A great place for a quick drink while shopping the Galleria!
This Crave location has by far the best service. Managers and bartenders are attentive and friendly. Service is fast and friendly! My friend and I decided to grab a quick drink at the bar before heading to dinner. I tried the white sangria with Torrontes, St. Germain, fresh strawberry, blueberry, raspberry. It was a nice light drink. At $12/glass it was a bit on the pricer side... but worth the pick me up!
I recommend sitting at the bar for the best service in the restaurant if you're a party of 1 or 2. Drinks are made more quickly and much more attention from the staff.
I'm sorry, I just don't like coming here..
Crave is seemingly a nice restaurant to visit and enjoy a nice dinner. However, for it's price I feel like it simply doesn't deliver.
While there are a few items in the menu that are nice and stick out, in a party of 10+ people, the overall food experience was unimpressive.
Service was great, but when a price tag of an entre is ~$25, I expect a little more of the food for a 4-5 review.
I spent a day at the spa (amazing and amazingly expensive) and then stopped in for a meal at Crave. Â I've been twice before and was reluctant to come back because it's just... so average. Â This time our table was so strangely uncomfortable. Â They jammed us in a corner and it was really challenging to find a way to seat 5 women. It seems the booth and table should have been curved rather than a series of 90 degree angles. Â
We, like some others, had a wondeful and experienced server. Â
About the food: I had a Salmon Bento Box - good 'nuff. Â Two guests had the Chicken Stir Fry which they enjoyed. Â Two other of my dining partners had cups of soup and salad. Â They seemed pleased. Â The food was certainly palatable and not at all offensive. Â It just wasn't really special enough for the price. Â I'm a good cook (I swear!). Â I pay people at places like Crave to make me things that are special, better than what I can make at home.
If you're like me and do a cost/benefit analysis everytime you spend a hard earned dollar at a restaurant this is just not the place to get the biggest bang for your buck; it seems other reviewers agree. Â If you want to have a delicious meal I recommend heading over to Pittsburgh Blue for some appetizers the Surf and Surf entree. Â That was totally worth every dollar!
Just ate Sunday brunch at Crave...it was a awful! Â Cold watery eggs, uncooked bacon, slow service for starters. Â We did complain but just got more of the same. Â The waffle bar is gone. Â Odd tasting mimosa was another treat. Â For $16.95 per person we expected a lot more. Â Don't waste your time and money.
Review Source:I really like Crave esp this location! I don't know why there are unhappy reviews here. Maybe it is because I only get the sushi here and their happy hour items?
Such a fabulous and well-rounded happy hour menu! We had the rice cracker spicy tuna, the spicy salmon, the plain tuna roll, lemon garlic wings, the chicken sliders, and I had a cocktail.
My bf said the rice cracker spicy tuna was really good. Like REALLY! He never says that. Ever. Haha. We were both pleasantly surprised. Spicy salmon was the perfeect amount of spicy, salmon, and rice. The tuna roll was a regular tuna roll but it did taste fresh! The lemon garlic wings were crispy and moist at the same time. I even enjoyed the chicken sliders although I think they could have used a little bit more sauce but the chicken was not dry! Oh, and it came with shoestring fries. What a deal! :)
I didn't love/hate my cocktail though. It was very.... un-memorable; I wouldn't order it again. Maybe I'll try a different one next time.
We liked this location. We'd come back. Often! Especially for happy hour.
Food; okay. One of my party had the steak salad and she enjoyed it a lot. My burger was okay but not the best. The other two who had burgers enjoyed them quite a bit. Drinks, okay. Â
Service; AWFUL! Our waiter went missing much of the time, causing the members of our party who arrived 10 minutes before the end of happy hour to not be able to order drinks until after happy hour ended. And it hadn't really ended; each of us looked at our phones clocks which stated 5:58 but he said it was 6:02. No attempt to satisfy us, just a blank look and, "sorry, happy hour ended". Â I'm never going back.
