Busy Nothings

Teaberry is a brand new establishment in downtown Fargo that offers Boba teas.  These drinks are mixtures of tea, flavorings, milk, and little chunks (or balls if you like) of tapioca starch that sit on the bottom of the cup.  A very large straw is then used to suck up the chunks of tapioca along with the tasty drink surrounding it.  Teaberry also serves some cocktail-like tea beverages (non-alcoholic) and a few sandwiches. 

It is a very zen-like inside.  The owner told us that all of the construction had been done by his wife, his business partner, and himself.  I was impressed.  Everything inside was clean and soothing with just the right amount of decoration to keep things interesting.  Here’s a picture:

There are a number of flavorings that you can choose for your Boba tea.  If memory serves, green tea, strawberry, taro, green apple, passion fruit, and raspberry are on the menu (along with many others that I cannot remember).  We inquired as to what the owner’s favorite Boba tea was and he said it was a combination of green apple and passion fruit.  Katelyn ordered that one and I chose the taro (another recommendation).  Both of the drinks were wonderful.  The green apple and passion fruit was pretty sweet but with a bit of tartness from the green apple and the presence of the neutral flavored tapioca chunks, it really worked.  The taro was less sweet and had sort of an earthy feel to it, which probably shouldn’t be surprising since it is the root (or corm to be more precise) that is primarily used as a foodstuff.  It thought it elegant in this drink as it added just the right bit of sophistication.  And they were both great on a bike ride on a summer’s day.  Here’s what the drinks looked like:

The second picture is of me using a straw (which I generally eschew with vigor) to drink the Boba tea in Island Park in Fargo.  The wide straw is absolutely necessary because the tapioca chunks would plug up any normal-sized straw.

We also had one other drink.  It was a white gourd cold tea “cocktail.”  (It can be seen in the picture above.)  It may have been the most refreshing thing I have ever tasted.  Sure, I was very thirsty from the bike ride I was on but this drink was amazing.  Just a hint of sweetness was matched with orange and what seemed like green tea (I could very well be wrong here).  And then, on top of all of those flavors, was the white gourd which was, much like the taro, a bit earthy and understatedly full-flavored.  We both loved it. 

Teaberry is found in downtown Fargo in the space where Salad Express used to be.  The address is 119 Broadway, Fargo, ND 58103.  I hope that everyone will go out and support a great little business like this that serves wonderful stuff. 

“Eh.”  Is that enough of a review because it sure sums up my feelings about Up the Creek.  It’s just another run of the mill chain restaurant with average foods at above average prices.  I’ve had the experience before and, sadly, I’m sure I’ll have it again.  Yet, I’ll try to give it some attention anyway.

Up the Creek is, apparently, an expanding chain with locations in the Deep South, Oklahoma, and now, surprisingly enough, Fargo.  It bills itself as a steak and seafood place and, in the strictest sense of the words, it is.  But if you really want good seafood (I didn’t try the steak), this isn’t the place to go.  As soon as our server approached, I asked what I thought was a perfectly reasonable question at a seafood restaurant:  “What’s fresh today?”  She dutifully informed me that all the fish comes in at the same time, frozen on a truck.  “Eh.”  How perfectly mundane. 

Nevertheless, I ordered a fish entrée anyway.  I ordered the Mahi Mahi, blackened, with a Citrus Pesto Butter.  It was fine but it wasn’t exciting and it wasn’t fresh.  A bit of spice that went well with the brightly flavored butter.  It chose some hand breaded to order onion rings to go on the side.  They were fine but not especially crisp or flavorful.  There was some ghasthly remoulade type sauce with it.  The entree also came with an average side-salad to start.  What else can I say but, “Eh?” 

Well, I would write more but I just don’t think it deserves anymore.  My advice is that if you go, don’t expect too much and then you won’t be disappointed.

I have often remarked to myself that there was no restaurant in the Fargo-Moorhead area that I thought was in completely in line my likes and dislikes.  To be sure, there were restaurants that I enjoy in this area, namely, Grazies, Jade Dragon, Passage to India, Sammy’s Pizza, and Sushi Time.  But while all of these restaurants have good food, they weren’t places that I really wanted to go to more than once or perhaps twice a month.  I enjoyed them but there was not a true synergy between myself and the restaurant.  That is, there wasn’t a place in town that I felt that if I were to open a restaurant, this is just how I would like it to be.  I think this feeling is gone now that I’ve enjoyed John Alexander’s in downtown Moorhead. 

