Modern Cafe

Date visited: Friday, March 30

I had read something about the Modern Cafe's (337 13th Ave. NE; 612.378.9882) amazing pot roast, so I suggested the cafe to my date, who is a serious meat-eater. We got there around 7:30 p.m. Friday night, and the place was packed, but we got a booth within 15 minutes and the service was great. (The cafe's retro decor is fun, and there was an interesting quote from MLK Jr. neatly written on to a black board with a beer and wine list.)

After glancing over the one sheet menu with about a half-dozen entrees, we decided to skip appetizers -- everything looked filling. We ordered beers (they have Bell's Two Hearted, but I was feeling like an Amstel Light), and dinner: pot roast and gnocchi with spinach, olives and smoked mozzarella. (I'm sure you can figure out who had what.)

The pot roast got rave reviews (and it did look good -- it was served on top of mashed potatoes and vegetables). The gnocchi was awesome. It came with a little tomato sauce, and the spinach was just wilted -- not over-cooked.

We ended the meal with a chocolate pudding topped with espresso whipped cream that will go down in dessert history for being so amazingly rich and chocolately. Over all it was a good place (although there was only one vegetarian entree on the menu). Just make sure to save room for dessert.