We haven’t been back to eat
at Meritage since last fall and that was well before they knocked
through the wall and tossed Annie’s Ice Cream out on their ear from the
Hamm Building. Okay so technically it was up to the building’s owner to
allow annie’s ice cream to stay in the building but, well, I imagine
the idea of Meritage expanding was a whole lot better than a sort of
worn down family owned and operated established icecream stand/card
shop.
Anyhow we decided in the gloom and doom of the
pending snowy weekend to depart from our usual skyway fast food fare and
eat at the newly created oyster bar for lunch today…mostly because I
couldn’t seem to get the idea of tuna tartare tacos outta my head, since
receiving one for an amuse busche last fall.
So we sat at
the bar. I must say the new renovations and bar area at Meritage are
quite comfortable and I typically don’t like sitting at bars but this
was very nice. The bar is stainless steel and the soft spoken bartender
was attentive (of course we were his only customer as it was only a
little after 11)
I ordered a tuna tartare taco, a pepsi/coke, and a grilled brie sandwich and fries.
The
tuna tartare taco came out. And maybe it was because it was free the
last time, but I remember it tasting a little more zippier. That said,
it was still delicious and somehow the combination of the crunch of the
cute mini taco shell and the soft velvety unctuousness of tuna cubes
just works.
Then we waited. And waited. And just when I
was thinking “how long does it take to make a grilled cheese sandwich?”
the waitress came with another amuse busche…confit pig’s tongue.
Uh, what?
Seriously,
I realize we are in a world where foodies abound and want to try
different things BUT, I don’t know if the chef realized that I ordered a
relatively safe grilled cheese sandwich?
I actually
consider myself pretty adventurous. I know what I like and there are a
few things that I don’t like. I like liver pate. I don’t like onions.
Tongue is way outta my comfort zone. But if Andrew Zimmern and Anthony
Bourdain can eat it on a regular basis, I was game. Of course they
also eat disgusting things like fried maggots so I’m not sure that was
really solid reasoning.
It tasted like a really rich, kind
of melt in your mouth pork roast. You know that inner cut that has
been roasting for an hour in it’s own fat (which is pretty much what
confit is…) They gave me two pieces. I wasn’t sure if this was a
couple of slices of the tongue or if pigs tongues were small and thereby
I was eating two of them. And there was a sort of odd shape to them.
Anyhow, I ate the first piece quickly, with a follow-up cleansing rinse
of pepsi and all was good…so long as I didn’t remind myself I was
eating an actual tongue. The second piece was fine too. But I don’t
think it will be anything I will be dreaming about anytime soon.
What
is it about amuse busche’s that make me feel guilty. It’s sort of like
the chef is saying, “I know you are hungry and I want to gift you with
my masterpiece creation.” Something in me always feels like I have to
eat it or insult the chef….and as long as it isn’t onions, green peppers
or anything remotely spicy, I will probably eat it. (although I do like
French onion soup so I’m not sure even that is accurate?)
Ten
minutes went by and I still hadn’t received the brie sandwich. Was I
missing something? It’s bread, butter, and brie. Oh and some sort of
apple jam. Yep that’s gotta be what was holding it up. Oh and they had
to fry their yummy pommes frites.
The tv over the bar was
playing CNN without the sound and close-captioning. I might say that
either the autocorrect on the close captioning was terribly off or
someone needs to learn both grammar and spelling. Terrible! Randi Kaye
looks great though - haven't seen her since her local news days.
The
sandwich finally arrived. The fries were delicious. Seriously among
the best French fries in the the twin cities. The sandwich was really
fried to a perfect brown crispness. The melty brie was good. I wish
they had put the apple jam on the side. It was just a little much and
the spice mix didn’t really work for me with the brie.
The
bill arrived. $3.00 for a pepsi? Really? Seems a rip-off when it’s
the same pepsi I get in the food court for a 1.00. Oh it must be the
glass.
All in all it was good. And I can check off “tongue” on my list of culinary adventures.
Three stars
Editor's note: To die for Steak Frittes is my favorite meal here...Bearnaise and fries have got to be one of my favorite combinations. It's a little pricey but for a special treat...so good.
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