The Twin Cities area is filled with grossly under-appreciated, truly authentic ethnic restaurants serving up perfect food, albeit in run-down, dingy looking spaces. Harry Singh's Original Caribbean Restaurant is another one.
I've been to Harry Singh's twice, and both times have spent some time afterwards in pain. This is a good thing.
As stated, the space is small and really not very nice looking. There is not a double door where there should be one, so every time the door is opened cold winter air rushes in and freezes all the patrons who are otherwise sweating due to the heat of the food. The wall on one side is a large mural of Minneapolis which then flows into some sort of country scene. The other wall has two smaller murals with pictures, newspaper articles, and well-deserved awards beside. The tables are glass topped with menus placed beneath the glass. The chairs look like they might have came from the overflow seating of a church.
The food and the feel make it all worth it. Robyn makes sure everyone has plenty of water and is friendly, making everyone feel at home. Harry comes out on occasion and is very gracious and appreciative of all customers. He also gently pokes fun at people who challenge how spicy he can make a meal.
Yes, the food, the main reason why I will keep going back to Harry Singh's. The food inspires masochism to an unparalleled level. Food can be ordered to whatever spice level a person wants, except the jerk dishes, which simply cannot come mild. Follow this guideline: order your food average. Harry makes and bottles a homemade sauce with which you can add spice if desired.
The menu is intimidating until Robyn explains the menu items and/or you look at the large sign in front of the kitchen window explaining what "Roti" is. I'm not going to explain it, other than it is delicious and should be the first thing you try when you go there. Most people will be able to share one and leave moderately full. I finish them in one sitting because they are delicious. There are a few homemade drinks which are all unique to the city and wonderful in their own ways.
Harry also makes some rice dishes which are incredibly good and very colorful, with various protein options. Taye Povs ordered one of these and requested it be made as spicy hot as possible. Robyn looked at me, and asked "really?" I affirmed Taye's request and chuckled as I ordered an average spice Roti with a bottle of hot sauce.
Taye challenged Harry, and Harry kicked Taye around the block for the next few days. I took one bite of Taye's meal and did not feel good until later the next afternoon. This is where the masochism comes in though. Harry's meals are not just straight heat, one can still taste the wonderful flavors, so one keeps going.
This is the part where I implore you to support genuine food made by people who really want to deliver a proper ethnic meal. So, go to Harry Singh's.
Website: http://www.harrysinghs.com/
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tum Rup Thai
This is not a spot I would have ordinarily chosen, as I do not like Uptown. By the way, this restaurant is in Uptown. At any rate most places I have been to in Uptown have been overhyped, overpriced, overrated, haughty, or some combination of the preceding.
We were drawn there by a gift certificate given to me by my generous employees. I always like trying new Thai restaurants, so even though it was in Uptown we gave it a shot.
The evening did not start well. We had reservations, and the completely vacant and inept host told us it would be just a short wait. I wasn't expecting a wait at all since I had reservations. If this was a small, family owned restaurant I would not have been shocked or minded at all. However, this is run by the same people who run the Sawatdee restaurants and was supposed to be their more "upscale" location, so I did mind.
The restaurant was packed with people. The space was nothing to look at, simply a typical dimly lit semi-modern room in too narrow a suite. There was not anything near an adequate waiting area as we continued to have to shuffle about to make room for servers and other staff walking around doing seemingly nothing. The bar looked like something they tacked on when the designer remembered it was Uptown and people would expect a bar area.
The host never bothered to update us on exactly how long it was going to be. Fifteen minutes later I lost patience and asked him what the heck was going on and informed him that given we had reservations this was completely unacceptable. He looked a bit frightened and mumbled something. About ten minutes later he mumbled something again and started walking towards a table that looked like it could accommodate our group, so we followed.
I honestly don't remember much about the food except that it was fairly good and reasonably priced but underwhelming. The highlight of the menu was the red curry that one member of our party ordered. It was wonderful, but not authentic enough to redeem the rest of the over-sauced, Americanized Thai food trying to pass itself off as authentic.
