Crasqui Restaurant — Restaurant in Saint Paul

I'm so glad that I found Crasqui because the food here is immaculate. It is absolutely delicious and honestly, after tasting the Pisca Andina, my first impression is that--maybe I was born in the wrong culture because I should have grown up on this delicious food from the Venezuelan culture. Our waitress was beautiful and explained everything perfectly. She explained what the uncommon ingredients in the dishes were, told us of her favorite menu items, informed us of the portion sizes (she recommended the larger portions to be shareable), and introduced new dishes on the menu. She was very professional, amicable, and courteous. She allowed us ample time to savor our "appetizers" before asking us to order the main course.

We ordered:

Pisca Andina, which simply put, is a chicken broth-based soup. It was simply plated, with the poached egg and other soup vegetables in the center of the dish. Then, the chicken broth was poured into the dish by the waitress. At first glance, I didn't think it was anything special--but upon bringing the spoon up to my lips, the scent of the soup was amazing and I just felt it in my soul that it was going to be an amazing dish. After taking the first spoonful, I was hooked; this dish will be one of those flavors that I will search for, for life. Overall rating for this dish is 1,000,000/10 (Disclaimer: We all have different palates so you may not be as content as I was with it.)

Tequeños, a Venezuelan rendition of cheese sticks. I'm a lover of mozzarella sticks (and any cheese sticks in general) but these cheese sticks were off the charts for cheese-stick rankings. So delicious! I told my husband it's giving "expensive but worth it" vibes. I'm not sure what type of cheese it was; the waitress did explain it, I just forgot. Overall rating was 10/10. I would get them again! Fancy cheese sticks are calling my name. If you do go, make sure to try it without the dipping sauce first so that when you do use the dipping sauce, it's a comforting explosion of flavor.

Desayuno Criollo, the simplest way for me to describe it would be super-fancy-Venezuelan charcuterie board. Every accompaniment to the shredded beef was sooo tasty. Overall rating is 8/10; it was delicious, but nothing can beat that soup!

Juices, Crasqui offers multiple flavors of juice. I asked the waitress if we were able to mix the flavors and she approved since we were the only ones in the restaurant at that hour. We tried mango-passionfruit and guava-passionfruit. Mine was the guava and upon drinking it, I immediately felt refreshed and rejuvenated. It felt like the refreshing feeling you get after consuming or smelling mint, but instead, fruity. It was a perfect complement to have on a Sunday brunch. My husband had ordered the mango and his was super amazing (admittedly better than my choice). We wanted to order some juice to go but there were no takeout cups available. We'll just have to come back then! Overall rating for juices is definitely a 10/10 as well!

My husband also ordered a chicken empanada which I did not try unfortunately. I bet it was awesome too though!

At the end of the meal, we found out that the waitress was actually the owner of the establishment! Her pride in the dishes truly shone bright and I could tell she put a lot of love into the place. The ambience was elegant and being there felt as if I was enjoying my own little vacation to Venezuela right here in the Twin Cities. The decor of the restaurant was simple with tastefully placed bursts of color from the different small clusters of flowers on the table setting. Again, we went for brunch, so the full glass windows provided perfect lighting for photos, whether the pictures are of the food or your gorgeous date.

My overall experience was amazing. It was nice because we were the only patrons in the restaurant for a while. It felt very intimate and personal, which I absolutely adore. So while the food is undeniably great, the environment and vibe of the restaurant further enhances the dining experience.

I can't wait to come...

In terms of food quality, it was great, although not to the point of "out of this world" yet, and there is a good amount of varieties that would allow each person to be able to get what they love. For me, there were a few highlights for sure, and a few dishes that were too salty, and I will elaborate below.

I absolutely loved the Remolachas a la CC, which contained infused red beets along with herb goat cheese, and passionfruit jelly which provided both flavor and embellished the appearance. Three different kinds of flavors and textures combined, made it a very enjoyable experience with the dish. I also enjoyed Abrazo de Mama, which had an abundant amount of vegetables such as braised cabbage, onions, carrots, rutabaga, and more, along with coconut milk that provided great flavor.

The dishes that were too salty were Sopa De Cebolla a la Gigi, the Tequeños, and sometimes the Empanadas (I say sometimes because I have been here multiple times), so it seems like it could be a hit or miss situation.

The desserts were some of the real highlights, with Cocotero as, in a way, what defines this establishment. It was really cool to watch our server set the strings on fire. It was not to sweet which was great, and the cocada cream helped provide it with a creamy texture along with the coconut flavor, on top of the rum cake. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Torta de Zanahoria, which was the carrot cake, and the Marquesa de Chocolate, which was a whipped chocolate ganache. Overall I enjoyed the fact that none of the desserts were too sweet, and provided textural juxtapositions that offered an enjoyable experience.

I must mention that it was clear that the meat dishes were a lot more expensive than the rest, such as the sea bass, the ribeye, the tenderloin, and more, which made me actively decide to not order them. Based on the fact that El Dorado, which was the red snapper, had a relatively small portion (7 ounces), I would assume that if one wants to order a meat entrée, some budgeting might be needed.

One more thing, the owner Soleil is very sweet and if anyone has the chance to meet her, I would recommend relishing the chance to converse with her more than just...

Came here a week or so after opening. My friend and I came because she loves Venezuelan food. And who could pass up a new restaurant to try. We tried a bunch of small plates to share. I want to start off with the ceviche Puerto la Cruz. The fish was cut into large cubes of grouper. The cubes were too large to chew and not tender whatsoever. The mandarin oranges did not give it enough flavor or acidity. The ceviche came with "chips," but they were slightly stale and not seasoned. Overall, the ceviche was under seasoned and not enough acidity to "cook" the fish all the way through. The server did ask if there was anything wrong because we did not eat much off the plate. We did give them our opinion, so they could do better. I really appreciated that they asked for feedback. Second appetizer dish tequeños, Venezuelan cheese sticks. They were probably my favorite item that we had. The aioli sauce was flavorful, but you could definitely eat without it. It was just right, and I would highly recommend it. We also ordered the beef empanaditas. It was flavorful and light for an appetizer. The fosforera was light, and I wished there were more seafood. None of the seafood was fishy. The soup was flavorful but didn't pack a punch. Lastly, one last appetizer we tried was the trio de arepitas. The arepas was not good at all. They were too thick, not seasoned, and hard. I ate the toppings and they were mostly decent. I didn't love any of them, but they were fine. We figured we would try the appetizers to decide whether or not the main courses would be good. And to decide if we would come back here. They definitely have a lot to work on overall. I wished I loved the food and they have some good stuff, but not great. We, unfortunately, would not be coming back. The atmosphere is cute and 5 were very nice. Again, I really appreciate them asking for our opinions to help them improve...