Okay....Okay....we had a late lunch here on Tuesday, oh boy not good !!! We sat at the bar and ordered the artichoke dip for an appetizer, BIG MISTAKE.....it was floating in grease and had some funky little colorless shrimp sitting on the top. We barely touched it and the server/bartender never even asked us if it was okay , was he blind it looked yucky AWFUL!!!??? Then we ordered lunch, my friend had sushi...she said it was fine. Not so good for me..... who ordered the Cobb Salad. I really really think the turkey was bad , it had a very strange smell...3 or 4 bites and I thought don't be nuts ,trust your nose !!! Stomach cramps and sick all night hit me a few hours later......i must say, I have eaten at Crave  { all of them }.....dozens of times , they have always been consistently good.
{ except now their pricing and new menu has gotten a bit TOO HIGH } no really...too high !
So because of my previous dining experiences , I forgive them for my last visit.......but I must take a break from them for awhile. Just to cleanse my pallet....
It's not you, it's me. Â No, I think it's you. Â Crave has gone downhill in my book. Â As I reflect upon my visit in '09 I remember it fondly. Â Since then I've been to the downtown Minneapolis locale twice and then most recently brunch in Edina. Â Why do I keep going back you ask? Â Well downtown was for happy hour on my company's dime. Â And then brunch was with a $50 gift card from said company. Â Apparently they really like the place.
So, brunch: Options were lacking. Â A family-style all you can eat brunch, no thanks, or about 6 entree options. Â My bro got the bento box: unseasoned, cold tempura veggies, un-dressed salad, and average sushi. Â I ordered the breakfast wellington, it was ok. overpriced at $11. Â $34 later my gift card is almost but not quire used up which means there will be another trip to Crave on the horizon....
Crave is a solid business dinner location. nice urban feel in the suburban landscape (similar to the Plano Texas area if you've been). Nice wide selection of apps, small plates and good sushi selections. lots of wine - perhaps somewhat at the higher end of average in term of selection/price value.Team dinner left everyone satisfied, with a nice mix of foods, wine, and pleasant atmosphere.
Not top notch foodie territory, but affordable, enjoyable, and worthwhile cuisine in a fun setting.
I was really looking forward to eating here and was extremely disappointed. Â The food was okay, our service was horrendous, and in the end we didn't feel it was a good value for the money (2 entrees and 2 drinks for $50).
I had the fettuccine and was it was severely under seasoned. Since they don't want you "messing" with the food there was neither salt nor pepper available.
The grilled portabella sandwich was forgettable and while the menu stated natural fries we had way better at the midtown global market the day before for a whole lot less money.
The drinks were strong but uninspired. Not our type of restaurant.
Good place for business dinners.
I've had 2 business dinners here and have had pleasant service each time. Â Their menu has a decent variety with options for most to enjoy. Â My guests entrees ranged from the rib eye, to ahi tuna, to the margarita pizza. Â
The atmosphere was nice. Â The background music and chatter didn't overpower our conversations. Â I'd take clients to Crave again when I'm back in the twin cities.
I've eaten at all of the Crave locations with similar, passable experience. The menu has never impressed me. There are a number of good options but nothing specific that defines the chain. Expect any choice to be good but not great, expect the atmosphere to be the same way.
If you're in the Mall of America, Crave does offer one of the better dining options.
CRAVE has sushi and American food. It's a bit pretentious but this is what you expect in the Galleria. We were here for a rehearsal dinner and the hors d'oevres were tasty; however this isn't my kind of restaurant. Everything seems to focus on gigantic portions of meat, and I'm not into this as a quasi-vegetarian. The sushi was good, and their stuffed mushrooms were delicious (but quite rich). My entree was astonishingly large and while the fish was delicious, the food was really butter saturated in general.
We did like our small side of chard and the salad was delicious with beets and blue cheese. I think you can get better food for cheaper, and this isn't the most veggie friendly place. I have heard that the Bento Box is not worth ordering.
