Ginger Hop

The new Ginger Hop is in the space formerly occupied by The Times, in Northeast Minneapolis. I am not privy to the reasons for The Times end, but it was somewhat of a sentimental place for me. So hearing of it's demise had me feelin' sad. But then...it's almost like the god's themselves heard of such sadness, and decided to make it better. Way better, by opening a THAI place in NORTHEAST MPLS. I could barely contain my excitement at such a rarity. So barely, that I went there 3 days after it's grand opening on Sept. 21st.

I have so many thoughts about this place, it takes work to organize them. In order to do so, I'm doing this blog in sections.


DECOR/ATMOSPHERE:
There have been no extreme renovations to the structure, so the layout is the same as The Times. Which is good...but weird. The dining area has been revamped into an attractive, modern, clean looking dining space. Comfortable and romantic. Dark and inviting. Versatile, as you could just as well snack at the bar, or have a special night here. The vibes are good and stress free, which is what I sniff for immediately in restaraunts. Stress vibes are not my friend. In the bar area, there are Asian fans on the ceiling, individually waving back forth in unison. Very cute. But the biggest revamp is in the bathrooms.

Look! (the blob in my face is actually a red light bulb.)

The only critique I have is for the bar area. It needs something. If I remember correctly (which i often DONT so dont throw stones if I am wrong!) The Times had some back lighting behind the bottles and whatnot. My companion for the night (and Ginger Hop waitress, Christy Hunt) pointed out it needs some lighting. It is a new place, so I'm not concerned about tweaks such as these.

THE SERVICE:

Well - I sat at the bar. My bartender was one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen, and most importantly: they pour wine with a heavy hand. Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

THE FOOD/BOOZE:

The cuisine is primarily Pan-Asian. Some appetizers are ceviche, spring rolls, wontons (cream cheese, or cream cheese and carmelized onion with no price difference.) and all are on the cheap. I'm pleased the menu is brief, but not so much that there's only one thing I would order. In fact - I would like to try about 90% of things on the menu. Specifically, the banh-mi! I have heard of banh-mi, but only imagined eating it one day, since it's not common fare here. For those not familiar, it's a Vietnamese baguette sandwich, with pork, carrots, lettuce, cilantro, something pickled (memory lapse, forgive me) and other dreamy things. Their spin on the reuben is innovative, using kim-chee, which I hear is local along with other ingredients. Other fare includes 2 curries, some noodles, asian salads and soups. The wine list seems extensive, affordable and user friendly. They have a standard cocktail menu, and some sake as well. I had the Red Tree cabernet, which was lovely.

Since I was a little money shy, I decided on the spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce ($5), and a chicken satay with peanut dipping sauce ($2.) I didn't take food pics, because it was a bit too dark. But - imagine some sqaure plates with spring rolls, cut into fours, and a chicken piece on a skewer. Nothing fancy, just simple and classic. The spring rolls were HEAVENLY (i'm lookin' at you Chad!) Some spring roll no-no's = gummy rice paper, loose fillings, lettuce/good stuff ratio being 75/25. None of this occured. NONE! The spring rolls were light, cold, and fresh. The balance of flavors, exquisite. The chicken satay was delightfully fragrant. When my food was placed in front of me, I immediately inhaled the delicate scent of yelow curry which the chicken is marinated in. It is delicately flavored. Not dry, not overpowering, and not bland.

I was concerned about recieving the same peanut sauce, but no. The spring roll dipping is a thin asian sauce, with some chopped peanuts in it. I usually favor this kind of sauce for spring rolls over a thick peanut sauce. The sauce was the best I've had, harmonizing all four S's (Sweet, salty, spicy, sour) perfectly. I was so pleased, I wanted to do some harmonizing of my own! The satay sauce was a thick peanut sauce, which actually tasted a lot like unsalted peanut paste. It was very complimentary to the satay.

Sometimes, you just go to a place where everything just works. I have no complaints about my visit to Ginger Hop. I'm even more excited for it's smaller counterpart, Honey (formerly Jitters) to open. I forsee going back many times, bringing many people.

There is no website for Ginger Hop yet.

Jake O'Connor's

I have only been to Jake O'Connor's once before, to stop in and have a drink. It was quite crowded, so I didn't get to stay long. The place's literal title is "Jake O' Connors Public House." Basically, the formal term for a pub, and appropriately so. So on my lazy Tuesday evening, I found myself with my guest (let's just call her Mrs. D) and actually kind of excited to try the food.

