Nesso

Nesso is the newest Cunningham Restaurant group project in the old Cerulean spot at the Alexander Hotel. It’s pretty new, and I usually try and wait a bit, but the perfect opportunity arose to check it out, so we did. Plus, since we are always on a quest for interesting Italian food, it was quite appealing.

First of all, I was impressed by the effort put into remodeling the interior. I always thought the old Cerulean interior was interesting and modern, but they have certainly improved it in my mind. There’s darker wood, and a much warmer feeling. It still feels very modern though. Our server was attentive, and it was one of the circumstances where it felt like the company had put some effort into staff training. Our server was also knowledgeable about the menu and offered suggestions.

We started with the bread plate ($5) and the bruschetta ($10) for appetizers. They have a nice bread plate with several fresh bread options, including focaccia and sliced Italian bread. They serve the bread with roasted garlic olive oil with a touch of balsamic, as well as butter. The bread plate was well done. We all really liked the bruschetta as well, which included several toppings such as white beans with cheese, wild mushrooms, mustard greens and tomato. It was all on the same plate, but sort of separated by flavors, and every one was good. I enjoyed mixing some of the richer flavors with some of the more acidic flavors from the tomatoes. It was a crowd favorite at the table. We also ordered the grilled artichokes, because they are also a family favorite. They are very good as well and have nice crispy grilled edges. They were heavily seasoned with garlic and herbs and were served alongside a salad of citrus, fennel and red onions with hazelnuts. I enjoyed the freshness of the salad, but I am not sure I loved it with the artichokes. The artichokes were nicely cooked though so that they were tender inside with the charred exterior.

I love love that they have true first course sized pastas. So you can truly make it a first course, or you can have a very light dinner. I love pasta that is interesting, but so often Indy restaurants give you so much of it that it looks unappealing the minute it is set down in front of me because it is just way, way too huge. Our server warned us that they were two-ounce portions, and they are also priced appropriately in my opinion for the quality you get. Hubby and my son had the bigoli ($12), which was outstanding. It is a large spaghetti-like pasta, but thicker and was in a black pepper, egg, parmesan and guanciale sauce. A small amount went a long way, but it was rich and delicious. And a small amount was all you needed. My daughter had the gnocchi ($16) which was also very good. She questioned it a bit because it included pears in the toppings but ended up really liking the combo that also included fried sage, hazelnuts, grana Padano cheese, goat cheese fondue and chicken-focaccia meatballs. The gnocchi were small and somewhat dense but had a nice crisp exterior from being pan-fried. An interesting combos of flavors for sure. For my main dish, I ordered the risotto with a rich broth, lots of parmesan, butter and some foie gras, which was all topped with sliced truffles ($15). Again, I loved the fact that I could order something this rich and decadent, and not regret it because of a massive portion. It was small and just the right amount. Ok, I might have seared the foie a bit and maybe put in a little more, but it was a really tasty combination.

The main dishes at the table were the branzino ($34) (picture shows a half portion that my kids split) and the veal ($28). Both were excellent, and completely different from each other. The fish was light, and the skin was very crisp and a bit salty, which both kids devoured. The sauce was an herb basil aioli and had potatoes, fennel, and lemon. There was also a touch of chili, giving it a hint of spiciness. All the flavors combined together for an extremely well-balanced dish. The veal was on the opposite extreme, extremely rich and extremely hearty. The veal was pan fried and topped with walnuts and gorgonzola cheese, as well as capers and parsley salad. I appreciated the briny kick from these, but hubby thought there was almost a little too much going on for him, and he didn’t think the dish needed all the cheese AND the capers. I thought it was pretty darn tasty though.

We didn’t get any dessert, but I look forward to trying these one of these days, particularly knowing Hattie McDaniels is running the pastry kitchen. All in all, it was one of the better dinner experiences we have had in Indy lately and I hope they continue to grow and succeed. So far, so good as far as I am concerned. 

