Rainbow Chinese Restaurant and Bar

Last night I had the opportunity to experience Rainbow Chinese Restaurant and Bar in the Whittier Neighborhood of Minneapolis for the first time.  I found out the area is called "Eat Street" because there are approximately 40 local restaurants in the area of a very eclectic nature.  Rainbow Chinese is owned by chef Tammy Wong, she is not only involved within the Whittier Neighborhood, but also can be found at the local farmer's markets giving teaching demonstrations.

I met the Minnesota Food Bloggers in a spacious room on the second floor of the restaurant.  I immediately thought the space would be great for a party. 
The drink of choice for many bloggers was the Ginger Mojito.  It was made with muddled mint, club soda, rum, ginger syrup, and fresh pieces of ginger as a garnish in the drink.  If you are fan of ginger this is a must try. 

Marian Biehn, Executive Director of the Whittier Alliance, spoke to us about the neighborhood, its' gardens and restaurant.

Tammy Wong presented the dishes for the evening.  Dishes included ingredients from local gardens.  Fried Spring Rolls, which she taught us to wrap in a lettuce leaf  with various mint and basil grown in local gardens before dipping them into the sauce. 


Fried rice with asparagus and anchovies; I am not a fan of anchovies so they definitely stood out in the dish for me, but you can never go wrong with asparagus. 
















Next on the table was probably my favorite dish of the evening, Sesame Noodles with Peanut.  This dish was popular with a lot of guests. 

Tofu is a menu item not a lot of people try. I think it has got a bad wrap.  Tammy's staff prepared a lightly breaded fried tofu.





Our final dinner dish was the Szechuan Wontons (pork and shrimp) in a black bean sauce with green onions.  I am not a fan of seafood, but the combination of pork and shrimp did not have the shrimp taste (at least in the two pieces I ate.) The black bean sauce had a slight sweetness with a hint of spice from pepper flakes.






Tammy also took time to explain all of the herbs and vegetables on the table. On thing I learned was how to eat pea shoots after you take of your peas.  Tammy told us you only eat the top part of it.

We finished the evening off with Coconut Tapioca with a fresh rhubarb sauce. 





Outside they have comfortable sidewalk seating.
Free Parking in the lot next to the restaurant and on the street after 6:00pm