The short version of this review: hit and miss expensive cuisine best suited for sushi holics or meat eaters.
had lunch here the other day and it was very good.
I had the lamb burger, what a great burger; you have to like lamb, but if you do this is a great substitute to the regular beef burger.
I was in a bit of a rush, so I did not get to much time to take the whole place in, but it had a very open atmosphere and layout that felt nice.
I'll be back to try the sushi!!
One of my greatest culinary faults is that I tend to be a creature of habit, and once I find an item I like I stick with it. Â Of course, this kills spontaneity and any chance of trying something new. Â At Crave, the Mexican Roll is my addiction. Â I never thought a fusion of sushi and Mexican would be a good idea, but is it ever! Â I could live on that roll. Â Seriously.
Having said that, over the last few months during my visits there I resisted my Mexican Roll urge (well, most of the time) and went with the specials and was not disappointed. Â I had a seafood risotto there last year that was amazing, and a pumpkin pie creme brulee that was a perfect finish. Â I love their salads and sandwiches, too. Â Try the peach tea! Â
The Galleria location is my favorite, perfect for business lunches though occasionally a bit on the loud side. Â The MOA location is unbearably loud inside during evening hours, the "patio" is quieter, but then you feel like you're on display for all of the shoppers. Â Consistently good service at all locations I've visited.
I seem to always walk out of Crave with an inescapable feeling of mild disappointment. Â The service has been exceptional, and the place has always been popping, but it's just not the kind of place I would recommend to others.
In my last visit, I met up with some friends for HH on a Friday just before 6. Â As always, the crowd was kicking and the vibe was cool. Â The HH menu is extensive, so you can go the healthy route or the "cheat day" route - with prices ranging from $3-$5. Â We ordered a few different kinds of sushi - California, Negihana, and Tuna Rolls. Â
I am by no means a sushi aficionado, but I have been eating more of it lately, and this sushi easily ranked at the bottom of the heap. Â And my friends each agreed - the flavors didn't pop, the rolls didn't hold together well, and the fish was sub-par.
Maybe I should try the mini burgers next time...
I've been here maybe 10 or so times, and it's been consistently good! Â Princes are about right, sauces are yum, really good happy hour, sometime the quality is a bit off kilter, but over all, the place has always been good to me. Â
I don't recommend the mixed drinks though. Â They remind me of wine coolers: sticky sweet, fruity, and weak. Â
From reading other reviews, I seem to be one of the rare ones that get's great service 9 out of 10 times here. Â I've witnessed less than standard service happen at other tables. Â I'd like to think I'm just that awesome, so that means I should stop here. :D
I went to Crave while visiting my sister who lives in the Twin Cities. Actually, she lives in Eden Prairie, so outside-ish of the twin cities. Technicalities, people.
We were shopping at the Mall of America and decided to sit down for something nice to eat. Crave was the place. I ordered the grilled chicken caesar salad and it was delicious! When ordering salads, I always put the dressing on the side, and this time was no different (I'm super picky about dressings and normally either don't like them or like a minimal amount). The difference in this case was that Crave's dressing was AMAZING. I wiped the dressing dish clean. So I'm now docking them a star for not giving me enough dressing. The presentation was also A+ . I love getting a salad in wedge form (check my photo if you want to see how it looks). My dad ordered a taco appetizer for our clan and it was okay, just slightly bland for my taste. I could have used a bit more power or kick to the spice.
Just kidding! I would totes not dock a star for that, haha. Food and service-wise, Crave gets a four star, maybe even four and a half. But I have to dock some points due to location. The Mall of America is brimming with tourist-type people who are way too focused on themselves rather than their surroundings. The food court area near the amusement park part of the mall is THE WORST. Seriously, folks, look up when you walk. Look up!
If you're cool dodging crowds, than this place is for you. If you're already at the crowded mall and want something nice to eat, pop over to Crave. It's obviously more pricey than Mikki D's and slightly more pricey than Ruby Tuesday's, but the food definitely makes it worth the extra moola spent.
