Review - Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza

Black Sheep - Minneapolis
600 Washington Ave N.
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612.342.COAL (2625)

Black Sheep - St Paul
512 N. Robert St.
St. Paul, MN 55102
651.22.SHEEP (74337)



I've eaten at Black Sheep about five times now. It's quickly becoming my favorite pizza in the Twin Cities. The crust is thin with a slight chard taste - a nice chard taste, like good BBQ. Unlike Punch and Pizza Nea the crust at Black Sheep has never been soggy. It's always light and very crispy, probably from the coal burning oven and maybe a little love.

The menu is't huge, but it's ample. They have four or five salads but I've only had one, the Harvest Market Salad. It's details change from time to time but arugula, roasted seasonal veggies and a tasty homemade dressing seem to be a constant. It's so good, I have to get it every time that I'm at Black Sheep.



The pizzas are available in two sizes, large and small. A perfect size meal for Tony and myself at Black Sheep is a small pizza, one salad, and two beers. We've tried the large, but it's too much for us. I'd say the small is good for two people, or one with a big appetite and a large will feed four. They're priced between seven and twenty dollars each.



I don't have a favorite pizza at Black Sheep, yet. I like to try a new combination each time. I think it might be the only place that I've had capers on a pizza. I'm going to try the #8, Chicken and Pickled Peppers on my next visit. The last pizza we ate was the #1 (cheese and sauce) with garlic added. Sounds simple, I know. It's the simplicity that allows you to taste the freshness of the ingredients. The sauce is a little sweet and tangy, the cheese light and stringy, the garlic was super thinly sliced and spread all over the pizza, just the way I like it.

Review - Gorkha Palace

Gorkha Palace
23 4th St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612)886-3451

Tony and I have been wanting to try the new Gorkha Palace since it opened. We stopped by once, but it was a Monday and they were closed. We made it there on a weekend day for lunch, and they were open, but not very busy. With us, there were four groups of people.



The sever greeted us and took our drink order right away. Then she walked away, but still within eye sight. Another person came to our table and took our lunch order. After 10 - 12 minutes the server came back and told us that the other person was new and never turned in our order. So, we would have to wait another ten minutes before we got anything to eat. The server was nice enough, just not prompt. One man, after receiving his check and waiting for the server to return, had to go up to the bar to pay.

We ordered Chicken Mo Mo to start. Mo Mo is a steamed dumpling. Grokha Palace makess five types of Mo Mos including Yak, Mutton and Vegetable. They are served with a tomato chutney. They were pretty tasty, warm and well seasoned. The Mo Mo comes in a six or ten piece order and cost between six and twelve dollars. This appetizer was my favorite part of our meal.

Review - Brasa

Brasa - Minneapolis
600 E. Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-379-3030

Brasa - Saint Paul
777 Grand Avenue
St. Paul, MN. 55105
651-224-1302



Tony and I have been known to eat at Brasa more than once a week. It's our "fast food". We don't just eat there a lot because it's fast, that's just a perk. We eat at Brasa because the food has never let us down. It's always made with fresh ingredients and it warms me from the inside.

Review - The Sample Room

The Sample Room
2124 Marshall Street NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
612.789.0333

I really enjoy the concept of The Sample Room. As the name suggests, you can try lots of different things in one visit. The menu is separated into categories such as; charcuteries, cheese, meat, and pastas. There's also a few entrées to choose from. Tony and I don't have huge appetites, three of the small plates will fill us up. If you have a larger appetite, share a couple of plates and have an entrée or sandwich for yourself.



I was surprised to find out the history of The Sample Room. The building was built in the late 1800's and opened as The Thies Hotel and Sample Room. I believe the restaurant that's there now opened in 2002, which also surprised me. I didn't find the place till this year and I feel like I've been missing out!

The Sample Room is at Mile 856.2 on the Mississippi River. So, if you want some great food as you're out boating, you can tie up at their dock, walk up, and sample some tasty stuff. Or, if you want to go to eat in a more traditional way, they are located at 2124 Marshall St NE, Mpls. There is plenty of parking in the back of the restaurant, by the Mississippi.



There's a nice cozy feeling to all dinning areas at The Sample Room. Including a relatively small dinning room with a bar counter to one side and a patio on the other. My favorite place to sit is the outside bar area. It's closest to the river and provides a great atmosphere when the sun is setting.

Minnesota State Fair

I can't have a food blog without a mention of The Great Get-Together. For those of you that aren't in the Midwest, I'm referring to the MN State Fair.

People go to the fair for many reasons. Rides, people watching and the cute baby animals are a few. Those things are great, but I am all about the food. The theme of the fair food is anything that can be but on a stick. Which seems to only be limited by the imaginations of the fair foodies. Deep fried candy bars,alligator, beer, chicken fried bacon, they put it all on a stick! My favorite stick food is a bit more traditional, roasted corn on the cob. I also like that the cobs are recycled.

The most popular things are the All You Can Drink Milk, Martha's Cookies, Turkey To Go, Pronto Pups, and Cheese Curds. These things are long time favorites at the fair. I also love the $1 Shrimp Cocktail. (It's only a buck!)

The hardest thing is eating all of my favs and still having room to try the new creations. This year I tried the Fried Green Tomatoes. Yummy! They come with ranch dressing, but I used the salsa from the Texas food stand to dip them in.

Here are some pictures.


Here's Rebecka enjoying Fried Green Tomatoes with salsa.



The thin crispy crust is perfect surrounding the soft tart tomato.



I don't know who these guys are. I just know that that's a crazy potato chip!