Dear readers, I know you know that I value the mainstay institutions as much as I do the buzzy new eateries I cover in my reviews. So, given the positive feedback from my last piece, here's another installment of my (now) intermittent series of underrated eateries across the Twin Cities. As a reminder, these range from sit-down restaurants to grab-and-go eateries — all or which are worth your time and palate.
Hyacinth
On the surface, little has changed since Abraham Gessesse took over for Rikki Giambruno to become the new chef/owner of Hyacinth last year: The endearingly cramped tables are still filled with couples bent over a bottle of Nebbiolo; the electric blue banquettes, darkened by the mood lighting from above; those supremely comfortable chairs that you sink into so you can feel their weightlessness.
Little needs to change for an institution synonymous for Italian food with Brooklyn accents. Somehow, despite improving its culinary repertoire year after year, Hyacinth doesn't get the acclaim that, say, Bar La Grassa (terrific in its own right) does, even though it should.
The pastas, indeed, have a staying power to them. I know where to turn when I count on the carbonara to deliver chewy guanciale and a creamy sauce enriched with just enough yolk to luxuriate each noodle. And I'll always expect the cacio e pepe to focus on pliability of its bucatini and that (rightfully) unforgiving pelt of black pepper.
During a recent warm but blustery evening, I dined alfresco and ordered those two dishes (half-portion, at $18, is the move) as expected, but I didn't forget the crostini ($12). This one was topped with a heady combo of taleggio and ricotta, brightened with chives and spring onions — the right prologue to summer.
Other favorites include the sleeper signature dish, an unremarkable-looking risotto al salto ($28) that's built like Persian tadig, in which the rice beautifully crispens at the bottom of the pan and you break it with your spoon to find a treasure of maitakes and walnuts. And the chicken ($28), which sounds and looks like something out of a dusty Good Housekeeping cookbook but is one that I'll remember for the way the lemon and capers took it in a cheffy but wildly delicious direction.
Only two desserts are offered, but they are not afterthoughts. The baba rum ($12) is ethereal, and it may be the best the Twin Cities has to offer. The dense but not mealy liqueur-soaked cake is joined by cream that's whipped until just before stiff peaks form, like a cloudy Chantilly.
790 Grand Av., St. Paul, 651-478-1822, hyacinthstpaul.com
Coastal Cafe at Coastal Seafoods
It's entirely possible that you may have shopped at Coastal Seafoods in Minneapolis for years without having noticed that the cafe swept to the side, like a neglected annex, serves the kind of food found at seafood shacks in Portland, Maine, or Bodega Bay, Calif. That was the case for this oblivious critic.
Luckily, my gaze met that of a chef tending to a till (behind him is a flat-top grill the size of a billiards table), and it just so happened that my breakfast that morning went unseasonably rogue. So, lunch.
With three fellow shoppers in tow, it's tempting to order the whole menu and send the chefs into a disgruntled frenzy, but do note that dishes arrive as they are ready, which should encourage you to stagger the orders. A gentle recommendation is to get the fried dishes first. A recent meal included a shatteringly crisp soft-shell crab lightly coated with Nashville Hot seasoning ($18.99), which I violently plied apart and finished (quickly) with gusto; the plump and meaty fish and chips ($16.99), battered with local beer; and the clam fries. Then you may proceed with, say, the lobster rolls ($28.99) — the classic and Connecticut style, for the mayo-averse, are equally matched — the soup (recently a textbook clam chowder, $7.99) and perhaps the grilled fish tacos ($10.99), properly blackened, seasoned and grilled.
Also worth noting: The seafood-averse may find solace that the smash burger here is one of the better ones around town, with its dark lacy edges, caramelized onion and toasted brioche bun. And you'll find an equally appealing menu at its newish Coastal Dive Bar and Oyster Palace in St. Paul.
2007 E. 24th St., Mpls., 612-724-7425; 286 S. Snelling Av., St. Paul, 651-698-4888; coastalseafoods.com
Abi's Restaurant
"I wouldn't really recommend anything on this menu that I'd get myself," our server cryptically told our group of non-Salvadorans when we sat down and prepared to tuck into what was promised to be an authentic Salvadoran feast. Later, it turns out (we'd like to think), she was banking on a kind culinary negging that didn't quite land.
Happily, the pupusas — thick griddled cakes made with cornmeal, a national dish of El Salvador — are a complete revelation. There are 12 variations on the menu ($4.50 each), and the three we ordered (Revueltas, made with ground, shredded pork belly, beans and cheese; Chicharron; and Loroco, a Salvadoran edible flower) toed the line between its darkly crisp exterior and doughy yet yielding interior. The fillings were deeply rendered, too.
Yes, there are other plates worth ordering. Mojarra frita is a beautifully fried whole tilapia, with salad, rice, beans and tortillas, for only $17; the spicy Diabla sauce atop it, though, is the real draw — a heady stew of both arbol and guajillo chiles, onion, garlic, simmered and stirred constantly over three hours. The flautas ($12) may not be a Salvadoran staple, but are as gratifying as egg rolls — crispy chicken taquitos filled with lettuce and tomatoes, gently dressed with queso.
Don't miss the plantains, either — they're smoky, funky from the sweet ripeness, skirting sweet and savory ($7). Our table fought for second bites of it like it was our first time trying the Caribbean staple.
2828 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls., 612-721-0013, abismn.com
Jon Cheng is the Star Tribune's restaurant critic. Reach him at jon.cheng@startribune.com or follow him on Instagram at @intrepid_glutton.
