there's a reason its the most important meal of the day...i just haven't found that reason yet

Let me just start out with this statement: I hate breakfast food. Now, I like eggs, omelettes, sausage, bacon, but I'm not a fan of pancakes, waffles, pastries, bagels, blintzes whatever. I eat pate on toast for breakfast most days. That is how snobby I am. Just kidding, or not. I've already talked about Eggtc, and nothing about that place has really changed, except that G-dub ate there during his last visit, thus making me late for school. Thanks, G-dub.

ANYWAY,

Harvey House Diner: In the Union Station building, this is the cutest place to take people from out of town. I don't know how it's going to be, eating breakfast with all of those "bodies revealed" cadavers hanging out in the basement, but you should try this place. It's patterned after an old time diner, with counter seating, luscious pies in a refrigerator counter, checkered floors, fifties style tables and a big menu. I went there for lunch twice, the first time I got a patty melt, which was really good, burger was nice and thick, juicy, not too fatty. Fries were seasoned just right. The second time, I actually opted for breakfast food, french toast, which was good as far as French Toast goes, not the most difficult to make. The service at the counter was just okay, they kind of forgot about us. Trust me though, cute place, a little overpriced.

You Say Tomato: 28th and Holmes, so the neighborhood is sort of sketch, but it's near TMC and Children's Mercy, so that's like a built in customer base. Smart. Three artists opened this breakfast/lunch place out of an old neighborhood grocery that had long since been gone. It's a little confusing when you walk in, there's a hodgepodge of mismatched tables and chairs and some smaller sized shopping carts. At the side there's a few shelves set aside to be an organic grocery, with panko breadcrumbs, canned vegetables, EVOO, organic pasta, tomato sauce, sea salt, sriracha, coconut milk, etc. They even have an old refrigerator case that displays fruits and veggies. The first time I went, it was in the middle of a lunch rush, and even though we ordered a BLT and a it took forever, as there was only one cook in the back! Another employee was busy with the cash register, and another was sort of busing the tables. The food that time was decent, but the wait was just too long. The second time, I went to Sunday brunch with my friend, and it went a lot more smoothly. We beat the brunch crowd, ordered our paninis (they have paninis of the week), and it came out fairly quickly. The paninis are probably not made on a panini maker, but the bread was crusty and the cheese was melted perfectly. They have a variety of pastries, brownies, pie, muffins that they make on site, and they look terrific, especially the cinnamon roll. They also have a variety of salads, hummus, sandwiches, grits (which my friend said were great with cheese), pasta salad, and they bake their own bread. Any place that puts that much effort and time into their food deserves some customers who will try it out.

The Corner: I like to think of this place on the corner of Broadway and Westport as my own Seinfeld restaurant, although I rarely eat there, and if I do it's because I was probably very drunk the night before. I love their southwestern omelet though, all of that sausage and chorizo and more sausage scrambled up into eggs. They also have this one Louisiana style omelette, which is andouille-d out. Get there early though, before the egg substitute runs out. Their pancakes look great, too. And their hot chocolate is really delicious, even at almost $2 for a small mug. This place is packed on the weekends, and they only serve breakfast on Sunday. Oddly, this place also serves Mediterranean dishes like hummus and falafel, but you should really stick to the breakfast items. If you're not faint hearted, you should definitely go here, if you are or if you work for the Health Department, you should probably find somewhere else to go.

First Watch: I've only been to the one in Westport, and let me tell you, may be the best experience at a restaurant ever. I want to give a shoutout to Carlos, who was the best waiter ever. He was so attentive, and refilled my ice tea like eight times (it was that good), and then when we were done, he gave us to go containers of our drinks. Who does this? It's unheard of, and this is why I still remember Carlos to this day. The food wasn't half bad either. I had the Burrito Vera Cruz, which was the size of two toilet paper rolls stacked, full of egg substitute, chorizo, cheese, topped with sour cream and paired with breakfast potatoes. I later found out that this meal was about 1000 calories, but it was too good to even think of that. My friend had some sort of egg substitute combo, but was offered to substitute pancakes for one of the things in the combo, without even asking! You go Carlos. The coffee was great, my ice tea was awesome. They offer free internet there. While this place is a chain restaurant, it's way better than any sort of IHOP.

more tales from the Orient

As a Vietnamese person from the Vietnamese mecca of Southern California, I often crave Vietnamese food, and luckily we have some pretty good places in KC. For a more exhaustive list, go two entries down.

Vinh Hoa: I really like this place. Just North of the River, on Burlington, it's the only place I have found that has decent Banh mi, or the Vietnamese version of a hoagie. The Banh Mi Thit Nuong is grilled/charbroiled pork with jalapeno, pickled carrot and daikon, cilantro on a French baguette. And the best thing is that the sandwiches are only like $2-3. Delish! I also really like their rice dishes, the com bi suon nuong hot ga, which is short grain rice with grilled porkchop, egg loaf (better than it sounds), shredded boiled pork and fried egg. The Vietnamese iced coffee will keep you up for days, and the soda chanh or lemonade soda is awesome. Everything is really good. This place is really cheap, really tasty, and you have the Vietnamese person seal of approval. Count it.

Now on to Thai food. Not my favorite stuff. When I was a kid, we went out to Thai restaurants all the time because it happens to be my parents' favorite type of food and that burnt me out on the stuff. The only dish I like, and thus the only dish I ever order is Pad Thai. And so, that's what I base a good restaurant on. If you can't make a good Pad Thai, I can't hang with you.

