Duke's Indy

You know as soon as I heard there was a new place specializing in fried chicken that it was going to go on the short list. It still took me longer than I wanted to get over there, but I finally managed it recently to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

Duke’s is a honky-tonk bar on the south side of downtown. It’s out there in a kind of industrial area. The location just sort of adds to the ambiance though. They have live music (it started around 8:00) and a short menu on a chalkboard. Basically you can get a whole fried chicken, a half of a fried chicken, and then a choice of 3 sides. There’s a tater tot waffle, crispy brussels sprouts, and spicy mac and cheese. Or you can get “the whole damn thing” which is a whole chicken and one of each of the sides ($35). This is what we did. Plus an extra ½ chicken. 

Drink-wise, they specialize in some slushy alcoholic beverages, on this night it was slushy egg nog and slushy prickly pear margarita. It was pretty chilly out though, so hubby and I opted for beer and wine. Our server was friendly, although mostly just came around to bring food and take food orders, so we did a lot of our drinks directly at the bar.

The food was really pretty darn good. The chicken was HOT out of the kitchen though (temperature hot)—so hot you couldn’t really taste it at first. Once it cooled down a little bit though, it was really tasty. The crust wasn’t really thick, but it was seasoned really well—not like a lot of breading, but mostly seasoning directly on the skin. They served it with hot honey and their homemade hot sauce, but I didn’t really think it needed either. The dark meat especially was very tender—as usual I found the part of a breast I ate to be a bit dry, but I think that’s the nature of the beast oftentimes. And I like the dark meat best anyway. You also get more breading/seasoning to meat ratio with the thigh and leg, which adds to the taste.

The sides were very good. I really loved the tater tot waffle. It was a giant waffle made of, well, tater tots I am assuming, and man was it tasty. They put a big dollop of sour cream and butter in the middle and it is just awesome. I do have a weakness for tater tots though. The mac and cheese was popular the table—it is spicy though—made with hatch chilis. It was almost too spicy for me, but I still enjoyed eating some. The sauce is kind of runny too. But, it’s a nice sized portion. The Brussels sprouts are delicious too. I appreciate the relative healthiness of them—or maybe just the fact that there is a veggie offering. The crunchy brussels sprouts has chunks of apple in them, pickled red onion,  and pistachios. It’s a tasty addition to eat with the chicken. I’d say if I ranked them I would say tater tot waffle would be first, Brussels second and the mac and cheese third.

I’m not sure how the service is supposed to be, but if you are okay getting your own drinks at the bar, it’s not too bad. The chicken takes a little while, which I actually appreciate, because I assume it means they’re making it fresh. It’s a fun place with a totally different atmosphere than anywhere else in Indy, and I would happily go back. They’re also open for lunch, with actually a larger menu than dinner, but no fried chicken option (other than a fried chicken sandwich). There are several sandwiches and sides and I would be interested to try other than it is so far away.

Dukes Indy

2352 S. West Street

Indy 46225

317/643-6403

www.dukesindy.com 

Pioneer

I told you hubby and I are trying to catch up on the new places in town—so the other night before heading to a concert downtown, we decided to try Pioneer. This is the newest spot in Fountain Square located in the old Deano’s Vino. It’s right across from The End of the Line.

spiced walnuts

The first thing I noticed as I walked into the place on a chilly December night was it was warm in there! Hallelujah! A restaurant that is at a proper temperature that you don’t need a parka. Seriously, I always dress in layers in restaurants in this town. Seems like summer or winter, they’re always freezing. But this place was perfectly comfortable. Cozy even. The main dining room is actually pretty large though—and with a stage on one side is maybe less so—we were seated in the bar space, which I thought was done well. It feels more like the size of your average Fountain Square restaurant—it had nice tables and comfortable chairs and a rustic vibe with the bare brick walls. I liked it.

