Foxgardin Family

I should have written this post ages ago, but we kept going back before concerts, and before I knew it I had been three times and had written about it never. So I will do my best to keep it brief, but we went to several concerts this summer at Ruoff/Kilpsch/Deer Creek and I was looking for somewhere to grab dinner beforehand that would take a reservation and was not a chain. Difficult in this neck of the woods. And the food at Ruoff? Well it’s appalling. Hey, Guy Fieri is not my thing but at least those burgers they had there a few years back were edible. 

Anyhow, I stumbled on Foxgardin, which is actually a good option location-wise. It in a location that you can stay off of 37/69 too much and avoid that awful traffic (seriously, you northsiders, I don’t know how you do it). And it’s a quick 5-10 minutes into Ruoff after. And they give concert-goers a discount off the bill. 

We went with the kids a few times and alone once and have tried a lot of things. Highlights were the tomato and burrata salad they had at the end of the summer which featured nice, ripe Heirlooms. The burger ($12) was also a highlight, and we didn’t discover it until the last visit. It is juicy and cooked to order and has a nice Brioche bun and just the right amount of cheese. The burger was more of a fat-style burger, but not so big that it was ridiculous. The buffalo wings ($9.50) were also solid. A nice amount of kick. They weren’t mind blowing, but tasted good with the burger and salad (hubby and I split the three). The little fried mashed potato balls were tasty as well. They became slowly addictive as you ate them.

Other things that were good, but maybe not quite as good as the burger and salad were the fish and chips—nice batter, but fairly basic, fish and chips. Also, they push their steaks and always have these special prime options. My son has had a regular filet ($27) there and enjoyed it. I don’t think he thought there was really anything that made it mind-blowing, but it was a good, solid steak. Same goes with the fish tacos ($12)—not bad, but not something I would rush to order again.

Several times we have also gotten the pretzel bread with beer cheese and pimento cheese ($11). This is also a family favorite, although I prefer the pimento cheese to the beer cheese (which I think is just a bowl of the beer cheese soup that is also on the menu). The bread is spot on though.

The first couple of time we also had this savory pancake that had some heat and sweetness (I am thinking hot honey?) but it was weird because it looked really ugly the first time, but tasted really good, and looked really pretty the second time and wasn’t as good. So I am not sure which version was the intended version, but it was an interesting dish. 

Pancake 1

Pancake 2

My least favorite things I have had was the buffalo chicken pasta ($9) and the crab cake. The pasta was really big, and for a buffalo chicken flavored dish, it was kind of bland. The carb cake had that all filling, no crab vibe going. We have also had spotty service here. Sometimes it’s great, and on about half our visits, our service was pretty slow.

Overall, you can see it is kind of a mixed bag here, but there are golden nuggets scattered throughout the menu. And I appreciate that they change the menu up regularly and also always have specials. Someone in the kitchen is using some creativity and keeping the menu new and different.  And I appreciate the discount before a concert. It’s probably not a place I would seek out just for a regular dinner out, but it is definitely a place we will go again before a concert. 

This is also a place that I would really like to hear back from you guys on though for possible dishes in the future—what have been your favorite things?

Foxgardin

 10410 Olio Road

Fishers, IN  46046

317/336-2036

www.foxgardinfam.com

Michael's Southshore

The other night I wanted somewhere new to go with the kids, and stumbled upon the menu for Michael's Southshore in Geist.  They had a nice looking kids menu, and a somewhat interesting regular menu, so we decided to give it a try.

As we walked in, I thought the atmosphere of the place was nice for what was obviously a family friendly restaurant (there is a bar side though if you prefer not to sit around kids). There is a fireplace in the middle of the restaurant, between the bar and the dining room, and we had made a reservation, so we got a table near it which was pretty, but the table for 4 was quite small and difficult to maneuver with every seat full.  My kids loved the dry erase boards they were given to draw on (why do kids love dry erase boards so much?) and I was pleased that they were kept occupied while we figured out what to order.

