A Food Lover's Delight
Executive Chef Kelli Billingsley toastsW to the eclectic are of MelBee's in Mission.
Johnson Drive, one of the oldest streets in Northeast Johnson County, is not exactly known as the culinary center of Kansas City. But there is at least one restaurant there that deserves close attention and devoted patronage. That place is MelBee's in Mission--just the place if you're looking for sophisticated food in semi-hip but comfortable atmosphere. (Do people still say hip?)
I've eaten at MelBee's three times since it opened nearly two years ago. I went in that first time with a slight prejudice--I was thrilled to have "fine dining" in Mission. But somehow we've never made it back too often. But this cold Friday night, we were hungry (and grumpy, for reasons I won't explain). We needed a good meal.
Once you step inside MelBee's, you forget you're in a strip on Johnson Drive. The bar and its lighting are dramatic. The art changes every six weeks. I have to say that while I liked MelBee's from the first, those initial trips were mostly noteworthy in that it was clear the place was really trying to be great. But the piano was too loud, the food took forever to arrive; the portions seemed skimpy.
But this time. This time. Everything was exquisite, including the service. My portly friend, a devotee of blue cheese stuffed olive martinis, pronounced his excellent--one of ten they offer including a Sex in the City version filled with citrus and high heels, or something. (Note: martinis are $5 on Sundays--and the parties just begin with that . . . ask about their "Startender" evenings.) I selected from among the 25 wines by the glass, ranging from $5 to $12 for a glass of Kim Crawford sauvignon blanc.
The kitchen split our first two items, making it easy to share. We skipped the starter course this time, but the artisan cheese selection is nice. The foie gras on a walnut crouton was excellent last time and the mussels lovely, too. Tonight, the winter squash soup, with its swirls of crème fraiche and sage pesto, was pretty, hearty, and very smooth. The crab cakes were perfect - they were fat, little roundlets stuffed with crab and served on greens with a light balsamic drizzle. Dusted with Japanese flour and quickly sautéed, they melted.
There are ten main course dishes as well as a pasta of the day. MelBee's serves what they call "small plates" and you're supposed to order several. What this means is that rack of lamb ($16) consists of four meaty little ribs perched atop a mound of whipped sweet potatoes with a citrus demi glaze. The wild mushroom pot pie ($12), laced with cognac, is a 6 inch bowl with the flakiest crust tumbling over the edges. The lamb was scrumptious, but I traded my last rib for more of the pot pie, I liked it so much. Other dishes include swordfish, smoked beef filet, pork loin, braised elk shank, duck--it is varied, unusual and delicious fare. Of the four listed, we only tried one dessert, the coconut panna cotta with a very vibrant passion fruit "soup" on top. The panna cotta's texture was perfect though the coconut perhaps lost its way a bit--but then, anything less than Mounds bar strength is too weak for me.
The best deal in the place is the four and five course prix fixe menus, where you can order any four items for $38 and five for $48--this means you could order four pot pies for yourself if you wished. They'll also do a wine pairing with that.
MelBee's serves lunch from 11-2 pm work days, and the traffic moves quickly. There are soups, salads, and four very popular sandwiches, which cost from $8 to $12. They also have five entrees from $10 to $13. Certainly higher than Mission's fast food joints, but certainly worth it. Mission needs an elegant but casual, cool but friendly little place, in my opinion. MelBee's menu proclaims itself a "food lover's delight." It does all of that.