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Thirteen Moons
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| Robbinsdale Revisited | Even in the stoniest ground | |
| Robbinsdale isn’t
one of those trendy hip Minneapolis neighborhoods. Where Edina has its
day spas, Robbinsdale has, for example, Hackenmueller Meats, where you
can buy excellent bacon provided you don’t insist on your animal
protein being encased in Saran Wrap. It was thus with some incredulity
that I first heard of Thirteen Moons. "An ‘indie’
restaurant in Robbinsdale? No way!" Perhaps only here can you eat
in a stylish restaurant and look across the street onto a traditional
butcher’s shop.
Thirteen Moons is close to our hearts for another reason too. The first time we went there, over a year ago and shortly after it opened, our waitress, no doubt intrigued by our questions, asked "You guys aren’t food critics, are you?" That might have been the seed that led to The Lunch—although our significant others bear some responsibility for this initiative as well. The menu has been updated since our last visit; the food choices and the wine/beer list are both more extensive and more interesting. There is a good selection of salads, sandwiches, and entrées and about twenty wines by the glass. I had an Italian red, a "Terra di Ginestra Primotivo," a good value at about $6. I ordered a small Greek salad and, sticking to items that evoked warmer climes on this snowy March day, fried catfish with dirty rice. The salad was a variation on the traditional version, substituting mixed greens for iceberg or leaf lettuce and eschewing the pepperoncinis. The catfish was delicate; the batter light and done to crispness, the fish inside moist and flaky Although the texture was near perfection, the taste was a bit on the bland side—I would have preferred a slightly heavier hand with the spice rack. The dirty rice was a wet concoction of kidney beans, rice, and chopped tomatoes. The fried catfish suffered from sitting in close proximity to it, the crisp batter in danger of turning to mush from the liquid. All entrées come with cole slaw, a hearty portion that was fresh and crunchy. I dislike the sort of slaw you get all too often, the creamy, sopping wet variety that’s usually served in a bowl, but Thirteen Moons does it right. Thirteen Moons doesn’t do everything right. (The aforementioned questioning on our first visit revolved around quibbles about what qualifies as bona fide mulligatawny soup.) But the food is definitely above average, the service is refreshingly unpretentious in comparison to some places we know in other suburbs, and it gets full marks for charm. The restaurant is prepared for crowds. There are two good-sized dining rooms, a bar, and a patio for the summer. It appears to do well for lunch, but I suspect a large fraction of its potential customer base remains unaware of its existence. So if you read this and like what you read, head over to Robbinsdale. |
There is running
joke between A and me about who lives in a more urban environment. The
insult (slur) often traded is claiming that the other’s neighborhood
is more suburban than one’s own. One of the measures used to determine
the suburban index is the proximity to a coffee shop and a decent
restaurant. If you can’t walk to one you must be in blighted suburbia.
Robbinsdale is suburban by anyone’s description, although being older
it’s perhaps not as ghastly as Eden Prairie. So consider my (happy)
surprise at discovering Thirteen Moons, a civilized restaurant in
the heart of Robbinsdale.
To give you an idea of the location: it would make a prime "tote-the-note" car lot on a small town’s main street. Luckily the car lot has been replaced by a single storey building and Thirteen Moons is one of the tenants. The restaurant is divided into two sections. There is seating on both sides; however there appears to be a bar service area on one side and just dining tables in the other. The décor is tasteful: golden wooden floors, matching wooden tables and pleasantly purple-hued walls. Our table was next to a window overlooking the street. I could see, through gently falling snow, the Robbinsdale water tower – a more Midwestern scene is hard to imagine! If this place had a more fashionable location it would be hard to get in without a reservation but as it is there were just a few other diners. The menu changes every new moon and caters to a broad range; from items distinctly nouvelle cuisine to the hearty; from crab cakes to meatloaf. The wine list has a goodish number of wines by the glass; by the bottle it’s split into a regular and reserve list. Intriguingly there was a Romanian Pinot Noir on the menu - never having sampled an offering from the Carpathians – I ordered it. For my main entrée I chose the meatloaf. The wine had a slight odor reminiscent of rubbing alcohol, but tasted no worse than I feared. The meatloaf was deliciously aromatic and spicy (mercifully I didn’t have any post lunch meetings). It was served with mashed potatoes – nothing fashionable about this meal! The sides of the meatloaf were a bit hard due to being overdone but this was such a small flaw and the dish so large that I happily left the sides uneaten. Our bill came to about $34.00. Thirteen Moons is a testament to the courage and self-belief of its owners (Brian & Roxy Herman), who have taken a risk in opening this restaurant in such an unfashionable location. This is an attempt at rolling back the suburbs and for that alone it’s to be commended. I have had lunch here on several occasions and have always been pleased with the service and the food. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wants a good meal in a pleasing environment. |
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