Great Taste

Best egg foo yung in Roch? Best steak just about anywhere?

Great Taste has enjoyed egg foo yung since before many readers of this blog were born. Of EFY consumed in Rochester, Great Taste likes China Star's best.

Note: EFY was ordered from CS's 1st Avenue location.

Other restaurant notes:

Michaels still keeps us satisfied with perfect steaks, prime rib, wedge salad, etc. In fact, for taste and precise preparation of steaks Michael's can go up against any steak house in the country. (Indeed Great Taste prefers Michaels steaks to those at Morton's, Manny's, and several other "big name" steak houses.) Also--unlike most fine dining options in Rochester--you can hear what your dining partner is saying, even on a Friday night.   

Jasper's Alsatian Bistro seems to be overlooked on many "best lists" and that's a mistake. Great Taste always starts a meal with house-made chicken liver pate....Jewish deli-restaurants aside, where else in the Midwest can one order this on a regular basis?   

Sontes continues to impress under Chef Bryce. This chic tapas restaurant also deserves more local acclaim than it seems to get. 

 

"Downtown sushi" may return to Roch

Here's the scoop, in case you didn't see it previously on Kiger's blog:

http://postbulletin.typepad.com/kiger/2011/03/sushi-is-shimmying-back-into-downtown.html

 

"Just say no" to shark fin soup

Dear Baseball Cap:

Say it ain't so. GG understands you love burgers, fries, and all that, yeah. And she knows you dig the edgy stuff like absinthe. But--you are seeking SHARK FIN SOUP?

Please read the following links:  http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2009391,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_finning

If you are looking for something rare and wonderful, note that, in just a couple of months, luscious morels will be popping up here in Minnesota. So delish yet harmless to fellow creatures.   

20.21 will serve its last dinner March 12

In case you missed earlier reports, 20.21 Restaurant & Bar at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, is about to close. 

20.21 brought the glam and culinary wizardry of LA-based Chef Wolfgang Puck to the Twin Cities.

Minneapolis-based D’Amico and Partners will replace 20.21 later this spring with Gather, which will be open mainly for lunch.

If you never have had the chance to dine at 20.21 and are curious about it, GG urges you to make the trip while you can.

Back in 2009 GG created her Great Taste "faves list" for Twin Cities finer dining and 20.21 didn't make the cut. At the time she felt the high profile spot was a too-predictable pick, and that Puck's restaurants in LA were better.

But GG wouldn't ever have wished that sleek and sexy 20.21 exit the scene. Ouch. 

Ready for the Year of the Rabbit?

Here's info on a Chinese New Year celebration in Rochester, featuring stage show and dinner:

http://www.mcssamn.org/

Make your own pad Thai

Last year Great Taste lamented about the dearth of high quality, authentic Thai restaurants in southern Minnesota. That situation hasn't changed. But, there's always one's own kitchen!

Here is a recent recipe from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/dining/21minirex.html?src=me&ref=general

Specialty ingredients may be found at Asian stores, online, or in the Asian section of some supermarkets.

Sushi Itto....Why?

Great Taste doesn't know the exact reason for Sushi Itto's closing.

http://postbulletin.typepad.com/kiger/

But she does have thoughts about it.

Sushi Itto's teriyaki was excellent. The restaurant made top-notch bubble tea and enjoyable tempura. Atmosphere was best in the area for a Japanese dining experience.

Great Taste, who once lived walking distance to the Pacific Ocean on the West Coast, finds it challenging to compare the very fresh fish she experienced in LA or San Fran sushi spots compared to what she had at Sushi Itto in Rochester.

But Sushi Itto filled a niche. Downtown Rochester was better off for it. Sontes, Pescara, Sopra Sotto and Sushi Itto were part of a wave that swept though the city's core and transformed the dining scene. Sushi Itto in particular added diversity to the mix.   

Great Taste was sorry to learn that it closed.....What about you, reader?

Also on the wish list: bulgogi

I want my.......I want my.....I want my bul-go-gi! 

Readers, is there any place you've found in Minnesota, western Wisconsin or northeastern Iowa that makes a memorable (for the right reasons) version of this signature Korean dish?

GG

Stewartville: Chinese food news flash

From Jeff Kiger's blog:

http://postbulletin.typepad.com/kiger/2009/11/chinese-food-cooking-again-in-stewartville.html

Hunan Garden is among the best Chinese restaurants in Rochester. Cheers, Stewartville! 

Minnesota Thai food: an oxymoron?

Southern Minnesota has no Thai food restaurants. So GT ordered take-out Thai from the Burnsville area--which looks to be the nearest source--based on reading positive consumer online reviews.

Result: We nibbled at pad Thai, slurped spicy coconut chicken soup, and tried mango with sticky rice dessert. We tasted Thai iced tea. Then we headed to the trash pail and threw it away.  Not only was the food hopelessly inauthentic, it looked and tasted less than fresh.

How can there be numerous glowing online reviews for this restaurant?

Great Taste has never been to Thailand but knows a little about the food. GT took a series of Thai cooking classes in New York City, and has prepared dishes at home. Great Taste used to sit captivated as a Thai friend described native cuisine, including fire-hot details of the burning spicy dishes that Thai people truly like. In Chicago boho days of yore Great Taste dined regularly on cheap, delicious and authentic Thai food. In later years GT continued to frequent simple storefronts (including all-time fave Penny's Noodle Shop by the elevated tracks) but also graduated to four-star gourmet Arun's.

Today, after more than two years full time in this state, GT admits that the lack of sophistication about most ethnic foods is numbing. In general writing about the dining scene here feels like folly. GT visits restaurants that are widely known as best in the area and walks out not knowing what to write about.

A recent trip to Chicago was like a return to civilization.There are glimmers of hope, however, like awesome Amish-made doughnuts at Thursdays on First.

We'll stop whining now. The grass is always greener.... If we're missing out on some decent Thai food in southern Minnesota, please do tell us about it!