The Edina/Gallery location is easy to find and nicely arranged. Â The decor is interesting and unique. Â I felt comfortable dining here. Â The only blemish on the atmosphere was the loud children. Â (And I realize the business can't really be held accountable for this.)
The service earns a gold star. Â Our waiter was friendly and very attentive. Â We never had to wait for him to check on us. Â Of course, we were seated very near the server's station but he seemed to move back and forth among all diners fairly effortlessly. Â The waiter was willing to offer suggestions about the menus but wasn't pushy at all, which is much appreciated.
The food was delish! Â I ordered the Baked Penne Pasta with Shrimp and wow! Â The noodles were excellent. Â The three cheeses combined to make the sauce was tasty and not overstated. Â The shrimp had a buttery and garlic-y taste that complimented the noodles well. :) Â We also ordered bread, which was magnificent. Â I also ordered a Chocolate Brownie Torte for dessert, which wasn't bad but didn't dazzle me because I couldn't choose between that and the Apple Pie Pizza (I figured I probably should've ordered this one).
I'll definitely be back in the near future. Â I can almost guarantee this visit will occur within the next two weeks. :)
In the midst of a shop-til-you-drop Saturday, I stopped into Crave for lunch and was overall pleased with our meal. We started out with the calamari, which was good, but not great. The cornmeal breading was very light and crunchy, but I found the calamari itself to be a little chewier than I would have liked. To be fair, the rings of calamari were thicker than I've seen at most places, but I think they traded bigger pieces for texture. Also, there was only one little cup of dip (wasabi mayo, I think), we could have used two at least - only because that dip was mighty tasty.
I ordered the fish sandwich special, which was grilled salmon on a wild rice roll with lettuce and tomato. I was very impressed with the quality of the fish and it was cooked perfectly - salmon has a tendency to be dry if overcooked, but my piece was very moist. Others with me had the soup/sandwich combo (the wild rice soup was somewhat lacking in the wild rice department) and the turkey burger (thumbs up).
Service was a bit up and down. I was thoroughly impressed when a server brought new sodas to our table after noticing that that Diet Coke fountain was running low and making the pop watered down - before we even said anything about it. Definitely showed that they were paying attention to what was being brought to the table. Unfortunately, we did have to wait for a while to pay our bill, but it was starting to get busy just as we were finishing, so there's that.
I don't know that I'd go out of my way to eat at Crave, but it's a great stop during a shopping day to sit down and relax while you contemplate your next purchase!
To be fair, this review is based on one lunch experience and it was take-out, but I wasn't too impressed.
I had the Crave salad (with goat cheese, pine nuts, etc.) to start which was really good and the 'small' size was very generous. I also had the Thai Chicken Flatbread, which did not meet my expectations at all. First, I would have called it a 'thin crust pizza', not a flatbread. Second, the toppings were very weird for Thai--giant slices of portabella (?) mushrooms, lots of roasted red peppers, etc. The chicken, cheese, and sauce were good, but I ended up picking off most of the mushrooms because they just overwhelmed the rest of it.
I went to Crave for dinner and was impressed by the great service. The waiter asked right away if we were in a time crunch to catch a movie, which we did, and he made sure that we had our food in time.
We shared the sushi boat, which was excellent, and included three different rolls and five pieces of nigiri. All of the sushi tasted very fresh and I enjoyed their unique take on the caterpillar rolls which had spicy tuna instead of eel on the inside. One downfall was the expensive wine list.
