Sanity Scene - Minneapolis, MN (Part 3 of 3)

I decided to make my third and final part of my Minneapolis Food Scene mini series about the restaurants that I would have never thought about eating at if we weren't with her friends.  This post is what I call "Where the locals eat."  I wish I had a lot more time to enjoy Minneapolis, but with such a short weekend trip, there is only so much food you can eat.  I guess that just means I will be back fore more and will update whenever I do!

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Quang's

After our trip to Lake Calhoun and Mall of America, we arrived at Quang's starving.  Our group of nearly twenty was easily accommodated at one giant table.  That was a surprise because in Chicago that could never happen.  Quang's is a vietnamese restaurant, meaning two things... Pho and Banh Mis.  We stuck with the pho, but rather than eating a banh mi, we decided to split the a broken rice dish.  The pho was typical.  Lots of sliced beef, a salty broth, and the typical been sprouts, onions, and jalapeño.  You get to add all the vegetables so you can add as much or as little as you like.  The jalapeños had a nice spice, so I really enjoyed it.

Now for a newly discovered dish--broken rice.  One of Tiff's friends was ordering this loaded broken rice dish and I had no clue what that meant.  After hearing that the rice is broken into smaller pieces to give it a different textural feel, I knew I had to try it.  So I copied her and ordered the same broken rice dish that was topped with honey grilled pork, two fried eggs, tofu, and a variety of veggies.  And, I am so glad I did.  This reminded me of a deconstructed fried rice but with a huge portion of meat.  The honey grilled pork had a great salty-sweet profile which I absolutely loved.  The rice was a little on the sticky side, and as promised, the texture was strange.  I was like rice, but also had more of a smooth, mushy texture to it.  The fried eggs were a done over-hard... I think it would benefit from being sunny side up and having the liquid yolk mix into everything.  But still, a great dish and a must try!  Much better than the pho.

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Patisserie 46

In casual conversation, Tiff's friend mentioned the best chocolate chip cookie she has ever had.  That is quite a bold statement to make, especially when people love different textures of the cookie and different amounts of chocolate.  After arriving at Patisserie 46, I saw the huge cookies.  They not only looked perfect, they tasted perfect.  Biting into the cookie, you realize how rich and buttery it is going to be.  The texture has the perfect chew, but also that crisp edge that most people enjoy.  The chocolate chips somehow remain melted on the inside, giving that gooey texture.  It wasn't overly sweet, but definitely will quench anyone's sweet tooth.  We ordered five of these cookies because Emily mentioned how they are still perfect a day or two later.  And, I will confirm, these can sit out overnight and still be just as tasty.  You will not be disappointed with this cookie!

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The News Room

For our last meal, we decided to walk around the downtown Minneapolis area.  Just a few blocks from the apartment we stayed at was The News Room.  It seemed like either a huge tourist restaurant or a place the locals went mainly because of all the regulars reading their newspaper and just having a cup of coffee.  We hoped for a local restaurant and I think that is what we found.  It was brunch hour so we shared a couple of their larger offerings.  The first was the scrambled egg flatbread, which started with a very crispy and thin cracker-like crust.  It was topped with mozzarella cheese, scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, and arugula.  It sounded amazing, but the meal fell short of average.  Honestly, the flatbread was drier than having "peanut butter mouth."  The flavors were good, but it needed either a pesto, a tomato, or even a balsamic base to it.  Our other plate was the green eggs and ham panini.  This was a huge sandwich made with grilled country bread, a smear of pesto, scrambled eggs, ham, and a tomato.  It was served with a side of house potatoes.  I enjoyed this panini.  It was simple sandwich, but the pesto elevated it to the next level.  It was huge.  In fact, we ended up sharing just half the sandwich and bringing the rest for our long road trip home.  The potatoes were well seasoned and crispy, so can't complain about those.  Just a suggestion... use that pesto on the flatbread!

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