For lunch, I revisited Master Wok in Olathe. It is one of three locations for the Chinese restaurant. I believe this is the most attractive Asian restaurant in Olathe and the people working here are very nice and do an excellent job on the food. At noon they offer over 20 complete meals for $6.50 or less.

The food here is old school, the kind of food I found in Chinese restaurants 30 years ago.

Master Wok

I began with $7.49 order of hot wings. It was a large serving, with 6 complete wings, not the thirds of wings which so many places serve. They looked a little better than they were, but they were pretty good with crispy skin and a slightly spicy sauce. I think a little more sauce would have made all the difference.

I completed the meal with a second appetizer, the $4.49 Red Pepper Hummus with Toasted Pita Wedges. The hummus was better than I find in the grocery stores, but not as good as the Mediterranean restaurants in the area. Still, it went well with the hot pita bread.

Linda joined me for supper at Chosun Korean Barbeque in Overland Park. I had the bulgogi, think slices of rib eye which were prepared on small gas grills built into the center of our dining table. Linda had the chicken bulgogi. It was prepared in the kitchen and was much more garlicky.

The side dishes were so much better than those I had at the nearby Choga Korean Restaurant last week!

rib eye cooking at the table at Chosun Korean Barbeque

"In memory of Warren G. Harding, twenty ninth President of the United States, who visited Hutchinson Kansas June 23, 1923 and harvested wheat at this place, presented by the school children of Reno County Kansas, replaced by the Hutchinson Optimist Club 1975"

I continued to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. There were a small group of white-tailed deer beside the road as I entered the park, but for the most part the only birds I saw were flocks of Canada Geese at a distance,. One nice exception was these two Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus).

I also saw 3 coyotes, though I was disappointed with the way their photos came out.

During the drive back, I stopped to have lunch at Bella Casa restaurant in McPerson, which was recommended by the new Kansas An Explorers Guide, but it was closed and replaced by Time Out Sports Bar and Grill. A sports bar probably makes more sense for this family owned restaurant attached to a bowling alley.

The chicken wings (8 thirds for $6.99) had crispy skin and a pretty good flavor, though they weren't very hot considering they offer four flavors and I asked for the hottest. I was wishing they had come with blue cheese dressing instead of ranch and didn't realize there were salad dressings on the hamburger fixings bar.

The fish on the $9.99 fish and chips were called rockfish and tasted like fish sticks. The "fresh cut" fries were not fresh cut and were lightly battered. On the other hand, the coleslaw and hushpuppies that came with the fish and chips were pretty good.

I think they may serve other dishes that I would have more enjoyed.

Back in the Kansas City area, Linda joined me in the evening and we had our final meal of Kansas City Restaurant Week, at the Capital Grille on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. 

We started with an appetizer which was not on the Restaurant Week menu - pan fried calamari with hot cherry peppers. The $13 appetizer was very good and pretty spicy if you ate the peppers. The serving was quite generous and by the time we finished it, I was already getting full.

My 14 oz bone-in Kona crusted dry aged sirloin with shallot butter was  a perfect medium rate. The tender steak was wonderful and I sliced of thin slices to savor. Linda's 8 oz Filet Mignon probably should have been butterflied. It first came out medium (she had ordered well done) was still slightly underdone after being returned to the kitchen for additional cooking.

Our server said that Restaurant Week had brought many people to the restaurant and they were already having a record Sunday with 400 people. They would be righting a check to Harvesters for over $10,000!

Tundra Swans
 

Time Out Sports Bar & Grill
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Kona crusted sirloin

The first stop of the trip was at the European BakeShop in Hartford, where I bought an almond croissant from the owner, Evelyne O'Connor. The smell of the fresh bread in the bakery was wonderful!

Then I was back on the road and south to downtown El Dorado to Susie's Chili Parlor & Other Fine Foods. The large old storefront is quite attractive. 

I had big hopes for Susie's and the meal started out well when the "small" serving of chili turned out to be a good sized bowl with a large piece of corn bread. I did need to add hot sauce and pepper to the chili, but it was quite good, flavorful, without too many beans.

The special as a chicken fried steak diner for $7.95. It was a good deal, including salad, corn and mashed potatoes & gravy, but the steak wasn't fresh made, the potatoes appeared to come from a box and it was canned corn. I ate only the not very large steak.

