Beholder

Hubby and I finally got out to Beholder the other night. I have been hearing a lot of things about it from several friends and we were anxious to go. I didn’t really have it in my head exactly where it was, but it’s on the near eastside, not far from Irvington. It’s an old garage I think, that has been renovated. It still has a sort of industrial feel, but it’s very modern inside. Plain grey walls with only some flower arrangements as décor. It would be a great space to highlight some local artists. Just my two cents.

Ok, so we had heard the portions were small, so we went full in with our order. Between the two of us, we started with three smaller plates and ordered two of the larger plates. I loved the way they sort of just paced them all out one at a time to make for a leisurely meal that didn’t feel like they were just trying to turn over the table. The first course we had was a special that evening—the heirloom tomato salad ($13). It was delicious. Local tomatoes, feta cheese, pistachios, some mixed greens and a wonderful vinaigrette with oregano oil. Seriously, everything together here was so good. Just the right balance between the slightly salty, creaminess of the cheese and the acid of the tomatoes. I appreciated the greens that were more of an accent than a major part of the dish. The next dish that came out was the eggplant tartare ($11). I had been told by several people how good this dish was, and they weren’t lying. It is more of a dip than a tartare—a creamy eggplant dip with Middle Eastern seasonings. They serve it with this delicious fry bread that you could happily eat on its own, it has so much flavor itself. It’s rich and buttery tasting with a little kick of salt. Not crunchy, but not super soft either. You could really taste the cumin throughout this dish. Really good. I could see this being one of their classic dishes. I hope it is. Our final small plate was the Kampachi sashimi ($19). This was the one I was most excited about to order, and to be honest, was my least favorite. Although it was still very good. Just the intensity of the flavors of the other dishes were better. The dish had a little mound of sticky rice on the bottom, which was soaked in brown butter. How could you really go wrong with brown butter? It gave the dish not only richness, but a nuttiness as well. The fish was thinly sliced and then topped with local tart cherry garnish. A really interesting flavor combination as well.

The next two dishes they brought together (it was a nice touch that the chef seemed to be delivering most of the entrées personally). We had the skate wing (which is the wing of a ray), which was served with potato skin aioli and a green curry sauce ($23). I love skate. Many restaurants offered in in San Francisco, and then when we moved to England, it was everywhere—it was like catfish is here—available in every local seafood counter. It’s light and flavorful, and you don’t have to worry about bones. So Beholder’s version was awesome. Very light dusted and floured and perfectly browned. I loved both sauces together with the fish. And I think I can safely say it was the first time I have had potato skin aioli. A cool flavor with a hint of potatoes. They actually gave a fair amount of the skate here—two filets, but if you’re a person who wants a starch with every meal, then you might think it wasn’t filling enough. I thought it was perfect.

We also had the Iberico pork secreto ($43), which was a splurge, but extremely delicious. If you’re familiar with Iberico pork, you know it’s usually served sliced and cured like prosciutto. This was more like a steak that had been cooked and shaved. It had a bit of chewiness from the high fat content, but was so good. Hubby can’t stop talking about it. The meat was so well seasoned, and the dish was served with pickled spring onions, walnuts and some lightly grilled greens. Loved the combination of crunchy textures in this dish, the slight chewiness of the pork and the crunch of the walnuts. It was only five ounces of meat but was rich and tasty. You’re not going to feel overly full maybe just from this dish, but I think you will feel satisfied.

Desserts are a whole other experience here, as they have Pete Schmutte as the pastry chef, formerly from Cerulean. In my opinion, he is maybe one of Indy’s top 2-3 pastry chefs. His desserts are as lovely as they are tasty. Hubby and I shared the gjetost cheese custard with oats and plum ($10). I will tell you, hubby was doubtful when he saw it, but man, was this good. Underneath the crisp cookie-like piece and the super thin sliced fruit, was this mixture of cheesy bits and crunchy oat bits that were kind of like the top of a fruit crumble. Seriously, I know it sounds weird, but it was altogether super delicious. And look how pretty too. Also, Beholder has one of the best dessert wine lists by the glass in Indy. Oh, and they bring you a nice little end of meal plate of sweets that rival many of our best candy makers as well. We had a little disc of dark chocolate and mint, and a berry flavored pate de fruits. Both were outstanding.

Overall, this is the best new thing happening in Indy right now. Some may scoff and say the portions are small, but I say, who cares when the food is this good. You can get a lot of different flavors all in one meal, and I personally can’t wait to go back. And it may be expensive for Indy, but after having just returned from NYC and the prices there, we should appreciate the artistry of this food, its sophistication, and the price point compared to other cities. It might not be an everyday place, but it is worth a splurge. I just hope it can last.