John Alexaner’s is part of the burgeoning Fargo-Moorhead restaurant empire that includes Juano’s and a Latin themed bar.  It has been open since January of ‘08 and it has a delightfully small and focused menu.  It offers a number of appetziers, a few saldas, some burgers, a couple of pastas,  grilled cheese sandwiches, steaks, and a Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwich.  The idea, which I think is brilliant, is to take familiar dishes and elevate them slightly to the point where they become just about fine dining.  In doing so, the restaurant manages to skirt the lines that separate fine dining and American casual dining. 

The interior of the restaurant echoes this “skirting” theme by being sleek and cool enough to pass off as a nice dining destination while maintaining a casual atmosphere with details like paper napkins. 

As far as the food quality goes, I thought it was spot on.  The first thing I tried was the beer battered cheese curds.  Here’s how they served them:

They were very, very good.  The breading was crisp and just a bit bitter from the beer.  The cheese inside was perfectly gooey and full-flavored.  I really can’t think of having any better fried cheese curds in my life (and I’ve lived in Wisconsin before).  The accompanying sauce was called a “white ketchup” which, to my palate, meant that they mixed ketchup with mayonnaise.  The first bite seemed a bit odd because it tasted (unsurprisingly) a lot like tartar sauce but as I ate more of it, I began to see why the sauce was chosen.  It was to be a milder ketchup as the cheese curds, while being pretty flavorful, just wouldn’t stand up to a full blast of tomatoey ketchup.  Hence, the cutting it with a blander ingredient-mayonnaise.  It was a very good idea and indicative of the care the restaurant takes in its dishes.

My entree was a duck breast covered in a port suace with dried cherries, apples, and mint.  It was served with asparagus and mashed poatotes.  Here’s a picture:

This was a very good but not quite perfect dish.  The duck was nice and was served just under medium-well.  One could have hoped for a bit more crisp on the skin.  The sauce was a fascinating combination of flavors.  The port reduction was nice match with the fruits but the mint was, well, a wow ingredient.  At times, I loved it and at times, I really didn’t care about it.  The chef placed full, fresh mint leaves in the sauce which presented a texture contrast (nothing is quite like chewy leaves) and a very big flavor punch whenever one of the mint leaves hit your mouth.  It did finish the sauce intelligently as it balanced out the acidity and strong flavors of the port but it seemed to come at a pretty high cost.  If anything, mint was too aggressive of a flavor for this dish, especially in the amount given.  But, I really am nitpicking here.  I really did enjoy the dish.

The sides were good and great.  The mashed potatoes were the great part.  Made of red potatoes, they were silky smooth and exceptionally buttery.  Major kudos to the kitchen for that.  The asparagus was just too crisp tender for my liking but not very far off the mark. 

I really look forward to my next visit to John Alexander’s.  The prices are great, it has a nice, affordable wine list, and the bartender’s are knowledgeable and helpful.  Exactly the kind of place where I would be happy to spend some well-earned dollars. 

John Alexander’s address is 315 Main Avenue, Moorhead, MN 56560.  And it’s phone number is 218-287-5802. 

ADDED:  The Fargo Forum has an online review of this restaurant. 

I had a charming dinner in the Twin Cities this past weekend.  Cafe Twenty Eight is tucked into a refurbished fire station that is tastefully decorated with warm and bright colors.  It also exhibits a very nice wall of historical tidbits and artifacts that detail the history of the fire station as well as some of the neighboring Linden Hills area.  As a sample of what you’re apt to see, the wall displays three ribbons given to a school for having no traffic accidents due to their crossing-guards  in the mid 1970’s.  Quirky, yes, but really quite sublime.  Not only is it a direct link to the neighborhood’s past but it shows a real appreciation for the minuteness of life there.  And I think that is how their food comes out-homey and comfortable but with an exceptional attention to detail. 

