Szechwan Garden - Revisit

I have a lot to talk about! This post combines a couple of meals—lunch with my friends Sacha and Scott and a business dinner. (Most prices listed here are dinner prices, lunch is always cheaper.) So I got to try a lot of things.

I am just going to sort of jump around with some of the stuff. Combined, I tried several appetizers/dim sum items (dim sum is only available at lunch). I really enjoyed the shrimp and chive dumplings—very chive-filled for sure (I am thinking maybe some scallions too). Nicely pan-seared giving a little crispy edge. Not a ton of shrimp, but just enough to give it a fuller consistency. At dinner we tried the scallion pancake ($3.50), crab Rangoon ($5.95), pot stickers ($5.95), and the just straight up dumplings ($4.50). Of these, I probably liked the dumplings and pot stickers the best. The pot stickers were nicely pan-fried as well, giving just a touch of crunch on the outside and the dumplings were softer, and sitting in a spicy chili/soy broth. But it was nice to have some of the fried items to go along with the dumplings—the crab Rangoon were more cream-cheesy than crabby, but were fried just right and were super hot and crunchy. The scallion pancakes is crispy, but with a softness as well. Lots of fresh green scallion flavor.

chive dumplings

potstickers and dumplings

crab rangoon and scallion pancake

Of the various entrées I had over the course of both meals, some of the highlights were the pan fried green beans with little crispy bits of pork belly ($8.95 for dinner portion, lunch is cheaper)—the beans still had a snap, but had a slightly blistered skin from the heat. I also really enjoyed the Chengdu braised fish in hot chili oil. This one probably had the most kick of all the dishes. The fish was tender and was lovely over the rice served alongside. A table favorite was the shredded pork with garlic sauce ($9.95). This dish was a bit spicy as well, and had a rich garlic sauce. There were lots of sliced onions and red and green peppers as well. I liked the way that the meat and the veggies were all sliced similarly to each other, giving just the right proportion of all the flavors in each bite.

Green beans

Chengdu Fish

Shredded pork

We also had the fried squid with salt and pepper ($14.95). I generally love salt and pepper items, and the crust on this had a good crunch and flavor, but the pieces of squid suffered the chewy fate that it so often does. Based on the flavor of it though, the fried fish fillet with salt and pepper is on my list for my next visit. I think with more tender fish, this dish will be super tasty. Salty and a fair dose of pepper as well. I can’t wait. We also had the shrimp and garlic sauce ($13.95). This one was good as well—tender plump shrimp plus more fresh veggies—bigger ones here if you’re looking for a more balanced meal between protein and veg. There was broccoli, red pepper chunks and peapods. I enjoyed it, although it was a bit blander than the other dishes. The beef chow fun was an interesting one as well, and also not spicy. The homemade thick noodles were sautéed with scallions, bean sprouts, and large pieces of sliced beef. This is more of a soy-based sauce, with maybe just a touch of sweetness. I liked the fresh noodles. That’s pretty much my story in any type of cuisine though.

squid

garlic shrimp

beef chow fun

For me, the biggest miss was my lunch order of sautéed eggplant with basil sauce (and I asked them to add some chicken). In the past when I have dined at Szechwan Garden, I have seen people eating big plates of eggplant and I always wanted to get it, even though I wasn’t exactly sure which dish it was (there are several eggplant dishes on the menu). This dish was really overly oily and had little flavor at all. I actually tried to order the garlic-based eggplant dish at dinner to see if it was better (and to see if my lunch may have just been a fluke), but somehow it got forgotten and by the time we realized it, we had all had WAY too much to eat to order more. So, someday maybe I will figure out the mysterious eggplant dish.

eggplant

Which brings me to my final thought, how can you ever really get a handle on this place? How do you even know what to begin to order when there are 374 menu items (plus the dim sum)? So do you order something new every time or stick with old favorites? I know I am trying the salt and pepper fish next time, but that’s about as far as I can get. How do you guys handle it and what are your favorite items?

