Magnolia's Contemporary Southern Bistro

I really enjoy going out for breakfast.  Magnolia’s had 3 items on the menu that I wanted to try, so I made it a mission to get there to try them.  From the outside, it doesn’t exactly have a lot of street appeal, which made the inside a nice surprise, I was expecting a dive, what I found was a cheery space painted a soft yellow.  

 

Magnolia’s is made up of two small dining rooms, you walk into the first which contains six tables that seat four and one that seats two.  The second dining room is smaller.  It has a very long table in the window that seats 8, a four top and a 2 top, so it’s a pretty intimate space.  The tables are covered in white table cloths with a long piece of white paper on top.  Each table also had 3 freshly cut purple carnations.  Nice.  Around the tables are black metal and plastic chairs, the kind that you can rent for weddings.  These worry me; I’ve seen many a disaster involving these types of chairs and let’s say… Kansas City’s hefty set… whereby someone sits down only to have the chair collapse under their weight.  The music stops, everyone is quiet.  People try to help the person up as murmuring ensues.  Once the person is back up, the music starts again and everyone politely pretends like nothing ever happened.  Ok, right now, some of you are angry at me, but a few of you are smiling, why, because you’ve been at those same weddings, graduations, birthdays, etc., and you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Oh well, I’m sure those chairs will be switched out over time.

 

We were greeted and seated right away and our server brought a carafe of water to leave on the table as we browsed the menu.  There are only 4 options under the “Breakfast Plate” section of the menu:  “Biscuits and Gravy”, “Nutter Butter French Toast”, “Sweet Potato Pancakes”,” Bacon and Eggs”.  These items are served on Saturdays and Sundays only.  We ordered the Nutter Butter French Toast with cracked pepper bacon and Sweet Potato Pancakes with turkey sausage links.  The French Toast sounded very intriguing to me, it is made with “Farm to Market Bread Company’s” Challah Bread, (at least according to a tweet I read).  I know firsthand that Magnolia’s does use Farm to Market Bread Company’s bread because they received a shipment through the front door while we were there.  The biscuits however were being carried in by a woman from a house across the street, still on the baking sheet.  They truly were homemade!  They looked great; I’ll have to try those the next time.   

                                           



Nutter Butter French Toast



Anyway, back to the French Toast, you receive two pieces of bread, cut in half, and completely covered in finely crushed Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies.  On top of that was a generous helping of house made 

Cap'n Crunch French Toast;
image by Amber Thomas

whipped cream with a little bit of coffee in it.  Wow, very rich.  This is the most innovative French Toast creation that I have seen since trying “The Blue Moon Café’s” Cap’n Crunch French Toast in Baltimore.  The cracked pepper bacon was a good complement to the toast, it added a little heat to all of that sweet.   



Sweet Potato Pancakes



The Sweet Potato Pancakes were really very good.  These tasted almost like eating pumpkin pie because of the spices used, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.  I could eat these for dessert.  They looked burned, but weren’t.  They were also very small, but after I started eating them, I was glad.  They were so rich I couldn’t possibly have eaten much more.   

I’m not fond of the coffee here.  I’m pretty sure that it is brewed in one of those machines that you put the little plastic container in that gives you one cup at a time.  Neither of us liked the coffee, but luckily our favorite coffee house, The "Filling Station” is just across the way and we could always go there afterward. 

 

Magnolia’s is not really a breakfast spot.  They don’t open until 10 am.  Too late for breakfast, too early for lunch and their breakfast plates are only served on weekends.  So, I don’t think that it will be a regular on my breakfast rotation.  However, I am coming back to try dinner some evening.  They don’t have a liquor license, but you can bring your own wine or beer.  There is a $10 corkage fee per bottle of wine and a $1 fee per two bottles of beer.   There is a patio behind the building with a small stage; the waiter told us that they hoped to begin having live music on weekends.  It might be fun to hang out here some evening.

I have just a couple of complaints.  One, It was hot inside; it would have been more comfortable if it had been cooler.  Maybe the air conditioner was acting up because there was a floor fan blowing air around.  Two, I don’t think the ventilation system is working well because when we left, we smelled like we had been cooking over hot grease all day.  Really.  Both of these issues are easily remedied and definitely not a reason to not try this place.  All-in-all, we had fun, just like we always do.  I wish that you could have been there with us.

