Modita

I’ve been excited to try this place for a while—it’s new so of course everyone seems to be trying it so make a reservation in advance if you want to go. It’s located at the Bottleworks too—but it’s a full sit-down restaurant. It’s also a Cunningham joint. It’s got a modern vibe inside, unfortunately was freezing when we went inside (classic Hoosier move) but luckily, they had a sort of outside area with a garage door so we sat there so we didn’t need to have parkas on in July.

Anyhow, we started with several apps—the soft-shell crab tempura with chili aioli and cabbage (hold the candied peanuts because my son is allergic) ($18). We also had the bao buns with grilled pork, Asian slaw and miso aioli ($16). Both were really good. My favorite was the crab—it was perfectly fried and still really hot and crisp and the aioli was just spicy enough. My family loved the pork buns and they were good—I liked the crisp edge on the pork and the fact that they had a different flavored aioli for those—hate it when places repeat the same sauces on everything. I also liked that the pork wasn’t too fatty.

We shared a bunch of stuff for our main dishes. We had the mapo tofu ($12), the umami noodles ($16), the robata grill salmon ($27) and the robata grill Wagyu striploin ($95). Yes, the steak is a huge splurge that we had to convince hubby of, but it was well worth it in the end and both he and my son still talk about that steak and how they will definitely be ordering it again. Wagyu has that melt in your mouth quality and then the super high heat of the charcoal robata grill gives everything it cooks a super crisp grilled edge that not only adds flavor but texture to the outside without tasting like it is burnt. We asked for our miso-glazed salmon to be pretty rare and it was really wonderfully cooked as well—super tender inside with that crisp edge. All the robata entrées come with “wasabi mooncakes,” which are basically hash brown cakes with a little wasabi flavor. They were tasty and each plate came with 2, so we each got one. Anyway, as you can probably tell, the robata stuff is really good. I would like to try it all.

Hubby and I also really liked the mapo tofu, but I can’t seem to sell my kids on tofu and my daughter doesn’t love really spicy things. It has a spicy bean sauce on it and it was pretty spicy, as it should be, and really well done. There were toasty rice cake balls in there as well—I love the combination of these textures of the crisp tofu that is still soft inside and the rice cake. I would easily get this again, especially in different company where I could share as it is a generous portion. 

The only let down were the noodles. They were kind of dense and stuck together—maybe like they were a bit overcooked. The favors were pretty rich—pork belly, edamame, black garlic and parmesan. There was a lot of umami, but it was just too much if you ask me. I was pushing for the tamarind noodles which probably have more of the taste I would prefer, but hopefully the noodles would not be overcooked next time. Honestly with so many options on the menu we didn’t get to try at all (dumplings, sushi, tartares, etc.), I would probably just skip the noodles next time and go with something else.

We did get a dessert as well and it was very good too. It was the marshmallow pudding with miso caramel and a sesame seed wafer. It was interesting and different and really tasted like marshmallow, but somehow more sophisticated with the miso and sesame. This was a hit with everyone.

All in all, we had a really good meal and it is one of the places my daughter has requested to go again before she goes away to college on the East Coast. I will keep you updated. 

Modita

850 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 100

Indy  46204

317/316-0470

www.modita.com 

Sully's Grill

I keep hearing about this place from friends and neighbors, but frankly, it’s a hardware store so I also keep forgetting there’s a restaurant in there. But recently I had the opportunity to try it and was quite happy with my lunch, and the creativity of the menu.

I shared Bavarian pretzel sticks with nacho cheese ($7) to start and these were good. Ok, nothing spectacular, but solid. The breadsticks were HOT, soft and had the appropriate amount of salt, and the nacho cheese was your typical nacho cheese. With the creativity in the rest of the menu though, I would love to see a more interesting homemade cheese dip served alongside—just a thought.

