lunch business – lots of cars.

The inside is set up with two different dining rooms: one with standard four-top tables and booths, and the other that is sparsely set up with a couple of tables and some tall round bar tables in a night club. Yes, this place doubles as a night club/bar, CLEARLY. It’s got a dj booth, laser and multicolored lights, a considerable sound system, an impressive bar, a dancefloor, and signs banning drinks out in the parking lot. I bet this place gets hopping. Which is why it also makes me laugh that there was a playpen with the most adorable baby next to the giant speakers. Some people have issues with babies in the workplace, but I think it’s cute and funny, especially when they interact with customers and are laughing and having fun. This baby was all of that times a hundred.

I got a menu and a smaller list of lunch specials. The specials didn’t appeal to me at the moment and were mostly stir fry dishes with one pad thai and one fried rice dish. The regular menu was well explained and had some photos for people who aren’t familiar with Thai food. I’m a sucker for fresh spring rolls, so I got an order of those and finally decided on Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles).

The spring rolls came out first and I was impressed with their size. Really thick rolls and tons of filling. It was impressive looking and was better than average, to be honest. Not mind blowing, but it tasted fresh and was pretty generous. Even the amount of dipping sauce they brought to the table was large enough I didn’t have to skimp on any bites, thankfully.

The Pad Kee Mao was out before I finished the spring rolls. It looked good to me. There were a lot of onions, but they were all cut large enough that it was easy to separate them out. There was an average amount of chicken, which was cooked well and had some black pepper and seasonings on them. The red peppers were quite delicious, and the basil leaves were basically whole. Whole branches, in fact. I found myself eating 5 or 6 leaves at a time along with the stalk. It was fine, but I felt like I ate all the basil in three or four bites and didn’t have enough to last me the entire dish. And the noodles were not very separate. When you cook flat noodles, sometimes they stick together and the inside ones don’t get cooked all the way. It was like a dough-y pillow in some spots. That being said, the flavor of the sauce was good. The dish was about average. I certainly didn’t have any problem finishing the entire thing, but I’d like to try some of the curry dishes next time.

The servers that brought me menus, food, and drinks were very friendly and would pop in and check on the baby sitting near me (don’t worry, there was a gentleman watching her and playing with her).

Top 5 things about Thai Ginger
1. Spring Rolls
2. Pad Kee Mao sauce
3. Super friendly staff
4. Full bar – and it looks like there are drink specials during happy hour
5. Pretty thorough menu offerings

Bottom 5 things
1. Noodles were stuck together and not done in the middle as a result.
2. Pretty odd layout, but they’re making the most of the space they have
3. There’s nothing indicating it’s a nightclub – so I assume it’s top secret. The sign on the door says they still close at 9pm (I’m assuming that’s the restaurant hours)
4. The lunch specials were limited
5. The parking lot is pretty small, especially when full of cars at lunch

www.thaigingerrestaurant.com

3 Squares – Maple Grove, MN

DRough and I were up in the northwest suburbs for some random reason and needed to grab some dinner. It was restaurant week and we knew 3 Squares was a place that had a special menu for the week – sort of a fixe prix menu for the week. After a quick look online to see what was actually on the menu, we popped in and got a table. For the record, 3 Squares is owned by the Blue Plate Restaurant Group – the same folks that own Edina Grill, Longfellow Grill, Groveland Tap and a few other tasty places we’ve been to multiple times.

We ordered a couple of pre-dinner drinks – I got a Ginger Peach Cosmo (I’m comfortable drinking that in public) and DRough got some drink with bourbon and orange bitters in it. My drink was pretty delicious, although I didn’t eat the large ringlet of candied ginger that came with the drink. It was a little too bite-y for me. DRough and I ended up switching drinks since hers was a bit harsh for her palate. I can power through most drinks, so I wasn’t really out anything. It just had a LOT of bitters in it.

For dinner, we could pick an appetizer each, an entrée each, and then a dessert for each of us. To start, we got a caprese salad and a pair of crab cakes. Our entrees were lobster lasagna and a ribeye steak. For dessert, something called a pint-o-cake and some chocolate cake.

When we had walked into the restaurant, I ran into a former co-worker of mine who made a few recommendations for us for the special menu, so we felt pretty good about our orders. The caprese salad was pretty good. Some greens with 6 or 7 mozzarella balls, a few cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic. It was a pretty standard salad, as salads go.

