Sen Yai Sen Lek

Visited on Saturday, January 16th with Kate and Kyle

Erin's Review
Since we were taking Kyle and Kate out for dinner, it seemed only appropriate to choose a place in their neck of the woods. Getting them out of northeast CAN be a challenge ;) There are a number of places I want to try in the area, but most I'd like to try when I can actually drink again - Thai places are great for not causing me to crave beer or wine at all, so that's why I went with Sen Yai Sen Lek. Even though they don't have cream cheese wontons! Somehow I survived... :)

We got to the restaurant a few minutes late, and thanks to the iPhone, discovered that Kate and Kyle were already in the bar area, which was pretty deserted. The restaurant is split into two distinct rooms, which would make it kind of nice to rent out for a party, if they do that kind of thing.

After waiting just a minute, we were seated in a booth - the booth seemed small and uncomfortable to me, but I think that has more to do with being 8.5 months pregnant and less to do with the actual booth... The decor of the restaurant was pretty minimal, but nice.

We quickly ordered, and I got the Pad See Iew Gai. Our food came out relatively quickly, starting with the chicken satay appetizer, which was pretty good. The toast points that it was served with were a little odd to me, but whatever. I really enjoyed my Pad See Iew - it was big enough for 2 meals, and had good flavor. Kyle's dish, which was some kind of spicy pork dish, was also very tasty.

Sen Yai Sen Lek is fairly similar to a lot of Thai places around the Twin Cities, but what sets them apart slightly is their commitment to sourcing local ingredients and using environmentally friendly practices such as composting leftovers and garbage when possible. It is a very cozy and casual restaurant - check it out if you are in Northeast!

Ben's Review
We went to Sen Yai Sen Lek with Kate and Kyle last Saturday after a day spent making freezer meals in prep for the baby coming. You would think that I chose the spot, since this is a Thai place, but this was actually Erin's choice(!). Obviously I had no problem with it, so we headed over to NE Mpls around 6:30 or so.

We arrived and Erin put our names on the list and was told it would be about fifteen minutes. We whipped out our iPhones to check for important updates in the last 20 minutes of our lives and discovered that Kate and Kyle were already there, sitting at the bar. From twitter. FML.

We walked over to the bar (twenty feet away) and almost had time to order a drink before they came and got us for our table, as Kate and Kyle had already put their names on the list. We got a booth near the front of the restaurant, right behind the host's station. I had seen a Flat Earth brew on tap and I was hoping it was the winter warlock, but it was the Belgian pale ale, so I went with a Surly bender that was on tap. I usually can't pull myself away from the Furious, so I was glad to be forced into the bender this night.

I was tempted to try the Laab Gai (a spicy Isaan salad) that had been recommended to me, but the Ba Mee Haeng was calling out to me, which is described as "Thin egg noodles served with barbecue pork, lettuce, fried garlic, bean sprouts and cilantro". We also ordered chicken skewers for the table as an appetizer.

The skewers came out relatively quickly and with an unusual side of toast for everyone. The skewers were great with the peanut sauce and I was also glad that there were four of them, it always confuses me when places have three, five, or six pieces for an appetizer as it doesn't split very well (hell, three and five are prime numbers!).

Our entrees came out without too much wait from our friendly server along with someone else who I'm pretty sure was the owner, judging by the picture on their website. If it was indeed him that's cool, as it appeared he was also cooking as well. My dish, while tasty, was difficult to eat as the noodles were very thin and it was tough to get them along with the rest of the dish onto my fork. I really liked the lettuce in the dish, it reminded me of a vermicelli salad at a place like Quang. The pork was described as barbecue but I didn't really get any barbecue flavor from the pork.

Towards the end of the meal we got to watch the spectacle of another patron getting an entire pint of beer spilled all over his shirt and pants and he raced to the bathroom to salvage what he could. I always feel bad for the server and the "victim" but it's still funny regardless. It would have been better if it had been someone on a date :)

We skipped dessert to head over to Wilde Roast for coffee and cheesecake (REALLY good). I think we'll be heading back to Sen Yai Sen Lek in the future though, there are more items I'd like to try.

• Service: Our service was great, between our server and the owner/food runner.
  
• Food: Tasty food and locally sourced/organic ingredients are used where they can.
  
