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Restaurants (rec.food.restaurants) Providing a location-independent forum for the discussion of restaurants and dining out in general, and for the collection of information about good dining spots in remote locations. |
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Minneapolis - Safari
Every once in a while we have dinner with a friend who gets out and
about more than we do. Thanks to Steve, my husband and I have eaten Ethiopian food, sushi, and great ribs in a little teeny place in St. Paul (we prefer our ribs at the Market Barbecue in downtown Minneapolis). Greek food was our the agenda last night and our destination was the restaurant Myconos in downtown Minneapolis -- about two doors south of the Market. Coincidence. We parked our car, fed the meter, and walked across the street to the address we had for Myconos. Not there. We spotted friend Steve, held a small conference and decided to check out Safari, next door. It's east African, Somali fixin's. We went into a small space that was under partial renovation. The smell of whatever something that was cooking was out of this world. A nice young man offered to seat us and we asked to just look at menus for the moment, thank you. It took about 15 seconds for us to decide we'd eat there. Here's Jeremy Iggers' recent review of Safari in the Minneapolis Star Tribune: <http://www.startribune.com/stories/456/5110004.html> We consulted with owner Sade Hashi for recommendations for us. We ordered the appetizer (foul?) plate that was a mixture of fava beans, string beans (fresh), corn, carrots, onions and seasoned with cumin and other things I don't remember. It was not highly seasoned and could have been a meal in itself. Were it thinned considerably, it could have been soup. (I'm thinking leftovers here). It was accompanied by some pita and a small paper container of besbes -- a sneaky little condiment to heat things up. It was flavorful and hot - jalapeño, serrano, garlic (I think) and I don't know what else. Sneaky heat -- and I couldn't stop eating it. The plate was enough for 5-6 people (Steve took home the leftovers). Steve ordered the roasted goat cutlet (I think it was billed as a cutlet). I've never eaten goat and was glad he ordered it so I could have a taste. It was flavorful and fall-apart tender. It came with some incredibly delicious basmati rice. Rob ordered the shawarma -- pretty standard fare there, I'd say; also with the basmati. The buys had the mango drink. Tasted like mangoes. :-) I had the ke'key, the dish with the homemade noodles that Jeremy described in his review, and mine was with beef. I love homemade noodles and these were at least as good as my own. The sauce was not strongly flavored or spicy, but the besbes was right there on the plate to liven it up. Each entree came with a banana! The banana is to be diced and put on top of the entree and then maybe mixed in for each bite. It's supposed to lessen the heat and add some sweetness. The addition of the banana bits was surprisingly pleasant to me. We had arrived at 5:30 and there were perhaps three tables being served at the time. We were the only caucasian customers. When we left an hour or so later, the place was starting to get busy -- at least another four or five tables were being served. We were glad we'd come when we did because we had the opportunity to chat some with the owner -- he is a totally charming and delightful man. His mom made the noodles. Yesterday I posted about another meal my husband and I had had in a different restaurant -- the cost for the two of us there was in the neighborhood of $30. At Safari, our bill was $34 -- for three people. We'll go back. It smelled so good. Did I mention what the place was like inside? Absolutely nothing fancy -- small tables, a couple booths; the renovation is going to make a large table and booth to accommodate 20 or so folks when it's done. -- -Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Winter Carnival ice sculpture pics added 1-30-05. "I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner, performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005. |
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