My Favorite Asian Food

Choga Korean Restaurant

Generally, a pretty good marker of the authenticity of any type of ethnic restaurant is if people of that ethnicity eat there. If you see a bunch of Brazilians in a Brazilian restaurant, there’s a good chance it’s going to be authentic food like you’d get in Sao Paulo. If you go to a Lebanese restaurant filled with people from Beirut, you’re probably in for a treat. The same is true of Korean food, and my latest review, Choga at 6920 W. 105th St. in Overland Park is no different.

I first discovered Choga several years ago, when prior to my marriage, I was dating a Korean girl. Always an adventurous eater, she invited me for Korean food one evening, and this was the place we ended up. I was instantly smitten by the flavor and quality of the food and have been back several times, most recently last Friday with my lovely wife Nataliya, who had the day off from work.

Choga doesn’t have the greatest location in the world. It’s in a rather old strip mall off Metcalf in South Johnson County where the nearby presence of Buffalo Wild Wings, D’Bronx and Winstead’s overshadow it. With a non-descript interior with second-hand booths, the rear of which is used as a storage closet, it’s hard to believe that Choga offers the best Asian food in town, but it does.


Like I said, I’ve eaten here several times and never been disappointed. This most recent trip, we went at lunchtime, and had the lunch box special. I had braised baby octopus with green onions, while Nataliya had the braised short ribs. Both were served with sticky rice, sweet potato noodles, a salad with a light and refreshing vinaigrette, a pair of dumplings, kim chee and a spicy sesame-chile dipping sauce, plus half of an orange for dessert. Everything was delicious. Octopus had an amazing flavor, and the short ribs were fantastic. The sides were all good, especially the kim chee, which I love anyway.

In fact, the only bad part of the meal was the tea. We had ordered a pot of green tea, and were quite disappointed to receive a teapot of hot water and a teabag. As any tea drinker can attest, the tea used in bags is the scraps and leftovers, and as a result, generally doesn’t taste nearly as good as loose leaf. Despite this, our meal was fantastic.

The service was good, though a bit understaffed. With only one waitress for the full dining room, I could tell our server was a bit snowed under, but she did a good job anyway.

Prices were reasonable, around $9 for most of the lunch boxes, with dinner entrees at around $15 for a generous portion. The menu offers a good selection of Korean fare, without being overwhelming to non-Koreans.

In closing, I love Choga and strongly recommend it.

Scorecard
Food: 4.8
Atmosphere: 2.5
Service: 4.
Menu: 4.5
Price: 4.5
Total: 20.3
Average: 4.06

The New Kid in Town

Pizza Oven

Starting a restaurant is a risky proposition, no matter how optimistic the economic outlook. Starting a pizza and sandwich joint, considering the high level of competition, is probably the riskiest proposition of all.

For this reason, I was really excited to try Pizza Oven, which just opened at 8017 State Line Road. I’d been driving by the site for months, watching the sign that said “opening soon”, but it seemed so long that I almost forgot. That is, until the coupons showed up in my mailbox.


Last Friday, having little to no desire to cook a meal for my wife and myself, I thought we would try the place out. Placing a to-go order (I’ve no desire to eat in most pizza joints), I was impressed by the friendliness of the order taker. When I went to pick up our pie, I was again impressed by the worker’s affability. But then, as a new restaurant probably struggling for customers, I suppose you can’t get away with being rude.

I also liked the décor of the place. Simple and minimalist, the focus of this place is clearly on their food. The only artistic touch was in the interesting pizza floor mural, which creates a sort of yellow brick road to the counter. With a throwback feel, I really liked the style of the place.


What I didn’t really like was the topping selection. Sure there were all of the standards, pepperoni, sausage, Italian sausage, olives, onions, tomatoes, but I was a bit disappointed that there was nothing unusual. Even fairly common things like chicken and spinach were noticeably devoid. This was a bit disappointing, but since all of the toppings were fresh and quality, I was willing to overlook this small detail.

As for the pie itself, I have mixed feeling. The crust was fantastic. Crispy on the outside and bottom and chewy in the middle, it was really good, a tribute to the quality oven they use. Unlike many of your chain pizza parlors, their pizzas don’t follow a conveyor, but rather are baked individually until they’re done. In my experience, this is really one of the secrets to a great crust.


