Road Trip: Girl and the Goat --Chicago

Because we were lucky enough to know we were going to Next way in advance, I took advantage of the opportunity to make reservations at Girl and the Goat as well. Since we were planning so far ahead for Next, I was able to score a reservation at 7:00 on a Friday (you can book up to 6 months ahead if you’re planning).

This place has quite the buzz—definitely a pretty loud and raucous place, particularly near the bar, where we started. It’s a big place and the sound carries. Once we were seated at our table though, it wasn’t too bad—and I liked the tables weren’t totally on top of each other so we could still have a conversation with our friends. 

The menu is small plates and is divided up by veggies, seafood, meat and then a separate menu with the goat items.  We agreed to get several from each. We went a little heavier on the veg and lighter seafood stuff after our richness extravaganza at Next the night before. You have to decide everything you want at the beginning and then they pace them out—they recommended 2 items per person, but if you’re going with less of the meat (which are certainly larger), I recommend 3. (We also didn’t order bread, which might have filled us up more, but like I said we were trying to avoid that. They have 3-4 different bread options.).

The first thing we received was the Hamachi with crispy pork belly, chili aioli and caper berries ($16). I really enjoyed this dish, although it was pretty small to share with four. I liked all the mix of the salty pork (super crunchy little pork croutons), the creaminess of the aioli and the briny caper berries. If anything, the Hamachi might have been lost a bit in the flavors, but it was melt in your mouth tender.

Next we got spring onion pot stickers (ok, from here on out, I can’t remember the prices, but most things were between $7 and $18). These were really good as well. They had lots of spring onions as well as white asparagus and I loved the tangy kick from the rhubarb sauce.

I’d say my (and I think the table’s) least favorite item were the shisito Peppers ($7). These were pan-fried and topped with Parmesan cheese. There were a few that were slightly spicier than others, but on the whole, they were fairly mild. I don’t know, there just wasn’t much more to them other than crunchy bits of cheese on top. I would take a pass. They just didn’t have the variation of flavors that some of the other dishes had.

Next we got the seared tuna. Now I like tuna most ways, but this was super delicious, probably my favorite thing of the evening. I easily could have eaten the whole thing by myself. It was served with a crema, ramp chimichurri and these wonderful little fried slices of garlic. Again, perfectly balanced. And that tuna, again, melted in your mouth.

The next dish was the goat empanadas. We definitely felt like we needed some goat item since it’s the name of the place. It was shredded slow cooked meat inside the flaky empanadas. They were topped with julienned apples and pickled golden beets and marinated sheep feta and served on top of tzatziki. Again, I am a fan of anything in pastry, but what made this dish special was the balance of flavors with the vinegary pickled items, the sweet apples and the tangy tzatziki and feta. It gave it a slightly Greek flavor, but wasn’t limited to only Greek flavors.

We also had the pig face, because it is one of the iconic Girl and the Goat dishes. The pork (underneath the egg) is wood roasted and the dish is served with crispy potato sticks, red wine maple sauce, tamarind and cilantro. And of course that perfect sunny-side up egg draped across the top.

The roasted broccoli was tasty—it had a really nice smoky wood-fired taste and little crispy bits (I think it was toasted rice actually). It was nice to have some veggies amongst the heavier main dishes. Speaking of which, our last savory dish was the crisp braised pork shank—they brought it out on the bone and you just sort of pulled the meat off- I liked they gave you a couple of sauces to put on your nan that was served alongside—there was a smoky buffalo sauce and a creamy, cooling Buttermilk dressing. There was also a nice little helping of roasted green onion kimchi on the side. We probably could have used a little more bread for all this meat, but we enjoyed it.

As for our sweets, we split a couple. There was coffee cake semi fredo with grapefruit and cocoa nibs and plantain cake with cream cheese chocolate chip gelato with passion fruit and left hand milk stout. I liked the way they mixed some strong fruity zip with the typical richness of the pure sweetness. Honestly though, I found the savory dishes more interesting.

I really enjoyed Girl and the Goat—I love the small plates concept and I would love to go back and taste a bunch more things. I just have to plan ahead enough to make sure I get a reservation.

