0 Soup ‘n Wraps – Eden Prairie, MN

I’ve heard (from people I trust) that there’s this new amazing Indian fusion restaurant. But it’s filled with wraps and bowls. Yes, my intrigue-level was ramped up very quickly. I finally got a chance to sneak there (despite missing out on multiple invites I’m now kicking myself for). When Fire Wally told me this place is in a strip mall, I knew it was going to be good.

When I walked in, the woman asked if she could help me, and I confessed I hadn’t been here. I recommend doing this, frankly, so you get the full treatment and don’t miss out on something amazing. She explained all of the options. I could get a bowl - which I’m pretty sure is a Styrofoam to-go container with two entrees and rice; you can get a “business lunch” – which is kind of a sampler platter; or you can get two wraps with any ingredients inside. The very patient and kind woman explained the vegetarian options and also the meat options. They’ve got palak paneer, various dals (lentils), aloo gobi, butter chicken, chicken reshmi, tikka masala, lamb curry, and chicken 65. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you, but chicken 65 is my favorite of all the numbered chickens. I needed some chicken 65.

They also had samosas, which I almost got. And a samosa wrap – I can’t even picture what that would be!. And chai. And Mango Lassi. They apparently have everything (except kheer). This place is wonderful.

I decided to go with two wraps. Each one with different fillings. These aren’t small wraps, either. They’re 8 inch crosses between naan and tortillas. I don’t know what they’re called, but they’re plenty big and hearty. I got one with chicken 65 and one with lamb curry. They asked if I wanted cabbage – yes, I did. They asked if I wanted sauce – yes, I did. One was a chili paste, one was a chimichurri, and one was an unnamed dark brown sauce. They warned me the chicken 65 was medium hot, but I had them add the chili paste anyway. They wrap it right in front of you, so you can see what you’re getting. Then they give you a small side dish of yogurt in case you need to dip your wrap into something cooling. The whole thing came to $7.50. That’s amazing.

The lamb curry wrap was really quite good. The wrap didn’t get soggy and held up, even with my erratic dipping into the yogurt sauce. No bones, a touch of cinnamon, and some heat from the chili paste. Wonderful!

The chicken 65 wrap was even better!!! Wonderfully flavorful chicken bites with no gristle at all. It had some pretty solid heat, so if you’re not a heat person, don’t get the chili paste. I loved every bit of this thing. I even considered getting another pair of chicken 65 wraps. It was a tough call, frankly. When I got up to clear my tray into the garbage, I warned the staff (the chef had come out to chat) that I would for sure be back. I can’t wait to tell everyone about this place. And, they extended their hours so they’re open for dinner most nights, as well. I’m not sure what the fusion part of this place is (maybe wraps), but this is one of the best lunches I’ve had in a really long time. Hit this place up as soon as you can.

6403 City West Parkway

Eden Prairie, MN 55344

www.soupnwraps.com

Detail: Soup ‘n Wraps – Eden Prairie, MN

0 Hola Arepa - Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I had random reasons to celebrate, so we decided to hit up a place we've been meaning to go to for months. Hola Arepa in Uptown. It was a Friday night, so we knew there was going to be a wait, but we were up for it - especially since they had a bar there. The host told us it would be about 30 minutes.

We put our name in and headed to the bar. As we were walking up, the people sitting there were leaving and told us to take their spot. We sat down and proceeded to look at the drink menu - soooooo many delicious sounding drinks. Apparently, these folks are known for their creative cocktails. All of them contain bitters, which I'm not a huge fan of, but I am able to order drinks without bitters like a grown ass man, so we're all good.

I ordered an El Camino Rojo and D.Rough ordered a Cortez The Killer. We watched the drink expert make these ridiculously expert-level drinks and were pretty impressed. These drinks were strong. REALLY strong. And delicious, thankfully. We both liked the Cortez The Killer better, but both were super tasty. This also gave us time to check out the food menu so we were ready when we sat down at our table.