As I mentioned, the toppings were fresh and good quality, we had Italian sausage, mushroom, tomato, garlic and black olives. The cheese was a nice mix, and plentiful, melting really nicely onto the pie. But then there was the sauce. Personally, I don’t like sweet tomato sauces, and this one was surely a sweet one. In fact, it reminded me nothing so much as the sauce you get on a frozen Red Baron.

In summation, the pizza’s pretty good at Pizza Oven. It’s not the best I’ve ever had, but it still beats anything you’re going to get from Pizza Hut, Domino’s or Pizza Shoppe. The prices are a little high, at around $15 for a medium with five toppings, but not too bad overall. The service is great, and it’s got a nice atmosphere. If you ever find yourself around the border in south KC, you could do a lot worse than Pizza Oven.

Scorecard
Food: 3.7
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 4.7
Menu: 3
Price: 3
Total: 18.4
Average: 3.68

http://kcpizzaoven.com/Home.html

A Delicious Oxymoron

Blue Nile

Most people don’t think of food when they think of Ethiopia. In fact, to many people, the whole concept seems a bit of a contradiction, as starving Ethiopians were the poster children for global relief in the 1980s. However, this country, an ancient one with a rich cultural tradition, has really, really good food.

I’d had Ethiopian cuisine before my recent trip to Blue Nile at (address), and I really liked it. And prior to ever setting foot through the doors of this African restaurant, I knew I was in for a treat. Everything I had ever heard or read about the place was positive, something that’s virtually impossible in this cyber-age in which we live.


We had been out and about on Sunday; Natasha was shooting photos for her photography class. As luck (or my cleverly designed plans) would have it, we just so happened to be in the River Market area at lunchtime. While my lovely wife insisted she wasn’t really hungry, at my insistent urging, we headed to Blue Nile.

The interior of the restaurant was quite a bit smaller than I had anticipated, with only one server for the dozen or so tables in the place, which was decorated with paintings and artifact, which I’m assuming came from Ethiopia. In the far corner, vacuum pots of truly amazing Ethiopian coffee brewed in a row, and an eclectic crowd filled out most of the tables.

The menu offered roughly eight vegetarian dishes and six carnivorous entrees, as well as a pair of combination platters was small, but in my experience, an accurate representation of the country’s fare. Wanting to try everything, we opted for the large combination platter that featured all of vegetarian entrees, and one each of lamb, chicken and beef. So we had eleven things in all, the eight vegetarian dishes consisting of two lentil items, and one each of potato, greens, mixed veg, bean, cabbage and eggplant.


Served on flat a sweet, porous Ethiopian flat bread called injera, you aren’t provided with utensils, but rather tear strips of the bread and use that to pick up the food, making this meal both delicious and fun to eat.


Overall we were pleased with most everything, with our particular favorites being the two lentil dishes and the beef. One of the lentil dishes was sweet, while the other was savory with mushrooms. The beef tasted almost like barbeque in the flavor profile and was very good. The chicken we had was similar to the beef, while the lamb was curried. The potatoes, cabbage and eggplant dishes all had good flavor, and the greens and mixed vegetables were okay. In fact, the only item I didn’t really like was the beans.

With a huge amount of food (really the platter could easily have fed three, four if they weren’t too hungry), we ate far more than we intended, but I don’t regret it. And the coffee was fantastic as an end to the meal. Rich and flavorful, Natasha is now searching for a vacuum pot of our own.

The service was great, though a bit slow, and the atmosphere, from the photo of Haile Sellaisse on the door, to the authentic artwork only added to the charm of this place. Prices were quite in-line with what I expected, at around $10-12 for most entrees, and well worth the price considering the amount of food. Overall, I liked just about everything about the place. In fact, I’m quite sure we’ll be making the trek to the River Market sometime soon to feast upon this delicious cuisine again.

Scorecard
Food: 4.8
Atmosphere: 4.5
Service: 4.25
Menu: 4.5
Price: 4.5
Total: 22.55
Average: 4.51

The Best Gas Station Food Ever

Oklahoma Joe's

Normally I try to avoid eating at gas stations. Usually you end up with something like this, a quick and easy take on an all-American favorite made almost entirely of lab-engineered, preservative-laden versions of real food. Inevitably, it tastes like absolute crap.

However, on rare occasions, you can find something in a convenience store that’s actually worth eating. Saturday afternoon, I had just one of those experiences. At the repeated insistence of several of my friends, the wife and I finally made the trip over to 47th and Mission to try Oklahoma Joe’s Barbeque.