Jake's actually is quite nice on the interior. I rarely see an Irish themed-pub/restaraunt that I don't like. Dark shiny wood, nice spacious bar, and a variety of seating. The restaraunt is set up with tables, booths, and has another room just a few steps up from the main dining room, to accomodate more seating. It is somewhat posh, no surprise being in Excelsior, and on the $$-$$$ scale. It is also quite cozy, despite there being a good amount of space. Mrs. D and I chose a booth. The booth annoyed me, as wood booths normally do. They are too...upright, and usually hurt me bum. So usually I feel kind of lurched forward...with a sore bum. Ew.

The menu seems to have your standard such as Shepards Pie, Fish and Chips, Champ along with some others. Other fare is halibut, chicken, steaks, chops, burgers, a few pasta's, and sandwiches. The wine list looks quite extensive and a wide range of price, from 6.50 a glass to $200 bottles Ms. D settled on the half roasted chicken (Half a chicken brined for twenty-four hours before being roasted over a pot of gold. $16.95), and i went with the stuffed chicken breast A 10-ounce skin-on chicken breast stuffed with spinach, bacon and goat cheese. Seared crispy and finished with a white truffle chicken au jus. $15.95.) Each one comes with choice of potato (mashed, fries, or risotto) and veggie (brussel sprouts, mushrooms and onions, or the special: broccolli and cheese) I got the risotto and brussels, Mrs. D got the mushrooms and onions and mashed potatoes. I shall first introduce Mrs. D's choice!

Half roasted Chicken (and more crappy cell phone pics!)

And mine, the Stuffed Chicken Breast:

Let me start by saying I've never had risotto before. From my "experience" (aka...watching cooking shows) I understand it's difficult to perfect. It's either hard and underdone, or too gummy. Maybe I'm a newbie, but it was the best thing on my plate. It was cheesy, garlic-ey, and soft. But not gummy or too starchy. It didn't only taste of garlic- it tasted of roasted garlic. Even better. The juice you see on the plate is the white truffle chicken au jus. It tasted like a rich butter-garlic sauce. It had earthy depth to it, and was delicious. The brussell sprouts were perfect with this sauce. They were tender, but firm, and not mushy or artificial tasting. I really love the satisfying mouth-feel of this vegetable. The chicken breast was not so great, unfortunately. The description sounds pretty decadent. Goat cheese? Spinach? It even looks pretty good.



See?

I found this piece of my meal an overall disappointment. The chicken itself was bland and dry. The juice adds to it, but you have to really douse it in the stuff. I also tasted no goat cheese, no spinach, no...nothing. It's a puzzle for the senses - you can see it in there, but the flavors just don't shine through.

I of course tried some of Mrs. D's meal. Besides the mushroom-ey onion-ey DOOM on the plate. Her chicken was much more flavorful than mine. Parts of it were actually too salty (this coming from an American, where we cherish salt!) I had a little food envy, but not much. Her mashed potatoes were...bland. They has green onions on top, which helped. But it needed more of the usual mashed 'tato suspects.

I shouldn't blame Jake's for this entirely. Their interior is cozy and appealing, and while not cheap, it would for a good place to treat oneself/others to a few drinks. The next time I am in the mood for Shepard's Pie or Boxty, and have a nice chunk of change, I just may find myself at Jake's again. unfortunately, either scenario is likely to be no more than a fable for me anytime soon, and I don't feel that the food is worth the money spent. If I'm going to spend $15 on an entree, I expect to at least really like it.

http://www.jakeoconnors.com/

Sen Yai Sen Lek/ Big Noodle Little Noodle

As you may be able to tell, I go out to eat on whims. So on this whimsical Thursday night, I found myself cruisin' Central Ave NE to find an eating spot. I had a hankerin' for some Asian food - no easy feat here in NE. I had been to Sen Yai Sen Lek before with a friend, despite the great hype it had been recieving. But I found it lacking, for reasons unknown now because I didn't blog them. However, I reconsidered and found myself there again.

The decor is very appealing. Modern (nearing it's 1 year anniversary) and spacious. There's a main eating area, with an array of booths and tables, paintings on the wall (can someone change this trend?) and yellow walls, red walls, blue walls. Off to the right lies the bar area, and some additional seating, in what is a seperate room altogether. This is where I was drawn.