We ran into some friends, like you do in Uptown, and chatted the time away. We also ordered two more drinks. I opted for the Jolly Poltergeist and D.Rough got the Southerly Pariah - again, both were incredibly strong. To the point of weavy-ness. This time, I ordered the winning drink (the Jolly Poltergeist)(again, without bitters).

It was just over 30 minutes when the host called our name and sat us at a table being served expertly by Bryce - a fellow long-haired bearded gentleman. We were already leaning towards a couple of appetizers and finally decided on the Vigoron appetizer - steamed yuca, roasted pork, citrus-cabbage slaw, pico de gallo, and chicharron on a banana leaf. After a few questions, I ordered an arepa with roasted pork and sweet potatoes and D.Rough ordered the arepa with shredded beef and plantains. If you don't know what arepas are, you're missing out. They're sort of a taco-like hand food. Picture a circular cross between a pita and an english muffin, but made out of corn meal. Then stuff it with all kinds of different ingredients (mainly the kinds of things you would put in a fancy taco) like lettuce, shredded beef/pork, black beans, onions, and other things.

The Vigoron came out and we were extremely excited for this crazy thing. It was a mound of shredded pork with some other fun things to dip the pork rinds into. Seriously this thing was worth fighting over. I was very surprised both at how large it was and also how delicious it was. I'm glad we decided on this for an appetizer.

The arepas came out just after we finished our appetizer. And I'll be honest, it was really difficult to tell which one was better.

The shredded beef was had fantastic cumin flavor and the sweetness of the plantains really cut through. The cotija cheese flavor also came through brilliantly. I was really surprised how good this thing was.

The roasted pork arepa with sweet potato was also fantastic. The green onion aioli was extremely mild and complemented the roasted pork very well. Just the right amount of sweet potato so as not to be overpowering.

The yuca fries that came with our areas were wonderful. I got the chimichurri dip and D.Rough got the aioli verde dip. Again, we couldn't decide which one was better - we loved them both.

I'll be honest, I expected to just think this place was "o.k.". I was totally wrong about it. The place is wonderful. I know there are competing arepa restaurants in the Twin Cities that are cheaper, but the arepas at Hola are much larger, more full of ingredients, and are more filling. One arepa is more than enough here, especially if you get one of their enormous appetizers (which I would recommend).

Top 5 things about Hola Arepa
1. Vigoron
2. Shredded beef and plantain arepa
3. Roasted pork and sweet potato arepa
4. Delicious cocktails
5. Both the chimichurri dip and the aioli verde dips for the yuca fries

Bottom 5 things
1. You're going to wait in line, especially in the winter when the patio is closed. There's a really good reason they're as busy as they are
2. The bartender, who is an absolute wizard, is leaving Hola Arepa to start his own distillery!!!!
3. You're going to want everything on the menu
4. I've heard people call it "Holla" arepa. Those people are idiots
5. If you don't like bitters, order your fancy drinks without them - it's that easy

www.holaarepa.com

Detail: Hola Arepa - Minneapolis, MN

0 Trishna – London, UK

After doing some research on restaurants to check out in London (there’s only a few thousand, obviously), I kept seeing Trishna on the list. It’s an upscale-affordable, but not snooty, Indian restaurant in the Marylebone area. I had walked past it on my evening stroll a few times previous, and knew I needed to check it out.

The inside is about fifteen feet wide, with six tables on the main floor, and then an unknown number of tables upstairs (I didn’t check it out). The staff here make sure you're very well taken care of. They take – and return - your coat and call cabs for you. They make sure your wine is chilled and all of your glasses don’t run out.

The menu has a tasting menu, which I think I was outside the window of availability (only served the tasting until maybe 7 or 8pm), but all of the individual items on the menu, from starters, to mains and sides, were all well described and sounded delicious.

I decided on the Dal Chawal Achar to start with – yellow lentil and rice dumplings, yogurt, papad, and pickle. For the main course, after much deliberation, I decided on the Andhra Lamb Masala with curry leaves and coastal seasonings. I also ordered a bottle of Pinot Bianco Quercus from Goriška Brda vineyards. Not a fancy bottle by any means, but I was sure it was going to be good. (I was right, for the record...)

