Indy Grub Review

Hiatus

2011-01-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to take a break from being very active on here for a while.... maybe, once we see how much we keep going out with our baby I might come back to post some, but I think I'm going to work on a private blog to "scrapbook" our baby's first year, so I may make that my side project from real work for a bit.....

Not many recent recommendations...... Over the holidays, tho, I did really enjoy this podcast from Freakonomics Radio. Since my undergrad was in economics, I really appreciate the approach that Dubner and Levitt take. It is a great question they ask - "Do more expensive wines taste better?" If you love your subscription to Wine Spectator, you won't like this podcast.

Be well!

Vending Machine Advancements

2010-12-17T09:44:00.001-08:00

From today's Washington Post's day in pictures (picture #9)....

Steer-In review

2010-12-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

Peering over at Indy Restaurant Scene's blog, some people take breakfast pretty seriously. I mean, I guess I do too... but, I find my breakfast tends to be the time I typically show the most restraint and, hopefully, good judgement. Lots of yogurt, granola, berries and Raisin Nut Bran on a typical basis... but.... well, we all have to indulge sometimes, right?

The historic Steer-In is over on the east side, at 5130 E. 1oth Street. It is an old drive-in restaurant with a lot of history - it was originally built by the Laughner family, who used to have a string of cafeterias.

I had been to the Steer In before, but it has been a long time. So, the Better Half and I met up with mom for a late breakfast last Saturday.

First off, the place is just sooooo cool looking. A complete step back in time, and I feel like it would be a great location in a Quentin Tarantino film. It is a full service restaurant with a wide menu of typical item from breakfast to lunch to dinner. I have only had breakfast at the Steer In, but from looking at a neighbor's Reuben sandwich, I'd like to go back and try theirs....

I had one of the skillets - the fiesta. It was loaded with the potatoes, peppers, some sausage and two eggs over medium on top. I added in a side of sausage gravy for my biscuit, and it was good but not great. The meal ended up something like $8.79 with the $1.99 for the side of gravy, but it is a big, filling breakfast. It is pretty typical of what you'd expect from a good diner breakfast, with the emphasis on good. The diner is clean, the service is efficient, the food arrives fast. And, it has a counter, which seems a pre-requisite for a diner.

The verdict: Great venue, good value, good food - what you expect, when you expect good from a diner - 4 belly rubs (out of 5).

Bar-B Q Heaven review

2010-12-14T07:38:00.001-08:00

On MLK Jr. Blvd. and about 25th Street, you'll find the retail location for Bar-B Q Heaven. From the mural on the side of the building, Bar-B Q Heaven has been open since 1952. They seem to have originally began as a retail location, but they've grown to a food distribution business as well. You can find Bar-B Q Heaven jars of sauce in some local grocery stores.

I stopped by recently after an appointment downtown, and took home a combo meal. I was hoping to get a combo of pulled pork and some rib tips, but... unfortunately, the combo at Bar-B Q Heaven is defined only as two (very large) ribs, and a half of a chicken. The combo meal also comes with two small sides, two slices of bread, and your preference of sauce (I went hot). A very large meal for a very respectable $8.88.

I find the food at Bar-B Q Heaven to be much like what you'd expect at a friends cookout. Only your friend has a serious set up for smoking the meat over wood. The ribs were meaty, large and a good mix between tender and a bit chewy. The chicken was huge, and the skin had gone somewhat crisp yet the meat was still tender. The hot sauce had a nice kick. The beans were pretty basic (no extra trimmings with the beans) but tasty. The cole slaw had some mustard in it, it seems, and it was decent. The cheap slices of white bread are perfect for sopping up more of the sauce. I had enough left over for the Better Half to have some of the breast meat with a salad for lunch the next day, too.

Overall, the value at Bar-B Q Heaven is high, though I don't necessarily crave the meat or sides. I'll go back, though, to taste the chopped pork and the rib tips. The interior of the store might put-off some since there are thick plexiglass walls between the employees and the customers, and you pay through a slot, but..... it is decent 'cue and will fix a jones for smoked meat.

The verdict: Good barbecue, good value, average sides. 3.5 belly rubs (out of 5).

Little Caesars and value

2010-12-10T05:59:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, dinner ended up being quite late, so we decided to just grab something fast rather than cook. It has been ages since I tried a Little Caesars pizza, and this whole idea of a $5 "hot and now" pizza seemed like something to try. We took home a large sausage pizza for a grand total of $5.45 right as this location closed at 9:00 p.m.

The pizza is... okay. I am sure that it would be quite a bit better if it was fresh, so if you can time that, it is likely a really good deal. For instance, the next day at lunch, I ran out and grabbed a foot-long chipotle chicken sub at Subway and made it the combo. That cost me $9.97. Now, I realize that the Subway locations have some liberty in pricing and I could have gotten that week's $5 foot long, but... wow. $10 for a meal at Subway? That just seems way too expensive.

Anyhow, the pizza at Little Caesars isn't very good. It is even worse if you want to re-heat it later. But,... $5 for a large? If you're feeding a large group fast, especially if they're kids, well.... that'll make your money go a long way.

You know what else is also amazing? Mike Illitch, who started Little Caesars, owns both the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers. Wow. Make all the jokes about Detroit's economy or real estate (the old Silver Dome sold for the crazy low price of just over $500,000), but that is amazing that his pizza chain led to these other businesses.

Now, in the holiday season, there is a lot of shopping going on. We are doing even more as we prepare a room for our baby. So, I've been making some interesting finds while shopping......

Perhaps for the man that has everything? Including active follicles on his back.....

Was this perhaps an attempt at trying to produce the least politically correct doll ensemble possible?

I don't know, but one of these things just does not seem like the others (or as historically significant).....

Have a good weekend!

Holiday message

2010-12-09T11:53:00.000-08:00

No, this isn't about world peace - it is about diet soda. Now, if you listen to much sports radio, you might know that Colin Cowherd beats this drum already, but... if you want to drink a diet soda, try Fresca. No, it is definitely not the most manly drink out there, but... it's fresh and tasty! And, I think the thing that really helps it is that there is no full calorie alternative to compare it to. No matter what you tell me, I'm not going to like Diet Pepsi more than a real Pepsi. But, Fresca is just in diet, and... it stands well on its own.

Mike Wilbon has left the Washington Post to go to ESPN full time. A nice final column here.

Dan Lebatard has some great and interesting topics as a writer and commentator. His show producer did a segment as a phony character - Mark Hackman - commenting on the LeBron stuff for a Cleveland radio station. If you heard it or take the time - Hambuerguesa Con Queso!

Xavier Nuez has been to Indy for Broad Ripple Art Fair as well as a featured show at the Indianapolis Art Center. Love his urban shots. Anyhow, having spent 7 years in NE Ohio/Cleveland, I really like this recent shot from the Cuyahoga River.

Found this song by Bloc Party, "I Still Remember" related to a Neon Trees song. Nice.

Saffron Cafe review

2010-12-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

I have a slightly sinking feeling that my blogging days are winding down or will be cut back even more with our baby on the way.... so, I have this urge to get to some of my favorite places, and log some necessary record in the form of a review.

Saffron Cafe is on the short little stretch of Ft. Wayne Avenue, in the building that used to house breakfast stop Canary Cafe long ago, right near the IPS administration building, and not far from the Elbow Room. We've been to Saffron Cafe about 6 times now, and my only complaint about the place is that they need a 2nd set of doors to block some of the cold in the winter. Otherwise, this is a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant - Moroccan by specific ethnicity.

On this visit, I had picked up the Better Half from her office place to go out for lunch. We were both craving the shwarma from Saffron Cafe, which is in my opinion the best gyro (or gyro-like substance) in the city. So, no sampling from my dear wife's plate, since we were both getting the same thing. We did start with the zaalouk, which is basically Moroccan babaganoush - an eggplant dip. The pita is warm and the zaalouk is savory. A great starter.

We then both had the shwarma delivered. Ahhhhh.

For $8.95 you have the choice of salad or soup with the shwarma, and I had that day's special soup, which was basically Moroccan chicken and vegetable. With an appetizer already on board, and with the large portion of meat for the shwarma, the soup, while tasty and very hearty (lots of chicken), was really an afterthought. We were focused on the shwarma. The meat isn't from the same old mass produced 15 pound cone at Saffron Cafe. Instead it is a 90-10 blend of ground lamb and ground beef, mixed with seasonings in the kitchen and grilled then sliced for each order. It is just fantastic, savory, richly seasoned, and juicy. There are pickled onions, a little lettuce and both a cucumber sauce and some hot sauce. To make the pita manageable, I have to eat about 1/3rd of the meat without the pita - which is not a chore. Then, you can finally fold the thing together and eat it in an intact "sandwich".

Again, the shwarma is far and away my favorite gyro in the city. Please, give it a try. You'll never view the cone-meat the same way again.....

We were given a tajine for a wedding gift, and it hasn't really been a highly used item. But, you can find many tajine-based items on the saffron cafe menu. Due to the fact that tajine-items are for slow cooking, I don't believe most are cooked to order IN a tajine, but instead are served in very cool decorative tajines. But, there are some wonderful dishes to try, both lamb and chicken and a few other items. I've heard wonderful things about the steak specials for the evening meal, but not tried one yet. The meals are hearty and very filling. The wait staff is prompt, professional and attentive. The interior is dark and intimate, yet very friendly. Most of the entrees are under $20, so great value. Above all, the meals are so full of flavor.

And, something that has to be mentioned is Chef Sentissi. I believe every time we have been to Saffron Cafe, he has at some point come out to talk to patrons at each table, introduce himself, and seek feedback. He is warm and engaging and seems to truly love his work - it definitely shows. You can also see him during an appearance on WISH TV.

The verdict: robust flavor, big servings, warm welcome, good value - an Indy Grub Review favorite! 5 belly rubs (out of 5).

Great Cooks The Bakery review

2010-12-02T07:15:00.000-08:00

This review would definitely have been more timely if it had come BEFORE Thanksgiving... but anyhow.....

I have been driving by this plaza where Great Cooks The Bakery is for a long time. I didn't notice it for most of that time, but finally it caught my eye. Great Cooks is at 86th Street and Ditch Road, in the plaza at the SE corner of that intersection. Having lots of company expected over the Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to go try them out early. And, it is a great little bakery.

There is still a sign for "Great Cooks at Home" on the other (North) side of 86th Street. Apparently that is the old location, when Great Cooks started as more of a catering business. I am not sure if they still cater, but they are now a bakery with soups and sandwiches available.

I realize that bakeries can be hit and miss based on availability of products, the season and individual preference. But, almost everything we tried in 2 visits within 3 days was great. The chocolate and raspberry rugelach (sweet, buttery, Jewish crescent rolls) are out of this world. In fact, I may stop tonight and get some more for company this weekend. The staff is friendly, the cases are brimming with selection, the sweets are delectable. The only thing I didn't care for was the pumpkin roll-up, which was a bit too "perfumey" in taste for me.

Anyhow, Great Cooks the Bakery is a very nice local bakery. Give them a shot.

Hank's Smoked Brisket review

2010-11-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

Time to get back to some reviews....

When we lived downtown, I'd pass by Hank's Smoked Brisket on MLK Blvd quite often. It is just south of 38th Street, across from part of Crown Hill Cemetery (best view of downtown, from the top of the "Crown", up where James Whitcomb Riley is buried). So, after an appointment downtown, I grabbed a brisket sandwich combo (comes with 2 sides) and took it back to the ranch.

Hank's is only a take-out restaurant. In fact, when you go in, it almost seems like a waiting room for a doctor's office, but only a doctor's office that has a wonderful aroma of smoked meat (something I doubt Clarian is considering). I placed my order, than joined 4 other gents waiting for their grub in chairs akin to the waiting area of a barber shop. I had the beef brisket sandwich with sauce on the side and the beans and mac-n-cheese (I also used this opportunity to try one of the sodas I'd picked up at Jungle Jims - the Moxie Blue Cream Soda).

The brisket at Hanks is tender, juicy, smokey and delightful. They must smoke them earlier and wrap them up, as the only deficiency I'd note on my visit was that the crust was not very crunch, but had become more moist again from being wrapped in some cling wrap. Still, the meat was just very tender, a great flavor, and a load of it for a sandwich. The mac-n-cheese was pretty decent, and had was loaded with cheese and a bit of a crust to it as well (bonus points). The beans were a bit of a disappointment. To me, the beans often show the care of a bbq restaurant if they really put effort into them. I found these bbq beans a bit average, and I was not completely convinced these didn't just come from a can and then get enhanced with a bit of trimmings (sparse as they were) and some jazzed up sauce. However, I felt like the brisket was definitely worth going back for. They were taking orders for Thanksgiving, and since we were having a houseful for both Thursday and Friday, I did consider mixing things up and getting a few pounds for Friday, but... I made some cowboy chili instead.

Hanks is definitely worth the visit. The brisket sandwich combo was about $8.50, and you'll be satisfied and full after the meal.

The verdict: very good brisket, decent sides, good value. 4 belly rubs (out of 5).

And, as a side note, the Moxie Blue Cream was nice, but.... a pretty basic cream soda. But, the slogan on the bottle cap is stellar - "If you have Moxie, you have taste!" I love it!

Product Review: Cherry Cordial M&M's

2010-11-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

Yumdilicious!

Have a great Thanksgiving. I hope it is filled with friends and family most of all, and keep your belly full!

Cherpumple next week?

2010-11-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about the confectioner's answer to the Turducken?

Behold the cherpumple!

El Sol de Tala review

2010-11-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

You know how everyone seems to love The Workingman's Friend? Yeah, I like it too. Anyhow, I wanted to try out a new-to-me tavern and check out their burger. Maybe it would be a similarly great, simple pub burger. So, I settled on trying McGinley's Golden Ace Inn. It is on the near east side, on Washington Street. I was going to meet a friend there, a guy that knows his way around a pub, and has the build and the hair to make you think he wouldn't be scared of much. Anyhow, he gets to the Golden Ace before I do, and... I start getting text messages. Text messages of the sort that let me know he was worried about the my restaurant selection. It wasn't his bodily welfare that he was concerned about so much as it was the dearth of people going in to the Golden Ace. So.... what does this have to do with El Sol de Tala? It is across the street and a block away from the Golden Ace, and it was having a lot of people enter into its front doors.

To appease my nervous lunch companion who had never been to El Sol de Tala, we changed locations.

And, while I'm here - does anyone have any opinions on McGinley's Golden Ace they want to pass along? Do I need to take a braver companion and get there?

When I first returned to Indy (after 10 years on a tour of the glamour cities of Des Moines, Little Rock and Cleveland), I often heard about El Sol de Tala being one of the best and most authentic Mexican restaurants in the city. I had first tried the one at the current location East of downtown (2444 E. Washington Street), but for a brief time they had a location in the old Union Station, on Meridian across from the Roberts store).

The current website gives a brief history of the restaurant, mentioning it has been in business since 1979. Now, that is ignoring some recent history when they shut down both locations for a while. I heard it was something to do with ownership partners, but.. it was definitely missed during that dark time.

El Sol is some great Mexican food. This was my first time since it re-opened and... it seemed a bit more refined than in my memory. I tried the empanandas on this visit, and they were pretty good. The pork one was very tasty, but the chicken was a bit too dry. The sides were nice, and I especially appreciated the salad.

The chips are warm, the salsa has a nice bit, the service is attentive. The tables are still bright and colorful, and the interior of the restaurant is spacious and of much higher quality decor than some of the somewhat blighted area outside El Sol's doors. El Sol has a wide expansive menu, and yet has great good prices, and the ingredients seem to be selected with care. The plating shows much more flare and attention to detail than the more El Rodeo-style of restaurants, and the taste is superior, as well. They also have a good selection of vegetarian items.

The verdict: 4.5 belly rubs (out of 5). Great service, great food, good value, local grub landmark.

A visit to Jungle Jim's

2010-11-11T06:14:00.000-08:00

Having heard of Jungle Jim's grocery store in Cincinnati, we were pretty excited to finally get there. And... my goodness, what can you say? You need to get to their website for good pictures of the place, but... Jungle Jim's really is a food landmark, and worthy of a field trip.

Now, that said, I will say that while our local Saraga Interanational Market (south of 38th Street on Lafayette Road) has an awful lot going for it, too. It may not have mastered as much of the marketing pizazz that Jungle Jim's has, but... Saraga is pretty nice and has a tremendous amount of food diversity.

Oddly, the way we entered Jungle Jim's, we started at what I'd call is the "normal" grocery area and went towards the coffee and wine area. Yes, both wine and coffee sections were expansive, but... I was confused about all the fuss... I mean, yes, the bathrooms are quite humorous.....

But, then we got directed into the larger area... Wow... what a fun place to wander.... crazy amount of cheese.... neat dry and frozen products..... and the aisles and nooks devoted to various countries and ethnic foods is just food splendor... next time, we'll have to be be much more wise and take a cooler, but we picked up some dry good and some fun items. I focused on items like chocolates, chips and soda... the Better Half was more interested in organic type items (dried fruit and nut combinations)... in either case, lots of great stuff, fun things to try, easy to run up a huge bill.....

I had a lot of fun with the soda aisle...

You can assume that the "Grown Up Soda" flavors were the Better Half's choice... I was looking for things less grown up.... Now, it shouldn't be that hard to drink soda, but... I'm trying to save these, so.. I can't give reviews yet as I'm not wanting to overload on liquid sugar, but... just the bottles and names are cool enough.....

The chips from England were kind of interesting... I especially liked the Worcestershire Sauce chips, which was a surprise. But, man, I think those would be a hit here.

Anyhow, lots of fun all around.... Definitely make Jungle Jim's a place to visit if you head to the Natti.

Product Review: Candy Cane Oreo

2010-11-10T21:13:00.001-08:00

Best. (Specialty) Oreo. Ever.

Road Trip: Cincinnati

2010-11-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

Cincinnati was the destination for a quick get-away. We headed down on Thursday, and stayed down town. I find Cinci interesting, because you can tell the city grew to prominence at an earlier time, it seems, than Indianapolis. There are some great older building, but too many seem closed or mostly empty. And, they do a nice job of using the water with the Mighty Ohio rushing by.

We wandered around some areas of the city, went to see Rock of Ages at the Aronoff Center. Pretty fun musical, kind of silly, lots of big hair hits from the 80s weaved into the show. We of course had to do some exploratory eating, so I'll mention some highlights here.

Friday, we wandered around the Mt. Adams area. Now, this is a pretty cool spot, very close to downtown, with some nice views of downtown and the river. We had lunch at the City View Tavern, which has a spectacular view from its patio.

I had a Myrt's Wurst, a griddled sausage on rye with American cheese and some horseradish. Nice, spicy, tasty. But, small. Sure, it packs a lot of saturated fat, but I was surprised at how small it is.

The Better Half had their signature burger, the Big Ted Deluxe. A very nice bar burger. City View Tavern is apparently pretty popular and well known, but not nearly as well known as Terry's Turf Club in Mt. Adams. We didn't feel like fighting the crowds there, but the burgers sure sound epic. City View definitely has a great view, the bartender is friendly, and it is just a nice place to stop in for a quick bite.

Another nice little joint was It's Just Crepes. They have 2 locations in downtown Cinci, and they offered up some very filling crepes. The two times I was in Paris, I would hardly stray from the sweet crepes, mostly going with banana and Nutella. These savory ones were well prepared, and stuffed with fillings. A pretty nice start to your day for just $6-$7. I'd really enjoy seeing this place have a location in Indy, as the idea seems easily repeatable, and the overhead seems quite low.

We did a little slightly fine dining, but... I tend to find the lower-priced meals more Grub-worthy and interesting to write about. I'll save the entry about Jungle Jim's for later, but... one really noteworthy spot is Findlay Market on the near-North side of Cinci. This is what the Indianapolis city market could only hope to be. We stopped in on both Saturday and Sunday. Yes, the Belgium waffles from Taste of Belgium were that good. Findlay Market is kind of like a homeless man's Faneuil Hall from Boston, just without the whole Freedom Trail tie in and the centuries old building. But, there is a nice mix of produce, meats, specialty items, and seafood. I'm sure it is great in the late summer with so much more produce. But, this is a worthy stopping point. And... don't forget the waffles!

