Relax Exotic - Minneapolis, MN

A City Pages ad for Relax caught Scrooge Squared's eye. She had heard Yummy's had closed and Relax was now the name of the new establishment in its place. She had planned to be in the area and decided to pick up dinner takeout.

Beef Chow Fun with Vegetable Sauce ($8.50). Beef chow fun comes in two basic style - dry and wet. The dry is more common and preferred by most including me. This particular dish was the wet style. In a wet style, the meat and vegetables along with a sauce are prepared separate from the fun and then the meat/veggie/sauce mix is poured over the fun. This particular preparation was a little above average. There was a mild to moderate wok breath taste. The meat was quite tender and the vegetables had no bitterness. The sauce was runny as soup and needed some thickening.

Food Rating: 7.9
Scrooge Value: 5.0

Eggplant and Beef Rib with Garlic Sauce Hot Pot ($11.95). It was easy to see why it was called "Eggplant and Beef" and not "Beef and Eggplant". Clare Peller of the old Wendy's commercials would have been asking "Where's the Beef?". Despite this criticism this was a very good entree. I find it challenging to cook eggplant properly and this was prepared properly having a uniform consistency with no hard center yet at the same time not mushy. The beef, what there was, was extremely tender but on the mild side as the sauce flavor had not infused. The level of spiciness was just right for me.

Food Rating: 8.3
Scrooge Value: 4.7

Based on these dishes, Relax appears to be a replacement in kind for Yummy and offers good solid food at the normal going Twin Cities prices. It's not a bargain restaurant but for those wanting authentic good Chinese food, Relax is an option.

Relax Exotic Chinese Cuisine
2450 Nicollet Ave S
Minneapolis, MN
612.870.8000