Flatwater Restaurant

As far as I can tell, Broad Ripple has an apparent inability to support more than a couple of decent restaurants (now bars on the other hand, apparently are another story). So when something new comes along that seems like it might have potential, of course we want to try it... And hey, there’s a deck, and it’s on water (ok, it’s the canal, but it’s still water).

We started with an appetizer of tuna tartare. Unfortunately (for Flatwater), it had not been that long since we enjoyed a delivered meal from Brad Gates Catering in which his tuna tartare was involved, and comparisons were going to be made. Although, there really was no comparison, they really were in a completely different league, or stratosphere, or universe. You get my drift. To start, this tuna was inherently not the best quality. I don’t know, my guess is they don’t sell a lot, but it looked and tasted a little mushy. But even if the tuna had been beautiful, there was no flavor on it. I could make out a couple pieces of cilantro mixed in and possibly a hint of sesame oil and that was about all. There was a lime on the side which was promptly squeezed across the fish by me, but was not nearly enough. I got the server’s attention, asked for a bunch more lime, doused it with some salt and pepper and finally, it became nearly edible. Scratch this off the list for sure. Again, if you don’t have the turnover for a high quality raw dish, take it off the menu. Please.

For my main dish, I had the shrimp tacos, which actually were probably the best thing we had. The shrimp mixed with the pico de gallo and a small amount of cheese actually had a nice fresh flavor—the shrimp were actually perfectly cooked and seasoned, and after squeezing the teeny piece of lime served with each one (as well as the lemon garnish), they were bright and tasty. There was maybe a little more tortilla to fillings ratio than I would have liked, but if pressured into going again, I might actually order these again.

Hubby had the salmon sandwich with fries. The sandwich consisted of smoked salmon, greens, avocado, bacon and a dill sauce. Let’s just say, he was not pleased with his sandwich. The fish was so overcooked, it was completely dry. He asked for the dill sauce on the side and was glad he did because he didn’t really care for it that much. Honestly, the fish was so unappealing (and salmon isn’t my fave anyway) that I didn’t even try a bite. I did eat some of his fries though—they were the other best thing we had there. Could have used some sort of interesting sauce to dip them in. I mean, in Broad Ripple, you have some kick ass fries and sauces around (e.g. Brugge and Taste) so come up with something. That’s all I am saying. The fries aren’t getting me back there on their own though, that’s for sure.

So basically, this little spot, which is location-wise, a little gem in Broad Ripple, needs to amp up the food if it wants to be known as a good restaurant. Right now, it’s a friendly looking bar with a great location and food that is okay. But maybe that’s enough for them. Sigh…

Flatwater Restaurant
832 East Westfield
Indy 46220
317/257-5466
www.flatwaterbroadripple.com