1424 W 28th St
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-870-4466
http://www.islesbun.com/
Category: Café/Bakery
Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 9
Service: 9
Ambience: 7
Recommendation: Excellent. If you’re craving something sweet for breakfast, look no further. The smells (and crowds) will draw you to Isles.
Once in a while we’ll get a craving for a particular food and that’s when a quest begins. Luckily the search for sweet rolls ended quickly (all thanks for an mspmag story we came across). We didn’t realize that we had a specialty 
purveyor of these sweet, sticky rolls close to where we live (we’ve probably driven past 28th and Hennepin a thousand times and never noticed Isles). And now, we’ve been to Isles three times in the past month – after our first visit, Nick ended up getting treats to celebrate birthdays at work.
The menu at Isles is quite simple (sweet rolls, coffee cake, 
scones and cookies). This place is no bigger than a suburban family room and for those that can find a seat at one of the handful of tables, the mesmerizing smells can lead to food coma (or atleast a sugar high). The Cinnamon Rolls are large and soft – you even get to frost your own roll (although we caution you from going overboard, which is easy to do). Both the Caramel and Caramel-Pecan Rolls also pull apart easily and aren’t as sweet as their frosted counterparts. The pecan rolls have a generous topping of nuts and we like that combination. If you want something less intimidating in size than a Cinnamon roll, you must try the Puppy Dog Tails (a cinnamon twist), which we think allows for an ideal bread to frosting ratio. And you’d be remiss to pass on the Coffee Cake – the base of the cake is pretty much the same daily but the toppings change regular
ly. The toppings are always decadent and we’ve enjoyed all the ones we’ve tried, including a raspberry-mango, a cherry-white chocolate and a blueberry. In addition to the sweet temptations, there is a nice selection of coffees and teas – we personally didn’t think the coffees were spectacular (and the last time my caramel latte was sweeter than the rolls themselves), but how can you pass up coffee to go with the rolls.
The staff is always friendly and helpful. This place can tend to get crowded so take-away might be your best bet. If you want large quantities, fax in an order ahead of time. Regardless, the small batch preparation ensures that you’ll usually get warm treats, even if you have a wait a few minutes. And this place won’t break the bank either - the rolls are less than $4 each, while the puppy dog tails are a buck.
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Sunday, January 25, 2009
Isles Bun and Coffee
Peninsula
2608 Nicollet Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-871-8282
http://peninsulamalaysiancuisine.com/
Category: Malaysian/Pan-Asian
Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 8
Service: 7
Ambience: 7
Recommendation: Very good. This Eat street eatery serves delicious authentic Malaysian dishes incorporating the best aspects of Indian, Chinese, and Thai cooking.
We have the Twin Cities Malaysian community to thank for this authentic Malaysian eatery that serves up the best Malay food we’ve tried in the area. Peninsula was originally located in Eau Claire, WI until the Malaysian community convinced the owners to move the location to Minneapolis. The restaurant itself is simple yet a huge step above its neighbors on Eat Street. There is an open kitchen in the back when you can watch the chefs in action. Peninsula serves up unique cuisine that is native to the Southeast Asia region and incorporates flavors and spices from Indian, Chinese, Thai cuisines. It has a diverse and unique menu that has many Southeast Asia favorites such as Hot and Spicy Crab, Pineapple Seafood Fried Rice (served in a pineapple shell), and Udang Mee (Penang style noodles served in shrimp broth with shrimp, pork, & bean sprouts).
All the dishes we tried were part of the chef’s recommendations and we couldn’t have been more satisfied with our experience. We started out by getting the Roti Canai, which is an Indian bread (fluffy on the inside, crispy and flaky on the outside cooked with oil on a skillet). Being from India, we love this bread and can simply eat it by itself. We ordered the Curried Potato and Chicken dipping sauce to accompany the Roti. If you’ve tried Indian Chicken curry, this dipping sauce has similar flavors. Their Chicken Satay is also delicious (perfectly marinated and served with a peanut sauce). For the main course, we had the Beef Rendang (slow cooked beef with lemongrass, chili paste, coconut milk, ginger, cinnamon, & cloves finished in a rich red curry). Absolutely to die for! Another dish we had was the Fried Fish in Spicy Thai sauce. While we don’t typically care for fried fish, this one was truly outstanding. The flavors of the spices were fantastic. We didn’t care for the Sambal Udang (sautéed shrimp with onions in a spicy Malaysian shrimp paste) as much. The paste had a very overpowering fishy taste. They have an interesting non-alcoholic drinks menu with various types of shaved iced drinks, teas, and coffees. We tried the Red Bean Freeze, which consisted of red beans, shaved iced, and milk. We couldn’t take more than 2 sips, the drink was awful – very milky with hints of red bean and hardly any shaved ice.
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