Korean Taco Love from NYTimes

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)

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

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

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

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

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

Slide show from the NY Times.

Amber Indian Restaurant

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

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

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

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....