MSP - Restaurant for Group of 10?

[starburst]

I'm looking for something new to try for a birthday event. We prefer to keep prices reasonable, so nothing as pricey as Solera. The atmosphere doesn't have to be great, but preferebly the food is good. St. Paul restaurants are preferred, but Minneapolis is fine too.

all cuisines are fine. Something like Mai Village would be great but, I just don't really care for the food there.

[bob s]

I was able to pull a last minute (< 1 week) reservation for 12 on a Saturday night at Pane Dolce Vino at 50th and Bryant. (I know, not St. Paul.) The food's pretty good, but the noise level can be a little loud. We had a good time though.

Bob

[g rote]

did they charge you for "bottled" water...i have reason to believe it's actually tap water in a Panna bottle.

[bob s]

I don't think we've ever been charged for water. I usually specify tap if asked.

[g rote]

True Thai on E.Franklin...technically MPLS, but close enough to St. Paul. We also enjoy Shilla Korean on Snelling near Hamline U.

[AliceS]

Have you been to "Shilla" lately? It is under new management and is now called Kum Gang San, and what little charm we felt Shilla had had disappeared in the new incarnation. Of course, it may have improved since then. If anyone can say anything decent about it I would be thrilled since it is super close to us.

[bob s]

We had a decent meal at Kum Gang San last winter. I believe that it's the only Korean restaurant in the area that does tableside barbecue. (If there are others, I'd love to know about them.) The barbecue is a sentimental favorite because I had eaten it a few times while I was in Seoul.

If I remember correctly, we enjoyed the haemul pajan (seafood pancake) and the barbecue and I thought the panchan were pretty good. As we were leaving, we smelled a delicious bibimbap.

I agree that there is no character or charm to the place, but we did have at least one decent meal there.

Bob

[AliceS]

I used to like the Shilla spicy chap chae, but the last time we went it was not good. Character and charm are not an issue at all for us.

[katebauer]

Not in the area of Snelling but I believe King's in Fridley does table side barbeque. Don't hold me to it though.

[bob s]

Thanks for the suggestion. We were just at Kings a few weeks ago and I didn't see it on the menu. They do have bulgogi, but I think it's not cooked at the table. I'll take a closer look next time we're there.

[katebauer]

We've never ordered it but I have some memory of a woman cooking on a hibachi at a table on the other side of the restaurant. I could be completely making that up though (often TV and real life merge ;))

[doogette]

I've been fond of Gasthaus zur Gemütlichkeit.

http://www.gasthofzg.com/

[djohnson22]

Me too... and it is a fun place for a large group... but it is predicated on liking German food, which if any are vegetarian the options are pretty slim

[djohnson22]

Jun-Bo would certainly fit that bill

[AliceS]

Unless you know something I don't know, I would not recommend Jun Bo for non-dim sum food. We went for dinner with a very large group and were thoroughly underwhelmed by everything. Don't ask me to name the dishes, because they were all so boring I have forgotten them. If you are going to that neck of the woods and want Chinese for a large group, do Mandarin Kitchen or Tea House (not sure about Tea House with large groups though). If it is post-12/5 Little Szechuan should be reopened.

http://www.littleszechuan.com/

[djohnson22]

no, I have only really been thee for Dim Sum. It really popped in to my head as being along the lines of Mai Village, and it has loads of space so could easily accomodate a group of 10.

[katebauer]

Tanpopo has that large table that would easily fit 10.

[The Dairy Queen]

I was just going to post that! Tanpopo has that nice table for ten all set up by itself, and those udons and sobas hit the spot this time of year.

~TDQ