Come at me, Brasa! Come at me!
Hey, errybody. How
ya doing? I'm assuming that since you've stumbled onto this blog
you're either hungry & curious or you've finally finished reading
every other thing on the internet. Either way, thanks for stopping
by.
As you can see from
the picture right there, I took a trip to Brasa Rotisserie
Restaurant. Brasa has two locations, one in St. Paul and one in
Northeast. Obviously I went to the St. Paul location since, as I
mentioned, the other one is in Northeast.
For more info and a
good look at just what's on the menu, be sure to check out their
website
here.
Of course, since
St. Paul is her city, I had to make sure to hook up with MinneSarah
for the meal. She was psyched to come along, but, as you can see,
far less psyched to have her picture taken. Fortunately, as that
7/8ths empty wine glass will attest, I'm not totally sure she even
remembers me snapping this pic.
Now, I know what
you're thinking: “Droogsy, aren't you and MinneSarah vegan? Why
would you go to a rotisserie restaurant?” Well, yeah, we're still
on that veggie grind, which is why I thought it was important to
swing by Brasa. Turns out it's a sneaky-awesome vegan spot. Be
honest, you didn't know that until I told you. Just be sure to ask
for the vegetarian menu from your server.
We stopped by on a
Wednesday at about 6:00. The place was jumpin' like a Destiny's
Child single. Take a look at the picture. See those seats near the
far end next to the screen. That's where we ended up. It was
awesome getting a nice little breeze during dinner. It did, however,
make my photos all wonky. Trust me, none of the plates were blue,
despite their appearance here.
Now, before we get
to the meal, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that
Brasa serves their own homemade soda. They've concocted a guava lime
soda (which I've yet to try) and a fucking awesome pineapple ginger
ale. Check that out:
That's pretty damn
real. It definitely skews more toward the sweetness of the
pineapple, but the ginger's bite is still noticeable. Definitely
refreshing.
Now, the trick to
eating vegan-style at Brasa is to catch those sides on vegetarian
menu. There are five options on the menu...
(Cure the horns!)
I present to you,
the Vegan Side Dish Spectacular at Brasa's!
Homemade Chips &
Guacamole
Yellow Rice &
Beans
Roasted Yams
Crispy Yuca
w/Citrus & Garlic
Fried Plantains
Now, MinneSarah and
I had visited Brasa once before and cashed in on the lunch special,
which is any three of the sides for $8.50. This works out awesome
since each person can get their own order of Yellow Rice & Beans
and then you can share the other 4 sides. Unfortunately, in Brasa's
world, 6:00 does not count as lunch time. Still, this had been our
plan for the evening and we were not going to be denied.
So, here's the
story so far:
Location: Brasa
on Grand
Time Of Day:
6:00 on a Wednesday
Ambiance:
Jumpin', jumpin'
Level Of
Sobriety: 50/50
Meal: Shared
Side Dish Spectacular
Main
Ingredients: Plantains, yuca,
rice, beans, yams
To The Side:
Chips & guac
Beverages:
Cabernet (MinneSarah),
Pineapple Ginger Ale (Myself)
Menu Price:
$6.50 American for the Cabernet
($4.50 American during happy hour), $2.75 American for the Ginger Ale
($1.50 American during happy hour). Keep reading for an explanation
of the food prices.
Total price:
$45.00 American (w/tip)
Instead of the
lunch special, we were forced to deal from the sides menu. Each side
could be ordered as either a small, medium or large portion. We
started by splitting a medium order of the chips and guacamole ($5.75
American). They were great to snack on as we drank our dranks and
waited for the rest of the sides to turn up. The chips, as
mentioned, are homemade. They were big, crisp, and not-at-all oily,
which was surprising. I'm not a huge guacamole fan (avocados make me
feel ill), but I couldn't stop snacking on the this combo. The
guacamole wasn't chunky at all, simply smooth and mild. All in all,
a great way to start the meal.
I ordered another
pineapple ginger ale and MinneSarah grabbed another glass of red.
Soon, we were surrounded by sides. We threw down another $5.75
American for a medium sized order of yellow rice & black beans
because, frankly, you can never have enough of those. The black
beans were pretty basic, but the yellow rice was great. It tasted a
lot like the type of rice you get at mexican restaurants. That rice,
however, is typically made with chicken stock. Somehow Brasa was
able to recreate that without the chicken. Well played. This side
was obviously the Beyonce of the meal. Absolutely essential in turning a collection of food into a meal.
(Pro tip #1: Be
sure to save some of the chips for scooping up rice & beans. I
realize that's a poverty line dinner (Lord, how I realize it), but
trust me, it forms a great base for the rest of the meal.)
