Kansas
Travel Blog
Chronicling
changes to KansasTravel.org and Keith's exploration
& photographing Kansas restaurants, attractions, museums, festivals
and art. Contact him.
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Saturday
- January 3, 2015: Linda and I checked out Lemongrass Thai Cuisine,
which opened 10 months ago in downtown Overland Park. It is an attractive
restaurant in a building which was completely remodeled before opening.
We tried a wide range of appetizers, bringing a couple of boxes of leftovers
home.
The
service was very good and the food was fine, but no dish really stood out
for me. My favorite items were the spring rolls, tempura broccoli and the
chicken & pork Paad Thai.
The
crab Rangoon was made with thick, hard wantons. The tiger ribs had a good
flavor, but were very tough. The shrimp in a blanket came with a good spicy/sweet
sauce, but the "blanket" lacked flavor and was a little too crisp.
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Sunday
- January 4, 2015: For lunch, I headed back to Overland Park to revisit
ABC
Cafe, but it turned out to be closed for the holidays until January
7. I continued east to revisit Masalas Authentic Indian Bistro, but discovered
that it has closed and a new Indian restaurant is going into the space
- Paradise Biryani Pointe.
Doing
a little research online, it turns out that Paradise Biryani Point is part
of a fairly large chain on Indian restaurants. They are primarily in the
northeast, but are in 19 states and are opening several new locations,
including one in Singapore.
For
supper we went to Maloneys Sports Bar in downtown Overland Park. The large
bar & grill has town levels with large outdoor seating downstairs and
upstairs. There are TVs everywhere. All of them them were tuned to NFL
playoffs or Wichita State University basketball, but the sound was loud
music. Not painfully loud, but loud enough that a conversation nearly required
shouting.
The
food was mostly average. The fries were inferior, crinkle cut, frozen French
fries that were not cooked particularly well. The Triple Crown (Triple
cheese roasted garlic sauce with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, jalapenos,
red onion, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses) and The Maluban (Thinly sliced
smoked ham, roast beef and roasted pork loin topped with melted cheddar
and provolone cheese. Served on a hoagie garnished with lettuce, tomatoes,
onions and a roasted red pepper aioli.) were both OK, but not nearly as
good as they sounded.
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Paradise Biryani Point
Maloneys Sports Bar |
Thursday
- January 8, 2015: We are updating many older pages this week, confirming
hours and prices, replacing some photos and adding maps to some attractions
which didn't have maps, including: Key
Stone Gallery near Scott City, Fort Larned
National Historic Site, Heritage
Center of Dickinson County in Abilene, Powell
Observatory near Louisburg, 1879 Beaumont
Hotel in Beaumont, and Red Barn
Studio in Lindsborg.
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Friday
- January 9, 2015: After researching Johnson County restaurants which
have been off our radar, we tried out the two year old Geo's Pizza in Overland
Park. Several people had said online that it was hard to locate, in a strip
center near a Pei Wei Asian Diner. They were right, with a small frontage
and the sign saying Deli n Subs, instead of Geo's Pizza.
Friday
night turned out to be a poor night to go to Geo's Pizza. They don't have
very many ovens and when they are busy, they get way behind. It was a bad
sign, when a few minutes after we ordered and sat down, we heard a couple
complaining that they had been there an hour and still didn't have their
pizza. I don't know if they had really been there an hour, but the chef
had to tell them that their pizza hadn't even gone in the oven yet and
they left.
Our
pizza took 55 minutes (I checked the time stamps on the photos I took).
The thin, cracker crust pizza was fairly good, but not worth that long
a wait.
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Geo's Pizza |
Saturday
- January 10, 2015: We have been hearing great things about Slap's
BBQ in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas since it
opened last summer. But is is only open for lunch and the one time we went
there, there was along line standing in the rain.
Today,
I was there within minutes of their 11AM opening time and there were just
4 people waiting in line ahead of me. Better yet, I was able to get a table,
something that can be hard to do in the small dining room which has only
6 tables.
After
a little thought, I ordered the $14.99 burnt ends combo plate, plus two
ribs for $4. The combo comes with the choice of two sides and I went with
fries and cheesy corn.
The
meats were served dry (without sauce), and sauce was available in a squeeze
bottle on the table. My favorite item, by far was the ribs. They actually
gave me three rather small ribs. They were tender and had an excellent
slightly smoky flavor that had been well seasoned by rub or marinade. The
sausage was also very good. The large chunks of burnt ends were the weakest
meat. They tasted good, but were more mildly seasoned than is expected
in Kansas City burnt ends.
