When 7 ate ...

Yes, it's that time of the month again where I share our latest Wine Club outing ... This month, we broke course a bit and instead of eating in a small Minneapolis neighborhood (where all of our restaurants have just happened to be ...) we were in downtown Minneapolis, dining at Seven Steakhouse and Sushi Ultralounge.

A few words about Seven (or 7even) ... it's sort of known as the "celebrity hangout" or the "spot to be seen." In other words, it's where the cool kids hang out. Which helps somewhat explain the food. The menu is definitely on the high end. And hey, I am a girl who happily pays for a good meal, so I am okay with a higher price tag ... if the meal warrants it. Due to Seven's reputation, I wasn't sure if the meal would warrant it, since I think the price was merely reflective of the reputation.

They were nicely accommodating with a gluten-free menu. Unfortunately, I think some of their raves have been pasta, so that was a little sad. What they are known for are these monstrous steaks, but alas, the smallest one was 8 oz, and I wasn't going to pay $40 for a steak that I would only eat half and then I would want the other half because I like my steak medium rare, so reheating it would just ruin it for me.

So ... first course. I went with the golden beet salad. Actually all of us went with the golden beet salad. We're beet ladies, we love them. We indulge.

I love arugula, and balsamic and goat cheese, so frankly, the only way the salad could have been bad is if the food wasn't fresh. The first course was off on a good start ... maybe Seven could deliver?

Next up the pan-seared Salmon:

It's salmon with a lobster sauce on a bed of spinach and mashed potatoes. I have decided I do not like lobster. Or at least lobster sauce or lobster bisque. It sort of tastes like throw-up back in your mouth. The salmon itself was cooked very nicely, but as you can see, it was drowning in the sauce. The sliver of lobster itself was good, if only it also hadn't been coated. The spinach was fine, nothing special. The mashed potatoes ... well there kind of a mound of too thick cement.

I thought dessert might be able to save the meal ... but the only gluten-free dessert was lemon sorbet with berries. I wasn't in the mood for lemon sorbet, so I passed on dessert. I think I've gotten to the stage where I want to enjoy my food, and not settle just to have dessert.

All in all, there are a lot of people I know who enjoy Seven and who've eaten there multiple times. I just don't think I'll be one of them.