Over the last year, a few people have written in to the blog to ask why I did not include Vinai in the first edition of my Twin Cities Fine Dining Rotation last year. Well, the answer is very simple: at the time I posted that list, I had not yet eaten at Vinai. We ate there for the first time at the end of October last year. And we really liked that meal. We’d expected to go back in just a few months but it didn’t end up happening; partly because of travel and other constraints, but also partly because their menu didn’t change much for those first few months after our first meal. After we got back from our summer travels I eventually got around to making a reservation for early October to celebrate the missus’ birthday but we ended up having to give those seats up just a few days prior. Luckily, I managed to snag a table for four for just about a month later and so this past weekend we descended on them again for dinner with our boys in tow. Here’s how it went.
We arrived right at 7 for our reservation to find, as we had last year, the front of the restaurant packed with people waiting for their tables. There’s nothing to be done about it in cold weather but it’s not the best situation for those seated at the tables or at the counter seats closest to the door. We were standing shoulder-to-shoulder there for a bit before our table became available (thankfully in just about five minutes). Once the turn had been completed by 7.30 the crush disappeared; so at least it’s not how things are all through the busier evenings.
And as far as I can gather, all evenings at Vinai are busy. They were certainly busy last Saturday. The restaurant was full from the time we arrived to the time we left. Unlike at some of the other new(er), critical darlings in town, however (your Oro or Bucheron or Diane’s Place or Myriel), the dining room at Vinai is large. There is good separation between tables and while the vibe is energetic, the place is not oppressively loud. Despite how busy they were, service was smooth and there was no sense of stress in the dining room.
Our first step was to figure out drinks. The boys got a non-alcoholic cocktail each while the missus and I got the adult versions. The missus had the Hmoob Dawb (aquavit, coconut, pineapple etc.) and I had the Cool as a Cucumber (tequila, lime, cucumber etc.). The missus liked hers very much and I liked mine a lot too—though I do want to complain about the fact my glass appeared to have been somewhat sloppily salted, with the salt extending down past the middle of the glass (you can actually see this in the picture). The older boy’s drink (the Nanananananadada) turned out to be more or less a spirit-free version of the missus’ and he liked it a lot too. The younger boy was less enthused about his L.I.B, which might I think be a spirit-free version of their Night Market cocktail.
But I’m getting ahead of myself: though we ordered the drinks first, they actually arrived after the first round of the food. This is not because the drinks were particularly delayed but because the small plates came out very quickly. What were they? From the Khoom Nawj/snacks section of the menu we got 2x of the Curry Rice Ball and the Roasted Eggplant. The curry rice ball, I’m sorry to say, made no impression on any of us (and the crab in it seemed more notional than palpable). The roasted eggplant, however, served with purple sticky rice, was just excellent. Alongside these dishes came the Laab Carpaccio, which was pretty much what it sounds like: thinly sliced beef, seasoned a la laab/larb. Also served with a big mound of purple sticky rice, this was as tasty as it was beautiful. Also on the table at this point was a dish we’d loved at our first dinner: the Shrimp+Pork Toast. It was excellent at this meal as well, though now served with a different chutney than previous. I did miss the mint chutney from last year but the apricot-chilli chutney it came with this time was pretty good too.
On to the larger plates! We got rather a lot of these. We skipped the section with grilled meat/fish for 2-3 and got both the Braised Beef Rib and the Chicken Coconut Curry. The first was another repeat of a favourite dish from our previous dinner and was very good again this time. But the chicken coconut curry was not far behind. Reminiscent of kao poon, this was served with the broth in a covered pot and rice noodles, veg and toppings on a separate plate along with lime. We did as we were instructed and put everything else in the pot for a few minutes before doling it out in the sharing bowls they’d given us. As good as these two dishes were, however, they were not the stars of the round. That award would be shared by the Crabby Fried Rice (another returning champion from our first dinner) and the Charred Cabbage. There was nothing notional about the crab in the fried rice and the whole was just excellent. But, as good as it was, the cabbage was my favourite dish of the meal. Steamed first, I would guess, before being charred, the texture of the cabbage was just great, as was the composition of textures and flavours on the plate: the carrot puree could have been a star just by itself. Next to these dishes the 802 Noodles (another repeat from last year) got a little lost—there’s not a thing wrong with that dish though.
And so to dessert. This was the one weak spot in October 2024 and I’m sorry to say that things don’t seem to have improved very much on that front in 2025. We were not moved to repeat either of the desserts we’d eaten last time (the Chocolate Lava Cake or the Mango Madness) and instead went hopefully for the new entry: Passion Fruit Cheesecake. What showed up was a thick slice of competent (but no more) cheesecake, for some reason served standing on its side, over a pool of passionfruit compote or similar. Not not tasty but somewhat basic.
Oh yes, we also got two of their four hot sauces to dab on other things: the quite hot Mama Vang and the quite funky Fermented Shrimp Chilli. And I also got a second cocktail right before the larger dishes arrived. This was a bit of a mistake. The cocktail was the Smoky Mountain with mezcal, Campari, sweet vermouth etc.—basically a Negroni with mezcal and it was completely dominated by the Campari. Why a mistake? Well, it would have been good as an aperitif before the meal proper but, unlike the Cool as a Cucumber, didn’t really go with any of the food and in fact clashed with most of it.
For a closer look at everything we ate, click on an image below to launch a larger slideshow. Scroll down to see how much the meal cost, for some thoughts on the whole experience, and to see what’s coming next.
The service, as I noted above, was very on top of things. It was also very friendly without being over-familiar or cloying. I will note, however, that despite our having ordered rather a lot of food, the meal went by very fast. We sat down at 7.05 pm and had paid by 8.45. It’s not like we felt rushed per se but the pace could have been a little more languorous.
Price? Quite a bit more than last year. On that occasion we’d paid just below $300 for the four of us. This time we paid $385. Yes, prices have gone up quite noticeably in the past year—as they have at many places—but do also keep in mind that we drank more this time and also over-ordered like crazy. We took a lot of leftovers home and the missus and I made a full meal of them the next day. So what that tells you is that really this was the price for six people. We could easily have omitted at least two dishes and still left the dinner with leftovers. So, I would say that, despite price increases, Vinai is still a value in the current market. My guess though is that it will probably be close to another year before we return, as the menu doesn’t seem to turn over much or very quickly.
Okay, what’s next on the food front? I’d said I would knock out the last of my Seoul reports this past weekend but didn’t have the time (my covid shot laid me out for a bit towards the end of the week and then I had a mountain of accumulated work to get through). I’ll try to get them out this week. As to where next week’s Twin Cities report will be from, I’m not sure: we have no set plans for this weekend. Let’s see how it goes.