Bad service was simply the theme of the evening. Our server, while not quite as inept as the host, did not know what wine was available. After ordering a bottle, he came back a long time later to inform us they were out. We made a second choice which he claimed would be just as good. It was not. It was a blend with a passable body, but the finish tasted like inferior Chenin Blanc. He did not even open the bottle in the proper fashion, nor did he ever deliver the tea that another member of the party ordered. If you want to know what this wine was so you can avoid it, it was the Folie à DeuxMénage à Trois White Blend. It should be noted however that I was the only person in the party who strongly disliked it, everyone else thought it was good or ok. I couldn't bring myself to finish one glass.
There's nothing wrong with Americanized Thai food, if that's what you're looking for, sometimes I would rather have it than the real thing. There is something wrong with poor service from start to finish. The one nice thing is that the restaurant did not fit the typical Uptown mold that I stated above. It was only over-self-hyped.
Website: http://www.tumrupthai.com/
We were drawn there by a gift certificate given to me by my generous employees. I always like trying new Thai restaurants, so even though it was in Uptown we gave it a shot.
The evening did not start well. We had reservations, and the completely vacant and inept host told us it would be just a short wait. I wasn't expecting a wait at all since I had reservations. If this was a small, family owned restaurant I would not have been shocked or minded at all. However, this is run by the same people who run the Sawatdee restaurants and was supposed to be their more "upscale" location, so I did mind.
The restaurant was packed with people. The space was nothing to look at, simply a typical dimly lit semi-modern room in too narrow a suite. There was not anything near an adequate waiting area as we continued to have to shuffle about to make room for servers and other staff walking around doing seemingly nothing. The bar looked like something they tacked on when the designer remembered it was Uptown and people would expect a bar area.
The host never bothered to update us on exactly how long it was going to be. Fifteen minutes later I lost patience and asked him what the heck was going on and informed him that given we had reservations this was completely unacceptable. He looked a bit frightened and mumbled something. About ten minutes later he mumbled something again and started walking towards a table that looked like it could accommodate our group, so we followed.
I honestly don't remember much about the food except that it was fairly good and reasonably priced but underwhelming. The highlight of the menu was the red curry that one member of our party ordered. It was wonderful, but not authentic enough to redeem the rest of the over-sauced, Americanized Thai food trying to pass itself off as authentic.
Bad service was simply the theme of the evening. Our server, while not quite as inept as the host, did not know what wine was available. After ordering a bottle, he came back a long time later to inform us they were out. We made a second choice which he claimed would be just as good. It was not. It was a blend with a passable body, but the finish tasted like inferior Chenin Blanc. He did not even open the bottle in the proper fashion, nor did he ever deliver the tea that another member of the party ordered. If you want to know what this wine was so you can avoid it, it was the Folie à DeuxMénage à Trois White Blend. It should be noted however that I was the only person in the party who strongly disliked it, everyone else thought it was good or ok. I couldn't bring myself to finish one glass.
There's nothing wrong with Americanized Thai food, if that's what you're looking for, sometimes I would rather have it than the real thing. There is something wrong with poor service from start to finish. The one nice thing is that the restaurant did not fit the typical Uptown mold that I stated above. It was only over-self-hyped.
Website: http://www.tumrupthai.com/
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Grumpy Steve's Coffee
This is a small coffee shop next to the Wabasha Street Caves, and I only noticed the shop because of this fact. When I was driving by, I said to myself, "What is that little store next to that huge pile of masonry set into the cliffside?"
The name amused me, so I decided to go in. I glared at this "Grumpy Steve" with is whitened beard and thought to myself, "I had better be satisfied or I will write such an awful review of his establishment no man shall set foot in it again!" I then set my teeth and prepared to strike.
This man, grumpy by title only, warmed my heart with a belgian waffle. Mmmm mmm good.
The coffee and other snacks were delectible as well, and if not for the fact that I had to go to work, I may have tried the microbrew beer (not sure if it is his or some other's) or the liqours his establishment also offered.
