Mandoline Café

Freshest sushi in KC! Made to order just for you. I love this place. You will not be disappointed.

Amazing morning wake-​me up caffeinated drinks! chai is super yummy as well as lattes. crave them all the time as i live in st louis and this place in in kansas city. Sandwiches and sushi hit the spot. western auto roll is my fav sushi roll and korean tacos… well this is one of the few places you can get them and at an awesome price. Owner does creative first friday specials… you never know what you are going to get next.
A real gem!!! will def be back every single time we go to kc!

I was optimistic heading into Mandoline as I have walked by many times and been curious about the Café.
I was greeted by a very nice woman at the counter but couldn’t help but notice a woman with an angry scowl in the background. I placed my order for the rice bowl and spring rolls. They have a nice selection of sandwiches and sushi as well.
As for the food, it wasn’t bad but lacked something. The spring rolls were loosely wrapped so after the first bite the contents all fell out. The rice in the bowl was nice and sticky and fluffy, but the rest of the contents in the bowl consisted of a few pieces of lettuce, cabbage, avocado and some other green vegetable. Each dish came with a red, sweet sticky sauce. Again, not bad but not overly impressive either.
The main reason for the 2 stars is the whole time I was eating the woman with the angry scowl stared at me while I ate. I felt as though if I did something wrong with my chop sticks I was going to get my hand smacked and a stern talking to. It was very intimidating and made me want to leave without finishing. I felt really bad because the other woman was so nice. From this experience alone I will keep walking past in the future.

I’ve tried many menu items and the quality is always top notch! My favorites are the Korean tacos, Spicy pork bowl, Korean beef bowl, Sushi rolls and the Gooey Pig sandwich. When I want to treat myself I add on a delicious Café Mocha. This place is wonderful!

Came here for lunch with some of my friends and it was great! It’s a Korean/​Japanese fusion café that has a small selection of rolls and some Korean dishes. I decided to try the salmon roll and a spicy pork bulgogi bowl (I know I got greedy… but I wanted to try everything!). The salmon roll was alright, it was cheap (less than $ 5 for 8 pieces) and pretty fresh for sushi in KC. And the spicy pork bulgogi could have had more meat in it (~$ 6.50)…but the lady who owns it is super nice! Make sure you Unilocalers get the 10% off your order! I forgot, so I will have to come back to redeem it. Next time I am trying those Korean tacos cause I have heard so many great things about them! My friend ordered a sandwich here and it looked amazing! It had chicken, bacon, and avocados in it and it just looked so fresh and delicious!
Pros:
— lots of Asian items located in the middle of the Crossroads
— pretty reasonable prices
— the owner is super sweet and nice: D
Cons:
— the hours for here are kind of sucky… it’s always so hard to get here before 6 to have dinner!
— you have to walk through an art gallery to get here… it’s a little weird, and I’m sure all those paintings now have a faint Korean BBQ smell on them…
Why I gave it a 4…
Great place to get a light meal of sushi or Korean BBQ. You can also choose from a variety of sandwiches as well! I will definitely be back here to use my 10% discount and to try those Korean tacos!

This is the strange sort of place that I really want to like. They’re tucked away beside an art gallery in a tiny little space that is packed with too many tables. Some of the tables look like they’ve been repurposed from outdoor use. There was one lone woman working behind the counter. She seemed quite sweet yet a bit harried, however it was hard to understand her because she had a thick accent and a very soft speaking voice. I always feel bad when I have to say, «What?» over and over.
So here’s the deal: The food really isn’t good. It’s not inedible, but it was definitely below meh. We had some sushi rolls which were just strange and obviously not made by an expert. Not sure why the flavors were not right, but the rice wasn’t sticky enough, so the pieces were falling apart. I generally feel like I can save bad sushi with a lot of wasabi, but their «wasabi» wasn’t actually wasabi. It was this flavorless grainy mess with no kick at all. So the food experience was just sad all around. My husband had an Orange Julius and it was very tasty. So maybe the key to this place is skip the food and get something to drink?

If this place was just a sushi shop I might give it a higher rating. The sushi is above average for a good price. The coffee however is just not good at all and the combination of sushi/​coffee is weird.
Anyway, if you’re in the neighborhood and want a cheap/​light lunch you could do much worse.

