Restaurant Review: Axel's Bonfire

Photo Credit

Katy and I went to Axel's Bonfire last night on Grand Avenue for Deb's birthday dinner. We were also joined by Bob, Josh and Laura.

Who: Joel and Katy, Bob and Deb, Josh and Laura
What: Dinner
When: Saturday October 16 6:30pm
Where: Axel's Bonfire, Grand Avenue
Why: Deb's Birthday

I ordered Cioppino for $21.95.

I saw Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network where the challenge was who made the best cioppino, Bobby Flay or local San Francisco guy he visits out of the blue to have the challenge to make the signature dish.

Well, that's been on my mind since that episode months ago, about how I wanted to give that dish a try so I finally did since I saw it on the menu.

Cioppino is a fish stew that originates from San Francisco, California. It is derived from various regional fish soups and stews from Italian cuisine. It was usually a bunch of seafood that was the catch of the day; any sort of combination of crabs, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels and fish. That combines with fresh tomatoes and a wine sauce and paired with a baguette or bread.

Axel's version was shrimp, scallops, walleye, clams, mussels and crab claws in a spicy tomato broth. I asked the server if it was truly spicy, and if it was asking if it was feasible to back off of it some. He said that it was not too spicy so I didn't ask for them to back off any of the heat, though once I put it on my mouth I wish I had! It was plenty spicy, I wish I knew what was actually causing the heat. What were the spices and was it made more prominent because of the acid from the tomatoes?

However, the seafood in there was outstanding. There was a ton of shrimp, the walleye was delicious and the bits and pieces of chopped up crab, clams and mussels was awesome with plenty of nicely sized scallops. The heat from the dish stayed there for the whole meal so after every bite I washed it down with some Coke or water and put down the roll that they gave with it as well.

Overall, the dish was hot. Too hot for my taste so if they could have backed that down a few notches my palate would have enjoyed it a little bit more. However, the amount of seafood in there and the tomatoes made it a delicious meal. There was also a leftover effect; without being able to eat it all because of the heat I saved some of it and made it for lunch today.

Cioppino, give it a try and I'll keep you updated when I get to taste test it again!

Restaurant Review- Joe's Garage Minneapolis

Joe's Garage
Minneapolis
Next to Loring Park

Katy and I finally used our gift card from her purchase of her wedding dress at David's Bridal. We got two $25 gift cards, one for Lindey's Steakhouse and one for Joe's Garage.

(Bonus to note-we won't be going to back to Lindey's anytime soon. It smelled pretty old, was definitely not the decor Katy and I like, and truly our meal wasn't very delicious to be as wordy as a restaurant critic can get.)





So, Joe's Garage specializes in burgers and their baked potato bar. Joe's Menu.





Katy and I sat outside on the roof on a beautiful evening, other than a few bugs. They also have some indoor seating and some down on the first floor on the sidewalk.





My order: Cornmeal Fried Walleye - Served on roasted garlic, mashed potatoes, with pico de gallo, chipotle cream sauce, and garlicky green beans - $18

Now, I asked about what to get before I finally decided and was told about their burgers and their potato bar. However, I wasn't into the waitress' suggestions of very odd burgers all loaded with salt, nor was I into her suggestion of the Jamaican Jerk Baby Back Ribs.

Okay, so I got the cornmeal fried walleye. The cornmeal on the fish was just fine, it gave it something to hold on to, otherwise, the fish would have completely fallen apart. It's a pretty gentle fish that seems to fall apart on its own. However, the fish alone was pretty, actually, very bland. I wasn't completely satisfied with the fish alone.

The roasted garlic mashed potatoes were pretty good, I'd say they were a very comparable item to the potato bar menu items.

What made this dish was the chipotle cream sauce and the pico de gallo. Pick one or the other or even both and grab some walleye or the green beans and it was delicious. Also, alone the chipotle cream sauce was good as well as the pico de gallo. Alone, the pico de gallo was extremely springy and fresh, giving a cleansing effect to your tastebuds.

The garlicky green beans were okay but as I'd assume most higher quality cooking were cooked less and left a little more crisp. Growing up on Grandma K's canned green beans I completely prefer a canned soft buttery green bean. It seems as if the less cooked ones don't absorb as much flavor and I definitely prefer the softer canned.

Overall, on my meal I would give an 80 out of 100. Parts were very tasty and it was generally balanced and healthy, however I can definitely picture a better meal out of this.



This was Katy's customized burger. It was a half pound of ground chuck with delicious gorgonzola cheese draped all over the top with a side of fries. I thought the burger was done pretty well, maybe left on there a minute or two long since I prefer my meat cooked medium. But the gorgonzola has such rich flavor it really rescued a little of over cooking and made the burger perfectly acceptable.

In only having a few bites and a couple of bites I would give this burger an 83 out of 100. It was pretty well done, just a little long but the accompaniment of the gorgonzola, the bun was buttery and soft and the fries were suffice. Again, I can picture better and have had better but I, ultimately, would go back for an item on their menu that was more of their specialty.