Crave is wonderful. Â I have mixed emotions about the new locations they've opened in SLP and at the MOA. Â On the one hand, expansion must mean success, which is well deserved. Â On the other hand, I hate to see this place turn into anything resembling a chain restaurant and was horrified that they opened a location somewhere as cheesy as the Mall of America. Â Nevertheless, I always have a stellar experience when I go there. Â
Monday through Friday you'll find an interesting mixture of Edina soccer moms noshing and gabbing and professionals doing power lunches. Â The menu offers a great variety of excellent sushi and an entire menu of "normal" food if you are dining with someone who doesn't enjoy sushi. Â I've had a number of the rolls, nigiri, appetizers, salads, and sandwiches. Â You really can't go wrong. Â Service is always great, staff has obviously tried most everything on the menu and can make recommendations. Â
Crave is also clever: they found the loophole in the Edina rule about drink happy hours and offer a small but tasteful selection of happy hour drinks from 4-6pm and 9-11. Â The happy hour food menu also offers a wide variety of items to sample--note you must sit in the bar area to partake in happy hour.
Friday nights they have live jazz music starting at 8-8:30. Â The atmosphere is great for going with a few friends to check out the music and catch up over a drink or two and sharing some items from the happy hour menu. Â I recommend the edamame, veggie roll, and nuggets. Â Our server last night was amazing and even nabbed a free piece of cheesecake for us. Â HEAVEN. Â It was light but flavorful and rich. Â The strawberries were fresh, and they put this layer of strawberry whipped cream topping stuff on it that was amazing. Â It tasted like strawberry shortcake cheesecake. Â Needless to say, the four of us inhaled it and there was no polite offering of the last bite. Â It was every man for himself. Â
Overall, a great way to chill out and catch up with friends after a long week at work.
Zero stars. Worst restaurant experience of the year.
At the Galleria, a powerful hunger strikes, what do you do? Try to determine which place to eat will be the lesser of all evils. We chose unwisely. We sat at the bar thinking we'd get in and out quickly. Wrong again. This is where our tale unfolds into a series of unfortunate events.
They shouldn't call this place CRAVE. The should call it CRAP. You know what I crave? How about a bartender that's old enough to drink? The cheerleader you had behind the bar took 10 minutes to acknowledge we were even there--then it took her another five minutes to give us a menu. We ordered drinks and they were fine, but the scowling grimace this girl gave us could crush ice.
We ordered food, I got a burger and asked for some Miso soup. My GF got a salad of some sort. It took forever. My burger came out sans soup and I asked the evil ice princess about it. After more gloom and doom I asked that the soup be taken off my bill--it still hadn't come. My burger was disappointing. I'm not sure you could strip that much flavor out of a burger if you dedicated your life to it. GFs salad was also boring. Asked for the bill--she snottily told me it was right in front of me and gestured to it mechanically. She hadn't taken the soup off--at this point I was just done with this place and Little Miss Vicious behind the bar. We paid--tipped two dollars on a $60 dollar tab. I can't remember the last time, if ever, that I have tipped that little.
When we walked out, I saw who was obviously the manager. He asked how our meal was. "Fire your bartender."
Love the freshness of everything(!)...lemonade, artisan bread basket (yum), soup, salad. Â
My mom is of the old flavor school-salt and I am of the new school-herbs so this place was a winner for me, but not so much for mom. Â
I would like to try this place for dinner they have a good wine list and great ambiance as well and for the sushi/sashimi lover this appears to be a quality place for same.
I always seem to gravitate to this place when I am shopping in Edina over any of the large chain restaurants.
Three stars for the food, two stars for everything else.
There were three in our party. We were greeted right away at the table but the drinks took about 10 minutes to arrive (iced tea, soda, and bottle beer). Â Also the server did not offer a refill on iced tea until way after the food arrived, and did not offer a refill on soda at all.
We ordered the Lemon Garlic Wings as an appetizer. Â They were very good meaty wings with the right mix of garlic and lemon. Â None of us liked the dill/blue cheese dipping sauce that accompanied the wings. Â The appetizer took about 15 minutes to arrive.
Two of us ordered the Asian Noodle Salad, the other ordered the Greek Salad. Â The Asian Salad was pretty good, it had nice pieces of chicken, with warm rice noodles at the bottom. Â The portion was fulfilling. Â I was told the Greek Salad w/ chicken was also good (6 out of 10), but nothing compared to the old Sydney's Greek Salad. Â Salads took about 20 after app.