The crab cakes were surprisingly good. They had the perfect crisp on them and there was not an overwhelming fishy flavor in with them. Paired with the lemony dressing on the salad that came with the appetizer, it was pretty darn good. I’d recommend these pretty highly and they ended up being the best thing we ate that evening.

The entrees arrived and looked delicious. The lobster lasagna came with a long buttered and grilled piece of bread and had a lot of cream sauce in it. I expected to see a tomato-based sauce, to be honest. The first bite I had didn’t thrill me. The lasagna noodle was really long and rubbery. It even took me a few tries to cut it down to an actual portion I could eat. The sauce was also pretty salty – and this is coming from a guy who likes salt. It was salty enough D.Rough couldn’t eat all of hers. Pretty disappointing.

I thought I’d check out the garlic mashed potatoes before I went after the steak. The potatoes were pretty delicious – plenty of garlic and not pasty like some places that overcook them. I dug into my large ribeye. I had to scrape off the onions and mushrooms to get to the steak itself. The steak had a decent flavor, which I was happy about. What I wasn’t happy about was the amount of gristle and fat in the steak. I was actually surprised how much I left on my plate by the time I was done. I didn’t finish the steak because it was frustrating and I got sick of trying to power through the gristle. This is why you don’t order a steak at a non-steak restaurant. Disappointing.

The chocolate cake D.Rough got was a little sub-par. A multi-layered cake with some decoration and nice presentation. It was a tad dry, but when dipped in the extra chocolate syrup, it was much better. Not an incredible cake, but I’ve for sure had worse.

The pint-o-cake was a cake in a pint glass. It was actually much better than I expected. It had a lemon mascarpone whipped cream on it that appeared to be handmade – it was quite delicious. It was a little difficult to eat since the strawberries and cake had settled to the bottom and you had to dig deep to get all the ingredients. But I will give them props for presenting it in a different way. I actually enjoyed the cake in a glass a lot.

Overall, I’m not a fan of 3 Squares. The meal was disappointing, especially for Restaurant Week. I’ve enjoyed the other Blue Plate Group restaurants much more than here, so I won’t feel bad about not going back anytime soon.

Top 5 things about 3 Squares

1. Crab cakes

2. Pint-O-Cake

3. Ginger Peach Cosmo

4. The staff were all really nice and friendly

5.

Bottom 5 things

1. Lobster Lasagna

2. Ribeye

3. Chocolate cake

4. Bourbon-y bitters-y cocktail

5. Caprese Salad

www.3squaresrestaurant.com

Little Szechuan – St. Paul, MN

D.Rough and I have been meaning to try this place. Whenever people talk about good Chinese food in the Twin Cities, inevitably Little Szechuan comes up. It’s ranked number 1 on Trip Advisor for Chinese food in the area, for one thing. But the main reason we thought it worth trying is that it is ranked in CNN’s “50 Best Chinese Restaurants in the United States.” That’s a pretty big statement in our book, so we popped over for a visit.

The outside of the building is a little unassuming, especially on University Avenue, right in the middle of the Light Rail construction zone. There’s a large parking lot behind the building, so take advantage of that.

The inside is pretty spacious and bright. It’s filled with a few four-top tables and a few larger round tables for 8-10 with lazy susans in the middle. And most of these tables were filled. I found it interesting that the larger tables were filled with Asian groups sharing everything on the table and the smaller tables were filled with non-Asian with everyone eating their own dishes and not sharing. Just a cultural observation.

The menu here at Little Szechuan is thorough. It also has photos for almost every dish on the menu. And not little cheap grainy snapshots. There are professional quality photos in this tome. The very last page is a section called “Traditionals” which is where the boring things like fried rice and sweet and sour chicken are at. Do yourself a favor and look through the front portion of the 15-page menu. Everything looks delicious and non-standard. Unless you’ve been to China – then these dishes look quite familiar. I know everyone and their mom says that THEIR Chinese restaurant is authentic, but this one can be vouched for by actual Chinese people. There are all kinds of things you’ll never see on a menu at “your” place. Duck feet, pig ears, beef tendon, jelly fish, tongue, tripe, lotus root, and lots of things with spicy whole fish. These are the kinds of things I saw in China.

D.Rough had never had Peking Duck before, so we thought we’d order one of those (we actually got the Honey Duck – just a half duck). And people recommended the Ma Po Tofu, so we got that. We needed an appetizer of some sort, and we heard the Dan Dan Noodles were delicious, so we got that. And a couple of beers, since we also heard this place isn’t afraid to use the heat. Ohhhh, man, we were excited!