• Drinks: They have a good beer/wine list that has something for everyone and a selection of Thai beers as well.
  
• Ambiance: The website describes this as a family restaurant and I got that impression while we were there. We saw several children and babies and nobody seemed to mind, I liked it.
  
• Price: The prices are right on par with most other Thai places, with the added advantage of having local/organic ingredients.
• Convenience: They are located at Central & 24th Ave NE. No parking lot so you have to park on a side street or take one of the buses up Central.

Deets
Sen Yai Sen Lek
2422 Central Ave NE
Minneapolis

Citizen Cafe

Visited on Wednesday, December 23rd

Ben's Review
As our Christmas present to each other, Erin and I went out to breakfast on the 23rd (which is actually Erin's birthday but many places weren't open on the 24th or 25th). After scouring our list for an acceptable breakfast place we decided on Citizen Cafe on 38th St, near Hiawatha.

I called a little after 10 to make sure they were still serving breakfast. They stop breakfast at 11am so we hurriedly hopped in the car to make sure we didn't miss out. Getting there at 10:30 on a Wednesday was no problem, especially since the route has us going through mostly side streets (we even caught a green light crossing Hiawatha, a Christmas miracle!).

Citizen Cafe is s smallish place and we almost drove by it as it was covered in snow on this day. When you walk in you can go straight into one dining area or through a door to your left into another, smaller dining area that faces out a window towards the street. It was nearly empty so we had our choice of tables and Erin chose the smaller area in front that we had to ourselves and the two friendly servers who would hang out nearby. The place is decorated simply and sparsely, matching the website and the starkness of the communist nature of their logo and posters. In the room we were in they had a huge blackboard that was beautifully drawn with their menu and artwork.

The breakfast menu has some of the standard items like steak & eggs, egg sandwich, and eggs, meat, and toast, but it also has some more interesting items like the chef selection of cheese with house-made sauces and an assortment of delicious sounding potato scramblers. Eggs benedict is only available on weekends which is usually a good indicator that it is going to be damn good.

I went with a potato scrambler that appears to not be on the menu anymore, but it had cubed potatoes, pulled chicken, some veggies, melted cheddar, with a fried egg on top. While all of the individual ingredients tasted great, the dish as a whole lacked consistency. I think it needed more cheese to let everything gel together, as little of it stuck together, making it frustrating to eat (everything rolled around on the plate).

Homemade and local food lovers will like Citizen Cafe as they use locally sourced products and everything on the menu is made in house. In spite of this the prices are still reasonable, the eggs benedict are even under $10 which is getting hard to find. I think we will find our way back here on a weekend after the baby is born so Erin can give the eggs benedict a try, it's at the top of her list of things she misses due to the pregnancy.

• Service: The service was great, both servers were friendly and knew when to leave us alone.
  
• Food: Excellent scramblers, I just wish they had loaded it with more cheese.
  
• Drinks: We just had coffee and oj, but they also have beer and wine, though I didn't inspect the list at all.
  
• Ambiance: This is a laid back place, there was a group of six people hanging out and another couple came in with newspapers in hand, they don't seem to mind if you take your time.
  
• Price: Great prices, especially given that everything is made from scratch and with local ingredients.
• Convenience: Close to Hiawatha and the buses and they also have a parking lot.

Erin's Review
It has been tough for me to choose breakfast places I actually want to go to on our list - if we DO go, that sacrifices the "first" time where we will write a review, and in the past 8 months, I have been strongly advised against my favorite breakfast food - eggs benedict - due to the raw egg yolks in hollandaise sauce. Sometimes I will ask if the eggs in the sauce are pasteurized - I've only found one "yes" so far - Red Stag Supper Club. Mmm boy, those green eggs and ham were DELICIOUS. Most restaurants just can't tell me for sure, so I don't take the risk. At Citizen Cafe, at least they only serve eggs benedict on weekends, and this being a Wednesday, I didn't have to feel like I was missing out!

It took us awhile to get going that morning - Ben wanted to wait until he was "really hungry" before leaving, and I also made him go to Caribou to get my free birthday drink for me :) I'm actually pretty sure they stopped serving breakfast at 11:30, and that we got there at like 11:20 because I remember it being much more rushed than Ben describes - I think we left our house about 30 minutes before they stopped serving breakfast. Not sure how strict they would have been with this, but a couple that came in closer to noon did get the dinner menu.

