The Minneapolis Midtown Global Market

In the heart of Minneapolis lies a century old building that was once home to the Sears Roebuck Company. Maybe 10 or more years ago, Sears closed and the building and it’s adjoining tower stayed empty. The area was notorious for a high crime rate and the building was close to the wrecking ball before it was revitalized and turned into the Midtown Exchange, complete with offices for Allina Medical, a hotel and the wonderful food adventure that is called the Midtown Global Market. The market is an international bazaar of ethnic grocers with unusual ingredients, shops with ethnic clothing, music and decor, and restaurants with exotic eats. There is a small grocer in the center of the hall selling organic produce and natural foods, the kinds of things bursting forth from our local co-ops. The market opened last summer and has experienced some growing pains, but I went for a visit on Friday with my sister and was not at all disappointed.

We wandered in a little before 11:00am and walked around to check everything out. There was very little foot traffic but nearly every vendor was up and operating. The smells in the place were driving us mad, and we stopped at HolyLand Middle Eastern Deli to eat lunch, but not after taking in and sampling from their extensive gourmet olive bar.

The top of the counter was full of olive samples and we delighted in testing them out. Briny, rich and buttery in texture, they did not disappoint. Kris got a chicken gyro for her lunch; a ridiculous amount of meat and onion with two large pitas and plenty of cucumber sauce. I bought a single trip through the buffet line, and after sitting down and beginning to sample the items, realized that I should have stocked my plate with much more than I did. The falafel were delicious, very moist, crunchy on the outside and not at all heavy. The gyro meat was well seasoned and tender, a lamb and vegetable dish was highly seasoned and flavorful. The hummus?? Garlicky….too much (and I honestly like my own better!) but the tahini and cucumber sauce were really good. Here’s the buffet line.

Fortified to a small extent, we walked around to check out other vendors. A taco bar caught my eye. I have had fish tacos and liked them, maybe next time I will get adventurous and try the last two items on their menu.

The mexican bakery had some wonderful looking desserts, but too rich for what I wanted that day. They were awfully pretty though!

And their chocolate chip cookies looked like a chocolate lovers dream; a rich, thick cookie just loaded with chocolate.

We sampled a bite of Chicken Suqqar from the Indian Safari Cafe, and were pleasantly surprised to feel its “mild spices” (as listed on the sign) burning all the way down our throats and it’s lingering tickle. I bought an orange-mango slushie to cool down and we sat to rest and slurp. The flavor of the slush was wonderful, light and fruity with ice that was as fine as I have ever seen. I could not stop scooping it into my mouth it was so tasty, but I eventually had to put it down as it quickly and assuredly gave me a good brain freeze.

We decided to go back to the Safari Cafe and see if they would sample us a little of everything on their buffet line. The clerk gladly scooped a few mouthfuls of each dish onto two plates, we grabbed some forks, reinforced ourself with bottled water and sat down to test. The buffet line, and a close up of the Chicken Biryani.

These are the two plates. We had a marinated beef that was tender and moist with a tomato base; Beef Curry- fabulous with a bit of spark and good tender beef; Beef Solan that was a sweet and sour type dish more along the lines of an asian taste but still quite good. There was more of the Chicken Suqqar, spicy and piquant; a Chicken Curry made with green curry paste that we fawned over and vowed to go buy ourselves a can from the asian market; a dish called Chicken Fantastic that we thought was not very well named, it was in a creamy sauce and not at all inspiring and the Chicken Biryani was also not well spiced or very flavorful at all. The basmati rice, yellow with turmeric was nutty and aromatic; a fava bean dish was a definite thumbs down, and a vegetable dish was a mass of frozen bagged vegetables in a dull sauce. We nibbled and compared, and decided that a return trip to try a larger portion of some of the dishes was warranted. By now though, we were stuffed. So we shopped. I bought blue corn tortillas and salsa verde at the mexican store; and green curry paste, black bean garlic sauce, chili garlic sauce and green tea noodles at the asian market. Despite our fullness, I couldn’t resist stopping for mango Bubble Tea, and Kris bought a gooey coconut cream bar for our final hurrah.

Then we waddled out to the car and managed to stuff ourselves into it. A quick stop at Trader Joe’s (so she could stock up on her favorite soaps) ended the day. I, of course, browsed the wine shop and got some great deals. Then I went home and promptly dropped onto the sofa for a nice snooze. And I didn’t even feel like eating again until after 8:00pm.