My party ordered two salads:  A Beet Salad and a Champagne Pear Salad.  The latter was quite the better of the two.  Pears were poached, sliced, and then used as a base for greens, pistachios, and blue cheese tossed in a Champagne vinaigrette.  I thought the pears were wonderful.  They were poached to the very nanosecond of perfection; just tender enough to yield easily to a bite yet firm enough to retain their shape, texture, and integrity.  They paired beautifully with the tangy vinaigrette.  The dish is highly recommended. 

The Beet Salad was constructed of perfectly cooked beets (just like the pears above) that were covered with greens, orange pieces, shaved red onion, walnuts, croutons, and a citrus vinaigrette.  I thought everything worked really well together.  The only thing wanting in the dish was some more acidity in the dressing.  It would have woken up the and heightened the natural sweetness of the beets.  Here are pictures of the Beet Salad:

My entree was a pan-seared flat iron steak with Yukon Gold pommes frites.  They were adorned with wilted arugula, truffle butter, and a green salsa.  The beef, according to their website, comes from grass fed steaks that were raised humanely.  It was deliciously beefy and perfectly seared to medium-rare.  Here’s a picture:

The pommes frites were creamy and just a little bit crisp, exactly what you would think would come out of deep frying Yukon Gold potatoes.  The wilted arugula added a nice bitterness, the truffle butter earthiness, and the green salsa just a bit of kick.  I very much enjoyed it. 

Other members of my party were also duly impressed.  The potato gnocchi had a perfect consistency, and the succulent pork loin was sitting atop some outstanding polenta.  Two others ordered lamb-one got a lamb shank and the other got chops from a rack.  The latter seemed to be the better deal as the shank was absolutely enormous and probably a little difficult to eat with panache. 

I didn’t partake in dessert but the Surly “Two” chocolate cranberry beer was quite a treat.  Nicely acidic from the cranberries with the rather odd sensation that the chocolate was somehow mellowing it out from above, if you can catch my meaning there. 

Cafe Twenty Eight is a real treat and I would welcome the opportunity to stop there again.  It’s a perfect neighborhood bistro.  

Why don’t I just get to the point:  Jade Dragon has seriously good Vietnamese and Chinese food.  I was there for lunch today and I was supremely satisfied with my entire dining experience.  The service was quick and attentive, the food was excellently prepared and generously portioned, and the bill was very inexpensive.  I really can’t wait to back again.

My sister Jessy and I ordered 3 dishes:  Steamed Pork Dumplings, Sesame Chicken, and Phở.  Let’s start with the dumplings.  Here’s a picture:

The dumplings were perfectly steamed, by which I mean the wonton skins were not cooked to the point where there was any gumminess on the surface.  That was very pleasant.  The filling was a mixture of pork, cabbage, and spices.  It was served with a slightly spicy soy-based dipping sauce that had a hint of citrus.  It was excellent.  The filling was meaty and flavorful.  The sauce accentuated all of the flavors in the dumpling.  It was elegantly done. 

I also ate the Phở.  (My sister Jessy ordered the Sesame Chicken.  It tasted and it was very good-crispy with a slightly spicy, orange flavored sauce.)  Here’s a picture:

I ordered the Phở with meatballs, brisket, and (I think) round steak.  It was #23 on the menu and, unbeknownst to me, it was the specialty Phở of the kitchen.  Phở, of course, is bánh phở noodles in a spiced beef broth.  And that is precisely what I got:  A very flavorful broth with tender noodles surrounded by substantial bits of beef.  It was garnished with green onions and cilantro.  On the side, there was bean sprouts, a lime wedge, Sriracha, and hoisin sauce.  It was unbelievably good and unbelievably large.  I think there was about 1 1/2 quarts of Phở in my serving. 

The broth was wonderful.  There was deep beefiness with notes of cinnamon.  The beef was tender and flavorful.  It was perfect by itself but was also good when dipped in the Sriracha and hoisin sauce.  The green onions and cilantro added a lightness and brightness to the dish.  The bean sprouts added a nice crunch.  And the noodles were simply satisfying.  They were a perfect base for all of the other flavors. 

As you can tell, I really enjoyed my dining experience at Jade Dragon.  I hope you can find time to enjoy it as well.

