Restaurant Review Restaurant Week Summer 2012 Edition: Meritage

Mark's Zoolander face

As Mark mentioned, when Restaurant Week rolls around we spent copious amounts of time picking out new places to try; however this time around there was one restaurant that was a shoo-in, Meritage in St. Paul. You see, a couple months ago Msp Mag released their "best of the best"restaurants issue and Meritage beat out our beloved Vincent for best french restaurant in the readers poll.

Obviously we had scope the place out for ourselves. The menu looked good, but they had some big expectations to fulfill. For starters, did they have a cool french-looking waiter to give Mark free iced tea?

Due to the fact that the restaurant is all the way in St. Paul (Minneapolis, you feel me?) and Mark had to work all week we went for dinner.  As with most Restaurant Week participants, Mertiage put together a 3-course meal menu for a fixed price of $30. So it's a nice way to try some of the best restaurants in the city for a reasonable price.

Restaurant Week menu

When we arrived it was extremely loud and busy. The place is laid out kind of like a small European cafe (not that i've ever been to Europe, just what I imagine it to be). We were seated in a tiny booth/table with no room between us and the next booth/table. Our waitress came and although she was clearly American she was nice so no strikes were given against her or Meritage. Since we had studied the menu for weeks prior we were able to place our orders right away. This calmed me immensely because it was already close to 7:30, I was starving (the three pieces of buttered bread I inhaled upon arrival did nothing to sooth my hunger pains), and the place was packed with no end of incoming traffic in sight.

Luckily, I remembered to take a picture
before devouring and asking for more

Recipe Review: Crock Pot Beef Carnitas Tacos

Perfection

Most of the time when I find a recipe I want to make I end up tweaking it here and there to make it something more up our alley. But sometimes I see something that looks and sounds so good that I don't want to change anything. This happened when I came saw Jenna's recipe for crock pot carnitas tacos back in July.

I bookmarked it in my head until last week when both Mark and I were craving tacos. I told him about the recipe and he was down. We went off to Whole Foods for some flank steak, came home to dust off the crock pot, seasoned and topped the meat, and waited the long 8 hours.

Ingredients for success

Look how deliciously red the flank steak is

Rubbed with spiced and topped with chopped produce

8 hours later on a corn tortilla and topped with salsa & avocado

Boy was it worth it. The steak was tender and juicy. The onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño combined for melt-in-your-mouth amazing flavor. Add corn tortillas, salsa, and fresh avocado, and you've got a home run. 

Both Mark and I agreed that we wouldn't have changed a thing as far as the meat goes (except maybe adding more jalapeño, we like the heat). We also thought it tasted phenomenal in the tacos, much better than your run of the mill ground beef mixed with taco seasoning.

But we also noted how much like a roast the meat tasted. It wasn't a bad thing, just not what we were expecting. It was a pleasant surprise that left us wishing we had made more meat (we ate the entire 1/2 lb in one sitting). This slow cooked flank steak would taste absolutely mouth wateringly good as sandwich filling, with some melted cheese on top of course.

So if you're looking for a no hassle, tastes-like-you've-slaved-for-hours taco recipe, head on over to Eat, Live, Run and get your slow cooked carnitas on!