Nesso

339 South Delaware

Indy  46204

317/643-7400

www.nesso-italian.com 

Provision

A lot of people have been asking me about Provision so here it is!  Let me start off by saying we had dinner here the first time within like a week of it opening, which isn’t something I normally do, but friends asked us to go and I will rarely turn down such an invitation. That first visit we tried a lot of the appetizers and there were some that really shone and some that were kind of stinkers (the beef tartare for example was very bland). I am not going to write a full review of that visit, because it goes against my regular rules, but I wanted to let you know that the second meal was influenced by it because we ordered things based on that first visit that we knew were better than others. Thus, we crafted a very good dinner, but based on the first visit, there are still some food kinks to be worked out. And service. Woo. That first visit we had pretty bad service, but like I said, it was new and the place was packed.

So on the second visit, we took the kids and sat outside on one of those glorious fall evenings we had awhile back. I like the outside because it isn’t so crazy loud like the inside can be. To start, they brought us a nice amuse of salmon on top of a multi grain type of crouton and a creamy sauce. It was an extremely tasty bite. We then ordered the tuna appetizer ($22) and the seafood cocktail ($20). Again, both choices made based on our first meal. It’s funny, because the seafood cocktail isn’t something I would typically order because while I like shrimp cocktail, how boring can you get right? But this one is unique because the shrimp is dry rubbed with seasonings and then lightly charred. The shrimp are large, but nice and tender and have a wonderful smoky flavor. They also serve it with some hunks of king crab and avocado and a curry red sauce underneath. A nice combo of flavors and we enjoyed it both times. The tuna is also quite tasty. They give you several pieces of seared tuna drizzled with spicy mayo and a crunchy rice cake alongside. I really enjoy the variation of textures in the dish and the flavor from the mayo. You know I love seared tuna and this is a tasty one. We also got the bread plate ($5), because if there is one, and my kids are with me, this will be required. They do a nice job giving you Blue Dog bakery baguette, which is the best local-ish (from Louisville) baguette you can buy, a homemade soft pretzel and some house made pita. They give you butter and a yummy flavored dipping oil. The oil is particularly good with the pita.

I knew I would get to eat some of everyone else’s food, and I was intrigued by the crab toast appetizer ($36), so I got that as my main dish. So wow, this dish had so many different things going on. First of all the bread was so flakey and buttery—almost like it was a croissant underneath. It was topped with big hunks of the crab, jalapeno, Thai basil and a slightly spicy beurre blanc (butter sauce). I liked the combo of the rich, but light and flaky bread and the rich crab with the slight spiciness and acidity of the sauce. A tasty dish for sure. Probably better as a starter to share with someone else though.

Hubby had the special of the evening, which was snapper on top of risotto. It was very well prepared and he really enjoyed it. My daughter ordered scallops ($35) with cilantro gnocchi, spinach and basil-chile beurre blanc. The scallops had the perfect seared edge and were cooked very nicely. She seemed to enjoy them, although couldn’t finish it. My son’s Angus filet ($38) with Robuchon potatoes though was outstanding. And my daughter kept trying to steal bites of those buttery potatoes. All of our dishes were very good. If I had lucked into this as my first meal, I would have been so excited about this new place. As it is, I am still excited; I just know that there are also several items on the menu that aren’t quite as good. I am also looking forward to seeing how they mix up the flavors as the seasons change. I typically really enjoy the new restaurants that Cunningham opens with Layton Roberts in the kitchen. So far Provision is solid, although not as impressive as Vida was when it first opened. It just doesn’t yet seem to have the finesse that Vida had. Maybe that’s not what they’re going for though, who knows.

I have heard many mixed things about this place, so I would love to hear your thoughts.

Provision

2721 East 86th Street

Indy  46240

317/843-6105

www.provision-restaurant.com 

photos from that first dinner

Vida - Revisit

I was excited to try Vida again—I mean, we had such a good experience the first time; we were intrigued to see if it would hold up. So we went with friends (all the better to try more things with) and went in for our second go round.

