Tag Archives: Pita

Restaurant, Travel

Urbana Craeft Kitchen & Market, Bloomington, MN

Urbana Craeft Kitchen & Market, 3200 W 81st St, Bloomington, MN 55425

Urbana is a trendy urban restaurant located in the new Hyatt Regency hotel.  There is an outdoor dining area, a little market area, and tons of tables.

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I have eaten there twice.  Once for lunch and once for dinner.  The meals are all a bit strange so pay attention to what going into your food.  Some of the people I ate with ordered an item they love only to find out that it had an ingredient that they did not.

The market offers snacks, juice, and Star Bucks coffee.  You can pop in, get what you need and go back to your hotel or head out into the city for the day.

I had a pita for lunch.  The one I chose was pretty good.  It had turkey and other items in it.  Overall I was pleased with this selection.  Those in the party that ordered a burger seemed happy for the most part.  One of their burgers has fontina cheese which is one of my favorite cheeses.  The sauce they give you for your fries is homemade and is a bit like sriracha, but not quite.  It seemed a bit bold for Minnesota and frankly I think most people would have preferred a normal ketchup.

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The dinner meal I ordered a crusted filet with baby potatoes and asparagus.  It was the perfect amount of food for me.  If you were hungry, well, if you want a lot of food don’t order a filet.  It wasn’t the best filet that I have ever had.  It was just okay.  The potatoes were perfect with a great seasoning.  The asparagus wasn’t too big.

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Overall the prices are high, but no higher than I would expect in a hotel.  If you are staying at the Hyatt then by all means take a meal here.

I wasn’t impressed, but it isn’t bad.  It just isn’t great and I was expecting more.  Most food out there is worse, but if I am going out to dinner this restaurant isn’t on my list.  I wouldn’t say no if someone suggested it.

It is a place with different flavors.  If you are looking for a change try it and perhaps with luck you will find a flavor you enjoy.

Restaurant, Travel

Naf Naf Grill

Naf Naf Grill – 13250 Technology Dr, Eden Prairie, MN 55344

Middle Eastern fast food – What?  Yes, that’s right, a fast food Middle Eastern restaurant in Minnesota.

Inside of Naf Naf

You get the feel of walking through a Chipotle in the layout and the way you get to build your own pita or bowl.  How it works:

Naf Naf menu

Start by choosing a pita or a bowl.  You get a pita with a bowl so unless you are planning on eating everything there I would go with the bowl.  In the bowl you can get rice, lettuce, or hummus.  The rice is amazing and the hummus is so good.  I get both.

Next the meat or vegetarian option.  You can choose between chicken or steak shawarma or Falafel.  A shawarma is a way of preparing meat on a spit and cook for an extended period of time, up to a day.  Falafels are chickpeas smash and formed into a ball and then deep-fried.  Falafels are incredible.  I highly suggest trying these.

Next add your salad and garnishes.  You can have chopped salad, purple cabbage salad, sumac onions, and/or pickles.  I have tried and like the chopped salad.  Pick your preference.

Now add your favorite sauces.  The tahini sauce is a must in my books.  They also offer a garlic sauce.  I think you would choose one or the other on these.  You can then get the green sauce s’khug or the red sauce called fire sauce.  When I asked for the hottest sauce they had they gave me the red sauce.  When I asked for hot sauce they gave me the green sauce.  I believe the red may have been hotter and I love hot sauces, but honestly the green sauce gave the whole thing a much better flavor.  They are both hot so get either one.

Side dishes:

Naf fries are kind of like American fries as apposed to French fries in that they are thin slices of potatoes.  They are cooked like French fries and not in a pan like American fries.  Overall they are the best of both worlds.  They are also very salty.  I have found them somewhat overwhelming in their saltiness at times.

Lentil soup is another option.  I have never tried it so I cannot give an opinion on this one.

Basmati rice is your third option for a side.  I can only imagine ordering this if I went with the pita instead of the bowl.  Their rice is very good.