(a kind of picture)


It's quite cozy there. Kind of like you are in someone's apartment. So I decided to sit at the bar (which i never do - i usually loathe eating at the bar. I was feeling feisty I guess) and hunker down for some eats. Plan of attack: standard appetizer-entreee combo. The menu isn't totally extensive, nor is it bare-boned. They have 6 appetizers. Fried spring rolls, thai spring rolls, satay, lettuce wraps and fish cakes. I opted for the lettuce wraps. I vaguely remember having the spring rolls last time, and not liking them. I mean...isn't that kinda hard? Anyways, after a very short wait, I was brought this:

(excuse the dark crappy pic.)
Since its dim there and cell phone pics suck, I shall describe from the top, clockwise. It is:

Lettuce leaves - though I'm not sure what kind. Stems, dark, oval shaped. Is that lettuce? What is it??
Toasted coconut
Teeny tiny pieces of lime
Ginger (much appreciated)
Green peppers - green thai chilies? Diced very tiny
Small diced red onion
Dried shrimp
Peanuts (whole, without shells)
A salty/sweet shrimp sauce for dipping

Besides these being...not very hand friendly, allow me to collect my thoughts on the mess of this dish, and spew forth my well formed opinions about it. *rubs temples*

Ok -first off, weren't we all expecting something..pre-wrapped? Ok - so maybe you like to be creative with your food. You're a painter or something. However, I'm not. I was..hungry. Regardless, I went with it, but hesitantly. Putting each ingredient into the lettuce. First the coconut, then each other thing, kind of one by one. By the time I got through forcing myself to go slow and actually think about what I as doing, 5 minutes went by. Let me remind you I am severely ADHD. Anyways, I then tried to..roll the stuff up in there. It came spilling out, the lettuce tore, and the sauce got on my hands making them sticky. I also got a bite full of chili and onion, Mouth-fire! But, next time, I decided to be patient. I tried again, with a bigger leaf. This time I put no chili, and more shrimp and more ginger. This resulted in a loosely, but successfully, wrapped item. I bit in and got an unpleasant leather-texture chew of the dried shrimp. I guess..it IS dried shrimp after all. In addition, the whle peanut I put in there came tumbling out. Why in the heck did they have all these teeny tiny diced things..but then WHOLE peanuts? How about crushed? It makes so little sense, I have to stop thinking about it now.

What was I expecting? Should I have expected more? Should I have been able to successfully create my own appetizer, picking ingredient one by one, so delicately placing the tiny things on there in an expert flavor arrangement? In short: did I fucking do it wrong?? Needless to say, this dish made me think too much, and it made me question my abilities too much. I ate half of it before giving up. Sorry Sen Yai.

For entree, I ordered the Pad Bpai Graw Pao. Translated: Thai basil stir fry with ground pork or chicken, garlic, chilies and long bean. Served with steamed rice, topped with a fried egg. I chose chicken, like usual. As I do at every Asian restaraunt, I asked what vegetables come in this dish. Peppers and onions, which I do not like. I asked if they would mind leaving those out and putting broccoli and other green stuff in there. No problem, they said. I was hopeful, then waited.

Forgive me for lack of picture, but it was so dark and my cell phone really sucks. Here's the breakdown.

The rice was appropriately sticky. The broccoli was cooked well, and not in overbearingly large chunks. They also put chinese broccoli in there. Nice move. It was quite garlicky, or so my mouth told me after I was done eating it. It had a tray of 4 add ons if you wanted - sugar, thai red chilies (dried), some sort of soy sauce with peppers in it, and just peppers/chili's in liquid. I found the dish to be flavorful, but added some of the soy sauce concotion onto a portion. I found it to then be too salty. The fried egg on top comes out as is, not chopped up, and I appreciate this. You can cut it and get a nice eggy, yolky bite here and there.

Overall, I found it it to be well balanced. More successfully, it's one of the ONLY asian places I've ever been to that has gotten the spice level perfect. It had me sniffling, but just a little, and not as if I was thinking of dead relatives. One gripe I have is that I had to actually look for the chicken. It's chopped up so very finely, it gets lost. Trust me, I don't like huge, chewy chunks of whatever they serve up at some asian places. But I like to chew a bite here and there. I love the taste of chicken, but I also love the texture of it too. It just wasn't there.

I don't think I will be back. If someone wants to pay, then ok. I am just overall not too impressed with this place. And my hands still stink, after 3 washings.

http://www.senyai-senlek.com/