Annie "Sir Yelpsalot" D.'s Profile

Turn out your pockets, dig through your couch cushions and scrape together four bucks. That's less than it will cost you to do your laundry. Then take your four bucks and get yourself a banh mi from Nhu Lan.

The lemongrass chicken sandwich was wonderful. It's full of flavorful chicken, crispy carrots, a big slice of cucumber, jalapenos and every banh mi's starring herb---cilantro. It tasted great, though it would've been improved even more by some kind of sauce sauce because it was a tad dry (if I'm being picky).

In addition to the sandwiches, they also offer such reasonably priced items as pre-made spring rolls (there's a beef version too, but we got the spring roll medley of tofu, shrimp and some kind of spicy veggie), fresh fruit smoothies, fresh bread and pastries.

You can order a head of time for pick-up, but the wait is also short for walk-ins. There are only a few places to sit and eat, so I recommend taking your sandwich on a picnic or back home before you go animal on it. Oh, and be extra careful not to get crumbs all over yourself, because you do not have any money to launder that shirt.

Dinner at Jin Ju was a nearly flawless outing, from candlelit, sophisticated atmosphere to some of the best service I've had at a restaurant lately... and of course, the food.

The man and I made a reservation, but ended up coming a little early and getting seated right away at what I'm convinced is the best table in the house (the first half-booth up the stairs and to the right).

Our server (I think her name was Randa?) was 100% wonderful---attentive, friendly and she appeared genuinely interested in our experience there. She happily explained a few entrees when I asked her some questions and even brought out some special dipping sauces to eat with our appetizers just because she likes them. She also gave us thorough descriptions of each dish when it arrived at the table, much more so than what was on the menu. Someone give that woman a raise.

For starters, we ordered a tall Korean beer to share (Hite), the steamed kimchi mandoo (kimchi-scallion-tofu dumplings) and kim bap (sushi with bulgogi, veggies and crab). I loved both of these and would definitely order them again, though the kim bap would've been a bit dry without the extra sauce that the waitress brought.

I was craving bi bim bap, so that's what I ordered even though I was so tempted by the dak dori tang (chicken and potatoes in a spicy-sweet red pepper broth) and the kimchi chigae (pork, tofu, kimchi broth). Of course, I had to have the hot stone pot version with sesame oil---the dol sut bi bim bap. The rice is crisping perfectly at the bottom of the pot and comes topped with beef, shitake mushrooms, some crunchy veggies, a fried egg and a sweet-spicy red pepper sauce. I also added kimchi to mine because that's the way I like it. Not only do you get this feast delivered sizzling to the table, but it also comes with a drinkable cup of miso soup and the small spread of banchan (little sides) that always comes with Korean meals.

I couldn't even finish half my dinner because it was so big, but somehow my boyfriend managed to finish his enormous seafood bi bim bap AND save room for dessert, so we ordered a scoop of mango ice cream. I don't know if they make it in-house, but the little spoonful I had was tasty nonetheless!

To sum this up, I could not have been more happy with Jin Ju and I can't wait to come back and try more things... MANY more things... like the soju cocktails and the spicy soups and the kalbi and the pajun...

Four tips for seeing Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind, a show where the cast performs 30 plays in 60 minutes:

1. Get there early (around 10:30 even), because there always seems to be a line around the block to get in (showtime is at 11:30 p.m.).
2. Don't look your best, because you have no idea when a cast member could come kiss you with a face full of lipstick or spray you with supersoakers.
3. Take time to admire the hallway of presidents.
4. Be puzzled sometimes, but mostly laugh a lot. It's a real mixed bag, so even if you didn't love it one month, it'll be a whole new show the next. A few of the plays were serious, a few were puzzling... but most were hilarious and weird like "Word-for-word Side Effects of Viagra, Performed at a Victorian Tea Party" or "13-year old Jay's Play."

There's a lot of fun to be had here for under $15.

Turtle racing. On Thursday, I didn't know this existed. On Friday, I went home a winner.

At Big Joe's, you buy drinks and those drinks come with tickets if it's racing night. If your ticket number is called, you get to participate in the turtle races (there are multiple races per evening). My speedy turtle (Lucky Dan) won me a 1st place T-shirt. However, the turtle you want is actually Yolanda. She's so slow and the loser wins a free drink, which I'm sure we can agree is way better than a T-shirt. Anyway, I'll let you figure out the rest when you get there, because it's all part of the experience.

