I may post about this place more than some others, but man, it seems like whenever I go, I just feel like I have to share. I would say Bluebeard is one of the top couple of restaurants we have going in Indy right now, and this meal was no exception.
It also appears the entire city is onto this fact, since the place was jammed at 6:00 on a Saturday in October. We waited about 45 minutes for our table (pretty much exactly what the hostess estimated). I do appreciate that while the space to stand and wait is somewhat limited (if you don’t get a seat at the bar, which we did not), that you are still greeted and waited on by servers in the restaurant. We had a glass of wine within minutes.
Once we were seated, we started our menu negotiations. Standing around in front of the kitchen didn’t help because we saw so many delicious-looking items coming out of there. We started with the bone marrow with tomato jam, shallot confit, cornichon, whole grain mustard and francese ($16). We ordered this because it sounded very similar to a dish that we had had at Bluebeard in the past and had been blown away by—while the ingredients were very similar, this one was very different. It was more of a deconstructed take on it. You were served the bread with the creamy bone marrow (not sure what they are mixing it with, but it makes it so creamy and smooth) and then everything was on the side to build as you wish. The flavors are great. Rich but balanced with all the pickled things and the slightly sweet tomato and shallot mixes. I prefer it when they put it together for you in the kitchen, but we still really enjoyed it.
The next thing we had was their take on oysters Rockefeller ($12). Man, were these good. Super fresh oysters that were amazingly juicy topped with a creamy spinach mix that had these great little teeny dices of foie gras mixed in. They were then topped with a parmesan/breadcrumb mixture that was perfectly broiled. The dish was just warm enough so the oysters lost nothing. And getting those little bites of creamy foie gras just took a classic dish to another level. There were only three, and usually in a case like that, I give hubby the extra. This time, I made him cut it in half. He wanted a second order.
For our main course, we split one large plate and a small (love that you can mix and match sizes depending on your mood). We had the pappardelle with wild mushroom ragout, chicken and hen of the woods mushrooms, cream and parmesan ($26). So, so good. I am picky about pasta and rarely meet pasta dishes in this town that I love, but this was one of them. It was rich, but not drowned in cream sauce—there were meaty mushrooms and the thick cut pasta was fresh and tender. Again, I ate more than what I would normally eat of a pasta dish.
But if all these amazing dishes weren’t enough, we also had the toast with soft scrambled quail eggs, golden brook trout roe and crème fraiche ($18). Whoa. This blew my mind. It wasn’t super complicated, but there were a couple pieces of light and toasty bread sitting on the thick and slightly tangy crème fraiche and topped with the moist eggs and healthy amount of the roe. I’m not sure what the deal is with this, but it was perfect. But it was also a little small for me because I really wanted it all for myself. So instead of dessert? Another round of this. That’s how much I liked it for real.
I really love that we have this place. I would gladly eat at this restaurant if it were in any city in the country. I feel like they just keep refining everything here, from the food to the service. I’m so glad to see this place so busy. It’s much deserved.
Bluebeard
653 Virginia Avenue
Indy, 46203
317/686-1580
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