Thai Place/Arun Thai: now, their pad thai sauce has a more tomato/ketchup-y base, which is usually my favorite kind. However, I think the noodles come out too soggy, and the actual dish itself is kind of bland. The portion is large, and the dining rooms are nice, so it's understandable how this restaurant has become a favorite in the community. It is pretty expensive, but I guess the theme has been that almost all "nice" Asian restaurants are. It's edible, but not my first choice.

Lulu's: Now this is my first choice always. I'm a sucker for cute, trendy little mom and pop places like this. The bright green, blue and orange color scheme grabbed me from the get go. And the wooden booths, albeit uncomfortable, are cute and intimate. And the room is awesome. The pad thai is amazing, they have more of a peanut base, but the flavor is very subtle and not over powering. Accompanying the dish is the fried garlic which is on the table, and a few spoonfuls of that stuff will have you hooked for life. I am not crazy for the dumplings, since the wrappers are a little starchy, but some of my friends love them. The blazing wok bowl is good, lots of veggies and a lot of flavor. And the basil fried rice is outstanding. It's on Southwest, but it is worth the trek from wherever you are...and be warned, it's real crowded at lunch, when they have lunch specials.

Thai Orchid: On Mission, in a very nondescript location behind a strip mall. Very odd location, but surprising very sleek and clean decor. The pad thai was not bad, portion was smaller, but the chicken was juicy. To be honest, I don't remember much about the meal, which may tell you something, but some of my friends swear by this place. It's not bad.

I haven't tried Bangkok Pavilion, but it's on the list.

Chinese, please!

So I definitely have not updated for like a year, but absence makes the heart grow fonder, no? As promised, I will write about the Chinese "restaurants" that call KC home.

Since I am Asian, and from California, I have very strict criteria for "good" chinese food. The dish I usually hold up to comparison is Kung Pao Chicken. Now, really good kung pao chicken is very spicy, has the thickest brown sauce ever, and has a lot of peanuts and dried chilis. My favorite in Orange County is from a place called Capital Seafood, look it up if you're ever in the area (best chinese food ever, no joke), they have amazing house fillet fish and clams in black bean sauce. .95, and comes with soup and dessert. Awesome. Also, each of those dishes at lunch is less than And no, PF Chang's does not count, but Panda Express does, so awesome.

Bo Ling's: A Kansas City favorite, I don't mind Bo Ling's, but it's not my favorite. Authentic by no means, their a la carte menu is decent, especially the lo mein. I recently had Dim Sum there, and was pleasantly surprised at number of dishes offered. You can get your chicken feet on, noodles, shu mai, dumplings of all types, shrimp balls, egg and spring rolls, turnip cakes, taro cakes, almond jelly, dau hu (sweet tofu in honey sauce, my favorite dessert), etc. The only bad thing about it is that it is hella expensive. Like, four things of dim sum was $34, apparently every plate is a "large" one. Not that impressed but it's like one of the only dim sum offerings in the plaza/midtown/downtown area, plus there are three other locations.

Kin Lin: A long time favorite of UMKC students from the Volker Campus across the street, this place is your hole in the wall Chinese takeout place. I didn't eat there for like three years, but recently have found my way back. Very affordable, offers a lunch special menu (entree, fried or steamed rice, crab rangoon or spring roll) with a different entree each day for $4.25. Their beef lo mein is outstanding too, and the portion size is HUGE (that's what she said). I definitely split my regular sized takeout order into two meals. Now, I'm not crazy for the kung pao chicken, not up to the standards set above.

China Feast: this twin drive thru take out place is ghetto, straight up. It's on Linwood between Main and Gillham by the Costco. I've only had the kung pao chicken, and while not authentic like that above, it wasn't half bad. There were dried chilis, and a lot of peanuts, just the sauce wasn't thick and dark enough for my liking. Also, I was afraid I was going to get shot there, while in the drive thru. But, not terrible.

New Peking: another pretty expensive Chinese restaurant, in Westport, near the Chili's. The food is okay, the beef with broccoli is sufficient. Nothing to write home about, so I'll just leave it as that.

Blue Koi: I've had two bad experiences here, but one didn't have anything to do with the restaurant itself, so I won't hold it against them. The other time, the duck noodles became my intestines adversary. The dumplings are good, the china moon is good, duck wrap is okay for getting duck with hoisin sauce in a tortilla, noodles are subpar (they just come with too salty soy broth). Ants on a log is one of my friend's favorites. The restaurant is cute, and so if you were looking to go to a nice place with date, this would be sufficient. Also overpriced. On 39th street's collection of small ethnic-ish eateries.

Po's Dumpling Bar: Now this is what I'm talking about. It's a super hip space with these plastic futurisitic looking chairs and the Decemberists playing in the background. I assume it's Po and his wife's childrens' musical selection, and that they are left to the fantastic cooking. I had the Kung Pao chicken there, and it was at its truest form. The sauce was rich and thick and the spice blend was really good. The dumplings were also very good, it is a dumpling bar, so go figure. The price was a bit much, around $13 for a plate of chicken, but it was delicious, and the portion was large. If you're looking for a nice little indulgence, this would be the place.

Red Snapper: Ward Parkway near the Ward Parkway Mall. Very upscale-ish type of place, or at least they'd like to think so, where the suburbanites go for a date night. Off the beaten track, which I think is a good thing. The calamari appetizer was very good, I believe they use Panko for the breading. My tofu dish was good, nice thick brown sauce. I would have to describe the overall experience as "tasty." It would be a nice place to go on a date, but be prepared to put down at least $40 for two people.

Honorable mention: BD's Mongolian BBQ and Genghis Khan. I love Mongolian BBQ. Try some noodles, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, tomatoes, broccoli, onions, spinach, KC strip or plain old steak, egg, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, garlic water, ginger water, salt and pepper, lemon pepper, chili paste. Best!