Jerusalem Cafe (Kansas City, MO)

This is the fifth and last in a series of posts on my last meals in the Kansas City area.  To start from the beginning of the series, click here.

After an afternoon chilling out at Tea Drops, R. and I went to the nearby Jerusalem Cafe (also in the bustling Westport neighborhood) for a quick authentic Middle Eastern dinner. Jerusalem Cafe has a very casual, diner-style atmosphere, with walls decorated with images of the Holy City and plaques of awards it has received and newspaper or magazine features of the restaurant.  It was from one of these plaques that I learned that the Westport area used to have a bad rep for being crime-ridden around 1989-1991, and because nobody wanted to go to Westport, business at Jerusalum Cafe suffered and owner Fred Azzeh had contemplated selling it.  But things turned around in 1991 when Westport merchants worked to clean up the area and rebuild its image, an attempt that was clearly successful because today, Westport is one of the coolest parts of Kansas City!

Jerusalem Cafe had us hooked the first time we visited and tried one of their pastry plates.  We kept coming back and ordering the same thing.  This time was no different, except we shared the meal as we were not very hungry and we know from experience that the pastry plate is rather huge.  First, we started with a lentil soup:

Lentil Soup

And then shared the chicken pastry plate, which is a crispy phyllo pastry wrap with marinated chicken, herbs, and veggies, served with rice and more veggies.  There is also a vegetarian version of the pastry plate, which is good as well.

Chicken Pastry Plate

And here's a look of the inside of the wrap:

Chicken Pastry Plate

This is the end of my "Last Meals in Kansas City" series, but please feel free to check out the rest of my blog here.  I'd have to say that after a number of visits to the KCMO, I've definitely developed some favorites that I know I will miss.  I will leave with a slide show tribute to Kansas City:

Restaurant info:
Jerusalem Cafe
431 Westport Rd, Kansas City, MO 64111
(816)756-2770 

Tea Drops (Kansas City, MO)

This is the fourth in a series of posts on my last meals in the Kansas City area.  To start from the beginning of the series, click here.

I love tea, mostly because it is my major source of caffeine since I quit coffee in 2002 (long story).  As such, I love a good tea shop, and Tea Drops in the Westport area of Kansas City is one of my favorites partly because of their extensive selection of loose leaf teas, and partly because they make a mean bubble drink.

Corner seating at Tea Drops

Tea Drops is sunny and spacious, and makes a perfect place to pull out a laptop and work for a few hours (free wifi) while sipping delicious tea, which is typically what we do when we visit Tea Drops.  I usually get one of their bubble drinks.  I used to really love bubble tea, a flavored beverage containing chewy tapioca pearls that originated in Taiwan, when it became popular in Toronto in the '90s during my high school years.  Made sense, because my high school was about 50% Asian and located in a town where 31% of the residents is ethnically Chinese.  After a while, though, I think I just got sick of it, particularly because many places just do such an awful job with it.  So I was admittedly a bit skeptical when I decided to try my first taro bubble drink with soy milk at Tea Drops - I mean, let's face it, Kansas City isn't exactly the first city you'd think of when you ponder the question, "Where do I find a good bubble tea?"  But it turns out I couldn't have been more wrong!  Tea Drops' bubble drink was one of the best I've ever had.  Maybe it's the soy milk - who knows - but the drink had just the right amount of sweetness and milkiness without being too overwhelmingly sweet or tasting too diluted or watery.  It was just perfect.

I was just about to order the taro bubble drink during this last visit when I noticed that they had a combo that was even better - taro coconut.  And boy, it was was heavenly!  Wish I could have stomached another.

Taro Coconut Bubble Drink with soy milk

I had mentioned earlier, too, that Tea Drops has a wide selection of loose leaf teas.  My personal favorites are the fruity ones, because they are so different and so full of fruity flavor.  Here are three I bought as a souvenir:

Strawberry Fields Tea, Crannyberry Black Tea, & Summer Fruit Tea

Close-up of the Crannybery Black Tea

Tea Drops is definitely one thing I will miss about Kansas City!

