Bubbie’s Matzoh Ball Soup from Eleven City Diner
Item Purchased: Bubbie’s Matzoh Ball Soup from Eleven City Diner
Location Purchased: Eleven City Diner / 1112 S. Wabash / Chicago, IL
Price: $3.50 + tax
Review: I bought a box of matzoh Ball mix from Treasure Island one time and made my own doughy spheres once. It was my first experience with matzoh balls, and because I went into the whole process with nothing more than the directions on the box, I was extremely disappointed. No one ever informed the young sheltered version of myself that matzohs are more of a base food ingredient or food of necessity than a delicacy to be enjoyed on their own. Though my mother sometimes claims that she is a Jewish mother trapped inside of a gentile’s body, I wasn’t cultured in the ways of Judaic faith or sustenance…Only worry.
It took me a while to come back to matzoh as something I would ingest by choice. I think it was when I was waiting for coffee at the Bagel on Broadway that I noticed a bowl of soup with a protruding glob of dough. Aha! So that’s what Matzoh does. It is the grain equivalent of tofu. Everything seemed to fall into place.
I don’t remember where I had my first accurately prepared matzoh soup, but I do recall the dough itself flaking and disintegrating into my broth until it was nothing more than broth itself. More time passed. Here and there, I encountered another matzoh. Nothing thrilled me.
Was I thrilled by the soup at Eleven? No.
Was I satisfied? Very.
I don’t know about you, but when I go out to get something to eat, I am far more concerned with being satisfied with my food than thrilled. I’ve been to those Japanese steak houses where the cooks flip knives and throw bits of food into the air for you to catch in your mouth like some kind of trained monkey. They are fun, but when you get down to it, you are paying for a show, not a meal. Shows are great, but they can upset the stomach, especially if the price is too high.
Eleven’s matzoh soup is a bowl of tasty chicken broth sprinkled with diced carrots and celery and an overbearing island of matzoh in the middle. Unlike my previous encounters, this matzoh retains its shape, soaks up the delicious flavor of the soup and leaves you with a satisfying mouthful of substance to chew.
If you want a show, you could go to some fancy Japanese steakhouse, but if you stick around Eleven long enough, the show is free, all around you and always enjoyable.
Rating: 4 / 5
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