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Photo by Jay Paul
Guilin-Style Noodle Soup
$10 at Inter China Restaurant
11623 Midlothian Turnpike, 794-0866
Only 12 servings are made daily, each with their own savory identity, chockablock with beef tendon, cilantro and bamboo shoots, and as unique as the chef’s fingerprint. Before you can cry “pho,” hot peppers, peanuts and mustard greens scent the table.
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Photo by Jay Paul
Vegetable Soup
$3/cup, $4.25/bowl at The Red Door Restaurant
314 E. Grace St., 649-1588
Pleather booths, low-pile carpeting and our guest check already on the table signals we’ve found it: a no-frills Greek-Italian diner filled with old-school family recipes. The comforting, veggie-filled stock gets better as it soaks up the puffy yeast roll.
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Photo by Jay Paul
Matzoh Ball Soup
$4/cup, $7/bowl at Perly’s Restaurant & Delicatessen
111 E. Grace St., 332-6434
I’m not telling you anything that the Soup Nazi doesn’t already know. We both deem the cracker-meal sphere dangling in chicken bouillon to be larger than life. There isn’t room for two of them, not with all those herbs and carrots.
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Photo by Jay Paul
Red Peas Soup
$4/cup or $6.50/bowl at Jamaica House
1215 W. Broad St., 358-5793
Reasons to order the dumpling-stuffed, oxtail-and-kidney-bean island soul food to-go include: It usually sells out; seating is limited; service can be slow; takeaway can be eaten in the comfort of your own bed.
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Photo by Jay Paul
Pozole
$16 at Estilo
7021 Three Chopt Road, 484-6046
I’ll have the yardbird with hominy, cabbage and crema in guajillo chili-tomato broth. Keep it mild, but guild the steamy, cauldron-sized portion with lily-like furls of crisp chicken skin.
