Road Trip: Gralehaus--Louisville, KY

When hubby and I visited Louisville recently for our anniversary, we wanted to try something new for breakfast/brunch and my lovely hairdresser Katie, who splits her time between Indy and Louisville, recommended Gralehaus wholeheartedly. After her Buvette recommendation in NYC, I trusted her completely. My friend @wibia reviewed this place for me last summer too when my wrist was broken--you can see that post here.

I was not disappointed either—this is a restaurant set in an old house—it’s actually a little difficult to spot at first—we were kind of looking for a regular storefront. You order at the register and they bring the food to you. The menu is creative, hipster-ish takes on traditional breakfast and brunch items. I had a hard time deciding.

Because I am a sucker for a crepe with an egg in it, and they had one, and thin crepes like this are not super common, that’s what I went with—the Country Ham and Egg Crepe ($9). It’s a very thin flour crepe (sadly not buckwheat, but you can’t have everything) and inside there was melty Gruyere cheese, country ham, a sunnyside up egg and some greens. Everything about it was done just perfectly. The crepe was light with just the right amount of crispy edges to the crepe—a runny yolk on the egg but not underdone whites, and the ham was thin and salty and delicious. But it wasn’t overpowering either.-I hate it when ham or pork is so chewy you can’t easily cut a bite. I wanted something that wasn’t ridiculously decadent and filling, and this was perfect.

Of course we also shared a side of the aged cheddar grits as well ($3) and these certainly were enough to fill you up. They were very good—creamy consistency with enough of the salty, melty cheese that you could really taste it. They were seasoned well so you didn’t wish for salt and pepper. I mean look at that picture—doesn’t that just make you want some?

Hubby had the crispy pork hash ($10), which was not at all what you would expect. It was large whole potatoes, and some turnips that were roasted and smashed. Inherently not a bad thing, but not exactly what you think of when you imagine hash. Or at least not what we thought of. The pork bits were tasty, but not as plentiful as the starchy elements, which was a little disappointing. The sunny egg again was perfectly done. The turnip green salsa verde tasted very green—super fresh and interesting. The broccoli was unexpected. It was an interesting and unique dish, but I don’t think it would be a repeat order for us. The crepe and the grits on the other hand, I could eat for days. 

I definitely want to go back and try the biscuits too-either in the form of biscuits and duck gravy or in one of their breakfast biscuit sandwiches. Both sound delicious.

It’s a small place though, not very many tables at all. And because they make their very good coffee a cup at a time, and you have to order at the counter, which often has a big line, if you think you might want more than one cup, I’d order them at the beginning. The freshly squeezed OJ was super delicious as well. I’d say it’s a place that we will certainly return.

Gralehaus

1001 Baxter Ave

Louisville, KY 40204

502/454-7075

www.gralehaus.com 

Sushi Boss

I had heard about this place a while ago when it first opened and was intrigued by the concept. It’s kind of like the Subway, or the taqueria, of sushi places. You get in line and walk down in front of the ingredients and design your own roll (or chose from one of their creations). I am trying to watch what I eat right now, so this seemed like a good option to control how much of the gooey stuff went into my lunch. 

On the downside, sometimes you just don’t want to see what’s in the bologna if you know what I mean. The spicy tuna and spicy salmon were kind of freaking me out—they looked kind of like red slurry. It was that really mushy type.

But I was brave and ordered half of my roll with the spicy tuna (I was going to get the spicy salmon, but the tuna looked incrementally better) and half with just regular fresh tuna. I like that they have this option too—you can get half and half in one roll. And because they make pretty darn big rolls, one is more than enough, and you can get two different flavors.

I also had them add avocado and green onion into mine. There are other fruit/veg options here, but I am not a big fan of fruit in my sushi.  I had them drizzle the whole thing lightly with the “Boss” sauce, which is basically spicy mayo and since I was being good and got nothing fried inside, I figured a few tempura bits sprinkled on top, along with masago (those teeny fish eggs) would help give me the crunch and texture variation I crave without adding as many bad calories. It worked pretty well and the roll over all was a decent lunch. And if you don’t ask for light sauce, they give you A LOT (check out my friend’s roll).