Even before my food came out, they brought a basket full of puffed rice crisps to the table with a mango chutney and a spicy tomato chutney. Both were really good to snack on while waiting for my order to arrive. I hadn’t intended to eat the entire basket, but I looked down and it was empty. Whoops!

The appetizer was fantastic. Even better than I expected it to be. The balls were light and fluffy and went really well with the yogurt it was perched upon. The green seasoning, like a pesto, on top of each of the balls had great flavor, as well. The pickled carrots had an unusual cross between mustard and wasabi spices to them, but they were fantastic.

The lamb masala was also mind-blowing. It fell apart when you touched it with the fork – which I know is not easy to do with lamb. These folks at Trishna are experts, however. The dish is served in a small crock, so it looks like there’s not a lot there, but it’s an illusion. There is PLENTY of meat in that crock. The seasonings and curry leaves added some top-notch flavor to the already tender meat. I loved this thing. You can order it with rice or with naan bread, and I’m glad I ordered the naan. It was two different kinds of naan in the basket. One ad black sesame seeds in it and the other was a bit garlicky – perfect. I know British people call the wrong things “biscuits”, so they don’t understand the meaning of “sopping it up with a biscuit”, but that’s absolutely what I did with the naan. The crock and my plate looked like they had just come out of the dish washer.

I wasn’t going to, but I totally caved at the end of the meal and got some kheer for dessert. It’s my favorite. If you haven’t had it before, it’s sort of a cross between rice pudding and tapioca, made with rice and condensed milk and cardamom. There’s was served in a beautiful brass pan with all kinds of seasonings on the top of it – which I’m not used to seeing. Now every kheer I get from here out will be compare to the kheer at Trishna.

At one point, I had to use the restroom (or the “loo”) and when I got back, the server had taken my not-yet-empty wine glass. The manager noticed and came over very apologetically and brought me a new (and FULL) glass of something similar. He felt bad that it had been removed and he was going to make it up to me. Which they did, when they brought out these small bite-sized brownie pieces and another full glass of dessert wine. The small desserts were pretty good, but whenever this happens, I wish D.Rough were here, since she appreciate brownies and chocolate-y dessert so much more than I do. You would have loved these, D.Rough!! I also made sure neither the server nor the bus person got into trouble for removing my glass. It wasn’t a big deal at all and I didn’t want anyone to take any heat for the simple mix-up.

I love the variety of people in this restaurant. I heard conversations in French, Italian, Russian/Ukranian, Indian, and English. It’s so good, people from every place in the world love it. I can’t say enough about the staff - they took care of everything. There was a group of French guys flirting with the 23 year old server (I overheard them asking her how old she was) and she took it like a champ. Just smiled and push them aside to wait on other tables. Well done. The manager made sure I was taken care of, well beyond the point most places would have stopped. Truly. A very good job. For an affordable restaurant, it was an upscale experience.

Indian food in the US can be really cheap (buffet-style) or a little bit fancy. I’ve never been to a really nice Indian restaurant like this before. It changed my mind on what it could be in the US. I’m a big fan of Trishna. I’ll likely round up some other people to come here on subsequent trips back to London.

Top 5 things about Trishna
1) Andhra Lamb Masala
2) Dal Chawal Achar
3) Super service
4) Menu has some really delicious sounding items, including some unusual game hens
5) Kheer

Bottom 5 things
1) Wish I had made it in time for the various tasting menus
2) I was sooooooo full after dinner, thankfully, I walked back to the hotel instead of using the tube

3) No pakora, which I was hoping for (everything else made up for it, though, I promise)

4) It’s a little pricey, but I think the cost is justified by the experience in this case
5) I’m ruined for Indian food at every other place now that I’ve had the best here at Trishna

Trishna
15-17 Blandford Street
Marylebone Village
London W1U 3DG

www.trishnalondon.com

Detail: Trishna – London, UK

0 Fox and Goose Public House – Sacramento, CA

D.Rough and I found ourselves alone for breakfast in Sacramento, so we hopped a cab to the number two-ranked restaurant in Sacramento. It had to be good, right? Well, if the line out front was any indication, the answer is yes. The line was extensive, but they really set you up near the bar, so you’ve got something to occupy your time while you wait. I occupied myself with a nice Belhaven Scottish Ale…

The menu has a whole host of distinctly British items on it (bangers, Full English, etc.), as well as omelets, waffles, pancakes, and some healthy items. I went with the corned beef hash with a crumpet and D.Rough got the Benedict Arnold. We also needed to split an olallie berry scone.

