Souperman sent me spiraling into curses that technology, in my lifetime, would never provide us time traveling abilities.
Lunch rule #1: The seven dollar rule. This applies to all restaurants where the style of service does not necessitate a waitstaff. If you walk up to a counter, order and seat yourself, you should not have to pay above $8.99 for your meal. If I'm paying $9.00 or more, I'd better have a server. It's lunch, for crying out loud. If I'm up for spending double-digit dollars on it, I'm going somewhere with linen napkins and the aforementioned waitstaff.
That receipt on the left of my tray reads, "Total: $9.37".
Violation. A little bit mental, a LOT fiscal, and even a tad physical.
In fairness, I got a lot of food for that $9.37 including a cup of Souperman's Spicy Pork and Hominy Soup (they were calling it Posole that day) with complimentary oyster crackers and a whole sanditto (hate that name) of roasted pork with ham, pickles, swiss and mustard aioli. But it was too much food. They made me pay for too much food.
And don't give me this, "you could have just gotten a bowl of soup or a sandwich on its own" stuff. A bowl of soup with no accompaniment isn't satisfying. A sandwich needs a side. Soup and sandwich restaurants take heed: your soup/sandwich combo is your main offering, which will be expected to comply with lunch rule #1.
The posole was decent, but lacked seasoning.
They seemed to skimp on the meats a bit - there were only small crumbles of what I'm assuming was ground, cooked pork, but tasted more like hamburger. The spice factor was agreeable. I liked it fine. But overall the soup lacked gusto, and I look forward to sourcing a better recipe and mamking it for myself.
My sanditto had lots of promise. As I stared down the shredded pork and ham, pickles and mustard, I knew I was about to get a fantastic bite of food. And I did. It was a great mouthful. Unfortunately, albacore tuna was also on the menu that day, and apparently all over the cutting board where my pork was shredded. That big, meaty bite that was supposed to be salty and distinctly porkly was, instead, fishy. Bleh.
I had problems with the wrap, too. Was it a tortilla? A wrap? Is it whole wheat, because it kinda tasted like it. Kinda crusty, kinda chewy. Worst of all, the steam it let out condensed inside the foil wrapper and soaked into the outside of the wrap, making it soggy. Its appearance was reminiscent of something you'd see on CSI or Law & Order... the flesh on a dead person found floating in water. Maybe that's extreme, but it clearly grossed me out.Maybe I should stop there. I was going to fully review the Thai Coconut Chicken Soup with Rice Noodles and Thai Peanut Chicken w/ Ginger Slaw sanditto my wife had but let me cover it with just a few words: inedible tendon-laced hunks of chicken. Soup - fine.
Have I written Souperman off? Yes. Too many infractions in one meal to be forgiven. I've never had a great experience there, but now I can say I've had my last.
Rating - zero napkins
1 comment:
As the sad recipient of the gross chicken sanditto and thai chicken soup that was just ok, I second the notion that this was Souperman's final hurrah in my book. I spent the rest of the day wishing I could have that $10 back. You'll be much happier relinquishing $10 at one of many superior locations...like Farm House. I would happily spend my money there any day!
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