Right away, we noticed the service was a bit off. Our server couldn’t get to us. It was fine; another server apologized and took our drink order. Our server stopped by to say he would be there when he could but that he was really busy. He assured us an amuse bouche would be served to us soon. Anyhow, we looked over the menu and made our negotiations and eventually got our order in.

We started with the charcuterie plate ($14 for the small) and the crab and octopus roll ($16). We were torn about whether to go with the large or small charcuterie, and settled on the small. Other than needing a little more of the toasty (and delicious) bread, there was more than enough for the four of us. There were a lot of good, and interesting things on the board. There was morcilla (a blood sausage), ‘ndjua (spicy spreadable pork), and some lovely crunchy chicharones. How can you not like crispy fried pork skin? There was also prosciutto and another salame. They did a great job with the accompaniments here as well.  There were a couple of types of mustard and some nice pickled veggies—lots of red onions, my favorite.

The crab and octopus roll was also very good. It was wrapped in exactly ripe avocado, and was a little light on the crab and octopus filling, but it tasted wonderful. It was a light appetizer, and honestly, I could have easily eaten at least half of it on my own. Let’s face it, I would happily eat the whole thing on my own.

At this point we got the amuse, which was kind of weird after we had already started eating our first course (it’s supposed to be a tease for your palate), Anyhow, I can’t remember what it was at this point, but we ate it up.

The entrées came next—I had the salmon ($29). It was lovely—really really good. It was a thin piece of salmon that was seared really crisp. When I first saw it, I was worried that it would be dry, but it was moist inside but just wonderfully crispy outside. It was served with asparagus, artichokes, yellow tomatoes and Nicoise olives. Ok, it also helped that those are all some of my favorite things, but this dish was great. There was great acid balance, which is my thing.

The server had convinced hubby to get the New York strip steak ($39) because he just kept talking about how great it is. Hubby rarely orders steaks out, and even more rarely is wooed by a NY strip, but he was convinced. And this was an outstanding steak. While nicely marbled, it was still really tender and not chewy. It was served on a bright Béarnaise sauce and topped with these light and wonderful pommes soufflé. We had these before at an old line restaurant in Cincinnati and these were just as good. Almost like a 3D potato chip. Another wonderful dish.

Our friends had the shrimp dumplings ($26)(which we had the first time and really enjoyed) and the short rib dish, which was also really good—the two men kept negotiating bites of their dishes with each other. 

We also got dessert this time. Those little doughnuts with the Bourbon caramel sauce? Outstanding.  Their pastry chef is doing inventive things and you should really try one of the desserts when you’re there.

Well, I think if anything I was more impressed with the food this time because there were no dishes that I thought were inferior. I will say the service was nowhere near as good as it was on that first visit, but it wasn’t horrible. They were definitely a bit in the weeds on this particular night though. I’m really happy to have Vida on the Indy list of cool and really good restaurants to recommend. I just hope the food stays as good as it has been on my first couple of visits.

Vida

601 East New York Street

Indy 46202

317/420-2323

www.vida-restaurant.com 

Vida

Hubby and I have been excited about all the new places opening right now—seems like these things happen in waves. A friend of mine was posting pictures and comments about his meal at Vida on Facebook and instagram and after seeing them, I booked a reservation for us.

The first thing you notice about this new Cunningham Group restaurant is how nice it is. It feels like you could be walking into a nice restaurant anywhere in the country—from San Francisco to New York. Love the open kitchen and the lovely wall of herbs and greens. I hope they are better at keeping that up than I am at my house because that adds an incredible touch. I was also impressed with the staff—they  had clearly been trained properly and it showed. They even had a sommelier who came around to help with wine choices if desired (and a decent wine list to boot). 

