Oh Yumm Bistro - Revisit

I had a bunch of errands to run in the area the other day, so I stopped into Oh Yumm Bistro for a quick lunch.  It used to be a regular place for hubby and me for dinner, but I haven’t been in ages.  I found it interesting that the clientele was entirely female—and they were pretty busy.

Anyway, I first ordered a sandwich, was told they were out of it, and then I tried for the tuna tartare, and was told they were out of that too. My server was really embarrassed about the whole thing and tried to be very accommodating. I ended up ordering the pescado tacos ($8.99), and luckily, these were available.  I also appreciated that my server also brought me a complimentary order of French fries (which are normally $3.95) because he felt bad about not having the things I wanted to order.  I appreciate when a server takes it upon himself to do what they can to rectify a situation, even by just making a small gesture (my pet peeve is when they come and ask YOU what they can do to fix a situation, or when the server just disappears at the first sign of customer dissatisfaction).

Anyway, the fries were good—although I probably would have had them a little crunchier if it had been up to me. According to the menu, they are drizzled in rosemary oil, which may have been why they were a little soft.  But they did have a nice flavor and they are a generous portion.  (Sorry about the lack of many pictures, it was just too dark.)

The tacos were fine.  They were served in slightly toasty flour tortillas with thin strips of basa fish (which is a mild white fish similar to catfish in flavor) that were seasoned with several spices.  They weren’t particularly hot (as in spice level), but had a decent amount of seasoning.  I appreciated that the fish fairly tender. There was also cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, and some lime sour cream.  Honestly, the fillings were all kind of soft when you smooshed them together—they tasted pretty good, but I could have done with some crunch factor—maybe a little cabbage or something along those lines?  I did take all the extra pico de gallo that they served alongside and dump it all in there for a little extra crunch from the onion and acid from the tomato.  I also asked for a bit of extra sour cream because there was only a little bit on the tacos—it added a good tang, although I didn’t get a lot of lime from it.  Actually, a lime wedge would have been a nice addition too.  They served homemade tortilla chips on the side as well and I didn’t really care for them—they were a little too thick and hard for my taste.  (A little local trivia, according to the menu, Oh Yumm was the first place to serve fish tacos in Indy.)

Overall, it was a fine lunch, although I wish I could have gotten one of my first choices—perhaps it would have been a little more satisfying.  Anyone else been there lately? And, since I have gotten myself on the subject, anyone have any restaurant pet peeves they want to share? Or servers, what are your pet peeves about customers?  I always love a good discussion!

Oh Yumm! Bistro

5615 N. Illinois

Indy, 46208

317/251-5656

www.ohyummbistro.com

Oh Yumm - December Revisit

Sigh… Well, we were having a really hard time figuring out what we wanted to eat on this particular night—we wanted it to be fairly close and quick. Oh Yumm used to be one of our favorite places for such a meal, but after the last dinner visit, when the service was really abysmal, we hadn’t been back. This time, while it appears that they have worked on their service issues, unfortunately, these problems were replaced by kitchen execution issues.

It looks like they have turned what was one of their best waiters into a maitre d' of sorts—he greeted us and seated us. Unfortunately, when we asked for a larger table (a 4 top) even though there were only 2 of us, we were told no, that there were people coming in for those tables (last time we were there they actually gave us the larger table when we asked, they were just grumpy about it). If they really needed the tables, this would have been fine. But as we left, all of the tables for 4 in our section sat empty. This really annoys hubby to no end for several reasons. First, we always order tapas—once you get 4 (or more) plates on the table as well as your own plate to eat from, a bottle of wine, water, etc., you are out of room. We had to sacrifice the bread basket and plates in order to fit everything. As we were walking out I thought hubby might lose it. I mean it is one thing if you have reservations booked for these tables, but if you are just saving them with the idle hope that some larger parties will come in, at the expense of paying customers, that are already there, this seems risky. And it was a Tuesday night at 5:45; I mean how many restaurants in this city are full on a Tuesday night?

