Road Trip: Pearl Street Pub: Oldenburg, IN

On our endless quest to find all the restaurants in the Oldenburg area, we finally hit the Pearl Street Pub. We’ve had drinks there before, and even tried to eat there once, but it was taco night, and we didn’t want tacos. This time we went on a Wednesday and found the place completely packed. It’s a pub, but the bar area is small, and most of the restaurant was full of families (we found out later the church across the street has some event every Wednesday and that is why it was so crowded). We literally got the last table by the door. Because it was so busy, our service was a bit lacking. She was nice, but extremely harried, and there were long delays in between ordering drinks and food. 

Anyway, once we settled in on our order, we were happy to catch up with our friends from Cincinnati (this is why we go to Oldenburg, to meet them halfway). We ordered fried pickles to start as well as the pretzels and cheese dip. The fried pickles were strange. They were cut like French fries—long ways. Someone stuck a pickle in a French fry cutter. They tasted pretty good, although hubby and I argued whether they are actually making them there or getting them from food supply because I have never seen fried pickles done like this anywhere else.  The pretzels were fine. I am guessing these are definitely food supply though. Taste like one you’d get at the ballpark. Not bad mind you, but not homemade.

The burgers sounded like the way to go because the menu specifically mentioned that the meat is local and “hand pattied” every day. So hubby ordered the Pearl Burger and I got a buffalo chicken sandwich and we were going to share. Well, let’s just say my instinct was correct. The burger was spot on—tender and topped with cheese, bacon, lettuce and tarter sauce. My buffalo chicken sandwich was not good. It was served on a hoagie roll and I am pretty sure they just took foodservice chicken tenders and cut them up into hunks and then drowned them in buffalo sauce. There was so much sauce, it was insane (and really spicy) and the chicken ended up kind of hard and dry. Pass on this one. Stick with the burgers here.  Hubby was very happy (he ate most of the burger before I could get my fair share) and said he would happily come back. He had onion rings, and they were those breaded kind. Probably also come in frozen in a bag. It wasn’t the best experience for me, but if I go back, I will certainly get my own burger (or a patty melt). 

I didn’t track the prices very well but splitting the two apps with our friends, a burger, my chicken sandwich and two drinks each—Me and hubby’s bill was right above $40. 

So next visit, we’re thinking about visiting the re-opened Sherman House. Anyone been there since the remodeling?

Pearl Street Pub

3034 Pearl Street

Oldenburg, IN 47036

812/934-3550

https://www.facebook.com/Pearl-Street-Pub-238032342885755/ 

Road Trip: The Restaurant at Walhill Farm, Batesville, IN

We have good friends who live in Cincinnati and because between the four of us, our kids, and our schedules, it is difficult to get together, we try to meet halfway between for dinner a few times a year. We have toured many of the Oldenburg area restaurants so far, and this time ventured into Batesville and visited The Restaurant at Walhill Farm.

It’s pretty cool how many little independent restaurants exist in this area that have clearly been around for a long time. While you see chains here, not nearly as much as you might see in other places. Anyhow, it was also cool to see how busy this place was on a random Wednesday night—we all sort of expected it to be fairly empty—and it was nearly full. We were glad we had made a reservation.

A lot of the things on the menu are produced locally and they happily note a long list of them on the menu. Hubby and I wanted to start with the roasted artichokes, but were informed they were out of them. So we ordered the blue cheese fondue instead ($8). It was a tasty dish even if the amount of cheese to other things was a little slim. The cheese was nice and melty in the middle and was served with toasted and seasoned bread, candied walnuts, grapes and strawberries. I do love to eat a bit of fruit, and even better candied nuts, with my blue cheese, so this dish was very appealing to me. I just wished there was more cheese for all those accompaniments.

Our friends got the shrimp appetizer ($12), which was supposed to be a scampi type dish. It was served with rice on the bottom, a few grilled shrimp and then a ton of this wonderful tomato topping. These little cherry tomatoes were so good—they were marinated and mixed with fresh basil and seriously, you didn’t even care about the shrimp or rice. You just wanted to gobble up the tomatoes. However, if I were to improve this dish, I would put the whole thing on warm polenta—that would be amazing. 

I ordered the Walhill burger ($11), which is made with a blend of beef and pork and a bit of bacon. It’s topped with cheese, tomatoes and lettuce. I asked for a fried egg for it as well (an extra $1). It’s served on sliced toasted bread, which was a little surprising. I was bummed they forgot my egg though. And then it took awhile to get it—but I was glad I did because it really improved the sandwich. They did a nice job cooking the hamburger patty medium rare and the egg was beautiful once I got it. The bread tasted good with it, but there was a lot going on in the sandwich and it was kind of messy because the bread had a hard time holding up.. I enjoyed it though. I also ordered the O’Brien potatoes as a side (upcharge from the usual chips). I wasn’t a big fan of these big potato wedges mixed with green and red bell peppers. They weren’t very crisp and needed salt. And I am not a big green pepper fan. I sort of wished I had stuck with the chips, which they apparently make in house.

