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Pupusas, steaming bowls of tonkotsu ramen, and dim sum brunches that sweetened the cruelest month
Welcome to the very first installment of Eater Twin Cities’ Best Dishes column. True, the heatmap is the best resource for intel on exciting new restaurant openings around Minneapolis and St. Paul — but here we’re tracking standout dishes at restaurants old and new. Here are the best dishes an Eater editor ate around the Cities in April.
Spiced seared salmon at Klassics Kitchen + Cocktails
I stopped by chef Gerard and Brittney Klass’s new restaurant, Klassics Kitchen + Cocktails, for a late weekday lunch, and ordered this spiced seared salmon (the curry chicken gnocchi was a close second choice). The fish was cooked beautifully, with a densely flavorful crust; the yellow rice was almost pearled, like orzo; the braised kale swirled seamlessly into the pool of curry beneath it all. I make salmon enough at home — in the dutiful, Trader Joe’s filet, soy-and-butter glaze kind of way — that I almost never order it at restaurants, but this was a good choice.
Dim sum at Pagoda in Roseville
Pagoda, Dinkytown misses you. Highlights of this Roseville dim sum spread were extra-garlicky green beans; glossy, sweet taro buns; cheung fun with embedded morsels of shrimp; and a steaming pot of oolong on the center of the table. The single best dish, though, was the shrimp chive dumplings, wrapped in supple twists of rice paper, which I dredged through a pool of chili oil and soy sauce.
Pupusas at El Guanaco Bakery y Cafe
El Guanaco has expanded quite a bit in the past few years — owners Amilton Giovani and Margarita García Murcia have added new locations in Bloomington and on Lake Street — but I stopped by the circa 2006 restaurant in St. Paul for a weekend lunch. The pupusas (one bean and cheese; one mixed) were lightly charred and the masa was satisfyingly dense and filling; I mounded them with little heaps of curtido and doused it all with light, acidic salsa roja. Also pictured are an extra-silky chicken tamale and a plate of huevos revueltos that were just as good.
Tonkotsu ramen at Ramen Kazama
A rainy spring Saturday — plus last week’s update to the Eater Twin Cities ramen map — had me thinking about tonkotsu ramen, which I found at Ramen Kazama on Nicollet. I love a cloudy, creamy ramen broth, and I love the way that a salty bowl of noodles reinstates my soul in my body after a long week. This ramen had it all: subtle funk, springy little slips of wood ear mushrooms; fresh scallions; and succulent cuts of pork belly.
Gochujang chicken wings at TokiDoki Burger
I wrote about these gochujang wings at TokiDoki Burger, chef Yuichiro Matthew Kazama’s new sister restaurant to Ramen Kazama, in the Eater Twin Cities heatmap — but I’m here to say it again. These wings are crispy in all the ways that wings are supposed to be crispy; tangy-salty-sweet-fiery in the way that only gochujang achieves; and amazingly (must be a masterful blend of rice flour) they’re gluten-free.
