Midtown Lunch

I pass by Wolf’s Food Bazaar on the way to my best friend’s house all the time,  noting each time, the sign on the door about their award winning grilled cheese. Passing by the very eclectic selection of food products and long steam tables, I got to the station in the back where the sandwiches are made. As I waited for my grilled cheese, I starting studying the weirdness that was the steam table.

The delicacies for for about $7 a pound here. 99% of the food on the steam tables looked completely unappetizing. Are they even steam tables in the normal sense? It did not look like anything was hot. Who knows how old this stuff was. There were dried up dumplings, elderly chicken, wrinkled vegetables, wretched salads, and other unappealing barely edibles. But as I got bored waiting for my salad, I circled the table and decided I could find at least one thing that I could consume. I saw the japchae, a Korean stir fried noodle dish, and while it looked a little dark in color, I figured since it was meatless and not fried, sitting in old grease, it just might be ok. I piled on a few string beans and two pieces of tofu for variety’s sake. Luckily, my instincts weren’t terrible. The 3 items were all decent and did not make me violently ill. Hurray! The noodles had a nice flavor and there were some veggies mixed in, so it wasn’t even bad at all.

The grilled cheese and tomato sandwich costs under $4 and comes on thick Texas toast, which makes it unique. Given the thickness of the bread, more cheese was needed. But I appreciated the golden brown toastedness of the bread. Overall it was a decent sandwich, but not award winning.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Nicely toasted hearty Texas toast used
• Passable japchae

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• Creepy, by the pound steam table buffet
• More cheese needed in the grilled cheese

Wolf’s Market, 1500 Locust St, 215 735-2929