Sebastian Joe's

My family has been going to Sebastian Joe's since I was a child. They have really delicious, high quality ice cream and unique ice cream flavors. I consider it to be some of the best ice cream in the Twin Cities. My personal favorites are the Oreo flavor, the raspberry chocolate chip, and Pavarotti (caramel, bananas, and chocolate chips). They redid the Linden Hills location a while ago, and it now has really awesome outdoor seating area and a fireplace, along with more seating. They have two locations, one is at 43rd and Upton in Linden Hills and the other is at Franklin and Hennepin. They also sell coffee and baked goods which are baked fresh everyday. They also have ice cream cookie sandwiches and ice cream cakes made with their signature flavor, raspberry chocolate chip ice cream, which I have not yet had the chance to try, but definitely would like to. The shop is named Sebastian Joe's after the three founders' grandfather Sebastiano, who was nicknamed Joe after arriving in New York from Italy.

Amazing Thailand

Amazing Thailand is located on Hennepin Avenue South between Lake Street and 31st Street in Uptown. I really enjoy their pad thai. They also have really good cream cheese wontons that come with a sweet and sour sauce that is much better than the corn syrupy sauce that is often served with cream cheese wontons. When I went there for this blog post, I ordered the jalapeno cream cheese wontons, which were like the normal wontons, but with an extra kick of jalapeno flavor. I ordered pad thai with chicken as my main course. Pad thai is made with pho noodles, a type of rice noodle, eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper, bean sprouts, tofu, and meat of your choice. It is garnished with crushed peanuts and lime. Amazing Thailand serves large portions, which I enjoy, as I have a big appetite, and because it's nice to be able to take some food home with you to eat later. I ordered the mango coconut sticky rice for dessert, which was served in a boat-shaped dish. It was very sweet and was made up of sticky rice drizzled with coconut sauce and with mango slices on the side. The restaurant also serves a lunch buffet during the week, which is only ten dollars, where they serve a variety of dishes ranging from pad thai and curry to a salad buffet and fruit.

Cookies and Cream Chocolate from Godiva

The last time I went to Godiva in Southdale, I was given a sample of their new Cookies and Cream chocolate. It's white chocolate with little, Oreo-like cookie bits in it. On the packaging, it says that the flavor is based off of the popular ice cream flavor. The cookie bits are a good match for the white chocolate and taste vaguely of coffee, which is probably because of the cacao content. One bar of this chocolate is $3.99. Some of the other Godiva chocolate flavors that I enjoy are milk chocolate with hazelnut, dark chocolate with sea salt, and white chocolate with vanilla bean.

Lu's Sandwiches

Lu's Sandwiches is one of my favorite places to get sandwiches in Minneapolis. It is at 26th and Nicollet near the Black Forest Inn and Glam Doll Donuts. They sell Vietnamese sandwiches called Banh Mi, along with smoothies that you can get with or without tapioca pearls or fruit-flavored jellies and some Vietnamese desserts. The sandwiches are made on very fresh and delicious baguette bread and are made with a variety of different topping choices. My favorite is the shredded chicken, which is coated in a delicious mix of spices, one of which is cinnamon. The sandwiches have a butter-mayonnaise, fresh cucumber slices, cilantro, shredded pickled carrots, daikon (a type of radish), and slices of jalapeno pepper. The combination of toppings is unusual and refreshing compared to more usual toppings like lettuce and tomato. Lu's is also very reasonably priced, the shredded chicken sandwich that I always get is just under $5. The sesame balls that they sell taste of honey, are very sweet, and are definitely good for satisfying a sweet tooth. I also really enjoy their smoothies; my favorite flavors are honeydew and mango. I have also tried the avocado flavor, which the employees of Lu's say is the best flavor. It was recommended to me by a friend, who described the taste as "like pancake batter, but in a good way". If you're feeling adventurous, definitely try the avocado flavor; it's very sweet and does taste like pancake or cake batter, with a hint of avocado flavor. All of the seals on the tops of the smoothie cups have funny pictures of animals on them, such as a dog looking at a pizza box or a dog resting its head on a stuffed animal, such as on the smoothie below.