So, overall, a very nice time in the Queen City. I did not see a pig fly, but we did also visit the Cincinnati Contemporary Museum of Art, the Underground Railroad Museum, and went to the Newport Kentucky riverfront, but didn't feel like taking the time to make a visit to the aquarium worthwhile.

What ever happened to....

2010-11-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

... Orange Julius? Man, they were definitely a must visit spot in the visits to the mall in the 80s....

Well, I got wondering, and figured out they were bought by Dairy Queen. They've updated the logo, too. Those orange juice-sugar-ice bombs were certainly nice......

Had a great weekend in the Natti, and did make our fist ever visit to Jungle Jim's. More on that once I get caught up in the office.

Speaking of 80's era things, Neon Trees (whose song Animal is just great) have a lot of 80-ish influences. The song below if called 1983, and I love the visual shout-out to A-Ha's "Take on Me" video of yore.

Ramblings

2010-11-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Heading to Cincinnati for a long weekend... anyone have any good grub recommendations?

So, the Better Half is expecting. Pretty exciting times. She's past 30 weeks already, so... it's getting close. I am dubious about how much blogging happens once the baby is here, but... that's for a later decision.

We are now shopping for a lot of things, so... today's pictures come with questions:

Is this Military Surplus Store (body armor) or Babies R Us (baby sling)?

and....

"protective enclosure" or "cage"?

Everyone - have a good weekend.

Mr. Gyro review

2010-11-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Stayed in a gyro kind of mood and went looking for Mr. Gyro over on west 38th street. It is in a plaza that USED to have a Best Buy. Machu Picchu and Absynnia are in the plaza behind Mr. Gyro's stand-alone building.

(Indy Grub Review - home of the worst food blog pictures in town!)

Mr. Gyro definitely reminds you of a lot of grills in the Chicago-land area. The menu must have about 70 items. I went in wanting a gyro, but when looking at the menu I was definitely considering trying their Italian beef sandwich (especially since this rating entry from Serious Eats was in my head). Anyhow, I got the gyro and a Chicago dog. The Better Half had the gyro special, which came with a side (fries or salad).

I should first take a step back. Mr. Gryo is a pretty simple, unadorned place. It is an early 80s style fast food joint, with simple laminate tables and booths. Fairly clean, but not fancy by any stretch. Still, this place had me excited. It seemed grub worthy!

The Chicago dog I got was fairly true to form, but not the "right" neon green relish, and no sport peppers! You gotta have the sport peppers. Otherwise, ti was a decent dog, but nothing that Hot Doug or Gold Coast Dogs would consider the genuine article.

The gyros are enormous. Like, a mountain of sliced meat on a nice thick pita. Like, between the two of us, we left enough for likely another healthy gyro if one was so inclined to stuff themselves. This is not a thin pita pocket like at Sam's Gyros, but a 3/8ths inch thick pita disk. Lots of onions and tomato slices, some pretty average taziki (don't feel like looking up the spelling...) sauce. But... i don't know. The taste was good. But, maybe I was just over enthusiastic about the grub potential and the huge portion for your dollar. But... overall, it was just a pretty average gyro. And, I even felt like it needed a bit of salt, which is rare for a pita sliced from those enormous meat cones on a vertical spit..... The salad was a nice sized portion, lots of feta, quite a few olives, but just iceberg lettuce, which is pretty common even at nicer Mediterranean restaurants.

So, really, while I felt like it was great value, and very filling, I thought the taste was a bit below average on this visit. The Better Half definitely concurred.

The verdict: 2.5 belly rubs (out of 5) - huge portions, average taste.

Now, I got thinking about gyros some. I've stated my preference for the one at Saffron Cafe, and it is a more truly meat item that is presented on the pita. But, for most of the more mid-range to cheaper places, they are the giant cone of meat (or meat-like substance). And, I'm not sure, but how many places offer said meat cone? Mr. Gyro had a poster for Kronos, and you can check out their meat cones here. They offer a 35 pound meat cone. That'll be a winner at your next tailgate party. Anyhow, if you start with the same meat-like substance from the giant cone of meat, how much can some of these places really differ? Are all meat cones alike? I don't really know, but it is something to consider.

Sam's Gyros review

2010-10-28T10:13:00.001-07:00

After burning some calories at the Jordan branch YMCA, what should I do? Well, I should eat all those calories back in (or more) by stopping for a quick lunch at Sam's Gyros. I really enjoy Greek/Mediterranean food, but I don't typically get gyros. And, from my previous visits to Sam's, I was underwhelmed. But, I wanted to try it again, and figured it would fit the time window I had available.

If you've been through Broad Ripple much, you know Sam's is on College at 54th Street, between the Army surplus store and what used to be Northside News Cafe. It is a well-worn place, welcoming and comfortable.

They have three standard lunch specials - a gyro salad, a gyro special, and a falafel special. On this visit, I went with the gyro special and had the spicy gyro. For one stuffed pita, some fries and a drink it is $7.50 before taxes.

While I was underwhelmed previously, on this visit, I found the spicy gyro really tasty. Lots of heat, and the taziki (sp?) sauce was chunky and decent. The pita bread is pretty thin, and seems to break too easily. But, overall, a tasty gyro. Is it great? No, but a good value. I really love the shwarma at Saffron Cafe as my favorite gyro-like sandwich in the area. This is a few first downs behind Saffron, but it is pretty good. The fries, on the other hand, are a waste. They're an out of the bag variety, which is common, but they are cheap and very unexceptional. For about the same cost, get the full gyro - which is two stuffed pitas. You'll leave much more full.

The verdict: 3 belly rubs (out of 5). Tasty, decent value, a bit better than average.

Closing report

2010-10-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

With not being downtown as much now that we've moved a bit north, I find I really do miss downtown... anyhow, noticed today that Taste of Tango on Washington has closed. We went once and had a decent meal, but nothing really stood out. It was rare to find many that talked about this place. So, wasn't terribly surprised it didn't make it. Their website certainly looked nice....

Zest! review

2010-10-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Zest Exciting Food Creations has been one of my "go to" places. In fact, I have often thought of it as one of my favorite local spots. My feelings about it are strong, as I've always thought of it as comfortable, comforting, warm, welcoming, hearty, tasty and good value. I like their approach to slightly upscale comfort foods, and like their use of ingredients. And, typically, I've always thought their prices are very good, with it being fairly difficult to find anything for more than $20 for a dinner entree.

Anyhow, it had been a while since we'd been to Zest, and mom had never been, so we headed there last week (south end of Broad Ripple, on 54th).

One thing I realize as I write this, I think I have typically been to Zest in a type of "seasonal" pattern. We've most often eaten outside, in their odd little "patio" are of the parking lot. And, the other times inside have typically been for brunch on a weekend. While we've been there for supper, I'm not sure we'd eaten inside at supper time. Anyhow, it was a weeknight and very quiet. Apparently in the last month or so, they've changed the evening menu. It is now much more simplified, with only 7 dinner entrees available, plus a few specials. Now I really enjoyed the "full"menu that used to be available at supper time. And, while I realize it makes the organization and planning (and, ultimately overall cost) easier to manage by having less items, I do miss the full menu (which is still available at breakfast-brunch-lunch. So many affordable, tasty offerings there.

We started with the tomato bon bons, which were fantastic. A nice, full-flavored appetizer, but hard to consume in one bite (tho, to the Better Half's displeasure, I did). The sausage-tomato-cornmeal-asiago came together quite well. The bread that comes with your meal is warm, fresh and wonderful. Especially the pretzel bread, but I have a weakness for pretzel bread.

This evening we had three entrees - mom with the braised beef short rib, the Better Half with the Zest take on Chicken 'n Waffles, and for my first time I had (a Zest menu favorite) the Asiago "Fried" Chicken.

Plenty of food at Zest, with large servings that will not leave you wanting more. I'd been out raking leaves and I left some food behind. Now, part of that is that I didn't care for the cooked-down wild mushroom ragout that much, it was a bit overpowering for me. And, polenta is pretty far down on my list after rice, couscous, potatoes, etc.... But, it is a tasty meal, and the quotes around fried just mean that chicken was baked with a bit of a "crust" made of breadcrumbs and asiago cheese.

The upscale version of chicken and waffles was very appealing in name, and it was executed well and hit some soothing, homey notes. The cheddar-scallion waffle didn't sing for the Better Half, but I thought it was pretty tasty.

Mom's slow cooked short rib was enormous, though the amount of meat eventually kind of wore you out on the taste. It felt a bit overcooked, but that is a risk with slow cooked meats.

Overall, satisfying as usual, friendly service, good value (2 of the 7 entrees at $20 or more). But, ultimately, I felt less "at home" at Zest this evening than I have at other times. Ultimately, I really like Zest with their brunch and lunch menu. It feels homey and local, the value is high, the food is satisfying, the ingredients achieve great things at a good price point. Supper here seems more of an attempt at a finer dining experience, and while it is well executed, it seems like a mixed message to how I personally have come to value and enjoy Zest.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5). Still a favorite, but not necessarily for the evening meal. Score on this visit bonused some from previous visits with the breakfast and lunch menu.

Miller's Pizza & Sub Shop review

2010-10-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

Out on an errand one lunch time, and I figured I'd stop in at The Sandwich Machine over on NE Pendleton Pike (just a bit west of Post Road). When I was a teen and into my first couple of years in college, I worked in construction related jobs in Lawrence-McCordsville-Fortville, and the Sandwich Machine was a favorite. However, one really bad online review had me worried, and when I went by at lunch and couldn't actually tell if it was open... well...... I went about a half mile back to the SW and stopped in for a maiden visit to Miller's Pizza & Sub Shop.

Miller's is a very clean shop, impressively so. The site says the shop has been open since 2002 (and, apparently, the original owners are now back), so it seems the cleanliness is a matter of process discipline and attention to detail, not newness of the shop. That's a good thing.

Miller's has a pizza buffet at lunch. Pizza was not in my mind, but... hey, a pizza buffet... it has to be considered.... So, I ended up doing a bit of a double dip. I asked what their best sub was, and was told that the steak and cheese was the most popular, so figured I'd try that. I did not expect an original Philly-style cheesesteak, but.. was hopeful. I added a slice of pepperoni.

The prices are good for what you get. An 8" sub is $4.69. If you are definitely hungry, you can move up to a 16" for $9.29.

The sub comes on a nice soft, split top roll with a slightly crispy crust to it. The steak is advertised as shaved ribeye, and it is tender and tasty. No grizzle in this batch, which was nice. The provolone was good, though if I go back I think I'd ask to double cheese. There is no mayo, which tends to be a frequent addition to too many sandwiches around here. Overall, much better than expected, tasty, not exactly Philly quality, but I'd go back for it. Quick service, clean place, good price. Thanks, Miller's, that was nice.

Now, I also had a slice of the pepperoni pizza. Um... not nearly as good as the sub. Seemed like kind of the no-name, generic mall pizza you can get in numerous places. My biggest issue, though, was the sauce. It tasted like it was mostly just tomato paste, and I'd have liked a bit more seasoning in the sauce. I definitely won't go back for the pizza, much less the pizza buffet.

The verdict: 2.25 belly rubs (out of 5). Clean, bright and good value. Nice sub, but below average pizza.

Jack's Pizza review

2010-10-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

Does anyone feel really strongly about Jack's Pizza? As we've moved up into the Nora area, we drive by the one on 86th Street all the time. So, we decided to finally give them a shot.

So, honestly, I wasn't expecting much from Jack's. As this local chain shares a name with a brand of frozen pizza, it doesn't exactly elevate your expectations. Another frustration for me is that a company website was not easily found. In fact, I didn't find one. I could not find a menu online. The other thing that is a major issue for me is that I just don't like cutting coupons. The clutter just annoys me, and I don't feel like keeping around all these coupons that expire eventually. So, we were ordering sans coupons, and we took a hit on this pizza. We got a medium supreme. Jack's doesn't call it a supreme, but more like the Jack Pot, Full Jack-et,... something like that. There is also a pizza that has all 14 of their toppings, including anchovies, but that seemed a bit overboard.

They have 5 sizes at Jacks', so I assume the medium was the 3rd or perhaps the 4th biggest. You can tell I didn't spend a lot of time figuring this out, as I was ordering without being able to look at anything and talking to guy on the phone.

Anyhow, the pizza we got was pretty tasty. They have a heavy dusting of Italian seasoning flakes on top, and there is a load of toppings. The crust is completely unremarkable, though, so you really need good toppings to ignore the bland crust. And, they only have one crust type available, a thin crust. The supreme has a lot of green olives, which is something we like, but I realize many would not care for. Overall, it was tasty, and the topping mix reminded me of one we get more often from Monical's.

But, the real problem is that the pizza cost us almost $23. What? That is absurd to me, though I paid it cause I wanted to try a pizza place new to me. That is just bad value - especially for just a middle of the road pizza.

Have you noticed Pizza Hut's pricing campaign? We ate in at one just last week, and they've simplified the pricing and basically set it up so that you can avoid coupons. It is a great, simple structure - 3 sizes priced at $8, $10 and $12 ($1 more for a small handful of specialty pizzas). We don't' have to cut or save coupons, and they don't have to print them. Papa John's is similar, as they're pricing large pizzas at $10 with up to 3 toppings. It just makes sense, and best of all they're making it easier on the customer (what a novel concept!).

The verdict: 1.5 belly rubs (out of 5). Decent tasting pizza, below average crust and poor value (also really needs a website).

Gigi's Cupcakes review

2010-10-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know if every cupcake shop in town deserves a review, but... I dropped in at Gigi's Cupcakes over across the street from the Keystone at the Crossing mall on 86th street. It is next to a McAllister's Deli, so if you want to chase down a sandwich with a sugar bomb, you're all set.

Gigi's is a chain, which I didn't realize till I asked them. You can read the owner's story on the web site. Looks like the corporate center might control the daily flavors, too, which is kind of interesting. I assume they allow for regional favorites... like, if Indy was totally into lemon-mustardseed cupcakes with blueberry-salted-carmel, I sure hope they'd serve them often.

What stands out about these cupcakes is the sizable tower of frosting. I am all for a higher frosting-to-cake ratio, but... Gigi seems to have outdone herself with these and actually given you more frosting than even seems reasonable. Hunka Chunka Banana Love is interesting, and I'd likely go back for the Kentucky Bourbon Pie.

Ultimately, sure, they're tasty cupcakes. But, I just like the Flying Cupcake so much more. Even in the style of the store (this place seems so... corporately blingy, if that makes sense).... and, while I'm not anti-chain, for a cupcake, I'd prefer to push the local alternative rather than the chain.

In other news.... the combover abides!

And, this is one of the silliest early 80s music videos I've seen.... I barely remember it... I watched it all the way through, wondering if they'd keep up with the 16 screens... and, they do!... And, they have such obvious linkage of lyric to image that I wondered if I did this in 8th grade.....

Have a good weekend!

Hunting season is upon us....

2010-10-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

.... so, if you need a squirrel recipe, here you go.

El Pastorcito review

2010-10-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Boy has it been busy lately. I'm tied in with the sales cycle now as part of my job, and... that can have some serious peaks when we're proposing something.....

So, not much being posted here lately... and, we ate in a bit more, and the eating out we did lately has been more run-of-the mill, or not really stuff that cries out for a review. I will mention two things:

Pizza Hut - I still do love your pan crust
Rock Bottom Brewery - I keep getting dragged to you with work, and your Sonoma Chicken Wrap is truly miserable. So dry, it was like airport food, but worse. The tortilla is almost as thick as flatbread, and while your wrap is loaded with chicken, the whole thing is so dry, it was like I was grinding saw dust with my molars

Anyhow, went to El Pastorcito for the 2nd time this week, meeting up with a few friends there for lunch. WIBIA and Indianapolis Amy both have reviewed El Pastorcito, and their recommendations of this place got me interested.

First off, this place has an extensive line of tacos. They are the traditional style tacos, it seems, being served on two corn tortillas. Their are about 10 different meat options you can choose from, including flank steak, chorizo, chicken, goat and... brain. On my first visit I had the carnitas, flank steak, chorizo and goat. And, I tell ya - get the goat. That's some tasty protein. Now, I am a gringo that prefers flour tortillas over corn, but the overall taco is very good, and the pico that comes with it is a great, fresh addition.

On my most recent visit this week, one of funny items was from one of my friends who is a British ex-patriate. He mentioned that some of the mad cow issues had come from brains being fed to cows in England (can't confirm veracity). Needless to say, he didn't get the brain taco.

I tried the carnitas in green chile sauce. Good stuff. The meat was tende, but had a nice crust to it, the green chile sauce was flavorful, but not very hot. There was a load of flour tortillas to go with it, and sides of rice and beans for just $6.99. One of my cohorts had the huevos rancheros, and the medium fried eggs had a load of a nice looking, chunky red sauce on it. The other had a burrito, which I think I should go back for. It came with a side of rice and a pile of shredded lettuce, and it was about 80% the size of a Qdoba/Chipotle burrito. And, it is just $4.99. You can pick from any of the meats that go into a taco for your burrito, so lots of choice.

El Pastorcito is a clean, simple little place offering good value and good grub. The tacos are especially loaded with meat. If you're fine with a little taqueria, this place is a good stop. I really enjoy Mexican food in general, but I do trend more towards Tex-Mex than the more traditional Mexican spots.

The verdict: 3.75 belly rubs (out of 5). Great value, quick service, good portion size.

Fire at Santorini's

2010-10-12T05:29:00.000-07:00

No one was hurt.... and, glad to hear they plan to rebuild after the fire last night at Santorini's Greek Kitchen.....

Tortas Guicho Dominguez y el Cubanito review

2010-10-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

I was really excited about this excursion to Torta Guicho Dominguez y el Cubanito. While I was away in Raleigh, the Better Half sent me this review from the Star. I don't think I'd ever had torta from any of the Mexican places we'd visited, so I was excited about trying this version. WIBIA at Would I Buy It Again had mentioned having a super-loaded torta on one of his road trips, so I am wondering what he'll think of this place eventually.

We arrived for a pretty late lunch on Saturday. We had mom in tow, too, who usually makes it quite clear that she doesn't like sandwiches. The restaurant is brightly adorned, well lit, colorful and welcoming. There is seating for about 16 people is my guess, and there was a nice little crowd of about 6 there at the time of our visit. They start out with some salty, shelled peanuts. Then, you have to work your way through the menu. Ultimately, you can pick small variations of their sandwich fixings or... basically get everything in the Cubana (#12).

They bring two salsas and some peppers to accompany your sandwich. The red salsa is very heavily peppery, and the green has more flavor beyond the blunt pepper. The jalapeno/carrot mix is a great addition to go with the sandwiches, and they're more sour than hot.

They have 6 sandwiches named after famous Mexican artists, including Salma Hayek, Shakira and Enrique Iglesias. Suffice to say, I could not imagine having the words "I'll have the Enrique Iglesias" come out of my mouth, no matter what was on that sandwich.

Mom had the Salme Hayek - chicken, ham & mozzarella. The Better Half had the Luis Miguel - smoked pork, chorizo sausage and mozzarella. I had to go for the whole pinata, so I ordered the Cubana.

Everyone enjoyed their sandwiches, which come on soft, slightly sweet bread. These buns are likely 8 inches in diameter, so not a small sandwich. But, the bread is not dense, so you are not filling up on bread.

Now, let's take another look at the Cubana.

The Cubana has: smoked pork, ham, breaded steak, egg, turkey, chorizo, a whole hot dog, headcheese, American cheese, mozzarella, white fresh cheese and pineapple. That is from the menu. Mine also came with avocado which was not listed. That's right, 13 toppings. How do you say "dagwood" in Spanish? I'm thinking it was over 4 inches in vertical height, but luckily you can compress the bread. The chorizo comes cooked up in the egg, and I took some of that off. It was on its own at least a 2 egg omelet. I'm not a headcheese expert (sorry), so I am not sure it was on the sandwich. If it was, that was a first experience with head cheese for me.