Szechwan Garden

3649 Lafayette Road

Indy 46222

317/328-2888

Perrotta's Kitchen Supper Club

Awhile back, a friend sent me an email telling me about this chef, Gustavo Perrotta, who had won a recent cooking competition. I was intrigued to learn that he was also doing monthly dinners out of Indy’s Kitchen and knew I wanted to try one. They sell out pretty fast though (they only seat 12 people per dinner) and have proven to be pretty popular. The meals are $50 per person.

I really enjoyed the concept overall—it is an intimate setting where the Chef chats throughout the meal, telling you all about the food he is preparing before you. People were continually wandering up to the stove while Chef Gustavo cooked, learning about the ingredients, or the cooking techniques.

The amuse bouche was a fried risotto ball served atop a spicy Sriracha aioli. He is preparing the food and plating it right then, and those things were hot! They were really tasty too. The risotto had the right creaminess and the sauce added the right heat.

The first of the regular course was a Peruvian ceviche. I loved the way we learned about exactly how he was preparing it all. He used cod in this dish and explained that he marinated not in just straight lime juice, but in slightly watered down lime juice so it isn’t too acidic (as if that’s possible). But it did have a nice limey flavor and added crunch from thinly sliced peppers and onions and a hint of cilantro. The presentation of the dishes, particularly this one, were lovely as well—loved the service in the scallop shell. The only thing we wished was that the fish was chopped a little smaller—the pieces were pretty big (would love to see some shellfish in there too).

Next we were served a spinach salad with goat cheese, walnuts and dates a topped with balsamic vinaigrette. This is exactly the type of salad you will most often find me making at home—the greens balanced with some crunch and earthiness of the nuts, and the slight sharpness (and creaminess) of the cheese as well as sweet softness from the sliced dates, all topped with a homemade dressing.

The main dish was a risotto with squid ink and calamari rings topped with half of what were the largest shrimp I have ever seen. I loved hearing the stories about the shrimp that were from Nigeria, and the squid ink from Spain, imported through the Dominican Republic (where the Chef is from and his family still lives). He put the rings of the calamari into the risotto and then fried up the tentacle portions in the deep fryer. This was a wonderfully inventive dish—the type of thing you don’t often see around Indy. And I have never seen shrimp like this before. The shrimp had a texture a bit like a small lobster—and they were cooked just perfectly (in the oven with lots of butter) and again, the risotto was cooked just right. The blackness of the squid ink gives it just a touch of sort of smoky, seafood flavor. We laughed at the black lips it also gave us (like goth lipstick). The little fried bits of the calamari were outstanding—I liked them better than the rings in the risotto that were just a touch chewy.

Our dessert was a caramel flan, which was a nice flan—you can’t really go wrong with the caramel sauce, even though flan is traditionally not one of my favorite desserts. It was a good for what it was though—the right consistency and sweetness (not too sweet).

Overall, it was a really fun experience that I would like to repeat. It’s tough to get into one of the dinners, but if you can, I recommend it. It’s fun to chat with other people at your table who are interested in this kind of experience (and it was fun to see people try things they might not normally try.) It’s a great way for a Chef to enjoy a passion and share it with others even if he doesn’t have a restaurant of his own.

Perrotta’s Kitchen

Supper Club

Indy’s Kitchen

2442 Central Ave

Indy 46205

765/491-0348

www.perrottaskitchen.com 

Saigon - Revisit

Back on the Vietnamese trail, we wanted to give Saigon another try. We hadn’t been for years and I had never had their pho. I have been having fun comparing different versions at different places and was anxious to try it.

Hubby and I met up with @zigged and her husband for dinner. I loved having the opportunity to have more people to get to try more things! We started off with the Vietnamese pancake (of course, it’s one of my favorites) ($8.95) and the crispy rice pudding ($8.50). The pancake was good—the crepe aspect of it nice and crispy and thin. They all generally come filled with sliced pork and shrimp (not a lot of shrimp here) and bean sprouts.  I enjoyed it but for some reason, not as much as some of the others I have had. I don’t think it had as much of the green onion flavor as some I have had and the pork wasn’t as seasoned. I like the seasoned fish sauce for dipping—giving it a bit of salt and a bit of tanginess.