The restaurant is broken down into a slightly more casual (and more lively) bar side and a more formal (but still very warm feeling) dining room. We were seated on the dining room side. I loved the enthusiasm of our server as he explained the menu and some of his favorite items. We started with a drink and shortly after were brought a bread basket. This was one of the best bread baskets I have had in Indy in ages. There was a tiny loaf of brioche, a nice piece of focaccia and then a pumpernickel biscuit. That brioche and focaccia were simply fantastic. And a nice crock of whipped and softened butter. Makes all the difference. They also brought a little amuse of a sweet potato puree that was made nicely savory with some flakes of salt.

For our first course we had the tuna crudo ($16), which was very good. Our server explained that they have a way of slightly aging the tuna, which gave it a deeper flavor. There was a lot of creativity in the things alongside (and underneath) it as well. There were slightly chewy, slightly crunch little rice cakes, Tandoori flavored ‘nduja, pieces of shrimp that had a slightly curried flavor and a couple of pieces of blood orange that added a wonderful hit of acid. I wished for a couple more slivers of this though, just to have a piece with each piece of the tuna. It was all lightly dressed with soy. A wonderful combination of flavors as well as textures.

For our salad, we split the “winter density” lettuce salad ($12). Our server explained it as a kind of deconstructed Caesar, but I would just describe it as delicious. There was some slightly dense lettuce leaves next to a piece of toasted Brioche bread that had a perfectly runny egg cooked into it. There were large, super thin slices of cheese underneath it adding a great saltiness, and the dressing, called “bolzanese,” was creamy and rich with a nice flavor from the chives. It had enough acid in it as well to not fall flat. I loved this salad. We ate every little crumb.

We shared two main dishes, the shrimp dumplings ($26) and the roasted mushroom pappardelle ($24). This was the only course with a letdown. We were both excited that they were making their pasta in house, and we both love all the things that come along with the pasta—mushrooms, truffle, a little egg omelet and garlic. How could you go wrong? Well, the pasta was fresh, but tasted quite overcooked and therefore turned into a bit of a doughy mess. Loved the light tender omelet alongside, but the pasta and the heavy purely rich sauce just didn’t do it for us. Luckily the shrimp dumplings were stars and had a great sour pork broth-type sauce that was not only really tasty, but was a nice counterbalance after a couple of bites of the heavy pasta. The dumplings themselves were plentiful and slightly pan-fried, lending a nice sense of texture to this dish as well. The crispy fried onion straws were great in this regard as well. The dumplings were served atop slices of smoked scallops, which were silky smooth and added an even further texture element. The flavors of the smokiness and the slight sour flavor from the sauce with the seafood were perfect. We both really loved this one as well.

Overall, we both thought this was one of the standout openings of restaurants in Indy in a long, long time. They have worked hard to not only put out creative and for the most part, delicious food, but they have clearly worked hard to make the service and atmosphere stand out as well. Chef Layton Roberts is at the helm, and is a gifted chef. My only concern is that when Cunningham moves him on to their next thing (they move him around to open whatever the newest place is), food quality might suffer a bit. I have seen this happen with some of their other ventures in the past. So my advice is get in there soon! I can’t wait to return and try many other things.

Vida

601 East New York Street

Indy 46202

317/420-2323

www.vida-restaurant.com 

Union 50

Hubby and I had a date night and nothing specific planned, so we decided to check out the new Union 50. And then a week or so later, I ended up back there with girlfriends, so I had a chance to sample a fair amount of food. I have always enjoyed Chef Layton Roberts’ cooking (originally at Mesh and then at Meridian) so we were looking to see his spin here.

Union 50 is kind of more of a bar first I think, and then a restaurant. As for the food, I liked it. Hubby and I started with an order of the salmon lox ($10) and a small order of the hand-cut fries ($5). You can get the fries with several different flavors, and you also get to choose two dipping sauces. We had the duck fat and rosemary fries (how can you say no to duck fat?) and the truffle aioli and beer cheese sauces (incidentally we ordered the exact same combo with the girls). The fries were spectacular. Hand cut and super crisp with the extra richness from the duck fat and a touch of woodiness from the rosemary. They looked almost overcooked but were great. I preferred the truffle aioli to the beer cheese, just because the beer cheese was a little thin. I was a little bummed on girls night that the fries were less crisp and a little limp, but everyone else loved them and the sauces. I look forward to trying the poutine as well.