Despite the packed house, we really didn’t wait long for our food, which was fantastic because we had waited a little while to be seated. We were hungry.

The scone was sooooooooooooooo good. Not the dry biscuit-style scone you find at Panera or Starbucks. This was light and soft and fluffy and filled with berries. Absolutely perfect. It also came with a little dish of Devonshire cream which made it even more delicious. We should have both ordered our own…

The corned beef hash had great corned beef flavor, though I had hoped for more veggies mixed in with it. I saw very few green peppers and potatoes in here. Thankfully, the flavor was still pretty delicious. The basted eggs I got were perfectly cooked and I was able to get the yolk into almost every bite of the hash, just the way nature intended. The dish was above average, to say the least. The crumpet was also delicious with the assortment of jams and marmalades on the table. Fluffy without being chewy. I was pretty pleased with my breakfast.

D.Rough’s Benedict Arnold came with corned beef on English muffins and a side of English country potatoes. Basically deconstructed corned beef hash. So yes, we ended up getting almost the exact same dish, just built different. Hers also came with a dish or rarebit cheese sauce, which is a very tangy thick cheese. It wasn’t her favorite breakfast condiment, but I didn’t mind eating it on various things. Her poached eggs were also cooked perfectly, which isn’t an easy task. She was also pleased with her breakfast.

While this may not be the first place we’d head if we come back to Sacramento, we would definitely go back here. The food was good, you can get breakfast alcohol, and it’s got a great lively atmosphere without being loud.

Top 5 things about Fox and Goose Public House

1. Olallie Berry Scone

2. Benedict Arnold

3. Corned Beef Hash flavor
4. Bar in the waiting area
5. The dinner menu looks killer

Bottom 5 things
1. Not enough veggies in the corned beef hash
2. Long wait time for breakfast/brunch
3. If you build your own omelet, it can get pricy very quickly
4. Warning, they won’t seat your party unless you’re all there (not uncommon, I’m just warning you)
5. When the Uber driver (from England) picked us up afterwards, he immediately told us we should have gone to another British Pub for breakfast - hahahaha

www.foxandgoose.com

Detail: Fox and Goose Public House – Sacramento, CA

0 Hot Indian Foods - Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I decided to meet for a quick dinner before we headed to various commitments we had agreed to separately. Thankfully, she's a genius and wanted to go to Hot Indian Foods in the Midtown Global Market. We had heard about these Induritos (basically Indian-themed burritos) and had been dying to try them.

Her and I share pretty well, so we decided to get a Curry Lamb Indurito and a Vegan Channa Indurito. We also caved and decided to get the IndoFrites (yup, you guessed it - Indian-flavored french fries). The people working there were super helpful and gave us samples of the insides of the burritos so we could decide. Really awesome and helpful.

The Curry Lamb Indurito was really quite flavorful and D.Rough liked this one the best. Lots of Lamb meat and plenty of other filling. This one held it's shape/construction really well while eating.

The Vegan Channa Indurito was my favorite. Tons of veggies (duh) and filled with my favorite - chick peas. The thing was a little juicy and became messy quickly - not a complaint at all, just commenting. It simply makes you eat the thing faster. Absolutely amazing.

The fries were the real winner of the show. Super breaded and had both sweet potato and white potatoes. The seasoning on them was perfect and the spicy mayo dip that came with them was incredible. We should have gotten our own orders of these, and probably will next time. Make sure you get these.

Delicious dinner and I can't wait to go back and try the other Induritos (which also come in bowl form, if that makes you feel any better). Wonderful little shop in the Midtown Global Market (and also operates a food truck around the cities).

