I love Union Hmong Kitchen so I had high hopes (and high expectations) for Chef Yia Vang’s new spot, Vinai. Not only has it been getting a lot of press confirming how good it is, on a personal level, it took over the former tap house space for my beloved Dangerous Man Brewing, so I just knew in my soul it was going to be good. Happy to report I’m always right…and so were the reviews by real food critics 😉.

Food:

Curry Rice Ball: garlic cream cheese, blue crab

Dishes are served family sized so we were warned about how large they are by our server and she suggested a range of 4-5 dishes depending on how hungry we were. I’m also lucky that my dinner companion (that sounds so formal, but I was trying to say “friend I had dinner with” more succinctly 😂) had already visted a couple times so, while the dishes do change, she had good insights on ones she liked from before.

We ended up getting a curry rice ball each (an order comes with one) and then we shared 3 dishes, a side of jasmine rice and we also got a couple of the dipping sauces (Kua Txob).

The curry rice ball had a great flavor and had a good balance of fried yet gooey.

Hmong Cucumbers: sesame ginger vinaigrette, sesame seeds, fried shallot, garlic
Sauces: Mama Vang (rich + spicy) and Happy Tiger (smoky + fruity)

The Hmong Cucumber dish was my favorite. Ironically, I just met with a nutritionist to help me get ahead of my impending perimenopause (you’re welcome for the TMI) and one of the things she said I should prioritize is more vegetables in my diet…well wouldn’t you know I now found my new favorite vegetable dish so I guess I’m just going to have to go back all the time….darn.

For sauces we picked two and our server let us know they are meant to be used on any dish. They were both delicious, but the Mama Vang is indeed pretty spicy, so definitely recommend you taste it before you pour on your stuff, luckily I was warned haha.

Fried Cauliflower: chili lime, hidden valley ranch dressing, herbs

Coming in hot with another tremendous vegetable dish – I can confidently say, this fried cauliflower was the first and only time I’ve ever truly enjoyed a cauliflower dish. I was so shocked by this that I came home and triumphantly announced to my husband “you’ll be so proud of me, I liked cauliflower!”

The ranch sauce was peak Minnesota paired with these fantastic Hmong flavors and the fry on the cauliflower was perfection. The large cuts (I believe the heads were quartered?) made it something I had to cut into to fit in my mouth (shocking since everyone in my life knows I’m a big mouth 😂) and that made it feel even heartier.

New York Strip: grass fed beef, chili oil

We went back and forth on either the New York Strip or the Pork Chop, but due to sheer size of the pork chop (my friend had it before) we decided to go with the smaller New York Strip. It was still plenty of food and cooked to perfection.

I feel like every dish was a slamdunk. I have so many other dishes I had my eye on and would gladly volunteer to be a full time taste tester.

Drinks:

N/A Cucumber Cooler: Hmong cucumber, lime leaf, coconut, soda
N/A Toothless: pentire, lemon, grenadine, foam

They have a good list of cocktails, wines, sake, beer and n/a cocktails. I got the cucumber cooler which was delicious, but if you were looking for an alcoholic drink the “cool as a cucumber” (tequila blanco, lime, Hmong cucumber, coconut, orange) seems to be its 21 yr old sister.

The toothless, per my friend was “tasty, not overly sweet.”

Atmosphere/Service:

The vibe was great, the space looked great and I was very happy that as a two person table we actually had room to get in and out of our seats so they don’t slam their tables together to the point of overcrowding – very appreciated especially as a size 18 with hips.

Our server was very knowledgeable and took the time to explain the menu as Hmong cuisine is newer to me. I’d give this restaurant 5 stars and definitely plan to go back often.

Vinai
1300 NE 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN 55413
GET FULL HOURS