Bonchon Korean Fried Chicken

I noticed while shopping up in Maple Grove recently, that the Bonchon Korean Fried chicken recently opened. The website said they were in the midst of a soft opening, so we visited for a weekday dinner.

We started with the fried rice with eggs, onions, red bell pepper and Bonchon soy garlic sauce. I didn’t care for the bell peppers in the fried rice, but John liked it a lot.

We ordered a medium order of the wings (20 pieces) with half and half of two sauces, the soy garlic and spicy sauces. The spicy was actually spicy too. The chicken was very juicy and tender and I really liked the thin and crispy breading on the wings. Koren fried chicken is delicious. Of course, I don’t’ think I’ve found a type of fried chicken I do not like!

Cole slaw comes with the wings or you can choose pickled radish instead. The slaw was really good and helped tone down the spice of the wings.

The wings are available with only drumsticks, boneless wings or a combo of wings and drumsticks. They also offer a  variety of Asian and Asian fusion dishes on the menu ranging from buns, udon noodles soup and tons of other options.

The service was quick and efficient. It is a rather small sit down restaurant, but you can call in an order to go or get it delivered through Door Dash or similar delivery services.

Note: Bonchon is a chain. In Minnesota, there are additional locations in Uptown Minneapolis, Dinkytown and Mall of America with more locations coming soon.



Bonchon
11708 Elm Creek Blvd N
Maple Grove, MN 55369
Phone: (763) 760-7100
https://bonchon.com/korean-fried-chicken-maple-grove-mn/

Popol Vuh

We finally got ourselves organized and made a reservation at Popol Vuh. It was just after Christmas, but we called it our holiday celebration dinner anyway. We arrived a couple minutes early, and had to wait a few minutes before they were ready to seat us as we were the first seating.

Once seated, the server did a great job going over the different sections of the menu and giving us some recommendations.

Chips and salsa starter

We had some raw west coast oysters as an appetizer, but I guess I forgot to take a photo of them. I guess I was really hungry!

they had some great mezcal drinks on the menu

Tuna ceviche with market fish, citrus, beet, cucumber, avocado. Very fresh tasting.

We also had the smoked ribs with tamarind habanero glaze, salsa verde and escabeche. These were not very warm on arrival. I didn’t find them to have a lot of flavor from the sauce or the smoking.

We had the whole market fish to share as our entrée. The fish was light and tender, but you had to watch out for bones a little bit.

Last, we had the carrots with mole blanco, pine nuts and piloncillo. These were very delicious.

They also gave us some muffins as a dessert. The picture did not turn out and I can’t recall what nuts were in them, maybe pecans?

Overall, we enjoyed the food and drinks. The service seemed a bit slow, but was otherwise fine. The room is very dark and not that large. You can sit at the bar as a walk in, though it did fill in pretty quickly after they opened.

The whole experience is a bit reminiscent of going to a Rick Bayless restaurant in Chicago, but not quite as polished somehow. Centro, next door, is a lot more fun, affordable and approachable, but if you want upscale Latin food Popol Vuh is a good experience.




Popol Vuh
1414 Quincy St NE Suite 2
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Phone: (612) 345-5527
https://popolvuhmpls.com/popol-vuh/

Burger Dive at Tony Jaro's River Garden

The classic Northeast Minneapolis dive bar Tony Jaro's has new management in the kitchen. The guys from Smack Shack have opened Burger Dive and are putting out solid burgers. I think the changes happened last summer and it took us ages to get here, as is our custom.

side of fries to share

I had the wedge burger topped with American cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, blue cheese dressing. It turns out all of the burgers here are a double. It's a pretty thin patty and the edges had nice crispiness. The bun was nicely toasted and everything had great flavor.

John had the house burger topped with American cheese, minced onion and pickles. 

I'm not sure it is worth commenting on the service. I mean, the service is quick and efficient, but may be a tad abrasive. It's a dive bar, so keep your expectations in check if you get what I mean.

One important item to note- Tony Jaro's does not take credit cards; cash only. You will need to pay for food separate from your drinks also. There is an ATM on site.