Bottom line is food was good, atmosphere was OK, and the service was so-so. Â For the three of us with an app, 1 beer, 1 glass of wine, and three salads the bill was $60 PLUS tip. Â I don't mind paying for food when it's worth it, this was not.
I was impressed with this place. Â I think it used to be Sydney's - Crave is a definite improvement. Â The covered patio is a great idea - perfect for a summer day. Â My friend and I split the bento box and the beet & walnut salad. Â The beet & walnut salad was good, but they went way overboard on the beets. Â I know, I know, beet is part of the name, but I really could have used some more greens and maybe a little more cheese in there. Â The bento box was a nice size. Â The tempura wasn't too greasy. Â The smoked eel sushi were dipped in an oyster sauce that was quite good. Â We had a very long lunch (2 hours) and only had our water filled once so I wasn't too thrilled with the service. Â The waitress didn't point out the sushi menu (we found it under the salt & pepper shaker after we were almost done eating), which was too bad because we would have tried something off of the sushi menu.
My friend insisted that I add something about their restroom. Â The decor was great and it looks like it would be a nice bathroom, but the automatic flushing toilets don't work very well. Â It took two flushes for the flush to actually take. Â Maybe they're trying to conserve water? Â Also, the toilet paper rolls just sit on the holders (not held in place) so when you pull on the paper, it just slides off and the toilet paper roll lands on the icky floor. Â Just a heads up to make sure you hold on to that roll! Â The sink is also conducive to water splashing all over the counter. Â The bathroom wasn't disgusting, but it just goes to show that appearances don't make the bathroom.
Overall, I enjoyed my meal and would definitely come back again.
Crave restaurant, located in the Galleria in Edina and now in the Mall of America, is home to one of my favorite salads and lunches in the Twin Cities. The menu isn't particularly vegan-friendly, but what is available or adjustable, is very good. There are quite a few vegetarian options. And I like the atmosphere, especially for lunch during a day of shopping or for a business meeting.
The highlight of the menu is the roasted beet and walnut salad. It's composed of cubes of roasted gold and red beets with walnuts, daikon sprouts and spring greens, tossed in orange-cilantro vinaigrette (can hold the blue cheese crumbles) and available as a starter ($8.95) or entrée ($10.95). I love this salad - it's fresh and colorful and delicious. Even better, the lunch menu offers combinations with choice of half-a-sandwich and one side for $9.95. I order half the roasted veggie melt with Portobello, red pepper, zucchini and balsamic eggplant (hold the cheese and pesto aioli if you choose) with a side of the beet salad. It's one of my top three favorite lunches in the Twin Cities.
Other recommendations include the crunchy house-made root vegetable chips of thinly sliced, fried and lightly-salted potatoes, sweet potatoes and beets. These accompany sandwiches, but can be ordered as an appetizer or side order. The edamame appetizer has more flavor than the usual steamed pods with sea salt with the addition of a glazed Sriracha soy sauce ($6.95). The pita and spreads appetizer ($9.95) includes grilled pita wedges with hummus, olive tapenade and a roasted garlic bulb - excellent. The hearty tomato pesto soup with pistachio (does include parmesan) has a great roasted flavor.
Crave is also a great place to go if you, or someone in your party, wants beautifully-presented sushi, but others want something entirely different, such as a pizza or a sandwich. I love their veggie roll made with carrots, cucumber, cooked spinach and asparagus, wrapped with avocado and served with a sweet soy sesame sauce ($11.95).
Crave currently has two Twin Cities locations at the Galleria in Edina and at Mall of America on the "south avenue" on the 3rd floor near Macy's. A third location is planned at The Shops at West End, a development currently under construction at Hwy. 100 and I-394 in St. Louis Park, which will include restaurants, retail and a movie theater, and is expected to open in fall 2009.