We started with an order of the homemade potato chips with gorgonzola, pancetta and tomatoes ($7).  Sounded good.  The chips were pretty good--your classic restaurant made potato chips that are slightly thicker and chewier than the kind you get in a bag and were sprinkled with very fine crumbles of the blue cheese, even finer (and sparser) bits of pancetta, and the diced tomatoes and some scallions.  The chips themselves tasted pretty good, but the whole thing would have been well served from being heated up a little bit.  The blue cheese was cold and not melted at all.  Maybe this was what they intended, but I think warm and a little melty would be better.  The pancetta was not noticeable at all among the other flavors, mainly, because like I said, there wasn't a lot of it and it was a very fine crumble.  I liked the addition of the tomatoes to give the whole thing a bit of acid.  It has the potential to be a good starter, but as presented, was a little lackluster.

The adult entrees came with salads, and hubby got the Caesar and I upgraded (for $3) to their version of a wedge.  Hubby's Caesar was bad.  Well, it was lettuce. There was really no dressing to be seen (well maybe a tiny bit in a stripe under the lettuce).  Ok, I know I am sort of weird about salads being tossed, but a Caesar HAS to be tossed with the dressing. That is just how it is done.  My salad was a small wedge of iceberg with candied pecans, tomatoes, bacon, and a creamy buttermilk feta dressing.  I liked that it was slightly different from the usual blue cheese wedge, which I get somewhat tired of seeing on menus, and the dressing was nice--a little bit of tanginess coming from the buttermilk and the feta was a nice complement to the sweet pecans and salty bacon (which was thankfully larger pieces than on the chips).  The salad was much smaller than most wedges I have seen though, which was great for me because I don't generally like to eat half a head of lettuce with my dinner, but for an extra $3, I thought it was a little pricey given the size.

For my main, I had the skirt steak with roasted garlic Boursin mashed potatoes, chimichurri sauce, and crispy chili spiced fried onions ($21).  When done well, I really like skirt steak, and this one was cooked very well.  It was presented interestingly also, rolled up and standing like a tower in the mashed potatoes.  The meat was well seasoned and exceptionally tender.  It was by far the best thing we ate all night, and everyone at the table shared my steak.  My kids loved it.  If we went back, I think they would get this and split it.  There wasn't a ton of the potatoes, but they had a little of the Boursin taste (think herbed cream cheese), but not a lot.  The onions were little thinly sliced fried onion rings, with more seasoning than most.  They were also quite good, and clearly seemed homemade.  I honestly didn't get to eat a lot of them though, as my kids (and husband) grabbed them off my plate pretty quick.  The only letdown for this dish for me was the chimichurri sauce.  Chimichurri sauce is made with parsley and garlic, vinegar and oil.  There can be variations, but this is the basic recipe.  This version tasted muddy though, like the sauce had been frozen and re-heated.  It didn't have a fresh herby flavor.  But even without the sauce, the dish was quite good.

Hubby had the rigatoni pasta bolognese. ($15) The meat was veal, pork and beef and was in a red sauce.  All in all, an okay dish, but didn't really taste like something you couldn't fairly easily make at home (although this is why I rarely order a dish like this).

My kids both had the grilled cheese pizza ($5) (my son is in that stage where he wants the same thing his big sister is getting).  I did not care for the pizza at all.  The crust was slightly grilled on the bottom but tasted totally flat and a little cardboard-y.  The kids said it was ok, but preferred my steak.  They did end up eating most of it though.  They also got fries on the side which suffered from being soggy--not sure if they weren't cooked long enough or if the oil wasn't hot enough, but even the kids wouldn't eat them.

This is a place that I can see a need for in Geist--it is a midrange, family friendly, independent restaurant serving quite a wide variety of food.  It reminded me a lot of George's or Binkley's if you are familiar with either of those places.  Honestly, my main dish tasted quite good, but everything else left me a little disappointed.  If I lived in Geist, I can see repeating a visit (and pretty sure everyone in my family would be getting the skirt steak), but for a 15-20 minute drive? Not so sure.

