Turf Catering Kitchen - Revisit

I have written about this place before, but I need to make sure you keep them in mind in these crazy days. It’s purely selfish, I don’t want them going out of business. To be fair, I could say this about a lot of places, but I had been missing their sandwiches for a while, and they just started doing them again for lunch, so you should check them out if you haven’t, or get one again if you have in the past.

My kids have never gotten to try the sandwiches before because they were always in school when we got to grab lunch (they are only open Monday through Friday) but it is now one of their favorite places as well.

My daughter got the burger, which my son had had the week before and was very impressed. It’s currently a double decker brisket burger ($12)  with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and caramelized onions. Oh, and their version of an “in and out sauce.” Ok, both my kids get it without the lettuce and tomatoes, but they loved the burger—and I think my son knew he would get a bite if my daughter ordered it because she rarely finishes things. He decided to try something new and got the chicken melt ($12). It was roasted chicken, onion, cheddar, mustard. Again—he got no onions. He really enjoyed this one too—it was super-hot and melty. And similar to my all-time favorite Turf sandwich, the turkey club ($12)—which is a hot sandwich with smoked turkey, lettuce, tomato, bacon, Swiss and black pepper mayo (love that mayo). You can’t go wrong with the turkey club for sure, but hubby convinced me to try something new because I was really intrigued by the grilled cheese with truffled egg salad. 

I was so not disappointed. Amelia’s bread, grilled with cheese, and stuffed with egg salad with a distinctly truffle taste. The bread was toasted perfectly, the cheese was melty, and the truffle scent and taste were just right. And it was one of the more unique sandwiches I have had in ages. I like that while the have standard sandwiches that you often see (that turkey sandwich for instance), they also mix it up and give you some new things to try. 

These are some of the more interesting sandwiches going in town, and they are delicious. Probably one of the top 3 carry outs I have had in quarantine. The kids have decided it needs to be a weekly event, and I agree. I look forward to trying some of the various options and would be happy to eat any one of the above-mentioned. Also, they give you house made chips with each sandwich that are also delicious (super thin and crisp) and I always get a little tub of pimento cheese. It’s one of my favorite pimento cheeses in town and I like spreading the pimento cheese on the chips. They are also doing some limited grocery items as well (flour and yeast for instance if that’s still a problem).

If you like an interesting sandwich with super high-quality ingredients, get on over there. They are also taking orders to bring to healthcare workers. I think Friday lunch is going to be our day as a family, although I can’t lie—I wish they did the regular menu for dinner once or twice a week—it would be a regular dinner choice for us based on my somewhat disappointing carry out we have been doing since quarantine started. We are being cautious at our house about going out even after the restaurants can open so we are always still looking for great carry out options. So feel free to let me know your favorites.

Turf Catering Kitchen

8155 Castleway West Drive

Indy 46250

317/288-0173

www.turfcateringkitchen.com 

Juicy Seafood Indy

Well, about 9,834 days ago, before quarantine, the family and I finally got up the nerve to go try one of the “Juicy” places that are popping up all around us—seriously there are at least 3 in a 3-mile radius of my house. Trying to decide which one to try, I was looking online and ended up letting health department grades make the choice. We went to the one that is in the old Squealer’s in Castleton—officially Juicy Seafood Indy.

 

So here’s the deal with the whole “Juicy” thing (because I honestly had no idea what to expect other than crab. So the schtick is they service your choice of various shellfish in a giant plastic bag filled with several choices of spiciness and well as several choices of seasonings—the choices are lemon pepper, garlic butter, Cajun and juicy special (which is all three mixed together). Each bag comes with potatoes and an ear of corn. You can add 2 boiled eggs or ½ pound of sausage to a bag for $1.75.

They have a bunch of combos if you want a variety of seafood (or you could easily share). Dungeness crab will always be my most favorite shellfish (that and soft-shell crab) so when I saw that, I knew that’s what I was going to get. It is the most expensive except for the three-lobster tail dinner at $30, but Dungeness is just better. So you get basically a whole crab’s worth of legs, and the crab itself was good. I had no problems with the quality of the crab. I had the lemon butter seasoning and low spice level. The taste of the seasoning wasn’t bad, but it was pretty much flavored oil so it was pretty greasy feeling even though it wasn’t fried. I think if I went again—and it’s possible we might—I would just ask for some of the dry seasonings and have it steamed in the bag with some extra lemons. Maybe just a little “garlic butter” to dip in.  The corn was pretty inedible to me—super squishy—but that’s pretty much to be expected. The potatoes were boiled potatoes. They were fine. Anyhow, when they serve it to you, they shake it all up before serving it to you.

Hubby also got one of the combo  bags—his was filled with a lobster tails, some shrimp with heads on (you can do either on or off) and crawfish (about $30)--and he added sausage. The crawfish was not good and the shrimp and lobster were fine. He actually really enjoyed the sausage though. He had the Cajun seasoning. Overall, he liked mine better—both the seafood and the seasoning. I think he would be happy to share some Dungeness and add some sausage.

 

The kids went for the fried side of the menu, which seemed like a bad choice—but as it turned out, most of it wasn’t bad. They did share some of ours too. My daughter had the fried whitefish basket ($11) and my son the fried shrimp and tilapia combo ($12). We also had some buffalo wings ($6) and hush puppies ($3.50) for starters. (My son is on a buffalo wing kick right now and orders them most places that offer them). My daughter’s fish had bones that were a bit of a turn off, but my son enjoyed his fried platter and the wings. I’d say the hush puppies were underwhelming. My son said his wasn’t as good as my crab, but he said he would eat it again if he got some crab too.

So the whole atmosphere of this place is interesting—as noted, the big bags have a fair amount of “sauce” and are quite messy, they give you bibs and rubber gloves to eat your food with. A bit of foreshadowing I guess. And I guess you don’t have to worry about too many people touching your food since it’s in a plastic bag. My daughter was somewhat disturbed by the negative environmental impact of so many giant plastic bags coming out of the kitchen, and I can’t say I don’t agree. I do like knowing there’s a place to get Dungeness crab out, as it’s not something you see a lot of places. I think everyone would go back, but I am not sure how soon it will happen.

Décor-wise, it’s like a cross between Joe’s Crabshack and Red Lobster. Also, on a Sunday, it was packed. We had to wait. I think they were short a few servers too because service was a little spotty and a little slow, even though our server was really nice and helpful with ordering.

 

Anyway, I am wondering if you do pick up from them, if they just give you the giant poofy plastic bag…

Juicy Crab Indy

5899 E 86^th Street

Indy  46250

317/296-3884

www.juicyseafoodindy.com