Bluebeard - Lunch -Revisit

I was celebrating my friend @wibia’s birthday with him and he chose Bluebeard for lunch (ok, I might have heartily suggested it as well). If you read my blog, you know I am a really big fan of Bluebeard—although lunches there have been a little more mixed for me than dinners.

We split a small roasted beet salad to start ($7). I have said it before, but I think Bluebeard has some of the best salads in town. They do just the right amount of various different ingredients with interesting dressings that are properly balanced and are tossed with the salad. This one had roasted beets, field greens, feta and really crispy fried shallots with a balsamic truffle vinaigrette. Just the right combo of things—and things I wouldn’t normally think of putting together that tasted really good.

I had the shrimp po boy sandwich ($10). I am often lured in by shrimp po boys and I figured Bluebeard would do a good one. They did. It was a nice soft roll that was filled with what they called tempura shrimp, but I’m not sure if I would have said they had the light batter of tempura. They were tasty though, perfectly cooked and tender. They had a nice crunch to them as well. The only thing I wished is that there were a couple more. I didn’t have any left by my last bite. It was topped in the classic po boy style with lettuce, tomato and onion and with a riff on remoulade—pickled red onion remoulade. I really liked the sauce and the sandwich. The potato salad wasn’t bad-it was chopped up fingerlings with a creamy mustard base.

Wibia had the salumi sandwich ($10)—a nice combination of flavors—several types of cured meats (cotto, capicola and mortadella) with a nice olive kick (also red onions and grilled romaine). There was an additional pop of flavor from grainy mustard and aioli. The bread was the denser bread you typically get from Bluebeard and the only thing that was a little weird to me was how charred it was. I have come to realize that the kitchen must do this char thing on purpose because it is very prevalent. It certainly adds a distinctive taste, but for me, is a little overpowering. This particular sandwich has pretty strong flavors so it can hold up ok though.

All in all, it was a very good lunch and Bluebeard remains one of my favorite places for its nuanced flavors. Dinner is a better way to experience those flavors I think, but get a salad and you can always have a great example of them.

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com

Bluebeard - Revisit

Hubby has been hassling me about how I never let him go back to places he likes because I am always making him try new places, so we agreed it was about time to go back to Bluebeard.  Our last meal (lunch) was really good, and just about every meal I have had there has been an improvement on the last one.

It was Saturday and we went early, but it was already really busy.  We got seated right away, but in the front room which doesn’t have the atmosphere of the bar room or the patio.  But you can’t really complain when it is the only table available. I appreciated that the restaurant was one of the few that wasn’t completely freezing inside (I had brought a jacket with me and didn’t have to put it on. Why is it only the times I don’t bring a jacket that I find myself dining in the deep freeze?)  Our waiter was friendly, although it was tough to hear him in that front room—it is quite a bit louder.

We started off with one of their salads--mainly because we were so impressed with the salad last time.  I like that they have a lot of ingredients, great balance and are tossed (hooray!) in an appropriate amount of dressing.  We had the small size of the mixed greens salad ($6) with apples, fingerling potatoes and Point Reyes blue cheese.  It was dressed in champagne vinaigrette. Honestly, I think Bluebeard is doing some of the best, well-balanced salads in Indy.  (As a side note I think Recess/Room 4 does great salads too).  The greens were plentiful enough and the apples were super-thinly sliced. The potatoes were cooked just right (not too firm) and there were nice chunks of the cheese mixed throughout.

We then decided to share the Iberico ham plate ($30) which was a splurge but we were intrigued because it isn’t something you see on menus around town that much.  It was a nice amount of the ham served with whole grain mustard, “red eye” aioli and cornichons (those cute teeny pickles).  There were also some pieces of grilled Amelia’s bread.  The ham was great—I mean it sort of speaks for itself with its rich, salty flavor. It was a little thicker cut than what I have had in the past, but tasty. A little bit of the aioli with it was great with it—so what is “red eye” aioli you ask? (as I did). Well it is made with coffee.  The slightly bitter taste was nice with the bread and the ham. I thought the mustard was just a little strong. It was a fun splurge, although I am not sure I liked it a ton more than I would have liked Bluebeard’s normal charcuterie. I also like the bread here, but I still don’t really care for the really burnt pieces. That flavor overpowers everything it comes into contact with to me.  

