Saji Ya

Visited on Saturday, May 1st with Kate and Kyle

Erin's Review
We take up anyone (without a criminal record at least) on babysitting offers, so when Ben's mom asked to babysit Annie we immediately set up a date before she could change her mind :) I haven't had much sushi since Annie was born, so I scoured the list to see what options were still available to us - sadly, not too many, so if there is a sushi place that isn't on our list that we should try - leave a comment! Saji Ya was the closest to our house, so we decided to go there with Kate and Kyle.

We got there around 7pm, and it was pretty full, which I would expect for a Saturday night, but there really weren't many people waiting. We all sat at the bar while waiting for our table - Ben goes into the experience of getting drinks below, so I would repeat it :) It does seem kind of dumb to have one bartender serving the entire restaurant, which is fairly large, but whatever. I liked my cherry blossom martini a lot - it certainly wasn't a "real" martini - but if you recall from our Moscow on the Hill review, I prefer my drinks fruity and weak anyway :)

Once we got our table, which was right by the sushi bar, we examined the menu - I picked a few rolls, Kate and Kyle picked a few rolls, and we each ordered an appetizer. Kyle ordered potstickers and I chose croquettes - I was STARVING and needed something starchy/carby in my belly stat. They came out pretty quickly and we scarfed them down. I honestly don't even remember if they were that good because I ate my portion so quickly!

After the sushi came out (which took kind of awhile - the waitress kept saying it would be "right out" - annoying), we all dug in quickly - my favorite roll was probably the twisted roll, mainly because of the cream cheese :) I also always am a fan of caterpillar rolls, which didn't disappoint this time either. I hated the super spicy roll, which we never figured out if it was the dynamite or spicy tuna - I think it was dynamite though. It was just too much for me to handle, but everyone else seemed fine with it, of course.

I decided to order a beer, which inspired this twit from Ben... obviously, the beer was delicious :) I was still hungry even after all that sushi, so I had to have the creme brulee cheesecake for dessert - yum!! No one else ordered dessert, but everyone seemed fine to pick off mine :)

Saji Ya was a pretty typical sushi restaurant - nothing really wowed me, but I'd certainly go back especially for their happy hour deals.

Ben's Review
My mom wanted to babysit Annie since she hadn't seen her in awhile so we took the opportunity to get sushi with Kate and Kyle at Saji Ya on Grand Ave. It would seem that our "going out" schedule now consists of waiting for a relative to offer to babysit Annie and then jumping on the chance :)

We parked on Summit Ave as parking on Grand on a Saturday night is annoying as hell and you end up six blocks from where you want to be anyways. Parking on Summit was actually Erin's suggestion and there were plenty of spots available and we only had to walk one block over to Grand. We saw Kate and Kyle parking as we walked into Saji Ya so we started the process of getting a table. The host told us it would be 30-40 minutes, even though there was nobody else on the "list", but we shrugged and decided to wait it out at the bar. Erin and I sat at the bar and got ignored for a couple minutes, until the bartender told us he would be right with us. A couple minutes later he was actually ready to take the girls' orders, but not Kyle and I. He brought their drinks and THEN was ready to take our order. It was a very convoluted bar experience and right as the guys' drinks came the host came over and told us that our table was ready. Total wait time: MAYBE fifteen minutes. Whatever. We were told to close out our tab at the bar and go to the table (can't transfer the tab?). So Kyle and I waited a couple more minutes to get our tabs and pay them to finally make it to the table.

We were seated towards the back of the restaurant; there is a divider between the "normal" tables and the booth-like tables that are set lower into the floor. At this point I simply closed my menu and enjoyed my drink and the company, I didn't care what was ordered as long as there was enough sushi for everyone to get their fill so I let Erin, Kate, and Kyle work out the details.

We got pot stickers and potato croquettes as an appetizer and they were both delicious, helped by the fact that it was 7:30 and I was starving. I think we ended up getting five orders of rolls: caterpillar (2), spicy tuna, dynamite, and philly. [note from Erin: Nope - Ben just thinks any roll with cream cheese is a philly roll :)] All were excellent. I'm not too picky when it comes to sushi and I can't really tell the quality differences between places that we go to, but Saji Ya didn't disappoint, and I went home full. One roll in particular was spicier than I expected (dynamite I think) and that was really good, I'd specifically order that again next time we go out.