Other amenities:
-Beer and other drinkables
-Darts
-A bathroom that looks eerily like the bathroom of your friend's parents' house
-No food, but around midnight someone comes by selling pizza from a nearby place. It's not great, but sometimes you haven't had dinner and you just HAVE to eat it for your own well-being.

Big Joe's is basically everyman's neighborhood dive... and potentially everyturtle's too.

Ended up here again today after another failed trip to Over Easy, but with less success this time.

I ordered the chilaquiles again. They were still tasty (especially with chorizo), but our server was inexcusably slow.

I always try to be understanding, but this woman was just straight-up not doing a good job. And worse than that, she didn't have the courtesy to at least recognize or apologize for all the waiting we had to do (no wait to sit down.... but we waited forever for her to greet us, then to get our orders in, then again for our food, then again for the bill, then again for her to actually run the card...).

The saving graces are that the food is good and the host, wait assistants and other servers were seemingly more on top of things. I guess I'd still recommend this place because the food is pretty delicious, but just hope you don't get stuck with the one bad egg server.

After a meeting at Lynden's down the street last Friday, I decided to camp out in St. Paul for a beautiful day. J&S was the spot!

J&S is a genuine neighborhood coffeeshop that serves a solid cold press and all kinds of coffee beans to brew at home. Though the decor could use a little sprucing up, the rough edges sorta add to the charm.

I found the large patio to be a perfect place to get some work done on a warm day. It's very dog-friendly and it's basically like a big backyard. Many of the tables out there are built for more than one person, so I was ready to share my space if it got busy.

I usually judge coffee shops on their espresso drinks (which I didn't try here), but the cold press was so good it inspired me to break out my Toddy and brew my own the next morning.

Lastly, this has nothing to do with my opinion of J&S as a whole... but I still can't believe it actually happened: There was an adult couple next to me talking to each other in baby voices while playing with little dolls. For about 10 minutes. Yep.

I adore Barbette for many reasons, and I will tell you about them now.

Happy Hour: Barbette is consistently killing it from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. most days (and then again from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.). The only day without a happy hour is Saturday, and I can handle that. Domestic taps and house wine (red, white, rose and bubbly) is $4. Appetizers like frites, warm olives, cheese plates and a 1/2 lb of white wine mussels are each $5.

Food: I've eaten here a few times outside of happy hour and have always liked my meals. The quality French menu is small and some things change seasonally. I always a few specials on the chalkboard, so don't forget to look up there. They are open for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and late-night, so it's always a great stand-by when your date is being indecisive because it's highly likely that it'll be open and serving food whether it's 8 a.m. or 11 p.m. (note: I'm usually the indecisive date.). There's also a multi-course prix fixe on Mondays for $32. I haven't tried it, but it seems like fun.

The Mussels: The mussels get their own category because whoa. I've eaten some of the largest bivalves ever at Barbette (some normal sized ones too) and they are always perfectly steamed and swimming in a perfectly garlicky white wine, herb and lemon broth. You can also get them with chorizo-harissa. I doubt I've ever been to this restaurant without eating mussels.

The Brunch Drinks: Let's face it. At least half the charm of brunch is that you get to drink more. And Barbette's brunch beverages are more exciting than average: Bellini, Red Dwarf, Bloody Beer, Black Velvet... yum.

Decor: French circus is just about the coolest inspiration for a restaurant interior. It's colorful and classy at the same time. Cliché as this may sound, it does feel like a little Parisian corner cafe.

Patio: Their sidewalk patio is pretty much what everybody else's sidewalk patio is trying to be. The cafe lighting is so charming, the tables are colorful and, for being just off a major street, it's quiet and relaxed. It's also shady, which is great on hot summer days.

My only beef with this place (or shall I say, boeuf) is that the interior can be rather uncomfortable at the height of summer because they don't have air conditioning. Other than that, I've had lovely times at Barbette.

Unfortunately for this place, it's called Reed Sweatt. It sounds ishy, but it's not!

This is actually a great, no-frills tennis bubble on Nicollet. As with any place, it's pretty spendy to reserve a court if you're not a member ($26/court + $5 guest fee per player if you reserve more than two hours in advance). You can get around the extra $5 guest fee if you reserve less than two hours in advance. Or you can become a member.