Jade Dragon can be found at:  1015 Main Ave., Fargo.  The phone number is:  (701) 293-0152

As North Dakota holds the distinction of harboring the geographic center of North America within its borders, it would seem that it would be a huge challenge to prepare and serve fresh and delicious sushi and sashimi because there is no fresh fish readily available.  Indeed, the utter lack of high-quality, fresh seafood (retail or in restaurants) is my largest complaint about the food ecosystem in the Fargo-Moorhead area.  Hence, whenever I get a chance to eat sushi and sashimi when I’m out of town, I jump at it.  The chance to to eat breathtakingly fresh fish that, if odorous at all, smells of a clean sea breeze is absolutely irresistible to me.   

So, with my love of sushi, I was obviously interested in the two sushi places that are currently in the area.  Yuki-Hana was first and I’ve been there once (before the inception of this blog).  You can read a reviews of it here and here.  I found it to be a rather inconsistent experience.  The miso soup and tempura were very good but the sushi and sashimi were really quite bad in my estimation.  Neither the tuna nor the eel I ordered seemed fresh and they almost had a tinny quality to them.  Perhaps it was a bad night for the kitchen but it made me quite cautious about ordering sushi in my town.  Was is just simply impossible to get good, fresh fish here?

Hence, I was excited to go to Sushi Time but a little skeptical of Fargo’s ability to produce an excellent sushi bar.  But after having eaten there, I think Sushi Time did indeed produce some very good sushi and sashimi.  But, let’s take things step by step.

My first item was hot tea and I was surprised at what I got.  Every other sushi establishment I have ever been to has an offering of a Japanese style tea.  So, when I ordered tea, I expected a small teapot with some small teacups.  No, I get a mug of hot water with a tea bag (some English style tea).  It wasn’t bad but it really wasn’t what I was looking for. 

The second item was miso soup, another staple of sushi restaurants.  Miso is fermented soy bean paste that has a very unique flavor.  Here’s a picture:

This miso soup was different than any other miso soup I had ever had because there was no tofu chunks or green onions in the soup.  Sushi Time’s miso soup was all broth.  The broth was well-flavored but I missed the tofu and onions.  They add a bit of heartiness to the dish as well as some texture. 

So, the front part of the meal was untraditional and pretty weak I think.  And then I ordered the seaweed salad.  Basically, it is seaweed tossed in a sesame oil vinaigrette.  It, more than anything else for me, tastes like the ocean.  The brininess, the freshness, and the refreshment of the salad evoke an early morning walk on the seashore.  Sushi Time’s seaweed salad was all of that.  It was just dressed enough to be flavorful but not so much where the flavor of the seaweed was masked.  It was as good a seaweed salad as I’ve ever had.  I will go back to just to eat that dish.  Here’s a picture:

My friend ordered the octopus salad.  The small taste I had was also excellent.  Here’s a picture of that:

And then my lunch sushi/sashimi combination platter came out.  It contained a spicy tuna roll for the sushi and salmon, red snapper, tuna, eel, and a unidentifiable piece of fish for the sashimi.  Here’s a picture:

I thought that the sashimi was flawless.  The fish was cold, fresh, and perfectly textured.  The eel (which is not raw) was particularly excellent as was the salmon.  The tuna roll, however, was not quite perfect.  For whatever reason, the tuna in the roll was so finely cut that it was paste-like.  It tasted fresh and spicy but I just did not like the texture of it.  Otherwise, the other flavors in the roll were fine; I just distracted by the “creaminess” of the tuna.

I can heartily recommend Sushi Time.  Apart from some missteps in a few details, it offers excellent sushi and sashimi.  And that, if anything, is what such a place needs to excel at.  I’m already looking forward to my next piece of raw salmon. 

Sushi Time is located in the O’Kelly Inn.  The address is 3800 Main Avenue, Fargo ND, 58103.  The phone number is (701) 277-1880.  It opens every day at 11 except Sunday, when it opens at 3. 

[Disclaimer:  I was once employed at Doolittle's as a Saute cook.]