The menu is a little bit different—it has a lot more sharable small plates then it does regular-sized menu items. This is totally fine with me, because I like getting lots of things, but some people might feel differently. My only gripe about the set up was that it seemed like many of the small plates were cold items, which might be a bit strange if you’re making a full meal out of them, particularly in the winter.

We started with the spiced walnuts ($6), the chicken liver mousse ($12) and the butter lettuce salad ($12).  We really enjoyed the chicken liver mouse and the salad—the salad was particularly good and different from most. I honestly rarely order salads out because they kind of bore me a lot of times, but this one sounded good on the menu and it was good. It was large leaves of butter lettuce properly tossed and fully dressed (but not too much) in blood orange and basil citronette. It was topped with fresh ricotta, shallots and fried crispy chicken skin. Why are more people not topping salads with crispy chicken skin? It was very well done—just exactly the right mix of stuff on the salad to give you an interesting flavor profile, but not just piling so much stuff on top that you can’t tell it’s even a salad any more. 

The chicken liver mouse with schmaltz, pickled veggies and Amelia’s bread was also very tasty. I use that word tasty because it really did taste good—the look of the dish was not overly appetizing though. The mousse was kind of smeared on the plate in a heap. The bread was amazing –split and buttered and toasted and just exactly right. The mousse was rich a creamy without being gamey the way chicken liver things can sometimes be. It was very good, even if it wasn’t the prettiest thing.

The walnuts? Well, they were fine, but I wouldn’t be itching to get them again unless you have a really large group to share them with—they are extremely strongly seasoned with rosemary, salt, and pepper, and while I enjoyed a couple of them, I didn’t want to eat much more. Actually, all of these “small plates” would be better with at least four people sharing I think—they are pretty good-sized portions, and I would like to try a few more things than we were able to.

steak tartare..so pretty

For the next course, we ordered the steak tartare ($15) and the cavatelli pasta dish ($13). You know it’s easy to lure me in with a tartare, even though I am particular about it. This one though? It was one of the better ones I have had in recent memory, and it was truly beautifully presented. I was suspicious that they are using ribeye in their version, but was pleasantly surprised by the luxuriousness that the extra fat gave to the beef. It was plated so well too—in a line with perfectly bite-sized house made croutons placed throughout. And the whole plate was then artfully dotted with aioli and mustard and topped with fried capers and chives. It was done in such a way, that it was so easy to get a perfect bite each time (ok, I secretly wanted like one more crouton, but that’s just me). I was truly impressed with this dish. I felt like it had so much finesse—and more so than say the chicken liver, even though it tasted good as well. I would highly recommend this dish.

The pasta was good, although not as good as the other things in my mind. Hubby really enjoyed it though. It was cavatelli pasta (kind of looks like little shells that are tightly wound) with rapini, leeks, chili flakes and a white wine and butter sauce. It had a little kick from the chili flakes—not too much though. I do like the way much of the food had a little heat in it somewhere—even in the salad—I think it was the way the chicken skin was seasoned. The pasta dish was a nice dish to have with other things, but I just don’t think I would want a whole plate of it as my main dish—it is definitely a better dish served to share. Hubby managed to finish it all up though. 

We were totally not going to get dessert, but I was lured in by the apple strudel—it was wrapped in phyllo after all. This makes something almost a guarantee I will get it. And I was very glad I did—it was really tasty. I liked it because it wasn’t overstuffed with apples, leaving the phyllo nice and crispy. It was topped with a caramel sauce and some cinnamon sugar topping and a buttermilk Chantilly cream. Really nicely done—not over the top on anything and cooked just right.

Overall we really enjoyed our experience at Pioneer. It was comfortable and our server was friendly. On the whole, the food was very good, even if some things were just okay. But I would be happy to go back and try some other things. And get that tartare again for sure. Let me know if you have been and if so, what you thought.

Pioneer

1110 Shelby Street

Indy 46203

317/986-6761

www.pioneerindy.com