Well hello again, our hungry friends!
Welcome back to our restaurant review column Meal Time! (it's supposed to be read like Mail Time! from Pardon The Interruption. Get it? Not sports fans? That's cool.). It's been quite a while since we sent old TCDroogsma out into the world to eat some food, but this week we managed to scrub him clean and send him on his way down Lyndale to check out World Street Kitchen.
Droogsy, what'd you think?
Well hey there, everybody. It's been quite some time since I was tasked with sitting down and writing one of these food reviews. As you can probably imagine, I've eaten many a meal since I last sat down to chat with you, I just haven't written about them.
Anyway, Newest Industry asked me to get back on my meal time grind, so I thought I'd take stroll down to 27th & Lyndale and check out World Street Kitchen. Word on the street is that they have pretty solid vegan food. They're also known for staying open late and trying to loosen the stranglehold Pizza Luce & Caffrey's have held on post-drunky time meals for years.
Now, seeing as how I'm pretty much incapable of staying awake past 7:30 at night I figured it would be best if I took stopped by for lunch on my day off. Like a damn fool, I showed up at about 2:30, a half an hour before happy hour starts. I'm, uh... I'm not a smart man. I was, however, a hungry, non-hungover man, only half of which is typical on a Tuesday afternoon.
(Pro Tip #1: Don't show up 30 minutes before happy hour. Droogs did that, so hopefully you won't have to go through that.)
Admittedly, I didn't know quite what to expect from World Street Kitchen. Is this a place like Luce's where you sit down and order from a server? Is it like Caffrey's where you order and stand around waiting while people make your food and give you sideways glances like you're an asshole? Was it some sort of hybrid ala Bad Waitress?
Well, turns out you walk in, glance at the big, McDonald's-esque menu, order, and take a number & a seat.
Now, I'll be honest, I did have a look at World Street Kitchen's menu online before I stopped in. As a vegan, this is a crucial move with any restaurant. After giving it a look I came to the conclusion that I was going to give the "Bangkok Burrito w/Marinate Tofu" a go.
I should point out one quick thing before I proceed: I don't like burritos. My generation has made it seem like burritos are nature's perfect food and frankly, I couldn't disagree more. Burritos are the meal time equivalent of communism. All parts are created equal, distributed equally, and wrapped in a tortilla for flavor-mixing convenience (fuck those bourgeois forks!). On paper, it seems like a brilliant idea.
However, to quote the philosopher Homer Simpson, "In theory, communism works. In theory." Much like applied communism, burritos don't work. That theoretical "equal parts flavor explosion" doesn't exist. Instead, you get one bite of lettuce, one bite of tofu, one bite of salsa, etc... If we've learned nothing from the work of George Orwell, it's that all parts may be created equal, but some are more equal than others. The tortilla typically falls apart, spilling the proletariat ingredients everywhere and requiring the iron-fist rule of a wrapper to keep the whole thing together. To put it bluntly, burritos suck.
So, with all that in mind, World Street Kitchen was looking at an uphill battle to win me over with this Bangkok Burrito.
Anyway, I sauntered up to the cash register, ordered my Bangkok Burrito. Figuring that the burrito needed all the help it could get in this review, I also ordered a Grain Belt. Sure, it was 2:30 on a Tuesday and I'd only been awake for 4 hours. It was my day off. Fuck you.
I was given my order number:
22! Clutterbuck status!
Well, I took my number and found a seat. As you can see, the place was not particularly jumpin'. Looks like I'm the only one who missed out on the "Happy Hour Starts At 3" memo. As always, I'm an idiot.
Fortunately, the booze gods were feeling generous this Tuesday afternoon. Moments after I sat down my cashier came over to inform me that the Grain Belt keg was empty and, "Would you like to have a different beer instead?" Summit Saga it is!
(Pro Tip #2: Order the cheap beer on the days the keg is empty. You will then be upgraded to more delicious beer for free. Admittedly, this is a tough trick to pull off. This is why I get paid the big bucks people.)
Anyway, I'm hungry. Let's do this:
(Cue the horns)
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Bangkok Burrito with Marinated Tofu!
