Workingman's Friend -- Revisit

Hubby and I have been lamenting about the lack of quality thin burgers in town since the Barking Dog closed, and decided it was time to go back to Workingman’s Friend and check their version out again.This was especially true after the "smash burger" incident at Open Society. It’s a bit of a hike for us, but we were starting to get desperate. Last time I had been, I was a little disappointed, but these thoughts have been replaced with happiness after this visit—maybe last time was just an off day.

This place has the charming atmosphere of a very old, slightly divey bar in an older Indy neighborhood—the near west side. I do wonder when this part of town will be targeted for redevelopment like the near east side has been. Anyhow, there were people there, but it wasn’t super busy. We quickly ordered our cheeseburgers (me a single ($5), hubby a double ($6.50)) and our onion rings ($3.50). I foolishly noticed fried zucchini ($4.50) advertised on a sign and ordered it as well. That was my only mistake. These are clearly coming out of a foodservice bag and are not tasty—they are breaded and then fried. We each tried one and that was it.

Our burgers on the other hand, they were delicious. I got the perfect accompaniments on mine—cheese, lettuce, mayo, onions and pickles (they put the pickles on the side). Then I added some ketchup and mustard. So the burgers here are super thin. They have lacy edges but are still somewhat tender in the middle. They shred their lettuce (the only way it should be on a burger) and they put it on the bottom bun with the mayo. Exactly where it should be. Hubby enjoyed his double as well—he liked that there is a thin piece of bread in between the patties because it keeps the sandwich together, so it doesn’t just fall apart. These burgers really fill a void in Indy. (Please tell me where else to get good thin burgers in town if you know of any).

The onion rings are also solid. They are battered and are so much better than the zucchini. A burger and onion rings are the perfect combo. Oh and an ice-cold schooner of beer (literally, their glasses are coated in ice). It may become more frequent in our rotation. And we saw one of our U.S. Senators there, Joe Donnelly, which was pretty cool. He came and said hello and took a picture with hubby. (He had a single if you’re curious).

Sadly, we can’t take the kids because it is 21 and over only, and remember, they only take cash.

Workingman’s Friend

234 N. Belmont Ave.

Indy 46222

317/636-2067
https://www.restaurantji.com/in/indianapolis/working-mans-friend-/

Punch Bowl Social

My in–laws were in town for a couple of days over the holidays and we were looking for something to do to get out of the house for a bit with the kids and maybe try something new. I was kind of randomly scanning through new places that had opened and saw Punch Bowl Social. Seemed like a good idea…. I have to say though I wasn’t sure if kids were even allowed or if this is just an adult place, but as it turns out, kids are welcome until 10:00 p.m. They also take reservations, which it didn’t look like we needed for lunch on this particular day, but I am imagining this is more of a late night place.

They serve food obviously, but also have a plethora of various games offered from old arcade games, to bowling, to cornhole, to foosball, to ping pong and darts. Lots of stuff going on here. So yeah, a fun choice with kids actually. We sat down and looked over the menu—I would describe it as pubby food with a southern flair. It’s a concept from celebrity chef Hugh Acheson.

They serve all kinds of cocktails (punch particularly) but it was lunch so we just went with some beer and wine. Weirdest thing though? They card everyone who orders alcohol. I mean EVERYONE. My father-in-law just turned 80. EIGHTY. They wouldn’t serve him a beer because he didn’t have his i.d. on him. That seems crazy to me. Anyhow, make sure you bring your i.d. if you want a drink, and I don’t care how old you are. Also, Punch Bowl Social, if you’re reading this, that’s kind of ridiculous.

Anyway, we got our drinks (the kids enjoyed milkshakes, my FIL had a diet coke) and ordered some poutine to start ($10). On the menu here, it’s called “The Canadian.” It’s fries, brown gravy and white cheddar cheese curds. It’s pretty simple and straightforward, but my family was really digging it. Both hubby and my son wanted to order more of it. I liked the way the cheese curds were just getting melty as it sat a bit. You have to realize that the fries are not going to be crisp with gravy on them, but the flavor was good (although I thought they needed a little salt). A nice thing to share between the six of us (even though I’m sort of itching to try the pimento cheese and the chips with charred onion crème fraiche).

