$10 for $20 Worth of Asian Eats at Pagoda Dinkytown
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- Something for everyone
- Spacious, considerate décor
- Most dishes under $10
Jump to: Reviews | Famous Congenial Misses
Variety is the spice of life, and today’s Groupon has enough entrees to entertain even supertasters who have 3,400 more taste buds than the average human. For $10, you’ll get $20 worth of food and drinks at Pagoda Dinkytown, a diverse eatery specializing in Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Korean, and Thai cuisine.
With more than 20 categories, Pagoda Dinkytown's menu presents curious epicureans with seemingly limitless options that seem especially limitless when you consider that our concepts of numbers and infinity are severely handicapped by our three-dimensional brains. With most entrees priced under $10, you can afford to sample a variety of dishes and cuisines. Warm up with noodle soups such as the hot and sour ($6.95) or egg drop ($6.95) before graduating to bigger bites: from seafood to Szechuan to stir fry, you’ll find them all here. On Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, Pagoda serves a dim sum brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with more than 90 selections.
Pagoda’s spacious dining room (with floor-to-ceiling windows, an exposed kitchen, and a long bakery counter) makes lengthy menu perusal enjoyable. Flat-screen monitors playing Chinese karaoke provide a nice distraction while you debate options and whether or not Omar Epps will make a cameo in Avatar. Parking is available behind the building.
Reviews
The Star Tribune raves about Pagoda’s extensive menu, Secrets of the City magazine loves its décor, and Pioneer Press’s Eat blog appreciates the generous portions:
- If Pagoda were a beauty queen contestant, it would surely be voted Miss Congeniality. – Kathie Jenkins, Eat
- ...the 12-page menu at Pagoda has so many items -- 249 and counting -- that diners could take the better part of a year to eat their way across its broad culinary swipes through Korea, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan. – Rick Nelson, Star Tribune
- …the owners obviously put some money and some thought into the build-out… – Jeremy Iggers, Secrets of the City
Famous Congenial Misses
A Pioneer Press blog says that if Pagoda were entered into a beauty contest “it would surely be voted Miss Congeniality.” Here are some famous Miss Congeniality winners and what they did to earn the title:
‘Lil Miss Hay and Hay Products Pageant, 1988, Carla Chester: At this pageant for the under-12 set, Chester was named Miss Congeniality after she made it through her performance of “America The Beautiful” despite her severe hay allergy rendering her unconscious after the first verse.
Miss O’Grizzley’s: Where It’s Always Happy Hour! Regional Spokesmodel Pageant, 1997, Betty Lawrence: This pageant, divided into bikini, talent, and bikini-talent portions, named a talented, bikini-clad young woman who would tour the popular chain restaurant’s major locations the First Miss O’Grizzley’s. Ms. Lawrence was named Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants after she taught them how to read, but her title was revoked when it was revealed that she taught them how to read Ogham, a written script last used in sixth-century Ireland.
Miss Colorado Pageant, 2006, Misty Beakman: Ms. Beakman was named Miss Congeniality when she agreed to stay silent after discovering the pageant organizers’ terrible secret—they were lizard-like aliens living inside the skin of humans.
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About Pagoda
Similar to the Great Wall of China, the menu at Pagoda is a daunting, seemingly endless composition: more than 200 items populate its 20-something pages. The length of the menu makes a bit more sense when patrons realize the restaurant serves dishes from China, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, and Thailand.
Such a wide variety is a good thing, too, considering Pagoda "really has an eye on feeding the busy neighborhood," according to the Star Tribune. It does just that with chef-recommended creations, such as pork rib stew and walnut jumbo shrimp. For dinner, diners can opt for entrees with bottomless sake specials, and for lunch, they can choose from more than 90 dim-sum dishes.