DTLA: Lunch at Soup Bazaar

 

Soup Bazaar opened a few months ago in Downtown Los Angeles. It replaced a rotisserie chicken place I kept meaning to check out but never did. And for the same general reasons of not making it to this particular corner of Olympic and Broadway, I completely missed trying Soup Bazaar when it first opened. But I’m running out of new lunch options in DTLA. So I headed over there and found the place cute but tiny. There’s counter seating by the kitchen and most tables are two-tops. I suppose you can push some tables together for larger parties.

After looking over the menu, I decided to get the Roast Pork al Mojo. I love Cuban sandwiches and wanted to compare it to some Cubanos I’ve had in Miami and even to the local Porto’s.

First, the bread to meat ratio– decent but could be way better. Good mustard and good pickles. But the salad dressing for the salad seemed like it was straight out of the bottle. I might come back to try the rosemary chicken sandwich or the ham and cheese. Pricing is so-so for an average office worker’s lunch. For a couple bucks more and if I had more time, I might wander up the street to Mendocino Farms or Lemonade.

 

Soup wise, for a place called the Soup Bazaar, there is indeed a wide selection. There are six soups including three daily ones. I opted to get a daily soup as I love chicken chili. I’m used to chunks of chicken so this was interesting it was served with ground chicken. I suppose it’s closer to actual chili (with ground meat). I didn’t love it and found the soup pricing rather much. Small cups can go from $5.50 to $7.50.

I can’t quite make this place a regular lunch stop yet but I’ll keep trying to find the right combo I want for lunch. Maybe a salad next time. Or I could just hit up the Market Table at Fogo de Chao. For the same amount of money I spent at Soup Bazaar, I could get unlimited salads and soups at FdC.

Soup Bazaar

199 W Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90015

 

© The Minty 2015