Had I heard nothing of Oklahoma Joe’s before dining there, I would have greeted the place with a great deal of skepticism. I mean, really, one of the best barbeque joints in Kansas City is located in a gas station in Fairway?

Were this any other type of restaurant, this would be an instant strike against it, but somehow, it actually works for the place. With the barbeque and country memorabilia on the walls and Johnny Cash coming through the speakers, the flow of gas station customers off to the side felt right at home. The cramped and slightly dirty tables with their rolls of paper towels and greasy barbeque sauce reminded me of nothing so much as the kind of diners you see when traveling in West Texas. The cleanest joint in town? Not likely, but then, barbeque joints usually aren’t.


Oklahoma Joe’s has all the standards you’d expect from a Kansas City barbeque stand: ribs, burnt ends, pulled pork, etc. At the recommendation of several friends, both Natasha and I opted for the Z-Man, a sandwich of brisket, topped with provolone cheese, and an onion ring. Natasha had hers with a side of coleslaw, while I went with the fries. A pink lemonade (a requisite for real barbeque) rounded out the meal.

As this place is noted for ridiculously long lines, with supposedly up to an hour-long wait at times, they had our food up and ready in no time. Literally, it was like 30 seconds, which amazed me. A cafeteria-style place, we took our order and found a table. At first glance, the Z-Man looks good, but surely nothing I’d rave about like so many people do.


A medium-sized sandwich (with a mountain of fries), the Z-man looked no better than sandwiches I’d had elsewhere. However, upon biting into it, I saw what separates Oklahoma Joes from the Zarda's and KC Masterpieces. The meat was slightly smokey, very tender and overall really flavorful. Coupled with the crispy ring, gooey provolone and tangy sauce, it was a really good sandwich.

The food is miles above most of the pretenders that this city is littered with, and the service was good too. Completely lacking in pretension, the staff doesn’t yell at you a la Gates, and the prices are very reasonable (the Z-Man is $5.99).

Of course this begs the question: is Oklahoma Joe’s the best barbeque I’ve had? Sorry Joe, but in a heated contest, I give a very slight edge to Bryant’s on overall taste and quality. This, of course, is no slight on Oklahoma Joe’s, and I’m sure many people will disagree with me. But my own personal preference is for the vinegary-goodness that is Arthur Bryant’s.

And while I won’t give it the glowing, "best food ever" review that many of my associates will, I’m really glad I finally got around to trying the place. I can’t see waiting an hour for it, but I will definitely be eating at Oklahoma Joe’s again.

Scorecard
Food: 4.7
Atmosphere: 4.5
Service: 4
Menu: 4.5
Price: 4.5
Total: 22.2
Average: 4.44

www.oklahomajoesbbq.com

Great Beer, Okay Food

Charlie Hooper's Bar & Grill

If you read this blog on an even semi-regular basis, surely you are aware that I love Brookside. Probably my favorite area in the entire KC metro, it offers a little something for everyone.

And as a sports fan, to me, Charlie Hooper's is the very best place in Kansas City to watch a sporting event, particularly KU basketball. If I'm out in public watching a KU game, there's at least a 60% chance I'll be at Hooper's. Why, you may ask? Aside from an awesome atmosphere, great patrons and a lot of flat-screen televisions, they simply have the best beer selection around. With somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 beers on tap, they also have more than 100 in bottles. Reasonably priced, if you enjoy beer, this is a great place to be...

As for the food, well, it's a bar. That's not to say it's not acceptable, but let's be honest, if you wanted a gourmet meal, you wouldn't be sitting on a bar stool. Though I've eaten here numerous times, Hooper's is one of the few places in town where I have a regular item. I nearly always go with the Buffalo chicken wrap, no onions, and fries instead of a salad. In a tortilla with lettuce and blue cheese crumbles, the fried chicken pieces in buffalo sauce are pretty good. Plus, I like their fries.

As for the rest of the menu, from what I've sampled, it's all decent. Nothing you'll want to write home about, but nothing you'd spit out either. Their reuben is good, as is the burger, and I've heard they make a mean hot dog, though I've never had one (even though they're on special most Saturdays).

All in all, I really like Hooper's, but primarily because of the beer and atmosphere. If you're hungry there's nothing wrong with getting a bite here, and you'll probably like it as long as you're not expecting the Bristol. Plus prices are cheap, the servers are by-and-large good, and as I said, it's one of the best places in town to watch a game.

