La Alborada

Isn't it fun to be pleasantly surprised? We were driving down Lake Street in Minneapolis and thought we'd like to stop and split a quick light lunch.  We drove from the river heading west, thinking about trying something new. As we we a few blocks short of Cedar Avenue, we saw a little strip mall on the south side (not facing Lake Street) that looked like it might have a couple little Mexican food places.  We circled the block(s)...you know, it's Lake Street.....just turning left is a taking your life in your hands challenge. As we arrived back at the little strip mall, we realized there was only one food place....that appeared to be open....but appeared to be a grocery store.  We, as the entitled old people we are, circled oddly in the parking lot....what to do, what to do???? What the heck.  It looked like there might be a possibility of food, so we were game to give it a try.  At worst, it was a Mexican grocery where I could score a bottle of adobo seasoning, some Mexican oregano....maybe some Tres Leches cake. Well, well, well.   This is where the nice surprise comes in. There was a restaurant on the right side of the space, and a grocery store on the left.   And the restaurant was not a thrown together afterthought kind of place.  The tables all had beautiful paintings on the tabletops, protected by a nice lacquery finish.  There were complex tile patterns everywhere, a beautiful relief on one of the walls.....absolutely nothing we would have expected walking in. Then John spotted a couple of plates of food.  He was hooked. We decided just to split a burrito because we had places to go and things to do.  But we saw plates of chilaquiles--they had red and green, some dishes made with nopales (cactus--you know, we made a dozen different cactus chili/soups at Marianne's---some spicy, some not so much), Tlacoyos (like little huaraches), sopes, menudo, plus lots more.   We'll have to give those a try on our next visit. Our burrito was filled with meat, rice, veggies on a tortilla that was grilled to perfection.  It was served with tortilla chips and sour cream.   Quite tasty and large enough to fill our need for a quick lunch. Beautiful writing on the walls and some of the tables....La Alborada (the dawn).   It was clearly the dawn of our new interest in coming back and working our way through the menu. Warning:   if you order a bottle of Mexican coke....it's enough for a family...I don't think I've seen a glass bottle that large in decades, if ever---share with a friend or family member : ) ....and after you have your meal,  only then should you wander to the grocery side of the space.   If you go there before you eat, the dessert case will be too much of a temptation.....giant size 'individual' desserts in plastic boxes....tres leches, cakes with fruit-filled layers, giant cups of mocha layered dessert...... I may have to return sooner than I thought!

12/7/2017 Sunrise Cafe in Lino Lakes

Here we are at Orange Street & Lake Drive in Lino.

 
We've passed this place so many times---usually in the evening when they're closed. 

Today--breakfast time!!!!

This is another well-worn diner serving breakfast & lunch.
(Now eating this kind of food 2 days in a row will probably kill us--or at a minimum give us a head start on advanced fatty liver disease ( which is rampant across America)....but hey, you gotta take advantage of that OPEN sign).
We ordered the 2 eggs, pancakes & bacon and, to compare to Henry's, the loaded hash browns topped with cheese & eggs (a true death wish).

So, 1st let me say---this is the small town diner experience--probably even more than Henry's was yesterday.

Family-owned for more than 8 years by this family, the food was solid diner breakfast fare. And, you get to experience what our dear neighbor at the lake Ray fondly called 'pipey water' (we miss you Ray & Kathy). That's well water with a high iron content----red water. It was just like being up north.

We'll have to say, the food exceeded our expectations. The pancake was better than the neighborhood chain pancake place---tender, light, with good flavor. And, their cook knows how to make an egg--2 over easy & 2 over medium.
The highlight was the Italian sausage hash browns. The sausage had just the right amount of red pepper kick to brighten up what is usually a pretty heavy dish. Perfectly fried, lots of veggies & sausage...well done!!!

So, we'd say: venture up Lake Drive early enough in the day (they close at 2) to give the Sunrise Cafe a try. Another family making a living in America!

 

12/8/2017 The Howe Daily Kitchen & Bar

 A great way to end the day

After a relatively sad food day Friday, with chunks of veggie skins in my food and bad coffee at a classic St. Paul restaurant, we set out for a late dinner somewhere....anywhere.

We started in St. Paul and then crossed the river to see if Minneapolis could bring us out of our food funk.  We landed on Minnehaha quite a few blocks south of Lake Street.  We passed The Howe Daily Kitchen & Bar.   John drove about a block more and we decided to circle the block and see if we could find a parking spot.  Yup, our decision had come down to 'where can we find a place to park'.

Not 1 but 2 parking places emerged.  Okay...decision made.

We wandered in and even though there was quite a full house, were seated immediately (I think the restaurant seating gods were on our side...a couple moved from a table to a booth they'd been waiting for....so we lucked out and were seated at their table).

Instantly, glasses of water appeared at our table, along with food and drink menus - even though we were the geezers in the room (we'll say more about that in some future post--let's just say, at least geezers know how to use a fork and napkin ; o

Yes, a menu with some real non-bar food choices.   Even several tasty vegan options.   We selected an appetizer of two kinds of hummus with several kinds of veggies and pita bread.   Then we decided to split the Korean BBQ short rib made with short rib from the Herbivorous Butcher.  Then I threw in a small salad with honey mustard dressing to compensate for two days in a row of eating loaded hash browns (my liver applauded!).