Ok, enough about that, let’s get to the food. Well, first a quick note about the service. Like I said, our server was very friendly and attentive and everyone seemed enthusiastic on the whole. We ordered tapas—the fried calamari with sambal aioli, the artichoke fritters with lime chili aioli, the flatbread pizza with pesto, smoked Gouda, caramelized onion and kalamata olives, and the baked chipotle goat cheese with marinara and crostini. The thing is, even though we specifically told the waiter that he should just bring them out as they were finished in the kitchen (as is normally the way with tapas), they brought them all out at the same time. Unfortunately, it was pretty clear the calamari had been sitting a bit because it was barely warm. Now, I love the calamari here on the whole, the batter that it is fried with is super light and airy, and the calamari is not chewy or anything. However, when it is just warm, and not hot, it loses quite a bit. The sambal aioli was a slightly spicy aioli that was tasty and complimented the calamari nicely.

Now the artichoke fritters must have been fried last, because they were exactly the right temperature (uh, hot) and were served in a metal cup lined with wax paper which was also great for keeping them warm (maybe try that with the calamari). They were really delicious. Basically, just little deep fried artichoke hearts served with a similar aioli to the calamari. Although, according to the menu, it was “lime chili” I thought it was the same (as did our server when I asked him). But it was just as tasty.

The goat cheese was nice as well, and served at the appropriate temperature. It was a basically a plate of warm marinara sauce with a nice portion of goat cheese flavored with chipotle chilies. It was nice. Hubby especially liked it—and the crostini were appropriately toasted and held up well to the cheese.

Now, when the server placed the flatbread on the table, even he took one look at it and knew it was burned…I will give him credit for that, he instantly said he would take it back and have a new one made, which we took him up on. When it came back, it wasn’t so burned for sure. Unfortunately, the mini flatbread pizzas have always been one of my favorite items at Oh Yumm, but they have changed the crust from what used to be a thin tortilla that was crisped up in butter, to what looked and tasted pretty much like pita bread that was grilled in a panini press. It wasn’t crispy and it was too dense. The toppings were a really nice combination, but the crust just detracted too much for me. I told hubby as we ate it that I wouldn’t order it again, although he disagreed.

We also wanted dessert and the server read off a long list, with several good sounding items. What we really wanted was the chocolate chip bread pudding which is our longstanding favorite and when we asked, we were told it was on the menu. I don’t know if he just forgot to mention it, or if they just keep it around for people who ask. It was just as good—and I have always really liked it.

Unfortunately for Oh Yumm, it seems just as the get one thing fixed, another problem seems to show up. Hopefully one of these days, everything will get worked out at the same time.

Oh Yumm! Bistro
5615 N. Illinois
Indy, 46208
317/251-5656
www.ohyummbistro.com

Oh Yumm - Lunch

I have written up Oh Yumm before for dinner—I have had mixed experiences there and have heard mixed reviews from other people. Although usually the food (tapas are the only thing I tend to order for dinner) is pretty good bistro faire, I have had some pretty bad service experiences before. I like the atmosphere of the place, an intimate casual bistro right on Illinois, but after the last experience I had, I haven’t rushed back. Recently I was in the area with a friend trying to figure out what to do for lunch and I thought this would be a good opportunity to give it another chance.

I do like their lunch menu—they offer their tapas, several salads and several sandwiches as well as random other things. One of the sandwiches that sounded really good was their version of a BLT made with fried green tomatoes. Because I had just made BLTs for dinner the night before, I didn’t get it, but my friend did. You get your choice of side with the sandwiches and she chose their pomme frites.
I had some of her sandwich though and it was really tasty. Served on grilled multi-grain bread with several cornmeal crusted fried green tomatoes, rosemary bacon, Bibb lettuce and pesto aioli. It was really good and a nice variation on the classic BLT that is different from any other place around here. We shared the frites and it was they were nice as well. Not the best pomme frites around, but still really tasty. I liked whatever the “house seasoning” was which gave them a little extra than just the classic salt and parsley that is common. Dipped in gorgonzola dressing, how could you not like them?