Other than the annoying bar experience (to be fair there was only one bartender, but it wasn't THAT busy) the whole experience was a lot of fun and I would go back to sit at the sushi bar, it looked interesting and we've never actually sat at the bar before.

• Service: Service was just OK. Everyone was competent, but nothing to set them apart.
  
• Food: Excellent food all around, including the creme brulee cheesecake.
  
• Drinks: They have a full bar, but a small beer list (Summit at least), which is typical of sushi places, I've found. Bartender said they have cocktail onions, but must have forgot to put some in my martini.
  
• Ambiance: The ambiance was kind of blah, actually. Aside from the teppanyaki in the upstairs there wasn't much energy to the place, but I didn't even think of that until I sat to write this review.
  
• Price: Pretty normal prices for a sushi place, no complaints. Martini was $7.50, which is great.
• Convenience: I would recommend Summit Ave for parking, unless you can find a spot in their lot. On a Saturday night that wasn't going to happen.

Deets
Saji Ya
695 Grand Ave
St. Paul

Bar La Grassa

Visited on Thursday, April 8th with Kris and Erin

Ben's Review
Friends of ours invited us to join them at Bar La Grassa after seeing we hadn't been there and it was on our list. We arranged to have Erin's mom come to watch Annie while we went out for a couple hours, promising to be home by 9.

Bar La Grassa is located on N Washington Ave, just down the street from Black Sheep Pizza. I really liked the decor with the high ceilings and the exposed industrial interior. The restaurant is huge, running down Washington Ave and extending back fairly deep. As you walk in in there is a nice looking bar that was full of people waiting for their tables, that's where we found our friends, Kris and Erin.

We had reservations so we didn't need to wait, we were brought to a table towards the far end, near the kitchen. Bar La Grassa is one of those really loud places that makes it difficult to have a conversation with the people you're with. Furthermore, as you yell across the table it enables all the tables around you to also hear your conversation, making them talk louder and you can see how this gets out of control. I've come to accept that some places are just loud, there's nothing I can do about it. I'll also admit that sometimes it works, given the ambiance, and this is one of those places. It has a bustling quality to it that seems to make the noise fit in.

Our friend Erin had bought Kris a new set of glassware that she was giving him that night and arranged with Bar La Grassa to bring out our first round of cocktails in the glasses, as a surprise for Kris. Of course as we sat down Kris suggested getting a bottle of wine, but Erin smoothly talked him out of that and into getting something that would go in his new set of glasses. They have a good list of specialty cocktails, but I still opted for Jack Daniels which prompted Kris to get scotch.

We shared a couple appetizers, we had heard that the soft egg and lobster bruschetta was good so we ordered that and the charred red onion and goat cheese bruschetta. The soft egg and lobster was absolutely fantastic. The eggs were just slightly underdone so they weren't runny but had a delicate feel to them and they were delicious. The goat cheese bruschetta was also very good, but I would say the soft egg was well worth the extra $6.

For my entree I got two smaller portions of pasta: the fusilla col buco with pork sausage and the silk handkerchiefs with basil pesto (I love basil pesto). Both of my entrees were good, they were not as good as I was expecting given the reviews I had recently seen online. The fusili col buco was great at first until you realize how much salt there was, it was overpowering after a couple bites. The pork and the pasta were both cooked great, just a tad too much salt for my liking. The pesto was bland compared to pesto I've gotten from the store and also homemade pesto, which surprised me. Pesto is easy to make, so I would expect something more flavorful. The pasta was again cooked well, just not enough flavor. I didn't finish the pasta and there wasn't enough leftover to justify bringing it home.

Erin had been looking forward to getting dessert but we realized that we needed to get going to make it home without being too late, so we paid our portion of the check and headed out while Erin and Kris enjoyed the dessert menu, so I can't comment on the desserts. We enjoyed going out, we had a good time with our friends and the service was great, but I doubt I will be back to Bar La Grassa anytime soon.

• Service: Great service, they stayed out of the way and everything was taken care of.
  
• Food: Appetizers were excellent, the pasta dishes left something to be desired.
  
