Pazzaluna Urban Italian

360 St Peter St
St Paul, MN
651-223-7000
https://www.pazzaluna.com/

Category: Italian

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 9
Service: 9
Ambience: 9

Recommendation: Excellent. An excellent Italian fine dining restaurant in St. Paul that is ideal for a pre-theatre (Ordway) or pre-Xcel event meal or after-work happy hour.

Pazzaluna is located across the street from the Ordway theatre in St. Paul and its excellent location serves it well. The place is usually packed when there is a show at the Ordway or an event at Xcel Energy center. Unfortunately (or fortunately!), due to the ongoing new restaurant openings in the Twin Cities, Pazzaluna, a mainstay on the Twin Cities dining scene didn’t make it on our list until recently. We like the fact that the Twin Cities has a bunch of great Italian places catering to many different occasions – whether it be casual neighborhood dining at places such as La Grolla, Al Vento, Broder’s or fine dining at D’Amico Cucina, Campiello, Osteria I Nonni, and of course Pazzaluna. The dining room at Pazzaluna is simply beautiful – a large mural adorns one wall and we love the large windows with beautiful drapes. The interior exudes romance on so many levels whether it is the beautiful chandeliers or the flickering of the flame from the open wood-burning oven. Couple the beautiful dining room with the well-dressed theatre/event goers and you have a perfect combination for a classy night out.

Their selection of wines is excellent and they are known to have one of the most prized (and expensive) wine lists in town. We had a bottle of the Santa Cristina, a Sangiovese-Merlot blend from Tuscany, which was excellent. The complimentary bread they serve with an olive tapenade is delicious. Pazzaluna has also won many awards for their excellent Happy hour where you can get half price martinis, cosmos, tap beer, wines, and Margherita pizza.

Needless to say, their pastas are excellent. Pasta Ai Sughi lets you customize your dish by picking from five different pastas and six different sauces. Meat can also be added to the dish. A simple dish of Linguine with Bolognese sauce and Chicken was excellent. The chicken was flavorful and the pasta wasn’t too overdressed with sauce. Their Gnocchi, which is a house specialty and made fresh daily can be ordered three different ways (Quattro Formaggi, Bolognese, or Pomodoro & Basilico). We tried the Quattro Formaggi and it was one of the better gnocchi’s we’ve had in town (it compared to our long time favorite at Arezzo). The gnocchi was “pillowy” and the sauce, while rich wasn’t too cheesy. The Porcini mushroom crusted Veal Tenderloin was another winner. The medallions were tender and had a buttery soft feel to them. The linguine it was served with may well have been the best pasta dish we had that night – garlic butter, spinach and mushrooms were a deadly combination. Unfortunately, the Scallops served on cauliflower puree were a letdown. We loved the texture – they were soft and velvety with a nice crust but didn’t care for the flavors. The scallops were pretty bland and didn’t have any sweetness to them. We couldn’t taste any of the hazelnut vinaigrette and we didn’t know that the “tomato confit” was actually sun-dried tomatoes. We didn’t care for the cauliflower puree combined with the really tart sun-dried tomatoes.

For dessert we would highly recommend the baked to order Chocolate Soufflé Cake with berry and mango sauce. It is served slightly warm, the chocolate is smooth, rich and dark, and the accompanying sauces and ice-cream only heighten the culinary experience. The Crème Brulee is also excellent and offers a little surprise at the bottom – a delicious chocolate ganache base. The crust is perfectly done and the flavors literally burst in the mouth. Our server was very attentive and offered excellent suggestions.

$$$. Valet parking on site for a fee.

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Thanh Do

3005 Utah Ave S
St. Louis Park, MN
952-935-5005
http://www.thanhdorestaurant.com/

Category: Chinese, Asian

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 7
Service: 6
Ambience: 6

Recommendation: Good. This strip mall restaurant serves a variety of Asian cuisine, including Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese.

Thanh Do was started by Tom Pham, a notable Twin Cities restaurateur, who also owns Azia, a hip Asian fusion restaurant on Eat Street and until recently Temple (now closed). The interior is better than most the other strip mall Asian places – a little more cozy and comfortable. The menu has a good blend of dishes found at Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese places - Kung Pao and Sweet and Sour Chicken sit side by side with Pad Thai and Curries. Lunch specials at $8.50 are a bit pricier than most other Chinese restaurants where you can get them for under $6.

