Nickel Plate

My Dad sent me a message the other day telling me how much he liked the tenderloin at Nickel Plate, and so have several of you, so I figured I would give it a try.  This was the place that we walked into for lunch at the same time a group of people were all leaving complaining about a lot of stuff, particularly that the beer wasn’t cold.  Probably not a good sign, but we continued on because that is my duty right?

Anyway, the kids were happy to sit outside and they have a decent-sized area outside although it is very close to the road and a little noisy. Our server was prompt and brought us our drinks. I have to say, hubby’s beer was in fact not very cold. He was annoyed enough that he reminded me to mention it here, so there you go.  The kids both ordered burgers ($4.49 each with cheese), and hubby and I split the tenderloin sandwich ($7.99) and the fish and chips ($7.99), which seems to be our standard in a place like this. I don’t know, easy to compare and judge the differences I guess.

I also had a house salad to start (actually subbed it for the fries in the fish and chips for $2).  It was your standard salad with a lot of shredded cheese on top.  I got the blue cheese dressing and it was pretty good, but not one that stuck out in my mind for any reason.  I wanted a little salad and it met my needs. It was mainly iceberg, but had the crunch I wanted. Honestly I didn’t need all the cheese on top, but my kids liked it.

So the best thing on the table that day was definitely the tenderloin sandwich.  The bun was good and soft, and not too big (although toasted would have been nice) and the tenderloin met the desired qualifications—it wasn’t too thin or too dry, but the breading for me wasn’t my favorite of the ones I have had.  It was more, well, bready I guess than some.  I liked that they gave you really thinly sliced red onions to put on top and included the mayo on the side.  It was a good sandwich.  Was it the best I have had? No. I would put it squarely in the middle of the pack, but worth ordering.

As for the fish fillets, they didn’t fare as well I am afraid. I am not sure what it was, but the fish just really had very little flavor. Unfortunately it was also kind of dry—I think the breading was the same as what was on the pork but without any moisture or flavor in the protein, it just wasn’t working for us. We left quite a bit of it.  I did like the rather chunky tartar sauce served alongside and I am not always a fan of tartar sauces.  It seemed homemade and had some heft to it.

The kids were happy with their burgers, and the baked beans are now my daughter’s favorite. So naturally, they want to go back even though it wouldn’t be at the top of my list.  Oh well, my Dad loved it too so maybe they can go with Grandma and Grandpa.

Nickel Plate

8654 E. 116^th Street

Fishers, IN 46038

317/841-2888

www.nickelplatebarandgrill.com