Top 5 things about Hot Indian Foods
1. Indo-Frites
2. Vegan Channa Indurito
3. Curry Lamb Indurito
4. Amazingly friendly and helpful staff
5. The mobile food trucks comes to YOU

Bottom 5 things
1. Nothing I can think of...

www.hotindianfoods.com

Detail: Hot Indian Foods - Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis, MN

0 French Hen Café – St. Paul, MN

D.Rough and I headed over to the French Hen Café for breakfast (well, more like brunch since we slept late). I had heard good things about this place and couldn’t wait to eat here.

We started with a few blood orange mimosas (D.Rough got Prosecco and I got Moscato). It’s hard to have a bad meal when you start with these things.

D.Rough ordered the Croque Suzette – a grilled sandwich on Brioche with smoked ham, Gruyere, Dijon béchamel, and topped with a sunny side up egg and served with hashbrowns. I ordered the Omelette a la Florentine – spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, and Brie and I got a side of root vegetable hash.

The food came out pretty quickly and we shared each of these things like pros.

The Croque Suzette was really good. Dense but tasty bread with all kinds of messy toppings. Great ham and Gruyere flavor were especially good combined with the runny egg. Great work on this thing. The hashbrowns had great flavor and were thinly cooked, so there were lots of crunchy parts.

The omelet was tasty and had a lot of fresh tasting ingredients on the inside. I will say the highlight for me was the root vegetable hash. Really seasoned well and lots of good textures and fresh flavors.

We didn’t spend long here, although we did pop into the flower shop next door (run by the same wonderfully nice family). It’s a very nice atmosphere and they serve really good food. They also serve dinner, so I’m curious how that’s going to be when we return. Looking forward to it!

www.frenchhencafe.com

Detail: French Hen Café – St. Paul, MN

0 Paseo – Key West, FL

D.Rough and I managed to get far out of town on a mini-vacation and drove down the coast of Florida to Key West. We did some online review checking and this place called Paseo kept popping up as a place to go. We had the time (mainly since we were just relaxing all day and had no agenda/itinerary), so we checked it out.

Paseo is mainly Caribbean cuisine in sort of a walk-up-counter small corner shop. There are menus at the beginning of the line so you can decide before you get to the cashier/order taker. D.Rough wanted the Caribbean Roast, which the cashier told us was one of their top sellers. I got a West Caribbean Bowl. We also decided to split a roasted ear of corn.

We found a spot outside at the patio tables and waited just a short while for our food to arrive.

D.Rough’s sandwich was pretty impressive. It was slow-roasted pork shoulder slices on a toasted baguette with aioli, cilantro, pickled jalapenos, lettuce and large slices of caramelized onions. The pork was delicious and was complemented well by the aioli and jalapenos. And the bun wasn’t overly toasted, so it didn’t cut up the roof of your mouth. Great sandwich!

The roasted corn had some white cheese partly melted on it, with some cayenne/paprika mix with cilantro. It was really delicious (and I got it all over my person – thankfully, I was shirtless the whole time I was in Key West) and had some serious heat to it. We both loved it.

The West Caribbean Bowl was almost like a deconstructed nacho bowl. It had rice and beans, salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream, and jalapenos with a chicken thigh and tortilla chips. The meat fell right off the bone, so it was easy to pull apart and eat with the chips and toppings. I loved this thing. I left them an empty bowl, which I’ll guess happens a lot. The chicken had great flavor, which was sort of the highlight of the bowl. Fantastic lunch!

I’m glad we decided to check this place out. Sometimes, we ended up getting burned on listening to online reviews, but this place was everything it was claimed to be and more. Really nice people working there and amazing food. It was also REALLY reasonably priced, We couldn’t find a copy of the menu online before we got there, so I grabbed a menu and scanned it. You’re welcome.

No Top 5 , just go here. You won’t regret it!

www.facebook.com/paseokeywest

1000 Eaton Street

Key West, FL 33040

Detail: Paseo – Key West, FL

0 Acme Deli – St. Paul, MN

D.Rough had heard good things about this small mom and pop deli in St. Paul. We had a lazy Saturday afternoon, so we thought we would check it out.