The rice pudding was very interesting. It was cubes of the soft rice cakes that were stir fried with egg and scallions and served with a thicker, soy based sauce. The cakes were soft yet firm, and slightly crisp on the outside. The eggy mix added a bit of substance to them, making them definitely savory. A bit of the lightly pickled radish and carrots on the side was a nice addition to the bites. A dip in the sauce added the salty flavor and a touch of sweetness. The longer we continued eating these, the more we couldn’t stop.

I had the rare beef pho ($8), and while it was good, I still think there are better around town. The broth just didn’t have the richest flavor of all the ones I have tried, although it was still very good. I do like that it looks like they literally put the beef in raw and let the broth alone cook it (the top parts of the meat poking out of the broth were still very pink). I was a little disappointed with the amount of fresh herbs you get here—and all of it is Thai basil and none of it was cilantro (the picture you see in the background is the plate for two bowls of pho). I like a bit of both. They give you plenty of bean sprouts though and nice juicy wedges of lemon which I love to add for the extra bit of brightness. I also throw in some jalapenos for touch of spiciness, although I do not eat them. I just let them flavor the broth a bit.

Hubby ordered the clay pot pork ($9.95), which was probably the best dish on the table. The pork had a spicy, peppery seasoning that was great. Not so much a sauce, as a spice rub almost. The pork was tender. The only thing I thought was a little weird is that they served the rice on the side. The rice was good-just the right amount of sticky factor, but usually when I have had a clay pot, the rice is on the bottom of the pot and cooked that way so that it is a bit caramelized and crispy on the bottom and has absorbed a bit of the flavor of whatever is cooked on top. I would have loved to see this in this dish.

Sacha’s hubby had the mixed grill ($14.95), which also had a wonderful rich flavor—you could taste the smoky grilled taste on all the meat—which included chicken, pork and shrimp. It was served with a side of rice noodles that were cold, and thus not my favorite thing (I am not a huge fan of cold noodles). I am not sure if they were warm to start or not. The meat on the dish was very good. I might be tempted to order it with rice though, just because rice tends to stick together better and stay warmer.

You have to love the fact that the place used to be a Bob Evans. You can tell they have tried to change it up a bit, but it still has the distinctive Bob Evans bones. But I am always happy to see a former chain turn into an independent restaurant.  

Saigon has a huge menu though—162 items to be precise. I would love to know what your favorite items are.

Saigon Restaurant

4760 W. 38^th Street

Indy 46254

317/927-7270

www.saigonrestaurant-indy.com 

Boathouse Grill

A couple of you had mentioned this place to me on twitter. I was mostly intrigued because I had never heard of it until then. Hubby had the day off from work the other day, and we decided to take a drive and check it out.

First thing I noticed was the sign on the door that said you had to be 18 to enter. Anyway, once we walked in, I was impressed with the interior. It was a cool old-style bar with lots of wood and a big boat hanging from the ceiling. A little more than you’d expect from a typical strip mall pub.

The menu is pretty big and I wasn’t really sure what to order. I saw that the fish sandwich was on that Super Bowl list awhile back of “best sandwiches.” I should have known better since I know some of the sandwiches on that list were pretty bogus, but I figured it was probably a signature item or something, so I ordered it ($7.25). I went with an upcharge ($1.50) for the onion petals on the side. Unfortunately, this was not a very good sandwich--the fish seemed frozen and was over-fried as well, making it very dark and too crispy. The fish inside was pretty bland and dry. The onion petals also seemed straight out of a freezer, but were cooked correctly and had the right color and crispness.

The good news was that hubby ordered the chicken fajita wrap ($7.95) that our server recommended.

It was delicious. This was one of the few “wraps” on a menu that I have had and really enjoyed. Here’s why-- let’s face it, it was really a burrito. It was a tortilla filled with tender pieces of seasoned chicken, a ton of cheese, and onions and peppers. The whole thing was warm all the way through and lightly grilled on the outside. It was delicious. It came with chips (just out of a bag) and homemade salsa and sour cream on the side. They also had some sliced jalapenos and black olives on the side.  The salsa was on the thin side, but had really nice flavor. I loved dipping the wrap in it. The other good news is that the portions here are enormous, so we ended up basically splitting his wrap and eating a couple of bites of my sandwich and we were stuffed.