I liked the salmon lox dish more than hubby—it was an interesting blend of a potato salad flavor underneath the salmon (the potatoes were sliced thin and in a mustardy vinaigrette type sauce. The lovely salmon topped that and there was also some cucumber and pickled onions. I really liked the horseradish sauce on the side to mix with it. Hubby isn’t a huge fan of horseradish sauces and I think that’s where this dish lost him because I think it was important to the overall flavor profile.

We then shared a bistro sized (their medium) plate of wood fired roasted mushrooms ($14). There was a heaping helping of mushrooms that had in fact been roasted, although some of the larger ones were a bit too firm and could have used a little more time in the oven (or to have been cut down a bit). The star of this dish was the potato bacon terrine. Wow. That was pure genius layering bacon into what were essentially super delicious au gratin potatoes. They’d do well to serve this as a side dish. There is also a drizzle of Romesco sauce on the plate—which is a roasted pepper sauce. There was also a bit of balsamic. A good dish made even better by that potato terrine.

Finally, with hubby, we had the beef trio ($26) because, duh, tartare. And I am happy to report it is similar to the tartare Chef Roberts did at Meridian—nicely acidic with those wonderful fried chickpeas. The bone marrow was excellent as well—loved it with the warm bread (really good little mini loaves of bread). It was well seasoned and I liked the lightly dressed pea shoots with it. The only disappointment was the chilled ribeye cap—slices of perfectly cooked meat that had little to no seasoning. At least some sauce with it would be good (horseradish maybe?).

With my girlfriends, we shared a cheese board. They did a nice job with it—you get to pick your own cheeses. My only complaint was the “warm Manchego” might have been warmed a little too much and was a little dried out. I like the grainy mustard and cornichons they served along with. Would love to see a sweet set of accompaniments as an option in case you wanted to make it a dessert (fruit, nuts and honey perhaps?) We also tried the mussels with spicy white wine sauce and chorizo (a “bistro” size at $14).  There were a lot of fingerling potatoes in the broth as well. The mussels were good and the broth was spicy. The last thing that I tried was a special salmon dish for the evening. Loved the very citrusy flavors and the artichokes with it. The fish also had a nice crisp sear on it—I just wish it had been cooked a little less.

All in all, Union 50 is a very good addition food-wise. But I do feel like the feel of the place is a little confusing. Like maybe the food is more sophisticated than the atmosphere. There are also some service and usability issues in my mind. Our service was spotty and our experiences with the host/hostesses both times were a little off.  I’m going to write this off to new restaurant growing pains though, As far as usability though, the entrance is on the side of the building instead of in what seems like the obvious front (is this a Cunningham thing? Bru Burger is the same). The food is almost all also served as more of sharable plates, which is fine, but the tables are a bit small for more than 1-2 of the plates at a time (at least the tables for two and the bar tables). Our food hung off the edge. The round cushy bar stools are comfortable, but if they are all full (as they were on our first visit), there is no way to approach the bar between them. I also appreciate the uniqueness of the menu, although it is interesting how the young staff deals with it. Our server warned us that “lox” is not cooked but didn’t mention anything about the tartare.  There is table shuffleboard and skee ball as well as live music later in the evenings further making me wonder exactly what their goal with the space was. It’s pretty though, and the food is good, so we will certainly return.

Union 50

620 North East Street

Indy 46202

317/610-0234

www.union-50.com

Meridian-Revisit

Hubby got to choose dinner the other night and wanted to go back to Meridian. The last few meals we have had there have been very good, so we were anxious to see what was new on the menu.