Before leaving El Dorado, I walked a block to the Coutts Memorial Museum of Art, enjoying several sculptures along Main Street on the way. The 40 year old museum is in an attractive old bank building and the three floors included galleries with the work of many 20th Century artists. A large portion of the collection is devoted to the western United States, but there are works by European artists as well.

I drove on to the Kauffman Museum in North Newton. On the Saturday closest to Kansas Day, the Kauffman Museum has a special day of events for children. The museum was packed with families, a various groups had set up tables through out the galleries where they had, games, gifts of things for children to do. Best of all, WenDee Rowe LaPlant and Marci Penner of the Kansas Explorers Club were there signing copies of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Guidebook. I hadn't seen these lovely ladies since May, and I enjoyed spending a half hour getting caught up each other's lives and sharing some of our latest Kansas finds.

On the way out of town, I drove to Newton's Centennial Park to photograph the Blue Sky Sculpture, which is one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Art. 

I race on to Hutchinson, Kansas to eat at R-B Drive In before it closed for the weekend at 4PM. I love this little 62 year old drive in with its fresh made burgers, fries and onion rings. They are simple burgers with American cheese, mustard, ketchup, onion and pickle on a somewhat smashed down bun, but they taste great and may be the best burgers in Kansas for the money.

Since I was only a block away, it was a good chance to revisit the Reno County Museum. The small free museum is one of my favorite Kansas museums. The exhibits are very well done and are constantly changing. The current featured exhibit is titled "Bisonte Hotel: The Best in the West" and tells the story of a Harvey House which was once at the the corner of 2nd and Walnut in Hutchinson.

The third floor of the museum with its Oodleplex interactive children's area was packed with families having a good time.

The last stops of the day were in and around the nearby community of Yoder. The small town is the center for a large number of Mennonite and Amish farms. 

Yoder Meats is featured on the Kansas Specialty Foods page and is overdue for a page of its own. I enjoyed browsing through the wide variety of somewhat exotic products and ended up purchasing smoked roast beef, house made sausage, elk jerky and buffalo summer sausage.

I then drove many of the nearby roads looking for photo opportunities at the area farms, but few January scenes really stood out for me and my only photography was at the Amish Cemetery.

Finally, I visited Bull's Eye Grill. This little place looked neat and I had high hopes after hearing that they did "Build Your Own Burger" with a wide variety of toppings, but burger and fries were ordinary.

Susie's Chili Parlor
 

Coutts Museum
 
 

WenDee Rowe LaPlant and Marci Penner

Blue Sky Sculpture

R-B Drive In

Bisonte Hotel exhibit
 
 

Yoder Meats

Bull's Eye Grill

Supper was at Choga Korean Restaurant, which is the oldest Korean Restaurant in metropolitan Kansas City. It had been about a year since the last time I was there, but the prices appeared unchanged. The nak ji bogum (stir fired baby octopus with onions in a sweet and spicy sauce) was good, but the side dishes were less interesting and less tasty. They used to include more types of kimchi, tiny anchovies and steamed egg. It would help if they brought the sides out right away, instead of waiting until the entree was ready.

Before leaving the Metcalf 103 Shopping Center, I stopped at D' Bronx Deli & Pizzeria for a slice of pizza, going with mushroom, onion, anchovy and pepperoni as the toppings, for a total of $4.85 for the slice. The medium thickness pizza was very good, with a lot of spicy flavor despite having little sauce. My only complaint was that the pepperoni was sliced so thin that I couldn't taste it with the other flavors.

Choga Korean Restaurant

D' Bronx Deli & Pizzeria

The corn and ribs were both average. I would have liked the thick cut fries to be more crisp, but they were still good. The best item was the burnt ends, which among the best I have had. 

I strongly wish they would go to metal forks and knives.

Supper was our third Restaurant Week meal. This time it was Story, in The Village Shopping Center in Prairie Village, Kansas. The seating for couples was along the wall and the small tables were quite close to each other. The seating for larger parties gave them more privacy.

We arrived before 6:30, so entrees from the regular menu were 1/2 price. Linda ordered the chicken breast off the regular menu, The roasted chicken was served on a bed of cinnamon spaetzle, Missouri pairs, roasted grapes and honey sage sauce.

