Garrett's Smokehouse Barbecue

I noticed this place while driving by it a few times—it isn’t too far from my house and of course, always on the quest for good barbecue, I was intrigued.  I asked around and no one had been there, so of course that just made me more intrigued.  So the other night we had some friends over and ordered carry out (no booze in the place).

turkey ribs

Naturally we had to get lots of different stuff—here’s what I tried: the pulled pork sandwich ($5.50), the half chicken ($5.50), the pulled chicken sandwich ($5.25), the ribs ($10 for half slab) and the turkey ribs ($7.00 for 3).  Also, we had several sides—I ate the mac and cheese and the potato salad ($2 for small, $5.50 for large).  And no, I didn’t order all that for me, I just tried a lot of other people’s food.

The best things were the bone-in smoked meats.  I really thought the flavor of the dark meat pieces of chicken was outstanding—the meat was pink with smoke and had a great smoky flavor.  The breast suffered a bit from being dried out though.  The spare ribs were good too—very smoky and tender—not fall off the bone and not so tough to get off that you had to gnaw on them.  The right amount of give.  The turkey was interesting—I have never had turkey ribs before.  They were good too—similar in their tenderness to the spare ribs and seemed to have been marinated in seasoning even more. Nice smoke flavor.

We got all our sauces on the side—they do sweet, mild and hot.  I started with the mild and stuck with it—it actually had a decent amount of heat to it which I appreciated. Usually I am torn about what sauce to get because the mild is too mild.  But maybe because they have the sweet, they do the mild with a little more spice.  It had a little vinegar taste to it too which I liked. Dipping that chicken thigh in the sauce was the best part of the meal.

Sadly, the meat that wasn’t on the bone (the pulled pork and the pulled chicken) were the weakest links I thought.  The pork was very dry and kind of stringy.  Sure, drown it in sauce, and it was ok, but I wouldn’t go this route here.  I like bigger chunks of pork in my pulled pork.  The chicken seemed to be the half chicken a day or two later and pulled off the bone.  Pretty dry.  The best of the sides I had was the potato salad—the adults universally seemed to like it.  It was old style with plenty of mustard and maybe some sweet pickles?  The mac and cheese wasn’t bad either—clearly homemade but not overly creamy—more dry than many, but I still enjoyed it.

Hubby picked up the food and said it was doing a decent pick up business when he went and that he really liked the people working there (apparently the lady packing the orders told him straight away that he was early and would have to wait—he enjoyed her attitude I think).

You know, it wasn’t blow your mind, but it was the best of what I have had around our house so far (not the best in Indy I have had, but the best within a 5 mile radius of my house).  I liked the sauce, and I liked some of the meat.  Worth another go anyhow.

Garrett’s Smokehouse Barbecue

5502 Emerson Way

Indy  IN 46226

317/722-0506

www.garrettssmokehousebbq.com

First Watch

One of the few types of restaurants my entire family can agree on is breakfast places.  My kids like breakfast food and so do hubby and I. So of course, with a new place right by our house, we had to give it a go.  It is a chain, but hey, it’s new, and sometimes you just take what you can get you know?

So it was Sunday, pre-church letting out time, and we walked in without waiting more than a couple of minutes (we even got one of the 3-4 tables outside because, shocker, it was FREEZING inside the place). I will say, the staff has been well trained and are extremely friendly and professional.  Both the host and our server were on top of exactly what was going on. 