This seems like a case where a place is making some things themselves and that stuff is really good and some of the food is coming out of the freezer and it isn’t so good. I would really like to know about the choices they’re making in house though. I would really like to try some more of it. If you’re going for the first time, I can recommend the wraps, or else I would just ask what is housemade.

Boathouse Grill

6225 West 56^th Street

Indy 46254

317/328-8812

Labor District Café

After seeing a couple of people post about Labor District Café, I was intrigued because I hadn’t really heard much about it. Apparently it just opened around Christmas and is from the same people who brought us Punch Burger. It’s up on the second floor of the BMO building downtown. Not sure you’d notice it if you didn’t work there or randomly hear about it. A bit of signage might be good.

Anyway, I met my friend @wibia there since he works nearby. I liked the way they start you out with a bowl of salty local popcorn from Cousin Willie’s Farm in Ramsey, Indiana. This seems to be a theme here. They are definitely trying to source a lot of the menu items locally—even the ketchup is Red Gold. Of course I think this is a great idea, and you get some wonderful quality ingredients, but you will also pay a bit of a premium price-wise compared to other quick service sandwich places nearby.

The popcorn though was tasty—light and fresh and nicely salty (and just a little butter flavor). If I worked in this building, that popcorn might become a workday addiction for me.

The menu is mainly made up of sandwiches and salads. None of them sound bad at all, but honestly, I was having a hard time finding something that jumped out at me. I settled on a “pick two” so I could try a sandwich and some soup ($8.88). The soup was broccoli with cheese. It was good—and a really large bowl I will say (I was expecting a cup). I am a sucker for broccoli cheese soup—this was more of a broccoli cream flavor, some decent chunks of broccoli and a lot of broccoli flavor. I appreciated that it wasn’t over cheesy. The sandwich was just kind of okay. I had half the spicy Cali club. I asked him if it was warm, and he said they could make it warm for me if I wanted. I did since it was practically blizzarding outside at the time (you do get a nice view of Penn from the large windows overlooking the street). They toasted the bread, but that was all that made it warm. I don’t know, it was just a stack of ingredients that were fine, but nothing that made you feel like you couldn’t do it yourself pretty easily. It was sliced turkey, bacon (they use Goose), lettuce, avocado, habanero cheddar, tomato (very thick slice) and mayo. It all just kind of toppled over when they put it on the table. I would have loved to have it with the cheese melted—maybe a quick press in a Panini press—would have made it easier to eat. I also expected a little more spicy bite to it, with its name. A quick bite from @wibia’s roast beef sandwich revealed it suffered the same fate. And his had even less meat on it. We also shared a side of fries. They were fine. Could have stood to be cooked a little longer-they weren’t especially hot or overly crisp. 

Overall, I am not sure about this place. We both discussed that it seemed to be lacking some draw to bring people in. The space is easy to miss from the street and the interior design is somewhat sparse. It could use a touch of warmth. I think it works at Punch with it’s modern, industrial feel, but this is a place that clearly was other restaurants before and there’s a mix of what I’m guessing was the old furniture with an attempt at the super modern look. Our server was very nice and they were quick with the food. I’d be tempted to try one of the entrées next time—the fried catfish or even the house made chicken fingers and see how they do with a regular meal rather than the sandwiches that didn’t really wow me.

Have you guys been here? Curious about what you think of the place.

Labor District Café

135 N. Pennsylvania Street, 2nd Floor

Indy 46204

317/672-7591

www.labordistrict.com  

Eat, Drink and Help LLS

You guys know that on occasion, I use my blog as way to raise interest (and money) about certain fundraising activities. Some good friends of mine have been raising money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for many years and now my friend Matt is up for Man of the Year. He and his wife Jen are hosting various events in the next couple of months to raise money and this one just seemed too perfect for me not to share, since I know you guys all love food. Who wouldn't want to have a chance to have dinner at the iconic St. Elmo and raise money for such a good cause at the same time? Hubby and I will be there and would love the chance to meet some of you guys in person!

Matt and Jen have a personal connection to this charity because Matt lost his brother Joel to Lymphoma in 2000--Joel was a third year medical student at the time. I have my own personal connection because my Dad was diagnosed with Lymphoma in 2004. Our family was lucky and he is now happily cancer-free, but I realize it is because of fundraising efforts like this that allow new ideas and treatments to be constantly evolving that helped my Dad beat his Lymphoma.