It really is a great sandwich, and I want to take some food-loving friends here for the experience. A few down sides, though. The taste of it is kind of overwhelmed by the split and griddled hot dog, though it is a nice tasting hot dog. Too much egg for me, too. Otherwise, it is a great sandwich, fun to order, filling, tasty.

My favorite of our three was the Luis Miguel. It was really cheesey, and a great mix with the pork and chorizo. This sandwich is spicier on its own than the Cubana, and the pickled peppers were a great accompaniment to this sandwich.

Pretty much all of the sandwiches are $5.50, but the Cubana is $7.50. $3,75 for a breakfast torta, which I'd like to try. Very good value all around.

The verdict: 4.5 belly rubs (out of 5). Nice owners, great local addition, tasty, filling, good value. I'm not sure why I'm holding back on the last half belly rub, I guess just because it was the first visit. Please try this place.

Now, the Star calls this a Fletcher Place restaurant, but while you haven't crossed back over the the North-South split of 65, I consider this a Fountain Square restaurant. And, I think it is a great addition to the collection of Fountain Square restaurants. And, really, as I think about it, I really think that Fountain Square, for such a small area, has some of the best collection of restaurants of any of the neighborhoods in the whole city. For my own slant, they have the best Thai restaurant in town (Siam Square), best Greek (Santorini's), best outside seating (Shelbi Street Cafe's rooftop in the summer), and now the best torta! Our only attempt to get to Naisa, it was packed so we went elsewhere. And, Maria's pizza is pretty good, and I like the one that comes with sauerkraut quite a bit. Plus, there is the Murphy Art's Center, Dolphin Papers, and the Wheeler Arts Community (very cool to go to their open house). Discover Fountain Square - way better than Broad Ripple!

Coming attraction: Pei Wei in Indianapolis

2010-10-06T10:25:00.001-07:00

While out doing another of our common weekend doubles (Lowes and Target) at Glendale, I noticed that one of the vacant spaces has a sign noting that it will soon be a Pei Wei restaurant. Pei Wei is a new casual dining chain from the PF Chang Bistro Inc. It's theme in the marketplace is Asian flavors, or, as they say - "Eat in five languages: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese". Some opinions about Pei Wei here.

It is, to me, a great sign that these flavors are becoming more common in the heartland that a chain like this can possibly do well. Maybe in the next ten years we'll see more of the flavors from the Indian sub-continent or the middle-east "chainified"... again, to me, that isn't a bad thing.

Pei Wei menu here.

I don't feel like making big philosophical statements about food on this blog. My approach really is "Taste good? Awright!"

There are, however, a few words that I have no interest in personally. This includes "foodie" and "authentic". While I may possibly have used "authentic" in a review (oops), I just find the notion of authenticity and food so boring (and, honestly, a bit elitist). Our tastes and appetites grow and evolve. So, too, do menus and food preparation techniques. You know what I don't care for all that much? "Authentic" Mexican food. But, you know what I love? Tex-Mex.

Okay, sorry about the mini-rant. Changing topics.... Go Reds!

Spaghetti tacos

2010-10-06T06:28:00.001-07:00

I couldn't pick out iCarly from a Mickey Mouse lineup, but... found this a funny little article.... I remember there was once an Italian-Mexican restaurant over on Shadeland Ave on the east side, so... maybe that is a budding fusion potential.... anyhow, apparently spaghetti tacos have gotten popular, at least with kids.....

Chaintastic Italian restaurants

2010-10-05T20:37:00.001-07:00

Over the last 10 days, I've been in some of the upper-middle Italian chain restaurants in the area. It had been a long time since I'd been to a Maggiano's, and then I went twice within 8 days.

My first visit to a Maggiano's, I was in Philly doing some work for the School District of Philadelphia. The highlight of that assignment was going to both Pat's and Geno's on the same night, eating a cheesesteak at each establishment (one with whiz, one with provolone). And, I can't give much of a dissertation, but... I prefer Pat's. Anyhow, another time, I walked over to a Maggiano's and watched some sports in the bar. I wasn't really paying attention to the fact that it was family style, so when my salmon and pasta dishes arrived, it was a lot of food. Anyhow, they no longer serve family style now at Maggiano's, which likely is only news to me. The food is very good, though I'm not especially partial to Italian (I prefer the Pacific Rim flavors). Anyhow, I'd say Maggiano's is definitely above Olive Garden and slightly above Macaroni Grill (tho I prefer Macaroni Grill's bread). I'd put Maggiano's very even with Carraba's for chain-style Italian.

A few things I'd like to mention about Maggiano's, though, if you don't already know this. If you order a classic pasta entree, you get the one for your dine-in meal, and can also select another classic pasta entree to take home. That's decent value. If you have especially big appetites, you can also go the way of the Family Style deal, where you need a minimum group of 4. The family style deal has three levels of unlimited amounts of appetizers, salads, pastas, and desserts. It is quite a bargain if you can eat a lot of food.

We also had a work dinner at Bravo Italian this week. It is pretty tasty, too. Though the Italian salad at Bravo was pretty lame. Just too drenched in dressing, and I wonder if it hadn't sat in a big bowl for a long time, as much of the lettuce was pretty limp and had given up the fight against the dressing. Bravo slates in probably between Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill for me, though all of these chains are pretty dependable. I'd say they are all in the 3 to almost 4 belly rub territory. For a reference, my favorite local Italian place is Mama Carolla's, especially liking their rosemary chicken lasagna and their crab cakes.

I didn't feel like taking pictures at any of the places, but... well... hopefully this isn't too tacky, but the men's room at Bravo cracked me up... I'm assuming this urinal is ADA compliant, but... this area sure seemed narrow!

That reminds me... I've had this idea (likely inspired by Kramer's coffee table book) of a small book full of pictures of urinals. I've seen some whacky ones in my days, and I'm sure most guys have. It might make a good gift book idea, and would be perfect for reading material that you sometime find in someone's bathroom.

Skyline Chili birthday

2010-10-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, October 6th, marks 61 years of Skyline Chili.... so, if you go to one of their local restaurants (or, at least the one on 86th Street near Michigan Road), you can get a cheese coney for just 61 cents. What a bahgain!

USA Today's Best Burger's by State

2010-10-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

I am old enough to remember when USA Today first started publishing, and I was definitely old enough to read. It seems like USA Today has always been creating lists, and I think they really helped unearth a lot of male fascination with lists, especially sports lists that you can argue about (My personal top 3 QB's of all time: 1. Elway 2. Manning 3. Montana). Anyhow, Friday's edition had a list of the top hamburgers by state.

Now, I'm not sure how you can pick the best hamburgers in a major metropolis, much less for the whole nation, but... again, the point of their lists never really seems to be about being the authoritative list so much as just being a conversational starter and reason for discussion.

As a proud Boilermaker, I just think it is cool that the Triple XXX Family Restaurant was named for Indiana.

Road Trip: Carolina Barbecue

2010-10-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

Went on a quick road trip to Raleigh to see a customer with one of our sales guys. I looked up some friends in Raleigh on Thursday night who are going through some of the highs and lows of life. Their daughter was born about two months ago, but the mom is now going through cancer treatment. So, we stayed in, had a really nice visit. After our sales call on Friday morning, I was hoping for and suggesting finding some Carolina Q. Instead, we ended up at a diner, so I had a very lame salad.

Anyhow, at the airport, I was still craving some barbecue, so... I got a plate full of smoked pork from some chain vendor that was in the terminal.

I spent a lot of time in NC at several manufacturing plants of my employer during an SAP implementation from around 1998-2002. This included a lot of time near the cost in New Bern - which happens to be the birthplace of Pepsi. Carolina barbecue tends to be primarily smoked pork, with a sauce that is much more vinegar-based than in other areas. Even though this was an overpriced plateful ($9.99), the smoked pork was still pretty good. I chose some brunswick stew as one of my sides, and it was really horrible (though, the genuine article from a better place is really good). But, what I found the most amusing was the Texas Pete hot sauce. It is a nice vinegar-based hot sauce, much like Tobasco. But, as soon as I was walking up to the condiments area, I immediately remembered Texas Pete's... which of course is bottled in Winston-Salem, no where near or inside the border of Texas. Anyhow, it must be a North Carolina tradition.

No rating here, especially when I took so little care as to not even remember the name of the place. I was just glad to get headed home, as I get a bit wore out on business travel. But, I do enjoy the window seat still.....

But, while I'm mentioning North Carolina, I'll mention the Avett Brothers (hailing from Charlotte), who I don't think I've placed in a review yet. I like their bluegrassy-folk-rock sound quite a bit. The song below is likely their most well-received, but check out "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise".

Illinois Street Food Emporium review

2010-09-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

It is interesting how that once you start a food/restaurant blog, you finally get motivated to try some places that have been "on the list" for a long time. And, Illinois Street Food Emporium has been one of those places for me. I like the little cluster of shops and restaurants in this stretch around 56th Street and Illinois Street, in the Butler-Tarkington / Meridian-Kessler Neighborhoods.

I've always heard really good things about Illinois Street, so one day a few weeks back I found myself in the area at lunch time so I stopped by. There were 7 policemen having lunch there at the time, so.... well, that was a sign of something.... [I couldn't quite get the nerve to spin around and take a picture of all of them at the table]

I place Illinois Street into the "Panera Segment", which means that it is a mix of sandwiches, soups and baked goods (and, I realize that Illinois Street may have existed far before Panera first came to town). Anyhow, they also have some breakfast items, and some frozen entrees and sides that you can but to take home.

My first visit, I tried the California sandwich, and you can get soup, salad or a side. I had the cream of mushroom soup. The California is a grilled sandwich which comes with cheese, bacon, mushrooms and tomato (yes, I also assumed it would avocado - isn't that what most places throw on anything that is dubbed "California"?) Anyhow, it was a tasty little sandwich, and the bowl of soup is a really nice sized portion, and it was creamy, woody and savory. The meal costs $9.40.

I thought it was a place that the Better Half would definitely like, so we returned on a Saturday. She had a grilled cheese (and you can add two veggies to the sandwich), and I had spinach melt. Again, very tasty sandwiches. The soup that day was the chicken velvet, and while it came highly recommended from the counter person, I needed to add some pepper and some tobasco, otherwise it seemed quite plain to me.

We've also tried the chocolate croissant, a donut and a cinnamon roll from the baked goods counter, and they're all very tasty, fresh and indulgent sweets.

I really enjoyed Illinois Street, and I think it's now in the mix for simple lunch spots, and I definitely want to try their breakfast. And, while I don't really care for cold cuts, their sub sandwiches are just enormous.

I suppose the one down side I recognized is that the grilled sandwich & soup combo here is maybe a dollar or more than a place like the actual Panera. But, it is a wide menu, and, I think Illinois Street is a great local joint. It obviously has a lot of good local support, but if you're waited to give it a first try like I did, I think it is worth heading over and trying it.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5). Warm, homey, tasty.

One extra tip and recommendation - if you can't justify the prices of a Colts game, and if Purdue, IU and Notre Dame are too far away (or too expensive), but you'd like to get out to a little bit of football on a crisp fall afternoon - give Butler a chance (their schedule here). Yes, it is quite a bit lower level of football, but it is a great little setting over there, the team has been improving in the last 3 years, the crowds are getting better, they actually even do some tailgating there, too. And, it's a really affordable game. I especially recommend going if you're taking kids that are not quite yet into the full experience of a more expensive football experience. I believe they let kids still kind of run around behind the end zone. Give the Bulldogs a chance, there are still 4 more home games this year, including this Saturday against Campbell University at noon.

Taylor's Bakery

2010-09-28T05:53:00.000-07:00

With the Better Half away for the weekend, I was doing some work around the house. This brought about the inevitable trip to Lowes. We used to live downtown, and earlier this summer we ended up moving into the Nora area (I miss downtown dreadfully, but love our new place, too). Anyhow, the Lowes on Keystone near Glendale Mall is where I went to pick up some supplies.

[By the way, I've heard some anecdotal tale that Lowes has done surveys of customers as they arrive at a store and survey them regarding how much they plan to spend, and then they find them when they are leaving and there is some crazy statistic that the average customer leaves having spent like $40 more than they originally expected. I completely fit it with this group.]

Anyhow, seeing as I have a constant sweet tooth, I zipped over on 62nd street to a little plaza on 62nd and Allisonville to try Taylor's Bakery. I've gone by it numerous times, and wanted to finally drop in.

Before I had left and driven home from Taylor's, I noticed at least 2 people eating some sweet, baked good in their car in the parking lot.... so, I had high hopes. As you walk into the bakery, it is as though the air is perfumed with a super fine, sifted powdered sugar. It just smells that sweet. There is likely about 40-50 feet of glass casing, with all of the cases being two-tiered. They have donuts, eclairs, cinnamon rolls, ... about any baked good you could want. So, I bought a whole collection of stuff - a large eclair, two cinnamon rolls - one frosted, and a small little donuty-thing that was filled with cinnamon. This whole plate cost me all of just $4. That's a diabetic bargain!

Okay, now, I didn't eat all of this in one sitting. All of it was good, but the eclair seemed to me like it had possibly been there for a bit and wasn't tasting all that fresh (the Better Half worked in a bakery through high school and college and said that their bakery baked fresh each day, but with as full as Taylor's cases were in the early afternoon - can that possibly be true? Wow, if so, either they have a huge rush in the afternoon or they have a ton of waste each day). The cinnamon rolls were nice but more like a donut, not a rich buttery cinnamon roll. I like that the place feels so local, and that, according to the website, it is in a 4th generation. There's a ton more to sample here, so I'd definitely go back and try some other items.

The verdict: 3 belly rubs (out of 5). Homey, huge selection, affordable.

This below has nothing to do with baked goods (well, they so have a brief clip of Sweetness), but it sure is great to have fall here. Love the feel of the air, the slant of the sun, the crunch of the leaves. And love that football games require a sweatshirt now. And, does anyone else think that Sean Payton sounds like ESPN's Stuart Scott during the preample to this video?

A couple links

2010-09-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

Serious eats has a small interview with Alton Brown here.....

and, mostly, as a big Converse All Star fan and a fan of Dr. J, there is this commercial from Converse using a very cool White Stripes song....

Nick's Chili Parlor review

2010-09-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

The Better Half is away for a long weekend to see her sisters up in Toronto, and also visit her grandmother. So, I'm hope alone, doing some house projects. Anyhow, while she's gone I decided to finally pay a visit to a somewhat local legend in Nick's Chili Parlor. The Better Half has generally voted thumbs-down on Skyline Chili, as I think that mountain of cheese (mmmmm) that is loaded on to your food kind of leaves her feeling a bit ill at the mere sight of it (though, I'm happy to report the dear lass is a-okay with hot dogs or chili). Anyhow, worked late one day and dropped down the the near west side to get to Nick's.

The restaurant is currently under construction, and they have an illustration of what the restaurant will eventually look like, and it looks like an impressive face lift. I had looked this place up before, and I don't remember a website, but there is now the nice, clean website that I linked to above. I didn't ask many questions, so I'm not sure if there is new ownership, or merely a push to upgrade the facilities, but it looks like it will be a nice addition. Otherwise, the current location seems like a pretty simple, older-style fast food restaurant.

They don't have any "value meals" at Nick's, but they do have a daily special. I had tried to prepare during the day for this meal, so I had oatmeal for breakfast with some fruit, and at lunch I'd had a PB&J on Brownberry whole wheat bread, and an apple. I ordered the footlong with chili and cheese and an order of their "natural trim" fries.

The hot dog was a pretty thin wiener, but it had a nice ladling of chili, a fair dusting of cheese (no comparison to the mounds from Skyline) and onions. The chili is fairly standard and, dare I say it, a bit "Hormel-ish" in taste. But, the onions and an addition of some hot sauce helped it. The fries may have had some skin on them, but they certainly seemed to be the frozen-out-of-a-bag variety to me, and while airy and crisp, nothing very exceptional. The meal put be back about $7.15, and I wasn't really full (I also tend to have to spend too much at Skyline, too - so maybe it is me). I considered a bowl of chili to better gauge the chili on it's own without the hot dog, but I passed. Being a mere mile or so from the Long's Donut's on 16th and Lafayette Road, I also considered a stop there... but, I knew I had some cookies and cream ice cream at home, so held off.

The Nick's website touts the slogan "home of the Not Yet World Famous Chili"... and, well, I guess they're being a bit self-deprecating and yet honest at the same time. It has a lot of local lore and followers, but I wouldn't put this chili up there as anything special on it's own. And, I guess you can call me picky, but to pay $7.15 for a footlong, fries and a soda that didn't leave me full, well... I don't think that is very good value either. If I would have added a 5-way, a bowl of chili or just another chili dog, this meal would have been in the $9.50-$12 range, and that is way too much.

The verdict: 2.5 belly rubs (out of 5). Homey taste, but mostly middle-of-the-road.

New Steak n Shake signage?

2010-09-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

I passed this Steak n Shake today, and is it just me or are they rolling out new signs? I definitely like it......

Kalbi burger?

2010-09-23T10:33:00.001-07:00

Man, I'd love to stumble upon this place, a joint serving both Korean and Vietnamese styled burgers! I'm all for it...

While I don't get too crazy at home, the most common burger I serve anymore is a half lamb/half beef Greek-style burger with homemade tzatziki sauce.....

Saigon review

2010-09-23T10:12:00.001-07:00

While this is not along the lines of a Mr. Obvious revelation like "the sky is blue", I feel like I'm stating the obvious when I tell you - Saigon restaurant on the near West side is really good!

The Better Half really likes Vietnamese food, so we've tried a handful around the city. She was a bit spoiled from 6 years in Toronto and the great, little authentic places in the Asian neighborhoods, so we've had a bit of a struggle in matching the easily found quality that Toronto had to offer. So, after finally getting to Saigon twice now, it is definitely the top of the small collection here in Indianapolis in our opinion.

While the Better Half loves the bun dishes....

I really prefer rice-based dishes.....

And, we both love the grilled pork spring rolls.....

But, most importantly, Saigon serves a great example of the Banh Mi, or Vietnamese sandwich. The Bahn Mi is served on a small French loaf, with just the best marinated grilled pork that I think you'll find in the city. There are multiple ways to build this sandwich, but our favorite is the straight forward one with just the grilled pork. Some additional fish sauce and hoisin, along with the herbs and carrot-radish "slaw" and.... Mmmmmmmm..... fantastic. [Sorry, tore into this one before taking the picture]

The Better Half was really craving a Banh Mi this week, so we stopped in on Monday. But, alas, they were out of the bread. Another couple arrive after us and also were not able to get the Banh Mi. When the owner came back around, I mentioned something about the sandwich, and I think he was initially annoyed thinking I was complaining about the lack of the bread. Actually, what I suggested to him was if he'd ever considered having a food cart serving nothing BUT the Banh Mi at a downtown corner. He didn't seem to keen on it, but.... this sandwich is just $4. It's a fantastic deal.

Saigon has fantastic flavors, great value (most entrees under $8) and really no flaws that I can think of.

The verdict: 5 belly rubs (out of 5). Tastes great, great value.

Chain-O-Rama: Donato's Homestyle Garlic Gread Pizza

2010-09-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

I would say that when it comes to nationally franchised pizza chains, Donatos is my favorite. Plus, if I'm not in Chicago, I generally prefer thin crust pizza. And, since I'm a big fan of quadrangles, I like the slicing method at Donatos.

Anyhow, we wanted to get some pizza, and I'm always apt to try something new. So, we ordered a medium Founder's Favorite on thin crust and also picked up one of Donatos new Homestyle Garlic Bread pizzas. On the Garlic Bread pizza, we had ham and onion.