Beholder

1844 East 10^th Street

Indy  46201

317/419-3471

www.beholderindy.com 

Thr3e Wisemen -- Revisit

Every time we go to Biscuits for chilaquiles (and it’s fairly regularly), hubby always says, “one of these days, we need to go back to Three Wisemen.” So the other day, when we were debating a lunch choice, and my family refused to go for chilaquiles, that’s where we headed.

We started with an order of the Zoe pretzels ($7), which are pretzels made from pizza dough—they are kind of like breadsticks, but that are prepared with a pretzel finish. Not sure if they boil them and the whole nine yards, but that are coated in salt and they were tasty. We had the beer mustard sauce and the nacho cheese sauce. The beer mustard was pretty strong, and the nacho cheese was pretty basic, but a little of them together in the same bite was a really good flavor. They really need a beer cheese, and all would be perfect. But I basically kind of made my own.

Next, we shared a wedge salad ($8). So in the picture you see just half of one (with tomatoes on the side, because that's my son's half). Pretty big huh? Anyway, I love the fact that they actually use romaine lettuce instead of iceberg. I know iceberg is traditional, but this makes it easier to eat and easier to get a bite with all the toppings. Iceberg wedges always seem to end up with just a lot of undressed lettuce. Also, in a move that made her one of my favorite servers, our server just automatically brought us an extra side of dressing. This was awesome. I nearly always end up asking for extra dressing with a wedge, and I didn’t have to. They also brought the split salad each with its own breadstick and dressing. I thought the salad was very good and would happily eat it again.

Hubby and I split a pizza ($10). You can either get the thin crust the normal way or hand-tossed for an upcharge. We really like a thin crust, so we just got it the regular way and topped with red onion and mushrooms. They put a good amount of toppings on it, and I like their cheese mix—but sadly, the middle of the crust suffered a bit from being soggy—it could have used a few more minutes in the oven I think. It still tasted good, but the texture was just off a bit.  My son had the hot ham and cheese sandwich ($10) and seemed to like it fine. They use nice looking ham—looks like it is pretty good quality. I can’t speak to it personally, because I didn’t try it. The chips are good as well.

Overall, I think Three Wisemen is a good place to keep in mind. I might just ask that they cook my pizza a tad longer than normal—then it would have been nearly perfect. And I would totally get that wedge again.

Thr3e Wisemen 

1021 Broad Ripple Avenue

Indy 46220

317/255-5151

www.thr3ewisemen.com 

Rathskeller -- Revisit

My husband has been nagging me to go back to the Rathskeller literally for years. Let’s just say, it didn’t make a strong impression on me then. And let’s also just say, that may have changed, but not for the better.

We went with my son and my in-laws. They are always game to try somewhere new and had never been. We started with an order of the onion dill bread with herbs and provolone ($9.95). This is a pretty tasty item. It’s a piece of bread that’s cut and seasoned and topped with cheese and herbs. It’s gooey and tasty. Honestly, it was one of the better things we had, even though you really don’t need to order it because you get a nice bread plate with every meal. Speaking of which, my favorite part of this is the warm pretzels in that basket. I truly wished they offered some sort of cheese or even better, beer cheese, to dip them in. The pretzels taste good, but the super spicy mustard they serve it with is so spicy, it’s not even really very good. So let’s just say the strengths of this place mainly start and end with the breads. Ok, and the soup. I had a cup of French onion soup ($5.50) and salad for my meal, because so much pork was being ordered, I knew I could eat off everyone else’s plates. The soup was very tasty. It had the rich beefy stock that you need, plus the onions and cheesy bread. Oh wait, there you go, more bread.

The salad I ordered was the spinach salad ($11.50). It’s a big hearty salad with a ton of spinach leaves. They are topped with bacon crumbles, cheese, hardboiled egg, tomatoes, red onions, and mushrooms. They serve it with a little server of warm bacon dressing. There was so much spinach in there, you really needed to take about half of it out in order to have the right amount of dressing. It was actually kind of hard to eat because the plate was so full, you couldn’t really toss the dressing with the salad much. I kind of got frustrated trying to get it right and gave up and stuck with my soup. I didn’t care much for the dressing either, which had a kind of artificial sweetness to it.