I had the smoked chicken breast sandwich ($12) for my main and I loved it. It was listed under the “craveable” section of the menu, and I will definitely agree that it has become a dish that is craveable to me. The chicken was very tender and it was topped with black garlic aioli, Havarti cheese and pickled zucchini. All of these flavors together were really interesting and different and I especially liked the pickled zucchini. This was a total page from my book—while I love proper pickles made with cucumbers, I am not a fan of quick pickled cucumbers, because, well, I am not a huge fan of cucumbers. I often make quick pickled zucchini to eat with sandwiches or various Asian dishes in place of cucumber salad. There was also some greens on the sandwich that added to the texture variation. Overall, a nice take on a chicken sandwich that was different and delicious.

The crowd on a lunch time during the week was mostly older women for some reason—maybe they’re the ones who have discovered this place so far—and there’s some seating in the hardware store and some in the restaurant section and some outside. The server was very friendly and pretty quick. I will definitely give this one a try again for sure—and honestly it is probably one of the closest places to eat around me for lunch so makes a nice option.

So if you need to hit up a local hardware store and get a bite to eat, this is a great option. Or heck, just go for lunch regardless. They also have a weekend brunch menu that looks interesting.

Sully’s Grill

Sullivan’s Hardware Store

6955 N. Keystone Ave

Indy, 46220

317/255-9230

https://sullivanhardware.com/pages/sullys-grill

Nesso - Revisit

A trusted twitter friend mentioned a great meal he had recently at Nesso (thanks @tokenwhitedude) which made me intrigued to go back, especially now that the whole family is finally fully vaccinated (thank you science). The first meal or two I had here were great and then the food seemed to go toward that generic Midwest Italian giant portion thing for a bit. But I am happy to report that they are back doing great food and interesting pasta combos (with some “classics” to make everyone happy). They also have a nice variety of protein main dishes, although we didn’t try any on this visit.

Man, the appetizers were great. I honestly think I would consider making a meal of them next time, or at least getting more of them and splitting a pasta or entrée with someone. We had the carpaccio ($15), the focaccia bread ($5), the burrata ($13), and the crab arancini ($15). That carpaccio is a perfect version of carpaccio. Extremely thin sliced raw beef topped with arugula, parsley oil, parmesan, lemon, fried capers and topped with these cornbread croutons. Wow—this is a dish that had the perfect amount of salt and acid. I think it was everyone’s favorite.

However, the burrata was so good too—mostly because of these amazing lightly roasted tomatoes that burst in your mouth when you ate one. I am totally doing this with my garden cherry tomatoes. Simple, but so good. There was also a topping of candied onion and salsa verde. A bite with everything was just great—the cheese was the perfect smooth rich foil for it all. And it was served with sliced, toasted and oiled bread. The focaccia was also superb (and when my daughter is with us, we order all the bread)—even though it would be hard to not order it every time. It was served with olive oil and balsamic to dip in, as well as herby butter, neither of which was really necessary because the bread was so good, but it was nice to have. It was also good with the burrata.

My daughter also has a love affair with arancini and we almost always have to order them if they are on the menu and these were very good—they were very moist inside (unlike a lot of arancini in this world) and had a nice cheesy interior studded with bits of crabmeat. They were served on top of a fennel aioli, which was delicious with them as well as a tomato sauce on the side (which I found unnecessary). I appreciated the lemon wedges as well for an extra acid hit, as well as the pickled and slight spicy vegetables on the side.

We all got different pasta dishes for dinner. We had the agnolotti ($18), the ravioli ($20), the lobster tortellini ($27) and the bucatini alla nerano ($20). I think the two vegetarian pastas (the agnolotti and the bucatini) were the favorites but they were all good. The agnolotti was little pillows stuffed with cheese and mushrooms in a very rich parmesan broth with truffles shaved on top. If you like mushrooms and truffles, you can’t really go wrong here. However, like I said, super rich. No way I could eat this whole dish of pasta by myself. The bucatini had a pesto type sauce but made with zucchini and walnuts. There were small chunks of zucchini in there as well. More truffles on top and lots of parmesan. It was really good too—and while it was rich and creamy, it was well-balanced. 

