The City Market just keeps getting better and better if you ask me. I love what it is turning into, and I love that you can go even on a Saturday and have lots of great lunch options. My daughter and I spend many Saturday lunches there and often when I have something going on downtown during the week, I just stop in myself and grab something. The last couple of times I have been there, I had the opportunity to try one of the newer vendors—Brad Gates Catering. I am very happy to have an outlet to get his food other than having him make it at my house (which is good too, but this way is much more economical). He also has a great cheese selection if you are looking for stuff more interesting than what you can get at the grocery.
His menus change daily and some things are in the rotation frequently and others less so. (I regularly check his daily menus on facebook.) The first time I went in, I was intrigued by the linguine with asparagus and Laughing Bird shrimp scampi ($12). Pasta is a big lunch for me, but it sounded good and I knew hubby would eat the rest later (which he did). It was really tasty—lots of slices of garlic and asparagus pieces that were just about the same size as the shrimp and it had plenty of fresh parmesan too. It was fairly simple, but well done—the shrimp are smallish and sweet and were cooked just right.
The next trip, he had fried chicken ($10). So, well, duh, that was a no brainer for me. I certainly wasn’t passing that up. He gives quite a generous portion for lunch. There was a thigh, a leg and a breast/wing combo that I really liked because he had taken out most of the bone. The chicken was buttermilk marinated giving it a nice tangy flavor under the crust and the breast meat was sort of shockingly juicy. I love fried chicken breasts done well, but it is almost always dry, so I usually only eat the dark meat, but I think this breast was even better than the dark pieces. The skin was nicely seasoned and crispy and I really liked the coarse grits served alongside—I am normally a person who nearly always gets mashed potatoes with fried chicken when given the option, but this was a nice variation because of their texture. There were also collard greens under the chicken with some big hunks of pork—they were good too, although honestly, I was a little more fixated on the chicken. And that was a ton of food for me for lunch.
One of the things I love about the City Market these days is the variety of food you can get there, and Brad’s goes even further offering different options each day which opens up even more possibilities. I have seen many daily specials on the facebook page that I would like to try. So have you guys been yet? What have you had? Brad Gates Catering
Indianapolis City Market
222 East Market Street
Indy 46204
317/445-0105
I really like this place, and have had lunch there a few times... after I realized "catering and events" also offered lunch.
ReplyDeleted scott