Michael's Southshore
11705 Fox Road
Indy 46236
317/723-3808
http://www.michaelssouthshore.com/

Lincoln Square Pancake House

We keep trying to find really good breakfast spots in Indy, and I am always on the lookout for somewhere new to go.  Unfortunately, this is the one meal we rarely get to eat out because of having such young kids who usually want to be fed immediately upon rising.  But every once in awhile, the planets align, and we get out somewhere.  We have a few regular spots that we liked, but which have fallen off a bit, so we thought we would try Lincoln Square Pancake House and see how it was.  They have 4 other locations throughout the Indy area, but we were hitting the one nearest us, at 56^th and Emerson. (And I apologize for the phone photos, I left my camera at home.)

Ok, so hubby and I both like bacon and eggs as our favorite classic meal, and that is what we both had.  The menu is quite large, but there is nothing really unusual or fancy—lots of omelets, pancakes, and other egg dishes.   They do have several “skillet options” as well as a few variations of biscuits and gravy.

I think I have said I am torn about ordering my eggs over easy or over medium because some places get them exactly as I want them—runny yolks and cooked whites, but sometimes you need to get them over easy to make sure they aren’t overdone.  Well, I ordered them over medium here (the server described them as exactly how I wanted them) but the kitchen may not have the same definition because they were just a little far beyond with just a little too much of the yolks being cooked.  But bacon was pretty good—but like good bacon you might cook at home.  I had sourdough toast which was fine and the meal came with what they described as “American fries.”  I wasn’t exactly sure what this meant, but since there were also “French fries” on the menu, I was confident they weren’t just fries.  They were sliced potatoes that were fried.  They were very soft and parts of them reminded me of mashed potatoes that had then been fried in a skillet.  The crispy parts were not bad, but there weren’t a lot of them.

I also ordered a biscuit on the side, because I always love a good biscuit, but don’t like to substitute my bread for one unless I know it is worth it.  This one was not worth trading in my toast for.  It was very soft and I tend to like my biscuits more crunchy on the outside—a little flakier I guess.  I did hear someone later order some biscuits “well-done” which is something I wouldn’t have thought of (and having never had them before wouldn’t have known to do it) but not a bad idea with these.

I really did like the diner type atmosphere of the place and our server was exceptionally friendly and efficient.  Although the place was quite crowded, we were seated right away and our food brought very promptly.  It is also pretty reasonably priced, I think our breakfasts were just under $6, with an extra $1 for the biscuit) It is a decent basic breakfast place— we got our breakfast needs fulfilled, but didn’t walk away thinking anything really wowed us other than the friendliness of the service.

We are still on a quest for great basic breakfast places. If you have one, please share!

Lincoln Square Pancake House

5024 56^th Street (at Emerson)

Indy 46224

317/536-0668

Scotty's Lakehouse

Scotty’s Lakehouse is probably the most suggested place I have had for a review. It seems like everywhere I go, people are asking me if I have been there. I couldn’t quite figure it out, after what was a fairly average review before of Scotty’s Brewhouse, but I figured with that many people recommending it, I should give it a try.

The first thing I liked about the Lakehouse was the menu. Actually, several things about the menu. First, it is so much simpler and less sensory overload than the Brewhouse menu. Don’t get me wrong, there is still a lot on this menu, but it looks like someone has made a conscious effort to pick the best things and focus lots of energy on them. Also, it is printed on recycled paper in a simple color scheme. It lets you focus on the words without feeling like the pictures are knocking you out. The other thing I liked is that the Lakehouse is attempting to source the majority of their ingredients organically, and locally, if possible. For a “burger joint” as they call themselves, I am impressed with this.

The interior is not that much different from the Brewhouse interiors—it feels like a bar, not a Lakehouse. Hubby was particularly not impressed with being seated within direct eyeshot of the kitchen, particularly since there were several empty tables when we got there. We did get a booth, which are quite roomy and the flat screen tvs that are a Scotty’s signature item would be nice if you have kids with you (it looks as though you can only get sports or cartoons though).