The ravioli were large and stuffed with ricotta cheese and were then topped with a lamb ragu—there were peas in there too. My son had played a lot of tennis that day and basically wolfed it down because he was so hungry. I think he liked it but I didn’t get a bite. 

Hubby ordered the lobster tortellini which as stuffed with lobster mousse and had chunks of rock shrimp alongside. There was a light tomato sauce and some lemony breadcrumbs. The dish was good, but probably my least favorite—although I am not a huge tomato sauce with seafood person.

The kids had some amazing dark chocolate gelato for dessert and everyone was happy. This was one of the best meals I have had in Indy lately for sure—and I was so impressed with the finesse especially in the appetizers. 

This is definitely a place to put back into the rotation, and I would argue one of the best Italian places in the city. Have you been lately? What do you think?

Nesso

339 South Delaware

Indy  46204

317/643-7400

www.nesso-italian.com 

Juniper on Main

Recently I had an opportunity to try this new place in Carmel with some friends. It has been on my list but if I am honest, I sort of forgot about it so when my friend mentioned it, I was looking forward to it. They have a nice patio and we chose to sit outside (which turned a little wet when a sudden downpour came through but luckily, we had an umbrella which mostly shielded us). 

We started with the deviled egg flight ($10) and the hot pimento cheese ($12). The better of the two was the pimento cheese which was served more like a queso type dip rather than your typical spread. It was served with naan bread that was toasty and hot and some grapes. The naan was very good with it and the cheese was good although not super spicy. I loved deviled eggs and I was excited by the various flavors that rotates. However, I found them to be a little bland—the actual egg part needed salt for sure and acid wouldn’t hurt. They were topped with various things—one with blue cheese, one with pickled red onions, one with what I think was sausage, one with bacon, and one with corn. Of the bites I had the blue cheese was best for the little kick of salty cheese, but like I said overall, these were under-seasoned. I would skip them next time.

For mains, hubby and I decided to get the fried green tomato appetizer ($11) and the blackened catfish dinner ($20) and split them for our meal. The catfish was probably the best thing on the table all night. The seasoning was just right with lots of flavor and a bit of heat (thanks to our server for the suggestion-she was spot on). The grits served alongside were dryer than I typically would prefer but a little with a bite of the fish and some of the quite flavorful remoulade sauce was tasty. The okra tasted like it had no seasoning at all and was just barely cooked. It was described as “garlic sauteed,” but I didn’t really get any garlic flavor. I didn’t eat a lot of it. The fish was very good though and worth ordering again. The fried green tomatoes were also very good—they did a great job with the crispy breading and I was pleased to see that it actually stayed adhered to the tomato—something that seems to be a challenge for many kitchens. They were super crunchy and good with the lemon aioli and maybe even better with some of the remoulade from the fish. These are a good choice too. 

All in all, there were certainly hits and misses, and overall, a lot of things could have used a little more refinement with seasoning (not the fish though, it was great), but it was an enjoyable meal. Our server was very nice and so is the patio (I didn’t even see the inside actually). They don’t take reservations except for parties over 6, but we didn’t have to wait right at 6:00 on a Friday (although we got one of the last tables). I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts as I don’t feel like I hear a lot about this place.

Juniper on Main

110 E. Main Street

Carmel, IN 46032

317/591-9254

www.juniperonmain.com 

Garage Food Hall- Chapati, J's Lobster and Fish Market, and Azucar Morena

The kids and I are on summer break and we had to run an errand downtown so it seemed like a fitting time to go check out the Garage Hall at Bottleworks. I had walked through it recently, and was impressed and was looking forward to trying a few things. I have two teens, and they were both impressed with the “coolness” of the place and said it felt like it was in a different city so that’s probably the ultra teen compliment. 

We all agreed to get different things so we could try lots of stuff. My daughter got an arepa and fresh squeezed juice from Azucar Morena, I got a lobster roll from J’s Lobster and Fish Market and my son got chicken tikka masala and naan from Chapati. 

