There's no better reason to dig yourself out of your driveway (and honestly, your dining rut) than Winter Restaurant Week which starts on Sunday and runs through Friday. Here's what I'd be eating if I could clone myself and perhaps grow another stomach. P.S. you can tell I'm having a bit of a soup craving.
NEWBIES!
North Loop's Freehouse is on board for the first time. Hard to make the choice between an Evil Princess salad and the Freestyle burger at the $15 lunch, but maybe go salad and a beer then report back for the Merc burger on the $25 dinner.
The Lowry in Uptown is also on board, and there's a soul warming vegetarian option for your $20 dinner. Choose a little crock of the tomato basil soup, dig into that veggie Impossible burger, and then finish with a butterscotch pudding that actually uses Dewar's to keep the name real.
Anything called a tower should be ordered during RW, IMHO. So for Octo Fishbar's $35 dinner, start with the chilled seafood tower, then go whole fish. Though, the sticky rice option does have blue crab, which seems like a fresh deal.
It's a banh mi party at the Sweet Chow $20 lunch, choose from three different versions. For $25 dinner, you might just crawl into that bowl of pho, after the roasted brussels with fish sauce of course.
BEST OF THE REST!
I'm totally preoccupied with the thought of when I'm going to swing through 6Smith for the crispy chicken sandwich with spicy sambal and blue cheese (with maybe the Caesar to start) for the $20 lunch.
Betty Danger's Country Club has transitioned from being a Tex-Mex menu jumble to embracing their classic American country club standards, so what a good time to check them out again! They are still rocking the holiday vibe (like our landscape), so pop in for that $25 dinner and choose between a turducken style pot pie, a Family Reunion French dip, and Fried Baby Elves (beer battered baby artichokes, you cheeky bits).
Can you double soup? You can! Start with the pea soup made with smoked ham hock and Texas toast croutons for the first course of your $20 lunch at Birch's on the Lake, then follow up with the Buck Grilled Cheese, which comes with tomato soup on the side (but, let's be honest, it's really more of dip here, yes?)
Playing the wild-game game, Cast & Cru is offering wild boar tenderloin with braised cabbage and pickled apples on their $30 dinner menu. Also: wild hazelnut pot de crème!
I am down for dressing up and hitting The Commodore for some classic old-school dinner dining. In my best posh frock (read: just something other than a Snuggie) I'd start with lobster deviled eggs, move to a bistro steak with potato puree and béarnaise, then finish with a bit of Boston cream pie (who ever has that!). And I'd be paying no more than $35!
You want an elegant soup? What about that celery root soup on Corner Table's $35 dinner? Follow that silky wonderment with some confit duck leg or pancetta wrapped cod, then top it off with those legendary I-would-marry-them sweet potato donuts.
There is a $10 lunch at El Burrito Mpls. that is three courses, bub. And not just chips, yo, but there are chips with fiesta queso dip. Then choices of burrito or tacos, but I'm voting chilaquiles verdes with tomatillo sauce, chicken, and cheese. And finally, churros my friends, churros! All for a Benjamin.
This is a good time to visit Esker Grove because it's an indoor space full of light and beauty and that underground heated parking is LIT. Also, for a $35 dinner you can start with a rich little pork terrine, move to pan roasted skate or roasted chicken with butternut squash, and finish with a bright and sunny Meyer lemon chiffon cake. Then: go see art.
I'm feeling like the $20 dinner at Ginger Hop has the potential for an inner thaw. I'm checking out that udon noodle curry bowl with broccoli, pea pods, red peppers, bok choy, topped with maybe yellow curry or green curry. I would level up on the heat here, you can't really go wrong.
Downtown St. Paul is probably want to tuck into a hot bowl of truffled mushroom bisque on the $20 lunch menu at Herbie's on the Park. I might follow with that BLT with avocado and jalapeño aioli for a truly fancy soup-n-sand deal.
The most luxe $25 lunch in town has to be at Lake & Irving. Start with the celery & triple cream brie soup, and take your time ... savor. Then treat yo' self with the Luxe burger with black truffle and foie gras butter on brioche. Self-cafe is important. (and pssst, if you want to self-care your ticker, there's a lovely tofu entree salad on the $35 dinner menu)
The three course $15 lunch at Lela is a great one for the office group, because there are so many mix and match options. Barb from accounting can get the ceviche, Tony her assistant can score pan seared pork dumplings, the Boss might order the skirt steak while her Marketing VP goes for the chili crusted pork chop. And none of them are paying more than $15 (except for Lisa, because she's picking up the check like an everyday hero, and still not paying more than $75).
Honestly, a $35 dinner at The Lex is like getting all the swank gratis. Start with The Lex salad in homage. If you haven't tried the whitefish a'la Gorbachev, with its smoked tomato butter, you really should ... but I'd understand if you chose Steak Diane. Finish up with a little chocolate mousse cake, and it's pinkies out for under $40.
I always jam on the deal that the $10 lunch buffet delivers from Mediterranean Cruise Cafe, but the $30 dinner is nothing to sneeze at either. I mean, if I'm not going to have soup to start, I might as well have flaming cheese, right? Then the choices are nuts: lamb shank, a trio kebab feast, gyro stir-fry, garlic lemon salmon and more. All will help crack that midwinter pot roast issue you're having, and if you finish with the pistachio cheesecake with wildflower ricotta, slated honey and almonds, you'd swear spring is tomorrow.
Color me intrigued by this deep quiche on the Moderna Kouzina $35 dinner menu. It promises "4 inches of fluff" with a shaved asparagus salad. Might be hard to pass up the coq au vin in burgundy and cognac, but quiche for dinner is lifting.
It's like the moto-i $25 dinner menu was written for my anime-loving kid and his cohorts. Chawanmushi with pork belly is like the most comforting custardy porridge situation you could sit down to. Then a round of takoyaki, which are basically fried doughy octopus balls, followed by tonkotsu ramen and you might as well que up some Totoro or Sonny Chiba's Sister Street Fighter and call it the best night ever.
Good news if you're trying to add more fish to your diet, Oceanaire will model good eating for you at their $35 dinner. That clam chowder is still one of the best, then opt in for seared salmon with a tangerine gastrique, ancho chile rubbed mahi mahi, or herb roasted Alaskan cod with broccoli. Bananas Foster bread pudding is your reward.
Happily, at the $35 Rinata dinner, they are not going to make me choose between the roasted root veggie lasagna and the short rib over creamy polenta. We get to have both, you guys.
I keep forgetting that Rock Elm Tavern is now in Maple Grove too! Pop up for $15 lunch or $25 dinner on Monday (if you don't have work or school) and catch a meal and then a movie maybe? They've got house tots, a Vat17 cheddar burger, shrimp-n-grits, Duroc pork ribs, salmon and farro salad, all the treats to make your Monday.
Feels like T. Morris Pub in Woodbury is a go-big-or-go-home situation. Every plate on that $35 dinner menu feels like I just got a promotion: fried pork & beef meatballs, blackened bacon wrapped shrimp, smoked pork and wild rice ... and those are just some of the appetizers! Then fried chicken breast, beef tenderloin fettuccine, boiled walleye almandine, I think I need a nap.
My personal $15 lunch at Twin Cities 400 Tavern would clearly start with beer cheese soup, then flow righteously into that Wild Acres rotisserie turkey stack, because where else can you get smoked bacon, smoked gouda, and a sunny side up egg on a turkey sandwich, huh?
GOOD LUCK OUT THERE EATERS!! Don't forget to tag your food and face with #dineroftheday and we might just give you money for more food!!