So, to be honest, my favorite, and standard, breakfast fare is classic bacon and eggs, potatoes and toast—and of course they offer that here but the menu seems to focus more heavily on variations of omelets and other variations on the egg theme.  In fact, there were so many other options that both hubby and I varied from our usual and got something different. I really liked the heavy amount of avocado making an appearance on the menu (sandwich places, you will usually be written off by me if there is no avocado anywhere on the menu) and I went with something featuring it, the “chickichanga” ($8 ish).  It was basically a breakfast burrito that is supposedly filled with chicken, chorizo, whipped eggs, two kinds of cheese, onions, green chilies and avocado.  There was a substantial amount of chicken, and avocado, and even cheese—but as far as the rest of the ingredients—especially the egg—it was hard to find much of it. It tasted pretty good  (I mean, I like chicken, avocado and cheese) but for breakfast, I was looking for something a little more eggy.  I had the “vera cruz” sauce on the side (I have my doubts about sauces like this at a breakfast place), but it actually wasn’t bad.  It had a nice tangy tomato base and added a bit of juiciness that you needed (there was also some sour cream that helped).  I was glad I didn’t get it on top though, because it would have made the tortilla soggy.  If I had it again (and not sure whether I would), I would certainly get it on the side. Oh, the potatoes on the plate? Complete filler in my opinion.  They were cubed and had no discernible crispy bits, which is what I want in a breakfast potato.  I had one or two and stopped eating them.  Definite room for improvement here.  There was also a little bowl of fruit on the side of a couple of our dishes.  It was fine but the thing that freaked me out was that they were all arranged with the exact same fruit in the exact same way in all of them.  How do they do that?  (I have visions of a fruit assembly line where each person has responsibility for their pieces of fruit.)

Hubby had a special that was basically biscuits and gravy with 2 eggs cooked to order and a hunk of sausage link on top.  The individual ingredients weren’t bad—the eggs were cooked exactly how they should be and the biscuits had a nice crispy buttery texture and flavor—but the sausage was dry and tough and the gravy was just okay (an example of why I don’t get gravy very often—nothing special here).  You’d be better off with just some eggs and biscuits and some meat on the side.

Honestly, I would say the meat is one of the weak links here (no pun intended).  The kids had bacon with their kids meals (one had eggs and bacon, the other a chocolate chip pancake, all $4.49) and while they seemed fine with it, I just couldn’t get much flavor from it.  Maybe I am becoming jaded with all the wonderful bacon options out there, but this was weak.  And not really crisp at all.

The orange juice was good—tasted fresh and pulpy (much to my son’s chagrin) and they leave a pot of coffee on the table which made hubby happy. And like I said, the staff was very friendly and professional.  It was breakfast, and it was ok.  I am sure at some point I will end up here again, but can’t say I will be rushing back anytime soon.

First Watch

3309 East 86^th Street

Indy 46240

317/643-9792

www.firstwatch.com

Keystone Sports Review

I keep randomly hearing about this place from different people recommending different things (and all warning me about the smoke).  I finally got around to checking it out with my friend wibia for lunch the other day (hubby cannot tolerate smoke at all).  So some people told me about the pizza, some the wings with blue cheese, and others just the place in general. So I tried to hit as many highlights as possible.

I thought it was awesome that they had fresh, homemade fried mushrooms on the menu (I love them so, but so rarely are they actually made fresh) so we shared a half order of them with blue cheese on the side (see, getting to try the blue cheese too) ($3.75).  I liked them.  It is a beer batter, and while not as sort of puffy as I normally sort of think of when I order something beer battered, it was tasty—there was some decent seasoning in there.  They were really super hot though (as in, temperature). Wowza.  The blue cheese was good—the sauce part was lighter than a lot of them (more sour cream in the ratio perhaps) and there were some nice chunks of blue cheese in it.  Kind of hard to dip the mushrooms into though, because of all the hunks of cheese—you sort of had to scoop some on top of the mushroom.

A couple of people have also mentioned their pizza to me when I go on one of my frequent pizza kicks—so I thought I needed to try it.  Besides, it isn’t far from my house; I could probably add it to the carry out rotation if I wanted.  I got the small (as in personal sized) pizza with mushrooms and red onions (my standard combo, especially with thin crust pizza) (about $4.75).  Ehhh, I don’t know—the toppings were good and they put the right amount on there, but the crust was really pretty soggy.  It was really honestly hard to tell if this could be a good pizza because the middle was so soft.  The flavors were fine—there was nothing that was putting me off the rest of it, just nothing that wowed me about it either.  To be fair, hubby did heat up the rest of it later in the toaster oven and got it nice and crisp and thought it was pretty good (although like I said, he subscribes to the theory that there is no bad pizza, only better pizza).

Wibia had a special club sandwich, only made with a fried pork tenderloin patty in place of the ham (nice idea huh?).  I always find club sandwiches kind of goofy because they are so big, and I just tried a bit of the tenderloin part—it was very good. Not too thin, not too fat, and still decently moist. It was the same batter as was on the mushrooms as well.  I think we agreed that fried stuff is probably the way to go here—they do a nice job with it. I think a regular pork tenderloin would probably be a better bet, and easier to eat, but the club was an interesting take on it.