I put the can of Coke in the picture to give some sense of relative size perspective. I found the coupon flier touting the new pizza style to be a bit funny. It said "2 pizzas feed 4". Okay, and since I'm not fractionally challenged, I figured 1 pizza would feed 2. Now, I suppose that statement is true, one of these pizzas could feed 2, but it certainly would not FILL 2 people. Of course, I have a fair sized appetite, but I could have polished this thing off quite easily on my own.

The crust on the Garlic Bread pizza has a nice crisp crust and is about 3/4ths of an inch thick (okay, perhaps 5/6ths). On it's own, I don't believe the crust has much garlic bread taste, it is just pizza dough. But, on top of the pizza, they do seem to sprinkle an herb and garlic salt that adds some garlic taste to the pizza. Overall, its pretty good, especially since I like garlic salt. The quality of the ingredients is consistent, the presentation of the pizza is good, it is just another consistent product from Donatos, which I find to generally be a well run chain. They must provide good systems and training to their franchisees.

But, I didn't really think this was a great menu addition. I like many of Donatos specialty pizzas, and prefer the thinner crust. So, I'll stick to those, but I liked trying something new. At $5.99 for a one topping, though, that isn't bad for what I would call is a very filling lunch for one person.

The verdict: 3 belly rubs (out of 5). Consistent with Donatos quality, one pizza is big meal for one person.

Now, I don't go to Donatos enough to know if they use the box the Garlic Bread pizza comes in for another item, but I think it is pretty fascinating what all goes in to the creation of new items. I mean, I am sure Donatos packaging engineering partner bends over backwards to keep the account, but it seemed like the pizza box itself was even a new item. I just found that interesting.

Istanbul Cafe review

2010-09-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Last week, we made a first visit to Istanbul Cafe, in the plaza at 86th and Ditch Road. Mom was having a small procedure on her knee the next day, so we were taking her out. Now the funny thing is, that while I was sitting with her in the recovery area, at one point the nurse was checking in on her, and Mom mentioned, "we had Turkish food yesterday, it was really good...".

And, truly, the food was really good at Istanbul Cafe. It was not busy at all when we arrived, though it was Tuesday evening. The interior is quite trendy and pleasant, and I especially liked the veneer wrapped vertical posts in the dining area.

The service was friendly and quite prompt. We started with a small appetizer platter, which included tabouli, hummus, babaganoush, ezme, and dolmates if not a few other items. And, they were all great. The babaganoush variation here is a bit different, and you can taste the mayonnaise they put into it, tho it is still very tasty. I'm not sure I would have picked out the mayo, but it was noted on the appetizer's menu. I'm not sure there was much tahini in the babaganoush, or at least I couldn't pick it out. But all of the items on the appetizer sampler were great, and they provide you a full basket of warm pita, so you don't feel like you have to conserve the pita you're given.

Mom had the mixed kebab platter, which came with all of the meats they offer. The Better Half wanted the gyro (doner) kebab, and I had the stuffed cabbage. All of the grilled meats were really tasty, but I wouldn't go back for the stuffed cabbage. I guess I am used to stuffed cabbage with more rice and tomatoes in them, and these were just some meat. They were okay, but nothing very special. The yogurt sauce provided has a great taste, but was more watery than I prefer, but had lots of good garlic and spices in it, and wasn't overdone with the cucumber taste.

The prices are in line with most other Mediterranean places locally, with most entrees in the $15-$18 range. And, the portion sizes are ample enough to definitely leave you feeling sated. As we were talking about Istanbul Cafe, I wondered if, from my perspective, that Mediterranean isn't some of the most consistently well performing restaurants of any cuisine type I most likely frequent in the city. You have a few good choices just on the NW side of the city alone, between Athens at 86th and Istanbul Cafe. I still feel like Santorini's in Fountain Square is my favorite, but Saffron Cafe is my favorite gyro/shwarma in the city.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5). Tasty, filling, savory, no real low lights.

And, how can you not have a mention of Istanbul without bringing up the old Istanbul (not Constantinople) song by those smart rockers They Might Be Giants. And, if you want a different version, check out this jazzy one.

Twix Triple Chocolate review

2010-09-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

You know what I love? Chocolate.

You know what I love more than chocolate? Double chocolate.

You know.... er, you see where this is going.

Yup, Twix has a limited edition Triple Chocolate out there. Jumped into the grocery cart it did (sayeth Yoda).

What's different? The regular cookie is replaced with a chocolate wafer, and the caramel is now a chocolate caramel. Same milk chocolate coating. And, surprise it is good. But, really, it isn't better. Of course, the Twix bar was a landmark bar, and I distinctly remember when it arrived as a young boy (1979, according to this timeline). For my taste, no newer bar that I know of (not the Take 5, not the NutRageous, etc.) has become such a cultural confectionery mainstay.

But, the original is still better, in my humble opinion.

There's also this (with cane sugar instead of corn syrup, if that matters to you). I'm such a sucker for retro-packaging.

Hope everyone has a good weekend. We're going camping on what looks like a spectacular weather weekend. Irish Fest at Military Park downtown if you're staying in town.

Shanghai Lil review

2010-09-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

After lamenting the erosion of quality Chinese restaurants, I feel like I've had a nice run lately. Shanghai Lil is often referred to as one of the best Chinese restaurants in the city, but this is a city in which i don't feel like the bar is exceptionally high for Chinese food.

From the website, which I had not really paid any attention to before, Shanghai Lil is owned by the group that has the Mikado Japanese restaurant downtown. And, most would know that their is a sushi bar at Shanghai Lil. I am not one to rightly review sushi as I don't have a strong affinity for it, and I tend to trend towards the more typical sushi rolls such as the California roll or the tempura shrimp roll. If a restaurant has a Godzilla-named roll, well, that does perk my interest, though.

Anyhow, Shanghai Lil (across from Keystone at the Crossing) is well established, well-reviewed, well thought of. So, I'm certainly not breaking any new ground in reviewing it. But, with our recent visit, I guess I just wanted to confirm feelings about the place.

Yes, Shanghai Lil is still very good. We went on a weekday evening, and the place was pretty quiet. This establishment was built under the notion that going out for Chinese and Japanese food was fine dining, not just a buffet. The table coverings are cloth, the lighting is low. The lighting was so low, that pictures were nonsensical, and I just can't bear the thought of using a flash for food pictures. The service was polite and efficient, but there were few competitors for our server's time. We started with a stuffed eggplant appetizer that was really the low light of the meal. The crumbled pork sauce that came with it was flavorful, but nothing remarkable.

We did share three entrees. The Shanghai Lil General's Chicken was a step above most places, lightly battered and fried, savory and spicy. The Moo Shu Vegetables were one of the best vegetarian dishes I've had in a long time, but I'm very fond of hoisin and/or plum sauce. Then, the Basil Ginger Chicken. This was one of the best things I'd had at a Chinese restaurant in a very long time. Overall, very high quality and great taste. A few dishes were a bit on the salty side, but that tends to be fairly true of many Chinese dishes. One major issue for me though is that I feel like the prices are a bit high, with most being more than $15 per entree. Maybe the buffet-trend has really damaged my value definition for Chinese food, but to spend upwards of $80.00 for three people and not getting any alcohol, that just seemed like a lot.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5). A classic, high quality location, hits high notes, but a bit pricey.

Loughmiller's Pub

2010-09-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

This is 2 weeks old already, but during the week leading up to Labor Day, we finally made it over to an Indian's game. I'm a football and college basketball type of guy, but baseball is dear to me as it was my dad's favorite sport, and we made a lot of little treks over to games that are very dear memories to me. We seemed to always be in minor league cities between Denver (pre-Rockies) and Indy, but I prefer the "intimacy" and pricing of minor league baseball anyhow. Our days in Denver were so much before they got a sniff of the Majors that we used to go see the Denver Bears, not even their next incarnation as the Denver Zephyrs.

Anyhow, we were meeting up with some good friends, but I got downtown early to meet up with the Better Half for a pre-game dinner. We walked from some free street parking and stopped in at Loughmiller's Pub.

Loughmillers (pronounced lock-millers) happens to be in one of my favorite buildings downtown. It is at first a rather inconspicuous building on Washington Street, across from the State Center, but... if you take just a little bit of time to look at it, I think it has some spectacular details. The Old Trails Building is only about 6 stories tall, but it has some very cool gargoyles on top of the building, and these neat old Indian heads on the building's facade. I just think it is a great little building, tho I can't speak for the interior of it.

Anyhow, since Loughmiller's is a smoking facility after lunch, we ate out on the patio. Now, patio seating is great, and having the skyline to look at its pretty nice, even if you are on Washington Street. Plus, Indy is such a mild traffic city downtown, that even on a game night for baseball, it is mellow and relaxing to sit on the patio. The service was attentive and we had no problem getting through placing orders, eating and being out of there in just under an hour without feeling rushed.

Anyhow, it was a first visit for both the Better Half and myself. We ended up trying the two specials, which were themed around summer and featured avocado. I had a California chicken sandwich which had some avocado slices and a bit of a mango salsa. It was decent. The salsa it came with was a creamy style and it too was decent. Same was true of the Better Half's meal. Decent. But, nothing about this meal stood out, other than being outside on a spectacular clear and not-very-humid evening in the waning days of summer. I've said before I'm not anti-chain just to be anti-chain. In fact, I feel like I'd have had a bigger, better sandwich at Champp's than I did at Loughmiller's. My suggestion to a place like Loughmiller's is - stand out in some manner. And, maybe they do with their beer, but to me nothing about the food I had or saw stood out. The fries were out of a bag, the buns were cheap and out of a bag, the sandwich was small and typical. Really, instead of comparing it to a chain, I should actually compare it to a major caterer like Aramark. And, really, I think you might well get a better sandwich at the Lilly cafeteria.

The verdict: 1 belly rub (out of 5). Nice setting, historic building, unremarkable food.

I do want to post this picture, too. I love Victory Field, it is such a nice stadium and it has such a nice view of our city. We met up with two sets of friends, and the two brother's of the respective families are both in construction. They were mixed on the new Marriott hotel that is being built. I like it. I like it a lot. Sure, it seems more like a Vegas style hotel with all the glass, and it does dominate the skyline when you are driving in from the West, but I just think it is a cool looking building and I'm glad it is here. I just hope they can keep it filled with lots of conventions and visitors.

Product Review: Chocolate-covered Halloween Peep

2010-09-10T06:25:00.000-07:00

Trolling through the super market, I couldn't resist grabbing one of these chocolate covered Peeps, this one being a pumpkin. Of course, as you can see, once I opened the package, the product itself doesn't really resemble the item on the wrapper very well.

Now, I don't really care for Peeps. Being chocolate covered, it made this a lot more acceptable. But, once you bite through it, the marshmallow itself is a deep, rich, vibrant orange - and with one look, the Better Half no longer had an interest in tasting this one. Anyhow, it is soft, gooey, super-sweet. More than anything, it gives me an excuse to link to this fantastic gallery of the Washington Post's annual Peeps contest, where they seek submissions of creative projects using the marshmallow peeps.

And, if you happen to be a fan of ESPN's TMQ column, you know that his Unified Theory of Creep is about how stuff creeps in to stores earlier and earlier each year for holidays, most notably Christmas. With the potential for mid-80 degree days, it certainly seems summerish still, but this morning I biked in to work, and it was a crisp morning and I wore a fleece... so, I don't know if it is too early for Halloween junk or not.....

Some more links

2010-09-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy New York Magazine's weekly "New York Diet" column. I have certainly not been to NYC that often, not been to basically any of the places that get mentioned, but I just find it interesting. Most are absolutely unattainable as a week of eating to me because the guest columnists are typically all from a higher tax bracket than me, but nevertheless they are usually somewhat interesting. Jeffrey Steingarten, who I mostly only know as a common judge on Iron Chef, had a pretty interesting one last Friday, especially for his comments on coffee geekism and Brooklyn boosterism.

This is one from Anthony Bourdain from earlier in the summer. From it, I was caused to look up the chef Gabrielle Hamilton, and I love this piece she wrote - mostly cause I just get really annoyed by the people who try to be so high minded and flowery about local food. Yeah, that's great, I get it. But, come on, I want strawberries in February, sweet corn in March and new potatoes in April.

Labor Day Weekend Recap

2010-09-09T05:18:00.000-07:00

We ran up to Chicago to visit one of the Better Half's cousins and go to a wedding. The wedding was way up North in Libertyville, but we stayed in La Grange. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend with some splendid fall temperatures. We didn't do any special eating for the most part, sadly. The folks where we stayed seemed to have their own little war chest from Trade Joe's, so it didn't seem like this was the family to suggest a visit to Hot Doug's or Mustard's Last Stand.

[Note - I mean the Mustard's Last Stand in Evanston, IL, right by the Northwestern U. football field. There apparently is a Mustard's Last Stand hotdog cart in Indy.... huh... Per Google, there looks to also be one in Denver. I assume none of these are related in any formal way, but I wonder if someone just found the name a good one to borrow? This might be a good case for some investigative reporting or.... nah.... whatever]

Anyhow, we did stop at Millennium Park on our way out of Chicago and over to the Skyway. Love the bean.

But, finally, on our way back to Indy, we did stop at the Portillo's in Merrillville. The Italian Beef there is just great.

Tiger Lilly

2010-09-07T05:36:00.000-07:00

A commenter recommended Tiger Lily restaurant, on 86th Street between Meridian and Ditch. Prior to heading to Chicago for the Labor Day weekend, I met a friend there for lunch on Friday. From what I can tell, Tiger Lilly does not have a web page, but instead does have a very active public Facebook page. They also have a nice album of their food, which of course outdoes my self-conscious, quickly-taken iPhone pictures.

Tiger Lily has been open about a month, but it has gained a strong following. In fact, as my friend noted, they've already gained 7 reviews on Urban Spoon, and they're all favorable. That's impressive to me, especially in such a short amount of time.

I've only made one visit so far, but I will definitely be going back to introduce the Better Half to this spot. I really liked the lunch menu, with two of us eating for $14.17 including tax, but with only water to drink. As many other reviewers have noted, the ingredients seem and look fresh, and are not from bags of frozen vegetables. The dining area is modern and well decorated. The sauces are light and yet full of flavor. The management is local and cares, and the wait staff is attentive and efficient. I didn't inquire too much, but our server did mention that these owners used to previously have a restaurant in Brownsburg, and after a move have returned to Indy and opened Tiger Lily.

The special of the day on Friday was the Chicken Bulgogi, which my friend ordered and I sampled. This dish is indicative of a fusion focus within the menu. From the album, they also have a stir-fried pork with kimchi dish that excites me, because I just love the Korean influence. Now, the chicken bulgogi didn't really seem to be the traditional soy-sesame-scallion-sugar concoction, but included more of a chili sauce which may have been the Korean sauce gochujang. Regardless, it was tasty, moist and a nice level of spice.

I had the orange peel chicken, and it had a tasty, tangy sauce over lightly battered, still-moist fried chicken pieces. It was a rather familiar taste, but well prepared and solid execution. I liked the dish, but next time I'll go deeper into the menu (lunch and dinner).

I didn't have a chance to spend a lot of time with the dinner menu, but the lunch prices were very affordable. The serving sizes are ample, but they won't leave you full. For $7 you'll likely get 40% more food at a place like Panda Express. But, the variety of the menu is great at Tiger Lily and the food is a welcome addition to the local Chinese offerings.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5). Great taste, well prepared, average sized portions, but good value.

Looking Ahead: Weekend Plans (Sept. 10-11)

2010-09-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

Hopefully you have a full Labor Day weekend planned. But, if you're looking ahead, there is a lot of great art-based events on the calendar for the weekend of Sept. 10-12 that you might want to consider.

The Penrod Art Fair is a fantastic event, with hundreds of booths from artists all over the country. It is a one day art fair, on Saturday, September 11th. And, it is on the grounds of the lovely Indianapolis Art Museum. Some locals that will have booths that I hope continue to get more attention there are Gayla Hodson and Ben Johnson.

The night before, on Friday, Sept. 10th, the Indianapolis Art Center in Broad Ripple has their annual open house. Currently on exhibit, you can see works from the IAC's instructors and winners from the student division in the main gallery (check out Lisa VanMeter's monoprints and woodblock prints). I especially appreciate Matt Kenyon's glass (scroll to find Matt and check out the slideshow) and Susan Hodgin's paintings (Gayla Hodson is also an IAC instructor). Yats and BRICS will both have booths at the open house!

This weekend, well you'll want to root for Purdue to hopefully spoil Brian Kelly's debut at Notre Dame.

Italian Gardens Restaurante

2010-09-03T05:56:00.000-07:00

Out on East Washington Street, near the old L. Fish furniture store, you'll find the venerable Italian Gardens Restaurante. While I tend to not often crave Italian, we wanted to get over to this stand-by for many for an updated taste for a review.

What stood out immediately upon entering the establishment was.... the smell. In the little lobby/anteroom, the place just smelled old. I'm not sure you can buy or import that smell, but it certainly smelled like the dust-embedded furniture in your great-aunt's place. Once within the restaurant itself, the smell improved drastically, with all of the age covered in the smell of the food, so that was an immediate upgrade.

We were there on a Tuesday night, and it was pretty slow. The wait staff was casual, friendly, but prompt and attentive. The decor seemed to be themed around vintage clutter. But, I kind of liked all of the old, decorative glass in the window as I prefer structural art objects over 2D. And, I really like how much detail they used to put in some of the old bottles.

Anyhow, we had great service the whole time. I think this restaurant gets a LOT of return customers with a long standing history with the place, and that says a lot. One thing that stood out to me is that the salad dressings were very tasty and they definitely seemed to be made in house. I had the Mediterranean salad before my entree (there are 4 salad choices) and you could taste the honey in the dressing that was used to sweeten it. The Greek dressing was also great. The bread was a bit more dense than I'd prefer, but they were coated in a fine glaze of garlic butter.

We had three entrees delivered to our table - shrimp scampi, spinach ravioli and creamy pesto with chicken over linguine. I had the creamy pesto, and it had a rich, deep, textured flavor that I really enjoyed. The sauce was liberally dispensed, however as the sauce cooled, the olive oil separated more and more from the cream and left unappealing oil pockets throughout depressional areas in the bowl. Regardless, this was a really taste pasta dish that I would not only have again, but I might go back just for the dish. And, I tend to order new items, not necessarily do many repeat items at restaurants.

The ravioli was nice, but the dish again was liberally coated in sauce. Somewhere beneath the surface (below) are several nicely made and tasty ravioli.

The shrimp scampi was a disappointment to look at. The shrimp themselves looked like they came from a bag of frozen shrimp from Kroger. They were okay, but definitely paled in comparison to many other versions of this dish. The accompanying pasta was fine, but not noteworthy.

Overall, the prices seemed a bit expensive to me, with all of these entrees in the $15 range. I may not be giving enough credit to what goes into the labor of the food, but the location strikes me as being pretty reasonable rent if it isn't owned outright. But, often, I find that pasta tends to be overpriced - so maybe it is just my bias.

The verdict: 3 belly rubs (out of 5). Some quality notes elevate from the vintage (musty?) surroundings.

Maybe the most humorous part of the evening, for me, was when I picked up on the music at one point. And, yes, Frank Sinantra was singing "Old MacDonald".... Now, I'm not up on the Sinantra discography, but this cracked me up. When I pull up the song on YouTube, I realize he had re-done the lyrics, so it made more sense to how it would be a Sinatra song, but... still, found it pretty funny. We also were treated to some Dean Martin, so the music fit the decor quite well.

Product Review: Whoopie Pie (from farmer's market)

2010-09-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

Working from the downtown library yesterday morning (a.k.a - Indy's most expensive homeless daycare facility), and stopped by the downtown farmer's market. Picked up some sweet corn, an eggplant (made baba ganoush last night), a seedless watermelon, and some cherry tomatoes. But, I was also wanting to pick up something sweet, and decided to pick up a Whoopie Pie from the booth from Kuns Kountry Kitchen (appear to be Amish or Mennonite folks that have this booth).