Girl and the Goat

809 W. Randolph Street

Chicago, IL 60607

312/492-6262

www.girlandthegoat.com 

Wasabi on 82nd - Revisit (the dim sum edition)

The family and I had eaten dinner recently at Wasabi (it’s one of our regular sushi places, although usually for carry-out) and noticed that they had a dim sum menu—and as you might have noticed lately I have been on a bit of a dim sum binge lately—well, as much as you can in Indy. We asked our server that night about it and he said it was all made in house daily until it ran out. We were intrigued.

We headed over there for lunch the other day with the intention to get some dim sum as well as a sushi roll.  We got one of our current favorites—the Fantastic roll ($16). This is spicy tuna and crunch on the inside and topped with salmon, yellow tail and avocado. They always do this roll well, and the fish is fresh and buttery. If I had a complaint on this particular visit is that I didn’t get a lot of the “crunch” in the roll, and I like my crunch. I don’t know if they didn’t use as much of the tempura flakes or if they just went soft after being mixed in. But still, it’s a great roll and one of our regulars.

As for the dim sum, well….maybe there’s a reason most Japanese restaurants aren’t doing dim sum. We found it a bit disappointing. Well, the crab Rangoon ($3.99) was really good actually—they’re small pieces and are super light and crisp (and come out fresh and hot) with just a little of the cream cheese/crab filling so they didn’t get soggy. And for someone who has never been a huge fan of crab Rangoon, this was one of my favorite versions. (We order it a lot anyway because hubby is a fan). We would (and will) get it again.

Dumpling-wise though, there was something about the skins on the dumplings that was off—I don’t know if they got dried out before or after the dumplings were made, but they had a bit of a pasty consistency. They had told them they make them fresh everyday, but the shrimp dumplings ($3.99) didn’t exactly taste like it. The shrimp flavor was a bit fishy. I did like that they were smaller than a lot so you could really pop them in your mouth in one bite, but that was about it with these. 

The chive and shrimp dumplings (they call them chive gyuza) ($3.99) were a bit better, but suffered the same pasty skin issue. The inside of the dumpling had a bit of shrimp and then mostly chive (and green onions I am guessing) and tasted mostly of that. I have had this type of dumpling many places—some use the chive/onion as a main ingredient and some more of a seasoning (with shrimp being the main ingredient). I prefer it when the shrimp is the main ingredient. This was not the case here.

All in all, I am impressed with the sushi served at Wasabi—they are consistently serving high quality there. I was excited by the dim sum idea when I saw it, but I think sticking with the more traditional Japanese cuisine is the way to go here.

Wasabi on 82^nd Street

5025 East 82^nd Street

Indy 46250

317/594-1188

www.wasabion82nd.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 

Road Trip: Next and The Aviary -- Chicago

Friends of ours have season tickets to Next, which is the second restaurant from Grant Achatz of Alinea (along with business partner Nick Kokonas). We were lucky enough to get invited to go with them recently to try the “Chicago Steak” menu (Next bases the menu around a specific theme and changes it several times a year). Honestly, this was the menu I was least excited about for the year food-wise, but was the only one we could do with our schedule. I don’t know I was just kind of wondering how good a steakhouse menu could be.

Well, as it turns out, it can be really, really good. This was no ordinary steakhouse experience, although they gave several nods to classic items. We were first served a perfectly balanced martini (shaken not stirred) with our crudité platter. So their version of crudité was vegetables that were tossed in a ranch seasoning and olive oil—giving you the flavor of ranch but not the creamy aspect. A fun take on it—There was kale, carrots, fennel, cauliflower, cucumbers, and breakfast radishes. It was interesting—and I preferred the kale above other things, but this was not my favorite of the courses.

The shrimp cocktail that came next was probably the most similar to the classic and also not the most exciting—one beautiful shrimp with a fermented tomato and horseradish cocktail sauce. Next was the course where everyone got to make a choice. It was a mussel dish, a clam dish or an oyster dish. I had the mussels with fried sweetbreads (“surf and turf”), which was really tasty, but a little sample of my friend’s oyster dish let me know hers was the best. The oysters were in a creamy sauce with bits of ham and with the most amazing wood-fired flavored broccolini. The clam dish hubby had was served with cold pasta and wasn’t my favorite. 

Next was their version of a steakhouse salad with watercress and a wonderful tangy dressing—I have never had so many chives in a salad, and never as one of the main greens. Interesting for sure. They were topped with pine nuts and bits of perfectly cooked frog’s legs—off the bone and the best I have ever had.