For our main dish, we got two of the small plates and the side of spaghetti ($9).  We have had the spaghetti before—I love the creamy rich flavor from crème fraiche and the very lemony flavor from, well, lemon.  There’s a fair amount of Parmesan cheese as well.  It is a great side dish to pair with proteins because even though it is rich, it seems light because of the tangy flavors of the crème fraiche and the lemon.  We also had the grilled octopus ($10), which is one of the quintessential Bluebeard dishes I think.  They do a great job of grilling it perfectly so it stays tender. I loved the flavors that went along with it too—the roasted tomatoes and olives gave it the right amount of salt and acid and the bagna cauda gave it depth from the anchovies and garlic. You certainly get the taste of the sea without feeling like you’re eating anything too fishy.  They do a great job with it—in fact recently a friend had a friend visiting from another state and wanted a good recommendation for somewhere he could eat alone at a bar and get good, unique food. I sent him to Bluebeard and he raved about the octopus.

We also had the foie gras ($15). It was a nice perfectly seared lobe of liver served on top of Bluebeard’s version of green bean casserole. I really enjoyed this dish. It was totally an unexpected combination, but really tasty.  The casserole had creamy green beans with chanterelle mushrooms, duck bacon and was topped with crispy thin fried shallot slices. This was seriously my kind of green bean casserole. It was delicious. The only thing that was maybe slightly overkill was the bacon. It was very strong in flavor (bacon flavor and smoky flavor) and you didn’t want to eat it with the liver or it masked the taste too much. If they did the green bean dish on its own as a side, the bacon is perfect. With the foie gras, I think it was unnecessary. But we ate every single bite.

I have had great desserts at Bluebeard and we decided to go with the spicy chocolate pot de crème.  To be fair, the menu said it was spicy, but wow. This was way over the line for us to be something we can eat. I often talk about how I like spicy as long as it doesn’t ruin the flavor of the food or the experience of eating it. This was a perfect example of exactly that. A little of the chocolate with some of the cooling cream and the little doughnuts served on the side was pretty good when you had the cream and the sugary sweetness to balance it, but once we finished those parts, we couldn’t eat any more. It wasn’t something we considered complaining about, as we knew it was labeled as spicy (we just didn’t realize how serious they meant this) but I was impressed when our waiter noticed we barely touched the chocolate and got us a certificate for a free dessert for next time (we had already paid at this point or he said he would have taken it off the bill).

That was a nice service touch, and I appreciated how friendly our server was. Unfortunately, the overall service was quite choppy and slow. I am not sure if it was just because they were so busy, but the meal didn’t flow as well as the last couple of times I have been there.  Hopefully it was just an off night.

Regardless, I feel like Bluebeard is one of Indy’s best, most interesting restaurants and will continue to recommend it to out of town visitors looking for a place that is unique to Indy.  

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com 

Bluebeard - Revisit

Wow. Hubby and I had a sitter and I really wanted a good meal—not somewhere new and experimental, but just something really good. And we found it. We got to Bluebeard right around 6:00 on a Saturday and it was already hopping. We got one o the last two tops in the front room—and there were already people waiting for larger tables.

We were having a hard time deciding because everything looked so good on the menu but we settled on sharing several things. We started with a small asparagus salad ($8) (they come in two sizes). There was chopped asparagus, fingerling potatoes, lettuce, really thin slices of shallot, tomatoes, slivers of basil and shaved Manchego cheese. All of this is perfectly tossed with a Champagne vinaigrette. Every part of this salad worked perfectly together. The zippy vinaigrette with the buttery cheese and creamy potatoes and the crisp fresh asparagus and lettuce and the slight liquorice taste of the basil were a perfect taste of spring (and early summer). We loved this one and licked the plate clean.

