MIlktooth-- Revisit

Hubby and I had a rare day off when the kids were still in school just before Christmas and decided to hit up Milktooth. Wowza, it was packed. I guess other people had the same idea. Anyway, we waited about 30 minutes but it was actually one of those sunny days and we sat outside in the sun.

We had already looked over the menu when we did get seated, so we ordered right away. While there were several things that sounded good, this was a menu that wasn’t as compelling as some I have seen. But it changes all the time, so this will happen sometimes. We were intrigued by the Indiana hot wings, but the warning that came on the menu that they were extremely hot and that no refunds would be offered scared us off so we decided to pass on those. If they have that kind of warning, we figured they must be really hot. And I’m not the type to love super fiery hot stuff that destroys my taste buds anyhow.

So we ordered the burger ($14), because, let’s face it, it is usually one of the best burgers around these days. They vary it up and this one was different and extremely tasty. It was a thin beef patty topped with asiago, shitake mushrooms, cream cheese chive aioli. Oh, and of course, we added an egg. Part of what makes it so good is that Amelia’s Pullman bun too. It’s just perfect. Light but exactly right to hold up to the stuff inside. Seriously, we split this (as well as everything else) and hubby really wanted to order a second one for dessert. We were both savoring every single bite.

We also ordered the Dutch baby pancake with Manchego, grapefruit, shaved Brussels sprouts, Sherry vinaigrette and chopped hazelnuts--oh and we added the meat option ($16). I want to say it was morcilla? I was glad we added it though—although it was a bit chewy, it added a nice smoky hearty flavor. I liked this better than the last Dutch baby I had at Milktooth because it was pretty much purely savory. The acid and intensity of the grapefruit was a nice contrast with the cheese. The Brussels sprouts were very tasty too and overall were sliced very thin. There were a couple that were just a little too thick for me, but overall, this was a dish that was super interesting and really good.

We tried to get the ham and cheese croissant, but sadly they were out of it, so we decided to get the latke ($5) instead. They usually have some sort of latke on the menu, but they mix it up as to what’s in it, and what’s on it. This one was potato and rutabaga and was topped with acorn squash butter and green harissa cream. I loved the harissa cream—it was tangy like it was made with sour cream. I didn’t really like the acorn squash butter as much, but it didn’t really matter because I just pushed it out of the way and ate all the rest. 

Ok, we had some wine, and in order to prevent hubby from ordering that second burger, we decided to try a pastry for dessert. We got the twice-baked pumpkin/chocolate croissant ($4). I was suspicious because pumpkin flavored things aren’t typically my first choice, but this was really good.  Decadent.

The only downside was the service was pretty slow. But like I said, they were really busy, so I think our server might have been a little overwhelmed. But we had nowhere to be and had wine, so we were generally pretty happy. I’ve said it many times before, but we are lucky to have this place and I am glad to see it still living up to the hype. There’s always something new to try, and always a twist on an old favorite as well.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Bluebeard - Revisit

Just a friendly reminder about all the wonderful restaurants we have in Indy—so today I am reminding you about Bluebeard. One of our best, and a place to revisit again and again. Hubby chose it for Father’s Day, and we were all happy to oblige.

With the kids we always have to start with a small bread plate ($5) and chips and dip ($6). Not that I am complaining, because both are always good. And when we were there, the rotating flavored butter (they seem to always have the anchovy and the garlic olive oil as well as one other changing flavor) was guanciale cheddar butter and it was delicious. I mean pork, cheese and butter? How could it be bad? And I like it better than fruity options, which are sometimes too sweet for me. The Bluebeard version of chips and French onion dip is also delicious. And I was excited to see they have switched out their homemade potato chips from being fingerlings, which were good, but so skinny they broke off too easy. They are using regular potatoes now and they were heartier and super good.

Hubby and I split the salmon poke boat ($18), which was super cute, as it actually came in a little boat, and tasted just as good. It was salmon, cucumber, toasted sesame and wakame (a type of seaweed) marinated in a dark soy yuzu sauce and served on top of rice. Crunchy fried shallots garnished the top.  We really enjoyed this dish—it had lots of flavor and nice texture variation with the fish and the shallots. And the more poke I see on menus, the happier I am.

Hubby celebrated by ordering the bucket of prawns ($42), which was sort of like an ode to Red Lobster, but with actual fresh, delicious seafood. There were a bunch of peel ‘n eat prawns, and these were some of the best I have had in Indy. Super big, but exceptionally tender. Dip them in the miso butter, and they were perfect. We had to force him to share, and we all wanted them. There were hunks of Andouille sausage in there as well. And the side dish of cheddar bay biscuits? More fights broke out over them, because cheese biscuits are the best biscuits. This was an excellent, yet simple dish.