Hubby and I were torn about what to get, and based on the recommendation of our server, we decided to try the tacos from the starter men ($10 for 4) and the Alabama chicken sandwich ($10) and split them. I have to say, both were really well done. The tacos were small but packed full with cocoa dusted pork carnitas, salsa adobo, radish, thin sliced yellow onion and cilantro. There was supposed to be cheese and crema on there too, although I didn’t get a ton of that in the ones I ate. But the flavor of the tacos was very good. The pork was very, very tender and I loved the onions and the squeeze of lime, Honestly, I think these were better than the tacos I have had around the corner.

The chicken sandwich was a hunk of chicken breast meat that was deep-fried with white BBQ sauce, bread and butter pickles, tomato, and shredded lettuce. This was

also very tasty. The breading on the sandwich was nice and crispy, and there was a nice depth of flavor coming from the white BBQ sauce and the pickles (can we all agree pickles and fried chicken just go together?). The bun was not overwhelming and didn’t take over the flavor with breadiness. They serve it in an iron skillet (for looks I guess because it wasn’t hot at all) and with a side of fries. Their fries are good—very crisp, but next time I would ask for a side of something more interesting than ketchup to dip them in.

My daughter wanted breakfast and was pleased to see that you can order it here until 3:00 and so she did. She was happy enough and thought the breakfast potatoes they serve were good-they were little rounds of crispy fried potatoes. The bacon was only so-so though, it didn’t have a lot of flavor. They seem to be trying to incorporate local ingredients, so someone should tell them about Goose the Market bacon. My son had a burger and said it was fine (he got it pretty plain, so I didn’t even try it—I love some sort of fancy burger sauce on my burgers, which their adult version includes.)

All in all, it seems like a fun place (as long as you have your id) with pretty solid pub food. I know hubby is anxious to go back….and I would like to go with a group to take advantage of some of the games and to try some of the other starters (you need a pretty big group to try much because the portions are pretty generous).

Tell me about your experiences here. What did you think?

Punch Bowl Social

120 South Meridian Street

Indy   46204

317/249-8613

http://www.punchbowlsocial.com/location/indianapolis 

Thunderbird - Revisit

I hadn’t been to Thunderbird since shortly after it opened, and had enjoyed my visits then. I had heard since that the menu had changed a lot and was more toward a sandwich and fries genre, which wasn’t exciting me to try again. So when I heard they had gone back to a more interesting menu again, with someone new in the kitchen, I looked forward to going back. 

We started with some cocktails because that’s their thing at Thunderbird right? So I had the Murder City Devil ($10) with two kinds of rum, Ancho Chili liquer, lime, grapefruit, and pomegranate demera (a sweet simple syrup). And it was on fire. Well, my lime was on fire. It was tasty—a little heat and a fair amount of acid and sweetness. I couldn’t drink more than one though and switched to wine after. One friend had the “Roppongi Sour” ($10), a lighter drink made with gin, Midori, lime, sugar, egg white, cucumber, salt and bitters. It was tasty too, although maybe a bit on the sour side for some. They do a nice job with cocktails here, and the cocktail service is speedy.

Since we were with friends so we started right off with an order of the deviled eggs ($2 each) of the day. Luckily they were with us, because hubby is hard to convince of deviled eggs on most days. According to the menu, the preparation of the eggs changes daily—on this day they were doing a smoked whitefish version and they were really, really outstanding. In fact, we ended up ordering a second order because we liked them so much (and because the kitchen was a bit overwhelmed and it was a little slow to get our food). They tasted extremely fresh and the eggs were cooked just right so the white wasn’t over hard and the filling was light and fluffy with just the right amount of the fish flavor and a fair amount of acid (lemon I am guessing.) These were the best deviled eggs I’ve had out.

They also brought us a plate of an item that was not on the menu—something they’re trying out I guess. They were crispy polenta sticks with a cheesy sauce. They were super crisp on the outside and very soft on the inside—a fun take on a version of a fry. I enjoyed them.