My Favorite KC Barbeque Joint

This is my favorite Barbeque joint in the Kansas City metro area, even though it is in a gas station that is rather out of the way on Mission Road at 47th Avenue in KCK. This is where people who love good barbeque go to eat good barbeque. If you are one of those who want to be seen eating barbeque, you won't go here, you'll go to Jack Stack in the Freight House District (I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that!) Or, you'll go to Arthur Bryant's because Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. did. Hhhh. Go ahead and try those, but be sure and give Oklahoma Joe's a try as well. Seriously, if you are from out-of-town, find this place. If you are in a hurry, call and order take-out. When you get there, don't wait in line, walk right up to the counter and tell them your name. I have taken all of my friends and family members from out of town here, including a large group from Seattle and they all loved it and request it when they return.

This place is almost always busy, and for good reason. The flavor of the food is great. I always get a beef on bun; the beef is very tender and doesn't even need the sauce to make it great. However, their barbeque sauce is one of my favorites in Kansas City. The fries are seasoned and served in waxed paper bags… love them. I also order a side of barbeque beans. Theirs has a mixture of beans, including black, with chunks of various types of meat. These are not my favorite beans, but they're unique and have a good flavor.

I love to eat here. You will see a wide variety of people. At peak times it can be difficult to find a parking spot and the line can be discouraging but don't give up. All of these people are standing, waiting in line for a reason.

Oklahoma Joe’s third restaurant opened on July 5th in the multi-strip-mall madness that is Leawood Town Center. Very conveniently located just south of 117th on Roe, this former TGI Friday’s has never seen this much business! The building’s make-over is very nice. Now those people I know who are too persnickety to eat at the original location at 47th and Mission Road, (Yeah, you know who you are, and yes, I’m calling you out!) will have a place they can go without driving to Olathe. 

Order Queue



Dining Room

There is plenty of parking here; there is also quite a bit more seating. The interior design is industrial chic, with corrugated metal, rot iron and wood. It feels cozy. The order queue snakes along behind a corrugated metal wall to the right of the entrance. The rot iron toppers help shield diners from those waiting to order. This is all very much like the original space. They have a couple of guys stationed at the front door to explain how it all works. I was actually surprised by how many people had never been to an Oklahoma Joe’s before (everyone around us but us). Because there were so many new people experiencing Okie Joe’s for the first time, this is going to be a wonderful spot for them.




Beef on Bun

 Now on to the important stuff, the food, we each had beef on bun with fries and beans. The beef was the same great quality, moist and tender with a great smoky flavor. The fries are the same seasoned fries served in a white paper sack, however, we each complained about the beans. These were runny, sweet and had a dominant green bell pepper flavor; they were also missing their smokiness. It must have been an off night.
Overall, this place is great. I think they have a franchise ready establishment now. As long as they could keep the same quality and flavor, I could definitely see these places popping up all over the country.

The cure for what "ales" Waldo?

  

Remedy Food and Drink is the newest edition to the Waldo Bar and Grill / Tavern / Pub set.  Remedy, a Gastro Pub, sits on the corner of Washington and 75^th Street in Waldo, just 2 doors up from the 75^th Street Brewery.   I went there with a buddy on Friday, July 13^th.  The atmosphere is a cross between a regular bar and a coffee house.  An actual bar takes up most of the North wall of the main room.  There are several high-top tables with bar chairs surrounding them.  There are a few regular tables that have chairs on one side and grey, high-backed, two person sofas on the other, not really love seats; they’re more like oversized wing backs.  The entire South wall is floor to ceiling glass.  The place is kind of a cross between hip and homey. 



Eggplant Fries



"Pig Tails"



We ordered Eggplant Fries and “Pig Tails” for starters.  The eggplant fries are breaded, almost like a tempura, and fried.  They are drizzled with honey and sprinkled with sea salt.  They have a slightly sweet flavor when you first began to chew them, then leave you with a slightly salty taste.  Nice.  This is the first place that I have encountered them in Kansas City.  They are good while hot, but become rather mushy as they cool down.  I cannot remember what the pig tails were.  I know the center contains carrots, surrounded by some form of meat (I think), which is then breaded and fried.  These are served with pureed celery with some hot sauce in it.  It looked like apple sauce, but just tasted hot.  (I think I would have liked these dipped in apple sauce).  They were okay.

