Tanpopo

Last Wednesday I invited some co-workers from India out to dinner. I like to make sure they get to see more of the Twin Cities than just their hotel room and the restaurants in Roseville. After getting suggestions from other co-workers, I decided to take them to a restaurant I had never been to, Tanpopo.

The restaurant was easy to find in downtown St. Paul. It is located in a warehouse style space within sight of the St. Paul farmers market, off of 4th and Broadway.

The restaurant primarily serves Japanese noodles either Soba or Udon, Teishoku (which reminded me of a Bento style meal), and appetizers. There is a small but decent wine and beer list with a nice selection of Sake. Not that this matters to me since I don't really care for Sake myself, but I digress.

For an appetizer we ordered the smoked salmon roll. It was ok, but nothing special. I probably wouldn't order sushi again here. There was nothing wrong with it, but if I wanted sushi and I was in downtown St. Paul, I would head over to Sakura. I don't need appetizers anyway as I'll be saving more room for noodles when I go back to Tanpopo.

For an entree, I ordered the Wild Mushroom Udon noodles. It was, in my opinion, insanely good. The broth had a really good full bodied mushroom flavor. There were lots of mushrooms and fresh spinach floating in the broth surrounded by phenomenal noodles. The portions were enormous. Even though I loved the food and couldn't get enough, I couldn't come close to finishing my vat of noodles.

The prices were extremely reasonable, with most entrees being less than $10. It was so good, I would have been happy paying more.

There was one awkward bit to the meal. It was the first time I had eaten noodles in this style and I was initially stymied by having only a spoon and chopsticks. It was easy to grab a mushroom but getting a hank of noodles required some practice. I actually liked this part of the experience. It's hard to be stiff and formal when awkwardly slurping slippery noodles from a chopstick.

The restaurants web site show that their mission is "... to bring Japan's authentic home-style dishes, that are healthy and affordable, to the Twin Cities." From my observation, they succeed brilliantly.

I loved it so much I took Jeannie (aka my lover) back there on Saturday. She didn't like the noodles in the least and declared it flavorless. Must be that the subtle Japanese flavors just don't work for everyone. Oh well, more noodles for me. Jeannie was a good sport about the experience. I had the same Wild Mushroom noodles, but with Soba noodles this time. I loved them, but think I love the Udon noodles a little bit more.

308 Prince Street #140
St. Paul, MN 55101
651-209-6527

Here are a few other links about Tanpopo Tanpopo:Dishing in the kitchen, Minnesota Women's Press, Tanpopo Noodle Shop , Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine and Tanpopo Noodle Shop, CitySearch. (What the heck, Scott McGerik doesn't have a review posted? Seriously, I've never eaten at a Twin Cities Japanese restaurant he hasn't reviewed.)