Traditional Soup Company

this restaurtant closed down in 2011.
I used to work here it was a great place.

Used to be a big lunchtime hit with my coworkers on the UBC campus. They opened up shop in the dungeon food court this summer. They sent around a cheesy ad flyer («feel good after you eat!») so we went to check it out. I have a strong impression that the guy who runs the place reads the Globe and Mail and votes Conservative. Someone please confirm/​deny.
It’s a pretty good value: a $ 5 «regular» soup comes with either a «bunwich» (a generously-​sized bun with a piece or two of chicken or beef inside, usually; don’t count on it to be very filling) or one of a selection of sweet or savory muffins.
The smash hits are the Hungarian goulash and the tex-​mex chili, though they’re specials and not always on the menu. Get ‘em if you can. The borscht is apparently excellent if you add the sour cream, though I’ll attest that it’s not bad if you don’t. The tomato soup is a watery vegetable thing I didn’t like very much. The lentil soup is pretty good; the bean soup didn’t really jump out at me. The Maryland corn chowder is fine but not very thick, and, as someone who grew up in the mid-​Atlantic, since when the hell is corn chowder a Maryland thing, anyway?
The owner’s a friendly guy; apparently this is his entrée to the restaurant business and he has plans to franchise the concept. I think he wants every lunchtime purchase to feel like you’ve just had a personal interaction with someone, which is a nice idea… I guess. Personally I’d be happy to just have my lunch and be gone. The kids who work for him are kind of slowly starting to hit their stride, though it’s still not the zippiest checkout line, which is weird, because all they’re doing is scooping soup, but hey, I know little of these things.
Only U is still my favorite choice for lunch in the Village most of the time but if I’m feeling like something a little lighter or I’m in a particularly soup-​oriented mood I’ll swing on down this way. My coworkers like it a lot more than I do – but I think we all agree that it probably deserves to be doing more business than it looks like it’s doing. (Seriously: no good reason for a lineup at Osaka and not here.)