Murray's

We visited Murray's back in October for my birthday dinner. We made reservations in advance and we were apparently one of the first reservations of the evening as the doors were locked on arrival.  We only waited a couple minutes before the doors were unlocked and we were seated promptly.

We've never tried their famous Silver Butterknife Steak, so we decided to take the plunge. It is a 28 oz. strip sirloin carved tableside for two people. 

It also included a choice of Caesar salad or French Onion soup, which I neglected to take photos of. I believe we both had the salad and it was freshly made with a potent Caesar dressing. 

We both ordered a baked potato for our side.

My serving of steak after slicing

John's serving. The steak was cooked as ordered (medium rare) and well seasoned with salt and pepper. It was very tender and juicy. Since I love tableside preparation of pretty much any type of food, I enjoyed the slicing and serving of the steak at the table. 

The portion was more than enough for two people. I forgot to take a photo of the garlic toast and bread basket, but their garlic toast is amazing. It is chock full of butter and garlic with just the right amount of crunch. 

complimentary lemon bundt cake birthday dessert was a nice special touch

The service was very good, friendly and helpful when needed, but not stopping by too many times. The steak for two was not cheap, but the fact that said and a potato were included was nice. They do offer more budget friendly options on the menu as well as non-beef choices. We really enjoyed our meal and I feel Murray's is a great spot for a fun night out downtown or a special event meal. 

Murray's
26 S 6th St
Minneapolis, MN 55402
(612) 339-0909
http://www.murraysrestaurant.com/

Stepchld

We hit the brunch at Stepchld awhile back. This is a little spot where J.L. Beers used to be in Minneapolis and they are doing some fun, creative stuff.  They did a light remodel but are working within the footprint of the previous tenant. 

I had the Real Deal Holyfield egg sandwich with cheesy soft scrambled eggs on a freshly toasted bun. The sale was dressed nicely as well. Simple but so well executed. 

John had the Cooper burger with alicia, pickles and American cheese. This was a nicely griddled double patty burger with lots of gooey, white American cheese. Really good and the fries were solid as well. 

It doesn't appear that Stepchld is one for brunch right now, but open for dinner daily. We enjoyed our food immensely and found the service to be quick and helpful. The menu has some very intriguing items, so we will try to return soon to explore further. I would strongly recommend reservations as it is not a large place. 

Stepchld
24 University Ave NE STE 100
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Phone: (612) 354-7409
https://www.stepchld.com

Nolabelle Kitchen & Bar - Mankato

I've been to Nolabelle again since this initial visit and I have to say, it is one of the best restaurants to open in Mankato in some time. The scene in town tends to be chain restaurants and lots of underwhelming fare. 

The food is southern inspired and locally sourced. The room is bright and fun with huge windows. 

Blackened walleye with Brussels spouts

  roasted chicken, cheddar jalapeño grits, natural jus, kale, apple slaw

Grilled cheese with chips

Grilled cheese with side salad

We found the service to be excellent and I loved the drink menu as well. Lots of fun drinks, not your usual basic fare. I'd highly recommend checking out Nolabelle if you are going to be in the Mankato area. Reservations strongly recommended. 

Nolabelle Kitchen & Bar 
520 S Front St Suite 500
Mankato, MN 56001
Phone: (507) 720-0841
https://www.nolabellekitchen.com

Hazelwood Food and Drink - St Louis Park

Hazelwood opened another location in St Louis Park this summer. We checked it out for brunch and found a beautiful restaurant in a great location with easy parking available. There is a large patio as well. 

I had the All American breakfast that includes three eggs any style, your choice of applewood smoked bacon, cob smoked ham, or sausage, smoked gouda hash browns, and toast. The bacon was excellent quality and I liked the gouda hash browns a lot. 

John had the breakfast burrito with choice of rotisserie chicken or sausage, scrambled eggs, charred corn salsa, queso fresco, roasted poblano salsa, lime sour cream, smoked gouda hash browns, and tortilla chips. 

The service was friendly and helpful, but not intrusive. We enjoyed our meal and the entire dining experience and look forward to returning again soon. 

