Tuesday Review Day: Good Food in the Twin Cities: Brasa

So sorry for yet another Minneapolis area review, but as I said earlier, I will be sharing a lot about things here since we are leaving soon.

Last weekend, we took a friend’s recommendation and hit up Brasa, a restaurant know for its rotisserie chicken.  They have these in Minneapolis and St. Paul.  We ate at the St. Paul location because it is on a cute, trendy street called Grand Ave.  (this street is worth a visit, especially if you are fans of Anthropology and J.Crew like I am)

The menu offers many different choices for different palates. The majority is inspired by creole and caribbean flavors, but their are also more American/BBQlike items, like mac and cheese.

So of course we ordered the rotisserie chicken, but we also tried the pulled pork.  We also indulged in several sides.  You can order different sized portions of the sides and meat.  My husband and I prefer variety so we ordered a bunch of single portions so we could sample a lot.  My favorite side were the sweet potatoes.  (of course something sweet is my favorite) If/when we go back we will definitely just order chicken! This isn’t just any rotisserie chicken, never will I eat another Costco chicken without wishing it was from Brasa.  Moist and perfectly flavored, it was delicious! Usually, my husband isn’t a fan of chicken, he prefers more manly meats. ha  But this time he was the one devouring all the chicken before I could go back for seconds.  The pork wasn’t our favorite, so don’t even look at the other choices and get the chicken if you go!

Our spread!

The restaurant had an open feel, clean and modern feel.  It is kid friendly and they bring crayons and placemats to draw on and have their own kids menu.

Definitely worth a visit!

Wild Boar…Something I Never Thought I’d Try

Quick disclaimer–The blog’s appearance is kinda boring and blah right now so please forgive me while I look for a more unique and attractive design.

Now on to more exciting things, like food! Last night the husband and I decided to beat the heat (its way too hot to cook here-high 90s with humidity) and head out to a new restaurant.  We are living in Minneapolis at the moment and have enjoyed trying out some new places.  We are always up for an adventure and last night’s experience was a first for us.

We hit up the local restaurant called New Bohemia.  This wurst and beer joint serves the average, everyday sausage, but excitingly also offers some exotic meats that I’ve never personally seen on a menu.  I’m usually pretty adventurous, but even I was a little scared of the choices here.  The restaurant had a hip, industrial look, full of a mix of hipsters, preppy college students and professionals all dropping in for a drink and some hearty, yet probably unhealthy food choices. (I should say that we don’t drink so we didn’t try any of the alcohol so I can’t give my opinion, but others looked happy enjoying the many options of ale).

Back to this crazy menu–I mean rattlesnake is just a little off putting.  I actually had tried alligator at a state fair once and found that it tasted like greasy chicken. That left us with a few other choices so the husband and I opted for wild boar.  We also played it safe (and hopefully a little healthier) and ended up with a chicken apple sausage with the jicama slaw.  Can you guess what happened to be my favorite of the two?

The wild boar! I thought it was fantastic. A bit garlicly, not too greasy and tasted as you might think, like a good pork sausage, but a tad more rustic.   I’m hoping wild boar ends up on some more menus in the near future. The apple chicken sausage was also enjoyable, but a little boring.  It was a little too sweet for me (words you won’t read from me very often).

Apple chicken sausage on the left and wild boar with mushrooms on the right.

We also ordered the Belgium style fries with a jalapeño mayo.  My husband is a HUGE fan of mayo dipping sauces for fries.  It reminds him of one of his favorite restaurants in his home of Salt Lake City. I’m sure I’ll blog about that place sometime soon.

Overall, we throughly enjoyed our little “adventure” and would go back and try a new and different meat.  Also, I want to try their humongous soft pretzels.  Seriously, they were like a foot tall and a foot wide!

And because I have a baby and its always a challenge getting out with her, I also have to judge restaurants based on their baby friendliness.  I give it a 3 out of 5 for that.  The atmosphere is laid back and loud so no one would notice your loud child.  The cons are that there isn’t much on the menu that babies like mine can eat and there also aren’t many places to put a high chair.  Seating is family style, with long tables and benches so you really can only sit on the end.

We will be back if we have time while we are temporarily living here!

Have you ever tried Wild boar or Rattlesnake?  Would you be daring enough to try something like this?