Kahn's

It is raining and sleeting and snowing and grey, and North Dakota is flooded. Work is slow and paperwork is looming and the summer isn't quite here yet. But! On a brighter side, we went to Kahn's last night with Mike and Penny and Clay and his wife- whose name eludes me.



Kahn's Mongolian Barbeque
2720 Snelling Ave N
Roseville, MN‎
By checking out websites and other reviews and things, I feel that it is not a part of a restaurant chain. That's pretty cool.

So I'll quickly talk about Mongolian BBQ: There is a buffet table of raw proteins (all sorts! chx, beef, pork, fish, calamari, shrimp, tofu, etc etc etc) noodles (rice, egg, etc) tons of various veggies,
and then sauces and cooking oils which you load up all together for the ultimate personalized stir-fry. A staff member offers assistance for the sauces and you end up with your very own recipe which is stir-fried up in front of you by some very very talented gentlemen with some giant chop-sticks. Its pretty amazing to watch them!

Experience Ratings:
Ambiance/Space: 5
I've never had a problem with their decor. Its always wind-tunnel freezing cold though.
Bathrooms: 7
Clean, private, darkish. Nice.
Food/Drink: 9
Mongolian Barbeque is always fun. I did well last night and made a rice noodle and bok choy calamari mess that was light and well portioned. I like the little doughy sticky things they serve for dessert too. I requested no duck wing, which freaks me out. Drank tea to combat the wind-tunnel and it was served in a nice little teapot. They have a specialty cocktail called... Mama Kahn... I think, and it is amazing.
Service: 8
Actually all the servers here are always super cool and right there.
Overall: 8
I like Kahn's. Not bad for a crabby night.

Cafe Lurcat & Liquor Lyles

We went out with Chuck for his going away party on Saturday night.

Dinner was at:

Cafe Lurcat
1624 Harmon Place

Minneapolis, MN 55403

Pretty spangly. Gorgeous chandeliers, crisp & clean linens all around, and attentive and gushy service. You'd expect to pay quite a bit for all this primp. And... yes indeed we did. Ian and I are good at splitting things to try more and spend less, and we went for the appetizer sampler (good shrimp!) and got a single, tiny morsel of each item featured. Several colleagues ordered the prix fixe dinner, which looked hearty enough. I understand fully that gourmet means smaller portions and I accept that and savor each bite that much more. But this was a bit too much, and we felt ripped off. I had wine with dinner, and it was marvelous. I had a Bordeaux Blanc, and I'm in love. New summer wine!

Experience Ratings:

Ambiance/Space: 9

Parking - difficult. Valet was $7 and might have been worth it.

Decor - top notch. Classy, tasteful, beautiful.

Space - also beautiful - right on Loring Park and windows that do the location justice. The sparkling lights of the park really made for a dazzling metro experience.

Bathrooms: 7

They were clean and beautiful, of course. I can't really remember anything significant though, so they get a generic/good rating.

Food/Drink: 5

Delicious, but tiny. Too tiny. itty bitty. The wine was good too, but once again, tiny.

Service: 6

Attentive, not terribly snotty. We were a big group and were kind of hodge-podge on our ordering. I know it's tricky to split bills at a big table, but someone always forgets tax or something (10% in downtown mpls??) and someone covers for their friends. That's always annoying.

Overall: 6

I'll never go back for dinner. Drinks maybe, and I'll order a specialty cocktail or martini.

Liquor Lyle's

2021 Hennepin Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55405

What a hoot! Was very busy, and we just missed their drink specials (2for1s). But they poured a stiff singular drink the rest of the night and we had a good time. It was even a bit nostalgic, and reminded me of several places that I hung around throughout college!

Experience Ratings:
Ambiance/Space: 7
Parking - uptown residential. Walked a bit. No problem there.

Decor - Um... I recall a lot of red. I like red!
Space - no windows? I have some problem with that on some deeper level.

Bathrooms: 5
Bar bathroom. I should cut this criteria when it is unremarkable.
Food/Drink: 7
I drank Gin Gimlets and Gin & Tonics. Yum Yum!

Service: 9

Big, fun, round, social bar with no-nonsense, quick, accurate service.

Overall: 8
I'll certainly be back. I hear their food is good too.