We couldn’t decide what to get, so we started with two appetizers—the steak tartare (we just can’t help ourselves)($13.75) and the smoked salmon crab cake ($14).  I think the steak tartare that Meridian is doing is one of the best in town (and one of the only).  It has lots of salty capers mixed in as well as a garlic mayo, which makes it very creamy. They serve it with a lemon wedge that needs to be squeezed on giving it just the right amount of acid. And I love those crispy chickpeas. I just wish they served a few more of the buttery house crackers with it because hubby and I were fighting over them. Ours was missing the advertised quail egg, but honestly, while I love egg with tartare (and almost anything), it was just as good without it.

The salmon cake was also very good. The cake itself was not overly dense, and not filled up with breadcrumbs. What made the dish for me though were the fried pickled green tomatoes. What a great extra tangy kick to a fried green tomato. The pickling also made it less firm than fried green tomatoes tend to be, and I really liked it. They were great with the salmon cake and the tomato remoulade. A little bit of each ingredient on your fork made for a delicious bite.

Because the appetizers were what looked so good, we decided to split a salad and an entrée as well. We split the Boston bibb salad with buttermilk dressing, blue cheese, bacon and a large cornbread crouton ($8.75)(the picture you see is a half). Ingredient-wise, I liked everything about this salad. My only gripe was that there wasn’t really enough dressing for it. It’s funny, I tend to prefer creamy dressings to be drizzled and not tossed, but often they don’t give you enough. It’s a fine line. I liked the lightness of the crouton though.

For our main dish, we really were undecided, but I loved that in general they have a lot of seafood on the menu. Nearly half the entrées are seafood-based. We ended up settling on the pepper-crusted tuna ($36.00). The tuna was beautiful and perfectly cooked just seared on the edges.  Considering the picture you see is just half an order, it was a very generous amount of fish. I am not sure I could do an entire entrée here. All of the things I saw coming out of the kitchen were quite large. The sides were sort of a play on a Nicoise salad—but this one involved sautéed kale, olives, and sautéed red onions. There was a lemon oregano citronette sauce (an emulsified lemon vinaigrette). I loved the red onions and olives with the fish, and I liked the kale—although I thought its strong flavor was a little overwhelming for the fish. I preferred eating them separately. And I found my quail egg here, although they put it on hubby’s plate. I promptly took it and split it. I mean, fair is fair right?

We had the classic Meridian donuts ($7.75) that have been on the menu awhile. But nothing else was jumping out at us and we just wanted a little something. They are little mini donuts and donut holes that are fresh fried and coated in cinnamon sugar. They serve them with a little cup of malted coffee cream to dip in (it is more like a custard and not like a liquid). Personally, I like dipping them into the cream and then back in for more sugar. They are really good and nice if you don’t want a huge dessert. Plus, easy to share.

I like Meridian. It has become one of our go-to standards for consistently good food.  I like the space and while it is usually busy enough, it isn’t so crowded or noisy that it overwhelms. The service is professional, if not a little stuffy, but our server certainly knew what he was talking about and I appreciate the little things like having your plates split for you in the kitchen. It is certainly a fixture in our rotation.

Meridian

5694 N. Meridian

Indy 46208

317-466-1111

www.meridianonmeridian.com 

Meridian - Revisit

My in-laws were in town, and when we have a chance to go out to dinner with them without the kids, we try and let them pick a place that they want to go—this time they really wanted to try Meridian and we were happy to oblige.  I was surprised how hard it was to get a reservation on the night we went, but as it turned out there was a Butler game and various theater events, so that was the reason why.  

I wasn’t even going to write about the meal because it hasn’t been that long since I wrote about it—but by the end of the meal, we were all sufficiently impressed that I felt like it merited a new post (this also explains why there aren’t as many pictures) (and sorry they're so dark). 

Hubby and I started with the beef tartare ($13.75)—so far it is the best version I have found in Indy in a restaurant (although this one was definitely smaller than the last time we had it). There was the beef, with a decent amount of capers and onions mixed in, some garlic mayo and little crunchy chickpeas with diced tomatoes. There is also a raw quail egg on top.  Everything mixed together (keep those crispy chickpeas to themselves though so they don’t get mushy) is great. And if you squeeze them lemon wedge they serve with it on top, it is near perfection.  You have the salty taste of the capers and chickpeas with the acid from the lemon and the tomatoes and the extra creaminess of the egg and the mayo and well, it just is really well balanced. I like the crisp grilled flatbread they serve with it as well. It has a little flavor to it but doesn’t detract from the rest of the ingredients.