Next: Jerusalem Cafe in Kansas City

Restaurant Info:
Tea Drops
4111 Pennsylvania Ave, Kansas City, MO 64111
(816)531-9600
On the web: http://www.teadrops.us/index.html

Foster's Martini and Wine Bar (St. Joseph, MO)

This is the third in a series of posts on my last meals in the Kansas City area.  To start from the beginning of the series, click here.

For a completely different view of St. Joseph, MO, I'd like to introduce you to the casually classy Foster's Martini and Wine Bar in the downtown area.  This is undoubtedly my favorite place in St. Joe.  The bar has a bit of a contemporary artsy ambiance to it, what with the bright blue walls decorated with busy art displays.  The seating feels comfortable and the at night the lighting is dim.  It is elegant, yet down-to-earth at the same time.

As a martini and wine bar, its focus is clearly on drinks.  In fact, while Foster's is undergoing renovation/expansion, there is no kitchen and they are therefore not currently serving their small number of appetizer items.  But their drinks are really, really delicious.  My absolute favorite is the chocolate martini, which pretty much tastes just like an ice cream bar.  They also have a version made with cherry juice and one with banana liquor.  I have had both before and they are very, very good.  The best chocolate martinis I've ever had.  This time, I had the plain chocolate martini, and it goes down so easy I downed the first one in a matter of minutes.  And it was so delicious I had to get a second one. ;)

Chocolate Martini
Vodka, Irish Creme, and Creme de Cocoa!

In the past I've also had the Pink Lady and the Love Potion No. 9, both of which I liked.  R. had gotten the new Strawberry Fields (though without the alcohol) based on our waitress' suggestion, and it was highly refreshing.  Judging by their expansion plans, I'm guessing Foster's is doing quite well.  It is great to see a place like this thrive in little St. Joe.

Restaurant info:
Foster's Martini & Wine Bar
726 Felix St, St. Joseph, MO 64501
(816)364-4400
On the web: http://www.fostersmartinibar.com
Bonus: Free Wifi 

Bandana's Bar-B-Q (St. Joseph, MO)

This is the second in a series of posts on my last meals in the Kansas City area.  To start from the beginning of the series, click here.

Saint Joseph is a small city (pop. 76,780) about an hour north of Kansas City.  As far as I'm aware, St. Joe has three main claims to fame: 1) It was one of the two points of origin of the Pony Express, a mail delivery service that operated between 1860 and 1861 that connected St. Joe and Sacramento, CA; 2) Jesse James was killed there in 1883; 3) It is the current training camp of the Kansas City Chiefs.  A couple shots of a pretty part of St. Joe, by the Missouri River:

St.Joseph Riverwalk,
by the Missouri River

Missouri River at Dusk

OK, back to the topic at hand: Food.  Being a not-so-Metropolitan area in the Midwest, St. Joe does not exactly have the culinary diversity that one would expect in a larger city.  While it does have a handful of independently-owned, mom-and-pop restaurant (mostly of the meat-and-potato variety), St. Joe is mostly dominated by chains.  That's not to say I have a problem with chains, however, if they serve a good product.  In fact, one of the restaurants I enjoy visiting in St. Joe is Bandana's Bar-B-Q, which has franchise locations across Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.  The one thing that has kept me coming back is their sauces, particularly the Sweet & Smoky sauce:

Bandana's sauces: Sweet & Smoky, Spicy, Chicaco Sweet, KC Style, and Original.

The Sweet & Smoky sauce is a St. Louis-style sauce that's basically a blend of the sweetness and tanginess of the Kansas City-style, the spiciness of the Texas-style, and the mustardy goodness of the Southeastern-style.  Some of the main ingredients in Bandana's Sweet & Smoky sauce are brown sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, mustard, and smoke flavor.

I usually get the combo platter at Bandana's with two meats, two sides, and two slices of garlic bread.  For my meats I usually get chicken (dark meat) and ribs, though this time around I went for the beef instead of the ribs.  I should have gotten the ribs after all as the ribs are far superior to the beef, in my humble opinion, but the chicken was excellent as ever.  In any case, they smoke all their chicken, beef, ribs, and pork in a pit of hardwood for several hours, which gives the meat a smoky flavor but it's not too overwhelming.