Burger Dive at Tony Jaro's River Garden
2500 Marshall St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
Phone: (612) 789-9728
https://burgerdivene.com

Las Vegas trip report - 11.27-12.3.2019 - The one with no ATM trips

We departed MSP quite early in the day and very happy to be escaping the snow and cold as we had just had a huge snowstorm the day before. The roads on the way to the airport were not great, but we made it. Our flight departed on time as well.

We checked into Mandalay Bay on a 3 night MyVegas comp. (I had 2 nights and John had one.) The room was spacious and comfortable.

 view from room at Mandalay Bay

 view of the new Raiders stadium from the room

 We went to Border Grill for a late lunch/early dinner. I had a great mezcal margarita.

 steak tacos

 steak quesadillas 

We took a Lyft from Mandalay to the Golden Gate and used some free play and match plays for November. It was raining our first night in Vegas a bit.

 I think this was John's win on some free play.

We went over to the Plaza and used matchplay and free play coupons from one of the coupon books. We had some good dealers at the blackjack table in the main pit too. 

Next, we went over to The D and used November free play there. John had a pretty good run on video poker with three quads and a straight flush.

 My best on this session was a single quad, however it paid slightly more due to the progressive payables. SO I think I finished slightly up. 

We picked up some beverages for the hotel room at Walgreens and took Uber back to the hotel.

We ended up having breakfast at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Turns out there are not a ton of great breakfast choices at MB. The food was solid though.

 chicken and waffles

We used a MyVegas comp to take a free tour of the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. It was larger than I thought it was going to be and pretty neat.

After Shark Reef, we went over to Ellis Island to use some coupons for the Las Vegas Advisor and American Casino Guide. We played a few slots and a bit of blackjack.

John had a major win on his free play at Ellis Island. He won $500 on Buffalo slots! Finally a major win from the coupon books! 

After Ellis Island we went over to the Cosmopolitan. We visited Momofuku for late lunch/happy hour. This drink was called sweater weather.

 This chicken sandwich on the bar menu is excellent. Highly recommend. 

 salt and pepper shrimp 

 momofuku neon

 little win on Top Dollar

 I had 3 quads at the Cosmo and John had aces and kings quads. Quite a run at Cosmo.

 nice espresso martini at the sports book bar Yum! 

 We went into the speakeasy at Cosmo, Barbershop, for a round of drinks also. 

Once we tore ourselves away from the sports book, we went to find somewhere to eat dinner. Turns out it was rather late and everything was closing up. So we grabbed slices at Secret Pizza and called it a night.

Friday morning we went to Aria for breakfast at the Aria Cafe. We loved it last year when we stayed at Aria. It was just OK this time. The service was pretty slow.

 brown sugar bacon was pretty over done unfortunately 

After breakfast we went down to the South outlet mall and John did some shopping for Golden Knights gear. Then we headed further South to the Southpoint Casino. My friend Deanna recommended this wheel poker game and sent us some strategy charts on it. We started out strong but kinda petered out after awhile. We played a bit of regular video poker and some blackjack at Southpoint as well. Nothing great to report however.

We went to the Linq and had In and Out for lunch. It was busy but the lines moved quickly and the food was solid as usual.

 I finally tried a frozen Bailey's at O'Shea's. It was quite delicious. 

We walked down to the Cromwell and played blackjack there for awhile. I didn't have a great run, but I think John did pretty well once again.  

We went back to Mandalay and went to the Foundation Room on the top floor. Nice views, but they tried to put shots that were not ours on our tab. They did remove the charges, but it took a bit.

We ended up going to Lupo for dinner. Well, John did really. My digestion was not happy with me for some reason, so I just had some bread to try and settle things down.

 tagliatelle bolognese for John

I went up to the room to rest a bit and John played some $25 blackjack at MB. He finished up fifty cents after two hours of play, so I guess it was a win! 

Saturday morning we had a self driving car on our way to Cosmo. Well, a person has to drive it in and out of the different properties, but on the strip it self drives. It was interesting to learn a bit about how it all works.

We used our monthly BOGO comp for Wicked Spoon for breakfast buffet. It seemed like they had some different items for the Thanksgiving weekend brunch.

We headed back to Mandalay Bay and packed up as we were changing hotels today.

 The Circa hotel and casino seems to be moving along quickly! 

 Rush Tower junior suite at Golden Nugget

 Circa from our room

After getting settled into the new room a bit, we went over to Main Street Station and played video poker a bit. I think John got one quad and one scratcher card for $1 bonus. Used to be that $2 was the lowest amount.