My in-laws had the fried oysters Rockefeller ($12.25) which have been on the menu as long as I can remember.  These were really good this night—the oysters were small and very crispy.  You got a little smokiness from the small pieces of bacon and there was just a touch of creamed spinach and some hot sauce.  A classic dish that Meridian is still doing very well.

Hubby and I shared a salad—it was Bibb lettuce, sliced Fuji apples, walnuts and Danish blue cheese with a herb walnut vinaigrette ($8.75). It was really good. I appreciated that they split it for us in the kitchen so that we got an even amount of the goodies and dressing.  It had just the right amount of toppings in relation to the lettuce, and the right amount of dressing as well. Blue cheese and walnuts are one of my favorite combos, so this was a great salad for me. Hubby liked it a lot as well.

Hubby had the salmon entrée ($26.50) (well, we shared our entrees) and it was outstanding. Probably the best dish on the table.  It was Skuna Bay salmon with a potato hash, leek fondue, and asparagus and artichokes.  Hubby asked for the salmon to be cooked medium rare, which they did perfectly.  The potato hash was little fried diced potatoes which were still hot and crunchy (yay! texture!) and then the leek fondue gave it a little creamy sauce and the bits of artichoke and asparagus the right amount of veg.  The sauce had a distinct lemony flavor (yay! acid!).  All ingredients I love and it all went perfectly together. I would get this again in a heartbeat.

The dish I ordered was actually the biggest disappointment of the evening. It was actually a starter on the menu.  They called it “Bacon and eggs” ($13.25) and it was a slice of pork belly, cheddar grits, a sunny side up egg and sweet and sour Brussels Sprouts.  I was kind of excited about this dish because I had a similar thing last time with eggs and grits and shrimp that was really nice. The addition of the sweet and sour Brussels sprouts had me intrigued.  The egg was good and the grits were good—but the pork belly was quite dry and the Brussels sprouts were just not cooked enough. They were seared on the edges, but they were just too hard. It was a bummer because I think this could be a really cool combo. Maybe if they par cooked the sprouts or something.

My mother-in-law had the turbot (which is a mild, white fish) ($42) and it was also very good. I only had a couple of bites so it is hard for me to discuss it too much—and there was a lot going on. There was the fish, prosciutto wrapped prawns, beets, leeks, asparagus I think and kumquats. I loved the kumquats—they were sliced really thin and definitely gave it that tangy bite that I like.  I was a little surprised by how much more expensive it was than the rest of the entrées when I glanced at the bill, and that they didn’t mention the price when they told us about it.  But maybe I am just being picky (and I wasn’t paying so I guess I shouldn’t complain).  I also had a bite of my father-in-law’s boar Bolognese that was also very good.  I am a sucker for fresh pasta. We all shared a side of the fries as well, which are really, really good fries.

Hubby and I shared a different dessert this time (often being lured in by the fresh doughnuts which are always good). We had the butterscotch brulee ($7) which was a butterscotch pudding that was caramelized on top. My favorite part was when you dug down into it; you came up with bits of shortbread cookies. That was a nice surprise and we both enjoyed it.

Overall, I think Meridian is doing some really good food.  The place was jam packed. I have always loved the interior, and our service was great on this visit.  In fact, at one point when the air conditioning actually came on next to our table (and it was cold outside) I asked our server if she could ask them to turn it off and she actually did.  Usually they kind of look at you and say they will try and nothing changes. I was impressed.

Meridian is going back into our rotation.  Have you been lately? What did you think?