The
fries were lightly battered and the only part of the meal which I didn't
bother to finish. The cheesy corn need just a touch of salt to be very
good.
The
sauce is the odd thing. Fortunately the meats did not need sauce. It was
a thin, very sweet sauce like that found in Chinese or Thai restaurants.
While it may have its fans, I believe they could use a second, less sweet
sauce.
Following
the meal, I drove around the block to check on a church with an onion dome
toped tower. It turned out to have no signage, but searching online this
afternoon, it turned out that this former Russian Orthodox church is the
studio used by Voler: Thieves Of Flight, the aerial acrobatic trope which
looked impressive a few years back at the Busker
Festival in Lawrence.
After
taking new exterior photos of St.
John the Baptist Catholic Church and the Strawberry
Hill Museum, I bought brats, Italian sausage and smoked Polish sausage
at Krizman's House of Sausages. In addition to getting some good meat,
it was a good chance to take fresh photos. Krizman's has been listed on
our Kansas Specialty Foods page for a long
time and is overdue for a page of its own.
While
at Krizman's House of Sausages, I received a recommendation for a restaurant
which I had never heard of before, El Pollo Rey in the Armordale neighborhood.
Linda joined me in going there tonight and we enjoyed some great chicken
in a packed 13 year old restaurant which serves only three dishes: a half
chicken, a whole chicken or chicken wings. Served with tortillas, rice,
salsa & beans, a meal is $6.50.
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Slap's BBQ
Voler: Thieves Of Flight studio
Krizman's House of Sausages
Wood fire grilled chicken |
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Thursday
- January 15, 2015: At lunch, I made a second visit to the recently
opened Jonathan's Gourmet Wood-Fire Grill in Olathe. This time I had the
$7 wing snack, with three small smoked winds and spicy fries. The fries
weren't bad, but the wings were a total disappointment - limp and
other than a bit of sub, tasteless. The skin was gray and almost falling
off. Perhaps the wings were boiled before smoking? |
Wing snack |
Friday
- January 16, 2015: Our visits of previously reviewed restaurants for
2015 updates continued with Old
56 Family Restaurant in Olathe. The country fried steak was excellent,
tender with a crunchy breading which combined with the gravy to make each
bite a pleasure. The meat portion was a little small - a little less potatoes
and a little more steak would be perfect.
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country fried steak dinner |
Saturday
- January 17, 2015: I was up early and drove to Milford Nature Center
near Junction City. Today was Eagle Days (it was originally 2 days, but
the name stayed "days" when it went to one day. The Nature center hosted
programs with live eagles and other live raptors, kid's activities &
crafts, free admission to Milford State Park, free bus rides to eagle viewing
and free popcorn & hot chocolate.
There
were many eagles on the ice at Milford Lake, but they were all at great
distances. It was not necessary to take a bus to view the eagles, though
the bus did take visitors to locations where binoculars and spotting scopes
were available to better view the eagles. Photos with my longest lens were
nothing special.
Returning
to Junction City, I had lunch at two Korean Restaurants which have been
listed on this web site for many years: Korean
Garden and Pusan Diner. At Korean
Garden, I had Ojinguh Bokum (stir fried squid in a spicy sauce). It was
a little tougher than usual, but very good. Half of it was boxed up to
go home with me.
I
wanted to try something different at Pusan Diner and settled on something
which I have never had at a Korean Restaurant, chitterlings stir fry with
hot sauce & vegetables. All meals are served in styrofoam boxes as
Pusan Diner, even if they are to be eaten at the restaurant. Knives don't
do well with Styrofoam and my meal was accompanied by kitchen scissors.
The
meat was tender, but chewy and while the meal wasn't bad, the meat didn't
excite me and it isn't something I would order again.
Moving
on to Manhattan, I was waiting when the Riley County Historical Museum
opened at 2pm. The two displays which I found to be the most interesting
were one titled "Made in Riley County" and one on how the museum catalogs,
conserves and selects which items to collect.
The
staff at the Riley County Historical Museum also provides tours of the
Kansas Historical Society's Goodnow House, which is next door. The tour
of the 1857 stone house and the story of the steamboat Hartford which the
docent explained on the way back were the most interesting parts of the
visit.
On
that docent's recommendation, I went on to the Wolf House Museum, a couple
of miles away. The interesting two story limestone house was built in 1868
as a boarding house.
The
final stop of the day was for supper at Bradley's Corner Cafe in Topeka.
The chicken fried chicken was OK, but the meal began some very good cheese
and potato soup and ended with a fabulous slice of sour cream and raisin
pie. The pie filling was good, the the meringue was OK and the crust was
very good, but a bite of all three together was heaven.
