Monday, March 7, 2011

Jia Joy

We visited Jia Restaurant in Leawood for Chinese takeout after noticing the 100% positive rating on Urban Spoon.  The menu is extensive and covers most Chinese American favorites.  We ordered Lemon Chicken, Kung Pao Beef, Chicken Lo Mein, pork fried rice, and Steamed Dumplings.

The takeout packaging was smart, with my lemon chicken sauce separate from the breaded chicken, which kept the breading nice and crispy.  I was also pleased that they offered brown rice as an option.

My rice was slightly overcooked, and the breaded chicken was more dough than chicken.  However, my guests raved about the Chicken Lo Mein and dumplings.  My little daughter was grabbing lo mein and chicken pieces off that plate.  She clearly likes salty food.  It was hilarious to watch her slurping up the noodles and getting sauce on her chin.  I was very happy to see her actually enjoying food!  We'll have to order that dish more often.

As for the Kung Pao Beef, there were mushrooms in the dish.  The wonderful husband is allergic to mushrooms.  SO, basically I can't tell you whether it was good or not, as he was very nervous to eat it, even with all of the mushrooms removed.  He also noted it wasn't as spicy as he had hoped it would be.

The staff were friendly and helpful.  All in all, I would say it was a good value.  The food was high quality, a step above average Chinese.  I believe we will be back!

3.5/5 stars

Jia Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Deli Disappointment

Continuing my downtown Deli tour, I visited Market 3 KC today. I don't know what's up with the River Market area sandwich community, but upon entering, I again had no idea where to go to order. Deli owners - put up signs that say "Order Here"! If you don't, your patrons feel uncomfortable. Also, once I ordered, I was uncertain how to proceed thereafter. What I discovered after wandering around a bit, is that aside from the sandwiches, you basically help yourself to everything else you need. Soup is at the end of the salad bar. They will ring you up once your sandwich is complete. It is all quite a bit confusing.

The market is clean, with a large kitchen. The menu is relatively simple.

I ordered a BLT on wheat with cheddar and helped myself to a pint of lentil soup. Also on the menu today were corn and shrimp chowder and a tomato based andouille sausage soup.

The BLT was not particularly special. I hoped for the price to get an herbed aoili or really fantastic bread. But it was fairly pedestrian.

The lentil soup was warm and comforting, but really quite bland. Almost no herbs, lacking in salt, and almost seemed like it was a combination of 50% water/50% vegetable broth. And I found a whole bay leaf in my portion that would have been a horrible surprise if I hadn't seen it before the spoon went in my mouth. Chef, remove the bay leaves! They aren't palatable!  Many of the lentils also weren't completely cooked.  They were harder than al dente.

Sad to say, the highlight of my meal was the iced tea, which was strong and flavorful. And I do love my iced tea. For the money spent, I really found myself wishing I had taken my hard earned money to Happy Gillis in Columbus Park, where I could have spent the same amount for twice the meal.

The market is clean, ingredients are fresh, and the food is filling. However, the chef needs to step up the efforts in terms of flavors and originality.

$14.00 for a BLT with cheddar, a pint of lentil and vegetable soup, garden veggie chips, and a large iced tea.

2/5 stars

Market 3 on Urbanspoon