Shamrocks/The Nook

Nate and I love burgers. It is probably our favorite food to go out for. This past weekend we were definitely in a burger mood, but wanted to try something new. I suggested the Nook as we had seen it featured recently on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Nate pulled up their menu online and said, yeah, that sounds good. Our back up plan was the Nook's sister restaurant Shamrocks, which was just a little further down the street from the Nook.

The Nook is in St. Paul, on Randolph Avenue and Hamline Avenue. It's not too far at all from my old stomping ground near the St. Kate's campus actually. We headed over around 5:15 or so thinking the earlier we could try to get in the better as we knew it wasn't a real large place. Well with traffic and fun things like that, it was a little after 5:30 when we got there. Sadly, there were several groups waiting and they were standing outside. Nate poked his head in and said there really weren't all that many tables. So, we got back on Randolph and headed to Shamrocks which is at Randolph and 7th Street.

Fortunately, Shamrocks is much larger inside. It was just as busy, but there was a high top table available for us. It's more Irish themed inside, but the menu is essentially the same as the menu at the Nook. And let me tell you, it is quite the menu! Many appetizers, burgers, chicken sandwiches and other entrees were listed. The beer list is just ok, most of your standard, commercial beers. Nate and I have kind of become beer snobs, so the majority of the beer wasn't anything of interest to us. I chose the Summit Horizon Red Ale since it was on tap and Nate asked for a Newcastle Brown Ale.

We then ordered cheese curds as an appetizer and our awesome waitress (she was really great) asked if we wanted those out first (unlike at the Sunshine Factory) and we said "of course!" They came out shortly after we ordered them and they were definitely fresh and warm. They were not the best cheese curds I've ever had, but they were darn good. Good batter, lots of cheesy goodness. Would've liked a bit more cheddar cheese inside of them instead of mozzarella, but overall they were tasty.

The highlight of our meal was definitely our burgers though. Nate selected the "Juicy Nookie" which is what The Nook/Shamrocks is famous for, their version of a Juicy Lucy. I stuck to a simple cheeseburger. Each burger came with a side of fries, but I noticed on the menu you could also choose Cole slaw or chips.

The burgers are outstanding. Juicy, cooked to perfection. Heart attack on a plate I think, but oh man, they're just so good. I believe they get fresh bakery buns from a nearby bakery and they're fantastic. And then the fries....ok, there used to be a place in Northeast Minneapolis that was called Nan's. Nan's had the worlds best fries ever. But Nan's shut down in 2001 and we haven't had fries quite as good since. Well let me tell you - the fries at Shamrocks were pretty much as good as Nan's. Seriously outstanding fries. You can tell they were made from fresh, huge Russet potatoes and fried to just the right level and I just can't say enough about them. They are thick cut the way fries should be!

We both ended up pretty stuffed when all was said and done. We agreed that next time, we could probably skip the cheese curds and go straight to the burgers. Then if we feel like it we can maybe try dessert. I also could do without the beer, it was actually kind of spendy.

At any rate, we are definitely going to go back sometime and if you love burgers, you should really try to go there too!!

Tea Time!

Since our visit earlier this month to Willowgate, I have been interested in tea. We had fantastic Oolong tea when we ate there. Everyone knows I'm a coffee girl and I still will be forever a coffee girl, but suddenly I discovered, I now actually like tea, at least Oolong tea!

We decided to buy some different Oolong tea from the store to sample at home. We purchased two different kind, both of which are not bad, one is a wee bit citrusy. However, Nate remembered a really neat website that he had ordered some green tea from awhile back so we decided to check it out.

Adagio Tea is a wonderful site filled with all things tea. As we went through the website we found several different sampler packs we decided we wanted to try. The only problem with Adaigo's teas, is that they are all loose leaf. So, we also ordered a teapot that allows you to easily steep loose leaf tea along with our sampler packs.

The box arrived this past Thursday and we've used it several times already! We have two Oolong Sampler packs and two Black tea sampler packs. So far we have tried Jasmine tea and one of the Oolong teas (I believe Oolong #12). Both were outstanding. The Jasmine was a different one for me, it smelled lovely, but I was worried that I wouldn't like the taste, but it was just incredible.

I'm having fun with our new teapot. It's been a nice afternoon pick me up to have a cup of tea and I know I'll love it even more when it's colder outside this fall and winter!

Our new teapot filled with Jasmine tea

The Sunshine Factory

We ate at the Sunshine Factory in Crystal on Saturday of this past weekend. We met our friends Gina and Steve since they live near there and it had been ages since the four of us had been out to dinner together.