I ordered the halibut tacos for my main dish and these were just as good as hubby’s shrimp (and I was much more generous about sharing). There were battered pieces of fish at the bottom of each tortilla and they were topped with this deep rich adobo type sauce. There were some lightly pickled onions in there as well as some jalapeno slices on top. I would happily eat these again any day.

My son ordered a skirt steak, which he didn’t really care for that much, and it wasn’t our favorite dish of the evening. He was a little miffed at hubby for convincing him to order it instead of the halibut that he had his eyes on at first. And I will say, the beef dishes at Bluebeard are never my favorites either. Go with something more interesting and it will be more satisfying.

Hubby had to have his chess pie; something that Bluebeard has had on the menu pretty much since the beginning. It was good as always, and has even been perfected to be a bit easier to eat because the crust is a bit flakier. My son wanted a dessert that had nuts in the crust, so he couldn’t get it. The staff was kind enough to bring him a complimentary bread pudding to eat, which was quite nice as well. They do a nice job with desserts here, and they are more homey in nature than super fancy.

Bluebeard is a staple in Indy and is consistently good. So just a gentle (somewhat selfish) reminder to keep going there and supporting them to make sure they stay around. We’re lucky to have them. 

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com 

Rook - Revisit

Rook, you guys, is one of the most creative and tasty places we’ve got going around here. Hubby hadn’t been to the new location so we headed over there on one of those nights when it was still unseasonably warm and sat outside—they’ve done a nice job with the outside seating. Even though it’s pretty near the street, it feels a little calmer than many places.

We started out with the steamed pork bun ($5). A friend had insisted we get the Spam bun because she says it is amazing, but hubby couldn’t be swayed from the pure pork version. And it is really delicious. The soft doughy bun and the just right crispy pork belly with no too much fat. My favorite part is the homemade pickles giving it a fresh crunch and some acid. There’s a sprinkle of peanuts and some hoisin sauce too. So good.

We also got an order of the fried pigs’ ears with fermented black bean mayo and a 63-degree egg ($8). We have had tasty pig’s ears before, but they are often too chewy. THESE WERE SO GOOD. You couldn’t sop eating them. It was almost like eating light fried pork skins—super crispy and not at all chewy. That mayo had a little tanginess to it as well, and well, you know me, put a perfectly runny egg on top of that mayo and it may just be the perfect dish. No way we would ever pass this by if it’s on the menu. Dipping the pigs’ ears into that runny egg and mayo was just perfection.

For our second round, we had the Ora King salmon poke ($18) and the Vietnamese crepe ($17). We really enjoyed the salmon—really nice-sized cubes of raw salmon—and if you aren’t familiar with Ora King, it’s super buttery and delicious (you can get it at Caplinger’s if you want to experiment at home). And then the salmon was served in a bowl on a bed of rice and flavored with soy, charred seaweed, sesame seeds and an avocado cream. There was also a big egg yolk in the middle of the dish, which made it into a rich, decadent dish. We really enjoyed it, but it was so rich, I was glad to be sharing it. I don’t think I could have eaten this whole thing on my own.

If I was going to pick a least favorite item of the evening, it was the Vietnamese pancake. And these are typically one of my favorite things in Vietnamese cuisine. It was stuffed with a large amount of duck confit, boiled egg, bean sprouts and bacon. It was drizzled with fermented chili aioli and had a side of a fish sauce-based sauce to season with. I’m not sure what made this dish a little lackluster for me, but I think it was the fact that there was a little too much of the filling inside (you couldn’t really appreciate the crepe itself) and the fillings were on the whole cold. When I have had this elsewhere in the past, the fillings are quickly sautéed or something so they are warm. Maybe they just put so much in there, it couldn’t all get warm before the crepe was totally done. The boiled egg was a new thing for me in a crepe like this. I appreciated some of it, but still, there was just a little too much.

All in all, this was a really good dinner. The first two items blew us away and we were also really impressed with the salmon. I love the way the menu varies from visit to visit. Hubby was also really impressed with the new (ish) digs, as they just feel more sophisticated, while it remains casual and approachable still.

If you haven’t been to Rook, you owe it to yourself to check it out for sure. It is certainly one of the most interesting places we have going and the food quality (and service for that matter) is very high. Can’t wait to try some other new things.

Rook

501 Virginia Ave

Indy 46203

317/737-2293

www.rookindy.com

Milktooth - Revisit

A couple months ago I posted about Milktooth and my friend who has recently moved from Indy to Austin saw the post and requested a trip there when she was returning to Indy to visit. Of course, I was more than happy to oblige.