Meridian

5694 N. Meridian

Indy 46208

317-466-1111

www.meridianonmeridian.com

Meridian - Revisit

Hubby and I realized we hadn’t yet been to Meridian since the chef change, and after a friend texted me about the steak tartare she was eating there, I knew it was time.  I am a sucker for steak tartare (or tuna tartare, or whatever tartare).

Hubby and I took advantage of the lovely weather we were having (hello, autumn, I have missed you) and sat out on their patio. Alone for quite awhile (the place was just not very busy), but it was still lovely.  We were mostly excited by the appetizers, which if you read a lot you know is often the case, and decided to split several.  We started with the prime beef tartare (I think it was around $12) which was very good.  The beef was, well, raw and nice and tender and flavorful, and when you added the egg yolk on top, it turned into a wonderful creamy mix.  You need something to cut the richness, and there was some capers and onion mixed with the meat.  It was served on top of a horseradish cream, which was the right amount of heat to help as well, although I wished there had been just a little more of it.  The ripe bits of tomatoes were a nice acidic complement as well, and we LOVED the crispy fried garbanzo beans.  We only regretted sort of stirring them in a little too soon, because they lost their crispness and they had been so great when you bit into a crispy one.  Next time (and I will get it again if it is on the menu) I would scoot them aside and parcel them out with each bite.  The flatbread served with it had a nice flavor too and the crispy edges were my favorite part.  I would love them to be a little crispier as I am partial to things like potato chips with my tartare, but that’s just my own preference.  You really didn’t care that much about the vehicle since the rest of it was so good.

We then got two more appetizers to share—the shrimp and grits ($13.25) and the hot/cold smoked salmon ($11.50).  The shrimp also featured an egg, a perfectly cooked sunny side up egg that was quite honestly the highlight of the dish.  Not to say the rest wasn’t good, because it was—the whole dish was great. There were two large shrimp on top of nice creamy grits with thin asparagus spears, melted leeks (one of my other favorite ingredients), that egg and little prosciutto. It was like a perfect breakfast—a little ham, a little egg, and some grits. Oh and shrimp. Honestly, I would be hard pressed to not get this again as well.

Hubby says the salmon was one of the menu items that has been on the Meridian menu for awhile, but honestly I can’t tell you if he is right or not.  I can tell you that we enjoyed it although probably not quite as much as the other two dishes.  It is ball of herby creamy cheese with the hot smoked salmon mixed in—it has that smokier flavor.  Layered around the ball was the cold smoked salmon making a lovely presentation. The salmon was on top of red onion marmalade and drizzled with herb oil. I liked the marmalade for a little bit of sweet and tartness with the smoky salmon. It was served with nicely oiled and toasted sliced of bread, which was nice and thin to maintain all the flavor of the salmon.  It is a very generous portion and probably a better portion to share with more than 2 people—it was the only thing we didn’t finish (and lick the plate).  We also had a side of the fries ($5.50), which are really quite good.  Our server told me one of their secrets is using a little sugar with the salt.  They didn't taste sweet to me at all, but they were really good--fresh and crisp and plenty salty. They didn't really need the ketchup that came with them and they were good for dipping up leftover sauce from the other plates.

We had the classic Meridian dessert-- one which I know has been on the menu for awhile because I have had it before—the fresh made doughnuts.  As always, you can’t really go wrong with freshly made hot doughnuts.  They are shaken in cinnamon sugar and served with malted coffee to dip in.  It’s a good one to share and hit the spot for a sweet ending, even if they aren’t mind blowing or anything.

We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and felt like with three appetizers between us, we had more than enough food.  I am imagining the entrées are huge.  I was a little concerned with their business though—the restaurant was pretty empty (including the patio) and a friend who went recently on a Saturday said the same thing.  Our server, while exceptionally knowledgeable about the food and the chef, was almost over the top in the amount of information he gave (it was a situation in which I am pretty sure he assumed we knew nothing about food which I find annoying).  But the food alone will make us return for sure.

Meridian

5694 N. Meridian

Indy 46208

317-466-1111

www.meridianonmeridian.com