It was about 6:00 or so when we got there and discovered there are sort of two sides to the restaurant, the actual Sunshine Factory and then another part called "The Bistro." The normal restaurant was rather busy, it would've been nearly 45 minutes for a table, so we agreed to be seated in the Bistro as they promised us a full menu. We got a nice table near a window.

The menu was pretty large, but I am thinking it was a slightly smaller offering than what the regular restaurant menu was. At any rate, there was a lengthy appetizer list, salads, soups, burgers, sandwiches and also a good number of entrees. I chose a Surly Furious to drink as it was on tap, Nate had a bottle of Horizon Red Ale, Gina had Blue Moon and Steve had soda.

I decided that even though the sandwiches sounded really good, I was more in the mood for something else as I had a sandwich for lunch earlier that day. So I chose a pork chop with baked potato and salad. Nate also steered away from a sandwich or burger and chose beef tips with pasta in a white sauce. Gina chose the turkey club panini and Steve chose the chicken bacon ranch panini. We also ordered spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer and Gina and Steve chose steak bites as an appetizer.

Here's where I ended up a bit disappointed. First of all, my salad didn't come out right away. Then when it did, it was super cold. Now I know that sounds funny, but it felt like it was in a bowl that was sitting in the fridge all afternoon. Then we were sitting around talking about how we hate it when a place brings you the appetizer and then two seconds later brings your entrees. Well, we ended up getting our appetizers WITH our entrees only a few minutes after my salad came out. All of sudden our table was so full we didn't know what to do with ourselves! So that was a wee bit frustrating.

Most of the food though was really quite good. I liked the dip, we had it with baguette bread and it was really quite tasty. But, my pork chop was pretty dry, not much flavor to it. The potato was also a little disappointing in flavor. Nate's pasta on the other hand was very good, creamy, with some garlic flavor as well. The meat was tender and juicy. Both Gina and Steve said their sandwiches were really good too. They looked tasty, the cheese melting and the bread nice and toasted. So, I'm the only one who really didn't love my meal, and I should've known better, I usually am disappointed when I order pork chops most places. The only place that does pork chops the way I really like them is Jax! Ha.

At any rate, it was a nice place, they had plenty of indoor and outdoor seating on the Bistro side. Full drink menu and the service was decent other than the fact that we got our appetizers with our main course! I'd be interested to see what the other side is like sometime. Since my sister-in-law also lives close to the Sunshine Factory I'd say odds are we will end up back there sometime, who knows?

Christos

Opa!

It was my sister-in-law Ali's birthday over the weekend. To celebrate, we told her to pick a place near where she lives, since we always make her drive to our neck of the woods. She picked Christos in Minnetonka. It is a Greek restaurant.

I was excited, we never really go out for Greek food. We arrived and were greeted by a host who I am thinking possibly owns this branch (it is a chain, there is one in Minneapolis as well) and he was definitely Greek. We were seated at a nice long table back in a corner.

I think our waitress was a little new, we kept asking her questions and she was not 100% certain of the answers and seemed a little nervous at times, but other than that she was really great. Nate and I decided to go for the full Greek experience, he ordered a Greek beer called Keo and I convinced Ali and my mother-in-law that we should order a bottle of Greek wine called Aphrodite.

Nate and I decided to order something called the Iliad which was a sampling of different Greek food, which came with the following: Spanakopita, Mousaka, Koupepia, Gyros and Loukaniko with country pilaf, oven-roasted potatoes and Tzatziki. It was encouraged to be a meal for two, we also each got a salad. My in-laws also chose to split that meal. Ali ordered Souvlaki which was skewered pieces of pork tenderloin, marinated and broiled, served over pita with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, Tzatziki and fries. For an appetizer we chose the Taverna Platter which had a couple of kinds of hummus, feta cheese and this weird octopus thing (I'm not even kidding, but it was sort of marinated, just tasted like fish).

The hummus was super tasty, I liked both kinds. The fresh pita bread we got was fantastic.

Appetizer

The Iliad was a TON of food, I don't know how we ate as much as we did. I liked about half of what was on the plate, but that still was enough. The gyros meat was the best, the sausage was good but spicy. The mousaka was also really good, I didn't think I'd like it, but I really did. I have decided I don't like grape leaves! And I have a hard time with spanakopita, it's a texture thing mostly.

Picture tipped, whoops - but here is the Iliad

Finally we also chose desserts. Since it was Ali's birthday, she got a complimentary dessert, so she chose baklava. Nate and I decided to split Milopita, which was an apple dessert with cream cheese and ricotta cheese in a pastry type shell. It was warm and gooey and wonderful!