And guess what?? They were featuring soft shell crab on one of their dishes. And guess which one I got? This dish was so unique, and so delicious. So it was this savory French toast—which was so tender and absorbed the deliciousness that came from the sunny egg that was on top of it. The crab was then fried and laid beside it all. There was a miso turmeric broth that everything sat in. Even without the crab, which was cooked just right, I would have been happy with this dish—the bread and the egg with the sauce was great. Add that crisp crab and the pickled veggies and capers and it was perfection. A bunch of things I never would have thought to put together, but a bunch of things that should be together. Sadly, the soft shell season is fleeting, but this is a dish I would order any day. I will say, they also had skate wing on the menu on this day, another of my favorite things that you don’t see enough on menus, so I am hoping to get to try it there one day too. My point is, when you eat there, don’t be afraid to try something totally out of your comfort zone or something that might sound like a weird combo. For instance, one of the friends who was with us also ordered the soft shell crab even though she had never had it before and really enjoyed it.

My friend who requested we go there was set to get the Belgian waffle ($13), which I am sure is delicious with its salted butter and parmesan combo and she asked what I thought. I told her she could eat a Belgian waffle anywhere, so she decided to try the Dutch baby pancake with strawberry rhubarb topping and toasted almonds. She seemed to enjoy it and the bite I had was very good. I don’t tend to order sweets for any meal, but this was a more original take on a sweet breakfast item, and I love strawberry rhubarb anything. The pancake itself has a nice crisp exterior and a soft airy interior.

Ok, I told you I can’t really go to Milktooth anymore without ordering those Korean chicken wings ($12) and I wasn’t lying. So I ordered a plate for the table. Just as delicious as always. So crispy underneath that delicious sweet/hot sauce. Squeeze of lime—perfection.

This is certainly one of my favorite places to eat right now, and every time I go, I am excited by the new items on the menu. And the chicken wings.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Rook - New Location Revisit

I was excited to meet a friend for lunch the other day at Rook—I hadn’t been yet to their new location. Wow, so much more sophisticated. I always felt like the old Rook’s location didn’t do enough to live up to the interesting food.

It’s a more spacious place as well, with individual tables, a bar area (looking into the open kitchen) and some larger communal tables. The menu is larger as well, although you will recognize many items from the old Rook location.

One of these return items also happens to be one of my favorites—the mushroom dumplings ($6). These are so delicious. They wonton skins are thin and delicate and having a mushroom filling gives it a fairly intense earthy flavor, but without the routine pork dumpling taste. They’re rich, but not typical. The light sauce is made with soy and vinegar and even the chunks of cucumbers (which aren’t typically my favorite thing) were tasty. I love these things and was glad they are still on the menu. 

I ordered one of the two ramen bowls ($14). It was a very interesting bowl of ramen. Besides the obvious broth and noodles, there were pickled greens, mushrooms, cabbage and a chicken rillettes with pickled mustard seeds on top. Oh yeah and one of those wonderful 63 degree eggs that are soft and just the right amount of runny inside. The flavor of the dish was very deep and almost grassy with all those greens, but I really enjoyed it. The one thing that didn’t really do it for me was that chicken rillette. I couldn’t quite figure out what I was supposed to do with it. If you cut into it in the broth, it just sort of dissolved and lost most of its flavor. It was difficult to eat. I sort of wished I had a side plate to put it on separately. I mainly just didn’t eat much of the rillette, but enjoyed the rest.

My friend had the Galbi rice bowl ($16) with Korean short ribs, avocado, pickled cucumbers, kim chi and pork cracklings. This is a solid choice—and I liked all the texture variations. It was maybe a little dry before you cracked into the egg on top, which gave it some more moisture. I loved the addition of avocado, as I always do—but in this case it lent a little bit of creaminess that was nice.

Rook is a cool spot—again one of the more interesting and creative menus you’ll find in Indy. I also appreciate that they change it up a bit all the time. And there’s beer and wine as well as cocktails now in the bigger space, which is really nice. Mostly, I appreciate the feel of the new space because it feels like it can easily be a dinner spot as well as a lunch spot. In the old location, it was hard to imagine it feeling like a destination for dinner for me anyway. Glad to see the progress.

Rook

501 Virginia Ave

Indy 46203

317/737-2293

www.rookindy.com 

Milktooth - Quickie Revisit

Hubby and I have had a couple of visits back to Milktooth over the last few weeks when appointments brought us downtown together. We got to try several different items and enjoy one of Indy’s most inventive and consistently good places to eat. I love that they’re a breakfast and brunch only place because as hubby said, “You know they’re bringing their A game.” This is their thing and they’re rocking it.

