Thursday, July 19, 2012

Kincaid's- Revisit


I heard there was a soft shell crab sandwich special at Kincaid’s for lunch, so naturally I had to try it.  Not only was it soft shell crab, but it was combined with one of my all time favorite sandwich combos, the BLT plus avocado.  It wasn’t a cheap lunch at $17.95, but sometimes you have to splurge (it also came with potato salad and fries).
I enjoyed the sandwich—the crab was cornmeal crusted which isn’t my favorite crust for soft shell crab, but it was done well and the crab was large and quite juicy.  I loved the tartar sauce that they served on the sandwich and alongside—it was really tangy and had a lot of flavor from chopped up artichoke.  It was a nice twist on a classic.  Actually, all the ingredients were good—the bacon was plentiful and the avocado nice and ripe.  Honestly though, and I always remember this after I start eating a soft shell crab sandwich, I think I just prefer soft shell crab more on its own, without extra bread or anything (well, maybe a sauce or something).  Who needs bread when you have deep fried soft shell crab? But it was a high quality sandwich.  The herb potato salad was interesting—they were going with some different flavors than traditional potato salads, but it was a little bland.  The fries were dusted with Old Bay and they were pretty good.  Not exactly sure why they included two forms of potato with the sandwich, but I preferred the fries.



The real star of lunch though was the other sandwich we ordered and split—the lobster hoagie ($18.25).  The other good news about this sandwich is that it is a regular menu item and not on the specials list which means you can probably still order it, unlike the soft shell crab sandwich.  This sandwich was delicious.  It was basically their version of a fancy lobster roll.  There were sliced tomatoes and shredded lettuce on the bun as well as a runny fried egg and some tempura avocado on the side (which we promptly added to the sandwich as well).  I liked the variation on the typical lobster roll.  Not sure that avocado really needs to be deep fried though, although it was interesting.  We both totally agreed that this sandwich was excellent and both liked it the best.  There were homemade chips served alongside which were not that great—they were a little too thickly cut or something and were a little more chewy than crunchy.

It was a lovely lunch, although pretty darn expensive for lunch, but you are certainly getting good quality ingredients for the money, even though it is pretty decadent.  One thing I always wonder about Kincaid’s though is that they always have these somewhat inventive and delicious sounding lunch items, but their dinner menu is pretty straight steak house.  They really ought to offer that lobster hoagie for dinner—it is really good and at that price point, it might make more sense.

Kincaid’s
14159 Clay Terrace Blvd
Carmel, IN 46032
317/575-9005

2 comments:

  1. Crabby Joe in CincinnatiJuly 19, 2012 at 10:50 AM

    Sorry, but this former East Coast resident can't stand deep fried soft shell crabs. They're sauteed and then placed on a bun if a sandwich. Deep frying kills them, in my opinion.

    14 West did the same thing with them for a dinner entree and I couldn't tell if they were cardboard or whatever. What is this Midwest thing of throwing everything in the deep fryer. Fries, onion rings etc. need it, but this is a crime.

    Sorry Erin, but that's how I see it.

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  2. I am glad you got to stop by and try the soft shell sandwich! I agree with your preference for the lobster hoagie, that is one of my favorite lunch items, especially after cracking the runny egg on top. Frying the avocado is supposed to up the creaminess level of the avocado, but it sounds like the execution was off. However...with perfectly ripe avocado, maybe if its not broke dont fix it? Also, sounds like the chips were off. They are not supposed to be chewy but have kettle-style crunch. I will pass that along. Thank you again for the visit and especially the feedback :)

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