The plantains come
in two varieties, sweet & green. Last time we stopped by we were
only able to get the sweet plantains and let me tell you, they were
just too damn sweet. The sugar just didn't compliment the rest of
the meal. Oddly, yet fortunately, this time we were only able to get
the green plantains. We decided to split a small order at $2.95
American. These little fried treats were awesome. Nicely crispy on
the outside but chewy throughout the middle. I straight up couldn't
get enough of these things. If I'm going to continue with this
analogy, I suppose this would be the Michelle of the sides. Sweet,
harmless, yet an essential part of the meal as a whole.
We also decided to
go halves on a small order of the yams (another $2.95 American),
which are mashed almost past the point of recognition. I wasn't a
fan of these as, much like the sweet plantains, were just a little
too sweet. Admittedly, I rarely eat yams and I forget that they are
inherently sweet. When I said that I didn't care for them,
MinneSarah kindly reminded me that I said that last time. Those that
forget history, etc... I don't know whether I feel more sorry for
the yams or LaTavia Roberson & Latoya Luckett in this comparison,
but I'm sorry to everyone involved. The yams were inessential and
unnecessary.
(Like an idiot, I neglected to take picture of the yuca flocka fries. They were only the best part of the meal. Fuck me.)
We did luck out
during happy hour and catch the crispy yuca at happy hour prices
($2.00 American for an individual serving). I'm likely to lapse into
hyperbole describing these awesome little guys. They have the
texture and taste of the thickest, most delicious french fries you've
ever had. Perfectly balancing softness and chewy I highly, highly
recommend them. They're the Kelly Rowland of the meal: More talented
than they get credit for and certainly sexier than that fat ass rice
& beans. And yet, not really able to stand on their own as a
meal.
Now, that's pretty
much the whole meal, but I'll be damned if I let you click away from
this page without dropping Pro Tip #2 on you.
Pro Tip #2: Brasa's
Hot Pepper Vinegar! Oh shit! This little dandy makes every part of
the meal (sans those sweet yams) better. Believe me, I was skeptical
too, but it really is fantastic. It has a perfectly sour, lime type
of flavor too it. It is crucial to add a splash of it to the rice &
beans, yuca, and plantains. Since this meal has so many diverse
options, adding a bit of this stuff kind of brings it all back home.
This is definitely the Jay-Z cameo of the meal. All I need in this
life of sin is me and my vinegar...
Alright, that was
the meal. Now let's break this thing down:
Flavor: 8/1-
Just about everything was crispy where it was supposed to be crispy
and soft where it was supposed to be soft. With the exception of the
yams, none of the dishes had an overpowering flavor.
Filling: 10/10
– You wouldn't think a meal built out of side dishes could be so
filling, yet here we are.Sweet lord, I could barely walk after
finishing this meal. Much like the way I could barely walk after
seeing the 'Bootylicious' video for the the first time. Err... kind
of.
Price:
7/10 - $45 American with the tip is awfully steep. However, if you
cut out the wine, it shakes out to about $35. Take out the soda and
yams and you're down to $30 American, split in half. Is what's
remaining worth $15 American? Absolutely.
Ambiance: 8/10
– Like you saw above, the place was awfully packed. A restaurant
full of patrons and spinning chickens has the potential to get
awfully hot in a hurry, but screening off and opening up the big
garage doors on the side of the building was a clutch move. The rest
of the building had the style of some type of gourmet Chipotle, built
mostly of steel & wood with some perplexing art on the wall. I
mean that as a compliment.
Service: 9/10
– MinneSarah and I dealt with a very-pregnant server called Meg.
At least, she looked pregnant. It may have been a very high quality
fake pregnancy belly she wears to try to get bigger tips.
Admittedly, that seems unlikely. Anyway, she was really a sweetheart
as we stumbled through the sides menu trying to figure out the right
sizes for our meal.
We also dealt
briefly with a busser who shared a remarkable resemblance to Alex
James. Based on his desire to remove our dishes, I suspect he may
share both a hairstyle and taste in, umm... 'hobbies' with Mr. James.
If This Meal Was
An All Girl R 'n' B Group From The 90's It Would Be:
TLC. I kid, I kid. Obviously, Destiny's Child. Best of the best.
How Many Times
Would I Eat This Meal Per Month If I Could Afford To: 4.
For the record, though, I'd want to eat it about a dozen times per
month, but it's just too damn filling. I mean, check out what I went
home with.
Overall Score:
9/10 – Great food, nice atmosphere, not terribly priced. To be
completely honest, I'm not sure why I'm not giving it a ten. I think
it's because I've never given a 10 before and, frankly, Brasa, I like
you, you're handsome, stylish, & delicious, but I think I'm
saving that 10 for someone I really love. I hope you understand.
Mike Augustynak was
not at Brasa. This time.
Thanks, TCDroogsma. That was barely coherent. If you want more TCDroogsma he can be found on Twitter (@TCDroogsma), on Instagram as TCDroogsma and he, for some reason, maintains his own blog called Caffeine & Obscenities.
Of course, this blog is still on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) and Facebook here. If you're a fan of our writers comparing meals to R 'n' B groups, stop by and give us a 'like.'