Everything we had was good, but I think we all agreed that we liked my son’s tikka masala ($14) the best of everything we had. The enthusiasm of the son working in the front talking about his mom’s cooking was awesome—he also told my son it would take a few minutes because they really are making things pretty fresh. It was a very generous portion (my husband happily finished it for lunch the next day). It had more unique flavors than your typica tikka masala. The naan was some of the best I have --much more flavor than naan often has  —my son liked watching them cook the naan against the oven walls. It was very cool to be part of their “soft open” and I would highly recommend. 

My lobster roll ($18) is the classic variation of a lobster roll. They use toasted bread, which if I am honest, was one of the best parts—it was delicious. Perfectly toasty and crisp and buttery. The lobster was cooked just right and was tender and there was just a touch of mayo, some shredded lettuce and melted butter and Old Bay on top. I would have loved a squeeze of lemon and was surprised they didn’t even have lemon wedges available, but you know me and my love of acid. The quality of the seafood was great and you can’t really go wrong with buttery lobster, although you could make it really sing with a squeeze of lemon (just saying). I like the way they serve the whole thing on top of chips—some seasoned and some plain. Definitely worth having if you are a lobster fan!

My daughter had the domino arepa ($9) which is a little Venezuelan sandwich made with corn meal instead of flour—it was stuffed with black beans, white cheeses and butter and then had a guacamole type spread as well. It was tasty too—although hard to eat like a sandwich because the fillings were kind of falling out. Again, I would have squeezed a little lime on it if I had been at home, but the ingredients were good and I like the slight sweetness from the bread. She also had a fresh squeezed juice with pineapple, orange and passion fruit. It was delicious. Slightly expensive but a very large size and extremely good (she developed a taste for the “POG” in Hawaii and has a hard time finding it).

Overall, it was a great experience and I look forward to going again—there’s a fish and chips spot we want to try and a poke place as well. Not to mention burgers and tacos and oysters as well as things I am surely forgetting. So, if you have had something that really blew your mind please comment and let me know what it was.

Garage Food Hall

Bottleworks

906 Carrollton Avenue

Indy 46202

317/556-1252

https://www.garageindy.com/

Bodhi

Recently hubby and I went out to dinner with some friends to celebrate their anniversary. It was a Monday and I was sort of  surprised how busy this place was! We had to wait about 40 minutes to get a table outside, which is good for them and gave us a chance to walk around and check out the Bottleworks buildings. The Garage Food Hall was doing a big business as well. We had a quick drink in the temporary hotel bar (which was empty unlike everywhere else) and then headed back to Bodhi when we got the text that our table was ready.

I have always loved the outdoors space here—when it was Black Market and now as Bodhi. They have mature wisteria growing through the roof and it is a nice spot. They are still doing good social distancing as well, which is appreciated. I also like the updates they made to soften the interior feel a little bit with plants and new lighting.

The friends we were with are like us and like to try lots of things, so we started with three apps. We had the spring rolls ($9), the crab puffs ($12), and the chicken wings ($15). They give you nice portions on all of the apps, and our favorite were probably the crab puffs—which were like crab Rangoon in a slightly different shape than usual. The spring rolls were mostly outside crunch without much inside. The wings were fine too—the little bits of crispy garlic on the side were tasty, but they weren’t overly spicy. None of the apps were amazing, all were fine, and I think we decided that next time we would save more space for more main dishes, which were clearly the stars.

And we ordered several items to try. Probably my favorite of all of them (but they were all good) was the chili and basil stir fry (Pad Kra Prow) (we had it with the chicken) ($17). It had some heat at medium, but you could appreciate the taste of the basil in the dish. It also had onion and red bell pepper, and I really liked the addition of edamame, which was unusual and very tasty. This was delicious.

