scrumptiously secret steals
Posted on 12. Aug, 2011 by Adrian in dine
words > JESSY CLONTS
photo > PARKER TATRO
Most of Wichita’s best eateries have been discovered, patronized and raved about, but with one of the rumored highest rankings of restaurants per capita in the country, we still have a few stones left to turn. Here are three of Wichita’s best kept secrets that will satisfy your appetite on a shoestring budget.
Thai Smile
1523 S. Seneca
316-263-3000
It’s increasingly easy to find quick Thai food in Wichita, but is it delicious? At Thai Smile, a hundred times, and every time, YES. Open less than a year, the tiny family-owned dive delivers staples like Pad Thai, Panaeng Curry and Pineapple Fried Rice at just $5 for a lunch-sized portion, or around $7 for a dinner portion.
Pad Thai Woonsen Shrimp ($6.95) is a stir fry of cellophane glass noodles, scrambled egg, bean sprouts, green onion, and decently sized shrimp tossed in a mildly sweet tamarind sauce and topped with crushed peanuts. The dish satisfies a craving you didn’t even know you had; it’s simple, flavorful and homemade, like it came from your grandma’s kitchen, if you had a Thai grandma. For an extra $1.50 at lunch, you can can start with a crisp cigarillo of a pork egg roll and a small bowl of Tom Yum soup, a spicy, sour broth seasoned with lemongrass and kaffir lime, finished with sliced mushrooms and red onions. Don’t forget to order a sweetened Thai Iced Coffee ($1.50) or bottomless glass of Thai Iced Tea ($1.50 with free refills).
As is custom in Thai restaurants in the States, they will ask how spicy you want your curry or stir fry. If you’re Thai, or hurting for a mean case of heartburn, ask for “extra hot.” Otherwise, just ask for the regular “hot,” or the perceptively wimpy “not so hot.”
It’s easy to miss this five-table hole in the wall, but it would be a damn shame if you did. Situated in the middle of a strip at Harry and Seneca between a hair salon and an auto body shop, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for the cheerily painted door boasting its $5 lunch specials. Unless you arrive on a Tuesday (the only day they are closed) or between 2:30 and 5:00 (when they are closed to prepare for dinner), you are guaranteed to leave full, and with a smile on your face.
Ice Cream Truck & More
Rolling through a neighborhood near you
316-312-8023
It’s the middle of August and you’re too exhausted to go anywhere because it’s seven hundred degrees out, and then you hear it. First, a faint tease of high-pitched notes, then the definite music box tinkling of your childhood rolling quickly toward you. Ice cream man! It’s the ice cream man! You excitedly turn over couch cushions looking for quarters, frantically send out a friend to catch the guy before he rides past, and then while running out the door, you’re caught dead in your tracks as you descend upon the most amazingly tricked out ice cream truck you’ve ever seen.
The ever-mobile Ice Cream Truck & More is painted a neopolitan black, pink, and white, and laced with a shiny set of chrome Polo 20” rims. Andre Watley, or “Ice Cream Dre” to his friends, sells arguably the cheapest frozen treats in town and even better, can bring it directly to your block party, family reunion, or church function with a single phone call. At just $1-$2 for your favorite Sundae Crunches, Bomb Pops and Snickers Ice Cream Bars, you’ll have enough left over for the “& More”.
The truck is specially equipped to cook snacks like Hot Wings ($4) and Texas Hot Links ($3.75). I love a good food truck, and Ice Cream Truck & More is truly legit. The giant hot wings are spicy and fresh, served 4-5 to an order with a side of ranch dressing, and were the clear winner at a house party I recently attended. The ice cream is nostalgia-inducing, the candy is never shelf-sticky and if Garbage Pail Kids stickers still came five to a pack with a stick of bubble gum, Dre would undoubtedly sell those for next to nothing, too.
And after most ice cream men hang their hats for the winter, Dre will be cranking out Chili, Stew, Cocoa, and Coffee for the cold weary. Give him a call; you will not regret his tasty, entertaining and friendly visit.
Tsubasa Traditional Japanese Cuisine
8113 E Kellogg Dr (Eastgate Plaza Suite 300)
316-682-6556
TsubasaRestaurant.com
People in Japan don’t subsist entirely on sushi rolls and hibachi grilled meats. Tsubasa Traditional Japanese Cuisine has “everyday Japanese”– the noodles, the simple, egg-and-vegetable-loaded fried rice and even Japanese-style hamburgers (no bun, served with rice) and curry (a mild beef gravy with carrots and potatoes; oddly comforting in a beef stew sort of way). Of course they do have ultra fresh sushi, crispy tempura fried goods, and homemade green tea ice cream, too.
The best way to sample day-to-day Japanese is to order a bento box– a collection of small side dishes around an entree that gives you the food pyramid in addition to your meat and rice. The combination bento meals at Tsubasa ($5-$15) are abundant with side dishes like pickled vegetables, miso soup and Chawanmushi, a savory egg custard with chicken, shrimp and mushrooms. My favorite bento is the Gyu-don, or beef bowl ($6.80), a stir fry of thinly sliced beef and onions over steamed rice accompanied by miso soup and a dish of pickled cabbage and carrots. The meat is crispy around the edges, and the beef-flavored onions are soft and slightly sweet from its simmering sauce made of mirin, rice wine and soy sauce.
What gets me out of the house on a sweltering Saturday though, is the Cold Noodles ($6.80). A refreshing plate of cold water-rinsed ramen noodles garnished with matchstick slices of fresh cucumber, ham, scrambled egg and tomatoes, served with a side of sweet and salty dipping sauce made of soy sauce, sweet rice wine and dashi stock.
Given its congested Eastgate Plaza location at Kellogg and Rock, most people stumble upon Tsubasa while taking a break from discount shopping at TJ Maxx or Barnes & Noble. Which is an amazing chance of luck, because Tsubasa is probably the most deliciously authentic Japanese experience one can have in Wichita without breaking the bank.
