Wow, this place is really good. It has been on the list for awhile and since an out of towner recently emailed me asking for suggestions on places to eat downtown and I recommended it to him (I did tell him I hadn’t been) I figured I needed to get in there so I could know about what I speak!We got there probably around 11:45 for lunch and the place was nearly full. This place is hopping with people at lunchtime. After we sat down, there was pretty much a wait for a table (and a lot of people waiting at that) for the entire duration of our lunch. The interior is modern and spare with nice glass block windows along side. The servers are courteous and fairly prompt, considering the crowd. The one annoyance is there is no parking lot at lunchtime, just street parking, and depending on the crowd, it can be difficult. I had to circle a bit to find one nearby.
For lunch they have several specials which I assume are smaller portions of several of their regular entrees that also come with a cup of soup and a spring roll. We decided to share one rice entrée and one noodle entrée and get the lay of the land. They brought the soup and spring roll
out fairly quickly. The spring roll was excellent and crunchy, and hubby declared one of the best he has had. They were veggie and did have the stingy carrot/cabbage problem that spring rolls often do (you take a bite and all those strings of veggies are hanging out of your mouth) but they were really tasty. The soup was the Thom Yum, I believe, a brothy, spicy, yet slightly sour soup flavored with lemongrass, tomatoes, scallions and cilantro and with a couple of mushrooms floating around in there. It was great to dip the spring rolls into. And it had a bit of heat to it. (The little squares in the soup are a reflection of the glass blocks—I thought it looked sort of cool.)We shared the chicken Kapow and the Pad Seuw. The chicken Kapow is a rice plate including
steamed rice and a stir fry mix with chicken, peppers, basil, onions, mushrooms, and scallions. I really liked the flavor on this dish—had the heat of Thai food with the slight underlying tanginess of what I assume to be lemongrass. We were asked what temperature we wanted the dishes and we told him medium for both. They certainly had a lot of spiciness and I would not be up for hot for sure. This was the perfect amount—it built over time and left your lips tingling just a bit, but didn’t ruin the other flavors of the dish. The sauce on the dish was great. If I could change anything, it would be that the pieces of onion and scallion were a little big and because of that were a little too crunchy. The smaller pieces of onion were really good with the mix though. And the chicken was white meat, pleasantly tender and fairly plentiful.The pad seuw was outstanding. I really liked both dishes a lot, but this one, the noodle dish, probably inched the other one out slightly for the simple reason that I would eat every bite of everything in the mix. There was the right amount of everything, and in the appropriate sizes (for example, I left quite a pile of the onions from the dish above just because they were so big and so plentiful). This was a wide noodle dish stir fried with various greens (baby bok choy and broccoli are the two that jump to mind), garlic, egg and chicken. It was really really good. There were some larger pieces of chicken as well as some finer dices and the flavors combined to make a lovely brown sauce over the dish. I think we would be hard pressed not to get this one again.
Hubby was happy with his Thai beer to go along with his lunch, and by the end of the meal determined it was worthy of a dinner visit. I am excited to go back and try a few of the menu items that aren’t offered as a lunch special.
It looks to me like Fountain Square is really coming into its own with some really great restaurants. So tell me, I have done Naisa and Siam Square, and have been impressed with both. What are your other faves in this neighborhood?
Siam Square
936 Virginia Ave
Indy 46203
317/636-8424
http://www.siamsquareindy.com/
Siam Square has been my absolute favorite Thai restaurant for a while now (Tropical Fried Rice with Shrimp for me). As far as the rest of Fountain Square is concerned, Santorini has some excellent Greek food, you can’t wrong with breakfast at the Shelbi Street Café & Bistro (try a cup of their homemade granola and one of their omelets) and of course my brand new favorite is the Red Lion Grog House. It’s English pub food… which is pretty much like regular pub food, but for whatever reason you don’t feel dirty eating it. Red Lion is already a staple of mine and when they finally get their liquor license (coming in April) I see it becoming a regular stop after work. Overall Fountain Square has just about any cuisine that a person could want within walking distance of one another. From great BBQ and fried biscuits at Smokehouse to the Egyptian fare at Luxor, Fountain Square is has something for everybody.
ReplyDeleteWe love Siam Square and were just there for dinner last night. I have to give them extra props for the beer (and wine) menu. Not only do they have a pretty good selection but the notes they offer for pairing with flavor components of Thai cooking are wonderful. Avery White Rascal is a Witbier that's a versatile pairing with almost anything on their menu (but you can't go wrong with most of their options).
ReplyDeleteWe like Maria's pizza a lot... I know it's just pizza, but theirs is delicious!
ReplyDeleteI love Siam Square, but I have one complaint. The level of heat is not consistent. I have ordered Yum Catfish the last two times - hot. The first time it was not as hot as the soup. Earlier this week, I could hardly eat it. By the time I finished, my teeth were burning. I had the Sun King Sunlight Cream Ale with my dinner and it was great. I will return, but in the future, I will ask for the daily definition of hot.
ReplyDeleteThe Smokehouse has great ribs!
ReplyDeleteI adore fountain square - what is not to love. luxor is great as well and the owner is just too cute. reverting back to thai though - my personal favorite thai spot is thai spice near the greenwood mall, which I think it owned by someone who is related to the siam square owner. you should check it out.
ReplyDeleteMy two faves in Fountain Square are Santorini's (save room for the galaktabouriko for dessert) and Shelbi Street Cafe.
ReplyDeleteFish kabobs are on the menu almost daily at Santorini's and are fabulous. Greek potatoes, rice, and green beans come with the platter, which could easily be split by 2 people.
My pick at the Shelbi Street Cafe is the pecan-crusted goat cheese salad, followed by the gingham salad.