Quick Bites

**Last weekend we had an exceptionally romantic meal at Cafe des Amis in Parkville. I love how cozy the dining rooms are, and how wonderful the service. I love long leisurely meals where no one leaves the check and then tells you not to rush; at Cafe des Amis you sit and sip your wine and finish your conversations (and eavesdrop on those around you) and then ask for the check when you're ready.

By far my favorite part of the meal was the mussels. Their Moules Marinieres Facon Odile are steamed in sherry wine with shallots and garlic and finished with cream. I wanted to ask for a straw to fully clean the bowl when the bread from our bread basket was gone, but I thought better of it. And I've thought about those mussels every day since, which I think means that they were exceptionally delicious. The rest of our meal was so good - but not mussels-good. I think I'm going to start using that as a new unit of measurement. I'm obsessed.

Cafe des Amis
112 1/2 Main St in Parkville, MO
816*587*6767

**Yesterday, we spun the lunch wheel at work and were ordered by fate to eat Chinese food. I love our lunch wheel - it has been altered to suit our favorites and weed out the spaces that always make us spin again, like "Donuts." It takes all the painful indecision out of lunchtime and tends to lean heavily toward the "Indian Buffet" space we created. It is a magical lunchtime tool - if you'd like to use a virtual version, try the Wheel of Lunch.

We decided to try someplace new to us and so we ventured out to Pei Wei, which is the fast casual concept from the PF Changs people. I loved my lunch - the Thai Dynamite with chicken had a zippy Sriracha chili sauce with Thai basil, garlic, and soy and was served with a huge mound of brown rice. The order of edamame was completely unnecessary but good, and I saw so many other tasty things whizzing by our booth that I hope we spin Chinese again next time.

Pei Wei Asian Diner
9222 Metcalf in OPKS
or
15141 W 199th St in Olathe

Genghis Khan

I like Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbecue. It is loads better than that BD's place out in Johnson County; they have excellent cocktails, cool photographs up on the walls and I just get a really good vibe every time I'm there. They're always really kind to the boy, and I like talking to the owner when she makes her rounds to make sure that everything was good and that we're happy. I especially like the location up north, in the Shops at Boardwalk at I-29 and Barry Rd.

Sometimes, I'm just hungry for a giant bowl of broccoli and edamame cooked over outrageously high heat by men wielding wooden paddles.

This week, on our lunch outing, my Mom veered from the barbecue to order one of the specials listed on the board outside - it was shocking! Unheard of! I don't even look at the menu anymore! Now (thanks, Mom) I have a serious quandry on my hands. Her special was so delicious that, were they to make it a regular menu item, I would be unable to order anything else. It was the Sriracha Shrimp - and it was amazing. The big beautiful fat shrimp, very lightly breaded and perfectly cooked, were served in a bowl atop shredded romaine lettuce and dressed with a creamy but slightly spicy sauce that had a color that reminded me of light curry and a taste that was smooth with a hint of coconut milk. It was served with Taiwanese Sesame Bread, which was a chewy delight with loads of sesame flavor.

Just a tip from me to you: if they offer it, order it.

Genghis Khan Mongolian BBQ
3906 Bell in Midtown
816*753*3600
or
8634 N Boardwalk
816*587*8883

Matsu

Sushi always ends up as celebratory food. I don't just get sushi for lunch or eat supermarket sushi when I get the craving - I wait, and then when we have an occasion to celebrate, we go for good sushi. Sometimes we wait too long between sushi celebrations and then we over-celebrate, and when they bring the giant tray or boat covered with those lovely rolls they look at us like we've gotten in way over our heads. Once, the waitress laughed directly at us for the amount of sushi we ordered. I felt a little humiliated, but mostly excited because I was still going to eat that beautiful sushi. So there.

We used to try different sushi houses in town - we've driven out to Sakura (they have an awesome sushi train), eaten a few times at Jun (which has a devoted clientele), and just somehow settled on Matsu as our favorite. I like the atmosphere and the waitstaff and, of course, the food.

We're devotees of the Spider roll and the Philadelphia roll, and just this time tried the Tempura Yam roll, which was delicious. With an order of edamame, some seaweed salads, and a big bottle of Sapporo, nothing says "Hooray for me!" like sushi.

Matsu
427 Westport Rd
816*531*2602

small bites

• One of my most favorite recent bites was the Jalapeno and Cheese Tamales at Tarahumara (1001 W 87th Street in Overland Park). Perfectly moist and surprisingly hot and spicy. Sooo good.
  
• Enjoyed last week's KU game at the Tower Tavern on Martini Corner (31st and Oak in KCMO). Lots of TVs, excellent soft pretzels with beer cheese dip, and really good 12" pizzas. The pizzas had crusts that were both crunchy and chewy, great toppings (BBQ Chicken pizza with cream cheese and applewood smoked bacon...yum), and one was enough for two people, when paired with their excellent salads.
  
• Arun Thai Place (7th and Walnut in downtown KCMO) was home to the spiciest meal I've eaten in recent memory. You know how you order something "hot," expecting something less than hot, and then it comes out exactly as hot as it should? It was a deliriously endorphin-inducing experience. My Phad Kee Mow was incredible...and even hotter as leftovers the next day.
  

Malay Cafe

Whenever people tell me something is really good and they go on and on and on about it, I immediately distrust their suggestion. Whatever it is. Really and truly popular things - things that get the most buzz - turn me off a little. I don't know exactly what this says about me, but I choose to believe that it says that I am outrageously stubborn and leave it at that.
It's that stubbornness that kept me away from the Malay Cafe for four years, which I feel pretty stupid about at this point. Stubbornness kept me away, but stupidity will not keep me from eating there twice in one week.
I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves on this one:




So, in summary: believe the hype. Malay Cafe is yummy.

Malay Cafe
6003 NW Barry Road
816*741*3616

Red Dragon House

We live just East of downtown, and at least three times a week we drive to the Quality Hill YMCA so that I can feel a little better about all the eating out I love to do. Last week construction forced us to change our normal route and we drove past the Red Dragon House on 8th, which I had to admit I had never even laid eyes on.
We stopped in last night for dinner and it was like stepping back into the Chinese restaurants of my childhood. From the script on the menu to the paper Chinese Zodiac placemats, this Dragon and her date, an Ox, had a dinner heavily steeped in nostalgia.
The food is good, basic Chinese-American fare. I had to order Sweet and Sour Chicken simply because it is what I would have done as a child - I wanted to eat the memory. We the Sweet and Sour Chicken, Chicken in Garlic Sauce, Crab Rangoon and Egg Rolls and our meal, with tax, was less than $25. It is the perfect place for a downtown lunch - they have all the standard lunch specials from Monday to Sunday 11am to 3pm.

Red Dragon House
312 W 8th Street
816*221*1388