I can see when you’re on campus (it’s over by IUPUI) as I am a couple days a week these days, running in there for lunch on occasion.  I appreciate that you can customize them to try and keep them a little healthier. My friend’s meat filled roll (“that one roll”) (filled with marinated short rib, asparagus and green onion and topped with spicy crab and lots of various sauces) did not look appealing to me though. So much so that I didn’t even try it.

I also got the add a soup and drink deal for $2.99 more and chose the clear soup with onions and mushrooms. I wasn’t a huge fan of this soup and didn’t really eat much more than a couple of bites. First of all, it wasn’t very warm and the mushrooms tasted a little rubbery. I would try the miso next time instead. I feel like you can’t screw that up too much.

It’s not amazing sushi, but like I said, it’s fast and hits the spot if you want sushi in the amount of time fast food would take. 

Who else has been?

Sushi Boss

805 W. 10^th Street

Indy   46202

317/955-2677

www.sushibossindy.com 

Road Trip - 610 Magnolia, Louisville, KY (Revisit)

It had been a few years since hubby and I had eaten at 610 Magnolia in Louisville, so when it got close to our anniversary and we hadn’t planned anything, hubby mentioned that he would really like to go back. The last meal we had there was one of the best we’d had in the Midwest, so we were excited to try it again. Chef Ed Lee’s cookbook, Smoke and Pickles is a great one, although somewhat complicated to actually cook from.

The way the menu is set up, you can get either a 4 course for $75 per person or a 6 course for $95 per person. The 6 course is the same as the 4, but just adds a couple of extra courses. I was really intrigued by the specifics of two extra courses, but we knew from our last experience that the 4 course was more than enough for us, so that’s what we went for.

They first bring you a little amuse—it has been the same both times we have been, and I think its their classic—it’s a little “BLT”  but with roasted tomato and bacon mixed in with the the “L,” which stands for liver—as in foie gras. It’s on buttery, toasty bread and is just a little bite (or two) of perfection. We joked about how hard it would be to work in that kitchen and not want to just snack on these all day long.

For our second course, we both had the charcuterie salad with shaved Brussels sprouts and endive mixed with pork threads and shaved foe gras, black radish bottarga, and Concord grape. It was topped with charred orange vinaigrette. I liked this salad a fair amount, particularly when you got a bite with the rich and creamy foie gras, but I can’t say I was over the moon about it. It was a good and interesting salad, but didn’t have any one thing that made it really stand out for me. Normally hubby and I get two different items for each course to try as much as possible—this was the only one we doubled up on as the other option was gazpacho, of which neither of us are big fans.

The next course though, we were back to trying two things and got one of each of the options offered here. Both were outstanding. Looking back, this was probably our favorite course of the night. The first was a seared scallop with uni, broken Carolina rice, pickled seaweed, grapefruit, pumpkin seeds and miso cured egg yolk. I loved this dish not only for it’s intense flavors—richness from the uni and the egg, acid from the seaweed and grapefruit and the perfectly cooked scallop—but also because it was a flavor combination that was very unique. The ingredients were all familiar, but put together in a way that made it seem like something you’ve never had before. The pepitas for instance mixed into the seaweed—a nice little crunch in the salad. The seaweed reminded you of a sushi taste, but the blast from the grapefruit changed that too. Really well done, even for a girl who sometimes feels like she has been overfed with scallops.

The other fish dish in this course was the “fish fry,” which was just as delicious, but totally different. There were four or five pieces of perfectly tempura-fried white fish mixed with super thin sliced and fried vegetable chips. Nothing was greasy at all, and all had the perfect crunch factor. The whole thing was drizzled with remoulade and chili-citrus hot sauce, giving it all the right amount of creamy/spicy/acid. It was perfect sharing both of these because I don’t think I necessarily would have wanted the whole fish fry to myself, but with the completely different seafood dish, it was just right.