We also really enjoyed the shrimp pad Thai ($15). At first it seemed like there weren’t a lot of shrimp in there, but they were buried in the noodles. The rice noodles were plentiful and I love a good tamarind sauce combined with the chopped peanuts and crunchy bean sprouts. It is just the right combo of sweet and spicy and the shrimp were cooked perfectly, as were the noodles. I would definitely order this again as well. 

Our next favorite (and some at our table liked it best) was the laab salad (which we had with pork) ($16). It was a nice change of pace with its chili lime dressing to give a nice hit of acid. There was a lot of minced pork, onions, red bell peppers, lettuce, herbs and crispy rice bits. Honestly, it was hard to pick favorites because they were all so tasty.

The last dish we had was the massaman curry ($21 with beef). It was by far the heartiest, richest dish It came with Naan bread on the side, which we thought was slightly odd in a Thai restaurant—and honestly it was better with the extra side of rice  ($3) we ordered instead. The curry had big hunks of beef, carrots and fingerling potato. Very stew-like in my mind. It had a deep flavor though and also a nice touch of heat (we pretty much ordered everything medium).

All in all, this was a really tasty dinner—particularly the entrées. I love the interior of this place (as well as the outside seating) and I look forward to returning. They had a nice cocktail list and a decent wine list as well. Keep in mind, you have to be 21 and over to eat here, but what a nice addition to Mass Ave. They don’t take reservations, but it looks like you can add yourself to the waitlist on their website. We will definitely be back so let me know your favorite items. 

Bodhi

922 Massachusetts Ave

Indy 46202

https://bodhi-indy.com/

Poke Bros.

Ok, full disclosure-- it is a chain, but still, I was excited by a poke place finally that wasn’t downtown or in Hamilton county—it’s the kind of thing I crave for lunch, but don’t necessarily want to drive really far for—you know what I mean. This one is in Ironworks so recently the kids and I headed over to check it out. It was so new as you can see, the sign wasn’t even up yet.

Anyhow, I found out about this place from a flyer we got in the mail. They just do one size bowl (but you can add extra proteins if you want). Also, I really like that they don’t count tofu as a protein (it’s a free topping) so I don’t feel like I am “wasting” a protein on a cheap ingredient like some other places do. And I really like tofu in my poke bowl to add a little creamy texture. 

Anyway, if you haven’t been to one of the poke places yet—you get a bowl, pick your base (white rice, brown rice, or greens, or a combo of two) and then just go down the line and add what you want. Lots of veggies and fruits to choose from. Most  of the toppings are unlimited except avocado, mango, masago, and seaweed salad which have a little upcharge. The bowls end up costing between $10-13 or so depending on what you get.

For proteins, they have the raw fish (salmon or tuna, seasoned or unseasoned, shrimp, chicken, or spicy chicken). I went with the marinated tuna as my protein and added avocado, tofu, edamame, masago and green onion. I do half rice and half greens. They top everything with soy sauce (they call it “OG sauce”) unless you don’t want it. Then you can add additional sauces. I added a little of the Sriracha aioli and a bit of ponzu to try and get a little acid. It was maybe a little too sweet but I liked the spicy mayo. 

My other favorite thing about this place is that you can add various crunchies on top for texture variation—they offer sesame seeds, tempura flakes, crispy onions, crushed cashews and wonton chips. I went with some tempura flakes and some wonton chips. I was a little nervous for my son who is allergic to cashews about cross-contamination, but luckily they had the containers right behind the counter and were willing to give him some that hadn’t been on the bar. 

My kids got similar variations to me with slightly different veggies, although my son got salmon and tuna. We all enjoyed it and they are certainly generous portions. The fish was fresh and tasty and I didn’t get any of those awkward fatty bites. All in all, I wish I had a locally owned option nearby, but I will likely eat here again as close as it is to me. And I am all about the free tofu. 

Poke Bros.

2727 East 86^th Street Suite 148

Indy. 46240

317/875-1699

https://eatpokebros.com/

Thai Station

 

I got to go out to dinner with one of my girlfriends recently (thank you science!) and I was super excited to go regardless, but then she suggested a place I had never been, and I was doubly happy. Thai Station is just up the road from my house too, so I had high hopes (and I learned a new cookie place is going in right by it, so that also seemed like a good sign).