I then picked up a friend who I had introduced to Papa Roux, and we made a dash out there for a ginormous Po Boy (by the way, Papa Roux is now open for supper on Thursdays as well as Fridays). So, later in the afternoon, I stopped at the downtown Border's to grab some Wi-Fi, and I tried the Whoopie Pie.

Before talking about the baked good, I do need to mention that I just don't really get the quaint charm of misspelling, like with the word "Kountry". And when your initials come out to K-K-K, well.... I think that is something I'd try to avoid and keep to the correct spelling. Now on to the Whoopie Pie.

This thing is SWEET. I mean it is literally really sweet. The cake is tasty and was fresh, but my goodness... the cream filling was light in consistency, but it was like pure powdered sugar in creamy foam form. I love sweets, but this was actually a bit too much - I couldn't even finish this palm sized morsel. It was certainly the best whoopie pie I'd ever had, but... it may well have been the first I've had.

A tasty treat, for sure, but more than really wanting to rate this item, I just want to give a shout out to the farmers market. I'm not some big proponent of purely local and organic - more so, I just like the sense of community that these little markets bring to a city. And, again, more than being militant about "organic", I'm more a fan of foods that are fresh and whole.

Did you realize that there is a Whoopie Pie Festival? It's over in Pennsylvania, and if a state can be underrated, it is Pennsylvania. The place is just rolling and beautiful from border to border, and so much history that dates back to our birth as a nation.

Chain-O-Rama: Burger King Jalapeno-Cheddar Stuffed XT

2010-08-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Forgot my gym bag today, so no lunch time workout, even though I really am craving a calorie burn. So, instead, I went out for lunch. I was thinking Boston Market... but, laziness had me closer to the office and I went to the Burger King on West 86th Street, just East of Michigan Road.

I like BK a lot. BK was tied to one of my first "food opinions" as a kid, when I liked to proclaim the superiority of BK over McDonalds. Anyhow, I don't go to BK all that often. And, even though their larger burger, the XT, has been on the market since February, I'd never tried one of those. So, since I'd been pretty quiet on this blog the last week, I figured I'd try an XT. Well, not only did I try the XT, but I tried a new Jalapeno-Cheddar Stuffed XT. Figured I'd go with as new an item as I could find.

But, when I returned just now to my desk, I couldn't really find anything about this burger on BK's site, or on other food news sites. There was news of BK mentioning a stuffed burger was in the works, but nothing concrete. I am, therefore, assuming that Indy is a test market for this new product.

So, I tried it out. I don't' know what the standard preparation is, but after losing 50 pounds as a 14 year old, one thing I have mostly kept as a food resolution is to avoid mayonnaise. I held the mayo and added ketchup and mustard, but had the stuffed burger standard except for that. The meat was dense and had clumps of green and yellow. The jalapeno taste was prevalent, but I felt like it lacked in cheesiness (I suppose I could have added a slice of cheese). The burger has that expected BK taste, so it was pleasing if you like Burger King. Mayo likely would have made it a smoother taste. I don't remember any onions, and so they were either very stingy with the onions at this location, or it isn't part of the standard preparation. My recommendation - add onions, can't get enough of the stinky foods in my opinion.

I'm sorry about the iPhone picture above. Along with being a reluctant food photographer, I'm never sure if anyone out there is actually interested in images of partially consumed food (I suspect "no"), but this seemed to make more sense than the plain burger before it was pierced by my teeth.

Overall, stuffed burgers seems like a great idea whose time has come for fast food purveyors. The taste of this one was pleasing, and had some fire, but still seemed to fit a mass population that BK aims for. The bakery bun is decent, but I prefer the old poppy seed bun on the whopper (just like I prefer the quarter-pounder bun over the bun McDonald's serves on the angus burgers). As far as a variation from their menu, I preferred the Angry Whopper over this one. As far as price, this small sized meal came in at $6.20 with tax. That's pretty decent, but I'm not sure how they'll price it once it is rolled out nationally.

The verdict: 3 belly rubs (out of 5). Decent value, great idea, first to mass market.

Post Script: Are you aware that for the most part, Burger King goes under the name Hungry Jack's in Australia? My first big trip overseas came around Christmas of 1995 with two of my best friends to satisfy one of the guy's quest to dive at the Great Barrier Reef. We never ate at Hungry Jack's, but somehow it became part of our trip lexicon, though it was shifted to Happy Jacks party way through the trip.

P.S2: AHT reports that a regional burger chain in the DC area is about to have a Snooki Burger.

P.S3: Little did I know that both the Burger Business and A Hamburger Today sites did not know that the stuffed XT had hit test markets. Your friendly mystery blogger is actually breaking some news!

Yummy's Grill

2010-08-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

I found myself on the East side at lunch time last Friday, so I decided to stop in at a location I've been noticing for a few years (Mom lives on the East side). Yummy's Grill is on Post Road and 10th Street, very close to my early stomping grounds out by Warren Central High School (Go Warriors!). Yummy's is in one of several old Roslyn Bakery locations, but it definitely seems to have "stuck" as I think it has been here for a few years now.

[I really need to clean the windshield!]

It seems somewhat counter-intuitive to say that I like that Yummy's has one of those almost comically expansive menu's. The items are numbered, and I believe the integers made their way into the 70s. This seems kind of contradictory to the idea of "sticking to your knitting" or doing one thing really well, but it reminded me of a lot of the small grills in places like Chicago.

Anyhow, I had one goal, and that was to try their Italian Beef sandwich.

I really enjoyed this sandwich. The special, with drink and fries, came in at $7.75. The sandwich was about 6" long, but loaded with tender, juicy, sliced roast beef. The bread was from a French loaf, not your own roll, but it was crusty, flaky and yet soft inside. The sandwich was salty, but that was what i was hoping for and expecting. The giardineria peppers are a treat, and if I could change one thing, I'd have asked for more of them. The fries were from a bag and very average.

I was thinking of this place compared to Fat Dan's Deli in Broad Ripple... and, really, I'd pick Yummy's overall. While I might have just had a really bad french fry experience at Dan's, this sandwich stacks up favorably, and if location and travel isn't part of the decision, I'd rather get this combo for $7.75 than the nearly $12 at Fat Dan's.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5). A great sandwich at a good price.

Taiwan Tea House

2010-08-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

First off - the Taiwan Tea House is currently in the process of moving further West along the North side of 82nd Street. It will soon be open next to the Barnes & Noble.

Chinese food has, for me, taken an interesting evolution. It is similar to the current trend with Mexican food, which has been away from the big national chains and instead seems to be primarily focused on small, local places or regional chains. Chinese food has travelled this path well before the Mexican food trend, and Chinese food now seems to often be found to be heavily focused in buffet style restaurants. Now, hey, I'm not too snobby for a buffet, and I love me some General Tso's...

I'm not really personally up on whether there were very many large, national chains for Chinese food along the line of Chi Chi's for Mexican food. Nowadays, when I think of Chinese food chains, I only think of Panda Express (orange chicken madness!) in the quick serve segment, and PF Changs in the restaurant style.

Anyhow, while the buffets kind of all blur together (I miss Forbidden City which used to be up on 82nd in the Castleton area), there are some decent local Chinese places. Taiwan Tea House is one of them.

All of the dishes are at a good price point, with most entrees coming in at $6.99. On our recent visit, we started with both the pot-stickers (as expected, but not greasy and tasty), and the super-spicy won-tons (nice heat, but they pepper oil was a bit too heavy). Mom had the best fried tofu I'd ever had (okay, not a large sample size). I'd get this as an appetizer, but still don't see myself ordering tofu for a meal. It was light, crispy, with lots of vegetables and in a tangy sauce. The Better Half had the asparagus in special sauce, and while not spicy, the vegetables still had some crunchy and it was a nice, yet not overpowering sauce.

I had the minced pork noodles. It was kind of a ramen dish, with a heavier sauce, not a broth. The pork was ground and browned with a sauce. It was okay, but as you got deeper into the bowl, the sauce was thicker and the sodium was more exponential, and it wore me down very quickly. Overall, though, the food is tasty and well prepared. It is satisfying and filling at a good price, and that says a lot.

Pre-move, at least, the restaurant is clean with nice, efficient service. What is a bit unique here is that you can get bubble teas at Taiwan Tea House (you can also get them at Saigon). Bubble tea was really common in Toronto before and during the time I was dating the Better Half. It has waned in popularity some, but it is still pretty common there. Bubble tea takes these large tapioca beads which are cooked in a sugar sauce and added to tea or fruit juice based drinks. I'm not crazy about the tapioca, but it is a fun drink. If you had one to go, you could always use the thick straw to launch these giant balls in an epic spit ball fight.

The verdict: 3.75 belly rubs (out of 5). Good value, good preparation, satisfying flavors.

Post Script: for an interesting story on Vietnamese sandwiches, bubble teas, and a little wondering about restaurants stealing from each other, check out the prologue of this This American Life story.

Collision!

2010-08-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

So, what would happen if a Maxine's Chicken & Waffles delivery truck collided with a Flying Cupcake delivery truck?

Go to #12 in this slide show for the answer......

Mudbugs and Gumbo A Go Go

2010-08-20T08:22:00.001-07:00

Across the last two weeks, I've made visits to both of these places. I've not gone looking for Cajun food in any other cities besides New Orleans and Baton Rogue, so I'm not sure if Indy has an out of proportion Cajun representation for a Midwest city or not, but it is kind of surprising how MUCH Cajun food we have.

I really love Papa Roux for po boys and Yats for the etouffes and other "stews" there. Can't wait for Bar Yats to open, and to see what menu variations they'll have of Cajun classics.

We made our first visit to Mudbugs Cajun Cafe recently and... there is no need for us to go back. There are too many options out there now. We arrived in the evening, and it was slow, but I don't really find that an excuse, even if they do more business at lunch (which I'm not sure of). But, it was well within the supper window, despite there only being two other tables occupied. Between three of us, we tried many items. The gumbo was weak and tasted like it had coffee in it. The Red Beans and Rice were good once enough hot sauce was on it. The Crawfish Casserole was cheesy but too soft and gummy. The Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya was interesting in name, but not very good in reality. Worst of all, the rice was not good. In fact, it was kind of crunchy. Rice is basic, a staple, but you should be able to execute it consistently. Just not good, no need to return.

The Mudbugs verdict: 1 belly rub (out of 5).

I've been to Gumbo A Go Go several times, and I like it quite a bit. I think it is a bit more expensive than it needs to be for the full serving, but the food is consistent and with increased visits it is getting into competing-with-Yats territory for me. On my most recent visit, I wanted to try the sandwiches more. So, I had both the Datwich (turkey) and the Beef Debris (juicy, shredded roast beef). And... They're really good. The bread is crusty yet soft. While the turkey from the Datwich is kind of gloppy and almost too minced, it has a fantastic flavor. The roast beef maintains is shredded form much better, but I wanted some hot sauce to add some heat and vinegar to it. I really like most of their dishes, especially the voodoo chicken. The gumbo is warm, savory, lots of pepper, and full of chicken and sausage.

When comparing the two, I still place Yats above Gumbo A Go Go due to their superior etouffes.

The Gumbo A Go Go verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5).

Sandra Rice & Noodles

2010-08-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

It was a birthday dinner on the east side and we ended up at Sandra Rice and Noodles, on Pendleton Pike at the far end of Lawrence. This restaurants is a bit of a blend of Vietnamese items, some Thai, and some more in line with "traditional" Chinese.

The menu at Sandra has been updated and expanded a bit since our last visit, though the menu on the home page still reflects the old menu. This is a very clean, nicely decorated simple restaurant in a rather mundane strip mall. On previous visits, the service has always been warm and attentive. Maybe it was the weather and the storm brewing this past Friday night, but the service was just completely off this evening. One other table is all that was occupied when we arrived. We were definitely noticed, as evidenced by the eye contact and eyebrow raise, but... then, we were ignored for a bit. After several minutes of sitting at a table with no menus, I wondered if maybe they had changed to counter service, so I went to the counter to get menus. We were shooed back to the table, and menus and water glasses followed us.

We had two appetizers - the spring rolls and the egg rolls, and both were good. Mom had the rice noodle soup, which comes with this huge amount of extras that you can put into the soup.

The Better Half had her Vietnamese favorite, a Bun dish with the grilled pork and a cut up egg roll. Sandra's version comes with less of the basil and shredded lettuce than some places, but it is an excellent dish.

I ordered the curried fish. And,.... I waited. The appetizers had come out at different times, and they brought out the first two entrees in a more staccato fashion, so I figured the lack of my food and the lack of explanation must just be how they go about things. But, when my other two dinner companions were both halfway done and I hadn't received anything more, nor seen the waitstaff again, well, something seemed off (and, there was one other occupied table at the time we were there). We mentioned something, a bleat of "curry fish" rings out behind the counter, and bit of a hustle started in the kitchen. The salad that comes with my meal arrived with an "I'm sorry". It was asked if the tardy meal was forgotten, but the question was avoided. Now, obviously it was forgotten, so we likely really didn't need to know the direct answer. But, it annoyed me that the reason for an apology was not provided. In time the curry arrived, and it was savory, and very well executed. But, I was annoyed by the approach of the owner. There was a general feeling from our table that maybe they wanted to avoid admitting anything so as to avoid providing any discount on the meal.

And, sure enough, when we went to the counter to pay, they did not on their own acknowledge the mistake in any way by initiating a discount towards our bill. And, it is not about the cost to me, it is the principle. Pride is a silly thing, and this fits into being penny-wise and dollar foolish. The approach of the owner makes me very unlikely to go to Sandra's Rice & Noodles again.

The verdict: 1.5 belly rubs (out of 5). Food was 4 rub territory, the service ruined it.

Canadian Candy Bars

2010-08-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

O, Canada indeed. There's many great things about Canada, even if many Americans are completely unfamiliar with our amiable neighbors to the north and Canada's geography. My dear dad, upon being told that the Better Half's parents lived 8 hours North of Toronto (Timmins, Ontario - home of Shania Twain), he asked - "Is that the arctic circle?" He was being a bit facetious, but... the Better Half is often asked innocent questions that seem to show how little some know about Canada ("do they grow apples in Canada?").

Besides being the land of nativity for my dear wife, Canada has brought us basketball (James Naismith was born in Canada), so any good Hoosier should be thankful for that. Even if you forgive Canada for the whole Celine Dion thing, there are lots of famous Canadians. This old episode from This American Life is an interesting pondering about being Canadian (stream it for free!), I especially like Ian Brown's definitions of how being Canadian and being American differs (act 2).

Anyhow, I enjoy some of the simple differences I find between mass marketed food in the US v. Canada. You can't hardly find a Taco Bell there (actually makes me sad) and they are way more into donuts than "we" are. I also find that it is interesting that different candy bars are marketed there.

From this picture, I wanted to talk about three - the Coffee Crisp, the Crunchie, and Mr. Big. However, the in-laws were visiting, and Mr. Big was consumed before I had a chance to try it.

The Crunchie is definitely a new experience texture-wise. It is a sponge toffee coated in milk chocolate. The sponge toffee, though, is in no way soft and spongy. It is very airy and light, and very crisp. So, with a bite, it is a lot of crunch, the type the might be too "loud" in your head as you eat it. The toffee is a rich flavor, but is not too powerful. The milk chocolate is a nice partner to the chocolate. I do like it quite a bit.

The Coffee Crisp is a bar that I am kind of amazed that is not more fully marketed in the US. Coffee is so popular, it is paired well with chocolate, and the wafer bar of the coffee crisp is a lot like a big Kit Kat. It doesn't have brand equity here, but... I think it is something that could easily be accepted. Friends we've introduced it to really like it.

I personally have an odd relationship to coffee. I like the smell of it. I like coffee-flavored things such as ice cream. I liked the very short-lived Coca Cola Blak, too (for a cool list of recent new products from Coca-Cola worldwide, check out this page). But, I don't like drinking it, especially black. If you take me to Starbucks, I can get a froofy drink that I don't mind (if you put enough sugar and whipped cream into it) but... I just don't like "real" coffee.

I do like the Coffee Crisp, though I don't pick it out very often. If you have a chance, give it a try.

Now, my favorite Canadian product other than the Better Half is still Bare Naked Ladies. You can go old school with "If I Had $1,000,000" or a bit later with my favorite song, "The Old Apartment", but while I care less and less about music (I'm getting old!), I still really enjoy their stuff.

Fat Dan's Deli

2010-08-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted something savory, filling and tasty. I've read some great things about Fat Dan's Deli, and I've been wanting to try it. The guys at Would I Buy It Again seemed to really like this place, and I trust their opinions. Indianapolis Eater raved about it, and compared it to Portillo's... well, I love the Italian Beef from Portillo's, too. In fact, the location in Merrillville, off of I-65, is a typical stop, especially if we're trying to plan around traffic in Chicago coming or going. So I was stoked to try it.

I was working from home, and decided I had the time to run out. I like my Italian beef sandwich wet (extra "juice") so I was eating it there, not taking it home. I got there at the height of lunch time... er, well, at least I'd think it would be since it was right at noon. The small restaurant had very little seating (maybe for as many as 18) but only 4 others there for the 20 minutes or so I was there. The place looks like it has been there for a long time, which is remarkable as it has only been open for about a year (I'm guessing). The place just feel right, feels like something right from the Windy City. I was quite encouraged.

I ordered the Italian beef with the fries and drink combo. The sandwich is very good. It fits all of the details that I've come to expect from many years of visits up to Chicago. The sandwich is loaded with thinly sliced beef. The peppers are spicy and plentiful. It's right, the sandwich hits all the right notes. My only criticism of the sandwich is that some of the beef was a bit tough.

Now, the fries... the fries were a different story. They are described on the menu chalkboard as the "best fries in the universe". But, at least on this visit, they were woefully short of this boast. These are hand-cut, skin-on fries, and they likely can be very good. But, today, my goodness, most of the fries were undercooked, firm, and yet somehow too greasy, too. Best in the universe? I think they'd have struggled to be honorable mention on Mercury. Hopefully it was just an execution problem, but they didn't match the quality of the sandwich at all.

This Italian beef combo came in at $11.99, with the sandwich alone being $7.50. Now, an Italian beef at Portillo's is $4.45. I prefer mine with both hot and sweet peppers, which takes the cost at Portillo's to $5.15. I believe the size of the sandwiches are similar. Maybe the shipping costs for the components are much greater than I realize, but... this offering from Fat Dan's just seems too expensive. And, what's up with the ketchup packets and no ketchup bottles? That was just an annoyance.

The verdict: 3 belly rubs (out of 5). Great sandwich, poor fries, seems expensive.

Road Trip: Quaker Steak & Lube

2010-08-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

We made up our mind on some closet system stuff from Ikea, so we headed back down to Cinci on Friday after work. The West Chester Ikea has a deal running on delivery -free delivery up to 100 miles if you buy a mattress. And, you can have anything else you buy delivered with the mattress. We needed a new mattress for the guest room, so... we went back.

Anyhow, as we were zipping around 275 on the NW corner of the city, I spied a Quaker Steak & Lube location in a newly developed area of strip malls, chain restaurants and big box stores. I used to live in NE Ohio, between Cleveland and Akron, and fondly remembered the original Lube over in Sharon, PA... so, we decided to stop in.

Now, first, I love the punny name of this chain. But, I find it kind of an interesting trend that one-of-a-kind locations that are heavily theme oriented (like the original Lube) are usually far more fun than theme oriented chains - like any Planet Hollywood, or this Lube location in Colerain, OH.

I also need to mention that I kind of wore out on the buffalo wing some time in the 90's. At one point, I was totally into them, and this included planning a trip to stop in at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo (after a camping and photography stop at Watkins Glen gorge), the reputed home of the Buffalo Wing. In my memory, these were some fantastic wings. Big, hot and juicy. I've found recipes for their wings, and if I remember correctly it is amazingly simple. Equal parts melted butter, Frank's Hot Sauce and some celery salt. Anyhow, the fact that the buffalo wing continues to do well somewhat surprises me, but... deep fried, spicy chicken is a pretty classic taste.