The next course (I loved that they coursed the dishes out even though we ordered everything at once) was one of the small plates—the chicken liver two ways ($12). Wow, was this fantastic as well. I love that they used the chicken liver pate as a thin spread on the toasted bread but then added the chunks of chopped chicken liver on top—it gave it more texture and meatiness than just pate alone. And the livers were cooked in saba-which is a vinegar similar in color and flavor to balsamic. Perfect amount of acid for the buttery liver. That was all topped with some Parmesan and microgreens and a sauce with a touch of lemon I think. We both ohhed and ahhed over this one as well. Again, another clean plate. And honestly, although we both thought we wanted more, this was a perfect plate to share—there were two pieces of bread with the toppings and it was so rich, I don’t know that I could have eaten more.

For our main dishes, we shared the tempura-fried soft shell crab (of course) ($18), the skate wing ($26) and a side of the spaghetti ($10).  We kept worrying that something was going to let us down, but nothing did. The super meaty soft shell crab was fried in a puffy tempura batter and served with Asian-flavored sides. I loved the nori (seaweed) flavored aioli served alongside the crab—it was great to dip the pieces into adding the tangy flavor I like. The marinated carrot and cucumber salad was also fresh and light, with a nice lightly pickled flavor. There was some wasabi tobiko as well if you wanted to add just a touch of heat.

The skate wing was also cooked perfectly (it's served as a large plate on the menu), was a very generous portion for sharing. It was just lightly floured and fried and served atop a serving of sautéed greens. There was pieces of grilled scallions and tomatoes in there too and some big hunks of bacon. The dish was served with the perfect lemon butter sauce that had just enough acid. The chunks of bacon added a salty rich component as well. The skate was so tender it pretty much melted in your mouth.

The spaghetti is one of our standard sides. Most of the Bluebeard plates don’t include much, if any, starch on the plate, so we always feel justified in ordering it as a side. It’s fairly simple—done with crème fraiche and gremolata (an herb/lemon zest blend) giving it again, the perfect marrying of rich and tangy.  Honestly, I know I have said this throughout this post, but this balance that I love so much is one of the things that makes Bluebeard’s food so refined. They know how to pull off this balance perfectly. This is the one thing that differentiates good restaurants from great ones. Bluebeard is one of Indy’s great ones.

Even though we had eaten a lot already, we were lured in by the browned butter chocolate chip cookies ($6)(and some dessert wine). The cookies were also really good with lots of dark chocolate chips mixed into a batter that definitely had a bit more nutty flavor from the brown butter. Loved the sprinkle of sea salt as well. They were served with a side of espresso cream which to be honest was a little strong for me and kind of detracted from the cookie flavor. We left a lot of it.

I’ve said it before, but we’re very lucky to have a restaurant like Bluebeard in Indy. They are doing great, creative food and I am glad to see Indy continue to embrace it. Our service was spot on all night and paced exactly right. There is no pretension from the staff either (which I hate to say is often a problem around town). This is a restaurant that deserves to be packed, and every time I go, I am happy to see that it is.

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com 

Bluebeard- Revisit - Lunch

I met my friend Suzanne for a slightly late birthday lunch at Bluebeard. It’s been awhile since I have eaten at Bluebeard for lunch, so it was nice to go back. The hard part is not ordering everything on the menu—so I let her choose and we split both items.

The first item was the Canadian bacon sandwich ($10), which had Canadian bacon, spinach cream cheese, garlic mayo, roasted red peppers, arugula and red onions served on Amelia’s Pullman toast. There was a lot going on in this sandwich, but it was extremely tasty. I really enjoyed the softness of the bread, even though it was also nicely toasted. The cream cheese and aioli added a kick of acidity. My only knock on it was the bacon was very fatty, which maybe some people like, but it gives it a bit too rubbery of a taste sometimes for me. I just pulled off some (not all) of the fat and really enjoyed it.