Doolittle’s Woodfire Grill in Fargo is really quite a nice dining destination.  The ambience of the restaurant is a little corny with it’s old school aeronautical theme.  Think of an airplane historical museum for 3rd graders.  But, you know, as a restaurant decor, it really is OK.  The colors are muted and the various airplane parts hanging from the ceiling provide a sense of “realness” that is simply lacking from the “neighborhood” type fake memorabilia found at Applebee’s and TGIF’s. 

The decor, being old-school, also matches the real star of the restaurant: a real wood-fired rotisserie.  The rotisserie spins and is fed fresh wood all day, infusing the restaurant with a lovely smokiness as well as the aromas of chicken, ribs, and beef.  Indeed, for blocks surrounding the restaurant, one can discern that lovely smell of smoky meat. 

Thus, the decor and the rotisserie give Doolittle’s a decidedly old-school feel which I think is a brilliant move because it is so darn comforting.  There’s almost a sense that there’s a connection to a greater and purer past when you sit down there. 

The food somewhat matches this theme.  Certainly, the rotisserie chicken, the mashed potatoes, and the chicken and biscuits evoke the classic comfort food mentality.  But the menu also offers some rather eclectic dishes like an Asian noodle stir-fry, Seafood-stuffed Portabella Mushrooms, Flatbread Pizzas, Fish Tacos, and Salmon with Artichokes and Kalamata Olives.  I’ve tried many of these and I think they are uniformly very good.  Almost everything is made from scratch in-house and the ingredients used are really top-notch.  And the fact that the rotisserie chicken makes an appearance in so many of dishes means that many of the dishes are simply outstanding because the rotisserie meat, in general, is really, really good. 

I did have one hiccup in the food last night, however.  I ordered a special menu item-the Rotisserie Leg of Lamb.  I thought this was a great step up for Doolittle’s-lamb is certainly a “gourmet” ingredient, at least to us upper Midwesterners.  It was served with mashed potatoes and Doolittle’s version of ratatouille.  The side dishes were good.  The mashed potatoes were flavorful if just a bit grainy from being just a bit undercooked.  The ratatouille was perfectly tender yet a bit misnamed.  I detected summer squash, zucchini, and onions in the dish but no eggplant!  I’m not really complaining about this (I am no fan of eggplant) but I do have an issue with the nomenclature.  Ratatouille is French dish of sauteed vegetables, of which the primary one is eggplant.  The lamb, however, was pretty suspect as they just could not serve it as a servicable temperature.  I like my leg of lamb medium-rare but from the menu, it is already served medium and our server asked what temperature I wanted my lamb at.  I had to respond medium as there was no way I wanted the lamb cooked anymore.  The lamb that I was served, however, was medium-well to well-done.  Of course, this meant tougher and less flavorful meat.  Doolittle’s may need to work on their lamb cooking skills a bit. 

Nevertheless, I do recommend Doolittle’s as a dining or just a drinking destination.  It offers good and sometimes great food and drinks in a grown-up atmosphere.  An added bonus is their half-price wine night every Monday night.  Even bottles from their reserve wine list are discounted. 

Mexican Village is a Fargo/Moorhead restaurant mainstay.  It’s been open since 1970 in downtown Fargo and has just nrecently opened a beautiful new restaurant in the south part of Fargo.  I remember being there as a child, as an adolescent, and as young adult.  It’s comforting to know that there are some things that are constant in life.

As the name implies, Mexican Village serves Mexican style food.  Which means there is plenty of refried beans and Spanish rice that surround various combinations of tortillas, meat, cheese, and sauce.  The standard enchiladas and tacos and chimichangas and fajitas are there.  There’s really no surprises on the menu and all of the dishes (even if they do sort of all taste and look the same) are solidly good, save one dish: the Pollo Fundido.  It is unquestionably the best thing Mexican Village serves.  It is a flour tortilla filled with shredded, seasoned chicken that is then deep fried.  It is then covered with a jalapeno cream cheese sauce.  Let’s just say it’s dynamite.  The chicken is nice and tender, the shell is pleasantly crisp, and the sauce is just spicy enough.  The richness of the cream cheese is not only comforting but is also brings all of the flavors together.  It’s really quite a perfect dish and a steal at around $10. 