I have to say, I was a little intimidated to walk in the place just because I had no idea what to expect—there are all these vertical blinds sort of haphazardly covering the window, and honestly, it didn’t look like a place that I would think, “hey! Let’s go there!”  But as soon as someone mentions to me that something might be good to eat, I am willing to go just about anywhere. I would hate to think I am missing out on something.  And actually when you walked in, it is a pretty normal place—a bar in the back and a bunch of booth in the front.  The server was really nice and attentive and she refilled our drinks whenever she noticed they were low.  The downside of this place is definitely the smoking.  Everyone in there was smoking except for us.  I did have the good sense to at least sit at the table next to the open front door, but it still was the worst part of the experience.  But I guess as of June 1^st, pretty much all bars will be smoke free so if you are thinking about giving this place a try, I would just wait til then.  Although, I would be interested to see if their business changes after the smoking ban passes.  Anyhow, who has been there? What do you like to eat there?

Keystone Sports Review

5602 North Keystone Avenue

Indy 46220

317/251-9902

http://www.keystonesportsreview.com/

City Market Dinner

This isn’t exactly my regular type of post, but I wanted to let you all in on something I have been working on for the last couple of months—an idea from Brad Gates that we talked about back in February when he was dropping off our annual Valentine’s Day dinner.  This past Saturday, I helped to organize what I hope with be the first of many market dinners at the City Market downtown.

We kept it fairly small for the initial attempt. I invited several people I know and several of you I feel like I know through the blog.  There were about 30 of us and we sat upstairs at large tables at the market and enjoyed food from Brad Gates Catering, Circle City Soups and Sweets, Fermenti Artisan, and pastry chef Pete Schmutte.   

Photos courtesy of Brown Sugar Meatloaf

I love the fact that we got to sit in an historic Indianapolis building eating local seasonal food prepared by market chefs—and we tried to keep the price reasonable at $45 per person.  We wanted the dinner to be accessible to lots of people in terms of price and formality.  I think people genuinely enjoyed themselves and it was great to interact with both old and new friends.

Dinner started with cheese and various pickled veggies.  The next course was homemade beet pasta with housemade salmon pastrami and a fennel cream sauce. The main course was bison medallions topped with cabbage, favas, pea shoots and a Vidallia onion demi glace and a baby root vegetable pot pie topped with Capriole farms goat cheese. Dessert was a lovely chocolate namelaka with passion fruit ganache (with lots more to it). The dessert was almost too pretty to eat.  Almost.  We were also treated to a plate of various flavors of macaroons and even more cheese. 

The dinner was even better than I hoped for food-wise, the setting completely casual, and it was great to bring various Indy food loving people together over a meal.  I know the market vendors hope to make these types of dinners recurring events and that is why I am doing this post.  I want to help them compile an email list for future dinners of anyone who might be interested in attending that I can pass along to them (and also for purely selfish reasons—I want to attend more of them myself!)  When they’re announced, the menu and the price are set (and payment is made in advance).  If you are interested in being included in the mailing list for future dinners, please leave me your contact information in a comment below (or if you were there, let me know what you thought about it) or email me at erininindy@gmail.com.  I can’t wait for the next one and I can’t wait to meet more of you!

***Special thanks to Brown Sugar Meatloaf for having the good sense to take some proper photos (I took a couple, but hers are so much prettier).  The photos here are her work. 

Brad Gates Catering

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/445-0105

www.bradgatescatering.com

Circle City Sweets

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/632-3644

www.circlecitysweets.com

Circle City Soups

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/956-2395

Fermenti Artisan

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/493-1652

www.facebook.com/fermentiartisan

Pete Schmutte

Pastry Chef

Pete.schmutte@gmail.com

Movable Feast

So this place is right by my house and for some reason, I just haven’t been in.  There seems to be something about proximity to my house that makes me not go to places, not sure why.  One of my good friends, and my Pilates trainer, is a little obsessed with this place and eats there several times a week—so maybe that is why I haven’t eaten there, too worried it might be too healthy. (Only kidding. Well, sort of.)  Anyhow, I managed to actually get there a couple of times in the last couple of weeks, so I have included both visits in this post.