Hubby had the salmon, trying to be healthy ($29). It was not overly healthy though considering it was covered in a creamy lemony sauce with Andouille sausage. The fish was cooked a bit further than we tend to prefer, but it wasn’t completely dried out, and all that creamy sauce helped. There were also a few more of those shrimp on top. The grits served with it were pretty dense, would have been nice if they had been a bit creamier. 

Our friends had a steak and a chicken dish, and while I didn’t taste them, they seemed content with them. We ended up getting three desserts, which was certainly more than enough. I really enjoyed the chocolate cheesecake ($6) the most. It was much softer and creamier than most cheesecakes. Very tasty. The bread pudding ($5) was also good—very tender as well. They certainly seemed homemade, which can be a problem with desserts sometimes—they come frozen and shipped in. We also had the crème brulee ($6), which I thought was the weakest of the desserts simply because the cream part was still pretty cold underneath the crisp brulee part. I did like the addition of cinnamon to the top though.

It’s a cute place—sort of off the beaten path with a real lodge-type feel. The food is solid, even though it’s nothing spectacular. And it’s a great in between stop. I’m always looking for more suggestions for the Oldenburg/Batesville area, so let me know your ideas. We’re supposed to meet our friends again in October.

The Restaurant at Walhill Farm

857 Six Pine Ranch Road

Batesville, IN 47006

812/934-2600

www.walhillfarm.com 

Road Trip: Brau Haus - Oldenburg, Indiana

We have some friends from Cincinnati that we meet every so often sort of halfway between our houses—this puts us just about squarely in Oldenburg and now we have made it our personal goal to try all the restaurants in the very cute German town. This time we hit up the Brau Haus, a charming looking place set in what looks like an old house—it’s actually quite small on the inside. Just a 6-8 tables on the family side and about the same on the bar side.  It feels very German, with wooden booths throughout and plenty of Warsteiner available.

For our Vorspeisen (appetizers), we shared a couple of orders of sauerkraut balls with Dusseldorf mustard ($5.99). I was kind of wondering how much I would like these, but these were actually really tasty. Inside the breaded balls, there was chopped sauerkraut and some corned beef. They all sat on top of lightly browned sauerkraut and were served with strong spicy mustard—similar to Dijon but even stronger—a fair amount of kick. We all really enjoyed these. It was a great combo for sure.

This town seems to battle over fried chicken, and I am game to try it all of course. I had a half chicken with a side of mashed potatoes ($13.50) (it also comes with a salad bar, but honestly, we completely forgot about it with all of our catching up). This chicken was good—it was more of the seasoned really crispy skin with less breading than others—and while it was seasoned, it wasn’t as peppery as Wagner’s, which I assume is their main competition since the restaurants are shockingly similar—in décor and menu.  It is pretty tender inside though, which can always be a curse with white meat. They cut the breast into smaller pieces (including a keel), which may make it more even to cook. I enjoyed the chicken, but I’d say Wagner’s wins that particular battle.

However, hubby ordered the pork schnitzel dinner ($13.99) and it was outstanding. It was a big, fairly thick piece of pork tenderloin that is breaded and seasoned and pan-fried. Wow, was it good (and look they put wedges of boiled egg on top! How lovely!). The pork, while thick, was tender and cooked just right and the seasoning was more prevalent than in the chicken. There was also rich brown gravy on the bottom that hubby enjoyed, but I really liked it best with just a squeeze of lemon.

The schnitzel comes with red cabbage and potato pancakes (also the salad bar) and whoa—I loved, loved those potato pancakes. They were fairly dense patties made with shredded potatoes, a fair amount of seasoning, and then fried. Seriously, they had such fresh potato flavor and just exactly the right crispiness. You didn’t need anything with them. Nothing. There is no way I would ever go here again and not get these. Actually, I think with as generous as the portions are, hubby and I could easily split his dinner and be totally happy and full.

Overall, it was another positive Oldenburg dining experience. I can’t say that this would be the healthiest town to live in, and dine out in, as everything I have really enjoyed has been fried, but it’s tasty. And hey, there are still a couple of other places to check out on future visits.

Brau Haus

22170 Water Street

Oldenburg, IN 47036

812/934-4840

www.oldenburgbrauhaus.com 

Road Trip: Wagner's Village Inn

Back on a road trip to meet up with our friends from Cincinnati—meeting halfway between—this time we decided to try Wagner’s Village Inn in Oldenburg. This place was remarkably similar to the Fireside Inn, both in style and menu. The bar area was a little nicer and bigger I would say though. Our server was very friendly and patient with us (it always takes us awhile to get our order in when we’re all together).