It is rare for me to repeatedly order the same dish at a restaurant as I like to sample and try new things but the Pollo Fundido is so good that I nearly uniformly order it whilst at Mexican Village.  Others seem to agree.  At a recent birthday lunch of around 10 guys, 9 Pollo Fundidos were ordered.  Sounds likes a pretty ringing endorsement to me.  Here’s a picture of the dish:

It’s no secret that I like German food.  It’s hearty, it’s comforting, and it is undeniably meaty.  What’s not to like?  It’s like comfort food on crack.  So I never shy away from eating at a German restaurant.  Where else are you going to get schnitzels, spaetzle, and potato pancakes? 

The danger with German food, of course, is that when made poorly, the food is rather unrefined and just plain heavy.  It’s like French Fries.  Made properly, they are light and crisp and not the least bit greasy.  Made poorly, and they are limp and greasy bits of potato that have no character.  That latter description is how I feel about the Black Forest Inn.  The food was just sort of bad.  I ordered a special for the holidays: a sausage plate with a bratwurst, a “Christmas” sausage, and a chicken curry sausage.  It came with your choice of side (I chose a potato pancake) and rye bread.  For dessert, I had an apfelstrudel.  I’ll address each of those items in turn.

But before I get to my entree, let me explain the bread service at the Black Forest Inn.  Prior to the entrees, the table is (free of charge) given a basket of bread-rye and some small white bread rolls.  The bread was fine but nothing to write home about.  But what frosted me was the fact that I got rye bread for free while I was paying for it as part of my entree!  I think it very bad form to offer something for free but keep it part of something you have to pay for.  It’s either free or it isn’t.  Restaurants shouldn’t blur the issue. 

My entree itself was passable.  The sausages were fine but not memorable.  Apparently, there is a sausage master who makes the sausages in house.  Maybe I just don’t know enough about sausages but they seemed so ordinary.  I just expect more from a master German sausage maker.  Plus, the menu said to ask for a side of mustard, so I did.  The server proceeds to bring out two mustards: a house mustard (which was a pleasant sweet/hot combination) and Grey Poupon.  Why would a German restaurant serve a French mustard?  It just doesn’t make sense.  Perhaps if it was requested, it could even be present on the table but to bring it out as a matter of course is simply silly.  Quite disappointing, really.  The potato pancake was just plain weird.  It was obviously deep-fried instead of sauteed or pan fried.  And the inside was so dense that it was more like a potato cake than a pancake.  It wasn’t bad but it was just strange. 

And the apfelstrudel was just the same.  The flavors were fine but the puff pastry was just awful.  There wasn’t a hint of crispness or flakiness to it.  It was just heavy and doughy, especially in the middle of it. 

I’ll just say dinner was fine but considering the price, I can’t really say it was worth the money.  Here’s some pictures:

Bertrosa’s is a bona fide homegrown lunch hotspot in Fargo.  They offer a daily special along with a soup of the day.  It is tucked away in the basement of the Black Building downtown and I just had the most delightful lunch.  I ordered the special: Porketta sandwich with oyster stew.  They were both absolutely delicious in their simplicity.  The stew, I think, was nothing more than cream, a bit of butter, some oyster liquor, and whole oysters.  It was so simple yet so satisfying because the ingredients were good and the soup did the only thing it was asked to do: highlight the great flavor of the oysters.  I loved it; there’s no need to fancy things up when working with quality ingredients.  Just let the individual elements of the dish shine. 

The Porketta sandwich was similar in it’s simplicity.  It was a roasted pork shoulder (or Boston Butt if you prefer) served on a kaiser roll with cheese and a bit of mayo and mustard.  The “fixins” were there only to add a bit of  moisture and to very lightly complement the pork, which was pleasantly “porky.”  It was almost the essence of pork that you tasted and, in a Porketta sandwich, what else would you want to taste?  Again, just let the ingredients shine and there’s going to be a delicious result.

Bertrosa’s also served gyros, Chicago style hotdogs, and various types of Italian beef sandwiches.  It’s a very Chicago street food themed place.  It also always serves its Beer Cheese Soup, which is also excellent.  This is definitely a place to visit. 

Bertrosa’s can be found at 118 North Broadway in Fargo.