I know, it is sorta sad that I mentioned my friend’s meal before mine, but I ordered the quiche and ended up with the same experience I usually have when I order quiche. It was fine, but nothing great. I like quiche, but it has been rare that I find one that blows me away. But every so often one sounds good-- and this one had asparagus, potato and bacon-- so I get it. But it was just ok. There really wasn’t a lot of any of those ingredients in the quiche, so really, you just tasted mostly the eggy part with an occasional bite with a little bit of one of the highlighted ingredients. I had a choice of soup or spinach salad to go with it, and both sounded good (the soup of the day was corn chowder), but since we were sitting outside on a hot day, I opted for the spinach salad with gorgonzola, candied walnuts, bacon and strawberries and served with a shagbark vinaigrette. It was pretty good too. I liked having the vinaigrette on the salad to balance out the rich eggy-ness of the quiche. Is there anywhere doing amazing quiche in Indy?

There were several items on the menu that are quite tempting to me for lunch, and different from all the typical lunch items. I really want to try the French potato salad and the roasted chicken wrap. And I really want one of those fried green tomato BLTs of my own.

Anyhow, happily, our hostess and server were both extremely pleasant and efficient which was my biggest problem last time. This, combined with the fact that the menu is interesting (and changes seasonally), and some of the food was quite good, leads me to believe I will give Oh Yumm another chance even if it will likely be for lunch again.

Oh Yumm! Bistro
5615 N. Illinois
Indy, 46208
317/251-5656
www.ohyummbistro.com

Oh Yumm-Revisit

****THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED****
We hadn’t been in awhile, and we wanted to go somewhere casual that we were confident would be pretty good. Oh Yumm is a place we have been a lot, and while it isn’t amazing or anything, we have always found it a fairly consistently good choice for a casual meal in a nice neighborhood spot. We were there at the end of the winter menu, when the Spring stuff hadn’t really been rolled out yet. We pretty much always order off the tapas menu, and not the regular dinner menu—we have found the few times we did order off the dinner menu, the food wasn’t as tasty. Someone recently asked me for advice about this place, and what to order, and that is it---just get tapas and skip the rest.

The first small plate we had was the shrimp & grits. It was three large bacon wrapped shrimps on top of quite a bit of grits with a nice sort of chipotle-ish sauce. They were nice. The shrimp was cooked properly and the bacon added a nice saltiness.

We also tried the carne asada tostadas which had a black bean spread, some marinated spicy beef and served with traditional accoutrements like lettuce, cheese, guacamole and a yummy lime cumin sour cream (could have used a but more of this). All served on a corn tortilla.

We also had two of our perennial favorites (mainly because not much else sounded appealing on this particular night). We had the Kobe slider with gorgonzola and pickled red onions (I love those red onions) which was fine. You only get one slider though, so if you are sharing it, it is really just a couple bites each. We also had the calamari which is always good, and fried properly and served with a nice “spicy samba aioli.” It has a nice flavor with a bit of the tang I like.

For dessert we had what is one of my favorite desserts in Indy, the chocolate chip bread pudding. I was tempted by the recent picture of the s’mores brulee featured in Indianapolis Monthly, but hubby wouldn’t have it. He loves the bread pudding as much as I do, and isn’t as big a fan of s’mores items. It was good as always.

Unfortunately, the big downside of the evening was the service. It was painfully slow and slightly haughty. From the moment I asked for a bigger table (because we were having small plates and never have enough room at the smaller tables), I got “the look” even though the place was pretty much empty inside (I think there was one other table) (Everyone was sitting outside on this night). The rest of the meal continued in that vein, impossible to flag down the server when we needed something and generally it took forever to get it. It seemed like he was doing us a favor by even waiting on us at times.

It is a shame, because from recent comments I have heard, I am not the only one having such an experience. The place slowly filled up as we were there and two servers simply wasn’t enough for the whole place as well as a full outside patio. And a busser or two might have helped as well.

On this note, I would love to hear what you, dear readers, do in situations like this. How is really poor service reflected in your tip, return visits etc? Hubby and I tend to be pretty good tippers, and alter our tip in such a situation, but I wonder if it even sends a message in this City? Would love to hear from you all, and any servers who might read this about this issue.

Oh Yumm! Bistro
5615 N. Illinois
Indy, 46208
317/251-5656
www.ohyummbistro.com

Oh Yumm! Bistro

****THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED****
One of my favorite neighborhood restaurants (not in my neighborhood unfortunately) is Oh Yumm! Bistro on 56th and Illinois. I have been there many times and am usually quite pleased with the food. They have a traditional menu with salads and entrees and then they have an entire page devoted to what can either be appetizers or tapas. I love tapas because I love to get to eat lots of things with different flavors and because you are pretty much guaranteed the portions will not be too big. They only time I have ever ordered an entree was when we had a larger group and just added one of the entrees to our tapas order to share.