When you get inside, you need to grab a yellow piece of paper, which has a sort of checklist menu on it. The menu has a few special sandwiches on it, but you can also build your own (you pick the bread, meat, cheese, veggies, sauce, etc). We found two that we really needed to try, which is not uncommon. But we heard the sandwiches are normal-human-being sized sandwiches and not a foot-long gargantuan sandwich with more calories than you need for a week. So we didn’t feel too bad about splitting two sandwiches.

We got the Acme Special #2 (roast beef, cream cheese, cucumber, and tomato on marble bread) and an Acme Special #3 (roast beef, turkey, swiss cheese, and cole slaw on a hoagie bun). They sent us into the small dining room to wait for our order. The dining room has four small tables and some really fun photos on the walls. Most of them are framed foods they serve there in the deli or of the people working there. Really a fun atmosphere.

The sandwiches came out quickly on paper plates and the plastic plate holders I haven’t seen since I was a kid. Really a vintage-y touch.

The sandwiches were absolutely perfect. Great fresh ingredients and bread. Fantastic combinations without being giant servings. We didn’t lolly gag when we were finished either. We had to make room for other people waiting to eat. The place does pretty good business during lunch and we saw a ton of people picking up food to take away. Probably having a picnic with all of this nice Minnesotan weather we’re having this week!

I’m looking forward to going back here. These people were really nice and the food is delicious. I don’t know what else you could possibly need!

www.acmedelistpaul.com

Detail: Acme Deli – St. Paul, MN

0 Gorkha Palace – Minneapolis, MN

Gorkha Palace is one of those places I’ve driven by a lot, but never during lunch time since I work nowhere near the place. D.Rough and I decided to meet for lunch this week and despite planning to go to another place in Northeast, when we drove past Gorkha Palace, I knew we needed to eat there and today was the day.

The inside is smaller than I imagined, mainly because the building it occupies also contains multiple other businesses. But there is plenty of seating available. It filled up almost entirely during the lunch hour while we were there, but there’s quick turnover with an Indian food buffet, so that helps.

The buffet itself looks smaller than others I had been to, but don’t be fooled, the portions on the buffet are smaller, which means they can fit more items on the buffet, and they are fresh more often – both good things. They had these lentil crisps that looked like tortilla chips, but tasted completely different and also these Indian fry-bread things that were delicious. We didn’t see any naan on the buffet, but were still satisfied to eat the above mentioned two bread-like items.

The other items were a mix of vegetarian, vegan, and carnivore dishes, even a curried hardboiled egg dish and broccoli pakora. I filled my plate.

Then I filled my plate again.

Then I went and got some Indian-style chicken noodle lentil soup. Decent, but I wanted there to be more seasoning and pop to it. I’d eat it again, though. I also ate it so fast, I forgot to take a photo.

We had a great meal and got out of there pretty quickly so we could both get back to work. While Gorkha Palace isn’t a ground breaking Indian restaurant, it’s really good and you won’t be disappointed at all. The server was really nice and made sure we were happy with our meals, which we were.

I have trouble doing top 5’s for Indian buffets because I can’t ever remember the names of the dishes I’m eating. They’re all good though. Does that help? haha

www.gorkhapalace.com

Detail: Gorkha Palace – Minneapolis, MN

0 World Street Kitchen – Minneapolis, MN

I had been to the food truck version of this place a few times and been pretty happy with the food I got there. [And now that I’ve looked back at the blog, I realize I’ve never written about them! I’m a jerk, apparently.] I was happy that D.Rough suggested we go there to check out a couple of special dishes.

I love the inside of this place. It’s sort of modern and minimalist, but still clean and classy. The menu doesn’t appear to have many items on it, until you get to looking at it. Then, you’ll realize you have a considerable job figuring out what you really want to eat. Seriously. D.Rough and I had to grab a to-go menu and sit down and really hash out what we wanted to share. It was no easy task, I tell you.

We decided on the Plate O’ Dips (hummus, smoky feta, and spiced olive tapenade with grilled pita), “La Panza” Caramelized Lamb Belly Yum Yum Rice Bowl with pickled cucumbers, daikon, and bean sprouts, and “Kingston 12” Jerk Beef tacos with mint chimichuri and queso fresco.

