Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [166]
Niecie’s
5932 Prospect Ave.
816–444–6006
Kansas City, MO
BLD | $
Niecie’s is a long-running soul-food café opened by Denise Griffin Ward in 1985. Since then it has become a sort of community center, and every morning except Sunday you can expect to see a gathering of a dozen or more Baptist and Holiness Church pastors assembled for breakfast and conversation. As we sat down in a booth one day, a couple nearby were praying over their fried pork chops before digging in.
We really like the breakfast of chicken and waffles; in this case it is three jumbo wings, beautifully fried with lots of gnarled crisp skin, along with a waffle and a big plastic jug of Hungry Jack syrup. Other breakfast choices include biscuits and gravy (we’re not all that fond of the biscuits), pancakes, country ham, and eggs with grits on the side.
Among the daily lunch specials are salmon croquettes on Monday, a legendary smothered chicken Tuesday, short ribs Friday, and fried catfish Saturday. An everyday specialty of the house we highly recommend is Niecie’s grilled wings. They’re seasoned and cooked with onions and are powerfully flavorful. If you order them, expect a twenty-to thirty-minute wait.
The most exotic item on the menu, at least for those of us who don’t have easy access to southern Midwest soul-food specialties, is the pig ear sandwich. “You get two ears!” beamed waitress Ms. Myra C., whose badge identified her as having nineteen years of service at Niecie’s. Yes, indeed; it is two whole ears in a bun. We got ours with the works: lettuce, tomato, onion, and ultra-hot horseradish. We’ve got to admit that ears are a little scary, not so much because they’re the worst part of the pig—there are plenty of parts that are far worse on the ick! scale. The problem is that they look exactly like what they are: large, pointy porker ears. Their taste is not objectionable; it’s something like the fatty parts of bacon or streak o’lean, but the gelatinous texture is, to say the least, a little weird.
Porter’s Fried Chicken
3628 S. Big Bend Blvd.
314–781–2097
St. Louis, MO
LD | $
Note the name of this restaurant. While the menu lists hamburgers, fish dinners, fish sandwiches, and even fish buckets—and we can tell you that the catfish nuggets are pretty darn good—it is chicken that is the big allure. The repertoire is a lot like familiar franchised chicken restaurants and the ambience is zilch, but the food is a cut above.
Encased in a medium-thick batter that is extremely luscious and yet nearly grease-free, white meat is moist and full flavored; dark meat drips juice. In addition to wings, breasts, drumsticks, and thighs, you can have dinners of liver or gizzards, wings, and tenders. On the side, in addition to mashed potatoes, French fries, onion rings, and coleslaw, you can have a twelve-piece order of that St. Louis favorite, toasted ravioli, served with red sauce for dipping.
A Slice of Pie
601 Kingshighway
573–364–6203
Rolla, MO
LD | $
The pies are glorious: velvet-cream meringues, Boston cream, and Tahitian cream are especially noteworthy, that last one being a layered pie of sliced bananas, pudding, and pineapple with a mantle of toasted coconut on top. Phillip Quintana, the tipster who directed us to this little eatery halfway between St. Louis and Springfield, said that his favorites were apple and peach with cinnamon cream, as well as any of the pies filled with fruit. We did our best to sample some of everything, but there are far too many pies (not to mention cakes and cheesecakes!) for even two big appetites to try some of everything in just a few visits.
The problem of eating one’s way through the dessert menu is compounded by the fact that lunch and supper at A Slice of Pie are hearty. After bowls of wonderful homemade creamy tomato soup and potato soup with bacon, we forked into a pair of flake-crusted chicken mushroom potpies. After polishing off those savory potpies, it took some mustering of appetite to ask for several sweet pies, a