The coffee hut was pretty standard as far as decor went, except that a large portion of it was taken up by, for lack of a better word, tourist crap. Minnesota books, coffee paraphenalia, and crappy jewelry took up the almost all the wall space.
Or at least, I wish it did.
What really took up nearly all of the available space (leaving only marginal room for that other crap) were "Mystic Trolls" which were ugly little dolls which leered at you with their dark eyes. I was alarmed, as trolls are the minions of the Frost Giants and would surely reveal my location if I stayed.
Because of this I was forced to down my coffee and waffle a little more hurriedly than I would have liked, and I will never return to this establishment, although you, gentle reader, are probably safe to do so. (If'n you don't mind having congress with trolls.)
The name amused me, so I decided to go in. I glared at this "Grumpy Steve" with is whitened beard and thought to myself, "I had better be satisfied or I will write such an awful review of his establishment no man shall set foot in it again!" I then set my teeth and prepared to strike.
This man, grumpy by title only, warmed my heart with a belgian waffle. Mmmm mmm good.
The coffee and other snacks were delectible as well, and if not for the fact that I had to go to work, I may have tried the microbrew beer (not sure if it is his or some other's) or the liqours his establishment also offered.
The coffee hut was pretty standard as far as decor went, except that a large portion of it was taken up by, for lack of a better word, tourist crap. Minnesota books, coffee paraphenalia, and crappy jewelry took up the almost all the wall space.
Or at least, I wish it did.
What really took up nearly all of the available space (leaving only marginal room for that other crap) were "Mystic Trolls" which were ugly little dolls which leered at you with their dark eyes. I was alarmed, as trolls are the minions of the Frost Giants and would surely reveal my location if I stayed.
Because of this I was forced to down my coffee and waffle a little more hurriedly than I would have liked, and I will never return to this establishment, although you, gentle reader, are probably safe to do so. (If'n you don't mind having congress with trolls.)
Yep, nothing says "Time To Drink Coffee" like this little SOB.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Shuang Cheng
It was like a crappy diner, only Chinese food. You know what I mean, ugly plaster walls and uninspired decoration, generic chairs and paper placemats that you can buy in bulk from a generic restaurant supply store.
That said, I can still taste the ginger sauced dungeness crab I ate the other night. The fried rice dish was excellent as well, but that crab may have been one of, if not the, greatest things I have ever eaten. The dragon who accompanied me to dinner explained, in his language as beautiful as it is incomprehensible to human ears, that Shuang Cheng was known for seafood dishes and I very much believe it.
The menu offered a variety of dishes, but for the most part it was standard Chinese restaurant fair. It did offer a better meat selection than some (mainly in that it had real duck in the dishes if you wanted it), and had a much larger seafood menu than many Chinese places. Which makes sense if you read the paragraph above this one.
Service was surprisingly prompt (if a little rushed) considering that the place was packed to the brim with people. Nothing really good or bad to say about it. It was nice that they offered free tea along with the water.
Ultimately, Shuang Cheng adds another unexpected yet excellent Asian food-hole to the big list of such things to be found in the area.
That said, I can still taste the ginger sauced dungeness crab I ate the other night. The fried rice dish was excellent as well, but that crab may have been one of, if not the, greatest things I have ever eaten. The dragon who accompanied me to dinner explained, in his language as beautiful as it is incomprehensible to human ears, that Shuang Cheng was known for seafood dishes and I very much believe it.
The menu offered a variety of dishes, but for the most part it was standard Chinese restaurant fair. It did offer a better meat selection than some (mainly in that it had real duck in the dishes if you wanted it), and had a much larger seafood menu than many Chinese places. Which makes sense if you read the paragraph above this one.
Service was surprisingly prompt (if a little rushed) considering that the place was packed to the brim with people. Nothing really good or bad to say about it. It was nice that they offered free tea along with the water.
Ultimately, Shuang Cheng adds another unexpected yet excellent Asian food-hole to the big list of such things to be found in the area.
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