• Drinks: Long cocktail list and wine list with a decent tap selection, also a full bar.
  
• Ambiance: Loud. I think my throat was hoarse the rest of the night. Though the volume does seem to fit in, as mentioned earlier.
  
• Price: Prices are on the higher side, especially given the disappointing pasta.
• Convenience: Parking can be annoying in this area, you might have to walk a couple blocks to find an available meter. I don't believe there are any ramps or lots in the area.

Erin's Review
When Erin L. asked me if we'd be able to get a babysitter for Annie and join her and Kris for dinner at Bar La Grassa, I was super excited. I had read great things about this place, and heard nothing but rave reviews. My mom was more than willing to watch Annie, so we were set! When we got there, I was impressed with the large space and beautiful decor. I really liked the vibe right off the bat - it didn't feel pretentious at all, the service was great, and it seemed like a nice place without feeling too stuffy.

We immediately ordered drinks so that Kris could get his gift of cocktail glasses - he was definitely surprised and realized that the glasses the cocktails came in were the ones he wanted, which made it even more fun :) I had a bellini, which was pretty much the least cocktail-y thing I could find (I'm not really a huge cocktail person, but wanted to play along with the surprise). The bread and amuse bouche served well to help curb my hunger!

I had read a few reviews before we left, and based on those and Erin's recommendations, we chose the soft egg and lobster bruschetta, which was absolutely awesome. Definitely the highlight of the evening! I didn't try the other bruschetta due to my distaste for goat cheese, but everyone else thought it was good, although not nearly as good as the lobster.

For my entree, I chose the Calamarata with raw tuna which someone had recommended to Erin. I really enjoyed this dish - the flavors of the sauce paired nicely with the warm pasta and cool tuna. I also thought this meal was a tad on the salty side, but nothing too bad. I would definitely recommend this dish if you like raw tuna! Erin had the gnocchi with cauliflower and orange, which the waitress recommended - I really enjoyed the flavors in that dish as well.

As Ben mentioned, we all were a bit disappointed in Bar La Grassa - after reading SO many rave reviews, it's hard not to build up a place in your head to be totally amazing. While everything was very good, it wasn't mind blowing, which all of us were expecting. Unlike Ben, I didn't think the prices were that high - they seemed pretty reasonable, but I liked my dishes better than he did so that might be why.

I'm glad we went to Bar La Grassa - the ambiance was great, and it is a beautiful space. My dishes were a bit different than what I usually eat, so it was a nice change. Everyone else seems to love this place, so I'd still recommend checking it out.

Deets
Bar La Grassa
800 North Washington Ave
Minneapolis

Tanpopo Noodle Shop

Visited on Monday, March 29th with Jen

Erin's Review

Well, clearly we are kind of sucking it up with the reviews lately, so I decided it was necessary to start pulling in some guest bloggers! While Ben and I still do get to go out fairly frequently due to our abundance of local baby-sitters, I also go out with friends to some new places, and now I'm going to start reviewing places even if Ben isn't along - I think he prefers it that way, because then he doesn't get hounded by me to write his part of the post ;)

I was missing my coworker Jen due to my extended absence from work, so we arranged to meet for dinner. Since I was asking her to be a guest blogger, I let her pick the place - she chose Tanpopo Noodle Shop which sounded perfect to me!

When I got there, it was pretty much empty, which I expected for a Monday night in downtown St. Paul. The space is pretty cool - fairly large and kind of industrial looking, fitting for the area.

The noodle soups were intriguing, but I decided to get something a little more exciting and went with the shrimp tempura teishoku, which is a set meal that comes with soup, rice and pickles. I also went with a glass of their house red wine, which was tasty.

My entree was very impressive looking, AND delicious! Everything was piping hot and tasted as if it was very freshly prepared. Initially, I thought the teishoku would be too much food, but it was pretty much the perfect amount - the salad and soup were small, and there was a good amount of shrimp.

I really enjoyed Tanpopo! I would definitely recommend checking it out if you are looking for a place in the lowertown area.

