TASTEBUD Magazine
Table Hopping - January 2009
“Soup’s on!”
Hien Vuong Restaurant
417 Main Street (inside the City Market)
Kansas City, MO 64105
(816) 842-1020
The City Market has developed into a real United Nations of food and culture, with the Hien Vuong Restaurant proudly representing the country of Vietnam. Located in a garage, the place is tiny, with tables crammed into every corner. You will be seated and place your order with assembly line efficiency. Order a bowl of Phở and experience a soup that eats like a meal. Phở has mounds of white rice noodles in clear, flavorful beef broth, with thin cuts of beef or seafood and garnished with bountiful fresh herbs and aromatics - such as green onions, cilantro, sliced jalapeño, Thai basil, lime wedges, and bean sprouts all for around $8. GET: your Phở on for lunch any day other than Tuesday, when they are closed.
The Happy Soup Eater
(run out of Happy Gillis)
549 Gillis Street
Kansas City, MO 64106
(816) 471-3663
http://www.happysoupeater.com
Todd Schulte started The Happy Soup Eater several years before he opened Happy Gillis in Columbus Park. The idea was to make tasty homemade soup with all-natural ingredients and deliver them to your doorstep. Todd still delivers quarts of soup to many zip codes across the metro area. To get on the list, go to the website, sign-up and receive his weekly emails with the list of soups that are available, then place your order and pay online. Some recent soups: White Chicken Chili with Roasted Green Chilies for $13 or Gingered Sweet Potato Soup for $12. TRY: some of his other delicious and inventive food items he will occasionally offer, like Macaroni & Cheese Royale and Pumpkin Seed Spinach Pesto.
Thai Place
4130 Pennsylvania
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 753-THAI
(4 other locations in KC)
http://www.kcthaiplace.com
Owner, Ann Liberda, has expanded her families’ restaurant empire from the original location on 87th Street to 5 locations across the city. This means great Thai food cannot be far from where you are. For a full understanding of the hot, sour and sweet flavors of Thai cuisine, order any of their exotic soups. Try a large bowl of the Volcano Soup overflowing with your choice of seafood, chicken or vegetables all swimming in a heady broth of lemongrass and Kafir lime for around $9, or get the rich and creamy Galanga Soup with a coconut milk, galanga root and lemongrass broth packed with your choice of seafood, chicken or vegetables for $10. SAVE: a little cash and come in for their soup selections at lunch when the prices are about half.
Bloomsbury Bistro
4101 W. 83rd Street
Prairie Village, KS 66208
(913) 642-9900
http://www.missionroadantiquemall.com
Dig out this little treasure of a restaurant located in the middle of the Mission Road Antique Mall. Owner, Chef Cari Jo Cavalcante, makes simple, hearty old-fashion dishes you remember loving as a child, and does them to perfection. They have two soups each day and people rave about them. Try their famous German Potato Soup, a clear broth soup with hunks of potatoes, carrot, smoked sausage, and sauerkraut a good sized bowl is around $6. Make it a combo by adding a half sandwich or salad for a few dollars more. PUT: your name on the list for lunch, as sometimes there is a bit of a wait and then wander the antique mall. They will call your name when your table is ready on the speakers.
Souperman
1724 Main Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 421-SOUP
http://www.soupkc.com
You cannot mention great soup in Kansas City and not mention Chef Rob Dalzell’s Souperman. Located in the old TWA building on Main Street, Souperman has carved out a quick and tasty lunchtime business serving some of the most creative soups in the city. With selections like Smoked Tomato Cheddar, Lemon Chicken Artichoke, West African Peanut Chicken and Moroccan Lamb and Lentil – you can see the variety and ethnic influences in his core group of soups. His soups are also filling which makes them a great value. Soups come in two sizes 8 oz. for $3.50, or 16 oz. for $5.50. ORDER: your lunch online, to make sure if you have to brave the cold, that your soup is waiting on you to zip in and pick it up.
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