Crescent Moon
1517 Como Ave SE (Across the street from Obento Ya)
Minneapolis, MN
612-767-3313
Before our Fargo trip, Jake and I embarked on a Bucket List Chronicles outing and ordered take-out from Crescent Moon bakery. Neither of us had tried their often-mentioned Afghani football pizza.
We ordered a House Special football pizza, $14.99, topped with “Afghani beef, onions, and green peppers,” a small Meat Lovers pizza, $10.99 topped with “Afghani beef, pepperoni, chicken & gyro,” in addition to a side of spinach, $4.99.
To those already initiated into Afghani football pizzadom, does this sound like too much food for two?
It most certainly was.
I faintly remember hearing mention that the football pizzas were large, but I must not have read the descriptions too closely. I exited Crescent Moon with a ridiculous pile of take-away boxes. Although I parked my car in front of the store, I managed to forget where I parked my car, so I scurried around the block carrying a pile of boxes, one of which was large enough to comfortably use as a sled.
As I was picking up the pizzas, I noticed some articles on Crescent Moon’s walls. One described the owner as having baking experience in Kabul. It was evident the pizza crust and pita bread which accompanied the spinach, were made with skill. The edges of the pizza were crispy, more flavorful than the average pizza crust, and pleasantly rich.
Behold, the epic football pizza and green sauce.
I’m not even sure the sauce has a name beyond “green sauce” but I would recommend you ensure your pizzas arrive with plenty. I could probably consume a container of green sauce per two slices of pizza. The sauce almost reminds me of an Indian chutney. It’s slightly spicy (although some may consider it spicy), herbal like cilantro, tangy, creamy, and packs a raw garlic punch. The Afghani beef topping seemed subtly spiced and tasted lamby.
I enjoyed the bits of gyro meat that topped the smaller, circular shaped Meat Lovers pizza.
We both enjoyed our first tastes of Crescent Moon’s pizza. As criticisms, I wished the sauce was zippier or more prevalent, and, although we ordered the pizzas spicy, they were very mild.
More than the pizza itself, I enjoyed the fresh crust and pita, garlicky green sauce, and creamy spinach.
Girls Big Night at Cafe Caribe
791 Raymond Ave
St. Paul, MN 55114
651-641-1446
On Wednesday evening, I attended part of the Minnesota Food Bloggers event, Girls Big Night, hosted by Cafe Caribe where Chef Tony and Heidi warmly sharing their passion for Caribbean food.
I sampled a delicious, crispy tostone with a flavorful aoli and Doubles, a crispy sandwich of sorts, adorned with curried chickpeas and a sweet chutney. I was delighted that Cafe Caribe’s spicy hot sauce was indeed quite spicy, so I requested my own cup.
For dinner, I ordered the Jamaican Rundown, described as “Coconut stew, slow-cooked, crab, carrots, onions, peppers, and sweet potatoes served with jasmine rice.”
The coconut broth was mellow and comforting. Although it was not spicy-hot, the broth was flavored with surprising spices I can not identify. The broth contained creamy, slow-cooked vegetables and bits of crab meat.
I enjoyed garnishing this stew with the hot sauce and cruet of vinegar infused with herbs and peppers.
Seng Foon
3420 50th Street W
Rosemount, MN 55068
651-423-5188
My family knows me well. As a belated birthday celebration, they invited Jake and I over for Seng Foon takeout.
As I have mentioned in previous posts regarding Chinese take-out, Seng Foon is the version I grew-up eating and crave into adulthood. It may not be the most authentic or flawless version of Americanized Chinese take-out but it is perfect to me. And the only version that soothes my cravings for the take-out of my childhood. No other restaurant else has completely filled this void or created a synonymous replica.
I always order plenty of these cream cheese wontons, even though they are mostly cripsy wonton wrapper with some congealed cream cheese.
I filled up on cream cheese wontons while the rest of the family supplemented their meals with egg rolls.
The vegetable fried rice was dotted with stir fried pea pods, broccoli, plenty of scrambled egg, and my favorite chewy clumps of stuck-together-rice.
Jake requested sesame chicken. A little salty, but standard.
I always order sweet and sour shrimp. In general, I am not a sweet and sour fan, however, I crave these puffy rings of fried shrimp mixed with crunchy chunks of onion, often under ripe pineapple, green pepper and carrot. This entree usually disappears quickly.
On this visit, I specifically requested this Kung Pao beef extra spicy and it actually contained some pleasant heat. Heavy on the water chestnuts, but I liked the sauce.
Thank you, family, for the wonderful birthday treat and for the absurd amount of leftovers in our fridge.
The culinary-themed birthday festivities will continue this weekend.
I’ve still to taste the kabab I ate in Kabul back in 1978. Been through 5 countries but no luck still.