Combo Platter with Chicken and Beef

For one of the sides I always upgrade to the fried corn on the cob, served with dripping butter.  It's bad, I know, but you don't exactly go to a BBQ restaurant expecting to eat healthy. ;)  I'd have to say though, that the corn used to be better but lately they've been overcooking it.  For the other side item, I got the BBQ beans.

I claim no expertise on BBQ, and I certainly acknowledge that much of it depends on what style of BBQ and how much smokiness one prefers.  I would also admit that Bandana's isn't perfect in every way, but I do prefer it over some of the other popular BBQ chains such as Gates in Kansas City or the much larger Famous Dave's.  Luckily, it is possible to order Bandana's sauces via their website, so at least there is always an option for a taste of Bandana's at home.

Next: Foster's Martini & Wine Bar in St. Joseph

Restaurant info:

Bandana's Bar-B-Q

4225 Frederick
St. Joseph, MO 64506
(816) 671-1166

On the web: http://www.bandanasbbq.com

Thai Place Restaurant (Kansas City, MO)

Last weekend I visited Kansas City, MO and a town about an hour north called St. Joseph.  This might well have been my last visit to the area for a while (or possibly ever), so I took the opportunity to revisit some of my favorite dining establishments in the area.  The next few blog posts will feature my "last meals" in KCMO.

One of my favorite restaurants in Kansas City is Thai Place Restaurant, in the cute historic Westport neighborhood of Kansas City.  I like Thai Place not so much for its curry - it's good, but I wouldn't say it's significantly better than other Thai restaurants I've been to.  However, I do love the quiet atmosphere, the beautiful decor, the friendly and speedy service, and the desserts.

The unique Thai Place menu

The inside of the restaurant is well-decorated, with Thai paintings lining the walls, some of which feature the Thai royal family.  We specifically requested a window seat so I can take advantage of some natural lighting for my photos. :)

I am a huge curry fan, so 9.9 times out of 10 I'll order curry at a Thai restaurant.  OK, make that 10 times out of 10.  For my last meal here, I ordered the Penang Curry with vegetables and tofu which was tasty as usual:

Penang Curry with Vegetables and Tofu

I only ate half my entree, as I needed to save room for the memorable dessert I had had at Thai Place two years ago when I celebrated my birthday here.  It was memorable partly because Thai Place serves the ever-so-hard-to-find taro/ube ice cream - something I had been unable to locate anywhere in DC where I was living at the time, and something I have yet to see in Pittsburgh.  As an aside, taro and ube (purple yam) are actually two different things, but often confused with one another. It was unclear which flavor Thai Place actually served because it was identified as both on the menu.  I suspect that it may actually be ube because of its bright lavender color (just like 99% of the desserts out there identified - or misidentified - as taro), because I know for a fact that fresh taro ice cream is actually nearly white in color, while ube ice cream is dark purple.  Whatever it really is, taro/ube ice cream has always been one of my favorites.

Anyway, I digress.  On this visit, R. and I shared the dessert we had had here two years ago, the Thai Place Dessert Plate.  It combines three of their desserts: 1) the Coco Tower, which is basically two large scoops of coconut ice cream in crispy thin spring roll wraps, 2) the Baked Coconut Custard, and 3) Fried Banana topped with honey.  Our server knew we had wanted some taro/ube ice cream for our dessert, and allowed us to substitute one of the scoops of coconut ice cream with taro/ube ice cream.  Perfect!
 

The Thai Place Dessert Plate

Everything on this plate was ridiculously good.  The coconut ice cream, complete with coconut flakes (tasted fresh, too) was particularly fabulous.  The always-satisfying taro/ube ice cream is at the bottom of the "tower" so it's a bit hard to see from the photo above. Here's a closer look:

Taro/Ube Ice Cream

We were completely stuffed after this meal we had to take a long walk afterwards, but it was so satisfying!

Next: Bandana's Bar-B-Q in St. Joseph

Restaurant info:

Thai Place Restaurant

4130 Pennsylvania Ave, Kansas City, MO 64111

(816)753-8424

On the web: http://www.kcthaiplace.com