It is especially interesting to me that the chicken wing is now considered a premium cut of meat, and costs reflect this. This article from NYTimes talks about how the wing is now more than chicken breast meat (I didn't not check commodity prices to see if this was still true).

And, while we were at Quaker Steak & Lube, I did have boneless wings, which is just nugget-ized breast meat. I tried the Arizona Ranch sauce, which measures in at 2050 "scoville units". The Lube's measurement for heat is on a scoville scale, and while Arizona Ranch was in the top third, it is under the one called "Hot", so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised they were not all that spicy.

The real problem is that they were dry, dry, dry. And, ultimately, this is a major problem to me with breast meat. Sure, people love it cause it is healthier, but... it is so dry and can so easily be overcooked (at home, I prefer to use skinless thighs, and guests usually enjoy it. The dark meat is more tender and juicy, but has more fat content than white meat. It also holds a marinade much better. But, it is cheap!). The cheese fries were tasty, but my plate must have sat under heat lamps, cause the cheese looked kind of plasticy, not warm and still-melting. Anyhow, it was just okay. Decent bar food, but nothing to drive back to Cinci for on its own.

The better half had a quesadilla salad which was warm, cheesy, and tasty, but incredibly predictable for a chain of this ilk.

The best part of the meal was sitting outside with the sun setting on a day in which the weather gave us a respite from the humidity.

The verdict: 2 belly rubs (out of 5). Predictable and almost boring.

By the way, the menu mentioned a location inside of Conseco Field House, which I have obviously not noticed before.

Ugly edibles?

2010-08-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

These are some ugly animals.... but, I wonder if any of them are also tasty....!

Conundrum?

2010-08-10T05:25:00.000-07:00

If you enjoy reading Malcolm Gladwell's books or articles, his web site is a great resource. And, best of all, from his New Yorker Archive, you can get full access to all of his articles from 1996 to the one most recently printed this past May!

Anyhow, this is an old article, but The Ketchup Conundrum is pretty interesting reading, especially in comparing ketchup to the varieties of mustard (we have at least 7 mustards in our fridge). It is especially interesting to read that ketchup has all five tastes of the human palate, including the hard to describe umami.

I haven't been there for a while, but I think City Cafe downtown used to make their own ketchup....

La Piedad

2010-08-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

Remember the bell curve from school? To me this was always the idea that there was a majority of population in a class falling in the range of a low B to maybe a high D in grades.... Then, remember, the notion of grading on a curve? While your raw score was a 64, you hoped for, like, a C when that raw score was graded on a curve....

What is all this talk of curves? Well, the bell curve is generally how I feel most of the local Mexican restaurants fall - a lot of B- to C+ places here in town (tho, I want to try more of the Central and South American places on the near West side). And, when it comes to Broad Ripple restaurants, I feel like because of the location, the energy, the alcohol, the group you are with, etc., that many get rated much higher than the food merits. Or, maybe more accurately, many restaurants there achieve much greater success than the food merits on its own.

Both of these ideas fit how I feel about La Piedad (the website I found does not have an active site). Can you get decent Mexican food there? Yes. Do you have a good time? Yes, especially, when it is nice and you sit on the patio. To me, this is a well-established place that serves consistently decent food, and at a good value (the fajitas are a really big portion for one person).

Typically, I wouldn't even feel like doing a review because it so completely falls into the middle of my food rating bell curve. But, I mention a new item that surprised me on a recent lunchtime visit (this heat currently almost makes one pick to be inside rather than on the patio!). I decided to try the huevos rancheros with chorizo. The eggs came with small bits of chorizo crumbled into the scramble, and it was pretty tasty. It gave me a salsa and tortilla fix, and didn't seem too heavy for a return to work.

The verdict (not on a curve): 2.5 belly rubs (out of 5). Decent, consistent food with good value.

The verdict ("Saturday afternoon, arriving with friends after pleasurable bike ride on Monon trail" curve): 4 belly rubs (out of 5)

If you include alcohol.... I suppose this place could peak up near the epic 5 belly rub level.....

Squealers

2010-08-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

Since starting this blog, it has really been obvious to me how my old, yet untested idea of a cheap lunch is really hard to find. Maybe I need to contact Leonard Nimoy and see if he wants to partner on a cooking reality show - In Search of: The $5 lunch.

(by the way, I used to love the In Search Of series.... especially with the synthesizer-based theme song)

Well, from my experience, it is really hard to find. Our work team recently went to Rock Bottom Brewery two times at lunch for group events, and... my goodness, they really don't seem to even have a lunch menu there. I wanted to eat lean before a big bike ride, so to have some salmon, I ended up with a $18 lunch. Not good for the wallet. Luckily, I do bring my lunch to work 2-3x a week, and the PBJ on Brownberry bread is a bargain, friends.....

Anyhow, for some decent barbecue, you can find a nice, cheap lunchtime meal at the either Squealers location.

First off, I like Squealers barbecue. I think the pulled pork and the brisket are both consistent and of above average quality. The sauces (two: sweet or hot) are both good, though I'd be happy with a bit more heat in the hot. Best of all, Monday through Friday, you can find some great deals from their lunch specials. Most days, you can get a sandwich and chips from the specials menu for $4.99. Get water, and you've got a bargain. Sure, as a restaurant with table service, you should leave the server a tip, but it is overall a good value. I usually get the beans with a sandwich, which ends up taking you to about $6, but... I really enjoy the beans, which have some meat scraps thrown in.

I like Pita Pit fine, and I keep hammering on this point, but their combo (pita, chips, and a drink) is over $9, and if you want hummus you'll crest $10. The special at Squealers, even with soda and a tip can keep you at about the same level, and it is a local "chain" (two locations) if that matters to you.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5). Good 'cue, better value.

Product Review: Swedish Sweets

2010-08-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

When we were over at the Ikea in Cinci two weekends ago, I had to pick up some new chocolate bars (note, as a Canadian, the Better Half calls them "chocolate bars", but I grew up calling them "candy bars"... these are some of the very small differences I find interesting aboot speaking "American" v. "Canadian").

I've been lucky enough to travel quite a bit internationally, and this is one of my favorite things to do - sample and see what they do in various parts with local chocolate bars. Once my path intersected with the Better-Half-to-be, she mentioned how she felt the Canadian Kit Kat tasted better/different than the American one. And, later, I believe at a time that coincided with the Irish Fest in Indy (coming in September), I read about differences between US and UK chocolate bars... so, I picked up some UK chocolates at the Irish Fest, such as the Curly Wurly! Anyhow, this has dovetailed nicely with my interest in new food products, so I am often picking up new chocolate bars.

So, upon checking out of Ikea, I picked up the two new bars. The Daim bar is a lot like a Heath or Skor bar. But, instead of the toffee, it is more of a caramel flavor. Or, as the Wiki page puts it - a butter almond bar. I liked it, but... I prefer a Heath. The Mint Choko was basically mint flavored Rolo, and I really enjoyed it.

If you find any of this interesting, check out the Kit Kat wiki page - check out the huge list! It really is amazing how much variation they have with this bar across the world. Or, check out this article from Ad Age about the Kit Kat varieties in Japan. And, if you have any interest in chocolate bars from the UK, this review site looks like a very comprehensive and devoted site.

More on some Canadian products later this week. But, look at what I picked up for my shelf at work.... aren't these McFarlane products cool? This is an essential item for a Purdue fan!

Incredibly cool

2010-08-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

Check out these cool covers for your iPhone.....

[hat tip: Serious Eats]

Taco Bell Cantina Tacos

2010-08-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Taco Bell has jumped on the wave of offering street tacos. Seems like a pretty early adopter rate for a big chain to get in on a food trend. So, on a quick grab from the office, I tried two of them today.

The new Cantina Tacos look right.

As you can see, Taco Bell's marketing staff has allowed the Cantina Tacos to be served in a simple square of aluminum foil. And, really, that's kind of an amazing thing, that they don't have the logo on the foil. The tacos are served on two corn tortillas, and each one comes with its own small wedge of lime. Looking right doesn't necessarily mean it tastes great, though. I am a fan of Taco Bell, and I applaud them in being one of the few places I can easily go and get a lunch for less than $5 (hey, I like the bean burrito). The Cantina Tacos are .... okay. The steak and carnitas were both okay, in line with the food at the Bell. I didn't put on any sauce, which would have helped. Something crunchy would also have been really nice. One taco is $1.75, and you can get 3 for less than $5. So, really, they're very much in line with the price you pay at West Coast Tacos, but.... not nearly as tasty.

I'd be really surprised if the Cantina Tacos are really popular. For one thing, I think that most folks aren't used to street tacos and would prefer flour over the corn tortillas. Anyhow, not a bad effort....

The verdict: 1.5 belly rubs (out of 5). Looks right.....

More Food Truck Madness

2010-08-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

From American Public Media, last Friday's episode of Marketplace (6:30 p.m. weekdays on local NPR station 90.1) featured a story about food trucks in L.A., with a great photo gallery accompanying the story. They include a photo of a food truck from Indy - the Crazy Cactus Canteen. Does anyone know anything about this local food truck? The page lists a website, but there is no active page.

It's back: Devour Downtown

2010-07-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

This has been going on twice a year for several years.... it is this 2 week push to promote downtown restaurants - Devour Downtown. You can go here to check out the participating restaurants for the Summer of 2010.

This is a good chance to get a fairly big, usually 3-course meal from some of the nicer local and premium chains downtown. For a view of the city, the Skyline Club just cannot be beat. And, it is typically only open to the general public for Devour Downtown. When we went to Palomino during one of the Winter Devour Downtown's, I was amazed at the portion sizes, they didn't seem reduced at all. I will say, though, that the time we tried Dunaways, the appetizers seemed especially small. If you don't want to spend $46.50 per person to try Fogo de Chao, it looks like you can get try their roasted meat extravaganza for just $30 during Devour Downtown. One of my all-time favorites downtown is Santorini's Greek Kitchen in Fountain Square - the best fried eggplant by a kilometer!

It's been a really long time since I've been to Iaria's, an Indianapolis icon. And, two eating for $30, featuring samplers of their entrees? That's basically Olive Garden prices....

Get out and support our downtown restaurants!

All Hail the Batali!

2010-07-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

You know what this is? Well, besides a weak photographic effort, it is one the best sandwiches you can find in Indianapolis. It is the Batali sandwich from Goose the Market.

It is just a great coalescing of flavors in this sandwich. And, I can personally testify it is NOT something you should try to eat while driving. But, since it comes toasted, it was sitting there, taunting me with its lusciousness, so.... I gave in.... and, I returned to the office with a stain on my shirt - guilty of gluttony.

I can't say anything new about Goose that you shouldn't already know. But, it is a neat shop. We don't have the funds to shop from here all the time, but there are some especially fantastic items in the cured meats case. And that bacon.... boys oh boys.... The Better Half signed us up for 3 months of Goose's Bacon of the Month club, and I so looked forward to each month's selection. We also got a special gift upon joining of some bacon brittle, and that is something that should sell all the time! Butter and Bacon! Yum! The only downside to the club was that the t-shirt wasn't humorous or ironic. Oh well, a minor complaint.

SweeTies

2010-07-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

When we stopped in at Greek's Pizzeria the other day, we also decided to look in at this new-ish shop in Broad Ripple, SweeTies. The SweeTies location has a lot of space. I'd say it is even cavernous for the amount of goods they have offered for sale. They sell (surprise) cupcakes, ice cream (not of their own making), truffles, etc. They have a few private rooms, so I guess if the fellas want to do some fondue before the big game, now they know where to go.

Interestingly enough, when getting ready to write this review, it coincided with an interesting posting on Serious Eats asking feedback (a poll) on whether or not people care about cupcakes.

Now, sure, I think most have caught on that this is a trend that took off from the Sex and the City show. It did seem to take a while to hit Indy, as I remember almost 6 years ago going by the first cupcake shop I'd seen in Toronto with the Better Half. In fact, when she first move here, the Better Half (who makes wedding cakes for friends) toyed with the idea of trying to start a cupcake shop, but both of us are fairly risk averse.

Anyhow, you have to register to vote, see the results, or post a comment to the Serious Eats poll. I can easily get annoyed by some food trends (number one enemy of mine - those who label themselves "foodies"), but when it comes to cupcakes, I have to say... I like 'em. The comments on that poll are insightful, but ultimately, I like cake, I like frosting (especially cream cheese frosting) so.... I like cupcakes. I don't usually want to invest in a whole cake if we're out, so spending $3 or so for an indulgence makes a lot of sense to me. Also, kids always love cupcakes.

We picked up three different flavors of cupcakes from SweeTies - chocolate-peanut butter, sweet potato and strawberry-lemonade. They were all pretty good. The sweet potato had a bit too "perfumey" of a taste for me, but... the real revelation was the strawberry-lemonade. I wasn't expecting much, but it was a nice mix of tartness and a fruity punch. I don't think I'd want to eat this often.... and, the cupcake reminded me of kool-aid... it also reminded me of this from Voodoo Doughnut... but it was a tasty, pleasant surprise.

How does it stack up to other local cupcakes? Well, I'm still partial to the goods sold at The Flying Cupcake (Red Velvet Elvis). Not only do I prefer the taste, but you get a definite jump in size at The Flying Cupcake. I've tried Holy Cow Cupcakes in Carmel, too, but other than the novelty of their maple bacon cupcake, I think they're inferior to Flying Cupcake. And, while I find it quaint that Maxine's Chicken and Waffles is attached to a gas station, I somehow don't feel the same way about a cupcake shop.

The verdict on SweeTies cupcakes: 3 belly rubs (out of 5) - tasty, trendy, doubt the trend can last.

Post Script: I don't know much about the Sex and the City show, so I looked up some info about the cupcake tie to the show. Apparently, they featured the Magnolia Bakery one time, and this little clip apparently started this trend (I could well be wrong, my research has been severely brief and limited).

Korean Taco Love from NYTimes

2010-07-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Congrats to the West Coast Taco guys for getting some love in today's NY Times. They are also prominently featured in the slide show.... Sing it: Come on - baby, don't stop... don't stop till you bi-bim-bap....

Out and About: Ikea (Cincinnati)

2010-07-27T05:56:00.000-07:00

On yet another sultry summer weekend, we decided to get out of town. We needed a few items and the Better Half had been itching to get to an Ikea for some time, so we headed to the closest location. There is an Ikea just North of the 275 loop in Cinci on I-75.

I often forget how pretty Cincinnati can be. We had first headed into Kentucky, then took I-75 over the river into Cincinnati. When you come around a curve and see the cityscape, it is a really pretty city. And, the Ohio River gives this land undulations! Wow, its not just flat! Cinci is the home to some good local eats, but we passed on Skyline, Gold Star (funny little milkshake video), Graeters and even Montgomery Inn. This was a shopping trip. Sigh. Besides, we have Skylines here in Indy, and I have to go by myself there. Somehow the mountain of cheese on the food doesn't excite the Better Half, and in fact makes her kind of nauseous.

Ikea brings a lot of fond memories to the Better Half. It reminds her of her very enjoyable 6 years in Toronto. On the flip side, it also brings back some not so pleasant memories, such as when she was so poor when first moving to Toronto that she considered buying a $99 kids bed. Anyhow, while I'm not a shopping enthusiast, somehow I don't mind the occasional trip through the sprawling Ikea stores. Maybe it is part of my Scandinavian heritage? Maybe it is the collection of funny commercials found on YouTube? Maybe it is the lingonberry infused oxygen they pump into the stores? Maybe it is the smell of the swedish meatballs that waft across the mezzanine from the cafeteria? Maybe it is the au pairs? Whatever, it is kind of fun for an occasional trip.

There is no reason to bore you with the dresser and other items we bought. We did share a value meal, which consisted of 2 hot dogs, a bag of chips and a fountain beverage (we got the lingonberry drink, of course) for $2. You can get a single hot dog for $0.50.

I enjoy the food section, conveniently located after the store check-out, right before you load up at curbside. We picked up some Swedish chocolates, and I enjoyed the color and symmetry in the jam wall.

As much as I wanted to, we did pass on the cheap Swedish meatballs. We will return, we have remodeling plans, and hope to finish out a basement room soon.

Greek's Pizzeria

2010-07-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

I've never really understood how the Papa Murphy's locations stay in business. I don't necessarily think the pizza is so bad, but Papa Murphy's fails for me in that part of why I get take home pizza is that I want it baked, warm and ready once I get home. My worst experience with it was in a large group and one oven in the home.... how little sense does it make to eat in slow waves.... Blah.

So, what does this have to do with Greeks Pizzeria? Well, after having Greeks, my feeling was it explained why some people go to Papa Murphy's. The taste of Greeks was okay, but... ultimately, for the taste, I do guess I'd just as soon spend half the money and bring home a pizza from Papa Murphy's and bake it myself. We tried the Greek's Special, and it was just okay. If you're going to spend $14.50 on a medium pizza, I'd say you're far better off at Donato's or Mellow Mushroom. Shoot, I do feel like Domino's has made some major improvements with their new crust, so why not try some of their deals instead and get a Domino's for much cheaper?

I'm not fond of being especially mean on here, but my feeling about Greek's was that Greek's ultimately explained where the "Delivery? no, DiGiorno!" ad idea came from. I'm not sure who would win in a taste test between Greeks or DiGiorno.... and, I'm not sure it really matters.

The verdict: 1.5 belly rubs (out of 5). There's a lot better choices out there.

IndyStar feature on the near Westside

2010-07-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

You've likely seen it, but a nice little feature here by Jolene Ketzenberger of the IndyStar on all the rich, ethnic, food diversity over on the near westside. If you long for flavor and instead of the dull sanitized world of the pretty chains, there are plenty of great places to eat at over off of Lafayette Road.

Nice job on the photo gallery, too, by Frank Espich.

Rene's Bakery

2010-07-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Like many, I love Rene's Bakery. I think it is cool how small of a shop they have in Broad Ripple (tho, admittedly, I'm sure they'd like to move up in size), and I appreciate their presence at the downtown farmer's market by the City/County building, as well as how they were always at the winter farmer's market on East street this past season.

I really enjoy the baked goods from Rene's. On a recent weekend visit, we picked up the best scones (Wild Berry!) that I'd likely ever had. Now, for full disclosure, these were not competing against very many experiences, and the bar was low, but for a change this was not a super-dry scone that begged for a drink after each bite. We also picked up some cookies, and we tried some of their macaroons.

Now, macaroons are really going up in popularity. And, they are a really... um.... cute food. The last time I was in NYC, I was kind of surprised to see how many people were carrying these clear plastic cases of assorted colored macaroons. Anyhow, the Better Half and I tried a mix of the 3 flavors they had. And, they were great. Light, sweet, flavorful. I think I liked the berry one best, but the pistachio was also very nice. Anyhow everything in the case seems to be good at Rene's.

While deciding what to get, I was talking to the owner, and he mentioned that they had now placed a Cafe Rene downtown. So, this morning I worked from "home" and stopped in at the Cafe. It is at 50 S. Meridian, and they share some space with the Ball State University Indianapolis Center at the corner of Meridian and Maryland. It is a pretty small location, with only about 3 soft chairs, and 2-3 tables with tall stools. They have the usual mix of the baked goods, but also have wrapped, prepared sandwiches. I didn't try a sandwich, but in the 90 minutes I was there, they had a nice trickle of business and several asked about the sandwiches. I usually don't get very excited about pre-prepared (is that redundant?) sandwiches, but... there is definitely interest in them. I had a very nice fruit tart, so I felt a little less guilty about the butter content of the crust since I was getting some fruit.

I was told that the Cafe Rene concept may get expanded to other locations. I wouldn't go back for the current location's ambiance, but the baked goods.... they always are worth a visit, no matter where you can find them.

The verdict: 4.5 out of 5 - high end consistency, and the owner is a warm, engaging fella.

How to roast a pig

2010-07-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

Wow... lots of work, but would be a lot of fun....

Slide show from the NY Times.