Hubby and I went on a Friday night--one of the few times I have been there on one of their busier nights because usually we eat out midweek. As per usual, we ordered several tapas to share. We had the guacamole with chips (and a tomato relish), fried green tomatoes with a tomato/corn relish and arugula pesto, crispy fried calamari with spicy marinara, the mini pizza (based on a tortilla) with shrimp, pesto, cheese, bacon and caramelized onions, and the petite slider with gorgonzola (you can choose between gorgonzola, goat cheese or chedder) with pickled red onions.

Everything we had was really good. The guacamole is fresh and chunky, the way I like it, and the chips are clearly house made. Tasty, and a good thing to share. The fried green tomatoes were really tasty too. The fried items at Oh Yumm are always prepared with a light touch, so you don't feel like they are too greasy or over the top. The corn and tomato relish and arugula pesto was what really made it though--all the flavors combined really well. Those things really are the taste of summer in the midwest.

Speaking of fried items, we also had the calamari--I think this may be the best calamari I have had in this City (sorry if I have said that before!). The calamari was in no way chewy as it can get sometimes (ok, a lot of times) at other places when it is overcooked. And again, the batter is quite light and goes really well with the spicy marinara sauce. It is very simply prepared, with just a sprinkling of sea salt, but it doesn't need anything else.

We almost always get the pizza. The toppings vary from season to season and some are definitely better than others. And what they do to their tortilla crust is one of the things that makes the whole item so delish. I think they lightly pan fry it in butter--ok, that is maybe not the health option, but oh so tasty nonetheless. As for the toppings on this one, it was quite a list. Shrimp, pesto, cheese, caramelized onions and bacon crumbles. Now, don't get me wrong, I love ALL those things, but it was maybe just a few too many things on such a dainty pizza. Tasted good, if not a little rich for me. I think some of the simpler ones in the past may have been better. Not sure though. I guess it depends on what the toppings are.

Lastly, we had the petite slider with gorgonzola (if there is blue cheese involved, you know we like it). The thing I like best about this little burger (not being a big burger eater myself) is the pickled red onions. They are so good. They remind me of this little Peruvian place I used to eat at when I worked in Oakland, CA. The slider is almost always on the menu I think, and like I said there is some sort of tortilla pizza, but many of the other items change seasonally. Sometimes I will be sad to see certain items go, but they always come up with something new that is just as good.

I really like the bistro-ishness of this place too. It is in a store front right on Illinois (basically across the street from the Safeway) and it really has that neighborhood restaurant feel. It is small, although in the warm months they have decent outside seating in front of the restaurant (although I have something about being THAT close to the traffic, but obviously that is just me since the outside area was much fuller than the inside). The servers are generally friendly, and we have had the same guy the last several times we have been there who I really like.

I have to comment on the one negative from this particular evening however. As I said, it was a Friday, and they were busy (but not packed) and they seemed to be having some service issues. I am not sure exactly what the problem was, but the host seemed a bit overwhelmed and when I asked if we could have a 4 person table (even though we were only 2) because we always get the tapas and often need the extra space, he said no, they had reservations for them. This is fine, I completely understand. But from 7:30 when we got there, until nearly 9:00 when we left, three 4-top tables went unseated inside. Now, maybe they decided to sit outside after arriving, but it was a little annoying. And they were short of menus. How this happens, I do not know, but it took us a good 15 minutes after being seated to get our menus. And although our waiter knows what he is doing, everything on this night seemed off. The bread came after some of the food and it took a bit to get our wine. I don't want you to think though that this is usual, because it is the first time we have had this problem in the probably 8-10 times we have been there. But again, we don't usually go during peak times, so maybe it is more common than I know. But I am guessing not.

Regardless, this is a great, locally owned neighborhood restaurant that is definitely worth a trip. Also, although we haven't tried it yet, they also serve lunch during the week and brunch on the weekends and have a kids menu. When mine are a bit older, I hope to make this a regular family place to go as well.

Oh Yumm! Bistro
5615 North Illinois
317-251-5656
http://www.ohyummbistro.com/