Bluebeard is sourcing their meats from the new Turchetti’s down the street (I overheard the waiter telling this to another table). It’s exciting to see a new local business featured in a restaurant like Bluebeard.

We also were feeling indulgent and got the loaded fries ($14), which were extremely good and extremely bad for the diet. But whatever. There was Mornay sauce, cheese, bacon and of course lots of crispy fries. Oh and a sunny egg on top. The Mornay sauce though—damn, it was so good. It wasn’t just pure flat and rich, it had an edge to it that made it completely addicting.

Bluebeard is a solid choice you guys, even for lunch. It feels like a nice grown up place, and isn’t so crowded that you have to wait to get it for lunch. And you know you want to eat those fries.

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com 

Bluebeard - Revisit

Just a friendly reminder about all the wonderful restaurants we have in Indy—so today I am reminding you about Bluebeard. One of our best, and a place to revisit again and again. Hubby chose it for Father’s Day, and we were all happy to oblige.

With the kids we always have to start with a small bread plate ($5) and chips and dip ($6). Not that I am complaining, because both are always good. And when we were there, the rotating flavored butter (they seem to always have the anchovy and the garlic olive oil as well as one other changing flavor) was guanciale cheddar butter and it was delicious. I mean pork, cheese and butter? How could it be bad? And I like it better than fruity options, which are sometimes too sweet for me. The Bluebeard version of chips and French onion dip is also delicious. And I was excited to see they have switched out their homemade potato chips from being fingerlings, which were good, but so skinny they broke off too easy. They are using regular potatoes now and they were heartier and super good.

Hubby and I split the salmon poke boat ($18), which was super cute, as it actually came in a little boat, and tasted just as good. It was salmon, cucumber, toasted sesame and wakame (a type of seaweed) marinated in a dark soy yuzu sauce and served on top of rice. Crunchy fried shallots garnished the top.  We really enjoyed this dish—it had lots of flavor and nice texture variation with the fish and the shallots. And the more poke I see on menus, the happier I am.

Hubby celebrated by ordering the bucket of prawns ($42), which was sort of like an ode to Red Lobster, but with actual fresh, delicious seafood. There were a bunch of peel ‘n eat prawns, and these were some of the best I have had in Indy. Super big, but exceptionally tender. Dip them in the miso butter, and they were perfect. We had to force him to share, and we all wanted them. There were hunks of Andouille sausage in there as well. And the side dish of cheddar bay biscuits? More fights broke out over them, because cheese biscuits are the best biscuits. This was an excellent, yet simple dish.

I ordered the halibut tacos for my main dish and these were just as good as hubby’s shrimp (and I was much more generous about sharing). There were battered pieces of fish at the bottom of each tortilla and they were topped with this deep rich adobo type sauce. There were some lightly pickled onions in there as well as some jalapeno slices on top. I would happily eat these again any day.

My son ordered a skirt steak, which he didn’t really care for that much, and it wasn’t our favorite dish of the evening. He was a little miffed at hubby for convincing him to order it instead of the halibut that he had his eyes on at first. And I will say, the beef dishes at Bluebeard are never my favorites either. Go with something more interesting and it will be more satisfying.

Hubby had to have his chess pie; something that Bluebeard has had on the menu pretty much since the beginning. It was good as always, and has even been perfected to be a bit easier to eat because the crust is a bit flakier. My son wanted a dessert that had nuts in the crust, so he couldn’t get it. The staff was kind enough to bring him a complimentary bread pudding to eat, which was quite nice as well. They do a nice job with desserts here, and they are more homey in nature than super fancy.

Bluebeard is a staple in Indy and is consistently good. So just a gentle (somewhat selfish) reminder to keep going there and supporting them to make sure they stay around. We’re lucky to have them. 

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com 

Bluebeard, once again

A couple of trips to Bluebeard lately are reminders of how lucky we are to have such a continually inventive and good restaurant in Indy. 