The next course was the heavier protein course, and there were three choices here. We went with the pork dish and the beef dish. Of the two, the beef was the better one. It was called “steak and eggs” on the menu and consisted of a nice hunk of steak that was cooked nicely medium rare with vegetable hash on the side—it had nice crispy buttery tasting potatoes with squash and mushrooms mixed in on top of a Chimichurri sauce. And there was a perfectly poached egg sitting atop the potatoes. The steak itself sat on top of a Bordelaise sauce. I loved the hash—not sure what they were cooking it all in, but it tasted decadent. Maybe something like duck fat was involved? The steak was also good, but after cracking that egg into the potatoes, I was in love with that side of the plate.

The pork dish was not as exciting and the pork loin part of it was a touch on the dry side. The pork belly part was nice. It had that silky fatty taste without feeling gelatinous, the way pork belly sometimes can. It was served with sweet corn grits, Concord grape mostarda, grilled figs and candied beets. Something about this dish just didn’t let it get past the individual parts of it for me to turn it into a cohesive dish—although the grits and pork belly together were delightful.

For dessert we chose the cheese plate and the cornmeal cake. The cheese plate was the other highlight of the meal. It was simple as far as the amount of cheeses—but all the accompaniments made it into something really special. Just the super thin toasted slices of walnut raisin bread alone were great with it. I love it when a restaurant takes the time to make the bread with a cheese plate special. I also love it when it’s cut really thin so you can really appreciate the cheese flavor without being overwhelmed with bread that’s too, well, bready. There was also fresh fruit—pomegranate, apples and figs, but also a lovely jam. We ended up needing some extra bread to eat it all, which they happily brought us. Superb.

The cornmeal cake was unique, and good, but just didn’t stand up to the strength of the cheese plate. It was small course though—which I appreciated because by the end, you’re feeling pretty full. The cake was small pieces that were very tender—they were accompanied by peaches, berry pudding, corn and buttermilk ice cream. Loved the rich, but with just a hint of sour, flavor of the ice cream. 

We also enjoyed the wine pairing, which they do a really nice job with as far as what they choose. Our only complaint is that depending on your server, your pour size may vary. Our server was very light on the pours—so small that it was hard to make it last through to the course (because they poured it as soon as you finished the course before). We finally just asked for an extra glass of one of the pours to share so that we could have enough to sip on while we waited for our next course. They didn’t end up charging us for it, so I guess it worked out. Speaking of service though, one of the things that we loved about this place the first time was how friendly our server was. He was just chatty enough and always smiling. This time our server seemed like maybe he was having a bad day or something. A  little gruff and a little rushed at times, even though the restaurant wasn’t super full when we first arrived. We didn’t see Chef Lee milling around this time either, but since our last visit, he’s had lots of good press and is busy opening other new restaurants so he probably wasn’t there.

All in all, it’s still a great restaurant, with a great homey atmosphere and we still look forward to returning, even if this visit wasn’t quite as spectacular as our first. Maybe we just set our expectations too high. One of these days I want to get over to Milkwood (Chef Lee’s other restaurant in Louisville) and try it as well. It sounds delicious.

610 Magnolia

610 Magnolia 

Lousiville, KY 40208

502/636-0783

www.610magnolia.com 

Adobo Grill -Revisit

Hubby and I are such good parents, that we took our kids to see Taylor Swift recently when she was here in Indy. We both love music and wanted the kids to have concert experiences with bands they like, so Taylor Swift it was. Stupidly, we thought, “oh we’ll just run into Scotty’s and grab something to eat beforehand.” Like the other 10,000 parents of tweens apparently. So we ran across the street to Adobo and grabbed one of their last tables. Also with a roomful of parents and kids. There was a lot of glitter people. Everywhere.

However, I saw this as a golden opportunity to update my posts on Adobo. I just looked. I haven’t written about this place since 2009. Wowza. 6 years. Also, I just looked and I said I might never go back in that post, so I guess they have Taylor Swift to thank for getting me back there.