So here's the story so far:
Location: World Street Kitchen at 27th & Lyndale
Time Of The Day: 2:30 in the afternoon
Level Of Sobriety: Total, but trending downward
Dirty Player Status: Clutterbuck hits clean! Not like your team's grinders!
Meal: Bangkok Burrito with Marinated Tofu
To The Side: Nothing, no one, nothing around for miles
Beverage: Summit Saga at Grain Belt prices
Menu Price: Burrito: $8.00, Beer: $5.00
Total Price w/Tip: $14.00
Upon initial presentation, I was underwhelmed (if that's a word). I mean, we can all agree that utensils are the tools of capitalist pigs, but could a dude at least get a plate? This ain't a damn county fair!
Anyway, I unwrapped the foil of the oppressors and gave this thing a taste. First impression, kind of bland but not bad. The cooks did a very nice job of getting the tofu to have a nice, crispy outside and a chewy inside. Wisely, the burrito consists of little besides rice, tofu, a bit of greens, and a pretty mild coconut curry sauce.
The burrito held its structure nicely as I worked my way through and the burrito was assembled in such a manner that I was actually able to get equal parts tofu, rice, and greens with each bite. Good work by the folks behind the counter to solve one of the larger burrito problems (mixing all the flavors together) by conceding a smaller problem (not very many ingredients).
About three quarters of the way through this thing I found myself less full as much as I was bored. It was OK, but the lack of flavor made the burrito seems like a bit of an endurance test. However, I managed to put the whole thing down like a fuckin' champ. I didn't pay non-happy hour prices for a burrito to not eat it all.
Now, considering that the burrito was almost exclusively rice & tofu, it wasn't the most filling thing in the world. In hindsight, coming away with a more filling beer (Summit Saga) rather than Grain Belt turned out to be a godsend as it made the whole meal significantly more filling than it would have been had my order been presented properly.
So that's the meal. Let's break this thing down:
Flavor: 5/10 - By making the aforementioned trade-off, the burrito bets heavily on the coconut curry flavor. I'd call that bet a push. It's pretty delicious, but a bit too subtle to be exciting.
Filling: 8/10 - As I mentioned, part of this was the beer choice, but this meal did turn out to be pretty filling. Of course, for $14 it better be.
Price: 5/10 - Considering a burrito of comparable size, Chipotle's veggie burrito is cheaper and contains more ingredients. None of those ingredients, however, are as awesome as marinated tofu. Trading out the salsa/guac mix for marinated tofu & coconut curry is definitely worth $1.25.
Ambiance: 4/10 - The place has that oddly sterile, bare beams & metal look that screams "Hipster focus group." The music was much the same, with T. Rex, dubstep, & Hot Chip all making high-volume appearances during my visit. Still, the place was spacious with booths, a bar, and individual tables. I could definitely see this working well as a drunky meal spot.
Service: 8/10 - There wasn't a huge amount of interaction, but the woman at the cash register was quite pleasant and seemed genuinely apologetic for running out of Grain Belt and forcing my beer upgrade. I call that a win.
What Type Of Communism Is This Burrito?: Definitely the Swedish style. It's bland, filling, & efficient. If this had been the Russian type of communism the burrito would have had too many ingredients, less satisfying taste, a ruthless wrapper.
How Many Times Would I Eat This Meal Per Month?: Straight sober at 3 in the afternoon: Once. Round midnight after 3 or 4 brandy gingers at the CC Club: As often as I drank 3 or 4 brandy gingers at the CC Club round midnight.
Final Score: 6/10 - All things considered my World Street Kitchen experience was pleasant against tough odds. Leaning heavily on beer & tofu is almost always going to lead to a better-than-average experience. I definitely came away from the meal thinking that 2:30 in the afternoon is not their money making time. On a Friday or Saturday night when the place has a bit more energy and a few more people I'll bet it's a great time. Next time you're drinking on Lyndale you should consider skipping Caffrey's & Luce's for a night and give it a try.
Well there you have it, food fans! An efficient meal reviewed and filed away!
For more World Street Kitchen check out their website here.
For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio.
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