The Best Cocktail I’ve Ever Had

I don’t have a good picture of the best cocktail I’ve ever had, so you’ll just have to trust me.

The best cocktail I’ve ever had is the Banana Bread Old Fashioned from Butcher & The Boar in downtown Minneapolis. Everything about this cocktail sounds so wrong. First, to mess with a classic cocktail. And the whole banana part. Seems like two cardinal sins.

I fall into the group of people who avoid banana-flavored things. Banana Runts, banana taffies, and banana baked goods if I have a suspicion it they have fake banana flavoring. Our server assured us that they make their own banana puree for this drink.

Butcher & The Boar’s Banana Bread Old Fashioned tastes like the best version of an old fashioned with a subtle hint of banana bread essence. Leading with classic cocktail, it’s an old fashioned, first. The hints of banana bread (from the cinnamon and banana infused whiskey, chocolate bitters and demerara syrup) are warm and subtle. Nothing tastes artificial or weird. I wish this was a classic cocktail I could find everywhere, but made just like this.

A New Place We Like
Monkey Temple Tandoori Grill & Alehouse is a new restaurant on Snelling. Owner Naveen Shrestha also owns Himalayan (one of our favorites) so I’m not surprised we like it.

We visited the first time after reading The Growler’s review.  A full bar features cocktails made with Apologue liquors and the menu offers British, Indian, and Nepalese influenced dishes.

Consistent with the The Growler review, the chicken wings are nicely cooked with flavorful, crisp skin and yogurt dip. We really liked the gobi manchurian. Cauliflower is fried in a light batter and tossed in a tomato chili glaze that we ordered hot. Some bites have some crisp while others are soft. We kept remaking how much we enjoyed this dish until we finished it.


Jake likes the Guinness lamb stew served with naan. I prefer the Choyola paneer made with sautéed peppers, onions, and generous cubes of paneer in a spicy red sauce. I order it extra hot which packs enough punch to make me sweat. “I might look like I’m miserable but I’m really happy!” I explained.

The atmosphere is non-pretentious and friendly. I hope they do well so we can include it to our regular rotation.