When we arrived, I chose to sit in the room facing 38th Street (I think) because it had more windows and more light for photos :) We were all alone for a bit, which was just fine with us. After we ordered our drinks, the server brought out a small plate of pumpkin bread and scones which were both tasty.

It looks like the menu has changed since we went - I got the brioche french toast, but it was served with berries, not foster style. It reminded me a lot of the french toast we got at our B&B when we went to London last May - delicious! I ate every single bite. It seemed like a much more reasonable portion than most places, either that or I'm just eating way more right now :) I also got the fresh squeezed oj, which was a reasonable $2, unlike some other places we've been...

Citizen Cafe was an awesome breakfast spot - I'd definitely like to return on a weekend, post-baby, to enjoy the eggs benedict, or for dinner - they have a lot of great options on the menu. The ambiance and service were wonderful - it was close to empty when we were there, so it's hard to judge how it would be if it was busy, but everyone was very friendly and attentive.

Deets
The Citizen Cafe
2403 East 38th Street
Minneapolis

Mango Thai

Visited on Friday, December 11th with Bill and Kim

(Taken in September. It looks the same now, except dark, with snow, and no leaves on the trees)

Erin's Review
I can barely remember how this dinner came to be - it was some kind of collaboration between Ben and Bill that came out of meeting at our company party or something...? I have no idea, but I was glad because I've been wanting to try Mango Thai since missing out back in September when we tried with our neighbors, who have since been and RAVED about it.

I have to admit, I was a LITTLE nervous to go out to eat with Bill after reading his many scathing reviews of restaurants especially since we chose the place. Thankfully, it seemed to pass muster for him, based on his review ;) Too bad it takes us over a week to post anything, unlike him who got his review up the next day (I blame Ben).

I think I have gotten a lot pickier about restaurant service lately (like in the past 7 months or so) because there were a few things that really bugged me here - first, we sat down and never got menus or waters until I specifically asked for water later. The server had walked by our table several times too, and already brought Ben and Bill their pint glasses, so he knew we were there. That is just unacceptable. Second, after we ordered our appetizers, we had to ask to order our main dishes - after the appetizers had come, been eaten, and the plates were cleared. Our server seemed to be a nice guy, but kind of a space cadet. Third, as is normally my pet peeve in restaurants, KEEP THE WATER COMING. They were pretty slow about this, and especially at a Thai place where food is spicy (for a normal non-Bill person), this is a necessity. If it's too much work to fill the glasses by hand, bring out a pitcher for the table.

Now that those issues are out of my system, the rest of our experience here was really enjoyable. I loved the space - it felt very cozy, and I definitely want to sit in one of the tables near the entryway with cutouts for feet at some point. The mango spring rolls we got as an appetizer were very good - I did taste the mango, mostly because mine fell apart so I ate pieces of some pieces of mango by itself :)

I had been coming down with a slight cold so was in the mood for soup - I got the Tom Kha Chicken Coconut soup, with no spice (there were 3 chilis next to it on the menu, but the server said they could make it not spicy for me). I've had this soup before, when my brother-in-law made it for Christmas last year. This was a HUGE portion - it came out in an enormous metal bowl with a flame to keep it hot - very nice presentation! It was way too much for me - I can never really gorge myself on soup. It was delicious though - a wonderful mix of flavors, and Ben enjoyed it again for lunch the next day. I'd definitely recommend getting this soup as a starter for the table - I'll bet you could easily get 4 small bowls out of it.

The only fiasco of the evening came when the server was going to pick up my soup to pack it up, and didn't also grab the plate it was on, which then fell back to the table, knocked over a water glass, spilled water on my camera and another woman's coat and broke. Yikes! In such a small space, it definitely caused a commotion. Obviously it was just an accident and they were very concerned about my camera, which was fine. They handled it well and got everything cleaned up quickly.

I will definitely return to Mango Thai - it is a beautiful place with delicious food. Yes, there were some service issues, but that was likely an individual situation and not indicative of the overall service at the restaurant.

Ben's Review
After trying and failing to go to Mango Thai with our neighbors over the summer (no reservations) we made plans to go with Bill and his wife a couple weeks ago, this time with reservations. Since our failed attempt, our neighbors also went to Mango Thai and reported back that the food was great and it was also a BYOB place. In preparation for this Bill and I met up downtown and went to Haskells to get several bottles of beer to share during our meal.

