Hai Hai — Restaurant in Minneapolis

This place lives up to all the hype! We did not have one item that we wouldn’t have chosen and eaten again. The atmosphere is dark and fresh and tropical. It was a little bit loud inside and our table was quite dark, but the other tables were well lit. We didn’t choose to dine on the patio because we thought it would be cold, but the patio was actually less loud, and it was warm and Well lit. The service was incredible because the server took the time to help us figure out what we wanted to order and gave great recommendations. The timing was impeccable, everything came out in the perfect well timed to parade. The drinks were really lovely and parking was super easy, they have a parking lot!

The spring rolls – these were delicious because they had fried pieces in the spring rolls and sausage. We eat Vietnamese often but my parents don’t so maybe we wouldn’t have got these if they weren’t in tow because they were familiar but even if you’ve had them they’re cut above the rest.

The Water fern cakes – these were a huge surprise. It almost tasted like a polenta cake with the most scrumptious stuff on top.

Pork ribs – these were so so good, really fall off the bone type of pork. I absolutely loved the pickled vegetable and sauce that went with it.

Fried shrimp- was like a big flavor bomb. In a good way! Really easy to share.

The Brussel sprouts – these are one of the biggest surprise of the night! So savory and delicious with the perfect bits of well cooked pork in there. If you’re not a fan of brussels sprouts this will change you and if you are a friend of brussels sprouts this will take you to the next level.

Hanoi sticky rice. This was my favorite dish and one of the biggest entrées. It had all the flavors of everything that we had had before all wrapped into one.

Balinese chicken thigh – this wasn’t my favorite dish, but my husband ordered it and he said it was his favorite dish

Beef Rendang – they said this would be spicy, but I didn’t find it to be too spicy, then again we do love heat. It was delicious.

shrimp and grits – this is a super flavorful meal that wasn’t too huge and went down really easy, it was my father‘s favorite dish

unfortunately, we couldn’t try dessert because we were too full but we know we will hundred percent...

James Beard is rolling in his grave and y'all are gonna hate me - I did not love this place.

Now, before I write something I'm gonna cringe reading later, let me preface this by saying I am not well versed in southeast Asian cuisine. Also let me say that I absolutely appreciate the approach of traveling a continent collecting and recreating lesser-known delicacies, and admire the talent and effort required to bring that all to life. I did my best to leave my expectations at the door, and to hold me accountable to try new and different things I brought my 10-yr-old along, who is hardly an adventurous eater. Yeah probably not my finest parenting decision.

We grabbed a last-minute reservation on a recent weeknight. It was busy and boisterous when we arrived around 8:30. Fun atmosphere, tons of energy and everyone really enjoying themselves. We had the spring rolls, water fern cakes, shrimp toast, and Brussels sprouts. The flavors were interesting, and we each had a little of everything. Noted: the cute insertion of "hai" into the menu at every opportunity. Very good drink menu, by the way!

Service was friendly and helpful - and also seemed to want to be there - but obviously rushed. Regardless, the spring rolls came out within minutes. They were interesting, containing both pork sausage and what appeared to be a rolled up and fried sheet of phyllo or similar. The water fern cakes were fun to eat, although the cake part was a little mealy. Brussels sprouts were the star of the show, probably the best I've had since Copper Cow closed. The shrimp toast - which I'd read the most about - had a great punch of heat but were overly greasy. Haven't seen a posset on a menu in ages, loved that and was a nice fat/sweet/tart end to the meal.

On this first visit, almost everything seemed heavy and greasy - I was mistakenly hanging on to my impression of the food of this region as fresh, vibrant, pleasantly acidic, and you'd be wise to forget that. This is good old street food - the stuff that sticks to your ribs and soaks up the booze so you can keep on partying. Speaking of, I do want to come back and make my way through the drink menu, and...

After discovering this restaurant on the Best New Restaurants in America list, I had to come visit. We arrived around 5:45pm on a Wednesday and while the place was bumping, we were able to get a seat immediately -- the restaurant is quite spacious and is decorated with really neat furniture, green purposefully-faded walls, and wooden bird cages hanging from the ceilings.

For drinks, we started with the Lychee Keen slushie and the Tour Bus Tales. The Lychee Keen was really refreshing without being overly sweet, although I wish it had heavier lychee flavor -- delicate and hard to coax out. The Tour Bus Tales was great -- very tropical and fresh.

Food-wise, we ordered the water fern cakes ($8 for 4), beef larb ($10), Hanoi sticky rice ($12.50), and Balinese chicken thigh ($14). By far, the water fern cakes were our favorite: glutinous rice cakes heaped with pork and fried onions, it was aromatic and wonderfully chewy and so good. I also loved the tiny dishes it came on -- reminded me of eating a raw oyster! Runner up was the Hanoi sticky rice, which reminded me of my childhood -- the tender, perfectly cooked sticky rice, the pork floss, the pickled veggies -- everything was perfect. The beef larb was a tad salty but paired well with the fresh cabbage and cucumbers, and the chicken thigh was very good as well, with creamy coconut sauce over the rice and a really nice crispy piece of chicken skin.

Finally, for dessert, we ordered the silken tofu ($5.50) and the Vietnamese che ($7). I really have to applaud the chef of this restaurant for being so brave with the dessert offerings. Both were incredibly authentic and reminded us of our childhood, eating sweet tofu soaked in gingery, spicy cold syrup and crunching on a glass of Asian jellies soaked in ice and coconut milk over slightly greasy formica tables at a Pho restaurant. It really brought us back, so we thank this restaurant for that.

All told, our bill netted out after tax and tip to $100 -- and that's with the t-shirt I bought from our waitress because I loved this restaurant so much! Service was also really friendly and speedy. 5 out of 5 and I will...