We started with the tableside guacamole ($8.99), because my entire family loves guacamole. My daughter strangely claims to not like avocado, but loves guacamole. Makes perfect sense right? Well, she’s 12, so yeah. Anyhow, they bring over the guacamole cart and mix it to order in front of you—if you like it spicier, they add more jalapeno, etc. Their guacamole is excellent. And I am choosy about it. They use all the same things I do and enough fresh lime to give it an excellent fresh kick. The guacamole alone may be enough to get me back in there for drinks and chips. Speaking of, their chips are pretty good too. Nothing super amazing but not the crappy thick chips that taste like they just came out of a cheap bag.

I ordered the tuna ceviche ($11.99). This was a mistake. I keep being hopeful of getting really yummy ceviche here and other places, and I keep on being disappointed. These were little dices of ahi tuna that I think were nice quality, but honestly they were cut so small they were a bit overwhelmed by the other stuff in there—there were peppers mixed in with the tuna and there was a nice amount of diced avocado on the bottom. And pickled onions on top. At first glance, you’d think it would be my perfect dish—lots of things I love all stacked up on top of each other. But there was also this sauce on it, they called it chipotle ginger sauce—but it was super sweet. I love ginger and am also a fan of chipotle, by thus must have been a simple syrup made of these things or something. Even with some squeezes of lime wedges I asked for, it couldn’t shake the almost syrupy sweetness.

My daughter ordered an appetizer, the Tlayuda ($10.99), which is basically a fancy Mexican pizza. And it was delicious. It was a crisp whole-wheat tortilla topped with black beans, chicken, red onion, cheese, sour cream and pico de gallo.(It is also normally supposed to come with spinach and avocado but she asked for it without.) Regardless, it was really good as it was—the chicken and black beans both nicely seasoned and it was topped with just the right amount of gooeyness. I would have enjoyed the spinach and avocado, but we just added a little guac. It stuck with me enough that I made a version of it at home for dinner the next week. Not overly difficult, but really good. It was big enough too that we all pretty much ended up eating off of it. Honestly some guac and this would be the meal I would want at Adobo.

Hubby had one of their casseroles, or “las cazuelas.” He chose the Cazuela de carnitas ($9.99). It’s an earthenware casserole dish filled with carnitas (pork shoulder here), black beans, salsa and cheese. The flavor was good, but the dish was sort of on the runny side, making it difficult to roll into the warm tortillas they served with it. Instead, hubby went with chips. It came across as more of a dip rather than a casserole based on its consistency. Not a bad taste, but nothing earth shattering here. I think hubby preferred the tlayuda as well. Actually all of us enjoyed that the most.

My son, who was a little cranky and not in the mood for Mexican that night, ordered chicken fingers off the kid’s menu. Normally I would barely mention this, but they were actually quite good for kid’s fried chicken strips—they appeared that they actually might be making them in house. Not the usual exact same ones you can get anywhere from Steak n Shake to Ruth’s Chris.

All in all it worked out and we had a good meal and I got a new post to write. And I found a couple of things I enjoyed. And I learned to stop ordering their ceviche. Taylor Swift put on a good show and the kids were thrilled.

Ceviche though…where to get it Indy?

Adobo Grill

110 East Washington Street

Indy 

317/822-9990

www.adobogrill.com 

Love Handle

At our last lunch at Milktooth, @indyfoodswap and I decided we needed to try Love Handle asap. We planned a date to go a couple of weeks later.  It’s over on the east side—sort of Irvington-ish I guess, but a little on the less developed end of 10^th Street. Right across is Pogue’s Run Grocery though, and I was happy to check it out for the first time as well. I left there with a nice bag of local products.

Anyhow, Love Handle is a cute little place, maybe slightly on the sparse side décor-wise, but is not without its charm nonetheless. It’s certainly not a fancy place. We were there early for lunch, but they also serve breakfast, so we did a little of both and tried a couple of things. This place is all about the cured meats for sure, one of the chef/proprietors (Chris and Ally Benedyk) once worked at Goose the Market before opening a shop in Milwaukee and then back again in Indy. You’ll see lots of cured meat on the ever-changing menu for sure.