The first thing that you notice when walking in the door is how small this place is - even smaller than Blue Door Pub. I bet they have capacity for about 25 customers at any given time. This is why reservations are a necessity, otherwise you'll have a long wait on your hands. Bill and his wife had gotten there before us and were already seated. We were luckily seated at one of the normal tables with incredibly comfortable chairs, the amount of cushion for your ass is awesome :) Due to the small size you inevitably have to sit close to the tables next to you, not ideal but just something you have to deal with.

I felt a little self conscious about bringing in a medium sized cooler with our beers while everyone looked at me, but I quickly stashed the cooler under the table and put Bill in charge of doling out the beers when we needed refills. It was a struggle to keep up with Bill on the beer front, he was always cracking the next bottle when I still had half a pint left!

We ordered the mango spring rolls as an appetizer and they tasted good, but I could barely taste any mango in them. The presentation was gorgeous, as was the presentation of all the food we had.

To appease Scott ("all you ever get at Thai places is pad thai") I got the pad kee mow which is still a noodle based dish, but it doesn't have egg or peanuts, instead it's got garlic, chili and also came with a side of rice. I wasn't used to having rice mixed in with a noodle dish, but it tasted great and seemed to go together nicely. The portions at Mango Thai are smaller than a typical Thai place, which just means there aren't leftovers for lunch the next day and you still go home completely stuffed.

Bill has taken to calling me the "spice pussy" because of my perceived lack of tolerance for ultra spicy food like him. Even still, at the "medium" level of heat I had to add more red pepper to my dish to make it hot enough, even after the server claimed they made their food hotter than most Thai restaurants (btw, what Thai place DOESN'T say that??). Having heard of how Bill orders his Thai, "as hot as you can make it", I was interested to see if he was for real, and he was. He got it as hot as they could make it and still had to dump about a cup of some sort of chili paste into his dish to make it hot enough for him. The server was shocked. He had never seen them use as much spice as they did in his meal, and he STILL added more :) Needless to say, I think Bill was proud of himself.

We hung out for a bit after finishing as we had bought four 22oz bottles of beer and I had a ways to go on my last pint. All of our beers were great except the last one, the Rogue Santa's Private Reserve, it was drinkable but a little fruity as I recall. Between all the food and the heavy beers I was full to the point of pain. We had a great time hanging out with Bill and his wife, and you can never go wrong with Thai food, as far as I'm concerned.

• Service: Our server was OK. He overstated the spiciness level of the food, but a nice guy.
  
• Food: My pad kee mow was delicious and the spring rolls were good.
  
• Drinks: No alcohol, but you can bring your own, which is awesome. You can drink exactly what you want and pay liquor store prices for it, perfect.
  
• Ambiance: It was a small place so you have to be OK with ceding some of your personal space, but it was a fun place to be at on a Friday night.
  
• Price: The prices are great, entrees in the $10-$15 range. The appetizers are overpriced by comparison, ranging from $6-$9 for much less food.
• Convenience: Mango Thai is on Selby, around the corner from Muddy Pig. There is only on-street parking which can be bad in that area but we managed to get a spot that was pretty close. I think there are several bus lines that go down Selby as well.

Deets
Mango Thai
610 Selby Ave
St. Paul

Pepitos

Visited on Monday, December 7th

Ben's Review
To celebrate our last baby class on Monday night, Erin wanted to go out for dinner beforehand. We'd had a lot of Asian food lately so she wanted something different. Trying to find a place to go that was not Asian and relatively close to the hospital turned out to be more challenging than I would have guessed. We eventually settled on Pepitos in south Minneapolis that had some good reviews as being a friendly neighborhood Mexican restaurant.

Our class started at 6:30 so we got to the restaurant around 5pm to ensure that we'd have enough time to eat and make it to the hospital. Predictably, Pepitos was nearly empty when we arrived so getting a table was not an issue. The interior of Pepitos looks like you would expect a forty year old Mexican restaurant to look, with fiesta colors on the walls and dim lighting (the dim lighting in many restaurants always frustrates Erin's picture taking).