The first time I stopped in and grabbed lunch the other day after seeing some discussion on twitter about a crab melts ($6).  For some reason, that just sounded appealing to me that day, even though I am normally somewhat suspicious of crab items not sold in a seafood restaurant.  And it wasn’t what I was expecting (I was expecting some sort of crab something with a piece of cheese melted on top), but it was pretty darn tasty (apparently there is a loyal following for the sandwich).  It was multigrain bread (nice bread by the way) with this crab salad kind of mix with several kinds of cheese, but mixed in, as well as some seasoning—Old Bay type flavors maybe? I am not totally sure. It was warm, and it was filling, but not ridiculously large—you know, it was a normal sandwich size (is there such a thing anymore?). I can see how people become attached.

I also had a cup of the chicken spring roll soup.  I had no idea going in what this was going to be, but I was intrigued by the name.  I wasn’t as much of a fan of the soup, but it was unique.  It was a chicken broth type base with lots of shredded cabbage and onions and noodles made of Asian mushroom pasta.  Honestly, wasn’t exactly sure what they were made of when I first tasted the noodles, and there was something about the texture of them that put me off (they were a little too dense).  But I love a place that makes interesting kinds of soups in flavors other than tomato basil (is it just me or do you want to scream when you hear that is the soup of the day?).

On my second visit, I went with the sandwich special of the day as well.  It was Cajun chicken with guacamole and cheddar cheese on multi-grain bread ($6).  It was good—very warm and comforting.  The chicken was nicely spiced with Cajun seasonings—but it wasn’t too hot.  The chicken itself was cut into smaller slices/chunks which I really, really appreciate.  I hate a chicken sandwich that is a whole chicken breast on bread.  Here’s why: a) they are always, always dry and overcooked (impossible to get it cooked all the way through and not dry it out); b) there isn’t enough seasoning because it is only on the outside; and c) they end up so fat, they are hard to eat.  This was done just right, with bite sized pieces that were all well seasoned and tender.  The guacamole is homemade and was really fresh (easy to see if guac has been sitting around too long). My only complaint is it could have used a little more seasoning in it.  Not that I mind just avocado—it is one of my favorite foods. And they were very generous with it.  The sandwich was warm and the cheese was nicely melted.  And again, it was a properly sized portion (in my opinion).

I got a side of potato salad with it and it was unique and tasted good.  I like the way they don’t use mayo, but yogurt I believe, and it had a nice dill flavor.  The sauce had more of a tangy flavor than potato salad usually does and I liked that.  The potato chunks were also cooked right—not hard and not overly mushy.  They also gave me a bite of the chicken salad to try and it was similar in flavor—same sort of yogurt type base with some crunch from some celery and similar dill flavor.  I liked it and would try a whole chicken salad entrée from there based on my bite.  And I am normally not a chicken salad person (no fruit in mine please). I also tried a chocolate chip cookie ($1) that was just as they should be when you make them at home—gooey and soft.

The food is homemade and you can tell.  I can see how you could easily eat here a lot because it is so comforting. There are unique touches in what they are doing but it also feels very familiar at the same time. It's like what you might make yourself if you had some time (and some talent).  Not super complicated and fairly healthy, but also with thoughts toward making the flavors a little more than your usual chicken salad or whatever. And the portions (and prices) are right—the bread tastes good but doesn’t overwhelm the stuff inside it. The couple that runs it is very nice and friendly.  You can see why the place has been around for 14 years—good comfort food at a decent price.  And in an area with not so many good options for lunch.  Have you guys been?

Movable Feast

5741 East 71^st Street

Indy 46220

317/577-9901

Pancho's

The other day, I needed a quick lunch and stopped into Pancho’s based on the fact that I have heard a lot of good things about it ever since I started writing this blog.  I got two tacos—one fish and one pastor and a side of chips (you have to order them additionally) (with a soda it was around $7).  You order at the register, but then they prepare the food and call your number when it’s done.  Then there is a salsa bar where you can doctor up your food to your taste.  There is much more than salsa there though—although there are several different kinds ranging in spiciness.  The bar also includes chopped onions, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, pico de gallo and a tasty avocado crema.