The meat was the star in “The Hardesty,” ($10) which I assume is named for our own local chef Greg Hardesty? Anyhow, the smoked beef brisket was cut real thin and stacked with peppers, onions and Taleggio cheese. I loved the slightly stinky, but super creamy cheese with this hearty meat—and I really enjoyed the smashed flat baguette the sandwich was served on. This addition of such a distinctive cheese made this sandwich extra special. The sandwiches all came with a side of the house pork fat popcorn, which was probably my least favorite thing—seemed sort of flat to me, but we still managed to eat it all.

Like I said, it was on the early side, so we also got the biscuits and gravy with crimini mushrooms and hatch chilis ($6), which I think is vegetarian. But we added bacon (+2) and a jellied egg yolk (+$2), thereby killing that aspect of it. It wasn’t a huge dish, but it had a lot of flavor. There was a lot of stuff going on in that little bowl. At the bottom was a fresh biscuit topped with the mushroom gravy. And that was all topped with pieces of slightly chewy bacon pieces and the egg yolk—which like something I have never quite had before. But it had a runny yolk in the center of the aspic-type substance, so I was content. Honestly it was almost too much to get the taste of everything. I would like to try the biscuits and gravy on their own but still get the bacon and egg on the side. Oh yeah, and it was all topped with pickled red onions, so again, happy. 

I feel like this is like no place we really have in Indy. It’s an extremely creative menu, but it’s also a much more casual and homey feeling place than say somewhere like Milktooth. More rustic fare, and certainly more meat (and even more specifically, on the day I was there, organ meat)-centric. Everything was well done though, and I would like to go back and try some other things.

If you’re looking for a super casual, but warm atmosphere (and the owners are super nice), with some extremely unique food (for Indy anyhow), check this place out. And then report back. 

Love Handle

2829 East 10^th Street

Indy 46201

317/430-5004

www.facebook.com/LoveHandleIndy 

Kona Jack's--Revisit

I hit Kona Jack’s the other day with my friend Suzanne for lunch. I keep telling myself that eating sushi is healthy, even if I like ordering the ones filled with fried bits of things. It’s called rationalization. Or denial. Whatever.

We did however decide to get the tuna tartar (their spelling)($15) as well because we have both been missing the one from H2O Sushi. The flavor here is a pretty close equivalent—with radish, ginger, green onion, cilantro and a sesame dressing. This one has a more distinctly sesame flavor to it, but that is not a bad thing. The hunks of impeccably fresh tuna are cut on the slightly larger side, almost like a poke size, if you are familiar with that dish. So yeah, this may be a little healthier than many of the rolls…until you factor in the fried wontons, which of course you have to do because you need some vehicle to scoop it up with right? And you of course need that crunch to go along with the smooth tuna. It’s a very good version of tuna tartar and it is more than enough to share—at least with two people.

We also got a couple of rolls. And yes, they both had fried bits in them—the first was the shrimp tempura roll, which is pretty classic -–shrimp tempura in the middle with avocado, and then wrapped with rice and Kona’s uses soy paper for this particular one. Not sure why exactly, but I am good with either soy or nori, so fine with me. It’s topped with spicy mayo and eel sauce. It was pretty much what you expect, nothing that made it shine more than others really, but still good. They were on the big side on this visit, which isn’t my favorite thing because then I have to cut them in half, which is not ideal.

Same went for the Tampa roll ($14), which I have had before and really enjoyed. They indulged us by making it for us, even though it wasn’t the special that day. It was good, but just not quite as good as I remember the first time I had it. It has fried grouper inside, along with avocado and wasabi tobiko, which were all good, but I couldn’t put my finger on why it didn’t excite me as much. Maybe the grouper was not as good or something. I think maybe it wasn’t as crunchy, and I like the texture variation in my rolls. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it. Again, I found myself cutting them in half because they were so big.

I feel like Kona Jack’s is a solid option to remember for fresh sushi, particularly on that side of town. And I would happily eat the tuna tartar pretty much any day of the week. It’s also one of my favorite places to buy fresh fish (particularly tuna, halibut and walleye) even if the fish market is a little on the pricey side.  But this place has been around for over 20 years, so they must be doing something right.