I ordered off the Restaurant Week menu, selecting the arugula salad, braised beef short ribs and doughnuts with
vanilla pastry cream, salted caramel and passion fruit syrup. I'm afraid that the entrees were the only part of the meal which I enjoyed.

At the end of the meal we stopped at the adjacent Better Cheddar, a great neighborhood store for cheeses, chocolates and other specialty foods.
 

Story
 
 
 
 
 
 

Better Cheddar

For supper, Mary MacNaughton and Jesi joined me for the "KC Originals/James Beard Chef Lecture Series" at the Broadmoor Bistro in Overland Park. Tonight's guest chef was Tom Condron - Executive Chef and owner of The Liberty in Charlotte, North Carolina. Chef Tom was less outgoing and spent less time with us than some of the others, but I still enjoyed the 5 course meal.

The dish at right was course 4: slow cooked free range pork belly roast with sautéed quince, apples & duck fat roasted potatoes.

pork belly roast

We returned to Kansas City, Missouri for supper. Our second Kansas City Restaurant Week meal was at the Plaza III Steakhouse on the Country Club Plaza. It was the first time I had returned to the Plaza III in over 20 years.

We had a great meal. The Restaurant Week menu began with the choice of salad or steak soup. Both were very good. A larger serving of the soup would make a great meal on its own. The entrees were fillet, salmon and prime rib, so we tried all three. The asparagus side was a little under cooked, but the entrees and roasted red potatoes were great. The horseradish sauce made the prime rib.

Dessert was a choice of chocolate truffle cake or Key lime pie. We were already full, but they were so good that we cleaned our plates. I really liked the Key lime pie.

Prime rib with steamed asparagus and roasted red potatoes

Added a new review of the Crawford County Historical Museum in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Both dishes were only OK and it may have been the smallest chicken fried steak I have seen. I will have to take their word for having gorgonzola compound butter. I couldn't taste any gorgonzola.

All of the services were small, except the coleslaw which had a tangy taste that I didn't care for.

Updated the Olathe Restaurant and Attraction Guide for 2012.

I sampled ribs, ham, turkey, brisket, fries, corn nuggets and beans. My favorite item was the fresh cut, shoestring French fries. They could have been just a little crisper, but they were very good. The beans seemed just sweet, with little other taste to me, but Jesi liked them. We all though the corn nuggets were good.

Cutters promotes their ribs as their bet item and they were my favorite of the four meats. They were tender and juicy. The ham and turkey were average. The brisket was dry and tasteless.

I will be trying Cutter's again.

The menu changes daily and is posted on a white board behind the counter where you order. It appears that most people get their food to go. The only beverages available are water, sweet tea, lemonade and fruit punch. The food was good, but probably not worth driving any distance to get. THe cabbage was the best of the side dishes tried. The fried chicken was a little dry. The corn bread was good, despite being cold.

Linda ordered gluten free fried catfish of the Oh Boy! menu, while I had Oh Boy! fried chicken and Phat Thai off The Orient menu. The food game out at completely different times. My Phat Thai came out quickly. It didn't interest Linda, but I think THe Orient's traditional Thai rice noodle dish is as good as I have ever had anywhere. 

I had finished that dish before Linda's fish came out. Her catfish was good. It came with garlic, red mashed potatoes. They had left off the gravy, but Linda felt the potatoes were very good as they were.

THat dish was almost gone by the time that my chicken came. The chicken was battered in gluten free, rice flour, crispy and very flavorful. Unfortunately it wasn't the pieces I had ordered. There were two thighs and two drumsticks, when there was supposed to be two wings, a drumstick and a thigh. We really wanted at least one wing, but we didn't complain, since we weren't going to wait 20-30 minutes for them to come out.

The server recognized that the food came out haphazardly and they brought out sides of coleslaw and macaroni and cheese in an attempt to compensate.

We followed lunch with a KU men's basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse. The Iowa State Cyclones gave the Jayhawks a good run for 25 minutes, but KU won handily and the loud home arena. Some of my photos from the game are available at my gallery at Fine Arts America.
 

