I’m a KC food curmudgeon. I was thrilled to find this restaurant meal that’s ‘worth it’

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OK, let’s get to the literal meat of the matter, what real foodies want to know.

The mango duck at Bamboo Penny’s, an upscale Thai restaurant in Leawood at 5720 W. 116th Place, is, for this hard to please patron, a new favorite:

Duck, peeled from the bone and lightly fried, it is set on a bed of sauteed asparagus, carrots and chunks of fresh mangoes. Add the sauce — mixed warm from a wok, and composed of tamarind, chile paste, bell peppers, more mangoes, onions and, if you choose, garlic (which I don’t because I’m allergic to garlic and it will kill me) — and what has the potential to be an overly rich serving of fried fowl becomes a moist medley that’s savory, sweet and surprising.

At $28 for a half portion, yes, it is expensive. But the volume is plenty for one person and, for my money, worth it as much as any other item on a menu created by owner and chef Wan Phen (pronounced “pen” as in Penny) Mufuka.

But why, you might rightly ask, should you trust me, the recommendation of a non-professional food critic who’s just some reporter? Because, frankly, over the 40 years I’ve spent as an adult in Kansas City, I am truly sorry to say I’ve grown disappointed. I’ve become a food curmudgeon, a doubter with skepticism born of years of restaurant letdowns.

Don’t get me wrong. I know there are banquets of great meals to be had in Kansas City. The Star’s Let’s Dish series is a testament to the town’s growing food scene. I, my family, my friends: We love to dine out and try new places. Hope is our appetizer.

But I am also sorry to say that on far too many occasions, after going out — willing, as a couple, to drop three figures on a meal, toss in what’s now $14 cocktails, a glass of wine — I routinely walk to the car thinking, hmm, was that really worth the money? No, it wasn’t.

“Wait,” friends says. “Didn’t you guys go to so-and-so and try the such-and such?”

Yeah. Went there. Tried it.

“Wasn’t it so good!?”

Eh, I shrug, offer a weak smile. But usually I’m thinking, meh.

So when a colleague mentioned that she’d taken a friend to Bamboo Penny’s and enjoyed it, my wife and I went that night, expectations in check.

Everything was lovely. My wife ordered the mango duck; I ordered the chicken pad see ew, a standard at most Thai restaurants: wide egg noodles, bok choy, broccoli, mushrooms, a savory sauce. The welcome surprise: broccoli was crisp and green. Carrots, peppers and other vegetables fresh enough to be on the edge of snapping.

We went again and had other dishes: a shareable laab salad ($15) with spicy minced pork balanced by palate-cooling lime, cucumber, mint and cilantro. I don’t even like cilantro, but in this mix it worked. My wife had a salmon panang curry — pan-roasted, with peanuts in a coconut cream sauce ($32). She had a glass of pinot noir ($11). I had a Manhattan ($12) — generous pours, too, a nice relief from the cocktail trend of a giant ice ball sunk into a sip of booze to make it look voluminous.

Thank you, finally, for a real drink.

The atmosphere, too, was pleasant: tropical modern, with gloss-white plates and tan booths, a black stone bar, soaring stone accent wall, wood plank and ceramic floors below. Above, baskets full of faux tropical plants hanging from the ceiling create the feel of an arboretum.

A patio that, in the winter, overlooks the ice rink at Park Place, includes a gas fire pit. An upstairs space, available for parties, has more tables, another bar and additional fire pits. In warm weather the ceiling over the top floor rolls back for the place to become an open-air deck beneath a canopy of patio lights.

“This has been my dream from day one,” Mufuka said of the place, even though, across the street, she’s pouring $1.5 million into a new restaurant, Aqua, serving seafood and set to open soon.

At 56, Mufuka has a story that’s as compelling as her food, having flown from Thailand to the United States at age 29. She knew almost no one. She spoke no English and had only $800. But she had been cooking since age 12.

“When you’re born so poor, you want to find some place of opportunity,” she said.

The next week she landed in Kansas City, started work as a Thai restaurant dishwasher. Gradually, she worked her way up. She found herself working with Ann Liberda, who had come from Thailand in 1975 and had, over the years, established herself as the matriarch of Thai cuisine in the region. The Liberdas opened multiple restaurants in Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka. Her son, Ted, consulted on Waldo Thai at 83rd Street and Wornall Road.

Mufuka worked at restaurant after restaurant until in 2013, with her husband, Doug Mufuka (they met on a blind date), the couple bought the Thai House restaurant in south Kansas City from its previous owner. It prospered — enough so that in June 2021, although countless restaurants across the country had shuttered in the teeth of COVID-19, the Mufukas opened Bamboo Penny’s.

“It was kind of all-or-nothing,” Doug Mufuka said. “We pretty much used all of our savings.”

It was a gamble. Within a year, they were more than profitable, Mufuka said.

Worth it.