Kona Jack’s

9419 North Meridian Street

Indy 46260

317/843-1609

www.jacksarebetter.net 

Mediterranean Grill

We went to meet my sister and brother-in-law the other day for dinner at the Mediterranean Grill in Avon. Sadly, they gave us a gift certificate for Christmas and we are only now getting around to using it. Crazy.

Anyway, it’s a little family-run place in a strip mall. Everyone who was working there was very friendly—they all recognized my sister and her family as regulars. There were quite a few of us, so we tried several appetizers. We had the hummus ($5.45 for small, $8.95 for large), the spanakopita ($6.50) and the tiropita ($6.50).  I think the appetizer portion of the meal was probably my favorite—they were all quite good. My favorite was the hummus. It’s hard to tell what makes one hummus so much better than others, but this one had it. It had just the right consistency—enough creaminess without being watery at all or overly oily. But also not too dense. I liked that they seasoned it a bit with spices and olive oil and added some olives. More olives are always better. The tiropita and spanakopita were also quite good. One is just a cheese pie and one is spinach and cheese. I probably liked the spinach one better just because there was more going on there, but you get a bigger portion with the cheese one. They were nicely wrapped in phyllo, something I absolutely adore, although I would have probably made them a little browner, and therefore crisper, if I were in the kitchen. We also had the saganaki (opa!), or flaming cheese. They put the flame out with lemon, so the cheese has an acidic edge to it, which naturally I like. It was tasty—and one of hubby’s favorites.

The entrées come with a soup or salad—hubby and I shared the Greek salad. It had a decent vinaigrette, a pretty classic Greek restaurant salad. The soup was really quite tasty though (my daughter ordered it). It was avgolemono soup, which is also a typical Greek dish. It was a super thick and creamy version. It was filled with bits of chicken and orzo that was very soft and pillowy. It is a lemon soup, and has a distinct lemon edge, but it also has a lot of creaminess here, and there is egg in there as well. It’s a dense soup. This bowl would probably fill me up if I ate the whole thing, but it tasted good.

Hubby went with an order of falafel (appetizer) ($6.95), I had the eggplant casserole ($14.95), my son had lamb chops ($24.95), and my daughter the tuna steak (she’s currently addicted to tuna) ($15.95). I had a bite of my sister’s beef souvlaki as well. Mine was probably the best entrée—soft, creamy eggplant cooked in a tomato sauce and mixed with ground beef. It had a nice homey taste to it—and was seasoned nicely. The rice that came alongside was more filler as far as I was concerned—I just pretty much skipped it. The lamb chops were also seasoned very well and weren’t terribly overcooked. My son may have thought they were a little too seasoned for him, but they were tasty. My daughter’s tuna was way overcooked unfortunately (we had to have a talk about this with her, that she needs to tell people she wants it rare, that not every place does it that way). She was pretty disappointed in it. My sister’s beef was a little more cooked that I would have liked, but that’s a matter of preference. It also had a nice flavor—I would consider ordering it again, but would ask it to be cooked medium rare and see if they could do it that way. The falafel was quite strange. Like nothing we had had before. And to be perfectly honest, neither of us cared for it. These were almost like little dense mini muffins made out of garbanzo bean flour. Very dry and not a lot of flavor. I would take a skip on these. 

I think if I eat here again, I would make a very nice dinner out of appetizers and be content. Oh! And dessert. We had both of the desserts offered—baklava ($2.49) and the loukoumadis ($4.99). I am not sure which I liked better. I am normally not a huge baklava fan, but this one was super delicious—super crisp and just the right amount of honey sweetness. I am not sure what made it so good, but it truly was. This is a good size for only one or maybe 2 if you aren’t that hungry. If you want to share a dessert, I would go for the loukoumadis because they are basically little balls of pastry—almost like littler doughnut holes and they were sitting in a sweet but thin honey syrup and sprinkled with a bit of cinnamon. I liked the syrup, although I preferred the balls on the top of the pile, because they stayed crispier since they weren’t sitting in the sauce. As you can see, there are a lot of them, so they are very easy to share with a large group.  But seriously, both were super tasty.