Sadly, I really wanted to try the chicken liver nuggets, but they were all out. Apparently they are very popular and they go through a lot. I still need to try them. We did try the pimento cheese grilled cheese ($9), the fried chicken ($18), the pork belly ($14) and two sides—the mac and cheese ($8) and the “Kill Lettuce” ($5). By far, the favorite was the pimento cheese grilled cheese.  They give you a nice toasty sandwich filled with a pimento cheese and it’s is sitting on top of a mustard slaw  with some bread and butter pickles. I really enjoyed the mustardy heat and acid from the slaw with the sandwich. I just wish I got to have more than one quarter of it—I would get this again.

The pork belly was pretty good as well-the meat tender with a decent amount of flavor. We kind of argued about how much everyone liked it. Some definitely more than others. The stuff underneath was a bit underwhelming for me. There was a waffle, collards and apple butter as well as a fried cheddar cracker. There was just not a good balance here for me with the sides, all of it was a bit sweet, but also a bit bland.

The fried chicken was the most disappointing for me. It suffered the fate of not very good fried chicken in that it was overcooked. The white meat was dry and the dark meat a tad rubbery. The sides here, biscuits and more slaw weren’t helping much. The slaw is good, as it was with the pimento cheese sandwich, but the biscuits were super floury and dry. They were crying out for some gravy to cover them. The crust on the chicken was nice and crisp and had some decent seasoning, but not enough to save the chicken inside. To be fair, the place was slammed, particularly the kitchen and I think they were a little overwhelmed.

Speaking of sides, we also got the mac and cheese and the “kill lettuce”. I really liked the kill lettuce, which is a bowl of nice fresh leaf lettuce topped with a warm vinaigrette with big dices of crispy bacon in it. The lettuce wilts down and the vinaigrette was pretty spot on with lots of, well, vinegar. This was a perfect balance to all the other richer dishes we had ordered. The mac and cheese was pretty solid with caramelized onions and green chiles, another good accompaniment to the other items, and honestly, I preferred it as a starch with the pork and the chicken.

The beignets we had for dessert reminded me more of doughnut holes than beignets, but they were tasty cinnamon and sugar coated doughnut holes and we enjoyed them.

Overall, we had a really fun time. The friends we took had never been to Thunderbird and really enjoyed the place—they have done a great job with the interior of the place and it always seems to have a good buzz. I’m glad to see the menu has gone back to the sort of “creative southern” cooking that they started with and several items were very good. I look forward to trying some other things soon. And as always, it’s a great place to get a cocktail.

Thunderbird

1127 Shelby Street

Indy 46203

317/974-9580

www.thunderbirdindy.com 

Thunderbird

I finally got over to Thunderbird with a bunch of girlfriends the other day—all of us are into food and none of us had been, so we were looking forward to trying the hot new place. I also went back more recently with hubby and some other friends for a second try.

"Slapped Actress"

The first thing I noticed on that first visit was the interior is quite comfortable—a lot of wood, but I liked that it wasn’t overwhelmingly filled with seats and tables so you could still carry on a conversation all the way throughout the night, even when it got quite crowded, and even when they turned the music up at the end. Our server was exceptionally friendly and helpful, going out of her way to help one of our party who had dietary restrictions. I also appreciated that there were no long delay to get our drinks, which seems to be a problem with fancy cocktails these days. And although it is the new hip place, I appreciated that it didn’t feel snooty or too hipster-ish. Even for someone my age. Again, on the second visit, the server was a bit more down to business, but extremely efficient. We never waited for drinks or foods and she checked on us often.

Pimento Cheese Grilled Cheese
(thanks Suzanne!)

Clearly, a lot of thought and creativity has been put into the cocktail list, which is much bigger than the wine and food list, but it is meant to be a bar, so it is only fitting. I started with a “Slapped Actress” which was a tangy blend of vodka, apple brandy, lemon, lime and sugar ($9). I really enjoyed it and because it was so tart (which I like), it made me sip it a bit slower than I might have otherwise. On my second visit, I tried the classic daiquiri ($9)(not your frozen 70s type). It was similarly limey and quite tasty as well. On both occasions, I then switched to a glass of wine from the very small, but decent list.