After the fried starters we sampled the Melon Salad that was advertized as a special on the big chalk board on the side wall and the Pork Shoulder which our waitress said tasted like pork candy.  She also informed us that they cure their own meat right on site.  After she walked away we both wrinkled up our noses and I said, “Gross! Can you image what that must smell like?  Where do you think they do that?  Do you think they have some rotting pigs hanging from a ceiling in a closet?”   I’d still like to know.  Oh well, the pork was extremely tender and had a nice flavor, it wasn’t very juicy though.  The melon salad was beautiful.  It was just cubed pieces of melon, layered on a plate.  No fancy seasonings or sauces, just fruit.  It was very refreshing. 

For dessert we went back to the fried side.  I wanted the chocolate brownie waffle, but, we shared the fried pies instead.  You get three fried fruit pies, apple, pear and berry, served hot.  They were okay, but not great.  What was great was the small scoop of Mascarpone Ice Cream.  Wow.  I would go back and order just that.  It was very rich, the small scoop was just enough to leave me wanting more, without leaving me filled with regret for having eaten too much of it. 

Being a gastro pub they don’t have bartenders, they have “mixologists”.  I thought I’d try the mixologist on duty out.  I said I wanted something with lemon that wasn’t sweet, he could pick the poison.  What I got was… something with lemon that wasn’t sweet, the poison was vodka.  Not really very inspired.  Oh well, all of that food and two drinks came to only $50.50 before tax and tip.  It turned out to be a fun time; I wish you could have been there with us.

Prickly Pear Soda... in KC?

One day back in May, my 17 year old sauntered into the room and said, “Do you know what I’d really like right now?”  Having no clue, and being an adult, I replied, “Punched in the face?”  (Hey, what’s the use of having a 17 year old around if you can’t act silly once in a while?)  He actually replied “No”, which made us all laugh.  “What I’d really like right now is that cactus lemonade that they served us every afternoon at that hotel we stayed at in Arizona.”  “Oh, yeah,” I responded, my mouth instantly starting to water, “that stuff was great!”  I hadn’t thought about cactus lemonade in years, he was ten or eleven when we were there.   The Buttes Resort in Tempe served ruby red colored Prickly Pear Cactus juice squeezed into a pitcher of lemonade; making it look just like normal pink lemonade, but with a very distinct flavor.  We all observed a moment of silence as we remembered the Cactus Lemonade and how much fun we had on that trip.  After the moment had passed, we all went about our business; after all, there wasn’t anything we could do about that craving here in Kansas City, right?

Image posted by "Frank"

Well, a couple of days later, while checking out the new restaurants section on Urbanspoon, I came across “Little Freshie”, in the photo section, someone with the moniker of “Frank” had posted an image entitled “Lemon Prickly Pear Soda”.   What!  Unbelievable!  This had to be a sign.  I had a new mission, get to Little Freshie and sample that soda!  Well, as it turned out, that mission became almost impossible, trying to triangulate all three of our schedules to be in the same place, at the same time, before 6 PM when Little Freshie closes was tough.  Whew! (**wipes perspiration from forehead**) It took a month, but we finally managed to make this happen.

Three doors down (from the Blue Bird Bistro on 17^th) we were laughin’ and drinkin’ (sodas) and having a party.  Well it wasn’t really a party, but we were having a great time with the very personable woman who was working.  We each ordered a cactus lemonade soda.  As it turned out, they don’t have such a thing, so we settled for Prickly Pear Cactus Sodas, sans the lemonade part.  Unlike the image posted by Frank, our sodas were deep fuchsia colored, my anticipation was high, I grabbed my soda, and took a big swig through the grey and white paper straw… “Hmm… I think this Prickly Pear Soda is a bit too prickly for me.   What do you guys think?”  I said nearly under my breath to the other two, so that the wonderful and kind woman working wouldn't hear.
“It’s really earthy,” responded my son. 
“Do you like it?” 
“It’s really earthy,” came the reply. 
“So, you don’t like it.” 
“It’s really earthy,”  
“Hhhh,” I sighed. 
“I wouldn’t order it again,” was my spouse’s response.   
“So, you don’t like it.” 
“I didn’t say that, it’s just not something that I would order again.”  I nodded my head in agreement.  Oh well, if we ever get back to Tempe, we’ll have something else to look forward to. 