Tom’s restaurants are known for their Cranberry Puffs and Cranberry Curry so we had to try at least one of them. We went for the Puffs. The puffs are essentially cream cheese puffs but include some spices and dried cranberry – cream cheese and cranberry form a surprisingly good combination. The Thai Style Spring Rolls were fresh and flavorful. The herbs complemented the dish well. We weren’t too impressed with the Green Papaya Salad – it needed a bit more citrus and lots more heat. The Thai Style Red Curry was nice and creamy. We would have liked a little more curry and fewer vegetables but overall it was a nice dish. We’re huge fans of the Holy Basil Chicken at King and I Thai and are not often impressed with this dish at other restaurants but to our surprise, we really liked the Thai Basil Supreme at Thanh Do. The dish was spicy and fragrant with a beautiful curry and plenty of chicken. For a vegetarian entrée, our server recommended the Garlic Lover’s with Eggplant. The curry had lots of vegetables – mushrooms, peapods, carrots to name a few but the undercooked and bland eggplant took away from what could have been a good dish. The menu lacks Fish dishes - Salmon and Tuna are the only options, there are no white fish dishes. We were really looking forward to a whole seabass or walleye, but were disappointed to not see something close on the menu. For dessert, we were disappointed with the Mango Sticky Rice – it’s a usually a problem when the Coconut milk is too watery. The Thanh Do Coconut Almond Joy is an interesting take on a Hot Fudge Sundae – except it’s served with Toasted Coconut ice-cream with plenty of nuts. Service was ok. Our server was in a huge rush to clear our table as we arrived shortly before closing time (we arrived at 8:30pm on a weeknight while they close at 9.) She took our wine glasses away before we had a chance to finish the wine.

$$.

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U Garden Chinese Restaurant

2725 University Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN
612-378-1255
http://ugardenrestaurant.com/

Category: Chinese

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 8
Service: 8
Ambience: 7

Recommendation: Very Good. This is a great option for a Chinese restaurant by the U of M campus.

We have to caveat this review by stating that we had an excellent pre-selected meal at U Garden, courtesy of one of our couple friends who are considering having their wedding reception here. The restaurant is owned by our Cambodian friend’s mom’s friend and we got to try an excellent multiple course meal, consisting of her mom’s favorite dishes – some from the regular menu and some from a special banquet menu.

As we entered the restaurant, we were struck by the enormity of the place. It is large and hence popular for Chinese wedding receptions and events as they have the capacity to handle big groups. The décor isn’t anything special and is what we have come to expect from most ethnic establishments, except for one thing. Along the center of one wall, there is a large seating arrangement symbolic of the dinner table where the wedding party sits. It’s decorated nicely and in front of it is another table setting that presumably depicts how they set this restaurant up for banquets. It was pretty cool, but it would have been mega cool if we were treated to the same grandeur. The restaurant has an open feel to it, especially due to the windows that surround this place. They serve a lunch buffet, apparently the largest one on campus. The menu is pretty large and consists of many popular dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken and Sweet and Sour Chicken as well as more traditional Sichuan dishes. Like most Chinese restaurants, U Garden also has a special weekday lunch menu that is served with an Egg Roll for around $6.

We started our journey with the Seafood Crabmeat and Fishmaw Soup. It ended up being our least favorite dish. It was pretty bland on its own but tasted good when dressed up with soy sauce. The Shrimp Roll, which had pork and shrimp wrapped in tofu skin and deep fried was excellent. It was served with soy vinegar and a duck sauce on the side. The Lobster with Ginger and Onion was spectacular. The lobster tasted fresh and the ginger sauce was excellent – Nick will be talking about this dish for a long time. You could take this ginger sauce and dress any meat or veggie with it and get rave reviews. It doesn’t get much better than this. The Special Fried rice with Chinese Sausage and Shrimp was another winner. The Seafood combination, which is one of their house specialties, was served in a bird’s nest made of fried potatoes – very pretty. We couldn’t find a couple of the dishes we had on the regular menu so we assume they were part of the special banquet menu - the Baby Bok Choy with Chinese Shitake Mushrooms and Abalone (sea snails), both of which were delicious. The sauce in the mushroom dish was rich and flavorful and the mushrooms had a perfectly smooth texture. We also had an appetizer platter with a trio of appetizers – cold Pork Rinds, Fried Squid, and Shrimp. We ended our meal with a whole Fried Walleye – if you ever order whole fish, make sure you’re dining with someone who can carve the fish or at least one who excelled in high school biology. We have to commend the restaurant on the quality of their seafood – we predominantly had seafood dishes and we felt that the seafood was fresh (especially given that we went there on a Sunday night.) The servers were pretty knowledgeable and we were impressed with their explanations of the dishes, which is unfortunately not a common experience at most Asian restaurants.