Anyway, we decided to get several items and share them all. We wanted to see what some of the items were like that were unique to the Lakhouse so we tried to aim for those. We started with the tuna ceviche and the truffle fries. Unfortunately, when the fries first came out, they were totally cold. We could see the potential though and sent them back (our server was very attentive). The second batch was excellent. The fries themselves are made fresh in house (so we were told) and are cut in a very interesting way—they are almost like little canoe shapes. They are pretty good sized and the individual little fryer basket they are served in is cute. I love truffle flavor on fries, but I don’t think it added a lot here. You couldn’t really taste it that much, and it was completely lost if you used the dipping sauces they served alongside (according to the menu, the sauces are chipotle ketchup, garlic mayo and Sun King beer mustard—the mayo tasted more like ranch dressing to me.) But, anyway, when they were hot, they were really good. Nice and crunchy exterior, a bit of skin left on, and fluffy inside. We kept talking about how they were almost like the base of a potato skin without as much skin, and how good they would be topped with cheese and bacon (which luckily they have already thought of and such an item is on the menu).

The ceviche is ahi tuna chunks mixed with tomato, onion, lime juice, jalapeno, and avocado. Blue corn chips are served on the side. I keep ordering this type of dish at various places hoping someone will pull it off and you know what? The Lakehouse did a decent job. The seasonings were great—although it was almost like a very mushy guacamole with the chunks of fish mixed in. But you could really taste the lime and other seasonings and we enjoyed the flavor. My only complaint is that the fish may have been a little “overcooked” (ceviche is basically cooked in the lime juice and the longer it stays in the mix, the more cooked the fish gets). The portion was quite large—between the two of us, we probably only ate half.

For our main course we got the #3 burger which is a burger with a fried egg, applewood smoked bacon, chipotle ketchup and Indiana smoked gouda cheese. The burgers are cooked to order (we got medium) and the egg can be as well. They standardly cook it hard, but we both like it runny in the middle to create a nice saucy addition to the burger. They had no problem cooking it over medium. Ok, this burger was delicious. And this is saying a lot for a girl who tends to like her burgers really thin. And these burgers are a great value at $8.00. Totally worth every penny. There are no sides that come with, but I would recommend those fries we had earlier. One of our favorite parts of the burger was the bun—it was really delicious and perfectly proportioned to the sandwich. It was a soft high quality egg bun—totally different from the sesame seed buns I remember from the Brewhouse.
We also got a small cobb salad to share as well. The salad was very Patachou-esque, which makes sense since Patachou serves the breakfast and brunch at Lakehouse on the weekends. By the way, I think this is a great idea in a place like Geist that has limited restaurant choices—basically you get two restaurants in one. Anyway, the cobb salad was what you expect, other than there was a lot of fresh spinach mixed in with the greens. There was so much lettuce packed into the bowl actually, it was a little hard to eat. But the blue cheese, bacon, egg crumbles, tomato and red onion dices were all good quality and fresh. And I really appreciate they don’t skimp on the avocado which was laid across the top. The dressings are all housemade and I went with the ranch. It was very good. Like I said, it reminded me a lot of the salads at Patachou. Fresh, good quality ingredients. Nothing amazing, but a good Cobb.

Finally, and probably the biggest disappointment was the mac and cheese. They have three varieties of mac and cheese—we got “Mac 2,” which is rotini noodles with caramelized onions, bacon, goat cheese and Indiana smoked Gouda. This just was not good. The noodles were dry and not cheesy really and the Gouda was just laid across the top of the noodles and warmed up (but wasn’t very warm when we got it). It wasn’t gooey at all and just did not come together. I think mixing the ingredients up would make for a more cohesive product.

We also shared a whoopee pie for dessert. This was really tasty. It is two soft chocolate-y cakes with a layer of marshmallow cream in the middle and covered with powdered sugar and caramel sauce. We really enjoyed this. The cakes were nice and fresh and soft and the marshmallow flavor sort of made you feel like you were eating something you would have loved as a kid. Really sweet, but fun. And I love that you get a little box of Lemonheads with your check.

So yes, this place is a burger joint. And if you stay in that area of the menu (and be sure and get some of those fries), I think you will have a really good meal at the Lakehouse. And I applaud Scott Wise (aka “Scotty”) for using all these organic and local ingredients and for making so much of the food in house. Here’s my question, if it can be done at Lakehouse, why not at the Brewhouse too (at least use the Lakehouse buns at the Brewhouses—they are delicious)? That would be a wonderful evolution in pub food.