The food arrived within just a couple of minutes.  Beautiful.

The hummus plate had hummus and curry hummus with veggies and pita arranged beautifully.  This was a great opener.  The small salad was standard baby greens, but they had clearly taken a giant red onion and sliced it into the finest tiny rings I've ever seen.  You could cut it into tiny pieces so that you could add just enough onion to each bite.  The honey mustard dressing was delightful.

John and I split the Korean BBQ short rib sandwich (and let me just say, split doesn't mean half and half!).  The bites I was able to acquire were fabulous.  (we were comparing to our disappointing visit to J Selby...they also use 'meat' from the Herbivorous Butcher...but their presentation was a hot mess (actually a lukewarm mess).  So this was a good comparison.   The 'meat' was tasty with great texture.  The chipotle sauce added just enough 'kick' to balance the sweetness of the slaw topping.   I'm always disappointed in the factory white bread buns (this one kinda disintegrated quickly, too) but the ingredients in the sandwich made it easy to overlook the flawed bun.   We included a side of fries.....coated for a nice crisp finish...tasty enough to make you eat a few too many.

This was a very positive way to finish the day.  Our server was efficient and we spent a few minutes talking about other food places...sharing recommendations.   She also asked us if we might be coming back in the future, and gave us a frequent diner card that gives a 5% discount most of the time and 10% on Thursday.   The Howe is in the restaurant group that includes Stanley's NE Party Room across from our regular favorite place---the Marina Grill and Deli on Lowry and University in Northeast (don't confuse this with the Big Marina Grill and Deli; that's another story).

So, did I enjoy our visit to The Howe......and how!!!

August 7, 2017 J. Selby's on Selby in St. Paul

We were finally able to get a table at J Selby @ 8 tonight.

They seem to still be struggling to have food. When they start by telling you they're out of 5 menu items (& they have 2 hours of service left), it's disappointing.

The facility is beautiful (when we had a retail store at Grand & Victoria, we often drove past this bldg which was poorly used for years). It's nice to see it's getting a new lease on life.

The food was average (hard to say that when there's not much to compare it to). But the fries were bad, my sandwich was a mess (& gee, it's a vegan place---could I get a whole slice of tomato?), John's spicy slaw was red cabbage with chipotle mayo & they left off 1/2 of his ingredients.

I get the sense that they are still having trouble prepping adequate amounts of food for their dinner service--so they left some stuff off our plates.

I think we'll try then earlier in the day next time - like maybe weekend breakfast - and report back on their progress.

They have big crowds. Hopefully that will bode well for their future.

 

August 17, 2017 El Burrito Mercado

Oh yeah---pupusa night at El Burrito Mercado; John has the huarache platter....time to dig in!!

Pajarito--West Seventh ST (AKA Post Road)

Visited Pajarito last week ...

Good beer selection


High level of 'noisy' in a fun decor....but really, we've already spent a lot of time with the Catrina-like decor at Catrina's (pajarito a little more sophisticated version, of course).
Food...1.5 to 2 stars 

Rick Bayless introduced me to green chorizo.  Love it, love it, love it.  It's pretty hard to beat the green chorizo from El Burrito Mercado in my childhood stomping grounds on St. Paul's West Side.   Maybe you've tried our green chorizo stew at Marianne's---it has the herby, earthy, out of this world flavor from the tons of fresh herbs in high quality sausage.  That's what I was hoping for......a comparison to other great green chorizo.

Sadly, at Pajarito, not green, not chorizo-y.  Queso fundido with green chorizo = grainy cheese dish lacking any hint of green chorizo served with little tortillas tasting of undercooked flour. 


Chilequiles-----beef with a little bit of mushroom (which had no flavor) in a sauce that might have been good except for the bitterness at the end of the bite.  The opportunity for greatness.....but falling short of its potential.

Conclusion:  Pajarito---go there for a beer with friends (don't try for conversation).  Skip the food.

Pajarito

Visited Pajarito last week ...

Good beer selection


High level of 'noisy' in a fun decor....but really, we've already spent a lot of time with the Catrina-like decor at Catrina's (pajarito a little more sophisticated version, of course).
Food...1.5 to 2 stars 


Rick Bayless introduced me to green chorizo.  Love it, love it, love it.  It's pretty hard to beat the green chorizo from El Burrito Mercado in my childhood stomping grounds on St. Paul's West Side.   Maybe you've tried our green chorizo stew at Marianne's---it has the herby, earthy, out of this world flavor from the tons of fresh herbs in high quality sausage.  That's what I was hoping for......a comparison to other great green chorizo.

Sadly, at Pajarito, not green, not chorizo-y.  Queso fundido with green chorizo = grainy cheese dish lacking any hint of green chorizo served with little tortillas tasting of undercooked flour. 


Chilequiles-----beef with a little bit of mushroom (which had no flavor) in a sauce that might have been good except for the bitterness at the end of the bite.  The opportunity for greatness.....but falling short of its potential.


Conclusion:  Pajarito---go there for a beer with friends (don't try for conversation).  Skip the food.