A highlight from one trip was the rabbit confit-type dish with fried chicken livers on top. You know I love fried chicken livers and these were delicious. Also great? The oysters Rockefeller they do (they are often on the menu and you should really get them. The oysters are so good, and the toppings divine. My son liked them so much we had to get a second order. 

chicken livers et al

oysters

My daughter ordered quail and would only give me a tiny bite. Loved the little bit of thigh that I had. Hubby and I shared the Bluebeard version of ramen and I might just say, it was possibly more flavorful and interesting than most of the bowls of ramen I have had around town.  The big slab of pork belly helped the flavor along, as did the perfect soft egg, but really it was the broth that made it so good. My only complaint was the bowl it was in wasn’t big enough, making it a challenge to eat.

quail

ramen

Another visit had me loving the cool salmon crudo ($16). I’ve had mixed experiences with crudos at Bluebeard, but this one with pickled and grilled ramps, a bit of asiago biscuit, orange olive oil, hollandaise and fried shallots had me won over. It had a good bit of tartness and the salmon was melty soft.

salmon crudo

scallops

cauliflower

The bay scallop and Arborio gratin was also really good (and something I’ve never seen before) ($18). It was small but mighty with its richness—there were little scallops mixed with bits of cauliflower, spring garlic, Gruyere cheese, and horseradish Parmesan cream and truffle breadcrumbs on top. This was wonderful. It was better as an accompaniment to other things, because the scallops were almost a purely textural element, but yummy. Speaking of cauliflower, the roasted cauliflower with anchovy, caper, mint, Parmesan and sunflower seeds was also a great side. Bluebeard knows how to roast veggies.

chopped livers

truffled egg toast

The chopped livers dish ($14) was a bit heavy on the pork liver and was a touch strong for us. The chicken livers in the dish were great, but the pork livers overpowered everything. If the same dish (bread, vinegar, rams and whipped cheese) were done with just the chicken livers, it would be spectacular. Also, while I have loved the truffled egg toast ($26) in the past, this time it was just too bready. I did appreciate the morels and the runny egg though. I really miss the version they did once with bread and light and fluffy truffled scrambled eggs. Wonder if they ever do that one anymore? 

pork belly

The Mexican-style pork belly ($18) was tasty and I like the crunchy bits served alongside it, but I don’t know, maybe I am just getting to be over pork belly. It’s a little overused these days I think and it rarely seems to blow my mind anymore.

          

I feel like there are always several truly winning dishes each and every time I eat at Bluebeard, and then a couple that are solidly good, but not as amazing. But I will take that kind of consistency any day. And now that the outside patio is open, and they have an additional dining room inside that isn’t in the bar, there is less of a wait the last few times I have come, which I also appreciate. This is a place I always want to go, and a place where I always know I am going to have a good meal. Oh and chess pie, I'm pretty much always having the chess pie.

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com 

Bluebeard - Revisit

Ok, another quickie Thursday post…. about Bluebeard. It was my daughter’s birthday and her choice (I am raising these kids right obviously).

When it’s her choice, we always get the bread plate ($4). She’s a carb fiend. The bread plate at Bluebeard is always good and this time I was pleased to find the anchovy butter a little less strong than usual. It was delightful. Also sauerkraut and mustard butter, although I did kind of miss a sweet choice.

Also, Crab Rangoon ($14) at Bluebeard? Yes please. Loved they offered two sauces—one being soy and Sriracha based (the other a lemongrass sweet and sour). I always eat my Rangoons with soy.

And octopus? Well Bluebeard never screws it up. How come it can be so god awful chewy some places and so perfectly tender at others? It always is done right here. Served on grilled bread with bagna cauda (a garlic and anchovy type spread). 

They were obviously featuring king crab on the menu in a couple ways, and my son was thrilled to have it as an option for dinner ($26). They even took the shells off. I thought it was great, but he wished it was warm. The waffle fries and curried ketchup on the side? A tad addicting.

My daughter chose the lasagna ($26). Ridiculously huge. This portion could feed a family of four. Made with lamb, it was interesting although probably the least favorite item of the evening. It just didn’t wow us.