Scorecard
Food: 3
Atmosphere: 4.7
Service: 3.7
Menu: 3
Price: 4.5
Total: 18.9
Average: 3.78

What I Ate Over Christmas Break

I’ve finally gotten back on track after the Holidays. Though things were quite hectic for the past two or three weeks, things are mostly back to normal, thus allowing me the time to make this post, a photo essay of the perfect Christmas meal:

The Menu:
Appetizer - Seared scallops, sauteed mushrooms and prosciutto on toasted Italian bread with a balsamic reduction.
Salad - Grilled portobellas, bosc pears and manchego cheese on a bed of romaine, topped with a light vinaigrette.
Main - Roast duckling with a mushroom, onion, pecan and wild rice stuffing.
Cheese - Njord cheese and strawberries.
Dessert - Biscotti and Dove chocolates.

Mise en place – In the foreground, my mother-in-law’s secret fried cabbage recipe cooks in the wok. Rice for the stuffing is boiling in the covered pot, in front of a duck and other stuffing ingredients being prepared on the cutting board.

The star of the show, a duckling.

Offal for the stuffing (and skin for our dog)

Onions and mushrooms for the stuffing.

The fried cabbage again, it’s almost done.

Appetizer prep work, scallops and portabella slices, slices of Italian bread fry in the pan.

Scallops cooking.

Appetizer assembled, prosciutto, scallops, and mushrooms on Italian bread with a balsamic reduction.

The salad, grilled portabellas, pears and manchego cheese on a bed of romaine, served with a vinaigrette.

The duck, awaiting carving.

The duck and stuffing on a plate (At this point I was too hungry to care about plating... it's not a restaurant, after all).

Now, where, you may be asking, is mother-in-law's secret fried cabbage? That is reserved for the best sandwich ever, which is assembled from the leftovers and a few additional ingredients:
cold duck and fried cabbage with smoked gouda and a dab of mayo... Literally, the best sandwich ever assembled. Ever.

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The Problem with Chains

This weekend I went to visit my grandmother in St. Louis. As she doesn't get out too much anymore, Natasha and I decided we would take her out to lunch. As she lives in what many would consider "the hood", we had to drive several miles to find a restaurant, and were presented with three options: White Castle, Cracker Barrel or Applebees.

Now Whitey's was out for sure, it's really only good when you already have a bellyful of beer, so that left either Cracker Barrel or Applebees. Natasha, for some reason, hates Cracker Barrel with the fiery passion that I reserve only for the Missouri Tigers, Joakim Noah, and people who label their photos "Steve and I ...". That settled it, for us then, Applebees it was...


Now I haven't frequented an Applebees for a good three to four years, and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get anything spectacular, but at the same time, I assumed there would be a minimum level of edibility. There was not.

Grandma went with the quesadilla burger and a side salad. The salad, for some reason, didn't arrive until approximately 35 seconds before the rest of our order, so the meal got off to a bad start.

I too, decided I would eat the quesadilla burger, which turns out to be a hamburger patty sandwiched between two tortillas with some salsa and cheese. While the flavor of this was okay, it looked like it was assembled at the school for the blind, the components almost randomly slapped together and then haphazardly cut in two. I would have been willing to overlook this, had the same problem not carried over to Natasha's entree.

Natasha ordered the Grilled Shrimp N' Spinach Salad (god, how I hate that cutesy little "n'"). It was supposed to look like this:


It did not.

Unfortunately, I neglected to photograph this disaster, but imagine, if you will, the above salad, literally drenched in bacon vinaigrette (read bacon grease and vinegar), with less than half the shrimp, all of which were overcooked to the point of complete char, and mixed in with massive slices of purple onions, which were no doubt cut by the same sight-impaired gentleman who assembled my burger.

It's pretty apparent that the line cook, who was by no means swamped as it was well past the lunch rush, just didn't care. This, of course, is the main problem with most chain restaurants; because they follow a preset formula for all items, there is little care or pride in preparing the food. As a result, you are served slop.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not one of these local nazis who will berate someone for eating at a chain (you know who you are). I like Buffalo Wild Wings and Sweet Tomatoes, and I think Red Robin has some of the best burgers around. I also enjoy Hardees and have been known to frequent Taco Bell on occasion.

However, trips to chain restaurants tend leave me with the same bitter taste in my mouth. Applebees, Ruby Tuesday, Chili's, TGIFriday's, they're all interchangeable, and all too often, they just don't have the same commitment to quality that their local counterparts have. And that, dear readers, is reason enough to eat locally.

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