By Susanne Beck
In response to our recent piece on National Soup Month, WSR readers sent in a few of their favorites UWS soups. Here they are – just enough to have a soup a day for the rest of this soul-chilling month!
Charles:
Parihuela – Spicy Seafood Chowder
(Fish, octopus and mussels in a seafood and cilantro broth)
$12.00 at Flor De Mayo, 484 Amsterdam, between 83rd and 84th Streets
Claire:
Paste e Fagioli
$9 – at Patsy’s, 61 West 74th Street, near Columbus
“It’s a meal!”
Geoff:
The prepared white clam chowder
Around $10 at Fairway, 2131 Broadway, at 74th Street
“Better than any restaurant chowder i’ve ever had, especially the oyster bar at grand central”
John:
Matzoh ball soup
At City Diner, 2441 Broadway at 90th
“Sublime— way better than Zabar’s, but that’s not saying much. Fluffy, supple, swimming in the perfect broth”
Chow and Jen M:
Lentil soup
At Seven Hills Mediterranean Grill, 158 West 72nd Street
Grace:
Greek lemon chicken soup
At Viand, 517 Columbus at 85th Street
“Is amazing!”
Lifelong UWsider:
Butternut Squash soup
At The Hummus Place, 305 Amsterdam, between 74th and 75th Streets
“The best (and least guilt-inducing). Carrot Ginger also excellent”
ZooZooB:
Soup Cari Tôm, a curry noodle soup with chicken or shrimp
For $9.95 At Miss Saigon, 928 Amsterdam, Between 105th and 106th Streets
“A generous serving, what seems like a quart of soup and, packed separately, a tangle of rice noodles, the chicken (or shrimp) and cilantro. Cari Tôm has a tomato rather than coconut base, and it was surprisingly spicy with a tangy sweet and sour vibe”
Steph and Ericuws:
The Pho Shop, 141 West 72nd, between Amsterdam and Broadway
Deb:
Yankee bean, Lentil, Split Pea, vegetable soup.
Cafe 82, 2282 Broadway, near 82nd Street
“FANTASTIC soups! …And an incredibly hearty vegetable soup”
Françoise Simon:
Onion soup
At Manny’s Bistro, 225 Columbus Avenue near 70th Street
“Very good and great moules/frites “
Larry K:
French onion soup with baked over Gruyère cheese
Cafe du Soleil, 2723 Broadway, between 104th and 105th Streets
“Wonderful”
Christine:
Pozole
At El Mitote, 208 Columbus, near 70th Street
“Wonderful on a cold day”
Trudy Robbins:
Onion soup
At French Roast, 2340 Broadway, near 85th street
“Great”
And then, the ultimate recommendation:
Lee Apt:
MY OWN – SMOKY SPLIT PEA SOUP! SUPERB!
Lee, when are you inviting us over for a tasting?
Yeah, Lee, or at least a recipe!!
Agree with John, City Diner’s is the BEST matzoh ball soup on the UWS. The broth is buttery and flavorful; matzoh balls are large, soft and fluffy; no random carrots or celery to distract from the prime purpose. Our family once did a blind taste test comparing several UWS mb soups (including some venerated names) and City Diner’s was by far our top vote. Mmmmm!
I actually find the carrots and celery to be critical to a good matzah ball soup. I’m not a big broth fan, so the more matzah balls, vegetables, and whatever else is in there, the better. Though I agree that the matzah balls are the most important items so the vegetables should definitely not come at the expense of matzah balls – I’m very impressed by the picture showing three matzah balls!
To this lovely list I’ll add the Chicken Noodle Soup at Murray’s Sturgeon Shop on Broadway between 89th & 90th Streets.
I agree! I wish my late mother’s chicken soup was half as good (sorry, Mom)
Coppolas on west 79th street between Amsterdam and Broadway has the absolute best minestrone soup in the world.
The homemade soups at Au Jus on Broadway & 99th street are FANTASTIC!!! They have a variety of 8-10 different soups each day. Their cream of tomato is Incredible. They also have a variety of clam chowders that are pretty damn good. Comes with their homemade dinner rolls which I love.
A really helpful list for this season! (And very glad my matzoh ball soup from City Diner made the cut — just seeing the photo made my mouth water!)
Yes, Steven is right; Au Jus is fantastic for their soups! Particularly their New England clam chowder…
I’m with the AU JUS folks….very good soup but just know that the clam chowder has bacon in it….I think it makes it better but it means my wife won’t choose to eat it….
Clams are as treif as bacon 🙂
FYI Terence, the last time I was at Au Jus, they had 3 different types of clam chowder and only 1 of them had bacon. Not sure if that’s still the case, but it was last month when I was in there. I think it was bacon & shrimp clam chowder, but they had 2 others.
The Velvety Tomato Soup at Sarabeth’s is absolutely scrumptious! Made with parmesan, so that every spoonful is not simply yummy, but also slightly gooey fun. Try it!
I have NEVER agreed with Ian on anything he’s ever posted on this site, but in a first I will DEF agree that Sarabeth’s tomato soup is out of this world incredible.
Also, if you’re a tomato soup fan, Swagat also make a pretty damn good Creamy Tomato soup.
As a soup fan, I miss Hale and Hearty which used to be on Broadway around 82nd-83rd.
Cream of turkey, the Saturday soup at the Metro Diner.
Murray’s potato leek soup is awesome
We love the chicken avgolemono soup from Telio.