I had an interesting “lobster” roll made with monkfish ($18). It was also unique—sort of a deconstructed lobster roll. I really liked it with the pickles on it and the curried lobster remoulade.

But the star of the evening was the bucatini ($18) with a poached egg, ham, sweet potato, zucchini, pearl onions and Parmesan in a carbonara sauce. That my friends, was one of the best pastas I have eaten in Indy in years. Maybe ever. Seriously, you ever see that on the menu, order it. We fought over it.

There were desserts too… also good. This place is solid. So nice to have such a reliably good place to eat in this town.

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com

Bluebeard -Revisit

Some good friends of ours are getting ready to move away (sad face) and had never been to Bluebeard, so hubby and I decided we needed to remedy that situation. We were also going to a concert downtown, so we needed to eat early, which is sort of ideal when you are going to Bluebeard since they don’t take reservations and usually get pretty crowded any time after 6:00.

Since they had never been before, we started with the bread plate—the small size ($4). It’s always a good choice. Slices of whatever Amelia’s bread they’re featuring that night plus various spreads. This night was almond butter, garlic oil and anchovy butter. I like them all, although I find the anchovy butter just a little too strong. I like anchovies, but this stuff is intense.

We also started with a large Caesar salad ($15) because it’s one of hubby’s favorites. It isn’t your classic Caesar, other than it is tossed with Caesar vinaigrette. They use romaine and frisee and add onion, tomato, basil, parmesan and duck confit. It’s a really good salad, and the duck is super tender and adds heft to the salad.

We just decided to continue with sharing, so we all ordered a bunch of stuff and split it. Everything was good, but I am thinking my favorite item of the evening was the Banh Mi. There was pork belly, Sriracha aioli, pickles carrots and cucumbers, cilantro, and jalapeno on a brioche bun. It was such a great combo of flavors—and had more going on than a lot of traditional banh mi. I liked the addition of the Sriracha to the mayo to give it a bit more heat, and I liked that they put a decent amount of it on the sandwich so it was really moist. The bun was nice and soft, but held up to everything. They also added some little fried bits of shallot, which gave a nice addition of crunch that was different from the crunch of the pickled vegetables. A really great sandwich. I wonder if they offer it for lunch.

We also had the pasta with Bolognese ($26). Usually this is done at Bluebeard with papardelle, but this time they used a different shape of pasta that was sort of a spiral, like a snail shell. I think their Bolognese has nice flavor with fennel and basil and I have always thought it was done well. I still don’t get that excited about it, but it is a crowd pleaser and an easy and plentiful dish to share, and it’s almost always on the menu.

We shared the truffle egg toast ($16) as well, which is a perennial favorite with hubby and me. They change it up regularly, but I have had a similar version before. They give you a big hunk of Pullman bread that has an egg cooked in the middle of it—then there’s cheese on top and whipped St. Andre cheese underneath and then there were peas, mushrooms and bits of crumbled pistachio. And of course, there’s truffle oil in there too. I love this dish because, well, eggs.. I like that they often have some variation of it on the menu, and I nearly always order it. It’s rich for sure, but in all the best ways.

We also shared the halibut ($18) and enjoyed it as well. I really like the way they added morcilla sausage to the dish. I’m a fan of seafood and sausage combinations—adding depth and salt to the seafood. There was also a bunch of veg on the plate, rounding it out as well. I particularly liked the lemon and capers added, because you know me, I like some acid and some salt with just about everything. It was a solid dish, even if the fish were just a tad on the overdone side for me.

We split a piece of chess pie for dessert, and it tasted really good—it’s almost like a sugar cream pie but a bit richer. The crust tasted really good, although it was really hard to cut through—like maybe it had been sitting a day or two. But everyone really enjoyed it.

I have recently heard some complaints about the service at Bluebeard, but I have pretty much always found it to be efficient and knowledgeable. It may be a bit brusque at times, but I just assume that’s because they’re so busy. I still think it is easily one of the top five restaurants in Indy.

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com