Hazelwood Food and Drink

4450 Excelsior Blvd Suite #120 

St Louis Park, MN 55416

Phone: (952) 977-8000

https://hazelwoodfoodanddrink.com/slp-menus/

Lyn 65

We visited Lyn 65 back when it was patio season. So this report is a tad delayed. I have some nice photos and the food was all excellent, so I wanted to share our visit anyway. 

John had the Lyn 65 cheeseburger with mustard pickles, american cheese, shallot and fries. The fries were excellent and tasted freshly cut and cooked. Great burger too. 

We shared the crispy brussels sprouts with mama lil peppers, Parmesan and sherry vinaigrette. 

I had the scallops with miso, cauliflower puree, 

I had the scallops with miso, cauliflower puree, sage oil and basalmic reduction. The scallops were perfectly seared and everything worked well together. It was a perfect light meal with the brussels sprouts. 

The patio was nice and spaced out and the service was good as well. We've always had good visits to Lyn 65 and wish it was closer to home because the food is great. 

Lyn 65
6439 Lyndale Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55423
(612) 353-5501

http://lyn65.com

Holman's Table

We visited Holman's Table in St Paul awhile back. It is in an interesting location at the St Paul airport, which is a small airport mainly for smaller planes and private planes. The building is older and art deco style, very unique. It was fun to watch places take off and land from the restaurant. 

We had made reservations in advance and were seated quickly. The service throughout our visit was very good and everything arrived quickly.  

I had the mushroom toast and eggs with roasted wild mushrooms, walnut aioli, montamore cheese, red onion marmalade, herb ciabatta, EVOO, balsamic reduction, smoked sea salt and eggs. This was excellent! The mushroom toast was a unique dish and very flavorful. 

John had the Holman's breakfast with eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. Pretty basic fare, but everything was tasty and as expected. 

Holman's Table
644 Bayfield St 
St Paul, MN 55107
Phone: (612) 800-5298

https://www.holmanstable.com

Marna's

I'm catching up on a bunch of posts from late summer and fall, when we were able to dine outdoors. I just wanted to clarify that these are not recent visits, but I figured I may as well go ahead and post them anyway since take out is still available from these same places. 

We made a reservation online in advance and were seated quickly once we found the host, which took a minute or two. 

John had the arroz con pollo, which was rice cooked with chicken stock, vegetables and pulled chicken and served with black beans and homemade potato chips. 

I finally tried the Marna's burger. I've read about it from a variety of local dining critics and the Travail guys have also shared how much they love it. It is a chipotle infused beef patty, caramelized onions, bacon, grilled pineapple, Swiss cheese and curry cream sauce on a brioche bun. I had chips and salsa on the side. It is definitely a rich, flavorful burger, if a little on the greasy side. It is somewhat spicy, but not super spicy. The cheese, bun and other elements do tame the spice a bit. 

The service was fine and it appeared they were following all of the safety protocols. We enjoyed our visit and would definitely return again. 

Marna's Eatery
4154 W Broadway Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55422
Phone: (612) 272-1370
https://marnaseatery.com

Travail - rooftop patio cantina - August 2020

Dining out in COVID times is certainly a different experience. We decided to give Travail another try in late August. Their new location was supposed to open right around the time COVID hit. In the beginning months they were doing make at home meals, groceries for your pantry and also carry out from Pig Ate MyPizza. They were doing dining on their rooftop patio with a cantina theme. It sounded interesting, so we booked reservations. We also added their alcoholic beverage pairing with the meal. 

I decided to just take photos and not take notes again. There is a picture at the end with all of the menu items and their descriptions. 

In additional to the two desserts we were served we got a box of sweets to take home. 

Here's the full menu items and descriptions. 

We had a great evening on the patio and enjoyed ourselves a lot. They even had a band performing throughout the meal. Travail took all of the expected COVID precautions and we felt very safe dining there. We would certainly go back and we look forward to checking out their indoor dining room once that is fully open. 

Travail
4134 Hubbard Ave N
Robbinsdale, MN 55422
(763) 535-1131
https://www.travailkitchen.com

Marna's Eatery

Note: I visited the establishment and wrote this post before the virus shut down everything. I've decided to go ahead and continue posting as it was a snapshot in time. Many places are still open for carryout. Be sure to visit your favorite places during this crazy time. Support what you love. Now is the time!