It’s a strip mall location and I didn’t expect a lot atmosphere-wise, but it was actually very cute—lots of wood and several booths and a banquet of tables. They do a good job of only seating every other table and have sanitizer on every table that they do use. There were only a few tables that were seated while we were there, but they had a very steady stream of take out orders. They also have a cute little bar area and a decent wine selection for a small place. They served one of my favorite less expensive roses, and that is what I ordered. Nice glasses too. They are definitely making you feel like you are getting a true “out to eat” dining experience.

The menu is very large and quite appealing. They have a lot of interesting-sounding things. We ordered the crispy wontons ($6.99), mostly because we were curious about what they would be.  They were little wontons stuffed with lightly seasoned chicken and deep fried. They were served with that clear vinegar-based, slightly sweet Thai dipping sauce. The chicken was maybe a little bland on its own, but they were pretty tasty, especially with the sauce drizzled on them. 

For my entrée, I ordered my classic Thai dish—sauteed eggplant with meat and veggie. Here it is #34 and called “Eggplant Lover” ($11.99). It was so good. One of the best versions I have had in town—everything was cooked just right—the eggplant was still bright in color, but cooked soft and with the rich Thai brown sauce all absorbed into it. The chicken was thinly sliced and tender. There were also green peppers, thinly sliced carrots and basil. Oh, and of course white rice. The sauce was super delicious and plentiful so that you could really make your rice pretty well coated and get the flavor in every bite. I loved how bright and colorful the dish was and everything seemed really fresh. 

My friend got the (#33)($14.99) garlic and pepper preparation with shrimp. This was shrimp stir-fried with a garlic pepper sauce all on top of sliced cabbage, cilantro and green onions. I just had a bite of the veggies with the sauce and the sauce was really good—lots of garlic. We both ordered our dishes medium spice level and I think it was just right. Definitely some heat, but not crazy.

This may become one of our new go-to carry out places. There is a ton of stuff on the menu, including various fried rice versions and noodle dishes and I know everyone in the house will find stuff they like. I can’t wait to try more stuff. If you have been here, let me know what you like. 

Thai Station

3317 E. 86^th Street

Indy. 46240

317/929-1983

Cholita - Revisit

While hubby and I are vaccinated and can be a little looser with the rules about where to eat now, the kids still aren’t and we’re still on the quest for good patios (please continue to share your favorites), Cholita is a good option because it is enclosed with plastic sheeting, but there are still large gaps of fresh air, and the tables are pretty well spaced (although when we were there, there were several patrons walking about one end of the patio
without masks).

It has been quite a while since I have been here, definitely over a year—and I was looking forward to trying it again. I will admit the last time we went (probably at least 18 months ago), things had fallen off a bit—there was a lot of cabbage and not a lot of the meat/veggie stuffing or other more interesting toppings. We started out this visit with some chips and salsa ($3) and the queso fundido ($8). We also had a couple different margaritas. The chips and salsa hit the spot and I like their salsa. It has a nice flavor without being too spicy. The queso fundido is tasty too, although a little challenging to eat with the little wedges of soft tortilla on the side-they taste good together but eating it with the chips was easier. The cheese is super rich and I appreciate the spicy salsa chile morita (smoked jalapeno) they serve with it to cut through the richness and add a kick of heat. The margaritas are tasty, but I recommend the top shelf because the regular house margarita is a little tart.

The menu is pretty much tacos after that, and they have a lot of good options including a rotating monthly special. Hubby and I shared a fish taco, a fried avocado taco, a shrimp taco, and the special chicken tinga taco (a “side piece” includes three tacos and beans for $13.50—you can also buy a la carte and the tacos range from $3.75-$4.25). The fish was so, so good. It is fried cod topped with shredded Colby cheese and cabbage and has a “California wine sauce” and pico de gallo. This was my favorite of the night. The fish was a light tempura-type batter and tasted fresh and super crunchy. All the toppings were just right. 