 We decided to go to Pizza Rock for lunch. It was great as always. 

After lunch, we went to the Downtown Grand to use some matchplay coupons and then used a free play coupon at Four Queens and Binion's. No wins to report I guess as I didn't have a photos of winning. We went to to the new second floor bar at Binion's called Whiskey Licker Up. The picture above is the wall of petrified wood along the staircase to the bar.

 The red metal is a bit of the old Mint Casino sign still behind the Binion's facade. 

The new bar is pretty large and part of it overlooks Fremont street and the round bar rotates, although very slowly.

 The view is pretty nice actually, keeping you just a bit removed from the insanity on Fremont street.

 can see inside Circa a bit here too

After Whiskey Licker bar, we went to the Fremont and the Cal to use matchplay coupons and played a bit of blackjack.

We had dinner at Second Street Grill at the Fremont. Second Street continues to be a hidden gem. The food and service are always very good. John had the miso maki glazed butter fish.

 sesame crusted mahi mahi

After dinner we went to the Golden Gate and finished out the night playing blackjack.

 Sunday morning we went to Eat on Fremont east for breakfast. Pancakes for John.

 The truffled egg sandwich was magical once again. 

After breakfast we went over to El Cortez to use some free slot play coupons. I had a little hit for $50  on buffalo. After El Co I went to the North Premium Outlets for a little retail therapy.

John played video poker at Vue bar while I shopped. He was still there when I came back. I played a little there and got a quad. We also played a bit of blackjack and used our matchplay chips.

 We had a late lunch at Chart House at the Golden Nugget. Caesar salad for John. 

 ahi tuna for me

A quick hits little win at the Nugget I think. We also played some blackjack at the Fremont. Probably used the last of our matchplay coupons too. 

We visited Able Baker brewery on our way to the Palazzo. It's a new brewery in the Arts District. They had a full menu also.

Started with guacamole at Chica. There was a huge Amazon convention just letting out at Venetian, so we could not get into Yardbird like we wanted to.

 asado negra arepas

 peruvian steak

We had procured ticket for the new show at Venetian called Atomic Saloon from Groupon ahead of time. We started out with in seats on the second floor, but before the show began they moved everyone down to the main level as there were quite a few open seats.

 nice portrait of Robin Leach!

The show was great. It is by the same group that does Opium at Cosmopolitan and Absinthe at Caesars Place, so it was definitely along those lines, but with an old west twist. There's a loose storyline with lots of specialty acts in between.

After the show we went back downtown and played blackjack at the Plaza and the Golden Gate until bedtime.

Monday morning we had breakfast at the Peppermill. I guess I forgot to take photos of our food. Let's just assume we had the standard breakfasts with hash browns and sourdough toast. Pretty sure that was what we had.

Peppermill for the holidays

 Resorts World is making visible progreess! 

This picture is supposed to show that the pool at the Golden Nugget was closed for construction during our trip. It was totally shut down. It was tool cold and rainy for the pool most days anyway.

After breakfast, we went back to the Nugget and I had a nice win on Heidi's Beerhaus slot. I got 41 free spins and won almost $300!

 construction on Fremont East- new trees waiting to go in!

 short rib fried rice at Le Thai for lunch 

 pad kee mow

After lunch, we played video poker at Vue Bar at the D again. I had one quad. I think we headed over to Main Street Station to watch the Vikings game at 777 brewpub.

We had a sort of late dinner at Andiamo at the D. We had a bunch of appetizer starting with the meatballs.

 portobello mushrooms and beef tips with Andiamo signature zip sauce

 BBQ shrimp

The service was excellent. We had not been back since we had a very disappointing experience there some years back. I think we called it a night after dinner since we had to get going early for our flight home. 

Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at Magnolia's at Four Queens before we had to pack up and head to the airport. Solid as always.

Overall, this was an amazing trip. The fact that neither one of us had to get additional cash from the ATM is impressive, especially when you consider how many days we were in town! I know I brought home all of my original bankroll plus another $100 and John brought home his bankroll plus another $700.

We never made it to the Mob Museum or one of the tiki bars unfortunately. I guess it is good to save some stuff for the next trip!