Jeff Withey scoring for KU early in the first half

The sauce is a thin, spicy sauce unlike the ketchup based sauces that most Kansas City bar-b-q restaurants serve. It isn't my favorite, but it works well with Bryant's meat and lard fried fresh fries. I usually go light on sauce, but almost drench the meat and fries at Bryant's.

We stayed in Olathe for supper at The Other Place. It was the first time I have been to The Other Place in the evening. Linda had the $10.50 combo platter which included hand battered chicken fingers, mozzarella stix, fried mushrooms and onion rings served with marinara, honey mustard and ranch. It is a lot of food for the money and the mushrooms were very good.

I had the $8.50 taco salad. Most of the ingredients were very good, but they should have been a little more selective on the lettuce.

We began with the appetizer combo ($9.99 for two people or $18.99 for four). It was a lot of food with Falafel, baba gannosh, hummus, stuffed grape leaves, kibbeh, and muhammara plus yogurt and chili sauces. The Kibbeh and muhammara were both new to me and I particularly liked the sweet taste of the muhammara (roasted red chili pepper paste, walnuts, pomegranate and olive oil). 

Linda had the kabob combo with lamb, beef, chicken and kifta kabobs, while I had lamb chops. Each dish was $13.99 with rice, vegetables and the choice of salad or soup. I was surprised to get four large chops for that price.

Our serve brought a complimentary dessert with three types of baklava.

Shahrazad appetizer combo

Wanting to have a good sample of the food, I ordered quite a bit, starting with the $6.95 Canh Ga Rut Zuing (2 boneless chicken wings stuffed with black mushrooms, ground pork and angel hair rice noodles). The sweet house chili sauce was two sweet for my taste. I think I would have enjoyed the dish more with the sauce on the side.

When I ordered the $7.50 Ban Bo Hue (Hue style spicy beef noodle soup), the server asked if I had tried it before and warned that some people didn't care for the fishy flavor of the broth. The broth was my favorite part of the dish. The meat in the dish (pork brisket & Vietnamese ham) did little for me. I want to try some of the other soups here.

The $10.95 Muc/Tom Rang Muoi (Salted Crispy squid) was my favorite dish.

In the evening, Linda joined me for dinner at Lucky Brewgrille in Mission. The ten year old restaurant came here from Aggieville in Manhattan, Kansas. At first glance it is a sports bar, but the food is a level above that at sports bars.

The $9 creamy cheese crab dip was a bit of a surprise, it was warm and a little runny, but tasted good. Linda's $17 cedar plank smoked salmon filet topped with marinated tomatoes and onions was quite good. 

The $24, 14 ounce Star Canyon Ribeye with two sides was chili crusted and seared over a hot flame. The medium rare was perfect and I enjoyed the steak a lot, though it was more salty than I would choose. I selected one side of mushrooms and it was huge and came with a lot of minced garlic. It was great if you like intense flavors.

Star Canyon Ribeye

We started with shrimp scampi and Linda went with the Italian sausage dinner, while I had the steak Amogio. All was good, but there was nothing that stood out like the service.

But today it was about the pizza. Most people outside Chicago don't realize that Chicago also has thin crust pizza. The $13, 12" all meat pizza came with Italian sausage, ground beef, bacon, pepperoni and Canadian bacon. I loved the toppings, but still prefer St. Louis style for thin crust.

The chili was meaty, but I would have liked it better with fewer beans and more onion. The Country fried steak was today's special at $7.50 including homemade mashed potatoes. The hand bread pork tenderloin was very good and a great value. 

Linda joined me for supper and we made a second visit to Fortune Palace, a Chinese restaurant in Lenexa which has been open nearly two years. I was much more impressed with the food on this visit. The crab Rangoon was very good and I liked the shrimp with hot chili sauce, but the Mongolian Beef was a stand out.

We will be giving Fortune Palace another try.

Fortune Palace

Delhi's Southern Cuisine is a family run buffet. Although none of the dishes blew me away, all of them were good. Even some which I was only tasting because I thought I should for kansastravel.org. Two kinds of chicken, brisket, ham, turkey, baked fish and an assort of southern breads and sides. The black eyed peas with okra was one of the dishes which pleasantly surprised me. 

The buffet changes everyday, so I look forward to repeated visits to get a feel for this restaurant.