The courts are in great shape and the locker rooms are simple, but decent. There's easy parking outside. Plus, they have drills, leagues and a ball machine available if you want to rent one. One thing that wasn't so great is that it was jungle hot and humid inside when we were playing last Friday.

There was no one waiting to play on our court after we were done, and it was really nice that the staff didn't come kick us off when we went a few minutes over our allotted time to finish our match. Some places are really strict about that even when there's nobody up next... and that's a bummer. Reed Sweatt was not a bummer though.

Though it's only been open for a few short weeks, it seems like Lynden's has been on Randolph and Hamline forever, acting as a post-Nookie burger happy ending for decades. It's a nostalgic experience even for those of us who are too young to have witnessed a real 1950s soda fountain. I don't know how they do it.

Inside you'll be greeted by a giant ice cream case and candy displays. Yeah, just try to get past that without letting out an audible, "Mmmmm...." Keep going though, because any stool at the white marble counter is the best seat in the house (the best seat out of the house is at a bistro table on the sidewalk). The only sense of modern times you'll find in here is that the would-be ornate, vintage cash register has been replaced with an iPad and Square app. I approve.

My first time here, I could only manage a shared scoop of ice cream (the man and I had just eaten giant burgers next door). The ice cream is from The Chocolate Shoppe in Madison. Since I am a UW-alum, even this felt like a nice throwback to my days of scrattin' around State Street. I'm pretty sure I had ice cream from The Chocolate Shoppe on my very first day in Madison, actually. Aww...

The second visit, I came with a mission: to try a soda! The restored soda fountain built in 1958, so I trust that. I'm not a big fan of fruity syrups, so I decided against a phosphate and went with the $3 egg cream (chocolate syrup from Brooklyn, milk, soda water). Part of me was hoping that they'd make it the REALLY old-fashioned way with eggs, but the standard way for a long time has been without eggs. I'll just have to deal with that. The soda gal mixed it up and threw a straw and a pretzel stick in there. How cute!

Among the other offerings, you'll find ice cream sodas (my next trip will include one), shakes, malts, donuts from Mojo Monkey Donuts and classic espresso and coffee drinks. Also, the jerk (soda jerk, not actual jerk) last Friday afternoon was unbelievably friendly and she spent a few minutes joking with us and answering some questions. Same goes for the young gentleman who scooped our ice cream the previous visit. They seemed genuinely happy to see us, which is a pretty special way to be welcomed into a new shop.

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Oh and by the way I just planned your next date night: a Juicy Nookie at the Ran-Ham Bowling Alley (this must include "demonstrating" the proper bowling form by gettin' all up in one another's business like the good old days). Then, when you have digested/bowled off at least part of your burgers, go get an ice cream soda or a malt at Lynden's---two straws. YOU'RE WELCOME.

Turns out, you can THINK you've had a Reuben in MN before... but if you haven't been to Cecil's in Highland, then you are fooling yourself.

I was impressed by this NY-style neighborhood deli as soon as I walked in. They carry all kinds of breads, meats, pastries, dry goods, pickles and condiments. Though I didn't try one, the bagels look like they kick ass. I would eat like a queen if this place was walking distance from me.

One younger dude behind the deli counter clearly recognized a first-timer when he saw me, so he said hello and then directed me back to the dining room in the back. You pay at the register, so I got to see him again and he kindly asked me all about my meal. He had also been answering mustard questions from another gentleman customer. Turned out, they didn't carry what the customer was looking for, so the guy said he'd ask the manager if they could order it special (and call the customer to let him know either way). How nice is that?

But there's more than a deli here. There's also a restaurant in the back and they serve THE Reuben. I'm salivating just thinking about this holy-crap-amazing sandwich. I felt the classic was exactly what I needed to order for my first time at Cecil's, but the menu is actually huge so I have a lot of exploration to go. I doubt you can go wrong with any of them when you're starting with such delicious meats and breads. In addition to hot and cold sandwiches, latkes, phosphates, floats, matzo ball soup, lox, knishes and other Jewish deli delights, they also serve a full breakfast menu and prepare catering trays and boxed lunches for groups.

The only thing that keeps this place from five stars for me is that the fries were just the frozen crinkle cut kind and I did wait a pretty long time trying to flag someone down for a to-go box (since I was too full to even touch the second half of my sandwich). I also thought the pickles would be amazing, but my spear was a little bendier than I like. I guess I'm really digging for criticism here, because otherwise this was a pretty perfect lunch. :)