$-$$. Free Parking in rear.

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Nick and Eddie

1612 Harmon Pl
Minneapolis, MN
612-486-5800
http://www.nickandeddie.com/

Category: American - Casual

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 7
Service: 7
Ambience: 7

Recommendation: Very Good. The lunch menu here isn’t terribly fancy and very affordable – can’t go wrong with great value.

Nick and his coworker ended up at Nick and Eddie for lunch one day. We had heard good things and wanted something that was casual but not generic. Before you even step into the restaurant, you know Nick and Eddie has something going for it – the location is perfect, overlooking Loring Park and which was adorned with beautiful fall colors. The restaurant says European bistro all the way – a large space with high ceilings, light colors, and minimalist décor. Casual and inviting – its reminiscent of Paris; I feel I can sit along the window, drink an espresso while reading a book, and yet not be bothered by the restaurant staff or asked to vacate the table (caution – this is just a hunch.) Large windows stand between the diners and beautiful Loring Park – if you want to romance a loved one, this is an ideal setting.

I’ve only been there for lunch once, so the review is based on that experience. The lunch menu isn’t expansive, yet there’s something for everyone be it salad, soup, sandwich, or a meat/fish entrée. What really caught my eye was that most options were under $10; that’s hard to find at most restaurants, especially one of this caliber. We started with a soup and appetizer. The Baked Gnocchi with Cheese Sauce was spectacular (just a heads up that its not potato gnocchi – it’s a puff). Regardless, they were light and airy in a light cheese sauce, and the brown baked crust gave it great flavor. I wasn’t a big fan of the Beef and Cabbage Borscht – the flavors and rich, dark, and intense and this isn’t for everyone. For mains, the Spicy Steak Dip Sandwich is a winner – how can you go wrong with blue cheese and caramelized onions on a sandwich. The crusty bread was stuffed nicely with these ingredients and made for a wonderful texture and flavor combination. The side of coleslaw was crunchy and not overdressed. The Minute Steak was nicely done and was accompanied by crispy, well-seasoned fries. Service was attentive, always easier when the restaurant isn’t busy.

$. Most lunch options under $10. Parking meters across the street.

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Harry’s Food & Cocktails

500 Washington Ave S.
Minneapolis, MN
(612) 344-7000
http://www.harrysfood.com/
Category: American-Casual

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 6
Service: 7
Ambience: 6

Recommendation: Good. Harry’s serves some of the most inventive burgers in town. While the location is ideal for a pre-show meal, we feel the rest of the menu at Harry’s isn’t special enough to command its premium prices.

Harry’s is located in the former Nochee space on Washington Avenue, close to the Guthrie and the Mill City Museum. We first went to Harry’s when it opened in the Fall of 2007 (Steven Brown was head chef at the time) and were a lot more impressed with their menu at the time versus our recent visit a year later. Some of the unique dishes such as the Braised Pork Belly are now gone. The menu is geared towards classic American fare such as burgers, steak, chops, but their burgers are what set Harry’s apart. On the Sides menu, modern dishes such as Sauteed Arugula and Green Beans with Walnut Vinegarette are offered with classics such as Cole Slaw and Creamed Corn. As you enter the restaurant, you won’t miss the chandelier made with Grain Belt Premium bottles. Very unique! They have a much larger bar than Nochee had and an open kitchen. Seating is a mix between indoor large comfy booths that make you feel you are in the suburbs to the outdoor patio with a fire pit along with HCMC sirens that won’t let you forget you are in downtown. Parts of the place have a very retro feel to them…especially the restaurant’s logo, and parts feel like a chic loft with exposed brick and high ceilings. We feel Harry’s is trying to be a bit of something to everyone and it remains to be seen if this strategy will serve it well. On a recent Friday night, the place was practically empty.

They serve a good mix of Cocktails, beer, wine. The French Martini was great with just a hint of sweetness. We liked the Havana Sidecar (Rum, Cointreau, fresh lemon, sugar) although it was a bit strong. The Strawberry Shandy sounded very unique but the taste didn’t live up to it (Stoli Strawberry lemonade, and Honeyweiss). The homemade sweet and sour pickle mixture served with the drinks was excellent.

