Jeremy Iggers's blog

Gastronomic adventures in Vietnam

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest
Carol Bouska

Anticipating our trip to Vietnam, Carol and I each had a big gastronomic question in mind: 

I wondered how our favorite Twin Cities Vietnamese restaurants - places like Ngon, Jasmine 26, Saigon, Hoa Bien and Hoang Thien Y would stack up against the genuine article.  
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Cheap Latin eats on Lake Street: Pupuseria El Centro, Guayaquil Restaurant and Taqueria El Monarco

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

Life doesn't always work out according to plan. My plan, as regular readers of this column may recall, was to be in Vietnam this week, sunning myself on a deserted beach somewhere near Hoi An. But a little medical hiccup at the last minute has postponed those plans, though we're still planning to leave sometime soon. 

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Bun bo Hue at the Hien Deli — the perfect winter warmer

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

We're leaving on Thursday for a couple of weeks in Vietnam - and maybe a side trip to Laos. One of the places on our itinerary is Hue, the ancient capital, so last week I headed for Eat Street (Nicollet Ave.) for a sneak preview of Hue's most famous dish, bun bo Hue. It's a spicy cousin to pho, the signature beef noodle soup, but prepared with a combination of beef, pork, and, in this version what the menu describes as Vietnamese ham - but Vietnamese lunch meat  might be closer to the mark.

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Quick bites: Jack's, St. Clair Broiler, Town Hall Tap, Zen Box Izakaya

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

So many meals, so little time - here are just a few quick highlights from my most recent adventures in eating:

Oh boy, pot roast! But not just any pot roast - this is pot roast as prepared by Kevin Kathman, the new chef at Jack's, the former Java Jack's at 818 W. 46th St., Minneapolis, which now bills itself as "the most exciting place to eat in Minneapolis." Them's fighting words, if you ask me, but Kathman does have some impressive credentials, most notably a stint at the French Laundry, and locally at Barbette and Restaurant Max. 

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What I learned at the North Coast Nosh

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

I had a fun time last Friday at the North Coast Nosh III, the Heavy Table's annual celebration of local (Minnesota and Wisconsin) food and drink. About 20 different producers offered samples of their wares, ranging from the Bogart Loves bakery and the Burnett Dairy Cooperative to the Patisserie 46 and Peace Coffee.

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Gastronomic hits of the week: pub grub at The Public House, Rinata's cheap date night, and Yangtze's dim sum

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

Good food is where you find it, and my most recent discoveries run the gamut from pub grub at the Public House in the Warehouse District, the Sunday night cheap date night at  Rinata in Uptown, and the dim sum at Yangtzein St. Louis Park. 

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Here's to Stanley's Bar Room, a Northeast tavern that appreciates good beer

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

The former Stasiu's at 2500 University Ave. N.E. in Northeast Minneapolis underwent a makeover back in 2010 that transformed it into Stanley's Bar Room, but it hasn't lost its neighborhood tavern character. Stanley's bills itself as a craft beer bar, with 32 craft beers on tap, but it is decidedly not one of those yuppified gastropubs.

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Leftovers: Dinner at Sunstreet, noodles at Galactic Pizza, and more

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

If you think of my brain as a refrigerator, then all the food stories that I haven't had time to write about are like left-overs, sitting there in takeout containers, and not getting any fresher. So, it's time to clear out the fridge...

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Montreal to Minneapolis: Rye has smoked meat, matzoh balls and He'Brew

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

The first thing you might say to yourself when you walk into Rye, the new Jewish deli and bar in the former Auriga's / Becky's Cafeteria location is, "What!  No pastrami! A shonde! (disgrace, scandal, shame)." But this is not just any Jewish deli - it is (though they don't advertise this fact) a Montreal-inspired Jewish deli, and in Montreal, the Jewish delis don't serve pastrami, they serve smoked meat, which is sort of like pastrami, but without all the sugar.

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Krungthep Thai: Authentic Thai Cuisine comes to Minneapolis!

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

Good news for lovers of authentic Thai cuisine: you no longer have to cross the Mississippi to find authentic Thai cuisine. The owners of Bangkok Thai Deli, 315 University Ave. W., St. Paul,  which has become a pilgrimage site for lovers of authentic Thai Cuisine, have opened a new outpost, Krungthep Thai, at 2523 Nicollet Ave., in the former Seafood Palace location. (in case you are curious, Krungthep is the Thai name for the capitol city of Bangkok. Actually, the full name, according to Wikipedia, is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit.)

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