Yeah, drinking copious amounts of booze before a transcendent food experience is not the optimal way of remembering it. That’s wisdom folks. I had several tasty White Russians (or Caucasians for you Big Lebowski fans) and of course they got better and better as the night progressed. However, they didn’t put the little filbert nut in for garnish, which made me feel a little bit slighted, even though it didn’t really detract from the drink any.

There were appetizers flying all over the place, and the details are shaky, but I do remember enjoying the shrimp basil rolls; I could have definitely used a few dozen more of those. Everyone, except Jessica and I ordered seafood. Moon, Christie and Scott all ordered whole fish entrees which ruled because that is the last thing I would ever think to order at a Thai restaurant, and I have no good reason for that other then habitual and somewhat wimpy Thai Restaurant ordering behavior. I will say that although the whole intoxication thing doesn’t do much for total recall, it does wonders for making sure you help yourself to everyone else’s food, which allowed me to go from novice to rather well rounded on the whole Thai Fish thing. If only I could remember better. They need to make an Ipod that stores deliciousness.

Jessica and I both ordered curries, which has become our standard. She got the Sweet Green Curry, and I opted for the Yellow Curry, (Thai pronunciations are Gaeng Kiow Wanh & Gaeng Daeng Kah Ree respectively, for those of you boning up for the Trivial Pursuit - Southeast Asian Cuisine Edition). Thai Curry Sauce is pretty much the best thing ever. Basically Coconut Milk mixed with magic. I know I could do a Google search and figure out what’s in it, but that would ruin the mystic. It’s not always necessary to know how everything works, sometimes it’s just OK to sit back and reap the rewards. I don’t have to know how my car works, and I don’t have to know how Thai Curry works. Anyway, both the green and yellow curries are served stew style with vegetables and your choice of meet . If I had to pick a favorite, I would give a slight edge to the green.

A couple more fun facts for potential patrons. Tum Rup Thai has a small parking lot, which is a definite bonus for any Uptown restaurant. They also possess a full bar, for general full bar enjoyment or a place to stew while you wait for your chronically late friends, family, coworkers, etc.

www.tumrupthai.com

For the sophmore meal outing of Scott McGerik’s “Dueling Reviews” concept, we chose the new Thai Restaurant on Lake Street called Tum Rup Thai. This time, in addition to my wife Christie, Scott and Kat, fellow Gin & Phonics writer Mose and his girlfriend Jessica joined us.

First of all, as those of you who have read Scott’s recount of this adventure already know, we all drank. A lot. I have hazy memories of six people all sharing and tasting several appetizers and entrees, as well as a few bottles of wine. Spirited conversations ranged from politics to the merits of free range animals. I must admit that some humor was voiced at the expense of vegetarians as well… aah, the poor vegetarians, will they ever win? (The answer is probably, but not until they banish tempeh to the plane of hell it was devised in- see note below)

Upon arrival, we admired the simple yet beautiful interior then promptly ordered a whole mess of appetizers. They included Fried Spring Rolls, Fish Cakes, and the Basil Shrimp Rolls. These dishes were served in short order, with the inexplicable addition of an order of Chicken Satay. We mentioned it to them, but we got to keep it anyway. Hey, fine with me! I ate my share between sips of beer. We all enjoyed the virtual feast of fried items arrayed before us. Though none of these were memorable enough to create a sense of nirvana in my psyche, they ranged between competent (the satays) to quite good (the rest.) As always with Thai places, I wish they would admit that Nuoc Cham is superior to any sweet and sour sauce, and bring that out for me. But hey, that is probably like faulting a Texan BBQ joint for not having a North Carolina style vinegar sauce.

Though I have unfortunately forgotten some of the entree items we ordered, I do remember what I had quite fondly. I ordered the Tum Rup Thai’s Spicy Fish, and it was my favorite. In fact, I think it might be a contender for the crown of Shogunmoon’s favorite whole fish dish in town… the current champion being the ginger encrusted whole fish at Chiang Mai Thai. My plate contained catfish (my choice, I love catfish) swimming in “The Chef’s Secret Sauce,” cilantro, cucumber, pineapple, lemongrass, ginger and oh so delicious and heavenly crunchy cashews- delicate and exquisite. Remember what I said before about nirvana? This is a hell of a lot closer. The flavors were balanced in that perfect Southeast Asian way- sweet, sour, salty, and spicy, all assertive, but none overpowering. I would have a very hard time ordering something else if I returned, in fact. Remarkably, it was still outstanding COLD the next day, soggy cashews and all.

The Green and Red Curries also lived up to their reputations, and were to die for. Were it not for my hazy memories of the evening, I would consider showering you with elegant prose ala Dara Moskowitz about the green curry especially. The Pla Knop Bai Horapha (Crispy fish in homemade spicy sauce) was also quite toothsome. The Pla Sum Roat was tasty as well, but its owner (my wife CHristie) was a tad non-plussed by the fact that the fish was not de-boned. Hey, we are Americans after all, be nice!

Though we were there for a few hours, the time flew, as is its wont when the fun is being had by all. Scott and Kat are both lively dining companions, and the addition Mose, Jessica, and my wife to the soup provided for some witty dialogue. Next time, we have to convince Scott to record the whole conversation with his iPod so we can actually remember things a little better. Probably turn out to be something like those blissed out “jam sessions” with buddies, undeniably brilliant the night before, but er, not so much the day after. Speaking of next time, as of this writing, we will be saddling up and braving the trenches of Masa, the latest outpost of the D’Amico empire.

