We ate at 112 Eatery last spring after a gap of several years and, unsurprisingly, enjoyed our meal very much. So much so that we resolved to not go years again between visits. We’d taken our boys with us to that dinner and it was perhaps their favourite adult restaurant meal out with us in the Twin Cities last year. And so when I asked the missus where she wanted to go for her birthday this year, she plumped for a return to 112 Eatery, with the boys joining us once again. I am happy to say that this was yet another very good meal at the restaurant. Herewith the details.

We had a reservation at 6.30 last Saturday and after some of the usual headache of finding parking in the area, arrived to find that for the first time ever we were going to be seated in the downstairs dining room. We had a four-top by the windows and a good thing too. That dining room is dominated by a large bar and the booths opposite it are more tightly packed in the thick of the action and it’s a bit loud there. At our end of the room we were able to talk easily. Once we sat down and ordered some drinks (a Coke for one boy, a mocktail for the other, cocktails for the missus and me), the talk was first of what we were going to eat.

There were a couple of things the boys had really enjoyed last year and wanted to get again and so we ordered those again. In this category from the section of smaller plates was the Steak Tartare. Since we’d ordered the 112 Steak Tartare last year, we decided to get the regular steak tartare this year. I have to say it seemed almost identical (and looking at the picture of last year’s iteration, you can also see that it looks just the same). The server did verify that it was the regular and not the 112 Steak Tartare so perhaps we’re just fooled by the looks. Anyway, it was very good. From this section of the menu we also got the Sweet & Sour Crab Salad and it was even better. And, oh yes, we also got a repeat order of the “Side of Country Loaf” (or bread and butter).

From the mid-size section of the menu we got two dishes: the Blue Prawns with Rooster Mayo and the Sauteed Frog Legs Provencale. The blue prawns—nicely battered—are one of the mainstays of the menu and we’ve had it before. Five to the order, they were very good. The frog legs we had for the first time and we liked them even more. We closed out the savory courses with two more mainstays of their menu. The first was a repeat of another of last year’s greatest hits and another mainstay of their menu: the Stringozzi with Lamb Ragu. It was among the favourite dishes at this meal as well. The Nori Crusted Bavette with Ponzu, on the other hand, I am sorry to say I did not enjoy as much as I remembered having done when I last had it many years ago. As to whether the change is in me or the dish I cannot say; it may have something to do with the fact that the flank steak itself seemed a bit stringy—having recently enjoyed an excellent flank steak at home I was a bit disappointed not to get a superior rendition at a fine restaurant. No disappointment though with the French Fries we got alongside the meat. We loved them last year and we loved them again this year.

Two desserts to end and they very kindly stuck candles in both of them for the missus. We ate the Tres Leches Cake and Nancy Silverton’s Butterscotch Budino. Both were very good, and very decadent, but the budino was my favourite.

Ah yes, the drinks. The missus had the Bees’ Knees, which features gin, honey-chilli syrup and lemon, and liked it a lot. I started with the Smokey Passion, a concoction of mezcal, passionfruit puree, lime and aquafaba. It didn’t do it for me at first as the mezcal wasn’t coming through very much—after a few sips, however, it improved dramatically. My second cocktail I liked from the get-go: the Mole Mango Marg. I can’t say the mole bitters registered very much but I did enjoy the whole (and appreciated the restrained use of the mango).

For a look at everything we ate and drank click on an image below to launch a larger slideshow. (Please excuse the picture quality: it’s a dark restaurant and I don’t have the fanciest camera/lens.) Scroll down for thoughts on service, to see how much it all cost, and to see what’s coming next on the food front.

Service was very good: present when needed and on top of everything. My only quibble—and it’s something I’ve noted at other restaurants as well—is that servers really should not ask young diners if they want refills of their soft drinks when their parents are sitting right there. And even though he’d said he didn’t want one a second large Coke showed up for one of the boys—it’s a good thing he really didn’t want it as we sent it back. But this was a very minor point.

Cost? $262 before tip and just about $315 with it. Prices have not gone up since last year—we just ate and drank a little bit more. Still pretty good value in the Twin Cities and we’ll back again next year.

Alright, the missus and I are headed to New York City for the weekend so there won’t be a Twin Cities restaurant report next week. I might get an NYC report out instead or I might try to make more headway on the Ireland and Italy reports. Speaking of which, there’ll be another one of each this week as well.