I’ve already published two Twin Cities lists this month: the second edition of my Twin Cities Fine Dining Rotation; and a new list called The Twin Cities 52, which covers more than just “fine dining restaurants”. Here now is one last list to close the month and year. This one lists my favourite dishes eaten in restaurants in the Twin Cities this year. Not my favourite Twin Cities restaurant meals but my favourite dishes across all the meals I wrote about this year. Like the Twin Cities 52 list, this one is not segregated by price point: it includes dishes eaten at restaurants nominated for Beard awards as well as dishes from far more casual restaurants. These are all dishes which made me particularly happy this year and which I would happily eat again and recommend without reservations to other people. Though as I say that last, I realize that in the case of some of the fancier restaurants these dishes may not always be available on their menus. You take your chances.
There is only one limit I have placed on this list: it features no more than three dishes from any one restaurant. This is to prevent the list from being overwhelmed by our old favourites from Grand Szechuan, which bring us reliable pleasure year after year. The list is not annotated (I may come back and do that later) but the links in the restaurants’ names will take you to my reviews of the meals they appeared in and you can find out more about them there. In some cases, multiple dishes listed for a restaurant were eaten at different meals—in those cases the the links are in the names of the dishes and will take you to the review of the specific meal.
The dishes are linked in reverse chronological order of the meals at which they were eaten.
- Quesadilla de Huitlacoche at Oro
- Crabby Fried Rice and Charred Cabbage at Vinai
- OG Wings at Soul Lao
- Guay Tiew Heang, Naem and Pad Pak Boong at Hot Grainz
- Sole with Mapo Tofu Flavour, Beef with Cauliflower Dry Pot and Lamb with Pure Cumin at Legendary Spice
- Cabbage Steak at All Saints
- Diced Fish with Dry Chopped Pepper, Chengdu Grilled Fish Fillet and Eggplant in Sweet Bean Sauce at Grand Szechuan
- Tomato Water, Shrimp and Polenta Raviolo and Rigatini with Lamb Ragu at Tenant
- Chilled Corn Soup, Red Beet Farrotto and Tagliatelle with Lamb Bolognese at Alma
- Gorditas with Lengua and Tripa at El Super Taco
- Pappardelle with Lamb Ragout and Grilled Lamb Chops at Bucheron
- White Fish and Duck Breast at Myriel
- Stir Fry Spicy Catfish and Water Spinach with Garlic at Krungthep Thai
- Sauteed Eggplant at Diane’s Place
- Kentucky Fried Gizzards and Mushroom Melt at Bull’s Horn
- Pupusas with Rebueltas and Jalapeño con Queso at Mañana
And here are pictures of all these dishes to help whet your appetite. Scroll down to see what’s coming next on the food front.
How many of these dishes have you had? Are there others you ate this year in the Twin Cities that you particularly enjoyed and would recommend? Write in below if you’d like to share your recommendations.
This is my last Twin Cities food report for the year. I’ll be back in early 2026 with another round-up post that might have some food content but otherwise I’ll see you in a couple of weeks with my first Twin Cities restaurant report of 2026. Before that, however, I’ll have a few more reports from our meals elsewhere in the country and world in 2025. I’ll be wrapping up my reports from Kyoto and Delh in July i soon and then will only have a few reports from New York in October to come. My recent meals in Delhi this month will show up later in January.