Crave

Erin visited on Sunday, April 13th with Mom

My mom and I wanted to grab some lunch before heading over to Southdale to do a little shopping on Sunday. Neither of us had tried Crave yet, so we decided to go there and wander around the Galleria for awhile before heading over to Southdale.

I had heard that it can get pretty busy at times, so I made a reservation on Open Table for 12:30pm, but it wasn't that full when we got there so this might not be necessary.

The menu at Crave is very large - they really do have something for everyone, which is key in a mall restaurant. Both my mom and I decided to go with the Sunday brunch menu, which was different than what is shown on their website. (As a side note, what is with the trend of annoying music on restaurant websites? I hate it. I hate music on all websites. I hope that trend dies a quick death VERY soon.) There are many more options for brunch on the menu - such as a Minnesota Omelet with duck confit and some other things in it, quiche, and a few other things that I can't remember. They do have eggs benedict here but I decided to get something else for once.

I was deciding between a few things - the salmon omelet, Minnesota omelet, and the quiche - I asked our very friendly waiter for a suggestion, and he recommended the Salmon omelet. He said that the Minnesota omelet sounds better than it actually is, so keep that in mind if you go! My mom also got fresh squeezed orange juice - this was very good, but obviously it had a lot of pulp in it being fresh squeezed.

My omelet was very good - it said it had dill Havarti cheese in it, but I could barely taste that which was disappointing. It was a lighter omelet, and the salmon tasted delicious. I was pleasantly surprised that the omelet came with a side of potatoes and toast - that wasn't specified on the menu and sides were listed separately so I wasn't sure. The potatoes were cut almost too small - I would have liked the cubes to be just a little larger to have more potato and less .... edges, I guess? They were well seasoned and had peppers mixed in too. The bread was nutty and delicious.

My mom had the fried egg on foccacia with bacon and cheese - that looked REALLY good. I had a tiny bite of her bacon and it was great!

Crave also has a full sushi menu - I glanced at it and it seemed pretty expensive, but I'm not sure how much you get. It was a really pretty restaurant for being inside of a mall - they had really cool light fixtures and nice decor. They also had an okay patio - if you are into sitting outside overlooking a parking lot and Southdale.

(Light fixture)


(Patio)

Even though Ben didn't go here with me, I will use his rating scale:

• Service: Excellent - our server was very friendly and attentive.
  
• Food: My omelet was slightly bland but still good, my mom's sandwich seemed great. Very extensive menu.
  
• Drinks: The OJ was good... they have a full bar and a large wine list.
  
• Ambiance: Very nice for a mall restaurant. Even nice for a non-mall restaurant too, I guess.
  
• Price: Both of our meals were approximately $10 so it was right in line with what I expected from a place inside of the Galleria.
  
• Convenience: Lots of parking, near major highways.
  

Deets

Crave
3520 West 70th Street (in the Galleria)
Edina, MN

Recommended if you happen to be in the area. I wouldn't make a special trip or anything.

IKEA

Visited on Saturday, March 29th

Ben's Review
Erin convinced me to go to Ikea against my better judgment - Ikea on a Saturday afternoon is hell. On the way there I remembered that Ikea has $0.99 breakfast so I thought at least we could try that out while we were there.

We got there a little before noon and we actually found a parking spot close to the door, amazing, I know.

When you walk in the front door there is a hot dog stand immediately to your left. It was closer to lunch than breakfast, so we decided to go for hot dogs instead of seeking out the cheap breakfast. Besides, it was $2.50 for two dogs, chips, and a soda so this would go down as the cheapest entry for 'we got served' ever. I even opted for just two hot dogs (50 cents each) which brought the grand total to $3.50.

The other patrons at Ikea are mostly in good moods, strangely, it must have been the decent weather. This is usually the reason for having an unpleasant times at fast food locations like this, people acting all bitchy with kids running around screaming and making a mess. Here, people had the kids inside of shopping carts to keep them reined in, and they seemed to enjoy the novelty :)

The guy who dished up the hot dogs stands in front of a huge 'hot dog rotator' like you see at gas stations, only bigger and cleaner. He was working up a good sweat by handing out at least four hot dogs to each person coming through the line, he looked like a real pro and was friendly to boot.

I quickly threw some ketchup on our hot dogs and grabbed some relish packets for me and a diet Pepsi for Erin and made our way to the table. 45 seconds later, we were through eating and moved on to shop through the store.

I think the highlight of the trip for me was hearing several employees speaking a cool sounding Scandinavian language.

Ikea's ratings:

• Service: The food service was quick, two registers and one motivated guy handing out dogs.
  
• Food: Hot dogs - you can't screw them up.
  
• Drinks: Severely lacking here, I thought you could drink beer anywhere in Europe???
  
• Ambiance: This was decent, the mood at Ikea isn't too bad and people are friendly.
  
• Price: The best price you'll ever find.
  
• Convenience: The parking lot here is bigger than any restaurant we'll ever review, but you'll have to venture to the suburbs.

Erin's Review

Unlike Ben, I do believe you can screw up hot dogs. We got some in NYC that were supposed to be "the best" (at Papaya King on the Upper East Side) but they were tiny and nothing special. The hot dogs at Ikea are fine - medium sized and served very hot. Obviously this entry is kind of a joke - we really don't believe that Ikea is fine dining, but it is nice that they have some food options when you are there.

The hot dog/ice cream/cinnamon roll area is right by the entrance so that is where we went - as we were walking through the store, we came to the main restaurant which has a lot more options - including the 99 cent breakfast. Have any of our readers eaten here? If so, please let me know how it is - I'm quite curious. People seemed to be enjoying themselves at any rate. I even saw real plates and silverware.

(the "real" IKEA restaurant)

Deets

IKEA
800 IKEA Way
Bloomington, MN 55425

Recommended ... if you have to go there, might as well get some cheap eats.