My favorite item was probably the fish taco actually—it was sliced deep fried fish in two soft corn tortillas.  That was pretty much it as far as the way they served it.  I added cilantro and onions and a ton of lime and some of the avocado crema.  It was seriously good with all my added flavor.  I really liked the crunch from the fish (which was also quite hot and fresh) and the tortillas were great—warm and soft, but didn’t fall apart when you ate them.  I could go back and get another one of these right now I think.

The pastor was also good.  And in this taco they give you a ton more meat than in the fish taco.  The small dice of pork was well seasoned throughout and had been sautéed a bit to give it all a little crispy edge.  An interesting component to this one was that there were also some sautéed onions in the mix as well as tiny dices of sautéed pineapple which I have never had in a taco before (and apparently based on some quick research, is often included as a part of the traditional marinade/accompaniments for pastor).  While pineapple is not traditionally my favorite flavor, I enjoyed the slightly sweet/slightly sour acidic flavor with the savory and tender pork pieces.  And I really liked that they were so small that they didn’t overwhelm the taste of everything together (which I think pineapple can pretty easily do).  The bits were firm, almost as firm as the pork, and the same size.  It really made for an interesting combo.  I also added raw onions and cilantro as well as a bit of the green salsa from the bar.  Like I said, this one had a lot more meat to it—so much that it spilled out from the taco quite a bit.

I liked the chips just okay.  I appreciated that they are frying their own and they had that kind of bubbly texture to them, but they needed to be salted for one (which I did), but they really just didn’t seem to have anything exciting going for them.  Maybe it was partly because I got a bowl of the mild salsa (which was very mild) to dip them into and I probably should’ve gone with a spicier one.  They also were a little too greasy—many of the chips still had visibly shiny oil on them.  They certainly give you a generous amount of them though.

There are a lot of interesting things on the menu and I know a lot of you guys like this place.  So tell me what you order when you go there.

Pancho’s

9658 Allisonville Road

Fishers, IN 46250

317/585-8427

http://www.panchosmexicantaqueria.com/

Papa Roux - City Market

Continuing in my quest to try new things at the City Market, on this particular day we got a catfish po boy from Papa Roux.  I have reviewed them before at their main location, and hubby and I had both quite enjoyed it.  The menu at the City Market is more limited (no shrimp po boy, boo!), but ultimately that was good because it forced me to try something new this time.

We got the catfish po boy with a side of the mushroom étouffée ($10.50).  I like the way you get a side included with every sandwich (not that you will be needed more food, but nice to get to try something else).  The thing I really like about Papa Roux sandwiches is the combination of flavors you get from your filling, the “vouxdoux” mayo and the cole slaw.  Especially the mayo.  It has a nice tangy flavor to it with just a little bit of heat and some nice spiciness (think like Old Bay seasoning).  Although the dressing of the cole slaw is probably part of the tanginess—there’s some vinegar to it.  The catfish itself is pan fried and was pretty juicy.  Although, just one filet seemed a little small for the huge bun.  I mean, it reached end to end, but the ratio of meat to bread was a little off.

Which brings me to the part of the sandwich I didn’t particularly like—the bread.  Not that it tasted bad, but the bun was so thick, I felt like if you ate it together, you could barely taste anything but the bread.  We figured out a solution and just took the top bun off and folded the bottom one around the fish.  This was a much better ratio although made us miss out on a lot of the dressing and slaw (we scraped it off the top bun and added it to the part we ate as much as possible).

The mushroom étouffée was a little too bland for us—honestly, I think there were one or two mushrooms in there and a sort of cheesy sauce and rice.  But what was missing was flavor.  If I had some hot sauce (we were already upstairs at this point) I would have doctored it up…but I wouldn’t get this particular side again. Hubby really wished we had stuck with beans and rice.

I do like the flavor combinations on the po boys at papa roux—I have yet to try one of the more Hoosier-style ones (pork tenderloin etc) but I would be interested to hear what you guys like.  And it won’t be long until I have eaten everywhere at the City Market (a girl’s gotta have goals).

