Sanctuary Restaurant
| Address: | 903 S Washington Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA |
| Phone: | +1 612-339-5058 |
| Site: | sanctuaryminneapolis.com |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | 5–10PM 5–10PM 5–10PM 5–10PM 5–11PM 5–11PM Closed |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
A
A Private User
I took my brother to Sanctuary last night for his birthday and we both got the tasting menu (5 courses) with the wine pairing. My overall impression was that this was a great value and wonderful meal for the price. You wont find as well-done a tasting menu with wine pairing for this price anywhere else in town. The portions were a nice size: enough to get a good taste of each dish, but not so much that five plates sends you home feeling grotesquely full. We both opted for the "mixed" white/red wine pairing and Id recommend doing that. If wed gone with all red, it would have been really unbalanced and their sommelier does a good job. The first course was a seared tuna (safe) with a tamarind sauce and roasted cipollini onions. Seared tuna is hard to go wrong with and this was done very nicely, although the tamarind was a bit overpowering if you swiped too much of it with the bite. The wine pairing on this was perfect. Second course was a lovely little frisee salad with candied almonds and white asparagus. The vinaigrette on this was wonderful and if this was on the menu as a full-sized salad, it would be a hit. Perfect balance of acidity to sugar and salt. Really delicate flavors. The wine pairing on this was okay; I would have preferred to stick with more of the first one. Third course was halibut with watercress on a mustard seed (I think) oil laced with lemon and wasabi. This was an intensely delicate dish and really, really well refined. The halibut was just a touch underdone I thought, but crusted nicely on the top. There was a little cilantro mixed in with the watercress and that was essential to rounding out the flavors. The oil underneath was delectable. I wanted to lick my plate! The wine pairing on this was very good as well and brought out the flavor of the halibut nicely. Fourth course was pork with a mushroom ragout on top with a little watercress salad and a hot pepper maple glaze underneath. This was a spectacular dish; perfection really. We both cut this into little pieces and swabbed each bite around to pick up as much goodness as we could. It was such an unlikely combination of ingredients, but they came together to create a beautiful dish. This was the one red wine for the night and though it was very good, it could have been a slightly heavier bodied wine and held up nicely to the dish. Fifth course was a little piece of camembert with bread (which I cant eat) and a couple slices of really rich chocolate topped with cream and a mint leaf. The cheese was very nice and delicate and the reisling that came with the course played off it very nicely. The chocolate was tasty, especially with the mint leaf. But overall I could have done without this course. Trying to pair chocolate and cheese and matching both to a wine is difficult, especially that cheese. A red would have been great for the chocolate, but terrible for the cheese. This just wasnt anything special and was a let-down after the high of the fourth course. Negatives: The staff seemed a bit harried. They bustled around a lot throughout what is a fairly small and, in places, tight space. This was distracting. Overall the service was competent, but I would have preferred something more invisibly attentive; we were interrupted a fair bit. It also would have been nice to get new utensils with each plate. Finally, our waiters breath was, well, musty and noticeable. When youre having a nice meal, you dont want musty breath to come with each plate. Ill definitely go again and get the tasting menu again. As I said at the beginning, this was a great value and a highly enjoyable meal.
LO
Lori Awes
We have been wanting to try Sanctuary for months, after walking by and looking in the windows of this quaint restaurant several times off hours. Hoping for a "wow" experience in food, ambiance, and service, we made a reservation before a Guthrie event last Saturday evening. The owner, Michael was hosting and directed my husband and I to a "special booth". We were attended immediately by both a charming server named Chloe and the bartender who shared caring for us. Both were delightful and very engaged and helpful in their recommendations and commending our choices. Being our first visit -- and definitely not our last, Chloe gave us an overview of their chefs creative summer menu, which offers select and intriguing appetizers, salads and entrees without an overwhelming selection. While Im sure their wine list has been carefully selected, we opted for Cuvee Jean-Louis champaign which was palate perfect, and nicely paired with each of our courses. My husband ordered us the Braised Octopus, which was presented beautifully with a cucumber ribbon rose, sweet drop peppers and prepared perfectly. The Artisan Salad with Anchovy Dressing was a the chefs version of a Caesar Salad, but hardly ordinary -- each bite a savory, rich experience. While my husband loved the Halibut, I ordered with Chloes recommendation the Seared Ahi Tuna with Strawberries and a Chipotle reduction. Expecting the typical sliced fish, I was surprised to see a single piece of tuna. It was seasoned to perfection, gently seared -- as our server recommended, and the most flavorful Ahi Ive ever had. Upon our departure, we were warmly and genuinely thanked by Michael Kutscheid, and we promised to return. We walked back in a few hours later after the theater for dessert and cafe au laits, and joined a few lingering patrons and staff at the charming back bar.The mini souffle cookies and ice cream with chocolate drizzle was the perfect end to a sweet downtown evening! Thank you to all at Sanctuary for the delightful experience we were looking for, in all ways!
JO
Joel Rogness
This is one of my least favorite twin cities restaurants at this price point. While the grilled octopus was tense, my entre was a cold mishmash of random, poorly seasoned components. It was a special - lamb chops. There was cold squash that wasnt seasoned and tasted of rancid oil. There were weird cold walnut studded, smoked dates that were acrid and distracting. And the thoughtless pile of generic micro greens on top of 2/3 of their entrees isnt fooling anyone whos been out to eat in the last decade. Additionally my wifes salmon was supposed to be medium, but it came out with a cool center (which I like but my wife doesnt). She had to send it back to have them cook it more. No excuse at a restaurant that wants to complete at this echelon to not know how to cook fish. Perhaps sanctuary was once good. My guess is that proximity to the Guthrie has made them lazy.
AD
Adam Becker
The space is really nice, service was great, and the menu sounded very good. But the food was largely one-dimensional and unexciting. I liked the octopus tacos. The duck bruschetta was so-so, the big slice of cheese tossed on the top seemed like an afterthought and made it more like eating an open-faced slider. My wife had the lobster phở, which in both our opinions lacked salt and flavor. The corn noodles in it were strange in texture, Im not sure why they were chosen for the dish. I had the pork butt, which was not especially tender or succulent, and had a single flavor very similar to the duck on the bruschetta. We skipped dessert, feeling wed already spent more than the meal was worth. There is just way better food in these two cities for the money.
MA
Matt Adelmann
Sanctuary had been on our list of restaurants to try for a quite a while, I wish we wouldve gone sooner! The dinner was excellent and the service was top-notch. We started off with the meat & cheese plate along with the fruit & cheese starter. Both were terrific choices and set the stage for the dinner to follow. Most of us did the 5 course tasting menu and enjoyed every bit of it. My 2 favorite courses were the chicken with raspberry/Tabasco risotto and the caramelized fresh corn off the cob with peppers.. YUM! If you dont do the tasting menu I strongly recommend the Lobster bolognese, it was fantastic! I cant wait to go back and try everything else on the menu!
