Discreet Diner: The Soup Ladle
When winter asserted itself (for three days!) just after New Year's, the Discreet Diner craved something warm and comforting. Soup, quiche and cobbler from the Soup Ladle in Mount Laurel erased the bitter cold.
When winter asserted itself (for three days!) just after New Year's, the Discreet Diner craved something warm and comforting. Soup, quiche and cobbler from the Soup Ladle in Mount Laurel erased the bitter cold.
The Soup Ladle, owned since 2002 by Marie Edelson, is an eight-table luncheonette situated in a log cabin in Rancocas Woods, known for its monthly antique and craft shows from April through November. The village is quieter this time of year.
The restaurant is quaint and cozy, and it was still decorated for Christmas the day we visited. Menus are paper placements under the glass that tops the tables, and lunch is served on mismatched china. Having heard the place was usually hopping, we arrived around 1 p.m. and grabbed one of two just-vacated tables.
My lunch partner chose the house special, tomato cheddar soup ($2.25 cup, $3.25 bowl), a tasty broth with chunks of tomato nicely seasoned with basil. I started with a cup of potato-leek soup (also $2.25), a thin puree, strong on potato. It was a welcome contrast to the gloppy cream that potato soup too often can be.
Broccoli-tomato quiche ($6.75) burst with finely chopped vegetables, held together by cheese and a light crust. It was served with a small, fresh roll, orange slices and grapes. Cranberry lemonade ($1.50) was a refreshing complement.
As the menu promised, the tuna melt ($6.25) did, indeed, contain "a generous portion of tuna salad" nicely seasoned, but my companion missed the crunch of celery and onion, which the Soup Ladle excludes from its recipe. A side of ruffled chips was ceremoniously presented in a glass fruit cup. Kind of silly.
We convinced ourselves that cold-weather comforting required dessert. Vanilla ice cream melted perfectly into the tart-sweet delight of an apple-Craisin cobbler ($3.75). It could have done without the canned whipped cream, however. Chocolate bundt cake ($3.75) was nicely moist. It deserved better icing.
Don't wait for cold weather. The Soup Ladle will provide a satisfying lunch whatever Mother Nature brings on.
Discreet Diner: The Soup Ladle
115 Creek Rd., Ranocas Woods, Mount Laurel
Phone
: 856-235-6997
Hours
: 11-2:30 Tuesday through Friday; 11:30-2:30 Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday.
Reservations
: No.
Parking
: Street.
Children's menu
: No, but there's Peanut Butter and Jelly on the menu.
Cocktails
: No.