Post by Marc LeVine on Feb 23, 2007 10:41:30 GMT -5
YADA-YADA-YADA
Soupman franchise has a "Seinfeld" aftertaste
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/23/07
BY ANDREA CLURFELD
FOOD EDITOR
There's not a "Seinfeld"-length line at the Original SoupMan, even though it's a few degrees chillier than frigid outside and, without a doubt, soup weather. But, then again, it's hard to distinguish line from passers-by from basic Food Court assembly in and around the kiosk-style eatery dispensing soups and accompaniments at the Freehold Raceway Mall.
I'd been to the granddaddy Soup Kitchen International in New York a bunch of years ago, before the infamous Soup Man "Seinfeld" episode anointed founder/soup-maker Al Yeganeh the "Soup Nazi." The soup was good. Homey, stock-driven, hunky and flavorful. A little pricey, but deservedly so. Now Yeganeh's soups are being spawned; you can queue up to get them here in Freehold Township and also north a piece, in the Menlo Park Mall.
The folks behind the kiosk counter neither hurry me nor intimidate me. Sporting smiles, they explain the soup deal: Cups, bowls, quarts and even a gallon are available to eat here, right at the Food Court, or to go; there are combos — a cup or bowl, for example, with half a sandwich or a side salad, and there are solo sandwiches, too. A cup of soup can range anywhere from $4.99 to $8.99, and that cup comes with a roll and a nugget of chocolate. The soups, I'm told, aren't made here, but in a soup factory, and they're transported daily to the mall. Eight are available on any given day and those soups change from day to day.
I look around. There are people sitting and eating soup, mostly teens taking shopping breaks and a scattering of kid-toting moms. As I consider the menu, one of the day's eight soups gets 86'd, so now I've got a choice of only seven soups. I hear the voice of the Soup Nazi admonishing me for lingering.
First, I sip a cup of Chicken Corn Chowder ($5.99) and find it thin on chicken but thick on corn and creamy base. Next I snag the Italian Wedding ($5.99) and, though the little meatballs are darling and tasty, the soup's rather salty. I bite into the accompanying roll to tamp down the salty taste in my mouth: a little stale, I'm afraid.
Then I go for the gold, the signature Crab Bisque. It's $8.99. Nine bucks for a cuppa soup. I'm feeling a little Yeganeh-ish as I fish for shards of rose-tinged, rubbery seafood and wonder what I'm eating. Too, the bisque tastes floury and also a tad salty. I'm frowning as I taste-test another dried-out roll.
Beef Gumbo's ($5.99) worth getting jostled in the crammed-in Food Court, though: It's got okra, tender meat and a rich, beefy base. Skip Manhattan Clam ($5.99), for the clams are stringy and tough. My feeling, after sampling the day's soups, is that the vegetarian soups, at the lowest price here, $4.99, might be the best bets: The Garden Vegetable and Five Bean bring to mind the soups I had at the original in New York: stocky, hunky, flavorful. But I wouldn't spring for the Crab Bisque again; a weak cup of soup isn't worth nine smackers and certainly can't be called supper.
Meanwhile, the amiable soup dispensers fetch more paper soup cups from somewhere in the hidden trenches of the mall, while high-schoolers mingle and fork over dollars for a little tied-'em-over sustenance. I'm guessing they'll be scoring dinner elsewhere. Me too.
Readers may chat with Andrea Clurfeld on her blog, Eating with Andrea Clurfeld, by going to www.app.com/entertainment, or by e-mailing her at clurfeld@app.com, calling her at (732) 643-4273 or writing her at the Asbury Park Press, 3601 Route 66, Neptune, N.J. 07754.
Soupman franchise has a "Seinfeld" aftertaste
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/23/07
BY ANDREA CLURFELD
FOOD EDITOR
There's not a "Seinfeld"-length line at the Original SoupMan, even though it's a few degrees chillier than frigid outside and, without a doubt, soup weather. But, then again, it's hard to distinguish line from passers-by from basic Food Court assembly in and around the kiosk-style eatery dispensing soups and accompaniments at the Freehold Raceway Mall.
I'd been to the granddaddy Soup Kitchen International in New York a bunch of years ago, before the infamous Soup Man "Seinfeld" episode anointed founder/soup-maker Al Yeganeh the "Soup Nazi." The soup was good. Homey, stock-driven, hunky and flavorful. A little pricey, but deservedly so. Now Yeganeh's soups are being spawned; you can queue up to get them here in Freehold Township and also north a piece, in the Menlo Park Mall.
The folks behind the kiosk counter neither hurry me nor intimidate me. Sporting smiles, they explain the soup deal: Cups, bowls, quarts and even a gallon are available to eat here, right at the Food Court, or to go; there are combos — a cup or bowl, for example, with half a sandwich or a side salad, and there are solo sandwiches, too. A cup of soup can range anywhere from $4.99 to $8.99, and that cup comes with a roll and a nugget of chocolate. The soups, I'm told, aren't made here, but in a soup factory, and they're transported daily to the mall. Eight are available on any given day and those soups change from day to day.
I look around. There are people sitting and eating soup, mostly teens taking shopping breaks and a scattering of kid-toting moms. As I consider the menu, one of the day's eight soups gets 86'd, so now I've got a choice of only seven soups. I hear the voice of the Soup Nazi admonishing me for lingering.
First, I sip a cup of Chicken Corn Chowder ($5.99) and find it thin on chicken but thick on corn and creamy base. Next I snag the Italian Wedding ($5.99) and, though the little meatballs are darling and tasty, the soup's rather salty. I bite into the accompanying roll to tamp down the salty taste in my mouth: a little stale, I'm afraid.
Then I go for the gold, the signature Crab Bisque. It's $8.99. Nine bucks for a cuppa soup. I'm feeling a little Yeganeh-ish as I fish for shards of rose-tinged, rubbery seafood and wonder what I'm eating. Too, the bisque tastes floury and also a tad salty. I'm frowning as I taste-test another dried-out roll.
Beef Gumbo's ($5.99) worth getting jostled in the crammed-in Food Court, though: It's got okra, tender meat and a rich, beefy base. Skip Manhattan Clam ($5.99), for the clams are stringy and tough. My feeling, after sampling the day's soups, is that the vegetarian soups, at the lowest price here, $4.99, might be the best bets: The Garden Vegetable and Five Bean bring to mind the soups I had at the original in New York: stocky, hunky, flavorful. But I wouldn't spring for the Crab Bisque again; a weak cup of soup isn't worth nine smackers and certainly can't be called supper.
Meanwhile, the amiable soup dispensers fetch more paper soup cups from somewhere in the hidden trenches of the mall, while high-schoolers mingle and fork over dollars for a little tied-'em-over sustenance. I'm guessing they'll be scoring dinner elsewhere. Me too.
Readers may chat with Andrea Clurfeld on her blog, Eating with Andrea Clurfeld, by going to www.app.com/entertainment, or by e-mailing her at clurfeld@app.com, calling her at (732) 643-4273 or writing her at the Asbury Park Press, 3601 Route 66, Neptune, N.J. 07754.