Papa Roux

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/ 603-9861

www.paparouxindy.com

Kona Jack's - Revisit

So the other night we were trying to figure out a place that we could meet everyone in my family’s random cravings at the moment and decided to give Kona Jack’s another try for dinner. We have been there for dinner a long time ago, way before blogging and I have reviewed it before for lunch (and have been a few other times for lunch as well).   And if you saw my post about the fish market, you will see it is a place I frequent quite a bit, even if not for a meal there (most of the fish that we cook at home comes from Kona Jack’s).

I wanted sushi-ish kind of food and went with a couple things from that part of the menu—the tuna tartare (have I mentioned that I have a slight addiction to good tuna tartar?) ($12) and the shrimp tempura roll ($9).  The tuna tartar was just how I liked it—lightly seasoned with soy, ginger, green onions, fine shreds of radish and cilantro.  They served it with crispy wonton chips.  It was a lot like my all time favorite tartar from H2O Sushi, only a larger dice of fish.  The fish was impeccably fresh (as you would hope from such a place). It is a pretty generous portion and even though hubby ate some of it, I didn’t finish it all.

I enjoyed the roll too—I just wanted something simple and fairly small since I was getting the tartar.  It fit the bill well—it was shrimp tempura and avocado wrapped in soy paper (which is how I tend to prefer it and how they serve this roll) with a drizzle of “kona” sauce and a drizzle of eel sauce.  The kona sauce was like a spicy mayo and the eel sauce is a slightly sweet soy-based sauce.  There was just enough of it for each piece and I liked that the pieces were not so big that it was hard to eat in one bite.  The bad part of my meal, which carried through a lot of the evening, was that the service was pretty slow. Our server was super nice and apologetic, but the food took quite a long time to get. Unfortunately, this left the tempura shrimp a little less than crunchy. The rolls would have been so much better if we had gotten them immediately after they were made.

Unfortunately, this was true for hubby and my son’s dinner as well, which was a surf and turf combo with filet and king crab legs ($45) (they split it).  The steak was actually really pretty good considering it’s a seafood place, and was perfectly medium rare, which was also pretty amazing considering it had sat a little too long too I think.  The crab, which they cut in half length-wise, was a little dried out because of this as well.  Not that this stopped my son from eating every bite (hubby had to fight him to get some of it).  It also came with a soup or salad and hubby got the clam chowder.  It was pretty good clam chowder and I am kind of particular about clam chowder.  Way too many large hunks of carrot for my taste, but the flavor was good—not too runny with some nice chunks of clam and potato.

Overall, the meal was disappointing because of the fact that it took so long and so clearly had been sitting a little too long before it got served to us.  If it had been delivered quickly, it probably would have been a really good meal (especially for me—I really liked the flavors of what I ordered). The restaurant was really busy, but when I asked if that was unusual we were told, no, not really.  And when I have been in at lunch time, it always seems to have a decent crowd so I think they are fairly used to being busy. We did stop at the fish market on our way out a pick up some nice trout that we had for dinner the following night, which turned out quite well if I do say so myself.  We will certainly return at some point, but not sure I will get hubby back there for awhile anyway. 

Kona Jack’s

9419 North Meridian Street

Indy   46260

317/843-1609

www.konajacksindy.com

MacNiven's

The other night when we were off to see Snow Patrol at the Egyptian Room, it only seemed appropriate to give MacNiven’s a try, given that the band resides in Scotland (even though I think they are all Irish, but whatever) and MacNiven’s is a Scottish bar.  Ok, really we just wanted to try the place, but seemed like a good tie in (and check this out, I even drank beer while I was there).

Because so often when I go to a place like this, that seems to have a loyal following, I often get yelled at after writing a review for not ordering the “right” thing.  While I still maintain that if it is on the menu, it should be good, I can appreciate that certain places have certain things that may excel above others.  And since with pubs it is sometimes hard to figure it out on your own, I have taken to asking around on twitter to see if there are certain items that many people mention specifically.