One of the most impressive dishes (and delicious too) was the “salmon coulibiac.” I loved that they presented this huge whole salmon wrapped in puff pastry first (surely a “stunt fish” but impressive nonetheless). We then were served a slice of the salmon—they had prepared it similar to a beef wellington except with a seafood angle. The amazing perfectly cooked salmon surrounded by a layer of pressed shrimp, a layer of herbs and a mushroom layer as well. I loved the little salad alongside—particularly the fried capers and large caper berry giving it some briny salt. There was a brown butter sauce as well. This was one of our favorites.

The food did not stop though—the lobster thermidor they brought out next was the pinnacle of richness. Chunks of lobster sat in a Sherry-based sauce--almost a soup with leeks and pieces of apples to give a little texture. The little piece of thyme focaccia was amazing that was served alongside. I was getting so full I had to decide how much I could eat at this point (and we hadn’t even had the steak yet!) so I judiciously picked out the lobster hunks and ate some of the bread and wished there was somewhere I could take a quick nap.

The steak course was great. The beautifully sliced dry-aged ribeye cooked perfectly medium rare was tender and flavorful. But the stars were everything that came with it. I just wished I had a back up stomach at this point. The “two jacket” potatoes were a favorite at the table. They were little half potatoes that were super crunchy and filled with bits of the insides of the potato that had also been fried in different ways. Pretty sure there was bone marrow involved as well. There was a dish of onion “paysan” which were creamed onions cooked in beef broth and crunchy topping. A trio of sauces was served for the steak; all were a play on traditional steak sauces. One with whole peppercorns, one was a take on A-1 and one a play on Béarnaise. The tangy Brussels sprouts salad was a nice break from all the rich, but was a little neglected at our table.

Seriously, I was ready to put my head down and surrender at this point, but the desserts started then. The first little palate cleanser was my favorite—it was a dollop of brown butter brioche ice cream and Champagne. Simply delicious (also, I need more brown butter brioche ice cream in my life). Then half of us received their version of a baked Alaska and half the crème brulee. I got the flaming baked Alaska and our waiter was very concerned about my hair going up in flames, which made me laugh. I preferred the crème brulee with the little brown sugary crunchy bits on top—the baked Alaska just too burnt tasting (maybe that was my fault for not blowing it out sooner).

Finally (for real—at this point I’m just taking a taste to be polite), we had a little chocolate mint parfait meant to be reminiscent of the little chocolate mints you might get with your bill at an old school steakhouse.

We had the drink pairings with the dinner and they were all done well. You definitely can’t call it a wine pairing though unless you get the premium one, some of the drinks are beer and some cocktails. (The beer though was pretty cool—it was called “The One Horned Winder and his Fanciful Flying Fresno” by Piperworks Brewing. It smelled just like passion fruit and was served with the lobster thermidor).

Ok, so yes we were full. But yes, we still were going next door to the Aviary, which is their molecular gastronomy cocktail bar for a drink. We were there dammit, and we were getting the full experience. This was fun. And funny. My drink was the best by far—it was called the Zombie panda and involved little frozen orbs of housemade raspberry liquor (the orbs were in a drink of lemon, lychee and pisco) that slowly melted and became the best slushy ever. One of my friends ordered a drink that came in a teacup and served with a smoking teapot of fragrant things. As it turns out, the teapot is only meant for smelling and not for refilling, as she found out when she started to refill and our rather eccentric waiter swooped in a snatched it away before she drank it. He brought her a new drink and as he sat it down with the slightly less smoking teapot this time, admonished her simply, “No drink!” It was funny. For my bourbon friends, they also offered a full flight of all the Pappy vintages for $160. I am glad we went to the Aviary because like Next it is an experience (they consider their drink-makers “cooks cooking with liquids”) For instance, the ice for the drinks is cut off of a large block by hand, by a person known as “the ice guy.” And in our case, the ice in our water was rather phallic in shape. It was crazily crystal clear though. Most “ice” here though is not made of water, but of some liquid that will enhance the drinks as they melt.

Ok, so you can’t get the Chicago steak menu at Next anymore, as it ended in April, but I write this experience anyway to let you know what it’s like and to let you know that even though I went in with somewhat low expectations, I came out dedicated to getting tickets to the next dinner—the theme of which is “Chinese Modern.” I can only imagine what they can do with that.  This meal was great, and now I want to try them all. My advice though—they definitely don’t skimp here, so if there’s something you think is just okay, go easy, a lot more is coming.

