McCormick and Schmick's

The last time we went to McCormick and Schmicks, we were sort of impressed by how much we liked the food we had. We hadn’t been back though, and after perusing various menus online, I was convinced by this picture. It was also the last weekend of Devour Downtown, although we were never offered the menu. That was fine with us because we wanted to order from the regular menu, but I think when Devour Downtown is going on, the menu should be offered from the start.

We had an exceptionally friendly server who was very attentive for at least the first half of the meal, until things really starting picking up and everyone seemed to get a little harried. But we had our wine, and some nice chewy light sourdough bread to munch on. I got the tower I showed you before, the Dungeness crab with mango, avocado and orange vinaigrette. I love love love Dungeness crab and when I lived in San Francisco, a whole crab was frequently our Sunday meal. It is very challenging to find it here and I almost always order it if I see it. Of course, once I had ordered it, and started talking to hubby, I realized that it wasn’t actually Dungeness crab season (fall-winter) and I could be in trouble. Well, it was disappointing. First of all, look at my picture compared to the one on the website (and I apologize for how dark they are). Where were my big hunks of leg meat? That was a serious let down. The crab meat tasted ok, but there were no large pieces that made you feel like you were getting something really special. Furthermore, while the avocado was perfectly ripe and soft (and plentiful), the mango was not very ripe and therefore, hard and with a dull flavor. The vinaigrette was on the bottom of the tower, and there wasn’t enough to balance out the large amounts of the other ingredients. I was a little bummed with this appetizer.

Hubby had the oyster po boy which was much better than my crab tower. It was served open-faced which made it a little challenging to eat (had to be eaten with a knife and fork pretty much) but the flavors were nice. It was a nice grilled piece of bread with several perfectly fried medium sized oysters on top and the whole thing was drizzled with a pleasantly spicy remoulade. He definitely won on the appetizer that is for sure. I had several bites and while my dish wasn’t worth ordering again, this one was. I also liked the fact that they have several “small plates” that are very reasonably priced that you could get as appetizers or out of which you could make a nice tapas meal.

We shared a salad, the same salad we had last time, which is very nice. It is the house salad, and is made up of lettuce, candied walnuts and blue cheese with a nice tangy vinaigrette. We both really enjoyed this salad again (and had more than enough even with a half portion). The balance between the vinaigrette and the sweet nuts is a combination that I love, and one that I duplicate at home quite a bit.

For our main dish, we shared the phyllo wrapped halibut which was baked, and topped with a lemon butter sauce with chives. I enjoyed this dish as well. The fish may have been a teeny bit overcooked if I am being really particular, but not enough to make a huge difference. I know it can be hard to tell exactly when something is done when it is wrapped up in phyllo and baked. The fish was still fairly tender and the sauce added a nice flavor to go along with the soft interior and the crunchy phyllo, even if I would have liked a touch more of the sauce. This is another place where the sides are being phoned in I think—everyone is getting the same sides and they aren’t really that great. Very plain. I said it in my last review of this restaurant, and I have said about other places. I don’t get when restaurants put mediocre sides on a plate just to fill it up. It annoys me because I am guessing most of the time the food just ends up in the garbage which is a complete waste.

Simply because we saw this dessert walk by earlier in our meal (and hey, we split an entrée right?) we split the s’mores sundae. This was one of the bigger and more expensive desserts on the menu. And for sure, it is large enough to share. It was made up of a large brownie with rocky road ice cream on top, and marshmallow cream which was then lightly burnt on top to give it that taste of roasted marshmallows. I loved the singed marshmallow topping with the ice cream. The brownie itself wasn’t overly spectacular-- it was a little dry-- but served as a decent base on which to pile all the other stuff.

After having such a surprisingly good meal the first time I went, I was kind of let down with McCormick and Schmick’s. I do appreciate their portion sizes compared to a lot of places around town (they are much more moderately sized and priced), but I wish there was a little more attention to detail going into the food as well.

McCormick and Schmick’s
110 North Illinois Street
Indy 46204
317-631-9500
http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/

McCormick and Schmick's

Wanting to try something new, and wanting some seafood, we headed over to McCormick & Schmick’s at the Hilton downtown (full disclosure--it is a chain). As we walked in, we noticed how full this place already was and we were eating at 6:30. Unfortunately, the servers were a bit overwhelmed as the service started out pretty slow right from the beginning. Our server was very friendly, but it took quite awhile before we got our wine (in fact the table next to us got their appetizers before we got our wine and they came in after us).