Jen's Review

Erin and I decided it had been too long since we’d seen each other, and I wanted to hear all about how new mommyhood was going for her, so we decided dinner and drinks were in order. Erin suggested that I pick a place off the We Got Served list, and the Ben suggested I write the blog post for it. A grand plan! I looked through the list, eliminated one (Supo) option because it wasn’t open on Mondays. And then I saw Tanpopo on the list – bingo! I’d been to Tanpopo twice before – once in the old location on Grand Avenue (or was it Dale? I’m not sure; all I remember is that was next to Moscow on the Hill, which had a dangerously good selection of vodkas.), and once a few years ago in this new location. But it had been a while, and a bowl of noodles and veggies is one of my favorite things!

Erin and I had agreed to meet at 6:30 pm, but she texted around 5 and asked if we could meet at 6 instead. I was starving, so the new plan was great with me! Tanppo is next to the St. Paul Farmer’s Market, so I parked in my regular farmer’s market lot, across Kellogg Avenue from Tanpopo’s building. I think I had to pay $2 – yay for cheap parking in downtown St. Paul! I arrived before she did, and I appreciated a few moments to chill in the quiet, as-yet uncrowded dining room after a hectic day.

I really like Tanpopo’s dining space, despite the fact that all the window face north, so there isn’t much natural light. The high ceilings, spare furnishings, and funky art on the walls more than make up for it. It’s a calm, relaxing space.

Once Erin arrived and snapped a few pics, we settled down and reviewed the menu and wine list. We each ordered a glass of wine, and then debated what to get. At first I was going to get a teishoku – described as “A home-style meal; entrée, rice, miso soup, salad and a small dish of vegetables” – and Erin was thinking of getting one of the noodle bowls. But when the waitress came with our wine and took our order, we switched. I went with the Nabeyaki udon, which included shrimp tempura, chicken, shiitake, fish cake, Japanese omelet and wakame. Erin got the daily teishoku, which featured tempura shrimp.

My nabeyaki was delicious! The broth was just salty enough, but not so salty it overwhelmed the other flavors in the bowl. The omelet was a nice addition – sort of the same effect as eating egg drop soup, but the slices were more substantial than the eggs in egg drop soup. And of course the noodles and veggies made me happy! I found myself wishing I had more than one piece of shrimp in my bowl, and one less piece of fish cake. The tempura was fried perfectly – crispy instead of heavy with oil – and soaked up some broth while in my bowl. Yum! The fish cake, which I’d never had before, was fine, but had an interesting texture – like a slice of very thick, gelatinous custard. After one slice I decided I could do without the second one. : ) My soup bowl was accompanied by a small bowl of red pepper flakes. I added a bunch to my soup, which rounded out all the flavors in the bowl.

By about 6:45, Tanpopo’s dining room was completely full. On a Monday night. In downtown St. Paul. In my mind, that’s a pretty impressive testament to Tanpopo’s popularity!

Service: Our waitress was attentive but didn’t hover so much that I was annoyed, which is my definition of success. Way to go, Tanpopo! Erin and I both enjoyed our food, and it was great to catch up, since I we don’t get to see each other at work while she’s out on maternity leave!

Food: Great (except for the fish cake, but that’s my issue, not the restaurant’s!)

Drinks: Fine. A few reds and whites by the glass, several more choices by the bottle, a few domestic beers, some Japanese imports, and some sake. No hard liquor, but would you want a mixed drink with a bowl of noodles? I didn’t think so.

Ambiance: As I mentioned above, I like Tanpopo’s space, and the noise level was great – Erin and I had not problem chatting non-stop!

Price: Perfectly reasonable.

Convenience: Easy access from I-35E, I-94, and Highway 52. If you’re coming from south Minneapolis like I was, it’s not the most convenient, but from anywhere else, it’s fine.

Deets

Tanpopo Noodle Shop

308 Prince Street #108

St. Paul

Meritage

Visited on Saturday, February 20th

Ben's Review
For our first night out after Annie’s arrival Erin wanted to try Meritage (rhymes with “heritage”) in Saint Paul, for something a little more upscale.

I stupidly drove past the last open metered parking spot and had to end up parking in the Lawson ramp for $7 instead of free. Not a good start. I was surprised at how large Meritage was, I had walked by it a couple times and didn’t realize it’s size. The restaurant is beautiful with high ceilings, soft lighting, and the sound of a full restaurant is not overwhelming as you can still have a normal conversation amidst all the people and servers.