Both trips we had the Korean BBQ wings ($12) and these things are just spectacular. Extra crispy even though they are coated in that slightly sweet, just barely spicy sticky sauce. Add a squeeze of the lime that comes with and you’re in heaven (even if you’ll need the wet napkin they brought afterwards to wipe up).

Another amazing dish that I could happily eat any day was the rye bialy with big eye tuna salad ($12). It was served on the delicious and soft bialy (smallish bagel type bread without a hole) and under the tuna salad was whipped cream cheese and red onions. On top were little shoots and lots of capers. This dish had so much good acid, and so much good fresh crunch, it just made me so happy.

We also shared the milktooth double burger ($12) with two lamb and beef patties, American cheese, steamed onions, “fancy sauce,” and shredded romaine. Kind of Milktooth’s version of a Big Mac I guess, but so much better. A nice solid burger.

On each trip we ordered a side and while I enjoyed the celeriac and potato latke ($5), hubby was not as big a fan—I think because of the onion marmalade, which had a bit of sweetness. I agree I prefer the more savory latkes I have had at Milktooth, but I scraped off the onions and enjoyed it. They get their latkes so, so crispy. The twice-fried tostones with chili ketchup ($6) didn’t really wow either of us though. They were just kind of soft and just fell a little flat. We only ate a couple of them.

Overall though, this place continues to be one of Indy’s stars. I don’t care if it’s hipsterish, they can do whatever they want as long as they keep putting out this level of creativity and deliciousness.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Milktooth - Revisit

Here’s a quickie post—because well, Milktooth. I have written about it a lot. It’s no surprise that I am a fan of this place—I know there are some people that think it’s a bit precious, but I am not one of them.

Lunch with the ladies—we were treated to some uni spoons—not something I would normally order, but really good. Sometimes uni is a bit over the top for me, but these were perfect little umami bombs. A spoon, the uni, a bit of a soy-based sauce and a touch of wasabi on the end. Nicely done.

I have a thing for the lamb frita ($10) with pineapple pickled jalapenos, chile ketchup, white American cheese and tostones—oh yeah and add a fried egg ($2.50). I’ve had it before, written about it before, and will likely eat it again should the opportunity arise. A damn flavorful burger-type sandwich.

One friend had the Korean bbq wings ($12). Wow. Crispy fried wings in a wonderful, slightly sweet, slightly savory sauce. A nice sesame flavor and served with a lime. Hard to not want to order these again too should the appear on the menu. These things were slightly addictive.

A doughnut was also shared—served with a distinctive citrus glaze and some granola on top as well. I enjoy the sweets at Milktooth a lot, but am more easily lured by the savory options…. Although a salted rye brownie ($4) sounds good about now.

This place gets written up in some national publication like every other month—you should go try it if you haven’t already. It really is like nothing else in Indy.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Repeal

Hubby and I are trying to get around to trying all the new places in town—there seems to be so many! So recently we had a night with nothing going on and decided to try Repeal.

Repeal is in Fountain Square in an old bank building—I love the interior of the place—it seems like so many places are going for that really sparse feel these days—it’s nice to go to a place with lots of character—a lot of warm wood everywhere, old tin ceiling tiles, and repurposed railings.  The people working there are friendly and generally knowledgeable about the menu. The restaurant backs up to a distillery where they are making spirits to be used in their cocktails.

The menu doesn’t seem to have a particular theme—I think they were going with a 1920s Prohibition theme (the era of the building) at first, but it seems to have morphed into just a regular kind of menu with some items that have a little bit of a throwback feel to them. We started with the beer cheese and fries ($8). This was not exactly what I was expecting. I think I was thinking of some sort of bowl of cheese to dip fries into, and this was actually a plate of fries drizzled with very hot beer cheese. It wasn’t bad really, the fries were decent battered fries and once the beer cheese wasn’t so dang hot, and you could actually taste it, it tasted good. But because it was spread over the fries, it cooled quickly and then was almost too cool. I would prefer something else to dip in there—I know homemade pretzels are everywhere, but man, they are tasty with beer cheese. And these fries, while they were good battered fries, I would guess they aren’t making them in house.

For our main dishes, we split the smoked pork plate ($16), the pimento cheese sandwich ($9 +$2 for bacon) and the Brussels sprouts side dish ($6). My favorite of them all was probably the pimento cheese sandwich. It was nicely toasted bread and was topped with some arugula and tomato as well as jowl bacon that we added.  I liked the arugula and tomato with it to give that hit of acid and to freshen it a bit. The pimento cheese spread was tasty—had a decent amount of kick to it, but not too much. Honestly though, while I would order the sandwich again for sure (I’m thinking it would make a great lunch), I think I would skip the jowl bacon on it. While it tastes good (there was more of it on the pork platter), I would prefer a crispier piece of bacon that isn’t as fatty on a sandwich. When you would bite into it, it often was hard to tear apart.

