PALOMINO – Minneapolis

Palomino has long been a favorite of mine. The large comfortable dining room and separate bar frequented by the bold & beautiful overlook a portion of the theatre district in downtown Minneapolis.

The extensive Mediterranean inspired menu includes 36 special cocktails, 60 reds priced from $24 - $275, 45 whites from $28 - $175, and 28 wines by the glass. The wine flights of 3 – 2 oz pours selected from a very nice list of Riesling, chardonnay, syrah & cab sauvignons are from $12 - $18. This is a great opportunity to try something different.

My libation for the evening was the Ginger Peartini; a delicious combination of Grey Goose La Poire, triple sec, ginger liquor and fresh lime sour. Very tasty.

I began with the Portobello Mushroom soup – a luscious velvety blend of fresh Portobello and crimini mushrooms, caramelized onions, leeks, a touch of cayenne, in a light sherry cream base. Simply the best mushroom soup I can remember eating! My entrée of choice was the Chicken Piccata. A large, moist split chicken breast rests on a creamy mound of whipped potatoes. The delicate lemon sauce sprinkled with capers pulls this fantastic dish together.

The entire friendly staff, from the hostess to the bus person, all want you to have a great dining experience. I always do!

Mmm... Mmm... Mmm...

www.palomino.com

$$
++++
✦✦✦✦

Entrée
$ 10
$$ 20
$$$ 30
$$$$ 40+

Staff
+ Stop bothering me!
++ Anyone here?
+++ Stopped when in the area.
++++ As needed and friendly.
+++++ Invisibly perfect!

Overall
✦ “One visit too many!”
✦✦ “Convince me!”
✦✦✦ “I’ll be back!”
✦✦✦✦ “Same table next week!”

RESTAURANT MIAMI - Minneapolis

Restaurant Miami is a funky, 80’s inspired eatery and bar on Lake Street in Minneapolis. The restaurant is dressed in the once very popular mint green, pale blue and pink. You will find palm trees of rope lighting, a jukebox, & Miami Vice playing on the flat screen behind the large bar. In the VIP section, there is a large sofa and chairs, low tables and a thick floor rug. The bottle service is very reasonable. The bathrooms each have their own flat screen; the inside of the bathroom door offers a space to leave your favorite, tasteful ‘prose’. One of the best I found was “I only drink on 2 occasions – when I am thirsty and when I’m not!”

From the clever Scarface list of libations, I first selected the “That Piece of Chit” with peach vodka, pomegranate syrup, triple sec and lime juice. It was a bit too sweet for me, but I couldn’t resist trying simply because of the name. I chose “Her Womb is so Polluted” as my second libation. This is a tall combination of blackberry vodka, cointreau, chambord and lime juice. Excellent!

For starters, Raed & I selected the Peanut Butter Chicken – a tasty plate of 6 skewers of chicken marinated in citrus juices & soy. The peanut dipping sauce is wonderful, with just a bit of heat. Our second starter was a basket of extra crispy tater tots. These crispy potato nuggets were the perfect starter with our tall & very strong libations.

Our dinner selections were the Pesto Penne with grilled chicken and the Orange Ginger Chicken. The al dente pasta’s light pesto sauce of basil, olive oil, a generous amount of parmesan and pine nuts topped with split cherry tomatoes was delicious. The fresh basil & parm jumped off the fork. The Orange Ginger Chicken was a large bowl of pea pods, baby corn, mushrooms, peppers, and grilled chicken. The sauce pulling this together was of orange juice, ginger and chilis. I would have preferred a sauce with a bit more zing; it was too mild for me. Thumbs up to our favorite – the Pesto Penne!

The generous servings left neither of us room for dessert. Next time.

Our server, Michelle, was very knowledgeable and extremely cheerful. Both Robert (the owner) and Michelle made certain we had a good time.

Mmm, Mmm…

http://restaurantmiami.us/

$$
++++
✦✦✦

Entrée
$ 10
$$ 20
$$$ 30
$$$$ 40+

Staff
+ Stop bothering me!
++ Anyone here?
+++ Stopped when in the area.
++++ As needed and friendly.
+++++ Invisibly perfect!

Overall
✦ “One visit too many!”
✦✦ “Convince me!”
✦✦✦ “I’ll be back!”
✦✦✦✦ “Same table next week!”