Amber Indian Restaurant

2010-07-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well, by now I've more than made up for the 10,000 calories burned (based on one of my friends' heart rate monitors, which actually stopped at 9,999) during RAIN. I've been wanting to try Amber Indian Restaurant at Carmel Drive and Meridian Street for a while, so I met a friend there for lunch Tuesday. Guilt free eating is a good thing, and I was mistakenly under the impression I could still consume without remorse.

There was a nice crowd at the restaurant at noon, which is a good thing at a buffet as you hope the trays are turning over fairly rapidly. The restaurant is decorated nicely, and is clean. I'm not an aficionado of Indian food, but I do enjoy it. Indian food, for me, is kind of like Chinese food anymore - when I eat it it is usually part of a buffet. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I haven't done any "research" on it, but it seems like offering the buffet was a good way of helping introduce people to Indian food in a much safer and experimental way. Indian food is by far the most popular ethnic food in England (interesting article here), and while I've not travelled there, I wonder if the lunch time Indian buffet is as omni-present there as here? I kind of doubt it, as I think the buffet is more of an American thing.

Anyhow, going in, my preference was for Indian Garden location downtown, and their fantastic Butter Chicken. We've also been over to the India Palace location on Lafayette Road, north of the mall, and they offer a Sunday evening buffet, which has been nice to take friends to introduce them to Indian food when a weekday lunch doesn't fit. India Palace is also very good, and I like their curried goat quite a bit.

The service at Amber is fantastic. Three sips from your water glass and it is refilled. A plate is emptied and it seems before you can even rest your fork and consider another buffet pass the plate is ferried away behind the kitchen doors. The food was also very good. It was in line with what you'd expect, a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian items, all of good quality and nice variety. On a personal level, I would have liked to have seen some of my favorite items like Aloo Gobi or the Matar Paneer (they did have out the Palak Paneer - spinch). A new item that I'd not had before that I really enjoyed was Amber's Garlic Chicken, which was fried chicken pieces in a spicy sauce loaded with garlic made soft from being sauteed. I'd have also liked to have had a biranyi dish on the buffet, but they did have a "brown" rice as well as a white rice. The naan at Amber is served warm directly to your table, which is very nice, and you have a choice of regular or garlic (why would one not ever pick garlic?).

Overall, it was a very good experience. The lunch, with only water to drink, was a bit over $9. And, since a pita combo at Pita Pit is over $9, I'd say this is good value (All U Can Eat!). I think I still prefer India Garden, but it is also where I've gone the most often.

The verdict: 3.5 belly rubs (out of 5) - traditional, great service, solid execution.

And, it is true. I've completely made up for the caloric output from RAIN. I weighed 3 pound more on Tuesday night than before we started the ride. Guess I need to get back on the bike.

West Coast Tacos

2010-07-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

As I start writing this, I notice WIBIA has also put out a review on West Coast Tacos... so... we'll see how my feelings compare to his.....

I've been pretty excited about the arrival of West Coast Tacos. I'd read about Roy Choi's now famous Kogi truck out in Los Angeles, and I thought it was a genius idea (good review here with fantastic slide show from well-known LA food critic Jonathan Gold). I'm all for fusion in food. MORE FUSION, that's what I say..... But, I just kind of worried that Indy wouldn't necessarily flock to the idea of a Korean taco. But, I am happy to be proven wrong.

We stopped in around 8:30 to the West Coast Taco truck last Thursday. It was a mellow pace, and we sat down on the curb outside of the cardinal fitness to eat our tacos. This wasn't dinner, it was just a snack. And, as WIBIA has pointed out, if you think of it as a snack, then you're set. Don't go looking for a meal, cause the current portion sizes are just too small. The truck was out of the tempura-style fish tacos and the chicken by the time we got there, so we only were able to try the steak.

How does it taste? It's fantastic. The meat is marinated in bulgogi marinade, and that is placed on two small corn tortillas. This has an ample serving of their fresh salsa which comes heavy with cilantro. Now, I love Korean food above all the other Asian cuisines. When eaten in taco form, the flavors carry a huge punch, and it blends very well together. That said, the meat is a bit overwhelmed by the salsa, although it is a very pleasing salsa with nice fire. Tasting the meat by itself, you can pick up the bulgogi flavor a lot better. Regardless, the taco is really tasty, and it leaves you wanting more.

The only downside is that part of the reason I wanted more was because the tacos are small. We had had dinner 2.5 hours earlier, but these three tacos merely whetted my appetite, did not satisfy it. Partly, that is praise - cause they taste great. But, if I was wanting to feel full, I'd have been disappointed. As the Better Half finished her tacos, and I thought about stealing one, I also considered getting 3 more, or walking over to BRICS. Instead, I ended up going home and having a bowl of cereal.

It's great to see food trucks in Indy, especially one that isn't serving just hot dogs (especially boiled hot dogs). I was able to go out to Portland last summer on two occasions, and the food trucks there are legendary. The fad of higher-end food trucks is, of course, flying ahead in NYC, too. I hope we keep seeing more of this trend here. It has to be less overhead for the proprietors, and it just adds more wanted diversity and choice here.

I brought up the Kogi truck, but that wasn't to try and point out that the West Coast Taco guys were not brand new in their offering. Their site and interviews make it clear that they got inspired while out in California. So, while they may not be Asian prodigies, they are providing a great product here. They said that on weekends, they're typically serving continuously from 7 p.m. till 4 a.m. Awesome. I hope they keep doing so well. But, I guess this does give me an excuse to link to my favorite blog - some contributors for the Freakonomics blog talking about the intellectual property in food and creative cuisine.

Let's get back to the topic of fusion. While I love the Korean influence that is obviously making a mark on both coasts through Roy Choi and David Chang (of the Momofuku empire - check out the price of a 6" cake from his milk bar!), I just love seeing and tasting more food blending. The West Coast Taco guy said they're working on a kim chi quesadilla. Deluxe. I'd love to see a bulgogi cheese steak. Or, how about General Tso's burrito? Or, well... there's this!

Alright, so went a little link crazy today.....

The verdict: 4.5 belly rubs out of 5 - taste and flair make up for small portion size.

RAIN Ride

2010-07-19T05:19:00.000-07:00

This is my Gundy Year.... So, needing something to mark it I convinced two friends to join me for a Ride Across Indiana. Yup, we started at the state line by Terre Haute, and ended at Earlham College in Richmond. And, it was VERY hot on Saturday. The first 65 miles went great. The next 45 went kind of poorly, with many thought of quitting, what with being right around Indianapolis. The final 50 went... almost easily. I'm not sure how to explain that shift in pedal pressure, but... it was overall .... actually a good time. We finished under 9.5 hours of riding time, so that beat our goal of 10 hours.

With the heat and all the effort, it was an amazing day of consumption. While I didn't track it well, I think I drank somewhere between 500-600 ounces of Gatorade and water. Oddly, while we ate lots of food all through the five official (along with 3 other unofficial) stops, at the end of it, food wasn't a huge priority. Maybe I was frustrated that RAIN was followed by a WAEC - Walk Across Earlham College to get to the fitness center showers. Anyhow, one Chipotle burrito before we left Richmond, and on to bed.

Sunday? Sunday was a completely different story. The grazing was ON....! Cook out at some friends' led to large consumption, along with a guilt-free Five Guys visit last night.

(Premium) Chain-O-Rama: McCormick & Schmick's

2010-07-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a bit tardy, but from the idea wondering about premium chains, back on July 5th, the Better Half and I used a nice thank you gift card and went to McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant.

Located at a hotel (hyatt? hilton?... I forget) at Illinois and Market, it is nicely decored in dark wood and some really nice stained glass. The wait staff is professional, and it was a really tasty meal. We started with a lobster tempura roll that was really well done. The seafood chowder was rich, peppery and a nice touch of sweet from the corn.

The Better Half had one of the lobster specials, and it came with Israeli couscous. I'd not had Israeli couscous, and I can't say I'd like to have it again. Just too slimy. Kind of like the big tapioca balls in bubble tea.

I had some fantastic scallops. I can't say what is perfectly prepared or not, but... man, these were fantastic... what with the low light and my aversion to bringing out a camera that needs a flash, I just ditched pix for the utensils and got eating. And, the scallops came on a really nice bed of risotto. I usually am only so-so about risotto, but I liked this as it had a bit of a "crust" and liked the bit of texture than the mushy quality that risotto usually seems to be served as (now, does that mean it was burnt?... don't know... but, it was really nice).

We took home the seasonal dessert special - blueberry cheesecake - and for an appetizer, a salad, a cup of chowder, and two entrees and a dessert, it came in at just under $100. Yeah, that's a lot for two people in my book, especially if you aren't even drinking any wine, but... for a nice outing as a change of pace, it seemed like a worthwhile spend.

It was a really nice meal, well prepared, very tasty. I've been to McCormicks & Schmick's at lunch, and find the lunch menu is actually pretty nice. I just finished a combo from Pita Pit that cost me over $9, so spending $12-$15 at MSSR seems like a worthy outing.....

The verdict: 4.5 belly rubs out of 5 - professional, well done, great flavors.

Below is from the bathroom....

For what it's worth....

2010-07-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

... this is my favorite pizza in town.... Can you recognize it?

It is a pepperoni and garlic pizza from Mellow Mushroom. Yes, it is a chain. But, there is just the one location in all of Indiana, in Carmel off Meridian at 116th. When it is fresh, man, is it great. I love the crust, it is chewy, yet a crispness to the "skin", and unlike most of the huge delivery chains I actually want to eat the crust. Especially if I have some of their esperanza dressing left from a greek salad to dip the crust into.

Some of the specialty pizzas seem to complicate the pie and leave me underwhelmed. So, I just like to keep it simple - pepperoni and garlic. If I want to ruin my breath for even longer, maybe even add some onions......

4.5 belly rubs (out of 5) - always tasty, always great.

King Wok

2010-07-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

Time to talk about some good, cheap eats. So, we went over to one of the richest areas of cheap, local, ethnic foods in the city. The corridor on Lafayette Road on the west side (from about 34th to Georgetown Road) has such diversity - from several Indian options to numerous Mexican and South American options. And, if you need some groceries, you can go plunder the variety of region-specific aisles in the Saraga grocery store.

Anyhow, this evening found us at King Wok. And, do you know what a kind of funny thing is? I really like that they don't have a web page (I realize that doesn't make a ton of sense). They just have a restaurant. Too many places can get all the media and social networking items in place, but may not serve any good food. I feel like King Wok does a nice job on the food, and you can't beat the prices. Mom joined the me and the Better Half, and we were in business.

The Better Half is partial to the Bun, or noodle dishes. She lived in Toronto for 6 years, and we went to some great, cheap places there near Kensington Market in the Asian neighborhoods (great place to visit!) nearby. We have struggled to find the same quality of Asian restaurants here, but King Wok is pretty decent. Now, the thing we both found that stood out about the Bun dish is that typically, I believe Bun is to come with vermicelli... and, King Wok seems to server more of a spaghetti... and, I don't think that their noodles are rice noodles, but I could be wrong. Beyond that, the flavors seems in line, and there was a nice portion of the pork, beef and the cut up egg roll. Mom had the same.

I ended up with a rice dish with the same mix of marinated pork and beef because of the thicker than normal noodles. Very tasty all around, and I appreciate the sweet chili sauce that is provided to add to the rice. Best of all, none of the dishes was over $7 (we also started with some pretty decent vegetable tempura and the cold, garden rolls). So, for under $40 we three could have a hearty meal, full of spice and flavor. Hard to beat......

Indy Restaurant Scene has spoken well of Saigon, further south on Lafayette Road. And, one of her commentors mentioned they have a Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi), so I really need to get there. I definitely prefer King Wok over Viet Bistro in Castleton, though many who are a bit iffy on "divey" looking places would most likely prefer to have a Vietnamese meal at Viet Bistro rather than a location like King Wok or Saigon.

The verdict: 3.75 belly rubs (out of 5). What lacks in some food quality is made up for in great value.

And, I'm so proud of myself I never made a punny joke about wok-ing this way.....

Chain-O-Rama: Granite City

2010-07-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

While I can't really speak for the quality of the beer at Granite City, I have been there a handful of times now. I'm not sure if these guys have reviewed the beer, but they seem like a pretty authoritative site for beer reviews.

Anyhow, we've stopped in at Granite City for work lunches, and the other night the Better Half and I made a stop. Like many of the chain style brew pubs, the menu is extensive. From beer cheese soup (nice and rich) to shrimp tacos (pretty decent) to steaks to large salads to pasta... you can find it all here.

What I don't think you'll find is a great hit anywhere. It is all pretty decent. But, on this visit I paid something silly like $15 for Charlotte's pasta, and I thought it was a very poor deal (though the chef went crazy and burdened the thing with a load of crispy prosciutto. I was mostly attracted to the mention of pesto in the dish, but... I guess I prefer pesto more with oil on pasta, and not necessarily mixed with a heavy red sauce. [Further evidence of the worlds worst food photographer below]

Pretty safe, pretty decent. Not real memorable. If the beer is better than the mass marketed stuff, than maybe it is worth multiple visits. But, like with our work lunches, it fits a big group and everyone can find something. And, there is definitely something to be said about that.

The verdict: 2 belly rubs (out of 5). Typical, but decent.

Chain-O-Rama: Monical's Pizza

2010-07-08T05:18:00.000-07:00

I have some trepidation about reviewing pizza. Some people take it very, very seriously. Some have very strong biases towards regional styles (Chicago, California, New York, Colorado, Mississippi.... okay, maybe not Mississippi).

Me, I just like pizza. I prefer Giordanos over Uno's. I like various versions of NY Style, both locally and stuff I've tried on trips to NYC. And, I love Beau Jo's out in Colorado (and the honey that is served for the crust). But, I also like chain locations like Pizza Hut and Donatos. Anyhow... over the long weekend we stopped in at the Monical's at Glendale Mall. This place is tucked on the backside (east) of the mall, and I'm not sure how many people actually see it as they shoot up or down Keystone (there are at least 2 other locations in town). Anyhow, we've picked it up at various times, and since I ultimately prefer thin crust, we do like Monical's. We had the Italian Special this time, as that is the Better Half's choice. It has sausage, onions, green olives, mushrooms and banana peppers. It's tasty, but maybe a bit too heavy on the green olives for my liking.

Anyhow, I like it. It's tasty, its satisfying. No, nothing exceptional, though. Verdict - 3 belly rubs.

What I find pretty interesting about pizza places is that so many seem to have a background of some humble beginnings from a college campus. Up at Purdue, we used to have a Garcia's Pizza by the Slice, and the lore was that two Illini students took their tuition and opened it up and were now fabulous wealthy. This inspired me to... well, do nothing, really, other than to brain storm. This was back in the very late 80s, and New York Seltzer was big. I would tell my roommate we needed to start up a soda line. I wanted to call it Purple Mountain Majesty, and we'd play off patriotic themes. This could then have been spun off into Amber Waves of Grain bread. Instead, he decided to pursue a PhD in the stickiness of polymers or something like that. My friend, Dr. Lew Zer......

Anyhow, Monical's was founded near Olivet Nazarene University. Mellow Mushroom was founded near Georgia Tech University. Papa John's was founded by a former Ball State student who appears to have learned the trade from Greek's Pizzeria, which started in Muncie (by the way - I've not tried it... is Greek's any good?).

I don't really know if the guys that started Garcia's actually got fantastically wealthy. But, I like to hope they did. Maybe they're down near Zihuatanejo, Mexico living off the spoils of their pizza slinging days. Cheers, mates....

Slice is also a fun site to bounce out to for pizza-related information.

Do NOT tell your cardiologist if you eat one of these...

2010-07-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

Wow.... part of the Great Bacon Odyssey.....

Hat tip: A Hamburger Today

Product Review: Lara Bar

2010-07-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

Summer brings on a fair bit of biking for me. And, this year, I've had some goals around a really long ride, but we'll see if my training allows me to hit that goal. Anyhow, since it is hard to carry a cheeseburger in a bike jersey, I'm often searching for something to eat on a long ride.

The original Power Bars are just not something I can stomach. I do like most varieties of Clif Bars, though, and especially like dried fruit flavors like the apricot. But, the LARABAR is likely my new favorite.

I've seen this in several places now, but first found them at the old Wild Oats location in Nora that is now a Whole Foods. LARABAR no longer says it is "raw", but they apparently are not cooked. They are full of lots of nuts and dried fruit, and yet they usually maintain a higher moisture content than the other really dry, fiberous sport bars out there. Cherry Pie is by far my favorite flavor. Lots of good carbs, digests easily, and some protien to help prevent your muscles from breaking down too much on a long workout.

The verdict: 4.5 belly rubs (out of 5) - of course we're grading on an exercise-based curve. In any other situation, lay this next to a Snickers and there's no contest I go for the processed sugar bar.

Field Report: Tony Packos (Toledo)

2010-07-07T05:14:00.001-07:00

I think I need to go to a work location where the historic local fare is NOT a hot dog.....

But, I found myself in Toledo last week and looked up some information on a local restaurant to try. Tony Packos seemed a likely candidate from its longevity, lore and common appeal.

I was downtown Toledo, right on the Maumee River. Toledo has a brief little river walk, and it made me wish again that Indianapolis had more of their buildings along the White River. Anyhow, I used the GPS to find the closest location (of 5) on my way out of town. Turns out I appear to have landed at the "original" location, on Consaul Street.

The menu definitely has more than hot dogs, but the hot dogs and chili sauce seem like the rite of passage for a newbie. I ordered one of the specials - which was a chili dog and a chili mac. I was intrigued by the chicken paprikas, and tried to get a sense of that dish by also ordering a side of the paprikas dumplings with gravy.

The hot dog had a casing with a nice "snap", good flavor and I really liked the chili sauce and the onions. The chili mac was tasty, but.... I prefer a chili mac over spaghetti noodles, yet Tony Packos serves them over their dumplings. Now, this is a major change over when we first moved to Indiana from Denver when I was 13. Some of our family introduced us to chili over spaghetti, and I just wondered what was wrong with these people. But, over time, I've come to appreciate the local variation, whether from Steak-n-Shake or Skyline Chili. Now, a funny thing I noticed is that many places that serve a chili mac usually give you that little bowl of oyster crackers. And, I did toss some of those over the chili mac pile, which is basically dressing up carbs with carbs. But, the crunch was a nice texture addition.

The paprikas and dumplings was a further investigation of simple carbs, and not really all that flavorful. I have never cared for dishes like chicken and dumplings, and that is what this is. Minus the chicken. It was worth a taste, but not a return, and it made me feel like I'd have been wanting more "zing" from the dish if I had ordered the chicken paprikas.

Tony Packos is from Hungarian roots, and the menu has a section entitled Cabbage Creations, which just appeals to me out of sheer novelty.

Another thing that Tony Packos does that is fun and unique is they have celebrities, both local and those passing through, do bun signing. So, all around the restaurant they have these special cases with autographed hot dog buns. Some gimmicks like that seem cheesy, this one seems appropriate.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5) - a good hot dog, good value, great historic charm.

3 day weekend indulgence

2010-07-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

Ah..... Wick's sugar cream pie......

Independence Day Weekend Treat: BRICS

2010-07-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone has a wonderful and patriotic Independence Day weekend. With beautiful weather, and a day full of physical labor behind us, the Better Half and I went to pick up my bike from the Bike Line in Broad Ripple (a water bottle into the rear wheel on Thursday led to a bent spoke - luckily nothing worse) then walked down the Monon to try BRICS, the new Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station. The shaved ice stand on the Monon is nice, but it sure has seemed like an obvious step to have an ice cream shop here.

They've done a great job of rehabbing what I believe used to be the Broad Ripple Station. It is a nice, warm, trendy spot. The Better Half was particularly impressed by the tile, what with our thoughts going towards a kitchen remodel. Talking to the scooper (is that a proper job title?), we found out they don't make their own ice cream, but it is from Sherman's Dairy Bar up on Lake Michigan in South Haven. I've never tried this ice cream before, but it was quite tasty.

