It was hubby’s birthday and if he has any say in it, we usually try to go to Joseph Decuis in Roanoke, Indiana. We also splurged a fair amount and overstuffed ourselves a bit!
Hubby really wanted to start with a charcuterie board ($18). They do a great job with these—there were a couple selections that were made in house, and some from Smoking Goose here in Indy. They also pair them with lots of great things, from grainy Local Folks mustard to pickled deviled eggs and a couple of kinds of pickled veggies. I loved the one with the celery tops and cornichons. Hubby was very happy.
For my starter, I ordered a special that was smoked salmon served unlike any I have had—it was just such a surprising use of smoked salmon. It was a Mexican kind of dish with a cumin cream on the bottom, black beans, some lightly pickled cucumbers, some jalapenos, and some mango. I loved that there was lots of acid in this dish. I just loved this dish. The salmon was great quality and all the flavors and textures were great together. Unusual and delicious.
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| salmon |
Hubby ordered the sweetbreads for his app and they were good as well, but not as good as my salmon (I won this round!). They were fried and served in a sweet maple glaze on top of really well seasoned and tender greens. This was a good, rich, wintry tasting dish and very good, but I liked the lighter more acidic salmon dish.
For my main, I ordered another special of the night that was actually an appetizer. It was chipotle seasoned pork tenderloin. Hubby ordered the rabbit ragu ($12) (also an appetizer. Ok, in this round he totally won. While I enjoyed the flavors in my dish, particularly the goat cheese to add creaminess and some tanginess, his rabbit was amazing and my pork was a very small tenderloin, and a bit overcooked. The rabbit was a bowl with extremely creamy mascarpone polenta, some braised San Marzano tomatoes, and that amazing, tender rabbit ragu. And a dollop of ricotta cream on top—again, just the perfect thing to bring out another layer in what was a warm, rich dish. This would be on the must-order list again.
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| sweetbreads |
For dessert we ordered a cheese plate ($15), which I think Decuis does exceptionally well. The plate itself comes with a lovely selection of cheeses as well as some fresh fruit (apples, pears and grapes). Then you can add additional accouterments as you see fit, which makes it perfect to turn into a dessert or a starter. We added the oven-roasted marcona almonds ($3), which were super hot and tasty with the cheese. And they gave you a lot of them! The cheese was at perfect room temperature and was a nice variety—we loved the Old Kentucky Tomme goat cheese from Capriole. The semi-firm cheese was Manchego (if memory serves) and there was a lovely soft blue as well. Like I said, perfectly well rounded.
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| rabbit |
We also stayed at one of the new rooms out by the farm—while our room was small, I liked that you had access to the main house, which is a 1880s farmhouse that has recently been restored. They have started offering small farmhouse dinners there as well and I totally want to go to one of those. We got to meet some of the Mangalitsa pigs which are as cute/ugly as they are delicious. Seriously, it’s crazy. They look like they should be on the Muppet show.
We always have a great experience at Joseph Decuis. The service is always very professional without being stuffy, and the food is always good. We have eaten there enough that I almost always order from the specials (the rest of the menu only varies slightly day to day, but does change seasonally). It’s a great place and a nice little getaway.
Joseph Decuis
191 North Main Street
Roanoke, IN 46783
260/672-1715
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