I did enjoy cutting bits of this same bacon on the pork platter and eating it with the other items that were there—the sausage and the pork belly. My favorite of the meats offered here (apparently they change up the cuts offered depending on the day) was the pork belly. It had the nice rich fattiness to it, but also a decent amount of the meatiness as well. All the meats had a nice smoky flavor as well. My absolute favorite thing about this otherwise fairly simple dish was the Carolina mustard sauce served with it. First of all, I love mustard BBQ sauce. Love it. But this one was really outstanding—it tasted extremely fresh and not at all thick and syrupy the way they can sometimes be—just a bright, well-seasoned mustardy kick with a nice touch of acid. I also liked the homemade pickles served on the side—it’s like they know me. Whenever I eat mustard sauce, I eat it with pickles. I just love that combination of flavors. I could pass on the sausage overall though, it was only ok, but the variety was nice.

The seasoning on the Brussels sprouts was really tasty—it had duck fat and white soy vinaigrette listed on the menu. The vinaigrette was really interesting and tasty and was a flavor that inspired me to try and duplicate it at home. The menu listed the sprouts as seared though, which wasn’t exactly true, they weren’t really very crunchy—there was a bit of sear on them, but not a lot. But the biggest problem here was that the sprouts weren’t really cooked enough. I really enjoyed the flavor of them, the smoky fat and the interesting vinaigrette, but I just wished the sprouts were a little more tender. Maybe steam them a bit first or something.

Our server was very helpful, and overall we really enjoyed the experience. I probably enjoyed the pimento cheese sandwich the best (although I loved that mustard sauce). I feel like there is some good potential here and I would like to return. The atmosphere is good and the restaurant was busy, but not so crazy that you couldn’t hear the person across the table from you. Who else has been and what have you had to eat?

Repeal

630 Virginia Ave

Indy 46203

317/672-7514

www.repealrestaurant.com 

Bluebeard - Revisit

It was hubby’s birthday, and it was a Monday, so we couldn’t figure out where to go. Then we remembered Bluebeard was open on Mondays (and Sundays too!) and our choice was made.

We walked in around 6:30 and I was surprised at how crowded the place was—we got one of the last 2 tops and people just continued to pour in all night. It was several people deep at the bar waititng for tables at one point. It was good to see—and I guess other Indy folks had the same idea about getting a good meal on a Monday.

We started with the bone marrow toast ($12). I was expecting the classic pieces of bone brought out to spread on bread, but this was not that. And it was amazing. They had taken slices of grilled Amelia’s bread and spread it with a spread that contained the bone marrow. The menu also mentioned saba, which apparently is a reduced grape syrup (we had no idea) and I believe is the dark sauce on the bottom of the plate. There was thinly sliced radishes and shallots and chunks of these wonderful roasted tomatoes and then some fresh chervil. This dish was perfect.  The rich, creamy, earthy bone marrow with the freshness of the other ingredients and the light sweetness of the sauce was exactly right. Yum. Hubby declared we could be sitting at any restaurant in the world and this dish was just flat out great. We were off to a great start.

Next we shared a small Brussels sprout salad ($9). The first two bites of this were really, really great for me. There were thinly shaved sprouts with slices of apples, pieces of blue cheese, spiced nuts, and lots of shredded duck confit. The dressing was a duck jelly vinaigrette. In the first two bites, I got a little bit of every ingredient and it was great. It was perfectly balanced. Unfortunately, as you got further down into the salad, it was mainly sprouts and duck and didn’t have the flavor profile from the beginning. It was still good, just not as spectacular as the first couple of bites.

Our last course was skate wing ($28)(no way we weren’t ordering that) and a side of one of our perennial favorites, the spaghetti with lemon and cheese ($9). The skate was lightly dusted in rice flour (gluten free for those of you who follow such a diet) and very lightly pan-fried. It was served with sunchoke puree and diced celery root and sauteed arugula was very good. It was a lighter flavor. If you haven’t had skate, it’s actually the wing of a ray, that has a fairly delicate texture similar to a thin white fish.  The spaghetti with lemon sauce was as good as it could be—love a creamy, cheesy dish with a hint of lemon. I have only had it once there where it was a little off (not enough lemon) but this one was perfect. It was great that Bluebeard was thoughtful enough to be serving a couple of hubby’s favorite things (bone marrow and skate) and it was a lovely meal.

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com