Ethnic eats

Some different "ethnic" eats.

Chosun: Now, I am a Midtown girl, so I don't make it out to the OP (bitch) very often, but one night whilst doing some errands close by, I decided to stop by this seedy little strip mall and eat at Chosun Korean BBQ. One of my friends recommended this place to me, and since she is a fellow gourmand and has excellent taste, I thought why not. Traditionally I am not a huge fan of Korean food. I find it bland, and since I'm not the world's most tolerant spice eater, the kim chi does not work for me. It in fact works against me, about 4-6 hours later when I'm wishing for death. For those unaware, Korean BBQ establishments have a grill in the middle of your table and it is kind of choose your own adventure. They bring a lot of side dishes--from pickled vegetables, salad, pickled hot dogs?, bean sprouts, kim chi, and spicy tofu. You grill your meat and then eat it with rice. This place was not bad. There were no Korean spareribs, which is my favorite dish--I may have to post my mom's recipe one day, so we ordered a steak (yeah we're totally not adventurous) which the server then grilled for us on the grill in the middle of the table. The servers didn't really know English, which isn't a problem with me--as a barely speaking Vietnamese person I've experienced a lot worse in terms of communication barriers--but they also weren't readily available or overly friendly. The meal cost like $25, because we shared the steak, and it was enough. I actually really like the sweet/sour hot dog pieces and the kim chi wasn't as spicy as some others I've had--it was in fact manageable for me. We let our steak get a little overdone, but that was our bad. Overall, not bad, but it didn't overwhelmingly wow me either--not sure if I will be making the drive out there again.

El Pulgarcito: My boyfriend is half Salvadoran, even though he does not speak Spanish, and is the whitest person I know. A part from the fact that he has actually been to El Salvador, he really doesn't have anything to do with his heritage. When I heard about this restaurant, I was like, we have to go there. So I was expecting a hole in the wall type place--and it did not deviate from my expectations. The restaurant on 59th and Merriam basically looks like an abandoned house--in fact, my boyfriend asked if this was actually some old Salvadoran lady's house. There is a countertop, and like 6-7 tables around the place---very small. Each table has a big cannister of pickled cabbage, carrots, cucumbers which I'm told is a staple accoutrement to Salvadoran food. We had pupusas, these fried corn flour cakes filled with cheese topped with chicharrones (pork cracklings, kind of like a very very fried pulled pork), loroco (a root type plant from Latin America), beans, or squash. I had one of these, it was very filling. The bf said it was very authentic, and he was totally excited to have some Cola Champagne; I think it made him reminisce about his 5 yr old self in San Salvador.

Korma Sutra: I have been to both the OP and Westport locations of this Indian eatery, and I have to say, for my amateur Indian food enjoyment, I like it. We often go to the buffet where I gorge myself on chicken pakora, samosas, chicken tikka masala, biryani, tandoori chicken (sometimes very dry). I love the basmati, and the naan, oh the naan--love it. I sop up all the deliciously spicy sauces with it, and let the flavors all swim in my mouth. I eat insane amounts of their chutneys--which I think are the onion, tomato and tamarind. I also like their dessert, the honey balls swimming in coconut milk sugar water. I've had their palak paneer, which may be my favorite dish of all time--shrimp version--and it's a winner. I like the extra perks that come with this place, too. The chai at the end of the meal, the cubes of mango ice cream, and sometimes the tiny honey balls, it's like you ever know what you'll get next. This place makes me want to be a glutton.

Taj Mahal: 75th and Wornall. I've eaten here once, and it was very good. We had the dinner for two--which was like $30 all together and comes with a massive amount of food. It came with paneer, tandoor chicken, tikka masala, possibly lamb biryani--and basmati and naan. There was also dessert and this really great lentil soup. I can't exactly remember what else, but I thought it was great, and the wait-staff was very attentive and friendly. Can't ask for much more than that.