On our first visit, we tried several appetizers and were very impressed. The Fried Artichokes with Parmesan Dip served with Grilled bread was fabulous. It was unlike any other Artichoke dip we’ve had. The texture was very creamy and the dish was really rich, served with actual whole fried artichokes. It was very greasy, but given the delicious taste, who’s complaining? The Calamari was another winner. It was very lightly fried so it preserved some of the seafood flavors and was served with a spicy sauce and lemon. Unfortunately, the Braised Pork Belly, which was truly a signature dish is gone and the appetizer menu is a lot more mainstream - Shrimp, Chicken Wings, Cheese platter, and Cheese curds.

If you like burgers, this is definitely the place for you. Harry’s serves several different burgers including the Cowboy (Stuffed with BBQ Pork, Jalapeno Cheese). We’ve tried many of their burgers and have enjoyed them all - the Frenchie with Ham and Brie, the Espana with Smoked Paprika and Manchego, the Lonely Repairman with Blue Cheese, and the Harry’s, which had Cheddar Cheese and a Secret sauce. All burgers are served on a Potato flour bun, topped with raw or charred onions (yum!), with French fries on the side. The fries are thinly sliced, Belgian style. Unfortunately, their burger selection has also been cut down within the last year.

Harry’s serves a wide range of entrees including Red meats, Seafood, Chicken along with Salads and a variety of vegetable sides. We tried their Grilled Hangar Steak, which was served on a bed of cold Parsley, Pesto, and New Potato Salad. Although it came highly recommended by our server, we were very disappointed. The meat was cold and not flavored well at all. We ended up sending it back and substituting for a burger (of course!). The manager was very apologetic and came to our table personally to make sure we were ok, which was a nice gesture. The Wisconsin Fish Fry was not a winner at our table either. It was greasy and uninteresting. The Ahi Tuna salad was the only salad interesting enough on the Salad menu.

For desserts, we tried the very retro, Milk Chocolate Banana Cream Pie served with Malted Vanilla ice-cream. We loved it and would consider going back just for the dessert again. We felt the dish could have used more of the banana cream but overall it was delicious.

$$$. You can make reservations online at http://www.opentable.com/

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Indio

1221 West Lake St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-821-9451
http://www.restaurantindio.com/

Category: Mexican, International

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 8
Service: 1 (atleast the guy tried)
Ambience: 8

Recommendation: Good. The food was memorable but the service experience was bizarre and has us scratching our heads in amazement. THIS PLACE HAS CLOSED AS OF JANUARY 2009.

Indio is the newest addition to the “contemporary international cuisine” trend and is brought to us by Chef Hector Ruiz, who also owns Café Ena and El Meson. I (Nick) went there for lunch with a large group of coworkers – I was especially intrigued because some of my dining partners are either native Mexican or have spent considerable time there and was looking forward to seeing if the “contemporary“ flair would meet with their approval. Indio is housed in the old Pizza Nea location in Uptown. The interior really caught my eye as we stepped in the place – it strikes you as fashionable, but not over the top (which equates to affordable). Colorful draperies adorn the large windows and even spread themselves across the ceilings. There’s a small bar tucked away in a corner – if we didn’t have to go back to work, I’d definitely be sampling the impressive list of Tequilas.

Our bizarre service experience started as soon as we entered – we’d made a reservation for 10, but they hadn’t set up a table for us. The restaurant was quite empty so there was no doubt we’d score a table, but it took the host (who we later realized was the only server and bartender as well) a while to figure out where to seat us and get the table ready. Once seated, with menus in hand, our excitement grew – there was chatter around our table as we each tried to decide what we wanted, while some needed an interpretation of the ingredients. The non-alcoholic drink list is quite interesting so Nick tried the Hacienda (a pomegranate spritzer) – certainly tart and refreshing, but $5.50 is a little steep. One of my coworkers ordered the Horchata, which the server wasn’t familiar with. For appetizers, we started off with the Chips and Salsa; a perfect appetizer for a large group. Don’t dismiss this as this isn’t the stuff you get at Chipotle – both the roasted red tomato salsa and the tomatillo salsas were amazing. The latter was especially memorable with just the right amount of heat and flavor – this salsa appeared in various dishes that afternoon and was critical in taking some of these dishes to the next level. Ten minutes after ordering our entrees, we were looking around for the server because Nick was the only one that had received his drink – on finding him he informed us that they were out of Horchata, before he scurried away to help the three other tables that were occupied.