Scotty’s Lakehouse
10158 Brooks School Road
Fishers, IN 46037
317/577-2900
www.scottyslakehouse.com

Bella Vita

This is the time of the year that makes you want waterfront dining I guess...and since options are somewhat limited here in the middle of the country, we were intrigued to try out Bella Vita on Geist Reservoir. Years ago, when we first moved here, a friend told me it was her favorite place for date night and I always kept it on the list, but only now finally got around to trying it.

This was a time when I checked out the menu before going in and was a little excited by the fact that even though it is Italian (and I think I have mentioned how I have yet to find an Italian place I love in this town), it had a wider menu than the standard alfredo and red sauce and pasta all smothered with cheese that you see a lot around here. It also sits right on the marina at Geist and has a nice view of the lake. We really enjoyed the setting and were hoping for the best.

We decided to start with the beef carpaccio and the truffle fries. The carpaccio was described as thin beef with parmesan cheese, capers and olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I am not sure why they decided that they needed to take the carpaccio and turn it into crostinis, but it was not carpaccio. It was toasted bread with melted cheese topped with thinly sliced raw beef, roasted red peppers, large slices of parmesan and a couple of capers and a fairly heavy dash of balsamic syrup. When we ordered this, we wanted something light. This was certainly not light. And the biggest pet peeve about the whole plate was the roasted red peppers, which brings me to my next point. When you are making your menu, if there is some ingredient that will dramatically change the flavor of the dish, such as roasted red peppers, please list them in the ingredients. Especially when you take great care to list every other ingredient. Because for me, a roasted red pepper is a dominating flavor, and also happens to be one that neither I nor hubby particularly like. So basically it was pepper flavored beef on bread (hubby says more like pepper flavored bread since the delicacy of the meat flavor was totally lost). And the balsamic was a little heavy too, so the delicacy of the flavor of the meat (which was pretty thin, although not as thin as I would have liked) was completely lost between the peppers and the balsamic.

The other appetizer we ordered, the truffle fries, were even worse. So they were called “fries” but they were obviously not fried, and now looking back at the menu, they are actually baked, and there was nothing remotely crispy about them. They were also slightly undercooked, so there was the added benefit of not only not being crispy, but being too firm as well. There was some cheese melted on top, and apparently some truffle oil drizzled there too, although I didn’t taste it. Although, I didn’t really taste much of this dish because they were not good. Don’t call something “fries” unless they are. And ewww, don't serve ketchup with truffle fries.

Luckily for hubby, he ordered a pasta dish that turned out to be pretty good. It was “Papardelle Oceano.” These were large wide noodles with crab and shrimp in a basil cream sauce. I had some of it and it was enjoyable and worth ordering. The bites of crab were fresh and not at all stringy the way crab mixed in dishes like this often is. Hubby was quite pleased and felt that the restaurant had redeemed itself somewhat, although h is entrée was supposed to come with a salad which never came.

I had a spinach salad with blue cheese, boiled egg, pancetta and pinenuts (and unmentioned shredded carrots, not my fave). It was tossed lightly with a creamy parmesan dressing. I was let down with the salad as well. There was an enormous amount of spinach and what appeared to be no toppings. But as I dug down (which took some effort with all that spinach), there was actually quite a bit of blue cheese buried at the bottom (not as much of the pancetta and pinenuts). Because the salad was seriously underdressed for the amount of spinach, I asked for some extra on the side. Once I sort of dug out the goodies and added the extra dressing, it wasn’t bad. But I only ate probably a quarter of it.

The last annoying thing about this place is that the service was pretty slow. I think they may have been a bit understaffed for the crowd, as I only saw about three servers outside and it was filling up, including many large parties. For instance, the bread they brought to every table (except ours) turned out to be very good, but we had to ask for it and didn’t get it until the end of the meal. Like I said, hubby said his pasta was one of the better pasta dishes he has had in the City, and because of the view alone, we may go back one day. But for me, it won’t be based on the food or the service.

Bella Vita
11699 Fall Creek Blvd
Fishers 46256
317/598-9011
www.bellavitaatthemarina.com