128 Cafe

Restaurant week is in full swing!  My husband and I decided to try a new place this time - part of the fun of restaurant week.  As a recap, the beauty of restaurant week is that the restaurants who participate offer a special three course lunch or dinner at a deep discount.  You can get an appetizer, entree, and dessert for $15 at lunch time or $30 for dinner.  We chose 128 Cafe in St. Paul. 

I was a little concerned when we reviewed the drink menu and saw Miller High Life listed as the "champagne of beers".  I decided to forgive them.  It went up hill from there.

We both selected the mussels for our appetizer.  Delicious!  The portion was generous, the broth was coconut milk and other spices, and peppers and cilantro were sprinkled on top. 

For my main course, I decided to try the scallops which were served with hummus, chickpeas, spinach, and onions in a buttery sauce.  I had never had scallops before and these were wonderful.  They were cooked perfectly - not rubbery or gummy.  Very tender and moist. 

My husband had the ribs.  Now we've had some good ribs in our days and have really high standards.  These baby back ribs really were at the top of our list of good ribs.  The BBQ sauce had a nice kick and was quite smokey.  The ribs were served with equally fantastic baked beans and jalapeno corn bread. 

For dessert my husband had a chocolate mousse with caramel, whipped cream, and spiced peanuts. 

I had an apple tart with vanilla bean ice cream. 

Everything was really good; I would absolutely go back.  We were surprised to walk in and find that this restaurant is just a house.  Each room is a dining room so they actually have a decent amount of seating space.

You may have noticed by now that I think everything is "fantastic", "delicious", or "amazing".  I guess it's because I love food, it's one of few things that excite me in the winter, and I appreciate and am intrigued by creativity.  Or maybe it's because I really try hard to focus on the positives in life....hard as it is in the winter.