We finally tried Marna's in Robbinsdale. Boy, have we been missing out on a great spot. They recently expanded into the area formerly occupied by Pig Ate My Pizza, so the space is cute, bright and open. We were seated right away.

The corn bread with honey butter is amazing. The corn bread is served warm and very moist, not at all dry like some cornbread and this is truly an improvement. This is a must order item!

Gallo Pinto

We both had the Gallo Pinto with rice with seasoned black beans, sweet fried plantain, sour cream, egg, guacamole and a tortilla aliñad. This was great also. I'm not even all that crazy about rice and bean dishes, but both were very flavorful and the plantains really were sweet and perfectly cooked. The tortilla alinad is like a flat corn cake and is a nice change from standard toast.

The service was friendly and efficient and we enjoyed our meal so much. We will certainly be visiting again very soon.


Marna's Eatery
4154 W Broadway Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55422
Phone: (612) 272-1370
https://marnaseatery.com

Lake & Irving Brunch

John and I went to Lake and Irving for brunch recently and I realized I have not done a post on their brunch. We’ve made it back here now and then for dinner or lunch, but I don’t think we’ve had their brunch before.

I had the breakfast sandwich with Lowry Hills sausage patty, bacon, sous vide scrambled egg, American cheese, shallot aioli, brioche, breakfast potatoes. I was not crazy about the breakfast potatoes, but they were crisp and had some rosemary, slat and other seasoning on them. Once I added some hot sauce they were great.

John had the garden scramble with 3 eggs, Sonoma chevre, baby spinach, shiitake mushrooms, tomatoes, wild rice wheat toast, breakfast potatoes. I did not get to try a bite. It disappeared too quickly. It must have been delicious.

The service was just fine and the food arrived pretty quickly. As usual, a great visit.


Lake & Irving
1513 W Lake St
Minneapolis, MN 55408
(612) 354-2453
http://www.lakeandirving.com/

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/

Lat 14 Asian Eatery

We have been to Lat 14 twice now since it first opened in late 2018. On our first visit my pictures were terrible and I forgot to make a bunch also, so we were happy to return. Plus, it is located right in Golden Valley very close to where we live, so the location is excellent for us. It is not a huge restaurant, so we have made reservations each time we visited. You might be able to get lucky and spore a spot at the bar, but there are not that many seats there. Reservations do seem to book up in advance, especially on weekends.

The vibe is upscale, which I was not expecting at first, but it is very lovely. The service is fairly formal and polished, which cloth napkins and an industrial chic setting. This certainly does not look like a re purposed Perkins.

Hemingway daiquiri for me

Nam khao – crispy rice, Thai herb salad, name, peanuts. These were sort of like a lettuce wrap. The filling was very flavorful.

Basil wings for John. He loves these wings. The dry rub is super flavorful, and the skin could not be more crispy and perfect.

Snow crab wontons with crab, cream cheese and apricot sweet chili. Very simple but done well here.

Drunken noodles with chicken with thick rice noodles, dark soy, tamarind sauce Thai basil, tomatoes, egg and garlic.

Bacon pineapple fried rice – this is their signature dish and it is amazing! It has pineapple sambal tumis, house cured bacon, pickled golden raisins, cashews, egg, onion and scallion in it. This is even better the next day. Seriously. You have to order it.

Lechon, which is Filipino roasted pork belly with black pepper vinegar and mang tomas. This was super rich. Might be a good dish to share with a large group, but you can’t have more than a piece to two really since it is so rich.

We ordered way, way too much food, but the fried rice really does reheat well, and so do the noodles, so leftovers are a bonus. Prices of most items are in the $10-15 range with signature entrees $17-36 range. Things do add up since you will want to order a bunch of items to share and sample. So it really depends what you order.

We had the same server as our first visit, but this time she seemed a lot less frazzled. I think they are getting into their groove now. Lat 14 is a great addition to the Twin Cities dining scene and in particular a nice change from the standard suburban dining options.


Lat 14 Asian Eatery
8815 7th Ave N
Golden Valley, MN 55427
Phone: (763) 400-7910
https://www.lat14.com