Erin was already at the table as I had dropped her off before my parking mishap. I joined her and started the process of deciding what to drink. They have a huge wine list but I don’t appreciate wine enough to pay the restaurant prices. I went with my half vodka, half gin martini while Erin was talked into a $17 glass of wine. Ouch. Separate checks? No, bummer :)

The menu at Meritage is filled with enticing options including the moules frites, composition of winter squash, roasted loin of venison au poivre, and a cassoulet. After some deliberation I went with the cassoulet, even though it just sounded like fancy chili. We got frites with bearnaise sauce as an appetizer, which was humongous and delicious. Also, the fries were hot and fresh, just like I like them (and as they should be, for $7.50).

The cassoulet was an excellent choice. It IS like fancy chili, but it comes with garlic sausage, pork, and duck confit, so it’s a little richer than my chili at home. It comes in a gigantic bowl that I could have easily kept half of, but it was more fun to indulge to excess and soak up some of the martini.

Erin insisted on ordering dessert and got the chocolate mousse. With desserts there is always plenty to share so I had a couple bites. It was good, but I would have been just as happy with Jello pudding, so I guess that says something about me more than Meritage :)

It was great to get out of the house with Erin for the first time, but it was getting late (8pm) and we were both ready to go to bed, such is life with a newborn, so we headed home.

Erin's Review

3 weeks after Annie was born, we decided to take up my sister-in-law on her repeated requests to babysit! It's great to have family and friends who actually WANT to babysit - who knows how long that will continue, so we will take them up on it as often as possible for now!

I had really missed going out to nice restaurants and ordering wine while pregnant, so that is why I chose Meritage for our first night out post-baby - and it turned out to be an excellent choice! After being home with a baby pretty much constantly for the past 3 weeks, it felt a little weird to be out amongst adults. Weird in a very good way though :)

We arrived on time for our reservation, and I was immediately seated by the host (who had a thick French accent) at a fairly small table - Meritage isn't a huge place, and many of the tables are pretty close together - the table setting did feel a bit crowded, but not too bad. They have a coat check, which does help.

The server came around and asked what we wanted to drink, and as soon as I mentioned it was our first night out after having a baby, she of course recommended that I get what was by far the most expensive glass of wine on the menu - I figured just this once I'd go for it instead of having the awkward interchange of asking for something less expensive. It WAS very good, but I just really don't have a sophisticated enough palate to know the difference between a $17 glass of wine and a $9 one. Oh well!

To go with my "elegant" glass of wine (as the server kept calling it), I decided to order the duck. I kind of wanted the moules frites, but it seemed like it didn't go as well with the wine (which I know I shouldn't care about, but whatever). Since we decided to get frites as an appetizer, the duck seemed like a good choice.

I was very impressed with the duck - it was delicious! The meat was cooked to medium and the sauce it came with complimented the flavor of the meat perfectly. Since the frites were kind of a heavier appetizer, I was glad that the sides for the duck were a little lighter and included some real veggies :) Ben's cassoulet was also excellent - it looked like it could be bland but it was very flavorful! The bread that came out before the meal was fine, but would have been better if it was warm.

Since I really don't know how often we'll get to go out to nice restaurants now, I figured I'd better go all out and get dessert too - I went with the chocolate mousse which was perfect - very rich but I was still able to gobble up pretty much the whole thing with just a little help from Ben!

We both really enjoyed Meritage - it was the perfect location for our first night out!

• Service: Service was very good - I especially was pleased with the frequent water refills! The only issue was the server immediately suggesting the most expensive glass of wine when I asked for a recommendation - this is always annoying to me. I feel like she should have at least given a few options.
  
• Food: The food was outstanding.
  
• Drinks: Very extensive wine list and a full bar.
  
• Ambiance: The tables are a bit close together, but overall this is a beautiful restaurant and had a nice din to it without being too loud.
  
• Price: Fairly reasonable - some things are pretty expensive but for the quality of food it is right in line with other restaurants like this.
• Convenience: If there is no event going on, downtown St. Paul is typically dead on nights and weekends, but with an event parking can be difficult.

Deets
Meritage
410 St. Peter St.
St. Paul