Monday, April 17, 2017

MacNivens - Revisit

My son is late to Pokémon Go because he only just got a phone for Christmas, so the other day he asked to go downtown to collect some poke-stuff. We decided on Mass Ave but were sort of unsure about where. He sort of wanted fried chicken, so we debated The Eagle, but with it’s hour wait, we passed on that. We walked across the street and ate at MacNivens instead. I wasn’t sure that they served kids, but one side is family friendly.

Of course, you absolutely cannot go to MacNivens and not get the Scotch eggs ($7.50), and so we did. And they are delicious, as they always are. Scotch eggs, if you don’t know, are boiled eggs that are wrapped in sausage, lightly breaded and deep-fried. At MacNivens, they serve them with red pepper aioli. My son had never had them and he loved them as well. Also a good item to get at the end of the evening if you’ve been out hitting the bars.

My son ordered their burger. We warned him it was a bit different than what he was used to, but he wanted to try it anyway. He didn’t really like it, but hubby did (we’ve had it before). If you aren’t familiar, they make this huge ultra thin patty that you basically fold into quarters to fit on the bun. It is also marinated in Worchestershire sauce, which gives it a unique flavor and makes the meat quite tender even though obviously it is cooked through. My son had asked for an extra slice of cheese, which hubby thought was a nice addition when you folded it all up.

It worked out well though because hubby got the fish and chips ($12.50) and my son preferred them, so they just switched (hubby preferred the burger too). We thought the fish was a little disappointing though, the beer batter just didn’t get crunchy enough, it stayed kind of soft. Like I said, my son was fine with them though. The chips were very classic British chips, which I am not a huge fan of (the large flat steak fries type).

I had the Ahi tuna salad ($13.25). Many of you had recommended it to me in the past, and I finally got around to ordering it. So the tuna is pretty tasty. Much better quality than what you would think you would get in a Scottish pub right? The greens underneath were dressed with balsamic, which I found just a weird combo with the tuna. The tuna comes with fried wontons, avocado and a Szechuan sauce on the side. So it seems like they are trying to go with an Asian flavor profile but mixing in balsamic. I don’t know, it just was weird to me. I think maybe a ginger dressing would be better or something. But I happily ate the tuna, wontons and avocado kind of on its own and then a few bites of the salad as well.

I really like the atmosphere of MacNivens. It’s a busy place, but we didn’t have to wait an hour to get a table (we didn’t have to wait at all). The servers are very friendly and the speed of service is just right. Not rushing you out, but not too slow either. So it turned out to be a good last minute choice. And I will never not get the Scotch eggs, although I still want to try the potato skins.

MacNiven’s
339 Massachusetts Ave
Indy 46204
317/632-SCOT


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