Fried chicken hoecake

We all ordered a bunch of food and luckily, I was with people both visits who are amenable to sharing. The things I enjoyed the most were the pimento cheese grilled cheese ($10), the biscuit with duck neck gravy and a sunny side up egg ($10), and the fried chicken and hoecake sandwich ($10). I like that they are smaller portions so you can try several things—also, they are all fairly rich flavors and any more of any of them would probably be too much.

B&G

As they were, they were creative riffs on comfort food (sensing a “comfort” theme throughout). I really enjoyed the pimento cheese grilled cheese because it was very well balanced.  On our second visit, we all liked it so much, we ordered a second one. I like pimento cheese in small doses, but I find often the flavor of the cheese overwhelms everything else in a dish. This one had a layer of pickles and slightly underripe tomatoes with the cheese, which brightened it up. I am not sure if the intention was to use slightly green tomatoes, but these tomatoes along with the pickles were just right on the sandwich, adding a bit of bitterness with the rich cheese. The bread was perfectly grilled as well—giving the exact right buttery crunch when you ate it. Again, I am not one to order pimento cheese often, but I would (and will) get this sandwich again—probably on every visit.

Shrimp & Grits

The piece of fried chicken on the hoecake sandwich was a thigh and was decently seasoned (I could have stood just a bit more spice on the actual chicken). It was topped with melted cheese and served between two thin, light slightly sweet, slightly savory pancakes (hoecakes).  I appreciated the pickled red onions that were served alongside, giving the sandwich a punch of acid when you put them on top as well (and you should). I had part of one on each visit and enjoyed it both times.

croquettes

The biscuits and gravy were similar—a tender biscuit under a generous portion of the gravy, which had good flavor, although I didn’t get a lot of meat in mine. The egg was perfectly cooked—runny yolk, solid white. (There are a lot of fried eggs topping things here and they seem to have cooking them just right down). A touch more spice might have been nice (at least a bit more salt and pepper), but the dish was tasty.

hush puppies

Slightly less successful for me was the shrimp and grits ($10) which I had some of on both visits. There was nothing inherently wrong with it—the shrimp were actually cooked right (butter poached) and the grits had nice texture. It just seemed a little plain to me. Not bad, but just didn’t wow me. I would have said the same about the croquettes ($8) after my first visit, but on my second visit they were much better--the second time they were more tender and ham-flavored (they list ham hocks as an ingredient). The first time, we didn’t really get a lot of ham in them. I appreciated the kick from the red pepper aioli.  It was also a good portion and easy to share (more of a snack to share though than something you would want to eat on your own as a main dish). On the second visit we also had the hush puppies with gravy aioli. Ehh…I definitely preferred the croquettes. These just didn’t have as much flavor to them.

Kale salad

On my second visit we also tried the kale salad ($10), which was a nice fresh alternative to what is a lot of fried items. The dressing was creamy and had a tangy kick to it—there was a poached egg as well. Once the yolk was broken, it added even more creaminess to the mix. There were also some sweet potatoes and pickled peppers. 

Pickle plate

There were mixed reviews at our table on my first visit about the pickle plate ($4) because the pickled veggies had a distinct clove flavor, which not everyone was a fan of (I didn’t try any but the onions and I really liked the onions).  Also, the cornbread ($4) drenched in maple syrup came across more as a dessert because it was so cloyingly sweet (again, I didn’t try it, as it just looked too sweet for me to eat with the savory courses). 

Both times, we did have the beignets for dessert—they were tasty—more like little doughnut holes—lighter than traditional beignets. The espresso cream cheese sauce was quite sweet.  I thought the baby fennel was unnecessary in a dessert, even though it added color.

Beignets

I like Thunderbird and I think it very successfully fills a niche in Fountain Square. The comfortable atmosphere and the well-executed bar food with Southern character makes you want to return. It’s food that is familiar but designed with flair by Chef Carlos Salazar—you can certainly see his distinctive style in the plating. It’s a place to grab a drink and some tasty tidbits. (Especially since you can get your drinks quickly!) I look forward to return visits.

