11 W. Preston Street
Baltimore Maryland 21201
410-528-1003
Overall Review
If you love soup and are on a budget, Soup’s On is your
dining spot. This quaint and very
eclectic restaurant is located in the heart of Baltimore’s Art district. Serving an assortment of exotic soups,
sandwiches and salads, this café is a must try.
The chefs pride themselves on transforming soup and sandwich classics
into impressive works of food art. Take for
instance their Potato soup; the chef kicked it up by adding leeks, mascarpone
cheese and artichoke. They offer a
variety of vegan, vegetarian and meat-lovers options. The café itself is located on the first floor
of an old row home. Once you enter the
shop you have to make your way to the back of the building to place your
order. It reminded us a bit of the Soup
Nazi Episode on Seinfeld. It was clear
that there is a way that regulars place and receive their orders, but if you’re
new, you may be a bit confused. We
recommend that you go online before you arrive to review the options for the
day. The soups change daily. If you wait till you’re there you will be
subjected to a chalk board menu with microscopic writing. It is very hard to read.
It appears that most people call in their order and take it
out. If you chose to dine in you will
find yourself sitting in an eclectic multi level dining room adorned with
brightly colored and decorated tables.
It appears that each table was commissioned to a local artist. The hand-painted tables are inspired by the
many soups that the chefs make; there is a chicken noodle soup table, a tomato
soup table and so on. The walls are
brightly painted with red and yellow.
The wood floors and old fireplace speak to the history of the
building. Atop the no longer working
fireplace you will find all the condiments needed to spice up your soup. Choose from sea salt, Tabasco sauce or Old
Bay.
The soups here are interesting in that they are made to be
extremely healthy. They have some flavor
however they lack salt. Usually we fuss
about the lack of salt; in this case however, the chef’s lack of salt seems to
be purposeful. I think they specifically
want their food to be healthy so they leave out salt so that folks can add as
much as they need depending on what they can handle. The other thing that’s fascinating about
their soup is that most of their soups are pureed. If you like a chunky soup, it might be hard
to find here. The sandwiches are very
next level. Many, if not all seem to be
served as an open face sandwich. The
sandwiches are full of flavor and also have fun unexpected twists, for example
a ham and cheese sandwich with arugula. Soup’s
on a great choice for super healthy eaters or folks with dietary
restrictions.
Soup’s On is a great spot to pick up lunch if you work or
live in the area. It’s not the most kid
friendly spot only because we think the soups and sandwiches may be a little
too sophisticated for their pallets. If
you are interested in a fun artsy place to grab a quick bite or if you have
specific dietary needs, Soup’s on is perfect.
Parking is a challenge as it is located in a busy area with only street
parking. Overall we give Soup’s On ♪♪♪.
Leek, Artichoke, Potato and Mascarpone Soup
The flavor pallet of this soup was complicated but there was
not a lot of depth to it. The flavors
are hidden at first. Once you added a
touch of salt, the flavor of the leeks rise to the surface. You could faintly taste the mild sweetness of
the Mascarpone cheese; rather than add a lot of flavor, the cheese serves to
give the soup its texture. The artichokes added an earthiness to the
soup. This soup was served pureed.
Spicy Red Lentil Soup
This pureed red lentil soup had a nice, spicy kick. You could clearly taste the Indian spices; such
as curry, cumin, cardamom and marsala.
The soup had a subtle undercurrent of sweetness running through it. Like the previous soup, it desperately needed
salt. Once the salt was added all the
flavors burst forth with goodness. Salt
acts as a flavor platform, and once it was added all of the flavors came
together into one harmonious flavor.
Banh Mi (Vietnamese) Roast Pork Sandwich
Served open face, this sandwich looked a bit salad
like. This is a great sandwich for the
summer time because of the mint, cucumber, cilantro and pickled daikon radish. The pork was thickly sliced and sat atop all
the herbs and vegetables. It was very
fresh, light and delicious.
Black Forest Ham with Swiss Cheese Sandwich
This ham happiness right here was crazy! This was not processed ham; it was fresh and cut
straight from a whole ham. The chef made
the slices very thick and hearty. The addition
of capers was visionary; it added a wonderful saltiness and brininess. The Swiss cheese was smooth and creamy, while
the arugula added a spicy, sweet and earthy yumminess. The tomatoes on this sandwich seemed to be
grilled together with the cheese, giving them a deconstructed texture which was
very lovely. The addition of the whole
grain mustard brought a graininess and spiciness that was fabulous. The bread was wonderfully crusty outside and soft
and moist on the inside. So delicious! This sandwich was AMAZING! It was the best sandwich we have ever had. We almost felt bad calling it a ham and cheese
sandwich.
Conversation Topic: Aging
Melissa: So let’s talk about aging. Angela and I are two 35 year olds who are 20
days apart in age. We have decided that
it is time to start paying attention to our skin.
Angela: As gorgeous
as we are, it is time for us to start maintenance.
Melissa: Exactly! We are working with a beauty consultant and
she has been teaching us about properly cleansing our skin and moisturizing it. Today was our 2nd consultation and
she talked to us about makeup and color.
Angela: I learned that when you do a colorful eye you
need to do a neutral lip and when you do a neutral eye you do a colorful
lip.
Melissa: Interestingly enough, Angela and I have very similar
completions and coloring; however we learned that we have completely different
undertones. So some colors that work for
me do not necessarily work for
Angela and vice versa. For the record, I have dubbed Angela’s
official eye makeup color green. She
looks fabulous in it!
Angela: We now know that the reason green is such a good
color for me is because primary colors look great on me because of my brown and
golden undertones, while pinks and browns look great on Melissa because of her
pink undertones.
Melissa: So what we recommend is that all women overhaul
their makeup periodically, because overtime makeup can pick up bacteria and can
become sticky and smelly.
Angela: It is also important
to find a skin care consultant who understands how to match makeup to different
skin tones. Don’t be afraid to try lots
of different looks and colors.
