The 5 best things our food writers ate this week

There’s been a giant pancake-sized hole in many hearts since the days of Pannekoeken Huis, with the last metro location in St. Louis Park closing last year. So it was a treat to spot pannenkoeken ($12) at Oliver’s Blaine.

At the north suburban spot, making the Dutch pancakes starts with butter sautéed in a large pan before the batter goes in. It then gets tossed in the oven until the edges of the cooked batter begin to blister. Oliver’s then makes it their own with lemon curd, a house blueberry lavender coulis, bourbon maple syrup, powdered sugar and streusel topping. During a recent breakfast stop, the giant, crêpe-like pancake that was sweet, buttery, tart and bright was a great way to start the day.

It’s worth noting that while there are two Oliver’s locations in the metro area, this item is exclusive to the Blaine outpost and can be found on the breakfast menu, available 8 to 11 a.m. daily. (Nancy Ngo)

10901 NE. Baltimore St., Blaine, olivers-blaine.com

Recent vacancies at the Market at Malcolm Yards, Prospect Park’s always-evolving food hall, didn’t stay dark for long. First, Eggflip joined the lineup mid-January with the same Korean-inspired breakfast sandwiches available at its first location in the downtown Minneapolis skyway. And it brings something new, too: Sushiflip adds sushi rolls, poke bowls and fun fish-centric starters to the mix. Checking out the new vendors this week, I enjoyed the textural adventure of the Wonton Flip ($14.40), crispy wonton triangles stacked with chunks of spicy tuna and a bundle of shredded crab salad, with thin slices of mango avocado and salmon layered on top.

Next in my DIY buffet, I sampled from the newest Malcolm Yards tenant: World Street Kitchen, which just opened Tuesday. The truncated menu has all the OG favorites from the Lyndale Avenue restaurant: hummus, Bangkok burritos, Yum Yum rice bowls. But there was one newish addition to the menu. WSK’s mushroom bulgogi and chickpeas, a topping for hummus bowls on Lyndale, is incorporated into a vegetarian burrito at Malcolm Yards ($15). The mushrooms have the same sweet-savory kick as the restaurant’s Korean BBQ beef short ribs, and they’re the perfect foil for fried rice and “secret sauce,” plus loads of fresh herbs, all wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Chef/owner Sameh Wadi added it to the food hall menu to offer another vegetarian option “for people who don’t love tofu,” he said. “I eat a largely vegetarian diet, and if I can, as an avid meat eater, make delicious things that are exciting for me, I feel like other people would be excited to eat them.” He says the new burrito will hit the menu on Lyndale Avenue soon, and to stay tuned for more new items in development at both locations.

Eggflip/Sushiflip and World Street Kitchen join Malcolm Yards' original tenants Abang Yoli, Bebe Zito, Del Sur, Momo Dosa and Wrecktangle, plus the year-old Martes Tacos. (Sharyn Jackson)

501 30th Av. SE., Mpls., malcolmyards.market

It was one of those mornings when the sun’s rays slanted across the room, adding a golden kiss of promise that warmer days are coming. Inside Caydence Records and Coffee shop, a cozy album from the ’70s provided a soundtrack.

At a small table, I was able to sip a latte sweetened with honey and enjoy one of the greatest breakfast sandwiches ($9) found in St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood. Ciabatta bread is spread with garlic confit and topped with soft scrambled eggs that reminded me of the kind my mother makes. They’re cooked without hurry, coaxed into soft curds. Piled onto a fennel-seasoned sausage patty and garnished with fresh avocado, it’s a perfect accompaniment for a good paperback and no further agenda. (Joy Summers)

900 Payne Av., St. Paul, caydencemn.com

The owners of Zen Box Izakaya, the 13-year-old Japanese pub in the Mill District, are keeping things fresh. A monthly rotating Saturday ramen special is now part of the lineup. It allows John Ng, architect student turned ramen architect, to flex his creative muscles while not messing with longstanding favorites such as the kimchi, pork tonkatsu and ginger chicken ramens as well as sashimi, curry and teriyaki rice and pan-fried noodle bowls. “Things are always changing in the world of ramen,” Ng said. “I’m still building things, just in a different way.”

The specials are inspired by trips he and his wife/co-owner Lina Goh have taken to Japan, often eating at five to six ramen places daily to home in on flavors. The March special, the Niboshi Pork Collar Ramen ($22), is a result of those travels. “It’s a newer, Tokyo-style dish,” Ng said. “It’s very popular in Japan right now, adding dried fish to the flavor in the bone broth that gives an extra umami flavor.”

At the Minneapolis eatery, that comes in the form of a house-roasted niboshi purée, an anchovy-garlic-chile-sesame paste meant to enhance, not overpower, the tonkatsu-style pork and chicken broth (also infused with niboshi flavors) that takes 18 hours to make. “Some people worry the anchovies will be fishy, but it’s actually not,” Goh said. “With the niboshi purée, you can change the flavor as you go.”

Zen Box’s signature marinated jammy eggs and bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms and black garlic oil all come with it, while burdock chips add texture and nuttiness. The kitchen also swaps out pork belly for slices of heritage Duroc pork collar, which Ng said has more of a flavor balance in the meat-to-fat ratio. The result is a rich, creamy, flavor-laced noodle soup with marbly, tender cuts of pork. It’s proof that, with careful thought and design, the building blocks of from-scratch ramen can pay off in the most palatable ways. (N.N.)

602 Washington Av. S., Mpls., zenbox.com

When the Whiskey Jar Pub & Eatery opened in downtown Delano last December, the pub gained an immediate following for its slow-smoked brisket. You can get it on a sandwich, over nachos, served on its own, or as a topping for white cheddar macaroni and cheese ($17). That was my pick on a recent visit to this sprawling eatery with a menu at the intersection of American, Irish, Italian and barbecue.

Smoky brisket, deep-fried jalapeño slices and whiskey barbecue sauce with a touch of sweetness take cheese-sauced elbows well beyond their kids’ menu comfort zone.

Other repeat customers’ favorites, according to my server, include a chicken parm sandwich called the Big Messy and the Delano Lucy, a burger stuffed with American cheese, rosemary and thyme.

The Whiskey Jar fills a vacant space in an 1897 brick building that was a longtime general store. The new spot from the owner of Minneapolis Irish pubs Pog Mahone’s, Off the Rails and Blarney Pub & Grill is gearing up for St. Patty’s Day celebrations, with an all-day tent party with live music on March 15. (S.J.)

260 River St. N., Delano, whiskeyjarmn.com