And, the portions were enormous. I guess I should have asked if a "1 scoop" can consist of two flavors..... so, while the Better Half tried the Grasshopper, I had the Banana Nut and the Chocolate Peanut Butter. The Grasshopper wasn't very minty, but the Banana Nut had candied walnuts (wait, maybe they were pecans...?) and was quite tasty.

We spent $9 on the 3 scoops, but... the portions are huge. Yes, you could definitely get a better value from the grocery store. But, there is something about sitting outside on a patio, on a warm, pleasant day, and just indulging in some good ice cream.

Welcome, BRICS, I hope you stay around.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5) - summer and ice cream, what a pairing.

Oh, and from BRICS' "about" page, it looks like at least one of the owners is from Indy's famous Vonnegut family - most famous for Kurt the author, whose family had the old Vonnegut Hardware store downtown.

And, for what its worth, I really prefer Matthews Bicycles out on Pendleton Pike for repairs and as an overall bike shop. Great selection there, too, with a load of bikes upstairs. Great service shop and very friendly, and knowledgeable staff. Its right next to a King's Ribs, too!

Chain-O-Rama: Rally's Bacon Champ

2010-07-01T05:30:00.000-07:00

Man, what a mess.

Stopped through the local Rallys for dinner on the road as we've been way too busy on house stuff in the evenings. I do like Rallys burger, and when they first came on the scene I was a big fan of their seasoned fries. Anyhow, if it is dinner from a sack, I figured I might as well at least try something new. And, behold, Rallys has the Bacon Champs available in three flavors - firecracker, maple and pepper.

So, I ordered the maple. And, as soon as the words came out of my mouth, the thought "this will be too sweet" rattled through my brain. But, it has bacon, so it was worth the try.

Now, it is pretty obvious bacon has been riding a pretty long ride as a food trend. It seems predictable that on almost any episode of a food contest, the person that uses pork belly often wins. But, as a person that just loves good food and kind of gets annoyed by food trends, I sort of wonder - when did bacon ever go out of style? I mean, bacon on a burger is just one of the best combo's ever. I mean, I even fondly remember that odd bacon disk that McDonald's put on the Arch Deluxe. [And, as a bonus, there is this fun old commercial for the McDLT]

Anyhow, tried this burger. It truly was a mess. The bacon texture was inconsistent, likely owing to being microwaved before hastily being slapped on the pile. The sauce was just way too sweet. The mix of sweet and salty is appealing, but this boat was sinking in a sea of sweet sauce. The burger seemed dull and lifeless beneath all that sauce. And, as it has been a long time since Id' been to Rally, I was at least looking to the fries. These seasoned fries reminded me far too much of fried chicken. Not good.

Rallys has some decent, cheap offerings. Skip the Bacon Champ and stick to the Big Buford.

The verdict: 0.5 belly rubs (out of 5)

Local legend: The Rathskeller

2010-06-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, we took mom to see Jersey Boys at the Murat (yeah, yeah, I know it is now called the Old National Center or whatever). We wanted to get in a meal beforehand, but not be too rushed. We found great street parking very close, and so we walked over to the Athenaeum and ate at The Rathskeller. Living downtown and being a member of the YMCA located in the Athenaeum, we're pretty familiar with The Rathskeller. But, we don't go there to eat a lot. They serve big meals, and they are heavy meals for the most part. I can't speak for the quality of the beers, but if you are anywhere near the area on what seems to be any Thursday, Friday or Saturday night in the summer, there is a lively crowd enjoying live music in the biergarten those nights.

I call this entry a "local legend" because the Rathskeller seems to have that kind of cache to me. And, the Star just came out with a new Taste section in the print version, and they referred to St. Elmo's as a local restaurant icon.

Going to a German restaurant always reminds me of when I went to Germany with two of my best friends in our early 20s. I was perplexed then by the amount of sausage being consumed. Especially the odd looking white ones at breakfast time. And, I was also frustrated because I was following the ordering style of the one guy in the group that had some German language skill, and he raved about the schnitzel but always ordered it plain. I kept thinking - hasn't this country discovered sauces yet? And, of course, they had, I just wasn't asking enough questions about the menus.

We arrived just after 6 p.m. and many others also had chosen to eat at The Rathskeller before the musical. The place was jammed and we finally found a table in the bar since we did not have reservations. You can order from the full dinner menu back there, so that wasn't an issue. I really enjoy the feel of the dining and bar areas of the Rathskeller. The decor and setting seem very German, and the bar very much feels like it is from a hunting lodge, as we had this creature looking down on us.

The complementary bread basket is nice, especially the pretzel and the very spicy mustard that is included. Mom went with the schnitzel cordon bleu, and the Better Half had the jaegerschniztel. I ended up having the hot wurst platte. I am still not sure why I ordered that. Mostly, I wanted a bratwurst. But, ultimately this plate gives you 5 sausages. Neither my cardiovascular system nor my GI tract wanted or needed that. And, the odd thing is, I even kind of knew I wasn't crazy about their bratwurst. If I remember things correctly, I think Claus' German Sausage and Meats (just south of Fountain Square on Shelby) provides The Rathskeller with sausage. I've picked up meats from Claus' counter, and maybe this sounds so non-authentic, but I really enjoy a Johnsonville brat more than from the local butcher.

Look at this, though. I mean, that's just too much meat.

As I feared, I found the bratwurst kind of bland, and the bockwurst even worse. The keilbasse, though, was fantastic. And, I think the plate actually had two types of German weiners, and those are pretty tasty. I always enjoy red cabbage, and the sauerkraut was good, too.

The jaegerschnitzel, though, was fantastic. They do a very nice job on the pork in general, with a very tasty breading mix, and the pork was tender and juicy, even if you hadn't gotten a sauce. Mom's cordon bleu was very tasty too.

Overall, I think The Rathskeller is a winner. The meals are huge, filling and seem to be well prepared and true to their "nativity", though to me, they are a tad expensive.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5) - schnitzels are winners.

Post Script: You know what amazed me the most about being at Oktoberfest in Munich? It was the waitresses walking around with so many full glass steins of beers. My forearms hurt just looking at them.

P.P.S: Now, my single favorite fun memory of Oktoberfest was when in one of the beer tents, the little Bavarian band started in on John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads". The crowd erupted, and hundreds of drunk Germans joined in singing. Wunderbar!

P.P.P.S: Oh. And, we really thoroughly enjoyed Jersey Boys. I was surprised to realize how much of the Four Season's music I did know. The pace was fast, lots of comedy, great talent on display, full and enthusiastic crowd. It's only in town for one more week, and it looks like the ticket sales were high, but if you have a chance it is a great show.

Just asking: What makes a "premium" chain?

2010-06-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

I've never really bought the notion that all chains are bad. Sure, I definitely appreciate local and unique, and I do "vote" that way with some of our disposable funds. But, I do think that most chains provide a consistent experience from which there is some value.

A pet peeve of mine has often been when someone holding a Starbucks cup would rip on McDonalds or Wal-mart..... huh? Give me a break, kettle! Now, a friend of mine that works on the Board of Trade up in Chicago, he buys his coffee at Intelligentsia, and he had an interesting point - Starbucks isn't trying to be the Wal-mart of coffee, but maybe more or the Target of coffee, instead. Maybe that is true (though that could lead to a discussion of elitism v. populism). Nevertheless, chains can be purveyors of good stuff. In fact, I've often told friends that my favorite restaurant is likely Chipotle or Qdoba. They always leave me satisfied, they always taste great, and I always feel like they're good value.

Anyhow, in my rambling, what I'm getting to is - what makes a "premium" chain?

I got thinking about this last night again because we were running errands and stopped in at the Houlihans at Castleton. I hadn't been to a Houlihans for a long time, well before the one downtown shut down. I always viewed them as another in the Fridays-Applebees-Chilis line. But, once inside, it seemed obvious that Houlihans had kind of reinvented themselves. The menu seemed much better, too, including an extensive list of small plates. I especially liked the interior lighting.

The new version of Houlihans reminded me of a chain up in Canada - Milestones. Once we received our food, the food was good enough, but instead of a review I just decided to post a question instead. My chicken wrap was below average, but the Better Half's fish tacos were a decent attempt and tasted very fresh with the salsa and lime juice. There is potential here with Houlihans, it would fit a large group well, and I'm sure there are some really good choices on the menu.

Growing up, my dear dad was not much into eating out. As one of 14 kids, times were always tight and since he was quite a bit older than my mom, he also remembered the depression very well. So, our eating out was more about value, and the restaurants in the rotation were pretty limited. A luxury was going to Red Lobster, and though we rarely go now that my father is no longer with us, I still view Red Lobster as kind of a premium chain. I feel the same way about Outback.

Palomino has 4 locations across a wide geography - does that even count as a chain? The Oceanaire has 12 locations from coast to coast (and one former chef was on a season of Top Chef) - does that count as a chain? Are they definitely premium chains? Are they premium chains only because of the meal cost? Or, back to my thought on Chipotle and Qdoba, maybe those are premium chains?

Or, more importantly - does it even matter?

Field Report: Powers Hamburgers (Ft. Wayne)

2010-06-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

I had to make another quick trip to Detroit this week. I was heading up on Monday, and guess what? Detroit had a River Days festival going on with the fireworks that night. Folks from our office told me that downtown would be jammed, so I ended up staying by the airport and heading downtown on Tuesday morning. I had hoped to swing by Greektown this time, but I'll have to wait a bit longer till a return trip there.

Anyhow, on my way home, I decided to look up a place I had read about at A Hamburger Today - a little establishment called Powers Hamburgers in downtown Fort Wayne.

Powers is located in a nice part of downtown Ft. Wayne. It is very close to the minor league baseball stadium, and since I pulled into the lot around 7:40, I think that was a scheduling boon to me, as it wasn't very crowded and that nights game had already started. Any early visitors must have been through. True to the descriptions I had read, it is a neat little building with black and white awnings. This is not a trendy spot. It looks authentic because it is. This is no Broad Ripple shop trying for a vintage feel. The place IS vintage in the way that your grandma's closet is vintage - it has lived through the style changes and not flinched.

My picture isn't that great, but... man, there are some nice exposures found on Google images. Hopefully it is okay to show this one here.

The restaurant seats maybe 20 people maximum. There is a counter in front of the griddle, two small counter areas facing out windows, and one booth in a back corner. The restaurant is located catty-corner from a Lincoln National Life Insurance building, and I wonder if the actuarys have figured out an acceptable number of visits employees can make to Powers in a given year....?

This place serves sliders. And, I guess they are true sliders, not just mini burgers. The meat patty is maybe a quarter inch thick, on a soft bun, and a large pile of grilled onions. I had three cheeseburgers. They come with no condiments. My first bite was unadorned, and... well, it was just kind of average. I love grilled onions. The large pile on this burger was not only a welcome site, it was a selling point. But, in this case, I think the grill chef has so many onions on the griddle that I think some of onions basically only "sweat". What I love is caramelized onions, especially when cooked in butter. Some of these onions were merely white and translucent, and I think in the large pile they didn't get much butter and were cooked only through rising steam. This leads to a less tasty onion flavor. I added some ketchup and plain yellow mustard and that made a world of difference. Once dressed with some condiments, the burgers were considerably better in my opinion. The inconsistency of the onions was a bit disappointing, because sometimes when you got some from the bottom of the pile that had caramelized in butter or oil, man was that tasty. The little burgers are maybe 15% bigger than a White Castle, about the same cost (I think they were $0.85) and better tasting to me.

I also had a bowl of chili. Now, the funny thing to me is that despite the enormous amount of onions used in this restaurant (my clothes were saturated with the smell of onions), the one thing this chili needed was more onions. It is a nice brew of ground beef and beans, with a slight sweet tang to it. I added some hot sauce and it was a nice, filling addition.

When the Better Half and I drive to see her family in Ontario, we usually take I-69 and pass Ft. Wayne. We usually don't stop. So, leaving town, I took a bit of time and found it a nice, well maintained downtown area for a city of its size. I drove out on Washington Boulevard, and parts of that road, with its leafy canopy, really has some potential. As a one time hoops junkie, I knew that Ft. Wayne was the original home to the NBA's Piston's franchise, but I couldn't find any retro jerseys online to link to. If you have time and are wandering around NE Indiana, stop at Auburn, too. That little town amazes me. With the one-time wealth it had from the car company there, there are some fantastic, large old brick homes in Auburn. And, they do a really nice job keep the downtown clean and appealing to visitors.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5). A true slider, great appeal to its authentic and timeless style, onions were a bit uneven.

Memory v. Reality: Tomato Pie

2010-06-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to Tomato Pie Bistro by a friend of mine. In just a few visits, I really loved it. I don't get especially opinionated about pizza (hey, it's pizza, it can be really decent in many forms), but I did find this to be really pleasing. I can't say it reminded me expressly of the fantastic pizza that the Better Half and I ate on a daily basis during a trip to Italy in 2006, but... I thought it was pretty tasty. And, I also felt like the owner really cared, was really trying to do something from his "heart", and since the owner is seemingly always there and some of his large family is helping out as staff - it is just a really nice, cozy, family environment.

In short, I really liked this place for the owner and wanted to see him succeed. He seems like a really nice guy and seems to have a wonderful family.

Tomato Pie offers "southern Italian food". I am no expert on Italian regions, so I'm not sure if they're true to this promise or not. The pizza are thin crust, with simple toppings. That is exactly how it was in Italy, and it was fantastic there.

Well, it had been a while since I'd been to Tomato Pie. But, with this blog, I really wanted to try and feature them. In fact, I've been 2x in just a few weeks. Once we took some friends on a Saturday evening. During that visit, I noticed they had a lunch buffet, so I met up with a friend there last Friday.

It was close to closing the time we went at dinner time with friends. The pizza seemed a bit rushed, and the crust didn't seem fully cooked. But, I was willing to overlook that. On the second visit, I knew any review was subject to the skewed view that can come from a buffet, but... again, the pizza was underwhelming. And, there was usually no more than 2 varieties on the counter. The salad was very basic. There was also one pasta, which was very tasty with some onions and spinach in with a nice sauce with penne. The sauce was pretty heavy from what I experienced over in Italy, but maybe that is somewhat of a concession to American tastes.

Ultimately, the visits were underwhelming. And, that left me sad. Again, I really like the owner from the very brief interactions I've had with him. But, while that adds to the overall feeling you have about a place, it can't override the truth on the plate. It gets me to wonder if my memory was off, or is it accommodations to keeping the doors open and changes that had to be made to do so? Anyhow, there is potential here. But, right now, it isn't realized.

So, I'll hope for improvement, and I also need to make it to Napolese to try their version of pizza.

The verdict: 1.5 belly rubs (out of 5). Underwhelming, but my memory tells me there is potential here.

[no pictures this time - the interior is incredibly low lighting, and I got over-zealous in deleting pictures off my phone]

Summah time.....

2010-06-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

Ah.... isn't summer great? With all the heat, it just felt right to have a refreshing BLT and some corn on the cob.... let's hope it is a great eating summer!

John's Famous Stew

2010-06-17T05:37:00.000-07:00

This place is definitely an Indy original. John's Famous Stew's website says that they've been going since 1911. I'm not sure how long they've been on Kentucky Ave. near the Lilly tech center, but... the place sure looks authentically vintage!

I've been to this place a lot, especially since I did a lot of contract work at Lilly at one point. The only downside to me about this place is that it has kept the distinction of being a bar, not a restaurant, so people can still smoke inside. At lunchtime, the smoking seems usually fairly rare, but you'll catch the scent in the air.

How many places specialize in stew? That is what first caught my eye when I saw this place when I had moved back to Indy in 2002. I can't say I'm some stew aficionado (who is?), but... it seems unique - and it is. My friends that first introduced me to John's all go for the Tenderloin Supreme. And, it is truly a sight to behold.

Somewhere under there is a tenderloin nearly the size of the plate. On yesterday's visit, I took a neophyte who'd never been to John's, my friend the Running Man. These are definitely heroically sized portions. I got the regular tenderloin, and as you can see through the fork for scale, the bun and tenderloin are ginormous.

The value component of being good grub is completely satisfied here. The Running Man is rail thin, but can put down the food. He had the tenderloin supreme ($6.95) with a big ladle of the medium stew over the tenderloin. He also had two pieces of bread and the pickle from my platter! He drank just water, for for $7.50 that's huge value. The breaded tenderloin is $6.25, but fries (the cheap, frozen from a bag variety) were an additional $1.35. I only ate 75% of my sandwich, so value abounds.

How's it taste? Go with the tenderloin supreme. My breaded tenderloin is just too salty and too dry. The stew just makes the tenderloin so much more moist and as long as you go with the medium or hot stew, there is a lot of black pepper in it to add some punch and to balance the salt a bit more. The decor isn't anything to try and recreate in your mancave, but... it sure feels genuine. And, the waitstaff is fast, friendly and also very authentically vintage.

The verdict: 4 belly rubs (out of 5). Great value, great local color, unique place.

Canal Bistro

2010-06-16T04:41:00.000-07:00

We had another place in mind last night, and.... we really should have suffered through the wait. But, instead, we went to Canal Bistro. It is a known quantity to the Better Half and I, but mom had not been. I am fond of the lamb Mediterranean burger there, and I have very good memories of the garlic & feta fries, so... I was looking forward to the visit.

We saw out on the patio that is along Guilford, and this is one exceptionally nice thing about Canal Bistro, they have a lot of seating outside. Especially if you are in a party of two, as there are numerous tables for two along the canal side. I like the decor, and the service is for the most part pretty prompt. We started out with the baba ganoush. It is smoky and very smooth. In fact, it is so smooth and there are so few egg plant seeds, it seems like it might be blended in with some hummus - which isn't a bad thing. The quality of the pita was a bit mixed, which sort of seems picky to mention. One thing I am not a fan of at all here is the spice mix they put in with the olive oil for the complimentary pita bread you are given when you arrive. (No other pictures as the low lighting and flashless iPhone left me with just a few blurry exposures)

Now, despite really enjoying the lamb burger, I tried the spicy tilapia sandwich. It was okay. The fish was fried well and the sauce had some bit, but ultimately it seemed like a buffalo fish sandwich on crumbly pita. The Better Half had the gyro, which was.... well, I don't know. It was okay, as well. It was tightly wrapped up what I think was more of a tortilla than a pita, and so it seemed like you ordered a gyro wrap at a place like McAllister's or something. The gyro meat tasted the part, but there was too much of the tzatziki sauce. And, let me make a mention about the tzatziki sauce - it was too watery and devoid of chunks of anything. It was garlicky, yes, but it struck me as a sign of lower quality in their components. The other disappointment was the garlic and feta fries. Now, it has been about a year since we were last there, but I remember a much higher quality fry, and remember them as thinner. But, maybe I confuse them with somewhere else. I also remember the feta and garlic being distributed in a lighter "tossing" with the fries. The fries we were served last night were a thick, gooey cluster of what seemed like cheap frozen bagged fries and just too much feta and oil, to the point that the fries were soggy as soon as they landed in front of you. Not good.

Mom had the lamb kebab, and this was an excellent dish. There is lots of meat, the lamb was all between medium and medium-well and was still nice and moist, it stood well on it's own (you didn't have to use the tzatziki sauce).

My memory of Canal Bistro was much better than how the night turned out. Now, the fact that yet another fierce late spring storm blew in as we were finishing and had us scurrying to the inside had nothing to do with the quality of the meal. The service, which in my memory was always fast and exceptional, was on this night kind of lackadaisical. But, based on seeing our neighboring tables' waitress far more than we saw our own, I think it was individual rather than institutional.

If this was my first visit - I'd likely not go back at all. There are too many other good Mediterranean choices in town (namely Saffron Cafe and Santorini's). But, my memory holds out hope that it can be salvaged - and I'll go back to see if the lamb burger is still as good as I remember.

The verdict: 2 belly rubs (out of 5). Sandwiches are a good value, but poor execution this night, and the fries were a globbed mess.