And, D.Rough was in the mood, so she got a very unique version of a Piña Colada. Unique means amazing in this particular instance. She was quite happy with this whole situation.

The Plate O’ Dips was delicious. Small scoops of various dips are usually pretty tasty, but the smoky feta was fight-worthy. The pitas were ultra fresh and not at all crunchy – just the way I like them. And as a bonus, there were actually enough pita triangles to finish all the dips! This was a great way to start the meal.

The Kingston 12 was pretty fabulous. Two street-style tacos filled with delicious beef, chimichuri, scallions, and cheese. The meat was really tender and the chimichuri was a delicious counter to the meat. Fantastic.

The winner of the day was the Yum Yum Rice Bowl – plus it is incredibly fun to say! The lamb was awesomely tender and the added pop of the peanuts really made this dish complete, in my opinion. The cucumbers and daikon were good, but the peanuts really stole the show. D.Rough got one small piece of fatty meat and the rest of it was perfect. No complaints at all on this bowl of awesome.

Verdict=Fantastic. Looking forward to coming back there and trying the same or new things. Either. We don’t care.

Top 5 things about World Street Kitchen

1. La Panza Yum Yum Rice Bowl (both eating and saying)

2. Kingston 12 Jerk Beef Tacos
3. Piña Colada
4. Plate O’ Dips
5. Very serious menu (and some boozy drinks)

Bottom 5 things
1. If you come there expecting to share with someone, you WILL fight over who gets what
2. You’re going to want dessert afterwards, and there isn’t much on the dessert front, but it’s ok because you won’t have room
3. I can’t decide whether I like the regular menu or the brunch menu better. These guys really nailed it.
4. Parking isn’t the best on Lyndale…
5. I can’t think of anything bad, so I’ll quit making things up now

www.eatwsk.com

Detail: World Street Kitchen – Minneapolis, MN

0 Bad Movie Night (Heavy Metal Theme) – West St. Paul, MN

The Bad Movie Night theme this time was heavy metal. We usually do a potluck-style dinner ahead of time and people bring food items related to the theme. I encouraged people to dress in all black and bring some creative foods for us to eat. People got realllllllly creative with this theme, and I’m really glad.

Just to gloss over the movies, I showed Rock N Roll Nightmare about a Canadian rock band (yeah, hilarious, right?) who goes to record an album and slowly gets picked off, one-by-one. The second movie was Detroit Metal City – a Japanese film about a kid who really wants to sing trendy pop music but secretly sings in a scary death metal band to make ends meet in the meantime.

But the real treat of the night was the food. I’ll point out that we’ve never had anyone bring a cake to Bad Movie Night before and this evening, we had FIVE cakes. Hilarious.

I’ll start with the best one of the night. A Black Metal cake.

D.Rough tried to cut into it to dish it up and the knife clunked. She looked around to see if anyone had seen her cut into this what was going to be a terribly overbaked cake. Everyone saw it. UnicycleJoe had frosted an upside-down cake pan with black frosting. CLASSIC!!!! No actual cake was involved in this thing. Just frosting on a metal pan. Brilliant idea, Joe. You win.

Rum to the Hills cake from JessSayin’ and FireWally. This thing was amazing!!!!

Rocky brought Head-Bangers and Mosh.

I made Hail Seitan for our vegan friends.

B.Sweet brought Bull’s Blood – some wine from Hungary (do they even make wine there?).

D.Rough made a Blood Red Velvet Cake with Celtic Frost-ing (she’s the best lady in the world).

Hüsker Stü made a vegan black cake with a sri racha pentagram and candles in the corner called Cain's Sacrifice – awesome!

ShotgunMillie brought raisins, since they’re high in iron – a heavy metal. SVB made heavy metal cupcakes with metal colored frosting. And, we broke out the candelabra and red table cloth to make it official.

Such a good night. I’m honored to have so many creative friends.

Detail: Bad Movie Night (Heavy Metal Theme) – West St. Paul, MN