Naturally, the plan was to order the fried chicken, which we did, but of course we needed some other fried things first right? And always on the quest to find the perfect chicken livers, we ordered a starter of a mix of chicken livers and gizzards. Again, I was disappointed because they were pretty dried out. I think I may be giving up on the deep fried chicken livers (that is unless one of you guys can point me in the right direction). We also had a starter of the fried mushrooms, which were the better choice even though I am guessing they weren't housemade. Singe your mouth hot, but decent and served with a side of ranch.

The chicken was served family style and three of us ordered it. You get a big ol’ plate of chicken and it was good. Really good. You could really tell they put some seasoning into the coating—lots of peppery kick. It was smoking hot and fresh and had a super crispy skin. Totally worth eating and definitely in the top 1/3 of fried chicken. It came with lots of included sides. I’d say the highlight of the sides were the dinner rolls—super soft and served hot. I am pretty sure they weren’t making them in house, but for rolls, they were just right. They were my favorite side. The coli slaw was your super traditional, just shredded cabbage and carrots and a lot of the classic creamy sauce. The mashed potatoes were a bit thin, but served the purpose for me, which is the thing to dip your chicken into. There were green beans too, but I didn’t eat them. They were the canned variety and I’m just not into that. I’d totally go back for the chicken though.

The town of Oldenburg is an old German town and has a lot of charm on its own as well. We took a little walk around and saw a couple other places to check out on a later date. One was Pearl Street Pub. Anyone been there?

Wagner’s Village Inn

22171 Main Street

Oldenburg, IN 47036

812/934-3854

Road Trip- Fireside Inn, Enochsburg

Hubby has a very good friend who lives in Cincinnati, but we never seem to be able to make our schedules work to hang out very often because we are all so busy. We decided we would just pick a random place in the middle and go on a weeknight instead. Exactly (literally, the restaurant was exactly 1 hour and 7 minutes away from each of us) in the middle was the Fireside Inn. They specialize in fried chicken. So yeah, no brainer.

It is really a teeny tiny town (Enochsburg) with pretty much just this restaurant. And it’s really a little bar with a family side, which looks like it was built in the 1960s and hasn’t changed much since. Completely casual. You have to laugh when you look at the menu—pretty much every single thing is fried.

We started with an order of the fried pickles (I didn’t take note of the price, but I think they were under $2). They were probably the best fried pickles I have ever had and were probably the highlight of the meal for me. They were super-pickley. Not thick, cucumber-type fresh pickles, but the thin, really salty types you find on burgers. They were battered in a super crisp batter and were just delicious. They were served with a creamy horseradish sauce. I couldn’t stop eating them.

We also had an order of chicken livers ($3.25) because I love them and they are only available on Thursdays, which was the day we were there. Unfortunately, these weren’t very good because they were really over-fried and burnt. That slightly gamey, soft chicken liver flavor was completely cooked away. I am not sure if they were just badly done on this particular day, or this is the way they do them, but I would take a pass. And get some more pickles.

Fried Chicken w/ Chicken livers behind

Hubby and I split a whole fried chicken because our server told us it was the most economical way to do it (it was $12.95 for an entire chicken). You could really tell they were taking a whole chicken and cutting it up—it was hard to decipher some of the pieces right away because they cut them different from typical pieces of fried chicken. They cut the breast pieces into smaller bits—maybe to be able to cook them uniformly. The chicken was good. It was the kind that was probably just lightly seasoned and then fried without little if any batter or breading. Just the chicken skin. A little salt and pepper and it was a tasty meal. Not the best fried chicken I have ever had, but certainly not the worst. And hubby and I managed to eat that whole chicken. Sides are separate –and they only have mashed potatoes on certain nights and only until they run out. (I really would like to try them because it sounds like they are very popular and run out quickly). I had a baked potato just because I couldn’t imagine getting another fried thing.

If you ever find yourself in that area and want a cheap, independent place to grab dinner (a fried dinner that is), this is a good place to stop. Just pay attention to the directions—one route we took had us going down a gravel road for a mile or so before we found the place. The restaurant is run by a family, and the people working there clearly care about the place. I would say it could use some updating in the décor, but if they did, it would take away part of the divey charm.  I hope they don’t change a thing (well, except maybe the chicken livers).

Side note, anyone got any good places to recommend in the Batesville area for our next rendezvous?

Fireside Inn

2174 County Line Road

Greensburg, IN 47240

812/934-4174

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fireside-Inn-Enochsburg/237529667427