-shogunmoon

Tum Rup Thai
1221 W Lake St
Minneapolis
(612) 824-1378

Scott McGerik’s Write Up

Dara’s Write Up

(Note: This is not relevant to the write up, but I feel like helping both sides of this issue with some relevant pointers. I am nice that way, you know? Vegans: your food can be quite good with liberal usage of ginger, lemongrass, garlic, and fresh herbs- most any Southeast Asian cook will bear this out. Tempeh in sandwich form just makes it seem like vegans have willfully eschewed any kind of interest in flavor for some kind of incomprehensible dogma, in much the same manner as a priest giving up sex. Non-Vegans: not all vegan and vegetarian food is bad, there is much more to it then criminally bland and horrifically cardboard-like coffee house tempeh sandwiches and similiar. Again… lemongrass! Hope this helps!)

Last Thursday, I joined Scott McGerik and his lovely wife Kat for a trip to the new North East fine dining hotspot, Fugaise. Scott has a cool idea in which some Minneapolis “Bloggers” get together once a month, eat some good foods, and then write about it. He likes to call this concept Dueling Reviews. Perfect for me, since I have a tendency to not eat out as much- this gets me out a little more. Also, I am something of a connoisseur of that which is inexpensive, wheras Mr. McGerik is prone to lavish sushi endeavors. Somewhere in the middle of this, we have the makings of a good dinner club.
So, enough with the details! Lets get on with the food, shall we?
Locating Fugaise is an interesting, almost legendary, endeavor. Despite the fact that the restaurant faces bustling Hennepin Avenue, and has a large awning with “Fugaise” lit up quite brightly, it is STILL hard to find… mainly because the word “Fugaise” is in a scripty font that is hard to read from a distance. For the record… next to the Bibelot and across University from Surdyk’s. Then, entering the door under said awning gives one a certain “the search continues” sort of vibe. I felt like I was Captain Adama searching for Earth or something. Er, wait… to much Galactica. Inside the door is a longish hallway, with a host station at the end. I had finally made it.
At the slick 3 seat bar, I finally meet our local legend Scott McGerik in person. He is someone that, in my own way, I am a big fan of. I have been searching restaurant write-ups for the past few years now, and when I look someplace up, Scott.McGerik.com is typically within the top three results, along with long time local gourmet fans Renee and Steve. It is the influence of reading these posts, along with the Grub Report and Watierrant.net, that Mose and I decided that we should just go ahead and add a little twin cities commentary of our own. Also, Scott and Kat used to live in northeast Minneapolis, but have since relocated to South Saint Paul… close to where I spent my tumultuous teen years. In the mean time, Christie and I have relocated from Uptown to Northeast… So, I feel that it is my duty to help represent Northeast. That is not to say that Scott and Kat are not opposed to investigating their old haunts…
Anyhow, they sat us, took orders, brought us drinks and our appetizer, then left us alone. Scott and Kat ordered mussels, and allowed me to poach a few of them. First time I have had mussels. Can you believe that your intrepid superstar mega-minnapolis hipster cuisine guide has NEVER enjoyed MUSSELS before? Well, I am here to tell you something you probably already knew- they are good. Fugaise serves them in a nice paprika and bacon broth. I ate my first mussel without the sauce to get a feel for it, then followed it up with a second mussel sunk in the delicious sauce. Wow… now we really have something. Yet another bit of anecdotal evidence that bacon makes everything better.
Now, I have to disclose something. When sampling a new chef driven restaurant for the first time, I am always tempted to order the pork loin or tenderloin dish just to see how they do it. Pork tenderloin can be very fun to cook once you understand that it is a blank slate, ready for your very whim to guide it to the point of delicacy. This evening, I declined my basic instinct to go with the chefs delicious sounding Pork Tenderloin with Stuffed Savoy Cabbage, Apple-Apple-Celeriac Puree, Grain Mustard Sauce. It wasn’t easy, but I pulled it off.
What I did decide to order was the Ahi Tuna, and it was something. At first, I tasted it, and was underwhelmed. Another bite, and I start to enjoy the juxtaposition between the raw center and the crisp, salty crust. Another bite, and I REALLY start enjoying it. Very tasty. Though I have little experience eating at french style restaurants, I can say that I have chomped my share of the fare at the sushi joints around town enough to know when seared tuna is good, and this was. Definitely vastly superior to the seared tuna one would find on an appitezer menu around town. Served on a bed of Cranberry Beans with chorizo and a roasted pepper sauce, this was definitely something to write home to mom about.
The thing about french food is that ultimately I know perilously little about it. It is very simple food typically, with the focus on masterful preparation and fresh high quality ingredients. Oh yea, and using a lot of crazy organ meats… although Fugaise has very little of the traditional French Bistro cuisine that the likes of Tony Bourdain and Fergus Henderson champion. As a cook, I personally tend to go for the more complicated spice rubs, and love the punch in the face one gets from my jerk pork tenderloin. French food seems to be more along the lines of Vietnamese food perhaps, with the emphasis on fresh subtle flavors.
So, that is my completely unprofessional take on Fugaise. Fantastically good food, if you are feeling like splurging.
-shogunmoon
PS Oh yea, we also went out to Erte’s Peackock lounge for desert. It was good. I was drunk by that time. Like most Northeast establisments these days, they have Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, the finest of all hoppy high octane brews. And they served up some good dessert. Gotta get back to Erte for some red meat eatin sometime soon.
Fugaise
308 E Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 436-0777
www.fugaise.com
Erte
1304 University Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
(612) 623-4211

This is where mosemose and his buddy off the rails will post about such illustrious topics as good food we have eaten, fantastic new businesses that have opened, and whatever else we want to chat about. Since we live in Saint Paul (mosemose) and Minneapolis (Off The Rails) a large percentage of our posts are likely to be centered around the twin cites area here in our beloved rustic minnesota.