Several people at the table got various forms of the schnitzels. The regular schnitzel ($24.50), the Jaegerschnitzel ($26.50), and the schnitzel cordon bleu ($26.50). Ok, these are all pounded and fried pork tenderloins that are covered (or not) with various sauces—the plain one just comes with lemon, the Jaegerschnitzel with a red wine sauce with mushrooms, herbs and shallots, the cordon bleu, with you guessed it, ham and Swiss cheese. Here’s the problem. The schnitzel is bad. You can dress it up (or not) however you want, but it’s just huge and dry. So dry you can barely cut it with a knife and fork. The cheese and ham were probably the best addition as it added, well, cheesiness. But no one was overly happy, and I am pretty sure my in laws will never return. On the bright side, one of the sides chosen by several, the creamed spinach, was pretty tasty. It was probably the only side dish that anyone commented on. You do have a lot of different choices though. But I would recommend no to schnitzel.

Hubby ordered the wurst plate ($26.95) and contrary to its name, it was actually the best entree. (Haha).  It’s a combo of bratwurst, kielbasse, bockwurst, and a German wiener. They steam them in beer and then grill them. Interestingly, they serve them with a couple kinds of mustards—the really hot one and a not so hot one. It makes you wonder why they don’t offer this with the pretzel. He also got the creamed spinach as well as a house salad with blue cheese dressing. This salad was pretty tasty, and I liked this dressing. I would stick with something like this if you’re in a salad mood.

Ok, I know it’s a big deal in Indy, and an historical building/restaurant, but there is very little that would lure me back it. Hubby says maybe a beer and pretzels and that’s about it. And I agree. So are you guys going to yell at me about this one? I’m curious, because let’s face it, the food is just not very good.

The Rathskeller

401 East Michigan

Indy 46204

317/636-0396

www.Rathskeller.com 

Primanti Bros.

Ok, a quick one here. My daughter and I ended up at Primanti Brothers the other day before going to see an event at Banker’s Life. We literally could not get in anywhere and were running out of time. This was the first place that we could find that could seat us.

I was not really familiar with this place, but we just went with what we thought sounded good at the time. I got the buffalo chicken sandwich ($8.79), and my daughter got the Italian crostini ($8.79). She had fries for her side and I got tater tots (I have a weakness). I guess they are famous for some of their sandwiches that have French fries on them, but the ones we ordered weren’t those, and honestly, that just sounds like a really fat sandwich to me. So feel free to yell and me and tell me why I am wrong.

I also have a weakness for a buffalo chicken sandwich, and this one was fine, but there wasn’t really anything special about it. It didn’t have a ton of sauce, and the chicken was pretty thin. They serve it with lettuce, tomato and red onion as well as blue cheese dressing, but it didn’t really have enough blue cheese so I got some more. It hit the spot, but it will still never be as good as my favorite version from Sahm’s. The tots were spot on. They serve it with their special “zesty Retro sauce.” Not sure what is in here, but it tastes like maybe some hot sauce and ranch or something. It had a slightly sweet edge though, so I didn’t eat a lot of it.

My daughter likes a lot of salami type meat on her sandwiches, and this one was up her alley—it had capicola, salami, pepperoni, mozzarella, vinaigrette, lettuce and tomato. She wasn’t a fan of all the lettuce and tomato, but she liked the sandwich ok. The fries were tasty. 

As for the service, it was great. Our server was friendly and fast, which we needed. But overall, it’s the kind of place I wouldn’t be opposed to going to in a pinch, like the situation we were in. However, it’s also the kind of place that helps me remember to make a reservation on a night like this so I don’t get myself in a pinch. Any Primanti lovers out there? Tell me what you think.

Primanti Brothers

Circle Center (other Indy area locations)

49 West Maryland Street

Indy. 46204

317/384-1946

www.primantibros.com 

Noise rating: 2 bells (out of five)

The Vanguard--Revisit

For Mother’s Day we ended up having dinner at the Vanguard. We had recently been for their Longbranch pop-up and it was so good (I really hope they bring that back every so often). I honestly thought it was better than the original Longbranch, if that is possible. Anyhow, they have moved on to a new spring menu, and since it was a new bunch of items, I thought I would do a little update.

We started with two “smalls,” the popcorn ($5) and the chicken liver toast ($9). The popcorn was cooked with pork fat and had Sriracha spices on it. It had some kick to it, but it was very good, and very addictive. And pork fat should really be a part of more popcorn. The chicken liver toast was really kind of disappointing. It was visually beautiful, but I think they must be made in advance and refrigerated because the toast was not crunchy and was bordering on soggy. On the toast was chicken liver mousse, chevre (goat cheese), and nettle mustard. There was a lot of the mustard on the bread, which dominated the whole thing and probably added to the bread sogginess issue. I would have preferred a lighter hand on this, crispier bruschetta, and more of the chevre and liver.

