We have wanted to try Divvy again since our first experience
awhile back. We went with a large group the
first time and I was a little overwhelmed with all the different things we
tried. This time there was just 4 of us,
and while we still got to try a lot of things, I didn’t feel quite as
overwhelmed. Also, our server was
exceptionally friendly and helpful this time.
The menu had changed a fair amount since our first visit, but there were
still several of the same items as well (I assume the more popular items).
We started with a couple of the spreads/cheese starters—we
had the bruschetta ($6) and the bruleed brie ($8). The better of the two was definitely the
bruleed brie. It was toasted pretzel
bread slices with a little fig jam, nicely melted creamy brie, and tart green
apple slices. Normally I don’t get that
excited about brie, but this was a great combo with the apple and the sweet jam
(but there wasn’t too much of it which was nice). The bruschetta was grilled
slices of focaccia with tomato, onion, roasted garlic and balsamic. There was also quite a bit of feta sprinkled
on top. The whole dish was just sort of
flat to me—the balsamic wasn’t tangy enough or something—it was more on the
sweet side I think. I don’t remember the
roasted garlic at all.
The first repeat item we ordered from last time (at my
request) was the tempura tofu ($9). I really enjoyed it again. The cubes of tofu were soft inside with a
nice crunch outside. They was drizzled
with a teriyaki sauce and served with pomegranate-blood orange noodles and
sesame seeds. The noodles were cold and
had a fair amount of the fruity flavor to them—it was nice alongside the richer
tofu.
We also really enjoyed the popcorn scallops ($10). It was a
healthy portion of little bite-sized pieces of scallops with a salty, crispy
coating. They were a little
addicting—and I appreciated that they were served with a tangy, citrusy
tartar-type sauce. It was a good
balance. We also added a random order of the frizzled onions ($4) mid-way
through the meal—they were pretty tasty too.
They were basically onion straws, but they were made in house and had a
nice crust and a chipotle tomato sauce with them that definitely had a distinct
chipotle flavor. They were good—not
amazing but good.
The lamb medallions ($14) with a pomegranate balsamic glaze
were probably my least favorite item—they were ok, but the lamb was a little
more cooked than I would like—and I really think lamb gets tough when it is
past medium rare. These were certainly
closer to medium. There were 4-5 small
medallions—one of the smaller plates of the evening as well. At this point we went ahead and ordered our
second repeat item of the evening—the corn crème brulee ($6). We all enjoyed it the first time and were
debating it, but when our server recommended it to go along with the lamb, we
were sold. It was actually better this
time around. The dish is basically a
rich corn pudding with jalapenos, Romano cheese and a bruleed top. The top this time was nicely crisp which gave
a really nice texture contrast with the creamy interior. It has a smoky flavor, almost making you
think it had meat in it (it doesn’t).
The last couple of savory things we threw on at the end were
the chorizo balls ($9) and the lobster salad ($14). These were a good couple of things to get
together because one was (obviously) very meaty with spicier flavors, and the
other was lighter and had a tangier, citrusy flavor. You start to notice a lot of repeated
ingredients throughout the dishes though, when you order several. The chorizo balls included more of the
chipotle tomato sauce and the lobster salad used more of the citrusy tartar
sauce that was with the scallops.
Luckily, I liked both of the sauces.
The meatballs were better than I expected—they stayed fairly tender
(maybe because of the fat content). They
had a bit of heat to them (there was also some chopped jalapenos on top) but
they had a generous drizzle of crème fraiche that cooled them down a bit. They weren’t my favorite thing of the
evening, but like I said, I liked them more than I expected to. The lobster salad was pretty good as well,
although again, not amazing. There was a
lot of chopped lobster meat with the tartar sauce with a lot of fresh fruits
and veg alongside—cucumber slices, orange wedges, sweet peppers and some radish
sprouts on top. I enjoyed it, mainly as
something different to go along with the spicy rich chorizo—I am not sure if I
would order it again though.
For dessert we got one larger, shareable thing—the chocolate
fondue ($12) and one of the “mini morsels”--the chocolate mousse ($4). I wanted to try the chocolate mousse because last
time everyone told me it was really good but I didn’t get to try it before it
was gone. It is a little dome of frozen
mousse with a peanut butter glaze and some sea salt on top. I love the whole sweet/salty thing, so I
enjoyed this. It is pretty small
though—even though we all had a bit of it, it is really more of a single
dessert. I appreciate all the little
dessert options. It is a nice way to get something sweet without getting a
ridiculously large dessert, which seem to dominate most restaurants in
Indy. The fondue was pretty straight forward—a
warm chocolate sauce with lots of things to dip into it—homemade marshmallows,
and lots of fruit—strawberries, pineapple, banana and apple. It is an easy thing to share and tasted
good. There was nothing that made it
stand out from any other similar dessert I have had before though.
Overall, I generally enjoy the divvy experience. The menu is really quite large (and maybe
slightly overwhelming) and as I mentioned, you start to see a lot of repeated
ingredients throughout it. You kind of
have to pay attention if you don’t want to repeat the same flavors. I enjoyed what we had, but none of it was
blowing me away--but it is solid and
creative food and there are certainly things to appease pretty much every kind
of taste.
divvy
71 West City
Center Drive
Carmel, IN
46032
317/706-0000
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