The Essential Guide to Twin Cities Restaurants

Crystal Grobe is a local food writer who loves trying out new restaurants to gain inspiration for cooking in her own kitchen. She loves Minnesota and is always on the go in search of new foods, events, music, and friends with her husband, Ryan. Find more of her work on Café Cyan and Bite of Minnesota, where she blogs for WCCO.

While I have heard of Rainbow Chinese, I had never visited the restaurant until recently. Open since 1987, it is one of the longest-surviving restaurants on Eat Street. Knowing that owner Tammy Wong is devoted to local farmers markets, one of the first things I noticed was the beautiful produce growing alongside the building. The just-ripening tomatoes and flowering zucchini were interspersed with purple coneflowers and colorful snapdragons which made for a welcoming environment.

Inside, Rainbow Chinese is even more welcoming with intricate murals painted on the walls and gorgeous stonework throughout the restaurant. The menus are unique with the restaurant's name and logo stamped into the metal cover.

The menu offers a decent wine list and fun cocktails, but what really caught my eye were the fun non-alcoholic drinks. Zippy homemade ginger ale, root beer with a dash of bitters and the Jackie Chan, a blend of fruit juices reminiscent of an Orange Julius from the mall.

For appetizers, we decided to forgo traditional cream cheese wontons in favor of the unique Szechuan Wontons. Large pieces of shrimp and crumbled pork were wrapped in wontons, pan-fried, and tossed with spicy black bean sauce and scallions. The spiciness and bold flavor made the wontons a hit with our table.

We also tried the egg rolls which were a welcome change from traditional take-out Chinese egg rolls. These had a thin and crispy outside and were filled with thin rice noodles, carrots, egg, and black pepper and were served with a tangy sweet & sour sauce.

When asked for a recommendation on a vegetarian entrée, our server suggested the Mushrooms over Steamed Tofu. The mushrooms were varied and abundant and served in a garlic sauce. While the sauce did not have much overt flavor, there was something about it that had us licking our chopsticks trying to figure out what made it so good. The steamed tofu melts in your mouth making it a great partner to the hearty mushrooms.

The Singapore Chow Mai Fun is one of their more popular noodle dishes and was really enjoyable. It had the color and smell of curry powder, but crunchy onions and bean sprouts lightened up the dish. Flavorful bites of pork and fresh shrimp were scattered throughout the rice vermicelli and built in a salty-smoky flavor.

Another entrée we tried was the Honey Walnut Shrimp. Plump and juicy shrimp were battered, fried, and covered in a lemon cream sauce. A couple of us were reminded of lemon bars, but in a good way as the sauce offered a slight tang, but was mellowed by the cream. Scattered across the top were honey glazed walnuts, giving the dish a nice crunch.

The dessert menu was quite simple and listed a few coffee drinks along with some sweet treats. We went for the Chocolate Wontons which were deep fried wontons filled with creamy dark chocolate and sprinkled with powdered sugar. This dessert is quite rich, so I was glad to be sharing. A couple of these bites of chocolate were just enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Rainbow Chinese would be perfect for a family outing or a date. Their plentiful entrees offered fresh flavors and quality ingredients and are great for sharing. Happy Hour is offered Sunday through Thursday from 4:30pm - 6:00pm.

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