Green Line Checklist Update Part 1: Mandalay Kitchen to Feng Cha

The Churn for Friday, March 21, 2025

In this week’s edition of The Heavy Table’s Churn newsletter, we encounter a mind-blowing pad Thai and then eat another, still better pad Thai, luxuriate in rolled ice cream and experience a crab-centric dining experience we won’t soon forget.

We didn’t get into the wine at Mandalay Cafe, but they had a decent selection. WACSO / Heavy Table

We were joined this week by reporter J.D. Duggan, from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Photographer Becca Dilley was off this week due to a schedule conflict.

WACSO / Heavy Table

GREEN LINE CHECKLIST UPDATE, PART ONE
We kick off our refresh of our University Avenue crawl with visits to Mandalay Kitchen, Wonders Ice Cream and Boba, The Luscious Crab, Basil Cafe, and Feng Cha.
By M.C. Cronin, James Norton, and WACSO

It’s been about nine years since we first made our way down University Ave, hopping from one restaurant to the next, cataloging our best (and occasionally worst) experiences along the Green Line. A lot has changed since then. New spots have sprung up, others have disappeared, but one thing remains the same—getting from one place to another on foot still isn’t particularly pleasant. 

Toppings…at Wonders Cafe, they got ‘em. WACSO / Heavy Table

Crisscrossing up and down University Ave is an adventure. We dodged sketchy sidewalk detritus, skipped over the occasional mystery puddle, brushed shoulders with traffic that was moving entirely too fast, and got peppered with the dusty blowback of light rail trains whipping by at a whisker’s distance. It was all just a bit inhospitable. We found ourselves lamenting that the urban planning committee didn’t tip the street design more in favor of pedestrians when they had the chance.

But that’s life (and committees). If there’s anything we’ve learned on these excursions over the years, it’s that without a little grit, you’ll never find a pearl. – M.C. Cronin

WACSO / Heavy Table

MANDALAY KITCHEN | 383 University Ave W, St Paul | 651.219.5887

Mandalay Kitchen benefits from having taken over the original Marc Heu Patisserie space.

The server nodded in approval at our order choices. WACSO / Heavy Table

We like a dive-y, well-worn Southeast Asian joint as much as the next person, but there are many stalwarts of that genre nearby. So, there’s something to be said for offering an alternative. Something in a clean, modern café vibe.

Love it when a server smiles at the food when they bring it to the table…that means the food is good. WACSO / Heavy Table

That said, the terrazzo floors, high ceilings, exposed ductwork, and metal drop ceiling did run the risk of making the place feel a bit cold.

But touches of warmth from woven wicker light shades, greenery, and a bright tropical mural were enough to take the chill out of the room.

It was below zero outside, but almost tropical inside. WACSO / Heavy Table

In terms of the food, our Thai iced coffee had us prepared for the worst (more on that below). And our confidence wasn’t bolstered by how our order seemed to arrive at our table in fits and spurts—some dishes arriving unexpectedly quickly, others disconcertingly late. But upon digging in, we started to care less about when our food arrived, so long as it kept arriving. Our only regret was not having been here on a weekend night when the Chapli Burger (described on the menu as a Southeast Asian Juicy Lucy) was available to order. – M.C.