We were all kind of sharing everything, and the next thing that came out was the “ham and cheese” ($11). This was more of a charcuterie plate, and I enjoyed it. There was some perfectly toasted bread here (hmmmm….) along with speck (smoked prosciutto), Bellamy blue cheese, oil and vinegar on the side, and microgreens. The ingredients were very good, although we needed more bread than they offered (which we asked for, told we would be charged for, and never got). But the flavors of everything was good. For this course, we also had the warm cobb salad ($12). This was warm wilted mustard greens, boiled egg, tomato, bacon and an avocado vinaigrette. It was very good. For some reason, I feel like this place pulls off salads really well, so I am always tempted to order them. Hubby kind of balked, but he loved it too. It had a slightly spicy kick from the greens and the vinaigrette and tomatoes gave good acid. It was extremely flavorful. I will continue on my habit of ordering salads at the Vanguard.

For our mains, hubby and I split the “buttered noodles” ($18) and the special, which was pork tenderloin tacos. The buttered noodles were made with crème fraiche, greens, parmesan and pepper. This was a really good dish for such. Love the use of crème fraiche here giving the pasta more than just a rich cheesy flavor. It was a good thing to split though, because it still was rich enough. The tacos were just ok. Not much going on there—and the meat itself was a little dry. There wasn’t much to them—some cheese and garnish and a couple of limes.

My son had the special steak for the evening—it was a ribeye and it was very tasty, although because of all that fat, it probably would have been better if it were cooked slightly more medium, but he ordered it medium rare. There was some asparagus and greens here as well. It had a great flavor. My daughter got the fried butter quail with butter and cilantro ($15). She enjoyed it although they had forgot it at first, and she ate it after we were pretty much finished.

The Vanguard is a good option for a more high-end dinner in Broad Ripple. It feels like a grown-up restaurant and I like that. The food changes around a fair amount, and I like that too. There are always some really tasty things, even if not everything is always amazing. And if they bring back the Longbranch menu, I highly recommend checking it out. The service can certainly be up and down, and this was one of the down experiences, but hopefully it will be better next time.

The Vanguard

6319 Guilford Ave

Indy  46220

317/254-1147

www.vanguardindy.com 

Pure Eatery Fishers

Always looking for a healthier option for lunch, I met my friend Suzanne at Pure Eatery in Fishers. They have had a location downtown for years, and I haven’t been there for years, so I thought I would give the new one a try. I find the menu appealing. There are lots of sandwiches and wraps and things like that, and I like that you can order a half sandwich if you want to not eat too much. 

I went with a half of the Grady’s melt ($5.95) plus a side salad ($1.95 upcharge from chips). I like a sandwich named after someone, because I always think it is something that someone developed after putting thought into it—and that it is a perfect reflection of their perfect sandwich. Or something like that. So this sandwich is sourdough bread, white cheddar, bacon, tomato and garlic-parmesan aioli. This sounds pretty close to one of my ideal sandwiches. I have to say though, that while I ate it and didn’t hate it, there are certainly easy ways to improve it. For instance, the bacon was like tiny bacon bits, which I thought was odd. Bacon seems born to go on a sandwich in its natural state—strips—but maybe that’s just me. And maybe that’s the way Grady likes it. Honestly, I really didn’t get a lot of flavor of anything besides the cheese here, which sort of made it a sort of grilled cheese. I appreciated that the bread was toasted pretty well (I could have gone for a little more color if I am completely honest). I don’t know, I had higher hopes than how it came out. I love a good sandwich, and this was just an ok one. Now there are a lot of appealing sounding other sandwiches and wraps on the menu, and I would like to try some others—so tell me your suggestions.

My little side salad was perfect though (other than those cucumbers, which I just set to the side. I am not a fan of cucumbers, go figure). A couple of little tomatoes and then just extremely fresh tender mixed greens. I am always amazed at how often something so simple gets messed up. Large pieces of stem or hard bits of stalk, or mushy lettuce past its prime. I had the house made blue cheese dressing with it—nice and chunky—and I was quite happy with it.

Suzanne had stuffed jalapenos, which I thought were interesting because they are like jalapeno poppers that aren’t fried, they’re grilled. They were very cheesy—stuffed with gouda and served with a side of house made ranch. She also had a cup of tomato basil soup. Looked pretty good. I didn’t try either, but she seemed content.

Like I said, this seems like a place where you can get fresh food and can be kind of healthy if you want to (although there are plenty of ways to be decedent as well). I also like to see a local place in an area dominated by chains. They were doing a good business, and if I lived a tad closer, I would certainly try more things and go more often. What do you guys think of it? I know I have some Fishers’ readers out there—share your thoughts.

Pure Eatery

8235 East 116^th Street

Fishers, IN  46038

317/288-0285

www.pureeatery.com 

Noise rating: 1 bell (out of five)