For more info: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.examiner.com%2Fx-10371-Minneapolis-Vegetarian-Examiner&s=018da3a9f11c5aa68ae10ddc26678f195f88989155d7ce373fefc472a00f5d73" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.examiner.com/…</a>
Love, love, love Crave in the Galleria! Â This is my husband and my "go-to" date night location. Â We could eat there just about every week! Â We have always enjoyed the ambiance, servers and hosts. Â
Suggestions: Â Flat bread and hummus (great roasted garlic!), Mexican Sushi Roll (AMAZING) or the Chipotle Ocean Roll and a bottle of M. Chapoutier Chateauneuf-Du-Pape... you'll be happy when you leave!
Better than I expected.
I got a chance to visit Crave the weekend of March 20-22 while during a visit from Los Angeles to visit my brother, his wife and the new baby.
PLUSES:
Attentive and polite service.
Pleasant host/hostesses.
Great selection and quality of fish and sushi-type items.
Great menu descriptions of all sashimi/sushi-related items.
Tuna Tataki was fresh and of good quality. Â Really enjoyed the presentation.
Calamari was crispy yet light with a wonderful dipping sauce.
Great soup.
Clean bathrooms.
Respectable clientele.
Wine list and bar area look as if they would be great for an evening out.
Considering that the menu is kinda all over the place, each item that we ordered and noticed in passing was great...usually hard to pull of in a place serving sushi items along side burgers.
MINUSES:
$6.25 for a bottle of Pelligino...c'mon people, not even in LA would someone have the balls to charge that unless it's at Mozza, or some place like that.
SIRLOIN BURGER, while the flavors and quality of ingredients were great, it was almost impossible to eat! Tooo big, the bread, while delicious, is not great for a burger-you can't bite through it!!!
I would be happy to go back on my next visit to the family!
Enjoy!
: )
Ugh. Not a great trip second time around. Service was lacking this time. I had the sushi lunch sampler and no one bothered to tell me what the different fish were (I had a pretty good idea, but i wanted -- and should have got -- clarification). It wasn't nearly as good as the last time i had it.
Hubby's walleye sammy wasn't good either. they didn't allow the oil to reabsorb into the breading and put it on the roll "wet" making the whole roll soggy and messy.
I'm thinking that I'd been in a really good mood because I was finally out of the house on a leisurely lunch date when I first went there.
Won't be back anytime soon.
I've eaten here twice and been unimpressed both times. Â The first time was right after it opened, so I figured it was still getting all figured out and stuff.... Â This time I had lunch and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.
There seems to be a fear of flavor here - the soup (Chili soup) had very little flavor and very little of interest going on (basically like watery ground-beef chili) and the mufalleta was OK. Â Again, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that great either....
Crave is a great little locally owned place in Edina....it's a little diamond in the rough in the middle of Edina that is over run with chain restaurants.
I like the mix there where you can have sushi and a good American cuisine meal too....and at the end of the day at our table we had a little bit of everything and we all enjoyed it!
Crave is located in the Galleria shopping mall in Bloomington, off France and 70th.
It is a large, high ceiling space inside the mall. It's decor is modern, almost like a higher end hotel motif, with leather modern booths in earth tones, with red hued large flower accent lights, and a large center square bar as its feature. On the right side is the kitchen, which is adorned with large, copper hood vents that add to the contemporary feel and color palette of the restaurant.
Crave calls itself decidely American, but it has the twist of offering Sushi, too! The sushi bar is more like an oyster bar in other places, where you don't necessarily eat at it, but the 2 chefs prepare table orders. There is a separate sushi menu on each table.
I ordered the Sushi salad ($14.95). I was expecting maybe greens with slabs of sashimi on top. However, the salad was a large heap, almost like a compost heap of different colors and flavors. I am still not sure what fish was in it. I think it was some salmon, tuna, and flying fish roe, tossed with tangy greens and enoki like sprouts. It wasn't sushi, but it wasn't bad!