Next

953 West Fulton

Chicago, IL 60607

www.nextrestaurant.com

The Aviary

953 West Fulton

Chicago, IL 60607

www.theaviary.com

Lucky Lou Seafood Restaurant

I met my friend @zigged the other day for some dim sum at Lucky Lou’s (I told you I’ve been having a dumpling issue lately). I hadn’t been since this place changed names from On Time—not sure what the deal is there, but they still have some carry out menus from there as well. 

Anyhow, they give you a big picture menu to order from (I am finding out the little carts pushed around the restaurant don’t seem to exist in the Midwest—even in Chicago’s Chinatown). We chose a bunch of stuff. The first couple of things they brought us were the fried bits (You know I like my mix of crunchy and steamed). There were fried shrimp balls ($3.50) and spring rolls ($2.60). I would say these two things were two of the highlights. The shrimp balls tasted just like they were ground shrimp formed into balls and lightly fried. They were quite dense and filling. The spring rolls were filled with more of a pureed filling of veggies with a little pork—you’re not going to look inside and instantly recognize the ingredients in there, but they tasted good and the wrappers were nice and thin and crisp. There’s no fancy homemade sweet and sour or mustard—you get little packets served alongside if you want either.

The next thing was the chive dumplings ($3.50). Normally, done well, these are one of my items in dim sum.  These were totally different. For one thing, this was the first time I have had them filled with pork instead of shrimp. They were also really big. I liked that they weren’t overly filled with the chives and scallions. But overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of these. Maybe because they weren’t what I expected (and wanted) but also because they were just so dense inside. They were just a little funky.

Last minute, we had thrown an order of rice in lotus leaf ($4.95). I enjoyed this one. The rice inside was nice and sticky (which I like) and was filled with bits of chicken in a sauce with some mushrooms and a bit of sausage. It was a nice dish to have along with the others—it was more of a composed things containing several ingredients. 

The final thing that we got (I chose this one) was the pan-fried shrimp roll ($2.95). I had had this before at On Time and really enjoyed it. This time, no, I did not like it. It was supposed to contain shrimp—didn’t really get much of that in there and there was just a strange flavor for me that tasted sort of like a lot of leftover stuff stuffed in there and not in a good way for me. I wouldn’t get it again.

As I write this, I realize there was probably more stuff that was decent than was bad, but when I left the place, I left feeling like it was some of the weakest dim sum I have had. It just didn’t have the lightness that I have enjoyed elsewhere. I always like that I can eat so many different things with dim sum and not feel like I’ve eaten heavy greasy stuff. Not so much the case here. I couldn’t finish much of what I ate (ok, some I just didn’t want to finish).

The people were very nice who waited on us, even though there was a bit of language difficulty. With the pictures on the menu, it wasn’t bad. And it’s pretty darn cheap. Anyone else been here lately? What do you think?

Lucky Lou’s

3623 Commercial Drive

Indy 46222

317/293-8888

Tow Yard Brewing

I met my friend @wibia for lunch downtown at the new Tow Yard Brewing—several of you had recommended it to me. It’s a big place, mainly a brewpub sort of feel—you have to walk to the back to order your food and then they give you a number and bring it to you when it’s ready. The interior of the place is pretty stark I would say other than the one big wall of beer cans, which is pretty cool. When it’s full of people, you probably don’t notice as much.

I kind of questioned them asking us when we ordered if we were here for the NRA convention, or if we worked at a couple of places nearby (we do not). It seems they would have given us a discount if we had said yes to any of them, but it kind of makes you feel unloved when you’re just a local without a gun or a job and you don’t get a discount. I get trying to build business with these groups, but… (Or I guess just lie and say yes).

Anyhow, I ordered the “Prohibition” sandwich ($7), which is a roast beef sandwich with smashed avocado on the bun, and then topped with tomatoes, melted cheddar and chipotle mayo. It was an extremely messy sandwich to eat—there was a lot of stuff in there—but it was quite tasty. Honestly, you couldn’t taste my beloved avocado that much for everything else, but I really enjoyed the chipotle mayo that was drizzled on top. It had a nice balance of flavors. I had a side of the loaded potato salad which wasn’t bad—it had bit of bacon and cheese mixed into a standard potato salad base. You really don’t even need a side with the size of the sandwiches.