The fried avocado also really good, and is topped with baja sauce, pickled vegetables, cabbage and pico de gallo. I really like the additional of crunch in the texture of the fried items in the tacos. That combined with the creamy avocado was tasty and I think the pickled veggies add a great hit of acid to balance all that. 

The shrimp is fine, but not as good as the others. It was topped with all the same things as the avocado, but maybe the lack of texture variation made it not as interesting. The shrimp was cooked properly though and had an adobo taste. It definitely brightened up with a hit of lime. 

The special chicken tinga was the last one and probably the least favorite. There was nothing wrong with it, but not as much creativity in the toppings—mostly cabbage and sour cream.  I am intrigued by the hot fried chicken version and will try that one the next time. 

All in all, it was a very tasty meal and a good place to go eat on a patio and be protected and warm if necessary. I am glad to see they have made it through the pandemic (and it was about as full as it could be). Who has been lately? What’s your favorite flavor?

Cholita

1001 Broad Ripple Ave

Indy  46220

317/389-5555

www.cholitatacos.com 

The Little India

We have been a bit in a rut with this whole Covid carry out thing…and I have been more determined to try new things. A couple of you guys recommended this place—it’s in the old Sobro Cafe location. The website is funny because it shows kind of a fancy dining area, but obviously it’s some stock images because the inside looks pretty much just like Sobro used to look if you have been there.

But no matter, we ordered carry out and when I went in to get it, the only people in the dining room were the owners’ kids playing on their tablets. It looks like it is a true mom and pop establishment—mom in the front and pop in the back cooking. And while there wasn’t anyone in the dining room, the phone rang off the hook while I waited to get my order—and there was a fairly constant parade of people and delivery service drivers coming in to pick up food. 

We went with our classic (and yes, I know, fairly unoriginal) order of chicken tikka masala ($12.95), palek paneer ($9.95) and lamb karahi ($12.95). I mean, we kind of have to compare it to our other stand-by Indian places to see which we like better right? We also got garlic naan ($2.75) and tried an appetizer of chicken pakora ($5.95). Please note I don’t necessarily think the pictures on the online menu are their actual food either, as the pakora looked quite different—the online looked like little chicken pieces, but in reality, they were basically like chicken finger size.

The tikka masala and the palek paneer were excellent. The chicken was tender and pretty plentiful (sometimes I feel like there is not a lot of chicken in the containers). The spice level was definitely present (it is listed as spicy on the menu) but isn’t so spicy that you don’t want to eat it—just the right amount (for my family) that slowly builds as you eat it. The palek paneer—which is basically like creamed spinach with hunks of cheese in it, was also very, very good. The spinach part of this dish was super fresh tasting—even though it was creamed spinach. I am not sure how to explain it except it was very spinach-y. There was also a lot of cheese chunks (which is my preference) although it is pretty big pieces and I like them a little smaller, which isn’t a big deal  because you can just cut them up and stir them back in. 

The boys in my family are the main lamb eaters with Indian food and thought the quality of the lamb, and the tenderness was really good. They didn’t like the sauce (ginger, onions, bell peppers and spices) as much, thought it was a little bland. They are excited to try some other lamb dishes though because of the quality of the meat. We also were intrigued by the Indo Chinese dishes which have a Chinese flair to them. There were several that look really good. 

The chicken pakora were a miss for all of us (the dogs felt very lucky though). There were a ton of them, but they were cooked in a chickpea batter but ended up tasting a bit like chicken in pancake batter—and didn’t re-heat that well so the crust was kind of soft. 

All the entrées came with rice and the naan was solid. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with naan right? And it was tasty. 

All in all, we were very happy and will definitely go back. Our go-to dishes are very good and we are excited to try some new stuff too. And always nice to support a local place like this. Who else has been and what did you like?

The Little India

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/220-8300

https://thelittleindiarestaurant.com/menu-list/