My main was a pistachio encrusted salmon ($24.95). The crust was crisp, and it kept the salmon inside very moist, although the flavor was lighter, because it wasn't smoked in any way. That was served atop a bed of rice risotto of brown rice with 5 asparagus spears lightly grilled but crispy.
My 3 dinner companions all ordered soup or salad, and a variety of main dishes. Everyone thought that Crave was a good choice for dinner tonight. Service was just right.
Crave won a 2008 best new restaurant award from one source, which they display.
If you had a hard day shopping at the upscale Galleria Mall, and want to have a casual but fine dining experience to match what you bought, Crave has got a little bit of something for you and your shopping friends.
Maybe I've just seen too many movies or maybe it's the nostalgia of time long past. I'm pretty sure I know what 'cool' is, but it matters little when the majority views 'cool' as something quite different. I saw this in San Francisco and now in the Twin Cities.
I think Crave and its clientele fully represent the 'cool' that seems to have overtaken major US cities, like the bygone years when ravenous locust overtook Midwest farmlands, decimating croplands and ending farming legacies.
I've eaten at Crave twice now and have been extremely satisfied with both visits. Crave puts there own little twist on some dishes and I like it.
RE: Sushi
Just like my issues with what is cool in the world, I also have a problem with many peoples' taste in sushi and no longer place any weight in the opinions of others on the matter- I've just been burned too many times.
Crave has a sushi bar. Upon my last visit, I asked one of the chefs if he recommends the Hamachi. His answer was the Blue fin tuna was really good. Translation: the Hamachi was not good and MAJOR props to the guy for giving me an honest answer. I then asked if the squid was fresh. His answer: It's frozen. That's a first for me. Never in my life has a server or sushi chef told me the truth about their squid being frozen. In case you didn't know the difference: frozen squid will have a crunchy/ glossiness texture, fresh will be squish and dissolvy. This guy's honesty alone will make me a fan of Crave throughout the eons.
Brought a friend from out-of-state here on a whimsy figuring it was a good opportunity to check it out and see if the menu lived up to the establishments name. Â A few times I had walked by and perused the menu and chuckled at how my mouth would water up at the list of items and realize that indeed I might crave a visit! Â I know, bad pun!
Atmosphere-
sophisticate urban deco- though not so much that you would feel uncomfortable going in Jeans or shorts (as was our case). We were there on a Thursday around 5:30. Â
Place was busy, but we were seated within 5 minutes.
Service-
The hostess was polite and made us feel welcome. Â The server was amazing, she read us very well! Â I even had her order my dinner for me... which is not something I always do, however, everything looked good and I could not decide, soooooo, she basically made a custom selection of sushi for me and WOW!
Appetizers
We ordered the Calamari and Tuna Tataki. Â The Calamari was good the taste of the herbs was fresh! I would have the calamari again- there are places where I would say don't bother. Â The Tuna Tataki, now that was amazing! Â Tuna was melt in your mouth the orange infused soy an excellent compliment to the wasabi.
Dinner-
My friend had the Lamb Shank, sorry, I did not taste it- though I did try the vegetables and they were cooked perfectly. Â As I mentioned I went on a limb and had the server order for me with the instructions that there would be nothing she would put in front of me that I would not try. Â Sooooo, my expensive plate had:
Hamachi Sashimi
Maguro
Wasabi Tobiko
Bincho Sashimi
Hirame Sashimi
All was very good, though the Flying fish roe did take getting used to! Â I am new some of these plates! Â The Hirame was unique as well.
Desert-
Coconut cake. Â I have to admit that this would not be something I would ordinarily get, however, it was very refreshing after world wind sushi tour!
The double espresso I ordered had a pleasant amount of Crema- very nice. Â
Price- well, this was kinda over -the- top eating experience. Two glasses of Pinot Grigio each and the bill with tip was around $140. Â I would recommend this restaurant, a unique and fun experience without having to go into Minneapolis.
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