Room 39 — Restaurant in Kansas City

The ambiance was casual, warm and had an industrial vibe. The service was prompt, professional and unpretentious. One thing that I greatly appreciated was that the music was very low, pleasant and unobtrusive although the hard surfaces made it a little louder when there were a lot of people.

The parking can get horrendous so be prepared to get there a little early to have time to find a parking spot.

The food was somewhat inconsistent. We had a variety to taste, but not everything they offer. The food was consistently attractively presented. People at our table gave a rating of 2 stars to 5 stars for the different dishes. Which means that while some of the food was excellent, some could be improved.

There is a $39 tasting menu which seems like the way to go.

I had the Beet Tart with herb goat cheese, local onion, fennel-arugula salad, herb oil and Rancho Gordo spiced popcorn. It seemed to me there were some tomatoes under the beets but I could be mistaken. I actually don't like beets in general but this proved me wrong. It was very good and light and made a nice vegetarian dish. I thought the spiced popcorn was a little strange with it but other people liked it and thought it added a lot. I would give it about a 4.5, maybe a 5. I would definitely have it again, but it was not very much food and may not be enough if you are very hungry.

The steak was way too charred on the outside on one entree, just overcooked on another and just right on the third. The smashed potatoes were excellent.

Some dishes were a little dry (like the salmon which needed more sauce) or just didn't work as well as they could (I liked the watermelon salad but the corn didn't go with it. I'd replace it with something like pistachios or walnuts). The Heirloom Tomato salad was very good. The charcuterie plate had some good items and one so-so item. I would not pay $24 for it but if you crave foie gras and duck rilette and lamb offal then it might be worth it. I don't really love any of that sort of thing.

The Wild Sockeye Salmon with sauteed kale, mushrooms, poblano-corn fritter and cilantro creme fraiche was rated a 3.5 to 4. Both thought it could use more sauce and each thought theirs was slightly overcooked or a little dry.

The Duroc Pork Chop with summer vegetable succotash, tasso, fried okra and Crum farm grits looked really good to me (I didn't try it) but the person having it gave it a 3 and said the pork chop could be more tender. I forgot to ask how the fried okra was - I love fried okra and it looked very good.

However, the Goat Cheese Gnocchi with lobster, local mushrooms and nettle cream was a 5 star dish in everyone's opinion. It had lots of creamy goat cheese, a nice sized piece of lobster and the nettle cream was light and good. And save some of your bread to soak up the leftover sauce. We all were wanting bread to get the last of it. Actually, it would be a good idea to serve it with some bread.

We also tasted most of the desserts.My favorite was the Lemon curd tart with housemade ricotta and hyssop syrup. And several people liked the Peach and blueberry bread pudding with mascarpone ice cream best (I liked it too) and the Churros with guajillo chocolate sauce. To me the churros were fine but I don't care for a spicy / jalapeno chocolate sauce. It didn't taste enough like chocolate, but more of just a brown spicy dip. I was not enamored by Melon Gelato and Coconut cake, I thought it was rather tasteless. The Almond cake with blackberry puree was very good, but too dry. I would replace the whipped cream with ice cream on this dish and it would be great.

I would definitely eat the goat cheese gnocchi, the beet tart and the lemon curd tart again. And I would certainly be open to trying some of the other entrees myself to see what I personally thought. All in all it was very good and with a little tweaking, could be great....

Tl;dr: nice staff! A for looks, B- for taste, C for value. Sit outside but you might get shot at.

A foodie friend was in town and wanted to try some place that is a sort of hidden gem of KC. I've heard great things about Room39 so I got us reservations. Calling in to make a reservation a half hour before we planned to be there was easy. The gentleman on the phone was courteous and helpful.

At the restaurant the serving staff let us choose to eat outside on the sidewalk. It was a very nice evening and enjoyable being out there instead of what appeared to be a dark and more intimate interior. Sitting outside had some downsides though. It felt like we were forgotten a bit and, at no fault of the restaurants, I did get shot by some gel pellets by some people driving by.

Drinks - I asked for a recommendation between a couple choices and was recommended the hibiscus mocktail. It was alright. Nice color, decent flavor but a bit closer to bland-bitter than tart-sweet. My buddy ordered a couple cocktails. Something with orange peel and another based on the server's recommendation. He said both were awful.

Food - I ordered the Pair of Spiced Quail (pictured) and he ordered the Filet au Poivre (refer to menu pic). He loved his meal! He said it was flavorful and not too spicy. The veg he enjoyed. But mostly the green peppercorn cream. However, he did expect more steak for the price he paid and it was a bit over cooked than what he asked for. The Pair of Quail were nicely seasoned and very well cooked. The farro and sorghum were great! I could have eaten that quail by itself without the sauce and it would have been brilliant. In fact, I should have eaten it without the harissa because that, for me, ruined the dish. The harissa teased me with smoky, spicy possibilities but it was a huge let down. There was no spice to it. There was flavor communicating spice should be here, but I was just left with sweetness throughout. I kept trying it hoping the spice would kick in but it never did. I'm not sure how they made their harissa but it just tasted like chili powder, paprika and brown sugar. Pretty to look at, not enjoyable to eat.

Dessert - the creme brulee (pictured), the custard was too thick, too warm, the raspberry had no flavor: not sweet, not tart, nothing. Nice caramel on top; good crack, not burned. I should have taken my $9 and bought the ingredients to...

We met our friends here for dinner. They are 30+ year residents and live by the Plaza. They had never heard of Room 39, which been in my bookmarks for over a year. We were going to a show at MTH and decided to meet here for dinner beforehand.

We snagged at 5 PM reservation a few days before and were greeted warmly on a hot summer afternoon by the host.

Our server was Alex and she was magnificent beyond words. Her service and insight were magical. With the deft touch, she guided us through the menu and answered all of our questions. We will most certainly ask for Alex when we return. You may wish to do the same. You will not be disappointed.

We had some delicious appetizers, including their tasty crabcakes, and the Room 39 salad was nice. Very fresh ingredients and not swimming and dressing.

My wife had the steak au poivre, which I got a few bites of and it was delicious! I had the gnocchi with pesto cream sauce, which was divine. One of our friends enjoyed the pasta carbonara very much, and her husband loved the halibut.

They shared crème brûlée for dessert and we had the chocolate mousse. All four of us loved our desserts.

We recognize that Room 39 is on par with some of the finest restaurants in Kansas City. It’s a smaller venue, but their service is impeccable and so is the food. It’s a farm to table restaurant so the menu rotates and changes with the seasons and availability of ingredients. I love that! We will most...