I have been wanting to go to The Eagle for a while—in fact I even tried to go once in Cincinnati, but got shut out by a long wait. I have been waiting for the crowds to thin a bit here, and a good opportunity to take my son, who loves fried chicken, so a recent Wednesday evening after school was out was perfect. The weather was nice too and they have a nice patio area. It was full though so we ended up at an inside table instead. Most of their tables are communal tables—so prepare to sit pretty close to some strangers unless you have more than 6 in your party.
We knew we wanted chicken and hubby and the son and I all prefer dark meat, so we ordered the 8 piece dark platter ($15) and we each picked a side. We had mac and cheese ($5), biscuits ($4) and fries ($4). The chicken is pretty good—it has a decent flavor to the crust, which is more of a lightly breaded style of fried chicken, and the meat was pretty tender inside, but I can’t say it ranked super high on my list of favorite fried chicken. It had a greasy edge to it and the skin wasn’t as crisp as I would like it. I would happily eat it again, because it’s fried chicken, and it’s decent, but not my favorite. It’s obviously cooked in advance and served when ordered because all our food came out in probably less than 5 minutes. Which is nice I guess if you’re in a hurry, but it makes you question how fresh everything really is. They give you a side of hot honey to put on the chicken. I tried it, but I find I really don’t like anything that contributes to robbing the crispiness of the skin. It tasted pretty much like hot sauce mixed with honey, and it certainly spices up the flavor of the chicken, but personally I would rather the flavor be worked into the breading so I can get my spicy kick without losing my crispy skin.
As for the sides, the mac and cheese was the star out of what we had. It was very rich and made with actual fresh cheese, including some extra that was on top. I liked the crunchy, buttery breadcrumbs on top as well—I like a texture variation with my mac and cheese and this one delivered. This would be a side I would order again. The fries were just okay. They are clearly standard foodservice fries that are being seasoned to make them different (a lot of pepper). They weren’t very fresh tasting or hot—like they had been sitting for a couple of minutes. I did really like the slightly spicy aioli that came along with them. If the fries had been super hot, this would have been a nice combo.
The biscuits were fine, nothing really exciting about them in my opinion. Quite honestly, I would have gone with the spoon bread, but my son requires biscuits with his fried chicken and there can be no compromise (and like I said, we each got to choose one). They were a little dry. I liked the soft whipped butter though.
It’s a busy place with a fun vibe—there were people all over and I can imagine the patio being a lively place to eat. The employees are very friendly and the service is certainly fast if you’re looking for a quick place to grab a bite before a concert, as the people next to us were. (I think they were in and out in less than 30 minutes).
I would love to hear what your favorite sides are, as I was only impressed by the mac and cheese and would like to try other things if we return.
The Eagle
310 Massachusetts Ave
Indy 46204
317/929-1799
My friends and I went a few weeks after The Eagle opened. We ordered nearly every side dish, and Mac and cheese was the only one worth ordering again. The spoonbread was dry, and the only flavor in the sweet potatoes came from the marshmallows on top. However, I did enjoy the kale salad, and would recommend that for sure!
ReplyDeleteI tried almost all of the sides when I went to the soft open. I think the biscuits were my least favorite, really just boring biscuits when there are many more flavorful sides. I like the succotash and the grits.
ReplyDeleteWe went for the first time recently before a concert and found two seats at the bar. We ordered the house made corn nuts as a snack because my husband and I have a little joke about hominy (basically, he loves it and I had never heard of it until I met him). It was a great spicy little snack. My husband had the 1/4 white meat chicken and our sides were biscuits, mac and cheese and the kale salad. I am so glad Karen said she liked the kale salad, because I thought it was great, too! And I agree, the mac and cheese was definitely worth a trip back.
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