It’s that time of year, if we haven’t noticed, at least, those of us in the Midwest (and now other regions as well) Time to pull out that scraper and snow brush, find the mittens and settle into the drivers seat for the wonders of winter driving season.

Here in the good old Twin Cities, we’ve had a fresh dusting of snow every other day for the better part of the last week, just enough to make the commute to and from the office a living nightmare. Last night, I ventured out in the wonderful weather to Stillwater. I had gone out around home earlier in the day, and found the roads rather fun.. I use the word ‘fun’ because I would be one of those SUV driving fools who thinks it’s fun to slide around corners, and use the back end of the Home Depot parking lot for drifting practice.

I did my local errands, auto store, Target, Cub, liquor store too of course, and noted that people were certainly out and getting around, plows were out, and driveways were being shoveled. By the time I packed up to head to Stillwater, it was getting dark, chilly and the winds were picking up.

I started my drive from Cottage Grove, up Hwy 61, where traffic was moving at about 35mph, not too bad, but noticed once I got up to St. Paul Park, the right lane was not plowed, and not slick, like the other two lanes were, so I decided to hop in that lane and motor up to 494. Traffic on 494 was running about 40mph, and I was amazed to see people putting a big space between them and the car ahead of them. There is always that one weenie who darts in and out of traffic, and sadly I didn’t see him in the ditch.

I did spot one car buried in the median along with the little pickup in the photo above, who had just spun out. I continued my run out to Stillwater, to find all traffic was behaving well, and moving about 40mph. Not too bad considering the snow and blowing snow. I made it out to my destination, of course having a little fun on the dirt roads and drifting a bit in the snow, but would say while not great, all the roads I was traveling on were certainly passable by any car, with the exception of the dirt roads I was on. Otherwise, it was just slow going, but certainly drivable.

If this would have been a 8am Monday rush hour, I would have said shut it all down, stay home, but I had plans to keep, and wasn’t going to be deterred by a little snow.

The cold on the other hand, today, was enough to royally upset my truck, who is normally kept in a heated garage. After about 10 minutes of total cranking, a round with the 50amp boost charger, and some praying, the Explorer fired up and once I let her warm up a bit, took a spin around the neighborhood to get everything thawed out.

Take care on the roads, and I hope you have a safe and happy Holiday week.

I found myself in Woodbury last night at ULTA getting my haircut with the fabulous Crystal (I really suggest you make an appt. with her if you are in need of a cut, color, style, or eyebrow wax (OK, so I haven’t had the last thing done to me, but all of the others I can personally vouch for as being totally awesome) Anyways, - Go to ULTA if you’re in Woodbury, or make a trip out of your way.. You won’t be sorry.

Back to my point… After my cut, I was going to drop by Vietnam Restaurant, and old favorite of mine, for some spring rolls and sesame chicken. I pulled up and found that they were no longer there! I had heard there was a fire earlier this summer, but figured they would repair and re-open. I did a little searching from my phone to see if I could find out any information, and found the following info:

From CitySearch

Vietnam Restaurant *used* to be one of my family’s favorite places to dine in Woodbury–until they sold it and the new owners completely destroyed everything we had appreciated so much. The wonderful, personable service is gone, replaced by indifferent servers who treat their customers more like inconveniences than clients. The menu is still essentially the same, but the dishes have also lost their homey, delicious qualities. Case in point: I asked my husband to stop on his way home to pick up an order I placed. We received the wrong dishes, the dishes were lukewarm and the spice level was non-existent (even though I had requested and my husband confirmed upon pick-up that we had asked for “extra spicy”). Worse, the dish I did end up with had overcooked, limp, old vegetables, and all flavors that might have otherwise been present in the dish were completely overshadowed by a mass of over-sauteed onions and celery. A call to the restaurant did not fix anything. Take my advice, if you were a fan of the old Vietnam Restaurant, make a trip up to Maplewood and Vietnam Star, the restaurant that the former owner of Vietnam Restaurant (Nancy) and her sister run near Maplewood Mall. It won’t disappoint you. In the meantime, don’t bother with Vietnam Restaurant Woodbury–unless the old owners step back in and whip things into shape. Until that time, our dining dollars will go elsewhere.