Noodles & Company: I know this is by no means ethnic, but it didn't really deserve it's own entry. I ate here yesterday, actually, at the location in Zona Rosa--and although I liked my pesto cavatappi (my favorite type pasta [so curly!], pesto was not as salty as I would have liked, needed more cowbell), my boyfriend hated his pad thai (said it smelled like something I cannot even write on here--and trust me he eats a lot of my fish sauce laden foods, so it actually did smell kinda funky) and cursed me for making him go to this "restaurant."

See, the only reason I wanted to go here is because of a place in California that I miss dearly called Pasta Bravo. Now, Pasta Bravo is my no means any sort of Michelin star restaurant. Make no mistake, it's not very good. It is in fact, a fast food, mass produced "Italian" eatery (kind of like a classier Fazoli's without the insane best-thing-i've-ever-eaten breadsticks) that serves fettucine alfredo, spaghetti bolognese, other American italian dishes. I ate here a lot in high school--in fact, when I had a reunion with my friends from HS a few months ago, we picked this place to meet. I have been looking for a fast food italian place where the pasta and sauces are in huge warmers in front of your eyes. I am this classy. I eat at Cupini's all the time, but you know what? It's like too gourmet, it is too good. I mean, they make their own pastas for pete sakes. Have you had their proscuitto and cheese tortellini? They don't make that shit for food to go. Pasta bravo hits the spot for me when I need something quick, something not that great.

Joe's on Main used to do it for me with their watered down tomato sauce over mostaccioli, but they are no more. Noodles & Co still has not filled this void in my life. Instead of only italian, they've tried to conquer not one, but two other categories-Asian and American. They have mac and cheese, they've got Japanese pan noodles (which I'm not sure they even have in Japan), mushroom stroganoff, and you can add proteins like grilled chicken, beef, shrimp and tofu to any dish. It was subpar, but for what they are going for, I think they did a good job. Good concept, should have a little better execution. Also, every single table in the place had dirty dishes on it, and we sat at the last clean table before the busboy trudged out 10 minutes later to start cleaning. Mal times, people.

Still haven't found the Middle Eastern fare that I'm looking for--Habashi House at River Market has Jordanian fare that is very good, their meaty combo is totally fetch (gyro meat, pita, hummus (or baba ganoush) a shirazi like salad, and dolmas), but they aren't open for dinner. The falafel here is one of the city's best. I still adore my Gyro van, parked by the UMKC dental school every weekday at lunchtime. You can get the most awesome gyro for $3.50. And it's out of a van, god love ya, Gyro Van. Sometimes you can find them parked in Westport, trust, it is the perfect pairing with Natty lights from Harpo's and the smell of vomit at Kelly's. Yes, even better than Joe's Pizza.

I do like Aladdin Cafe on 39th. When I was doing a research at KU, I ate here a lot. A lot. Their gyro sandwich comes with salad and rice, which makes it a total deal for like $6. It may be $7 now. Their meat is crispy and different than other places, which leads me to believe that it's not made on the traditional rotisserie like oven (they have this at Habashi if you want to see it). I don't know what it's cooked on, but I like it.

Jerusalem cafe is good, gyro is alright. Their side salads are pretty much akin to those you could buy at Wendy's. The Kabob platters are actually very good, if not a little expensive. I still am not understanding why their two locations are a block away from each other (Westport and 39th). Seems a little redundant. Lastly, Jerusalem Bakery and their sandwich shop Golden Wraps on Westport is definitely a sure bet for me. I like their buffet a lot, like the chunks of gyro meat with all you can eat tzatziki (it is kind of bland compared to others though), moussaka, falafel (usually too hard), salads, this baked chicken that is so fall off the bone tender that it makes my heart race in anticipation. Ah, middle eastern is my favorite.

Notice that I did not put KC Pita on here--not middle eastern in the slightest. It is as ethnic as Larry the Cable Guy. And the fact that I know who that is, my friends, is a sure sign that I've lived in Missouri for too long.