Anyway, once our wine was delivered and our order placed, it picked up because they have several people besides the servers delivering the food. To start, we ordered the house mixed greens salad and the mussels. Both of these things were really good. The salad was mixed greens with blue cheese and candied walnuts with a really tangy vinaigrette—I really liked it and though sometimes candied walnuts are too sweet for me, these were perfect to balance out the tangy dressing. And the portion size was spot on for one person (although we shared the two apps).

We also had the mussels in a broth of white wine, garlic, tomatoes, and fresh herbs—these were some of the best mussels I have had around here. They were fresh and properly cooked and the broth had a great flavor. Every mussel was open and the portion size and price was appropriate (a serving for one person was $6.95). I was really impressed with these.

Oh, as I sit thinking about them and dipping my bread into the broth, I should say, if you want bread, be sure and ask for it (preferably when you make your drink order I think). Honestly, I am not sure if they don’t bring it unless you ask or if they just forgot ours, but I didn’t see enough people with it on their table to be sure. But it was nice crusty bread with butter that was a nice accompaniment to the salad and the mussels.

For our mains, I ordered the King Crab Legs off the Featured Wild Seafood section of the menu—they were advertised as being from the Early Dawn fishing boat from The Deadliest Catch show. I used to watch this show incessantly with hubby so I was intrigued. It is funny how a show can influence restaurants as this is the third restaurant in Indy that I have seen advertise its catch from one of these boats. Anyway, the crab was very good and there was more than enough of it. Simply prepared and served with drawn butter, I really enjoyed it. However, the corn on the cob and roasted potatoes served alongside as the “traditional sides” were not so good. The potatoes were just plain and didn’t have much flavor. The corn was heavily seasoned on the top side and the first (and only) bite I took was pure salt, it was horrible. And who tries to pass off corn on the cob in February anyway (especially in Indiana). I should have asked for different sides. I was going to, but thought I would see what they regularly served in order to see if they could wow me. Like I said, the crab was very good, the sides, not.

Hubby had the mixed grill with a crab cake, sautéed sea bass and salmon served over risotto and with asparagus on the side. He really liked the sea bass (I had a bite, it was quite tasty) and he liked the crab cake (not bad, moister than the last one I had elsewhere) and very crabby. He was not happy with the salmon as it was very overcooked (salmon really benefits from being medium rare and this was very well done). At first he claimed both the risotto and asparagus to be too al dente and didn’t like either, but after a few more bites of the risotto, informed me it had “grown on him” and finished it. He skipped the asparagus however.

His dinner came with a “signature” espresso crème brulee (they have several price fixed dinners you can order that come with soup or salad and/or dessert.) He loves crème brulee, but didn’t like this---tasted too much like coffee. I for one, have never understood why a dessert needs to taste like coffee—why not just order coffee? We had a look at the dessert tray (something a little weird about plastic coated ice cream) and they all looked too huge to order—strange since the other items were more reasonably sized.

Anyway, generally, this place has a similar theme to many of the seafood restaurants in the City. The seafood is flown in daily, the menu changes daily, lists what is fresh at the top and then lists preparations for each thing throughout the menu. I think I enjoyed this one more than several of the others simply because the prices and portions are much more reasonable and you feel like you can just order what you want and not have to figure out the complicated math equation of who will share what with whom (i.e. a salad serves 1, not 4). As for the food, it was generally quite good, especially the appetizers. I would happily go back, get a salad and two appetizers I think next time.

The clear places for improvement at McCormick and Schmick’s are the service and the side dishes. I like that they come with the dinner and you don’t have to pay extra for them, but they need to improve the preparation and flavor of them—I see the things served on the side as just as important a part of the plate as the main ingredient. They should complement each other, not just fill up the plate.

However, regardless of my thoughts on improvement, this place is certainly thriving; it was completely full the entire time we were there. So they are obviously doing some things right!

McCormick & Schmick's
110 North Illinois Street
Indy 46204
317-631-9500
http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/