The wine selection is pretty minimal—I think they only had one or two white wines available and the one we had was kind of funky, so don’t go expecting a large selection on this front. Again, it’s a nice family-run place with friendly people and good food-particularly appetizers and desserts. My sister tells me a new Mediterranean place has opened in Avon since then and she wants to try that one with us too. So I’ll let you know.

Mediterranean Grille

10230 US Hwy 36

Avon, IN 46123

317/273-8570

www.themedgrillavon.com 

Milktooth - Revisit

After hearing so much about Milktooth lately (I mean they can hardly get more good press right now can they? Did you see them in Bon Appetit?), I was itching to go back, so I made a date with my friend @indyfoodswap to meet there. We were both starving when we got there and wanted to order everything on the menu. We restrained ourselves somewhat, and just got 3 different things—one was technically listed as a side, so that really doesn’t even count.

We had the Cuban lamb frita ($9), which is the current version of the lamb patty melt I had (and loved) in the past. This is seasoned differently (hence the “Cuban” part) and was equally delicious. The lamb patty is served on a bun and topped with white American cheese, pineapple, pickled jalapenos and chile ketchup. You can add a sunny side egg up for $2.50. Is there any doubt that we went for this as well? It had a delicious blend of flavors with the briny but spicy jalapenos and the richness from the cheese and egg. The brioche bun holds up well here. They also season their eggs nicely, which is good since there’s no salt or pepper on the table (more on that in a minute).

The other thing we ordered, as it turns out, was a perfect dish to combine with the hearty burger. It was the blue cheese and baby red potato salad ($12). The red leaf lettuce, tender whole potatoes, and thick sliced marinated matsutake mushrooms were a nice balance to the sandwich. The lettuce was sort of stacked on top and was covered with super thin red onions (one of my favorite garnishes on nearly anything). The blue cheese aspect was in a thick rich dressing sitting underneath everything else and it was amazingly dense and blue-cheesy. The light acid that coated the lettuce and that was in the mushrooms was perfect with it. I really enjoyed the salad, even if it seemed a tad on the small side for the price. 

The only slight disappointment was the quinoa grits ($4) that we had topped with bacon, scallions and an egg for an additional $3. Nothing wrong with the bacon here, but the saltiness just wasn’t enough to carry the egg and the large bowl of quinoa. They made the quinoa into what really was a nice creamy pile of grit-like goodness, but the whole dish was under seasoned and could have benefited greatly from a salt and pepper shaker on the table. 

But, oh, my, we also shared a "boozy campfire chocolate chip cookie." ($4). I am always a sucker for a s'mores type anything, and this cookie was no exception. It was super chocolately and topped with a wonderfully charred marshmallow. There was a sprinkle of salt on top which just added a little pop to everything else. Totally worth ordering.

I’m always impressed by the amount of creativity going into the menu at Milktooth. I love how they mix things up and are constantly surprising you with new menu items. I’m happy for them that they are getting so much good press. It’s nice to see great place in Indy getting attention for a change.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Blind Owl Brewery

We have been watching Blind Owl Brewery come together over the last few months and have been excited. It looked like a family-friendly place and it is not a chain, and it is close to our house. We are itching to have a good locally owned family-type place near us. I can’t say we have found any that we all agree on so far.

Blind Owl is a pretty big place—the décor is minimal—a kind of industrial feel-- much like most brewery places these days I think. The main features are the tanks they are brewing beer in. Apparently they have a great big outdoor area with bocce and cornhole and such, but we couldn’t get out there the night we went, so we ate inside. The server was nice enough, but service was pretty spotty overall—and when I went to the bathroom, most of them were standing around chatting near the kitchen so I’m not overly surprised.