Overall, the food was great, the prices were a bit steep, but it was a slightly upscale kind of place, the service was great and you definitely got alot for your money. There were leftovers to take home! I was a little disappointed in the wine, it was pretty weak, and didn't enhance the flavors of the food all that much. But that was the only low point of the evening. Everything else was fantastic. It's not a convenient place for us, so I don't think we'll be back soon just based on that, but I would recommend it!

Oh, a side note, we got to watch them set up for a bachlorette party and then the beginning of the party too - looked like a bunch of Greek women having fun, reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding! Too funny.

Willowgate II

Well it's been awhile since we've tried something new, but we finally did over the 4th of July weekend. Both of us love Chinese food, but we're also picky about it. We're not as big of fans of the two closest take out places to us anymore (sorry Heights residents if you still love either place, we just feel that the quality isn't there anymore). We like a couple of higher end type places, but you have to drive a little to get to them and they're a bit spendy in price.

Nate suggested Chinese for dinner on Friday night and it sounded fantastic to me. He decided to simply Google Chinese restaurants near our zipcode. He came up with Willowgate II. Willowgate is located in Roseville and is sort of tucked away from the main drag if you will. It's almost overshadowed by nearby Applebees, Red Lobster, Bakers Square and Good Earth. But, we found it and boy were we happy we did.

It's super cute on the outside, they have a stone replica of the Great Wall of China, I read online that they added this when they reopened after remodeling in 2000 to great fanfare. This was when they added the "II" to their name. They have actually been around since 1983.

We stepped inside and were seated immediately, nothing too exciting about the inside decor, in fact they had the lights kind of dim, but there were plenty of people enjoying dinner. The menu is HUGE. It could almost be overwhelming in way, but they also help make it easier by offering combination specials and dinner specials to help you hone in on something. We were served hot tea and water and then left to scan the menu. We both decided on the combo specials, for $6.95 you got a choice of soup or salad, an appetizer and then one of their entree selections. I chose egg drop soup, cream cheese wontons and then chicken chow mein and sweet and sour shrimp. Nate chose hot and sour soup, egg rolls and sesame chicken.

They brought the soup out and it was a nice small sized bowl, just enough to wet your appetite. Hands down it was the best egg drop soup I have ever had! It was light in flavor, nice and warm and didn't leave me feeling overstuffed or anything. Nate enjoyed his hot and sour too, he said there was pork in it which you don't always get with hot and sour soup. He really liked the flavors and also agreed it was just enough as a starter.

The pace was great, we enjoyed a little more tea and a chance to talk a bit and then they brought our entrees, which included the appetizer but that was fine with me.

It may sound like I had a ton of food on my plate, but it wasn't too bad. Half of the plate was chicken chow mein, half was the sweet and sour shrimp and then there was fried rice kind of in the middle. I also had two cream cheese wontons. Some Chinese places heap so much food on your plate it's hard to dig in. Not the case here, but I wasn't feeling like I was gyped either. I started with the wonton - it was heaven! Nice and crispy, tasty shell, just enough cream cheese with a touch of sweetness. I haven't had wontons that good since a place we used to visit called the Saigon Star closed. Then I moved on to the chicken and rice - again, fantastic. The rice was perfect, the chicken had a great tasting gravy, mixed in with some chinese noodles. I like my celery nice and mushy and it was done exactly that way. Then I moved on to the shrimp - also very tasty, I loved the sauce, it wasn't too sticky or heavy like some sweet and sour sauces and had just enough tang and sweetness combined.

Nate let me taste his egg roll - again, wonderful. I am not a big fan of them normally, but this was good, not overly cabbage flavored, nice blend of veggies and the sauce was actual fish sauce which you don't always get according to Nate. He was pleased. His sesame chicken was very good as well, sauce was a little tangy without being too much, in fact he said next time he'd ask for it a little hotter since they gave you a choice of mild, medium or hot. But he still enjoyed it along with his fried rice too.

We purposely made sure we brought leftovers home since nothing beats leftover Chinese, especially good Chinese! The best part was the bill - around $15 for both of us. It is so rare to have a bill that low when you go someplace like that. We almost ordered a piece of their cheesecake to go just because the bill was so low! It probably helps that we stuck with the complimentary tea and water as our beverages. I did notice their wine list looked interesting - plum wine, sake, and another oriental wine were among the choices. They also listed several beers. Might be worth going back and trying one of them sometime.

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Willowgate, it was a short drive, great service, outstanding food, we will be back!!