Well, I can assure you people feel strongly about MacNiven’s and the most popularly mentioned item that day when I took my random poll were the Scotch eggs ($7.50).  So naturally we had to order them (and I might not have otherwise).  If you aren’t familiar, Scotch eggs are boiled eggs that are covered in sausage, lightly breaded and deep fried.  And I will have to say, you guys were right.  These things were darn tasty.  First of all you know I love eggs in pretty much any format, so that was a plus (and cheers to the kitchen who obviously knows how to boil an egg properly which is a skill many do not have).  The sausage gave it a salty, slightly spicy kick with a wonderful crispy edge.  Also, the red pepper aioli was great with them.  We both commented about how much we liked it—and that it was a spicy red pepper and not a red bell pepper flavor which is neither of our favorite tastes.  Hubby was somewhat fanatical about making sure he just put the aioli on the egg part so as not to ruin the crispy edges of the sausage.  I good technique, but I was just dipping and eating.  Hubby ate a lot more Scotch eggs during our time in the UK and I asked him what he thought in comparison—he said he thought these were some of the best he’d had (other than ones he had at a fancy restaurant once that were actually wrapped in salmon which he will reminisce about for ages).

We also went with what was also recommended by several—the Angus burger ($10.25 with cheese).  So this is a unique take on a burger and we ended up deciding we quite liked it.  So it is this huge, super thin burger patty (I am talking the size of the plate) on a regular sized bun.  The meat is marinated in Worcestershire sauce and pepper and there is no ordering it anyway but pretty well done (says so right on the menu, which I appreciate, at least they are letting you know).  Because the meat is so thin (I mean I am talking like a thick crepe), I can’t imagine it could be cooked any other way.  And it didn’t matter because it had a ton of flavor because of the Worcestershire sauce.  We ordered cheese on ours (cheddar) and it was sort of silly that they only put one little square on that huge orb of meat, although once you folded it up on the bun (which is the only way to really eat it like a sandwich, by folding it into quarters), it was about the size of the end product.  I would ask for an extra slice or two next time though.  We just topped it with onions and it really didn’t need anything else—we alternated back and forth about whether we liked ketchup on it better or not—the Worcestershire giving it such a unique flavor on its own.  I can see how this might be a very cravable item, especially after a night of several drinks.

Ok, so I was going to go with the seared Ahi tuna that one of your recommended, but hubby balked and we ended up getting the Belhaven beer battered shrimp appetizer that none of you recommended (although someone did recommend the fish and chips made with the same batter) ($9.50).  Ok, ok, I shouldn’t have strayed, I should have listened.  These were not very good.  The shrimp was tough (and honestly didn’t taste that fresh—a little fishy) and the batter, while it had a nice beer flavor, wasn’t cooked enough and was too soft, quickly becoming mushy the longer they sat.  They were served with a couple of slices of lemon and some cocktail sauce.  I have to say, we had been having such good luck with everything up to this point, I had high hopes and was kind of disappointed.  But I guess I should have listened to you guys more.

Speaking of which, I noticed on the menu, and coming out of the kitchen, several orders of potato skins.  Really good potato skins (which are nearly impossible to find anymore) are a guilty pleasure of mine and I am wondering if any of you have had them and if they are fresh and if they are good.  Also, wondering if there are other gems on the menu we should try next time.  Because there will definitely be a next time.

MacNiven’s

339 Massachusetts Ave

Indy 46204

317/632-SCOT

www.macnivens.com

SoBro Café- Revisit

I thought I would write a little mini-update about SoBro Café because I went back today for lunch with a friend and got to finally try the Pannekoeken-which were what I wanted the first times I went, but they were out of them or weren’t serving them.  I got the “farm fresh” version which contained egg, bacon and cheese ($5.75).  I asked how the eggs are done and normally they do them scrambled but I asked if they could do them with runny yolks.  And they did. And it was delicious.  It is basically a crepe, with a nice crispy edge wrapped around the egg, nice small pieces of bacon and I think a couple of types of cheese. Simple and perfectly well-cooked.  I liked the little garnish of bacon slivers on top as well.  My one complaint is that they served it with a little garnish of lettuce and I would have liked it if it were slightly more than a garnish and had some dressing on it.  Also, the portion is fairly small, even for me, so I would recommend ordering a soup or some other side if you have a larger appetite.

My friend, who has been gluten free for many years, was jealous of mine, although we chose the place because they serve all their sandwiches on gluten free bread as an option and he seemed to enjoy his as well. 

So I wanted to update you all because I really enjoyed the Pannekoeken—even if I wished I had just a little more to eat. Also, my friend, who has just been discovering how many gluten free restaurant options are out there, will appreciate any more recommendations you all might have in this area.

SoBro Café

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/920-8121

www.sobrocafe.com