The menu is pretty basic. Nothing particularly unique or adventurous. That doesn’t bother me as long as it’s good, but I think you need to do something to make the food stand out a bit. My kids wanted to order the homemade pretzels ($7.99) from the appetizer menu, but they were already out of them for the night (it was around 6:00). We were kind of in a rush, so we just skipped an appetizer and went on to entrees. I had the patty melt ($9.99), which was supposed to have caramelized onions, cheddar and Swiss, and Thousand Island dressing all on marble rye. I don’t know—this just didn’t really do it for me. When I think of patty melts, I think of a slightly thinner type of burger. This was a huge patty that was cooked more than I asked, and was very light on the toppings. Or maybe the patty was just so big, they got lost in there. The fries are pretty tasty though.

Hubby went with one of their “signature” dishes—the pork tenderloin sandwich ($9.99). This was a pretty thin one, and was pretty dry. Honestly, it was almost like a premade fritter. I am surprised it was on the “signature” area. He had the usual toppings—mayo, lettuce and onions. It was just an ok fried tenderloin sandwich. Below average, even. He ordered the house made potato chips with his. They were on the whole good, except when you got one that was not fully cooked and soggy. Yuck.

My daughter had “The Coop” ($9.99), and I can’t really get excited about anything about it either. It was one of those big chunks of chicken breast that get tough and are hard to bite into. And actually, the smoked gouda and apple slices on top weren’t doing it for me either. I am not a huge fan of really smoky flavored cheese, so I wasn’t a really big fan of this sandwich. And the apple slices didn’t help matters.

Overall, sadly, everyone in the family thought this place was pretty average. And I would say that’s being generous. There was nothing that made anything shine here. I’m a little surprised that it’s not better to be honest. They are owned by Lux group, which owns several local places—one is Meridian. They make a mean burger. The one here was very sad in comparison. Maybe those pretzels are really good, but we didn’t get to find out. Has anyone else had them?

Blind Owl Brewery

5014 E 62^nd Street

Indy 46220

317/924-1000

www.blindowlbrewery.com

Siam Square - Revisit

Had a chance to meet up with a friend the other day for lunch downtown, and we decided on Siam Square. Neither of us had been in ages, and I was craving some ginger. Seemed like a good choice. 

At lunch they offer a good deal—they don’t have all their entrées offered here, but many of them are offered in a reduced size, with soup and an eggroll and most, if not all are priced at $8.99 (+$2 if you want shrimp as your protein). The place was bustling, but we got seated right away.

The spring roll is pretty good, as they go. It’s filled with veggies—cabbage, carrots, etc. and is fried nice and crisp. There’s no sauce served with them, but they were good dipped in the soup that came with it. The soup was Thom Yum and it had some heat to it. It’s a thin broth; with flavors of lemongrass-but also some heat as I mentioned--maybe chili oil? There were chunks of mushrooms in it (in this case). It’s definitely not your average bland free starter soup, that’s for sure. Not a lot of stuff in it, but still a lot of flavor.

I had the “Siam Ginger” dish, with chicken as my protein. This dish is sautéed chicken slices with carrots, celery, mushrooms and lots of julienned pieces of ginger. Exactly what I was in the mood for. Like I said, I wanted ginger, and this dish is full of it.  It’s sauced with what tastes like a light soy-based sauce, but again, the real flavor that comes through is the ginger. You also get a scoop of rice to eat with it. I really enjoyed this. In the past, I have occasionally had problems getting the spice level right here, but I ordered this medium, and it was just how I wanted it. A bit of heat, but you could still taste the food. And the ginger has its own kind of heat as well, so I had all I needed.

My friend’s pad seuw with beef added was also quite tasty. This is one of hubby’s favorite dishes as well. There are nice wide rice noodles stir-fried with the meat, broccoli and bok choy. It has a nice garlic flavor and has some egg mixed in as well, giving it a creamy sauce. No rice with this one (duh, noodles), but it’s just as filling—maybe even more so. It was also medium, and it was just the right amount of spicy.

All in all, Siam Square is always a great option in the Fountain Square area, and if you’re like me and get strange cravings for ginger-heavy food, this is your place (well, at least for this dish!).

(P.S. What’s up with Naisa? They never seem to be open when I think of going—I’ve heard it's closed indefinitely. Anyone know what’s up?)

Siam Square

936 Virginia Ave

Indy 46203

317/636-8424

www.siamsquareindy.com