The entrees didn’t take too long and we all had silly grins on our face as we laid our eyes on them – this stuff looked good! We’d highly recommend the Huarache Azteca with cecina, charred onions, and chilies. This pizza-style dish uses a thick masa tortilla as its base and was piled high with toppings, including the cecina (beef that is dried and marinated). With all these toppings, it’s hard to make this dish look pretty, but close your eyes and take a bite – you’re taste buds will be begging for more. We also thought highly of the Tlalayo (chicken enchiladas, that were light and flavorful) although the side of parsley rice didn’t fit. The Sopes, which are on the appetizer menu, are actually a good option for lunch – we wanted the Al pastor (but they were out?) so got the Cecina instead. Three open-faced tortillas with a swirl of crema looked beautiful on the plate. The Camarones al la Diabla (sautéed shrimp in a lime tequila sauce) was also very nice, although my coworkers that were familiar with this dish didn’t think it was authentic. For dessert, the Empanadas (rompope rice pudding with cinnamon ice cream cajeta) was a hit – it wasn’t too sweet and maybe that’s what drew us to it. Overall the consensus was that the food was excellent and quite authentic – with the chef’s distinctive touches apparent in every dish.

The service was a let down. In addition to the wait to get our table, there were times we just couldn’t find the server (Nick literally entered the kitchen to grab him and hand him our money.) Towards the end we found out that he’d only been on the job a week. We also noticed that that he was also the bartender that afternoon – you could see he wasn’t familiar with the workings of the bar because he was referencing a recipe and looking around to familiarize himself with the names of the Tequilas, while making a cocktail for another table. There was no manager for most of the afternoon – towards the end he walked in but seemed rather disengaged. An hour and a half lunch just won’t cut it for working professionals – they better get this in order.

$$. Most lunch entrees are between $8-$14, although the drinks aren’t cheap. Parking is available in the lot behind the restaurant.

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True Thai

2627 E Franklin Ave
Minneapolis, MN
612-375-9942
http://www.truethairestaurant.com/

Category: Thai

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 7
Service: N/A (takeout)
Ambience: N/A (takeout)

Recommendation: Very Good. True Thai is another great Thai restaurant part of an already long list of distinguished Thai options in the Twin Cities (Chiang Mai Thai, King & I, Gangchen, Amazing Thailand to name a few).

Our Take-out food theme over Memorial Day weekend continued with True Thai (we had friends visiting and with their 2 young boys, doing takeout was more practical). Located on Franklin Avenue close to the Cedar-Riverside area, True Thai is close to Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the U of M campus.

The menu is pretty large and has many varieties of Appetizers (including Sweet Purple Yam), Soups, Salads (including Crispy Catfish Salad and Laab), Curries, Wok Fried dishes, Noodles, and Fried Rice. The Green Papaya Salad ($6.50) was very refreshing and crunchy with the crisp green papayas, tomatoes, cilantro, lime, and spices. However, the flavors were too mild and didn’t capture the confluence of sweetness and spiciness that normally accompany this salad. The Sweet Green Curry with Chicken ($9.95), a traditional commonly available Thai dish was spiced to order, fragrant, and had good flavors. We tried both the Tofu Pad Thai ($8.95) and the Chicken Pad Thai ($9.95), classic noodle dishes and found both to our liking.

The place gets really packed on weekends so call ahead and reserve a table.

$$. Most dishes are under $15. Parking on side streets. Closed on Sundays.

Update (October 18, 2008) – We went back to True Thai and did takeout again – our friends who visited from Chicago on Memorial Day loved this place and were visiting and wanted to get food from True Thai once again. We really liked the Pad Thai (something Nick isn’t a big fan of) at True Thai. Unfortunately the restaurant made a mistake and made one of them mild, which made this dish pretty bland and uninteresting, but the nicely spiced one was fabulous. The Bangkok Crispy Sweet Beef had a nice crispy, chewy exterior and a sweet lingering finish. However, the dish that made a lasting impression was the Crispy Catfish Salad. This salad is a nice alternative to the Green Papaya Salad as it has similar flavors. The fried chunks of fish were completed nicely by the citrus aromas of the dressing - throw in pieces of mango and crunchy veggies and you have a dish you simply can’t pass up. On the other hand, the Wok Fried Chilis and Holy Basil with Chicken was unimpressive – King and I Thai has set a high bar for this dish and True Thai’s wasn’t even close. Our two complaints were that finding pieces of chicken was a treasure hunt in the sea of vegetables, and the flavors were subdued. We’d recommend skipping it.

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