Thunderbird

1127 Shelby Street

Indy 46203

317/974-9580

www.thunderbirdindy.com 

Eat + Drink

I just have to start out by saying that Taste is probably my favorite lunch spot in Indy (and hubby’s too). I eat there a lot and we were excited to try the new bar concept run by the same people next door at Eat + Drink. We actually went the first time with a group of friends just shortly after they opened, but I didn’t plan to write about it so soon after they opened, so hubby and I went back on our own recently.

So one of the things they advertise at Eat + Drink is “craft” cocktails. And hubby had the Cadillac margarita the first time and it was really, really good, even though it took a good 20 minutes to get it. But the second time we were hoping the service would have improved and we both looked forward to getting another one. Well, sadly, it took just as long to get our drinks and this time they were inconsistent (hubby had 2 and one was way better than the other). But regardless, the length of time it took to get them made them not worth ordering for me, no matter how good. I switched to wine at this point.

Food-wise, you will see some same or similar items from Taste—they take the deviled eggs from Taste and add salmon roe to the top ($4). I love the deviled eggs at Taste but honestly can’t say the roe added anything—it was very cold and other than the little pop, didn’t add a ton of flavor. They also serve the various versions of their frites ($6), which we had on both visits, and they are always good. The sauces are what make them (my favorite being the straight frites with the basil aioli). Strangely, they are more expensive ($6 vs. $4.50) at Eat+Drink, even though they are exactly the same.

On this trip, we also tried the truffle mushroom mousse ($6). It was a cold mousse that was topped with lots of light fluffy shredded parmesan. Actually, if someone had just placed in it front of me, I wouldn’t have called it a mouse, more like a light dip—it was a little chunkier and looser than what I would think of as mousse. It had a nice flavor and the first couple of bites had that distinctive truffle flavor. I loved the crisp, light toasts that were served with it. They had a bit of a garlic taste on their own and were nice with the mousse. Between just two of us though, the mousse was a little much to finish with its strong flavor. I think it would be better shared in a larger group. Our first visit we had the chicken liver pate ($10) and enjoyed it more. It was more like a mousse consistency and had a great deep, earthy flavor. The warm bacon and blue cheese dip is also very good (we had some the first time as well).

We had the prosciutto plate ($13) this time also. It was good, but not as good as the speck plate we had on our first visit (sorry I didn’t take pictures that visit). Speck just has more depth to it and I liked the stronger kale and caper taste with it over the more mild arugula and parmesan. The speck had a creamy tangy dressing drizzled across that I preferred over the balsamic on the prosciutto. Also better shared with more than 2 people as it was fairly large as well.

We also shared the fried green tomato sandwich ($11) because it was one of the few that seemed to have a warm component to it. One thing about this menu, there are very few warm items. That will probably work fine in the summer, but when it’s really cold out, I don’t know about you, but I like something warm.  The sandwich was fried green tomatoes, nicely dressed greens (a signature on Taste sandwiches that I appreciate) and a lot of pimento cheese spread. For me, a person who likes pimento cheese spread, but isn’t obsessed the way some people are, it was the dominating flavor over everything on the sandwich. Just a little too much for me. I scraped some of it off and enjoyed it more.

Basically, we hit a lot more home runs the first visit with food, but were trying on our second visit to get different things. Also, the menu is small with just snacks and sandwiches. I get that as an approach for a bar, but in this town, I think in a place with a food pedigree like Taste, people might expect to be able to go eat a meal there (I did). And honestly, the menu’s a little too limited for that--at least for me. Also, as far as décor, it is a bit confusing. There are giant tvs in the modern interior showing movies like Animal House and Star Wars (at least on the night we were there). In such a small space, it was very distracting. I had a giant tv right behind my head.  I do like the red and green light outside to tell you if they’re open though.

I don’t know, I am just not sure I get this place. Is it a bar? If so, they need more bartenders to make drinks in quicker than 15-20 minutes. Is it a restaurant? If so, a few more items (particularly warm ones) might be good. From what I see, it is a place best visited with a fairly large group to share several items (they are mostly fairly generous sizes) and hopefully get some drinks. Overall, for now, I think I will stick with Taste during the day and Aftertaste if I want an evening Taste fix.

Eat + Drink

5168 North College

Indy  46205

317/925-2233

www.eatplusdrink.net