Monday, June 18, 2012

Room Four - Revisit


Wow. As you can probably tell, we go out to eat a lot, and while I have a lot of good meals, I am still always excited when I have one that really makes me repeatedly say things like “this is sooooo good” throughout the entire meal.  Anyway, this meal was one of those. And makes me regret not going here more. It was a random Wednesday and we ended up with a sitter—I had seen the Room Four menu earlier in the day and had thought that it sounded good so off we went (some days certainly sound better than others).  We were seated right away, although the place was probably 2/3 full and people continued to come in the whole time we were there.

I ended up getting a starter that wasn’t actually on the online menu-- so sometimes there are additional or slightly different variations of things once you get there.  My starter was a salad of thinly sliced prosciutto, fennel, and green apple on top of a blue cheese mousse and topped with crumbled pistachios ($10).  There also seemed to be a very light vinaigrette on top as well.  This salad was superb. Seriously—definitely one for the mental bank to try and re-create at home.  On the bottom of the plate was a fairly thick blue cheese cream that was topped with the little mounds of prosciutto, several slices of tart apple and lots of the fennel. I was worried the fennel might be overpowering, but it wasn’t. It was all light and crisp and went really well with the meaty softness of the meat and cheese.  The pistachios also gave it a nice teeny bit of crunch. (Side note though, I was surprised to see them since they weren’t listed on the menu—and as a mom of a kid with some severe nut allergies, these things stick out to me).  It was really, really good though. A bunch of ingredients that I probably wouldn’t have thought to put together, but which I will be in the future (with something else to replace the nuts).

Hubby had the rabbit rillette ($12) which was also really, really good.  It was basically like a light pate made from rabbit—and served on top of the perfect pickled carrot mustard—I like some mustard with things like this to cut the fattiness, but sometimes it can be too sharp.  This was perfect--and without the pickled carrot flavor it wouldn’t have been as good.  There were also hearty sunflower shoots on the side that gave a nice crunch with everything else.  The thinly sliced sourdough bread that was toasted and buttered was great too. We only wished for another piece or two.  We had a hard time deciding which appetizer we liked better, but honestly they were the perfect two things to split.

For my main, I had the fried pork tenderloin tonkatsu over soba noodles ($16).  I absolutely loved this dish.  It was thinly cut, breaded and fried pork tenderloin that was sliced across a bowl of noodles that were slightly cold.  There was a ton of flavor in the noodles from the ginger scallion sauce—lots of small bits of ginger and scallions in there and maybe a bit of heat from some jalapeno?  The pork was perfectly tender and the breading also added some nice, slightly salty, flavor.  Hubby really liked it too, and honestly I had a hard time sharing it.  We ate every single bite.  If this was a dish available regularly somewhere, it would be one of those dishes that I would crave and buy a lot.  Fairly simple, but perfectly executed.

Hubby got the both the tacos of the day ($6 each). The first one was a chicken version with avocado, arugula and chipotle salsa.  The other one was with black olive picadillo, roasted poblanos, queso fresco, and cilantro cream.  We both really liked the chicken version—and I have to admit I kind of like the gooey more “fancy” tacos quite a bit that you get at places like this and H2O.  All that cream and stuff may not be totally authentic, but it sure is tasty.  The chicken was super tender and the salsa gave it just a kick of heat.  Not too much, but enough you could feel it.  Honestly, neither one of us was as big of fan of the other one—there was something strange about the consistency of the filling for us.  It was even spicier than the chicken one—although I did like the cilantro cream which I have had before on other tacos at Room 4.  The taco menu changes daily but they almost always have some flavors—I look forward to trying some of the other flavors.

We were on such a food high, we went ahead and got dessert because we pretty much knew it would be good because it is usually the only offering at Room 4 and it has always been good.  The candy bar cookies ($5) are basically big gooey chocolate chip cookies with bits of random candy bars in them. Pretty sure there was some Kit Kat in ours.  They serve them with some whipped cream dusted with chocolate.  If you like warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookies, you are going to like these. (And really, who doesn’t?)

All in all this was up there as one of the best Indy meals I have had in awhile and is going to remind me to think of Room 4 more often when we are going out.

Room Four
4907 North College Ave
Indy  46205
317/925-7529

4 comments:

  1. Erin -- I'm with you on Room Four and Recess both hitting on all bases right now. I've had dinners planned there where sometimes I didn't love the online menu, and it was still great. I tend to go to Room Four early since they don't take reservations -- and by 8 or so most nights, they're pretty packed.

    Also, Room Four shares the same great beer and wine list with Recess -- a really fun, interesting, deep list.

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  2. I'm extremely eager to try either Room Four or Recess, but they're price-prohibitive for us. I do not doubt the excellence of the experience... and I firmly believe it is better to treat myself to one good meal per month (instead of going out each week, etc). But I'll never get over the sticker shock from something like a $6 taco.

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  3. Tom H, if you firmly believe that one good meal is better than some cheaper meals along the way, you owe it to yourself to go. that is all I will say about that. (ok, well, and let me know what you think)

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  4. Room Four is my hubby's and my favorite restaurant in Indy, hands-down. We find an excuse to go there once a month or so. I have found that even if the menu doesn't sound immediately appealing, I'm still blown away with the food itself. The burgers are spectacular, the best in Indianapolis!

    Went to Recess the week before our wedding and, if possible, it was even better than Room Four! Definitely a special occasion place, price-wise, or we'd be there on a weekly basis. Or you can go during Chow Down Midtown (this week) to enjoy it for $30 each, as we're doing tonight, actually! So excited to return!

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