Tilia

My friend Stephanie and I decided since we had such a fun time at Haute Dish awhile back we'd schedule another nice night out at a new (to us) restaurant. I've been hearing a lot about Tilia ever since it opened, but hesitated to check it out since they do not accept reservations and it is a pretty small place. We decided to arrive early, at 5pm so we would not have to wait too long for a table. We were lucky too, on arrival all of the tables were full but there was room for us at the bar, which was just fine with us!

This is the shrimp and it was our favorite dish of the night.  The shrimp were in a spicy tomato sauce that was very flavorful with black beans and peas. We both used the flat bread to get every last bit of the sauce too. I can't wait to go back and have it again.

The flat bread was good, but dipping it in the spicy shrimp sauce took it to a whole new level. The dukka (or peanuts or whatever it was) was fun to have with the olive oil on the flat bread too. I like the crunchiness it added to the bread. It was good to nibble on while we wait for the rest of our food to come up.

We both really enjoyed the pirogi and they tasted great. It was like a mini pot roast and mashed potatoes fried into a dumpling. The outer crust was very crisp and the sauces added a bit of brightness and freshness to the bready pirogi.

We both loved the fish taco torta too. The cilantro and lime combined with the lightly breaded fish was so perfect. The crunch of the breaded fish worked well with the softness of the other ingredients. Very tasty! The whole dish tasted like vacation in Mexico to me!

The mushroom panzanella was also good, but I would probably not order that again. The mushrooms and sauce kind of made the bread soggy which neither of us cared for very much. We probably should have ordered something else that paired better with the other items we ordered.  Everything else had such strong flavors that this seemed sort of bland.

When we ordered dessert we thought we were still hungry, so we both ordered the butterscotch pudding and shared the German chocolate cupcake. The butterscotch dessert was so fabulous! I understand why they serve it in an espresso type cup because was so smooth you could drink it and it was very, very richly flavored. The German chocolate cupcake was good too, very moist with good chocolate flavor, but the butterscotch dessert was really amazing.

The service at the bar was good, though they got quite busy at times and we both liked the small cozy atmosphere of the place. It was very white and sparse inside. We really liked the portion size of the dishes and everything was so beautifully presented. We were able to try quite a few things and not get too full (until dessert). Also, the pricing was great for quality ingredients. I wish I lived nearby so I could stop by all the time and I look forward to going back soon.


Tilia
2726 West 43rd Street
Minneapolis, MN 55410
Phone: 612 354 2806
http://www.tiliampls.com/