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Eagles on Milford Lake
Ojinguh Bokum at Korean Garden
Curating the museum exhibit
sour cream and raisin pie |
Sunday
- January 18, 2015: Pat, Linda and Mary joined me in an update visit
of Dagwood's Cafe in Kansas City, Kansas. The hamburger, fries and biscuits
& gravy were OK. The scrambled eggs were nothing special. The onion
rings were good, but the best part of the meal was the BLT with a half
pound of applewood smoked bacon. It is made with the typical amount of
toast, lettuce and tomato so the 8 slices of bacon standout, while not
making an enormous sandwich overall.
New
pages devoted to Milford Nature Center
and Eagle Days were added to this
site.
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Dagwood's Cafe BLT |
Tuesday
- January 20, 2015: I paid a second visit to Sher-E-Punjab, the
Indian restaurant which opened in Olathe about a month ago. I haven't enjoyed
any of the dishes on the buffet that much, with the nan (flat bread) being
the best thing I've sampled. It is time to try ordering off of the menu.
I
had supper at Winstead's Steakburgers
on Metcalf in Overland Park. There were no significant changes from the
previous visit a year ago.
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Sher-E-Punjab |
Wednesday
- January 21, 2015: Linda and I tried Rice House on 87th Street in
Lenexa (in the Hen House parking lot). They are largely a takeout place,
but have about 18 tables. On weekdays there is a lunch buffet. The buffet
was not very well maintained. Items ran out or had been sitting out for
too long. It wasn't terrible and they do not have a lot of nearby competition.
The main thing I can say is that it is inexpensive and quick.
Supper
was a revisit of Wyandot Barbeque 2 in Overland Park. It had been about
a year since the last visit and the website has been updated with the new
pricing. The Mixed plate of beef, ham, ribs and fries is a tremendous bargain
at $9.50. I liked all the meats. The fries were only frozen crinkle cut,
but subject to that limitation were well prepared.
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Friday
- January 23, 2015: Today's lunch was at the Other
Place in Olathe. For a change, I tried the grilled pork tenderloin.
I actually enjoyed it much more than their fried pork tenderloin. The hand
cut onion rings were nearly as good.
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The Other Place |
Saturday
- January 24, 2015: At lunch today, I paid an updating visit to Christy's
Tasty Queen in Kansas City, Kansas. I had almost forgotten how good
Christy's pork tenderloins are. The large tenderloin sandwich was wonderful
with tender pork wrapped in a crispy, great tasting coating. The onion
rings were also excellent.
Before
leaving Kansas City, I did a little wandering on streets where I had not
been before. The most interesting find was the Seventh Day Adventists Central
States Conference Offices, which are housed in a striking old church building
on the former campus of Kansas City University, a Methodist school which
operated from 1896 until 1933. In latter research, I learned that the University
was indirectly a successor of Lane University
which was in Lecompton, Kansas.
For
supper, Linda joined me for a revisit of Papa
Bob's BBQ in Kansas City, Kansas. I added a new review of thie restaurant.
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Christy's Tasty Queen |
Sunday
- January 25, 2015: Linda & I drove to Lawrence to revisit the
Natural
History Museum at the University of Kansas and Aladin's
Cafe. It had been several years since the pages devoted to either of
these had been updated. |
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Thursday
- January 29, 2015: We returned to Big Bam's, a popular small burger
joint in Shawnee. We had liked it, but not enough to add it to this website
in the past, but it has been getting some strong reviews by the public
and I wanted to give it another chance.
They
do turn out good burgers, but they do not standout above other places in
the area. On a scale of 0-5, I would give them about a 3.8
A
new page devoted to the Kansas
African American Museum in Wichita was added this evening.
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Kansas African American Museum |
Saturday
- January 31, 2015: Now that Grinders Stonewall in Lenexa has been
open a half year, today seemed like a good time to pay it a second visit.
This is the third location, with the other two being side by side in Kansas
City's Crossroads Arts District. Oddly, it still isn't listed on their
website.
We
sampled the New York style pizza and the club sandwich. The pizza, was
OK, but the club sandwich which came with house made potato chips was better.
After two visits, the sandwiches are the items we have liked the best,
but nothing has really stood out.
They
do have a nice patio and and interesting old (haunted) building.
Added
a new page devoted to Wagner's Classic
Cars in Bonner Springs. This used car sales is worth a visit to see
the many classic and muscle cars on its showroom.
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Grinders Stonewall |
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