So come party with us and feel good about it!

For $100 donation you will get:

-St. Elmo's famous shrimp cocktail
-N.Y. strip steak (vegetarian option available)
-family-style side dishes
-wine, beer and cocktails
-lots of fun and opportunities to bid on fun food and wine-related auction items

Come on out and support this great cause. A link to RSVP and where to send payment info is here:

https://www.smore.com/b2gm-eat-drink-and-hel
p-lls

If you would like to just make a donation to Matt's campaign, you can do that here:
http://www.mwoy.org/pages/in/indy14/matt

For more information about the LLS Boy and Girl of the year (and they are adorable), here's a great inspirational video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNRRK1msE78&feature=em-upload_owner

Matt's Brother Joel

Hope to see you there!

-Erin

P.S. Please tell me if you're coming so I can look for you!

Naked Tchopstix - Revisit

Recently we went back to Naked Tchopstix with a bunch of friends.  We were upstairs in a party room (in Broad Ripple) that I didn’t even know they had. It was a strangely seemingly slightly unfinished-looking room (someone described it as “early frat house”), but we didn’t care because we were all chatting and celebrating a friend’s birthday.

We were all kind of ordering appetizers to share and I had some crab Rangoon ($5.99) as well as the tuna tataki ($10.99). I have to say, it was possibly my least favorite crab Rangoon I have had. They were big triangles that were stuffed with the slightly crabby cream cheese mixture and deep-fried. There was just a little too much of the filling for me, making it taste more like cream cheese than anything, and the crust of the fried pocket wasn’t very crisp because of it.  I definitely liked the tuna better—it was just lightly seared on the outside and laid atop shredded lettuce and some shredded radish. It was drizzled with a ponzu dressing. The tuna was good quality and wasn’t overwhelmed by the sauce. The lettuce was apparently meant as more of a garnish as far as I could tell though, because it was completely unseasoned.

We had several rolls as well. We ordered the corona roll ($10.99), which was one that had been our favorite in a past visit (always good to get one that you know you’ll like). It’s filled with avocado, spicy tuna and tempura bits and topped with thin white tuna, lime and wasabi mayo. Their spicy tuna isn’t the best I’ve had, but this roll is a nice combo of things that I like (the fish as well as the crunch and acid) and I would certainly get it again.  We also had a straightforward salmon avocado roll (with some tempura flakes added). It was also tasty. The salmon was fresh and I liked the little added crunch. Both of these rolls fulfilled my sushi craving for sure and I was happy with both.

We also ordered the playboy roll ($14.99) because so many people had recommended it.  It had tempura shrimp, asparagus, spicy tuna and tempura chips inside and shrimp and sweet and spicy sauce outside, which in theory are all things I like. The big sell on this roll is that it comes in foil and set on fire. Here’s the thing, for me this should be called the “lighter fluid roll” because that is all I could taste. Whatever flavor nuances there might have been in the actual sushi roll were lost. Hubby and I each had like one or two pieces and left it. I have realized, I don’t like my sushi deep-fried and I don’t like it on fire.  Both treatments just kill any other flavor, at least for me. 

I think you can get a pretty good meal of straightforward sushi here if you want to—but it seems like a lot of people like the whole lit on fire thing because these things were going off all over the restaurant. I don’t know, I wasn’t a fan.  In my opinion, there are also quite a few places where you can get better straightforward sushi than this. I think if I were to go back, I might try some of the other types of food offered and see what it’s all about. The place does a very good business though regardless of what I think—the place was jammed. Our servers were very friendly, even if the orders got kind of confusing with so many people ordering so many different things. They did a pretty good job of staying on top of it, as well as getting us drinks.

Can’t really figure this place out…it’s always busy, but I’ve never had anything really exceptional…unless I am just missing something

Naked Tchopstix

6253 N. College Ave.

Indy 46220

317/252-5555

www.tchopstix.com

317 Burger

We had been meaning to try the new 317 Burger for a while but kept forgetting about it. It is in Broad Ripple in the old Ambrosia space. It’s nice and kid friendly too so a good place for a family dinner. The décor is a lot of wood and cowhide—there are booths and tables. The booths are wood bottoms though so a little hard on the butt after awhile. Our service was spot on and friendly. She did a great job explaining anything that needed explaining.