Wibia had the “Pig Vicious” (cute name) ($7), which was pork shoulder, bacon, ham, onion jam, ale mustard, and Alabama white barbecue sauce. This sandwich was certainly not lacking in pork products. It wasn’t bad, but other than the zippy mustard on top, it was pretty darn sweet. If you like a sweet taste, you would probably dig this one. I really preferred my sandwich though.

It’s a nice addition to downtown and is spacious enough that you don’t have to worry about it being overcrowded at lunch (although it was nearly full while we were there). The service was a bit off—my sandwich, which I ordered after wibia was the first thing to come and it took quite awhile then for his to come. And make sure you get your own utensils etc. if you order something that needs them. I do like that they’re selling a smaller independent soda. Strangely though it is cheaper to get a soda combo with your sandwich than to just get water, which was the only reason I had soda.

I am intrigued by several other items on the menu, and just noticed that there are some things online that weren’t there when I was there (uh, totally want to try the fried oyster sandwich), but it also looks like the prices have gone up since I was there. Seems like they have some strange idiosyncrasies with their pricing and they might want to standardize on something. Every time I look up the menu online it is different. Maybe they are still working through the kinks.

My one recommendation—if you don’t have a huge appetite, get a sandwich and share it, because they are quite large.

Tow Yard Brewing

501 S. Madison

Indy 46225

317/638-YARD

http://www.towyardbrewing.com

Road Trip- Phoenix Restaurant- Chicago

I am a fan of dim sum—and you can get some good dim sum in Indy, but it is a little sparser than it used to be. And I am not sure if any places do the carts anymore (traditionally they push little carts around with various dishes and you choose what is appealing to you). And even at this place, apparently the carts are saved for the very busy times, which is breakfast at the Phoenix.

I have been wanting to try Phoenix for awhile now though, and since hubby and I were arriving fairly early to Chicago, we decided to just start our little mini-vacation there for lunch. At this point, they were just giving you the large colorful menu of dim sum to choose from. It was nice to have all the pictures because it made communication easier in a place where most of the servers didn’t speak a lot of English.

We got our classic favorites—the shrimp dumplings (ha gao), the spring rolls, and the pan-fried chive and shrimp dumplings. We also had an order of pepper and salt fried baby octopus and the pan-fried crepe.

My favorite singular item was the chive dumplings. They were just the perfect mix of big pieces of shrimp, a fair amount of chives and scallions, but not so much that it was the dominant taste. The dumping was pan-fried just the right amount to give a slightly crispy edge to it. Ok, we liked these so much that we had a second order.

The regular shrimp dumplings were also good—as long as the shrimp is good, I don’t find a ton of variation among these—and the shrimp was big pieces and tasted fresh. They were super hot out of the steamer basket. I do find a fair amount of variation among spring rolls, but these were very good. They actually had a fair amount of minced pork in them and less of the cabbage and veggie-type fillings. So a little less healthy, but mighty tasty. And the skin was super crispy, pretty much shattering when you bit into it. I would want these again (as well as the shrimp rolls wrapped in the same crisp wrapper).

The pan-fried crepe wasn’t exactly what I was sort of hoping for—I have had one in the Bay Area that was similar but had shrimp in it. I have never been able to find one like it anywhere else. There are regular crepes stuffed with different meats and seafood, but the only one that had the lightly crisp edge from the pan-frying was this one, which wasn’t stuffed with anything, so it was sort of bland. Like eating a thick dumpling with nothing in it.

The salt and pepper octopus was a pass—the crust was really good and flavorful (and so hot it burned your mouth), but the octopus was super rubbery. I am pretty sure a lot of people don’t think they like octopus or squid because of the tendency to get it like this (rubbery), which is a shame, because both things can be so good when they are tender.

Overall, we definitely enjoyed this place. It’s hard for me to repeat places very often in Chicago because I like trying new places every time, but I would certainly throw it in there for a dim sum craving (although there appears to be several other options as well in Chicago’s Chinatown).

What’s your favorite Indy dim sum?

Phoenix Restaurant

2131 S. Archer Avenue

Chicago, IL 60616

312/328-0848