Favorite Asian Restaurants
Mai Village (Vietnamese) 651-290-2585
422 N University West, St Paul
Imagine entering a restaurant and hearing the ethereal melodies of water slowly running in a lotus filled pond. You cross this bridge and admire the intricately carved buddhist sculptures on the wall and look ahead to what appears to be a fascade of a temple at the middle of the room. The attention to detail is so noticeable from the silk lined chairs to the matching jaded plates you almost forget you're in Minnesota. The pho (Vietnamese soup) was quite good and cheap and I definitely enjoyed this and would order this again. I also tried a spicy chicken dish, which to my surpise was just chicken and didn't come with vegetables, but did come with rice. If this restaurant was located in uptown or a more trendy location the prices would definitely double or triple.
Sawatdee Bar and Cafe (612)373-0840
118 N 4th Street Minneapolis, MN 55401
This is a more trendy version of the Sawatdee chain and there are sitting options that are not near the bar. What I really enjoy eating is the Lom (which is a lemony marinated beef with thai spices appetizer) sometimes I like it so much that I make it a meal. You just can't go wrong with pad thai. What I don't like is that parking can be challenging and expensive in that neighborhood.
Shuang Cheng (Chinese) 320 4th Street SE Minneapolis 612- 378-0208
My tastes for chinese might be a little bit spicier than the average person, but I like to order spicy eggplant, singapore rice noodles (curried noodles with different meats), mixed beef with vegetables with wide noodles, and sometimes if I am with friends we'll share a walleye.
Favorite Italian Restaurant
Punch Neopolitan Punch Neapolitan Pizza (651) 696-1066
704 Cleveland Ave S, St Paul, MN 55116-1319
The pizza here tastes like it does in Italy. There was a gourmet pizza, which I believe is called the Neopolitan that was divine. I wouldn't recommend pizza a la bianca. This place gets really crowded during the weekends.