For what it's worth....

... 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

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

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

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...

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

Hat tip: A Hamburger Today

Product Review: Lara Bar

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)

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

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

Independence Day Weekend Treat: BRICS

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

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)