Biscuits Café - the Chilaquiles edition

I am happy to say you guys were right! A few posts ago, I wrote about a couple of different places where I had ordered chilaquiles only to be disappointed by what amounted to what I called breakfast nachos. Several of you guys told me to try the version at Biscuits, and I did. Several times. In fact, my entire family is now addicted to chilaquiles ($12.00 + additional for meat) at Biscuits and request it to the point that I have tried it with just about every type of meat offered as well as no meat.

So here’s how they do their chilaquiles. They cook the chips in the ranchero sauce, which is their slightly spicy red sauce. You can get them in a verde sauce too, or in a milder red sauce. They mix the chips up with the sauce and meat, cover them with cheese and then add two eggs on top cooked how you like them (over easy for me). When you break into the eggs, you get this amazing tasting dish that will make you addicted. And while you get some texture from the chips, they are cooked a bit so they aren’t super crunchy. As far as meat goes, we have tried the chicken and the carnitas and I have even tried them without meat at all. Overall I think my favorite is the chicken, just because it’s a bit heartier. I was hoping when I got it without meat, I would get more of the chips part, but I really didn’t. For some reason, they carnitas didn’t really do it for me or hubby, even though we really like carnitas in general. But I’m telling you, there’s just something about this dish. You need to try it. Oh, and it’s not on the menu, but it has always been on the special board when we have gone, although I have heard even if it isn’t, they will always make it for you. The dish also come with beans and rice on the side.

Migas

I also usually get a side of hash browns, fried crispy (sometimes they come out pretty soft). They are really tasty, and even though you probably don’t need them on top of the huge platters of food you get, I order them anyway.

I also tried the migas ($7.95) on one visit, which sounded similar, but have the eggs scrambled into the chips.  They don’t use the sauce though, and these come across as dry and bland. I am telling you, once you have the chilaquiles here, that’s all you’ll want to order. We’ve also tried the breakfast burrito ($7.95), the breakfast quesadilla and taquitos. All were decent, particularly the quesadilla, but none measure up to the chilaquiles in my mind. Other times relatives have ordered more basic breakfast menu items and didn’t seem overly thrilled with them.

The only downside to this place right now is that they have recently expanded. While the new part of the restaurant is cute and well done, I don’t think they have added additional staff and we’ve notice a sharp decline in service since the new addition opened. It takes a long time to order and sometimes items come out a bit cold. It’s great they have more space so you don’t have to wait to get seated, but you will sit at your table and wait quite awhile to put in your order.

Anyway, if you love chilaquiles, check it out. Just be patient or go at an off time.

Biscuits Café 

1035 Broad Ripple Ave

Indy 46220

317/202-0410

Mississippi Belle - Revisit

Quick little update you guys. Don’t forget about Mississippi Belle—still probably some of the best fried chicken in town. The family had a craving the other day and we went and picked it up for dinner. I always just order when I get there, because they are so fast putting it together. 

My favorite pieces will always be thighs and legs, but they do a good job with the white meat as well. And if you ask for mashed potatoes and mac and cheese for four, they’ll give you enough for 7-8. I don’t know what it is about their mac and cheese, but it is so addicting. It’s simple, but has some pepper mixed in and just tastes really good.

I also ordered one side of sautéed cabbage because I like it (and no one else in my family does) and it is tasty too. It’s a vegetable, but it is nowhere near healthy from what I can tell. My family likes the cornbread muffins, although they aren’t my favorite. A little dry.

The chicken though—it’s really good. I’m am always amazed at how many people who are fried chicken afficianoadoes ask me about my favorite and have never been here. Just go—you’ll understand. And bring cash. They don’t take credit cards.

Mississippi Belle

2170 East 54^th Street

Indy 46220

317/466-0522

Mikado

Continuing on my sushi quest, even though it’s nowhere near my neighborhood, we took the kids to Mikado downtown. This is another example of when a restaurant’s social media is working. I kept seeing posts on Instagram that looked delicious, and particularly since I have been on a quest lately, I chose it for our family night out.

It’s right downtown near St. Elmo and all the chain restaurants. It’s a pretty big place, and has a more upscale interior, although it’s old enough that it is starting to look a little worn. It also wasn’t super busy, but there were a decent amount of people in there.

We started with several appetizers and got slightly less sushi than normal. We ordered tuna tataki ($16), edamame ($6), shrimp tempura ($10) and my son wanted gyoza ($7) for himself because he was having a small entrée. The tuna tataki was great. The tuna was exceptionally tender, and the ponzu sauce on the bottom was some of the most flavorful I have had in recent memory. Hubby even ate all the spiralized radish underneath just because he liked the sauce so much. It wasn’t a huge portion, so each of us only got one or two pieces. I could easily eat this on my own and happily would.

The edamame was also really well done. Lots of chunky salt on the outside to give you a nice salty taste when you sucked out the beans inside. Everyone was quite happy with these. The gyoza (the tiny bite I was allowed) were also tasty—stuffed with pork and then pan-fried. The only disappointment appetizer-wise was the shrimp tempura. It just fell a little flat—it wasn’t quite hot or light enough. 