Love this place! It’s an adorably quaint café/​restaurant on the edge of downtown with a really chill and comfortable vibe. It’s a perfect place to do work on your laptop solo or eating dinner with friends. I randomly walked by the other day and stepped in to get a cup of coffee, but the menu had a ton of different sushi rolls so I felt compelled to order a spicy tuna roll. The next thing I see is the girl pulling out all the ingredients and making it right there in front of me. I did not expect that at all and was just all-​around impressed with the place. Probably even more so when my total was $ 8 for a coffee, a juice and a sushi roll.

A delightful lunch place thanks to fellow Unilocalers! The girl working here couldn’t be sweeter. My friend and I shared the spicy tuna roll and mandoline special which comes with two of my favorite things: spicy mayo and avocado! Chips were only 50 cent with the sandwich which was reasonable priced. We had a good time here and I will definitely come back.
The only confusing thing is the café shares a door with the art gallery next door. So you have to walk in the gallery and turn to the right. Next time I will definitely try the Korean tacos and rice bowls.

So, I’m in the Crossroads and I have about 30 minutes before I need to be down on Banister Rd, and need to get lunch in between. I don’t do fast food, and don’t want to eat in my car. Seems like an unsolvable problem, but Mandoline Café comes to the rescue!
I wanted veggie, light, and quick, so I went with the Veggie Spring Rolls and a Korean Taco minus the meat. Cheap, healthy, flavorful, and served on real dishes! And I thought I’d be skipping lunch. I sat near the huge sunny windows and sipped water from a glass and the food was brought to my table, all for about $ 6. That’s right, for less than the cost of corporate chemical fast food, I had a real meal served by a lovely barista in an inspiring setting. The amount of fresh veggies was impressive, and the spice from the various types of sauces made it the perfect quick meal. My only reason for taking away one star is that there weren’t many veggie options– lots for fish and meat eaters, but a few more tofu/​seitan selections would be appreciated.
I hope to try this place again with more than ten minutes to spare, and perhaps for some coffee.

I always like to try new places and I was very pleased to have a place like this in KC! Its kinda weird when you walk in you enter a art store then you realize its to the right! I really enjoyed the Korean beef bowl and sushi, yes the sushi is limited but it was good. The atmosphere is relaxing and the owner is a doll!

BEST CHAI EVER!
Cute little café — Free WiFi — Great service.
Sushi options were limited and kind of different to have a café/​sushi together but they made it work.
I went back a couple times there when I was in KC for business… cute place!

A life-​saver near my place of work. Coffee, sushi, sandwiches, rice bowls… and Korean tacos! Everything is thoughtfully prepared (sandwiches come with a little side if fruit). The tacos are delicious, the coffee is strong. A little slow, but you can always call ahead.

YUM! Went for lunch today and had the Western Auto roll which was GREAT — so much flavor; the pork in the Korean tacos was awesome and the Hawaiian patty (? can’t remember exact name) was unique and delicious. And the coffee was even great too! Small and homey environment and the owner was super nice/​knowledgeable. Great place, affordable — will definitely be going back.

Came here for dinner for First Fridays. The Korean tacos were amazing! My friend had the chicken salad sandwich. We shared a western auto roll and nothing was left on our plates when we left.
The owner was really chill and knew a lot about the area.
Sushi rolls, sandwiches, tacos, and coffee… All in one place. What else could you ask for?

I love love love this place. The food is soooooo delicious, especially the Korean tacos & sushi rolls. I’m excited about trying the Gooey Pig just for the name.
The owner is really cool, and the space is really nice for reading, writing, relaxing, playing games, hanging out, all of the above. And the bathroom is super clean! Wish this place was in San Diego — it would definitely be my go to place.
If you haven’t been yet, check it out!

A coffee shop/​sushi bar combo? How deliciously schizophrenic!
Seriously though, how weird is this?
They do both quite well, but i don’t think the two flavors really compliment each other. I’ll definitely be back for more sushi (the dragon roll was delicious!) and I’d be happy to grab a cup of coffee any time i’m passing by, but in the future i doubt i’ll do both at the same time.