Eight years ago, John Laurin, the general manager of food service facilities on behalf of the Simon Fraser Student Society, needed to open a new store that offered healthy, inexpensive food quickly for students.
And so was born The Ladle, the soup shop that has grown to offer more comfort food dishes that won't hurt the pocketbooks of most students.
Pair up a soup with a grilled cheese sandwich, shepherd's pie or good old macaroni and cheese and you have good food fast.
Most dishes are under $5 and most combos are under $9, with at least eight different soups on offer most days.
"We're offering great value, and it's some pretty healthy stuff," said Laurin as he pointed out the specialty mango chickpea curry soup that is one of his personal favourites.
"The best thing about these soups is that they can go over rice or noodles so you can have an even bigger meal."
On the day we sat down with Laurin, chef J.P. Karwowski and assistant Kim Vu, the offerings on the soup side included: tomato tarragon, spicy potato tomato, mental lentil, broccoli, Thai veggie, cauliflower coconut curry, vegetarian chili and mango chickpea curry.
On the food side, the burritos were flying off the shelf, as were the grilled cheese sandwiches. The shepherd's pie and macaroni and cheese were also moving well, as server Jai McCubbin and Joe Hepburn were very busy.
Hepburn, studying archaeology, suggests we try the Thai veggie.
"Thai food is very popular on this campus," said Laurin. "This is a very popular choice."
I also quite enjoyed the tomato tarragon and the mango chickpea curry, which, to my mind, were the best at mixing sweet with sour and spicy.
By ordering combos - which come in at under $9 a head - you get a nice food offering and a pretty hefty bowl of soup. Bring your own cup or bowl and you get another 10 per cent off.
For the vegetarian set, the veggie chili was certainly filling and so were the tofu nuggets - "They're just like chicken nuggets, except with tofu," explained Hepburn.
While The Ladle is geared toward SFU students, Laurin said SFU staff and anybody on campus is welcome to give it a try.
"Who doesn't love good healthy food that's fast and affordable?" he said.
The Ladle is located in the food court of the student union building on the main concourse of SFU's Burnaby campus. It's open from 10 a.m. on weekdays. In summer it closes at 4 p.m., but during the rest of the school year, it's open until 7 p.m.