All was not lost though.  They also serve something called French Macarons.  The macarons are like sandwich cookies with two very soft, puffy wafers made of meringue separated by a creamy buttercream middle. We tried the almond, and the Blueberry/Hyacinth.  The Blueberry Hyacinth was our favorite of the two.  We found out that these were from Natasha’s Mulberry and Mott.  Wow.  I gotta go there. 

Little Freshie is cute, cute, cute.  I'm glad it's here.  This whole area around 17th and Summit has really grown up over the past few years to become a great destination for food.  There are quite a few establishments now, all of them are good.  We determined that we had to come back and try a different soda in the very near future.   It ended up an enjoyable time, just as it always does.  I wish you could have been there with us.  

I finally got my goat!

When I first announced to my family that I wanted to eat at G’s Jamaican Cuisine, they asked me what they served there, I told them Curried Goat.  They gave me that “stank face” you get when someone smells something very unpleasant, needless to say, we didn’t go.  That was a little over two years ago now.  I brought it up again and they had forgotten about the goat meat, so they were game to give the place a try.

I first tried goat by accident.  We had spent the morning climbing up and sliding down Dunn’s River Falls, it was now mid-day and our taxi driver had taken us back down the mountain into Ocho Rios to the Market because the Gals wanted to shop.  A couple of us were hungry so we walked over to a guy on the street who was cooking some sort of unrecognizable meat on wooden stakes over coals in an oil barrel that had been cut in two.  It smelled amazingly delicious, so we each ordered one.  We were standing there, holding the stakes, busily gnawing the meat off the bone like a wild bunch of crazed carnivores, when I heard a familiar voice above the quiet roar of the hubbub in the street.  “Do you know what it is you are eating there Man?”  It was our taxi driver, still across the street, standing there, arms crossed, leaning against his Toyota van, a broad smile covering his obviously amused face.  “No!” I replied, looking to my companions for help, each confirming by a shake of the head and a shrug of the shoulders that they had no clue either.  “It’s Rat!” he barked, probably trying to get a reaction, “He probably killed them last night and skinned them this morning, Man!”  Like a scene out of an Abbott and Costello movie, we each immediately stopped eating (and chewing) and stared directly at each other, after a moment’s pause, we shrugged our shoulders in unison and continued eating.  After swallowing, I yelled back, “Who knew rat would taste so good!”  The taxi driver laughed very hard and yelled back, “You’re not like the other Americans Man, You, I like Man.”  Having witnessed first-hand the unfortunate ways in which many Americans act abroad, I have always considered this one of the greatest compliments ever bestowed upon me.  Having heard, and being properly offended by the taxi driver’s remarks, the street vendor informed us that we were not eating rat, but were in fact eating goat that he, himself, had raised.  Nostalgic for my “ramblin’ man” days, I’ve yearned to try the goat at G’s.  It’s the only place that I’ve seen goat on the menu in the central part of the US, or anywhere else I’ve been in the States for that matter.

G’s Jamaican Cuisine is in a little strip mall on the West side of Troost, south of 79^th Street, across from the Troost Market, a gas station with boom cars in the parking lot with their sub woofers blasting so loudly that I could feel it affecting my heart rate across the street.  “This place is a bit sketch!” announced my 17 year old son.  “We’ll be okay.” I reassured him as we walked to the door. Once inside the front door, we stopped, there was a woman and two men at the bar talking, they stopped what they were doing and just stared at us, we, in turn, stared at them.  After a moment of uncomfortable silence, the woman (who turned out to be the waitress), said “Are you going to carry-out, or do you want to eat it here?”  “I would prefer to eat it here,” was my reply.  “Okay, sit wherever you’d like.” 

There were only 3 tables to choose from with four chairs around each in the center of what appeared to be a dance floor.  We chose a table and sat down.  Inside, every vertical plane had been painted by an airbrush artist; making the place very colorful.  There were many ceiling fans pushing the air around, I’m not certain that the air conditioning was on.  It was warm, but not stuffy.