317 Burger specializes in various kinds of burgers made from various kinds of meat—there’s beef of course, lamb, chicken, turkey, pork and even shrimp and tuna. Honestly, I was a little hesitant after reading and hearing some things from people about this place.  One recurring complaint I heard was about the buns not holding up.  The whole family ordered beef burgers (I figured I would start with the basics first). I had the “317” ($11) figuring it should always be a good choice to go with the restaurant’s namesake right? One thing I would say, after chatting with a friend about the concept, he thought adding a few more signature beef burgers might be a good idea—make it easier to get a good bunch of flavors together (and hubby agreed).

I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the burger was quite tasty. I ordered it medium (she said that would be a warm pink center) and it was nice and pink. Actually, all of our burgers were cooked nice and pink, and I appreciated that they didn’t overcook the kids’ burgers just because they were for kids. The 317 comes with pepper bacon, 4 cheeses, and garlic aioli. It had a lot of flavor, particularly from the pepper bacon. The meat was nice and tender, not overworked at all and there was a lot of cheese there. I didn’t taste a lot of the aioli, but I have a feeling it added to the moisture and the overall flavor.  I liked the fresh red onions served alongside as an option to add some crunch and a little more peppery flavor as well. I think you need the extra toppings though—a bite of my son’s plain burger with just cheese left me wanting for some additional kick. The meat on its own was a tad bland. As for the bun? Yes, the bottom of the bun was skimpy for what was a pretty fat and juicy burger. The top was fine though—too bad they can’t cut them a little differently to beef up the bottom part. As it was, we ended up flipping them over and eating them upside down so that the juices were dripping down into the top bun instead. This helped quite a bit. The bun had a nice consistency and flavor, it just wasn’t big enough.

Hubby did a build your own that was similar—with white cheddar, apple wood smoked bacon and chipotle mayo on the side. (Note: would love to see a fried egg as a topping option). His was also very good. That peppery bacon on mine really added seasoning though-I’d be hard pressed not to order the exact same burger again, even though I would like to try some of the other options. Anyone had the spicy tuna?

We had a bunch of the sides to try—the fries, the tots, the onion rings and the mac n cheese (note all sides are a la carte, except with the kids meals—adult sides are $4 each. A kid’s burger and fries (or tots) is $5 total). The tots were standard good tots. They weren’t as extra crispy as some I have had lately (which I like), but they were good. The fries were probably the standout. They were hand-cut and kept the nice amount of light fluffy interior with a good crisp exterior. A bit of skin left on added a little chewiness and texture. I would definitely recommend getting these. The mac n cheese wasn’t bad either—it was kind of an alfredo sauce with spiral noodles with some Parmesan on top. A simpler taste for sure. Pepper would have helped. My daughter really liked it though. For me, the onion rings were the weakest side item. I wouldn’t get these again—they were really thick cut and breaded. I like em thin and battered best. These seemed like they were just food servicey.

We had an order of the funnel cake fries ($6) for dessert. The kids were all about these. They were little fried sweet donut-type fries, covered in powdered sugar and served with a marshmallow cream and a peanut butter cream. My daughter wanted to me to mention that she thinks a chocolate dipping sauce would be a really good idea (can’t say I disagree, especially a dark chocolate sauce)(and my peanut-allergic son certainly agrees). I preferred the peanut butter to the marshmallow sweetness (because it gave it a little savory kick as well). I am pretty sure these will be on our order again. The kids were big fans (my daughter wanted a second order).

The inside of my upside-down burger. Nice and pink.

As a family, we universally enjoyed 317 Burger, and that is a rare occasion in our household. I am glad to have another fairly close option for a locally owned family meal. I will have a hard time varying from the 317 burger, but I am intrigued by the build your own BLT, particularly since the bacon was so tasty, and because you get to choose the kind of bread you want. The fried spinach also intrigues me. We’ll have to try it next time.

317 Burger

915 East Westfield Blvd

Indy 46220

317/251-1317

www.facebook.com/317beer