The Dan Dan Noodles came out first. They looked simple, but had a surprising amount of flavor – most of it being garlic. There is a sauce at the bottom of the bowl, so be sure to stir it up to coat your thick noodles. There is also a bit of ground pork on the top of the noodles when it’s served – it is really delicious and again, stir it all up and make sure it’s evenly distributed. As long as you don’t mind garlic, these noodles are quite good. I’ve had them at a few places and these are the best I’ve had herein the US. There’s a lot of flavor, but the flavors are pretty simple, not complex and jumbled. I like that.

Then the duck arrived. It looked and smelled fantastic. I’ve had Peking Duck a few times, both in the US and in China. In fact, I had Peking Duck at Quanjude in the Wangfujing District in Beijing – it’s one of the famous places for top-notch roast duck (I’m not bragging, I’m just saying I’ve been around the duck block), and a few other places around China that I can’t remember the names of. The Peking Duck at Little Szechuan holds up pretty well against these places. I’d put it in the top places I’ve had it in the US. (It loses against the Peking Gourmet Inn in Fall Church VA – also on the list of 50 best Chinese Restaurants in the US – where numerous presidents have gotten their Peking Duck fix). The skin is crispy and delicious with just a faint hint of honey. The duck meat itself is really delicious as well. You are given a plateful of lettuce, onions, and duck sauce, as well as four or five wrappers to make your own small duck rolls. I’m glad D.Rough liked this, since that means we can have it a lot. My only minor complaint is you don’t get to watch the chefs slice up the duck in front of you, like some other restaurants – it’s a very impressive process and adds to the experience. I read a few reviews of people complaining about the price of this – it was $16-ish. That’s sooo reasonable and I’m not sure why people would complain about that. It’s a serious upscale dish. Worth it (and delicious!) at Little Szechuan.

The Ma Po Tofu wasn’t what we thought we were getting. It is cubes of soft tofu in chili oil. Thankfully, it is also delicious. Again, I had this exact dish in Beijing and it’s just like it is there (well, maybe I trust what’s in it a little bit more, here in the U.S.). The oil is exactly what I’m saying – oil. It isn’t a broth or a gravy. It’s chili oil. Not painfully hot chili oil, but still made with chilies – and the flavor was fantastic. Don’t get “oil” mixed up with “grease” though, it’s totally different. The tofu is the softest I’ve ever had. I guess I’m used to much more firm tofu, since this almost jiggled. However, with the flavor of the chili oil mixing in with the tofu, it was quite good. We were glad we got it, but we honestly started to get full about halfway through. We kept talking about how we just assumed the tofu would be fried cubes, since everything in American Chinese restaurants is fried. So, the following afternoon, we took out our leftovers, drained off the chili oil, rolled the cubes in flour and fried them right up and finished if off. Honestly, it was delicious both ways!

I didn’t even mention the huge bowl of rice we got to split between the both of us. This is the biggest bowl of rice I’ve seen for two people ever. Normally, you get a small saucer with a mound of rice on it. We ate as much as we could, then took home the left overs and made enough fried rice to have three meals for both of us. Serious amounts of rice.

I’m glad we got to try this place. We had fantastic food and the servers were really friendly and helpful if we had questions. The reports are correct on the portion sizes – make sure you under order and you’ll still get full. The heat is there, so also be warned if you have a Minnesota palate, drink lots of water. It IS slightly more than your dive-y hole in the wall Chinese restaurant, but the food quality, selection, and atmosphere are worth paying a couple dollars extra – I promise. I’ve only been to a few upscale Chinese restaurants and this was an impressive showing. There’s a reason it’s on the Top 50 list, and the only Chinese restaurant in Minnesota to make the list.

Top 5 things about Little Szechuan
1. Peking Duck (Honey Duck)
2. Dan Dan Noodles
3. Ma Pa Tofu
4. Impressive and thorough menu
5. Fantastically nice staff

Bottom 5 things
1. They don’t cut up the Peking Duck in front of you
2. Construction traffic is brutal – there is a spacious parking lot in back though
3. It IS a little bit more expensive – don’t complain about it
4. Some of the menu items you’ll be taking a gamble on, since there aren’t descriptions (you CAN ask the servers though)
5. Nothing else is a downside to this place. Go here!!!

www.littleszechuan.com