Pros: cheap, close to home

Cons: new owners/chef have completely destroyed everything that used to be great

Now, thinking back a bit, I have noticed a downturn in the quality of food and service over the last year, and have a small thought in my head if that, and the fire earlier this year are related?

So, I continue on, thinking what to do for supper. I remember my co-worker telling me about Yang’s also up in Woodbury, and since I was already there, I thought I would give it a shot.

I rolled up, walked in and placed my order for my never-changing Sesame Chicken. The price was about $10 or so, which was average for my dish. I was asked how spicy I wanted my meal, and I inquired as to the ratings. I was informed that the ‘5′, top listing, was pretty spicy, so I figured I’d give that a shot. While waiting for my food, I scouted the place and noticed about 20 or so tables and booths, filled with an array of patrons from high school giggly girls, to families and a few couples eating as well. The decor is what you’d expect from a strip mall take out joint, dim, but not darkly lit, semi aged seating with a more traditional asian appeal to it. Nothing retro or trendy, just pretty stereotypical. Certainly good enough to eat in.

I grabbed my supper and headed home, it was smelling up my truck by the time I got home and was anxious to dig in. I opened my bag and found two containers, one pint container, packed to the gills with my sesame chicken, and a rather small container with rice. I was expecting a small amount of rice from this little box, NO. It was overflowing, expanding like a sponge animal that just got doused in the bathtub!

I now had a plate full of food that looked great, and smelled better. The chicken itself wasn’t drenched in sauce, super battered or otherwise tainted by something nasty. It has a light breading on it, with a little sauce caked on, nothing too heavy. There were some sesame seeds scattered about of course, and some little peppering flakes, I assume they were.

I bit into the chicken before I even sat down, because it just looked so darn good, and it was. It was crispy, but not KFC styles by any means, the chicken was juicy and tender, and it had a good amount of spice to it. Not enough to make me pucker up, or reach for the water in pain, but just enough to know it’s there and give it a little kick.

I continued thru the meal, the spice didn’t build up on me and make me quit eating, but was a constant “HI, I’M HERE AND KINDA SPICY” feeling. The rice was pretty tasty too, good and sticky, and filling enough that I didn’t need any more than what came with the meal. Since I was eating at home, I had the TV on, and was shoveling food in my mouth until I realized I’d eaten almost the entire plate full of tasty goodness.

I decided not to be a total pig and left a bit on the plate, and bit into the fortune cookie. Now, a fortune cookie isn’t anything special, and they’re all trucked in in cardboard boxes, but these, were thick, crunchy and GOOD. It even had a good fortune in it!

All in all, I will return to Yang’s for food again. I would rank it a notch higher on the scale than my local favorite Bamboo Garden, but BG wins out on being 1/2 mile away.

If you’re in the area, or driving past, stop at Yang’s and see what you think. The menu seemed to be pretty varied and had a number of things to choose from if you care to venture outside of my comfort zone.

Yang’s Chinese Restaurant
1568 Woodlane Dr
Woodbury, MN 55125-2221
Phone: (651) 731-3212

I’ve been rather lax on getting this post up, the photo has been sitting here for a few months now. I think I’ve procrastinated for lack of a better photo, but here we go. The Bamboo Garden is one of your ‘run of the mill’ Chinese takeout places in a strip mall in regular suburbia.

I’m a creature of habit, and have always stuck with my variation of some type of chicken, and rice, but others I have dined with have ordered a variety of items off the menu, from the seafood dishes, soups and etc. I can say that all of the dishes that have come out of Bamboo Garden, into my home have been awesome. I can’t speak details for my friends who have ordered, but my meals have always been made fresh, typically just being boxed up when I arrive to pick it up.

The restaurant itself consists of a half dozen tables and is more or less a take out place, nothing too special, but it’s a cozy little place if you were going to stop in and eat, if you chose not to take advantage of the ‘take out’. The owner of the restaurant is always there when I’m picking up my food, and he knows exactly what I will be ordering when I walk in, without ordering first by phone.

The meals are priced pretty average, and you do get quite a bit of food, enough for two or three meals.. One meal if you want to be stuffed for the next two days!

I know I can’t do Bamboo Garden justice seeing as I only have a small variety of their menu, but I do suggest you stop in and take something home with you, as it’s would be my top pick for take-out in the Cottage Grove area.

7145 E Point Douglas Rd S
Cottage Grove, MN 55016
(651) 769-8887