Blog From America 15 (the last hurrah)

With some hours to kill before the flight, I took the tram to the Mall of America after all and it is indeed pretty huge. And there is a whole theme park right in the middle of it. But the highlight was the no-holds-barred steak meal I'd planned (I have, after all, been working pretty hard so saw no reason why I shouldn't treat myself). Stuart, Dad, you're going to like this.

As soon as I arrived they plonked a whole round, brown, hot loaf on a cutting board before me with a serrated-edged knife like something Crocodile Dundee would carry around with him protruding upright from it, together with a container of whipped butter. This is just to sustain you, making sure you don't faint with hunger while you look through the menu. I opted for the bacon-wrapped Maine scallops with an apricot glaze, which when they came were the size of small eggs. It was a good choice, no regets at all. In fact, I made the absolutely right decision. Delicious! Next, for the main course I opted for the boneless prime rib roast, all twenty ounces. When it came it was fully 1.5 inches thick at the deepest part and soaked in just. It was served with a salt and parmesan encrusted baked potato the size of a small car. I'd been given a long list of items I could have the potato stuffed with (together with an assurance by the waiter that if I couldn't make up my mind I was most welcome to go with all eight options together). But I am an uncomplicated individual and therefore simply opted for the potato to come stuffed with whipped butter, sour cream and diced hickory-smoked bacon. The meat was superb! The menu contains a very useful guide on the various cooking options, and my medium-rare meat was served exactly as described. Again, it was absolutely the right choice, no regrets whatsoever. Finally, there was no way I could eat anything after that, but agreed politely to the waiter's insistance that I view the dessert menu, whereupon he reappeared several minutes later with an extremely large tray containing eight or nine actual desserts arrayed  for viewing. The best example of a dessert menu I've seen for some considerable time. Sorely tempted, I knew my limits and wistfully explained that with a nine hour flight beckoning I would sadly have to decline. Once again, it was the right choice!

If you're interested, the restaurant is the Twin City Grill in the Mall of America, Minneapolis, a wood-panelled establishment with a nice ambience and excellent service. More details here. This one is being added to my list of restaurants listed below. I hope you Aussies are reading this, as I fully expect you to take this challenge on board and take me somewhere better (if you can) when I visit Oz this August. There, this Pom has thrown down the gauntlet!