I quickly scanned the beer list after we got seated and noticed that the beer list was not extensive and was on the pricey side. Also, the happy hour is only in the lounge so the deals did not apply for us. I decided on the tall (25 oz) Summit for ~$6.25 only because it was a better cost-per-ounce than the pint. Our server came back with the disappointing news that they were out of Summit, so I downgraded to a pint of Newcastle (not being a huge Newcastle fan). This turned out to be a good decision later on.

After munching on some delicious tortilla chips with mild and hot salsa, we were ready to order. I went with the tamale plato with pork, under the house specialties, and Erin had the nachos lupitas that were recommended to her by a co-worker. After ordering I thought we would have some time to nibble on some more chips and sip my beer, but I think our food came out 3-5 minutes later, it was shockingly fast. Fast to the point where I was skeptical about the food, like maybe it was premade. I'm not saying it WAS premade, it just seemed to come impossibly quick. This was the reason that the pint of beer was better than the 25 oz glass. I finished my food well before my beer to begin with, so nine more ounces would have just been annoying.

My tamale was good, but not great. I liked the beans and rice on the side better than the actual tamale. The tamale was a little dry and just tasted kind of bland. There was no way Erin was going to finish all of her lupitas, so I had a couple of those as well and they were delicious, much better than the tamale. The lupitas are like big nachos on pieces of flaky dough instead of tortilla chips. It's technically an appetizer but is certainly big enough for a meal. I had several bites of Erin's and she still had two leftover by the time we were done.

Since we got our food so early we even had time to head over to Turtle Bread Co. for some cheesecake. I had never been to Turtle Bread, but I thought it was a fantastic place, there is no divider between the kitchen and the seating area which gives it an interesting layout. The cheesecake was so good, but we were so full from dinner that we couldn't finish the shared slice. Great way to finish up a meal though.

• Service: There was a bit of a language barrier between our server and us, but she was friendly and kept the water coming for Erin.
  
• Food: My tamale was just OK, the lupitas were excellent.
  
• Drinks: Not a good beer list and it was overpriced. They obviously have a good choice of margaritas if that's your thing.
  
• Ambiance: The ambiance was nicer by the time we left as it was starting to fill up. Pepitos is family friendly and seems like a nice neighborhood place to hang out.
  
• Price: While I thought the beers were overpriced, the food certainly is not. My tamale was $9 and Erin's lupitas were $7. Even with the beer this is the cheapest dinner we've had in awhile.
• Convenience: They actually have valet parking, which is great, luckily we found a spot right outside the restaurant. Pepitos is on 48th & Chicago so there must be some public transit options as well.

Erin's Review
Pepitos has been on our list since the beginning - clearly it's been around for a long time, but neither Ben or I had eaten there before, and a few people I know recommended it when we started the blog. I had read mixed reviews online, so wasn't really expected much. We got there super early, and the ambiance was definitely lacking then, but picked up as the night went on. I don't even normally drink much, but I was definitely craving a margarita that night! Maybe because we had our last baby class to go to, and I knew that would make it more interesting ;)

My co-worker Jen and several yelp reviewers recommended the lupitas, so I went with that without much deliberation. I love nachos anyway, so it seemed like a win-win. I got them with black beans, but there are many other topping choices available. The chips and salsa we munched on while we waited were great - I wish we had gotten some queso dip too, but I couldn't even finish my lupitas so that probably was a wise decision.

As Ben mentioned, our food came out lightning fast... yes, we were the only people eating probably, but still - a little too fast for comfort! Our food was piping hot when we got it - my plate was so hot I couldn't touch it. The lupitas came with 2 tiny (think the paper ketchup containers at McDonalds size) sides of sour cream and guacamole. I could have definitely used some more of those, I probably could have gotten more if I asked, but I just made do with what I had. I really liked the lupitas a lot - the "chips" were softer and thicker, and it was a nice change from traditional nachos. The sliced jalapenos on top gave just enough heat and flavor to the dish.

We definitely had a pleasant experience at Pepitos - we are not often in that area, but if we lived over there, I could see us going back for the affordable, fairly good food and friendly atmosphere. I definitely wouldn't make a special trip, though - to me, it didn't seem to be much different than Mexican chains such as Don Pablos, except that it is more affordable.

Deets
Pepitos
4820 Chicago Ave S
Minneapolis