To stretch a connection that the reader may be finding tenuous anyway, the Edina Grill has the spirit of a diner but the décor is inspired not by a railroad car but, if only in part, by a suburban American two-car garage—the storefront is literally a garage door with windows. Road having so thoroughly conquered rail in this country, the garage as a replacement motif for the railcar seems rather appropriate.

My only trip to Australia has been to Sydney—a gorgeous city which I’d be tempted to try and relocate to if only the weather wasn’t so perfect there (a sentiment that only a true Minnesotan could hold)! On the basis of that visit there’s one distinctive feature of Australian cuisine that stands out, and that is its cosmopolitan, global-fusion nature. Immigrants from all over Asia and Europe, and from some parts of Africa and Latin America too, have made Australia their home—and made Australian cuisine more than fish and chips and Yorkshire pudding.

Whether directly inspired by Australia or not, the fare at EG is multiethnic and cosmopolitan, perhaps to excess. Pierogies, falafel, risotto cakes, burgers, tacos, and other items, as a collection, have surely graced few menus. Preparations are inventive in several cases. The aforementioned tacos, for example, come filled with calamari, and the falafel are made from black beans rather than from garbanzos.

EG is the kind of place you expect will specialize in burgers, and, sure enough, a few versions are available. One is Peter’s burger—as originated in Perth—which comes with caramelized onion and an over-hard egg on grilled sourdough. There’s also the Elvis burger, basically a bacon cheeseburger although with only two strips of bacon it hardly does him justice. EG’s turkey burger was rated the best in the Twin Cities by Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine in 2003—a category so specialized as to make one wonder if perhaps it wasn’t simultaneously first and last.

The talk of burgers may make our vegetarian readers fear EG isn’t for them, but fear not. In addition to the pierogies (potato and cheddar) and black bean falafel (available as an appetizer or in a sandwich), other PETA-approved choices include a pear and walnut rigatoni, a curried egg salad (okay, maybe that one won’t get the PETA seal), and beer-battered green beans.

The menu also includes a page of breakfast specialties which I believe are available for lunch. And if you’re not having sufficient trouble choosing what to order, there are daily specials to consider. On this occasion these comprised monkfish, "chop chop salad" (chicken breast, salami, garbanzo beans, red peppers, Swiss cheese, noodles, basil and mixed greens), and chocolate pear waffle.

Variety reigns on the beverage front too. In addition to about a half dozen reds and whites by the glass and several tap beers, you can also opt for "exotic hot teas" of herbal/decaf/black/green persuasions sporting names like "Evening in Missoula" and "Precious eyebrow." (I stuck to our tradition and had a glass of red wine, the Chapoutier "Belleruche"—a pleasant, peppery Côtes du Rhone.)

For starters, B and I split one order of the beer-battered green beans. I was afraid these might be heavy, greasy deep-fried fare more suited to the State Fair than to one of the metro area’s centers of urban sophistication. But instead the batter was light and sparingly applied and the green beans were crispy and juicy. Overall the dish had an Asian touch, the batter reminiscent of tempura, but the accompanying plum-and-ginger sauce was an off element—it was treacly sweet—although that hardly mattered since the beans were great sans condiment.

The variety of choices available led me to consult with our waiter for my main dish. The tuna melt, I was informed, was very good and the most popular lunchtime selection. I followed the advice and wasn’t disappointed. Although advertised as Cajun-seasoned and with a poblano-peanut aioli, this sandwich was only mildly spicy, although the aioli had enough garlic in it to make me glad, as I drove back to work, that my afternoon meeting was a teleconference. The tuna itself was cooked medium; a little less time on the grill might have been better, but nevertheless it was tender and moist. The sourdough it was packaged in was excellent; relatively dry and grilled just right. The melt came with a generous portion of a cole slaw that featured red onions and raisins that imparted sharp and sweet tastes. The slaw came in a cup-of-soup-style bowl with the result that after the first several bites the remaining portion was too wet for my taste—but since the portion was generous I was happy to stop consuming by then.

B liked the turkey burger that he ordered as well. For my palate it had a dash too much curry powder.

For some reason an eclectic menu can be judged on the merits of its individual items, but mix-and-match décor is a harder sell. The interior of EG has one of those design-by-committee cartoon looks. I’ve already mentioned the garage door, but if you think the automotive theme is a consistent feature think again. Other design elements look like the results of a brainstorming meeting that ended before that necessary culling step. The walls are painted a nice deep yellow with, on one side, wood-trimmed geometric cutouts showing exposed concrete. Place settings aren’t laid but cutlery is provided in metal milk-shake cans at the table—with towels substituting for napkins. Green, oxidized copper beams and plates are prominent in the center of the dining room. The tables are transparent Plexiglas or acrylic and look like a college class project. And then there’s the coup de grace: on either side of the room hang large conical paper baskets—if they were hung in pairs you’d think it was Brobdingnagian lingerie hung out to dry!

A

The location happens to be 50^th street in downtown Edina, next to a movie emporium and across the street from Tejas. The restaurant is a large single room, with a high ceiling, divided into a dining area in the front and a kitchen in the back. The floor has a rough marbled look; the walls have raised yellow panels, which work quite well with the red booths. The wall dividing the dining area from the kitchen is a tasteful black with food ingredients written on it along with the daily specials, which on this day included a chop-chop salad and Monkfish – not bad for a comfort food place!

There are a handful of red and white wines by the glass but the excesses of the previous evening dictated that I order lemonade. The menu includes a breakfast section (entrées that require Hollandaise sauce are not served after 11:00AM) besides regular lunch offerings. We started off with a shared order of beer battered green beans that were served with some sweet (honey...?) dipping sauce. This dish wasn’t a great success with me. The battered beer (read covered with fried fat) taste clashed with the beans and the whole thing left a greasy residue in the mouth. A seemed to enjoy these a bit more than I did but nevertheless one could eat them without much difficulty. A sign—I forget whether it was in the menu or on the wall—proclaimed the best Turkey burger in town and was an obvious choice. A surprised me by not ordering the Calamari tacos and instead opting for the yellow fin tuna melt. The menu is split between "Odds & Sods" (black bean falafel, sweet potato fries, perogies (polish dumplings stuffed with potato and cheddar cheese)); salads (mixed green, spinach salad, goat cheese salad, black bean chicken salad, steak salad); entrées (pear & walnut rigatoni, fish & chips, risotto cakes, chicken enchilada); sandwiches (curried egg salad sandwich, salmon sandwich, BLT); specialty burgers (three variations on the humble burger (Elvis burger, could it be the strips of bacon?) plus the turkey burger).

The turkey burger is excellent. It’s made from ground turkey, peanuts, jalepeno, onions and curry seasoning. It is served with thick cut fries. The curry gives the burger an extra piquancy and makes it a must have dish on this menu. I had a taste of A’s tuna, normally I am not a great fan of tuna, but in this case the melt somewhat tempered the taste of the tuna and I thought it good.

The service was friendly and I liked the small town atmosphere of the place. The restaurant was full of young mothers with their children and it was good to see the food on offer being so thoroughly enjoyed. I don’t recall seeing any desserts on the menu but I am sure this is an oversight on my part and not a shortcoming of the menu. The bill for our fare came to $32.00. Next time if you want an Aussie experience crossed with elements of Americana come to the Edina Grill. It’s in another hemisphere when you compare it to an Outback Steakhouse.

B