I ordered Curry Goat with fried Plantains and Red Beans and Rice.  The Curry Goat had a nice flavor, it was moist and very tender, what I didn’t like about it were all the small chunks of bone in it.  The Red Beans and Rice was dry and rather bland.  The fried plantains were very ripe and frying them really brought out a slight sweetness, we all liked these.   

My son ordered Curry Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese and fried Plantains.  The Curry Chicken also had a nice flavor, it was also moist and very tender, but it also had bones in it; bummer.  My son liked the mac and cheese; I thought it was just okay, although it was some of the creamiest I’ve ever tried.

My spouse ordered Jerk Chicken, Red Beans and Rice and cooked Cabbage.  The Jerk Chicken was the hit of the night, it had the best flavor.  The waitress had said that it was very spicy hot, but none of us agreed.  It was a bit dry, but the flavor made up for that.  This is what I’ll order when I come back here.  The cooked Cabbage was interesting to me.  Growing up with a father who was a 1^st generation German-Swede, we seemed to have cooked cabbage often, or at least more often than I would have liked.  Instead of being long and stringy and limp, the cooked Cabbage at G’s was chopped into small chunks with some other vegetables.  It was more like warm coleslaw without the dressing, which for me was nice and unexpected. 



Order Counter


Although there were many customers that came and went while we were at G’s, none of them stayed there to eat; they all took their food away with them.  One man walked in the door, took three steps toward the order counter, glanced over at us and stopped dead in his tracks.  “What!?” he exclaimed loudly and looked at the men at the bar.  They shrugged their shoulders and said nothing.  He looked back at us and shook his head no before walking on to the order counter.  I was fully expecting them to begin singing a rousing chorus of “One of these things is not like the other”.  We all laughed. 

Because we were given large portions of food which we could not finish, we ended up boxing it up and carrying it out after all. 

After all these years of patiently waiting, I finally got my goat.  It ended up an enjoyable evening, just as it always does.  I wish you could have been there with us.

Balsano’s Gelato Café

So, my 17 year old came downtown to work in my office to make a little extra cash, I told him he could decide where to go for lunch.  He chose Chipotle…Hhhh.  I couldn’t talk him into anywhere else.  I don’t mind Chipotle, I always get my meal there in a bowl and it is always filling.  Chipotle’s Power and Light location is always bursting at the seams during lunch time and I usually run into people I know, which is fun. 

After lunch we walked across the courtyard to Balsano’s Gelato Café.  He really loved going to Balsano’s when it was on the Plaza and was completely bummed when they closed, through no fault of their own (if you believe all of the rumors).  Sometimes Kansas City is such a small town, anyway, we hadn’t been down to the new location until today.  The Power and Light district isn’t exactly teen friendly, for whatever reason it’s much easier for he and his friends to drive to the Plaza, park and walk around.  The new location is “L” shaped.  There are tables for two next to the exterior’s glass and the counter takes up the inside.  It’s cute although cozy.   

There are many gelato flavors to choose from, he chose Red Velvet Cake and Cheesecake flavors.  I ordered Italian Chocolate Chip.  He raved about how much he liked both flavors; I on the other hand, am not a fan.  To me, gelato should be very smooth and creamy, this tasted like freezer burned ice cream.  They report serving sandwiches, but today, they said they only had egg salad, upon hearing this, a potential customer walked.  I worry about this place’s viability, it was the middle of lunch hour on an 80+ degree day and there were only two other customers inside while outside the P&L was crawling with people.  If it doesn’t work out here, I hope they will try again, maybe in a more family friendly environment. 

KC’s best Mexican Restaurants

Man Eats World is in search of… KC’s best Mexican Restaurants!

Urbanspoon lists 277 Mexican Restaurants in Kansas City at the time I am writing this, making Mexican Restaurants the 3^rd most prolific in town, representing 9.5% of the total number, making it a tie for 3^rd place between them and pizza joints after American cuisine (503) and sandwich shops (395).   Of those that I have tried, the following really stand out for me.  I am going to list the Mexican Restaurants that I like in alphabetical order and the reasons that I like them.  If you are reading this, let me know if you agree or disagree, tell me someplace I haven’t listed and what I should try when I go there.  Help me and other readers find the best Mexican Restaurants in Kansas City.