For sushi, my son wanted a simple shrimp tempura roll  ($7.50) and hubby and I chose two rolls—the “Fire in the roll” ($15.95) and the “sumo” ($14.25). My son’s shrimp tempura roll was nicely done for a simple roll—they included a little bit of cucumber and some pea shoots to jazz it up a little, as well as just a touch of spicy mayo. The shrimp in his roll was better than the appetizer shrimp.

The “fire in the roll” was made up of spicy tuna and avocado in the middle and was topped with sliced tuna, jalapeno, cilantro and spicy tobiko. This roll had a fair amount of heat for sure. It was well done, and the ingredients were all good. I ended up taking the jalapeno off mine because it was that hot. The “sumo” roll was filled with spicy shrimp and avocado and then topped with sliced salmon. There was a little dash of spicy mayo on the plate, but I would have liked a drizzle of sauce on the rolls themselves. They were both very good and exactly the right size to easily pop into your mouth. The only thing I missed was just a touch of crunch—but then I like a little texture variation in my rolls.

My daughter ordered the nabeyaki udon ($16) for her main dish because lately noodles are her thing.  I’m not sure that she was the biggest fan of this version. She isn’t overly familiar with udon and I think she prefers the skinnier noodles like in ramen (as do I). The egg was also much more raw than they usually are in soup dishes, which I think was a bit of a turn off. She liked the tempura that they served on the side to eat with the broth, and strangely, her shrimp tempura was also better than the one we had as an app. Not sure why. I think if we went back though, she would return to one of her classic teriyaki choices. I appreciate that she ventures out though.

Based on the quality and size of the rolls, and most of the apps though, Mikado is a place I would frequent if it were nearer my house for rolls. I might just get those same rolls and ask them to throw a little crunch in. Anyone else been here lately? Is it a big downtown lunch spot?

Mikado

148 Illinios Street

Indy 46225

317/972-4180

www.indymikado.com 

Convivio

I have heard a fair amount of opinions about Convivio—overall most have been positive. It’s in Carmel, so we don’t often do a family dinner night up there, but we finally decided to give it a try. We had a reservation, but were a little early. They thought we would have to wait awhile for our table, but as it turned out, we didn’t, which was nice (a pet peeve of mine when they take your reservation but then seat you late).

It’s a nice looking, busy place with a menu that is certainly more appealing that most Italian places in the Indy area. They also make all their pasta by hand, which is pretty awesome too. It’s a pretty large menu so it takes a bit to go through it. We decided to start with the fritto misto ($12), which included not just calamari, but also shrimp, octopus and zucchini. It was served on top of a marinara sauce and with lemon wedges. It wasn’t bad, but there was nothing that made it stand out from others, except that it included more types of seafood than you normally see. The octopus was quite good and remained tender. The shrimp however were a bit tough. I probably liked the zucchini the most of all of it, because it was nice and tender and a nice seasonal veggie (it was still summer when we were there).

The other appetizer we had was very good—and something you don’t see very often around town—the crostini Toscana ($9.95), which was grilled slices of bread topped with chicken liver pate. It was something we ate a fair amount in Tuscany, where it is extremely popular and we were happy to see it on the menu. The kids weren’t really into it, but hubby and I really enjoyed it. The pate is really earthy and rich, but this one wasn’t over the top and the lightly dressed arugula from underneath eaten with it was perfect.

For main courses, hubby and I ordered a pasta and a pizza to get to try both. We had the rigatoni funghi salsicca ($18.95) and the porcini pizza ($14). The pasta was a bit heavy, but tasty, and the homemade pasta was great. The sauce on it was a creamy sauce and it had wild mushrooms, pancetta, goat cheese, sausage and Parmesan cheese. It was very heavy on the sausage, which overpowered everything else a bit. I would have enjoyed more mushrooms and a little lighter sauce. I was hoping for a little more tanginess from the goat cheese than I tasted.

The pizza highlighted the mushrooms more, which I enjoyed (hubby and I both love mushrooms), but again was a little heavy on richness. It had Porcini mushroom spread, Taleggio, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses. We both really enjoy the distinct earthy taste of Porcinis, which are also rare to see on local menus, but I got more cheese than anything on this. The crust had a nice flavor too, but needed to be crisper.

My daughter had the gnocchi al telefono ($17.95), which were very large pillows of gnocchi served in a fresh tomato basil and sauce with mozzarella. She seemed to like it fine, but thought the gnocchi were a little bigger than she normally likes.

The star of the meal though was my son’s steak, which was a special. We tease him about ordering filets a lot, but he beat us all this night. He ordered a roasted filet that was flavored with rosemary, topped with Gorgonzola, and served with roasted potatoes, asparagus and mushrooms. I’m not sure how they did it exactly, but the roasted flavor on it was amazing—including on the veggies. And you could really taste the rosemary and blue cheese. If we went back and they had this, we’d probably have to get at least two of them to share. It makes me more intrigued to try more of the meats on a future visit.

And although not everything we had were winners, I do think we will return to try other things. Like I said, I would like to try more of the meat dishes and I am still impressed with the fact that they make all their pastas in house. I would like to try some of the other options in that area too. 

Have you been? What did you have that you loved?

Convivio

11529 Spring Mill Rd #300,

Carmel, IN 46032

317/564-4670

www.convivioindy.com 

P.S. Their website says they're opening another location in Zionsville soon.