Dos de Oros (Translation: Two Golds?)

I don’t understand the significance of the name, or even if I have translated it correctly.  I’d love for someone to explain it.  Anyway, this place serves my standard Ameri-Mex favorites with a few twists; they serve their beans whole, not mashed and refried; they’re seasoned nicely and have a really good flavor.  They also serve their dishes sprinkled with white cheese, not yellow (always a plus with me).  I also believe their horchata (a sweet rice milk drink flavored with vanilla and cinnamon) is the best in town, although El Patron serves a pretty good one as well.  Lastly, I like their version of churros, theirs are crunchy instead of soft and served with a scoop of ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup and honey. Nice.

El Camino Real (Translation: The Royal Road)

The Tacos al Pastor are really good here. The seasoned pork is heated on a grill at the front with some pineapple.  I’ve eaten Tacos al Pastor that I’ve purchased from street vendors in Tijuana and Cozumel that I really enjoyed, making me long for them here, these are every bit as good, and the best I’ve had in town.  I’ve also tried the enchiladas and tamales here which I didn’t care for.  The Tacos al Pastor are the reason to come to El Camino Real.  Oh, they also serve bottles of “Mexican” soda.  I like to drink a pineapple soda with my tacos al pastor.

El Patron (Translation: The Protector?)

I’ve tried most things here and I usually now order the combination platter, the Los Tres Grandes.  It is one taco al pastor (pork), one taco de carne asada (beef) and one taco marinero (fish taco). It is lightly breaded tilapia with shredded cabbage, a slice of avocado and pico de gallo, served with a mango salsa. Wow, those flavors were very interesting together. I don’t know if I like these fish tacos best, or the ones made by the folks at Teocali.  The beef taco contained little chunks of marinated steak, not ground or stringy beef with pico de gallo. It had a good flavor as well. The taco al pastor, although good, is my least favorite of the three tacos.  I’ve already stated that the ones at El Camino Real are my favorite.  For the tequila connoisseur there are many options here, for me, it’s fun to try different ones.  El Patron also has the hippest, most modern atmosphere of any restaurant on my list and is the only one that I know of with a rooftop seating area.

Miguel’s Catering and Carry-Out

My spouse works with a young guy who is painfully shy and nearly never speaks, knowing that we like to try new places, one day he walked up and said, “Have you ever tried the Chicken Mole at Miguel’s Catering and Carry-Out?  It’s the best I’ve ever eaten.”, and then promptly walked away.  Stunned by this uncharacteristic outburst, we decided that we really had to try it… he was right.  Just a little store front in an old strip mall on Lamar, there are only a couple of tables, so we do as the name suggests and carry ours out.  They put your order in a tri-sectioned styrofoam container which is not pretty, but keeps it warm on the ride home.  The chicken mole consists of a large portion of cubed chicken smothered in mole.  The chicken is very tender and the mole is the best I’ve had in Kansas City.  Some places sweeten theirs, Miguel does not.  I like my mole unsweetened.  It is served with standard industry fare refried beans and Spanish rice, not impressive, but you’re taking it home so you can eat it with something else.  Oh, beware, they only serve chicken mole on Friday and Saturday nights.  (I found this out the hard way.)

Rudy’s Tenampa Taqueria

For me, the only reason to go to Rudy’s is for the Potato and Chorizo Enchiladas, (and it’s a very good reason). Rudy’s was the first place in KC that I ever saw this item on a menu.  I actually have not seen it on anyone else’s menu.  Anyway, these I really like and these keep me coming back, time after time, year after year.  (Does anybody know what the heck a Tenampa is?  I had nine years of Spanish plus I spent a year in Spain and I don't know what that word means, I can't find an online dictionary that knows either.)

Teocali

It seems rather off the beaten track on a one way street.  I like their Tacos Puerto Vallarta (2 fish tacos), the waitress said that they (along with the shrimp tacos) were the house specialty; the menu says that they were voted "Best in Kansas City", I agree that they are good, but it is a toss-up between these and the ones served by the folks at El Patron for the best in class category. The Tilapia is lightly breaded and seasoned. It was moist and flakey, very well prepared.  They are served with a cup of whole pinto beans and Spanish rice.

These are my favorites and what I like to order while there, do you agree, disagree?  What else have I been missing?