Shoefly - Revisit

We were having a family “discussion” the other day (it was a weekend) about where to have lunch. We all have our favorite places and no one could seem to agree. Hubby mentioned Shoefly because even though I had been twice, he had not yet been and wanted to give it a go. I was looking forward to trying something different, so of course I was game.

Based on several recommendations, I decided to get the duck wings off of the appetizer menu ($6) with honey Dijon sauce (you have your choice of several sauces) and the small house salad ($4). The duck wings are pretty darn delicious. The extra meaty and just slightly gamey wings (think of a large chicken wing made with dark meat) were messy but a favorite of the table. My son decided on our next visit he would get an order of these without any sauce. I am not sure I made the right choice as far as the sauce goes—I think maybe the slightly sweet chili oil might be better with duck. I am intrigued by the chimichurri. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the flavor of the honey Dijon (lots of grainy mustard), but I think it would be better with something else.  I was kind of disappointed by the salad. It was mainly romaine lettuce with a bit of radish, a few capers, a boiled egg , Parmesan ,and some green beans (I believe). It was tossed in a lemon/olive oil dressing. I don’t know, the whole thing was just too lettuce heavy and I couldn’t really get much lemon (I need my acid) in the dressing. I love capers, but it’s hard to get one on your fork in a salad. It was just kind of bland. Oh well.

Hubby had the beer battered walleye at my recommendation (half order $11). It was just as good as the first time I had it—moist, tender fish with a light Bier Brewery batter. The fries were some of the best I’ve had on my visits—these were quite crisp. And I love the tartar sauce they serve alongside, as I said in my first post.  We also shared an order of mac and cheese for the table ($7). I still think it could use a little salt and pepper, and unfortunately this one wasn’t quite heated all the way through, but we all enjoyed it anyway.

My daughter had Anna’s gnocchi ($6). Ok, she had two orders of Anna’s gnocchi (so make that $12). She loves gnocchi and enjoyed it. Not thinking it was housemade or anything, but cooked well. It looks like they have changed the menu lately though and it is now ravioli which might make her sad. My son had a burger ($9 w/ cheese) off the regular menu (there isn’t one on the kid’s menu). He quite enjoyed it.

We had the brownie batter wontons for dessert ($5). (My daughter always checks the desserts before she even reads the regular menu). I really quite liked them. They really tasted like raw brownie batter fried into wontons. They were served with a cream sauce alongside which sadly spilled out of its little cup making the parts it touched go a little soft, but it was tasty as well.  I hate to say it but they took these off the menu too in their recent changes because I would get those again too!

I am glad to see they are changing the menu up occasionally (looks like seasonally) even if they do take some of our family favorites off. I appreciate the variety in a family-friendly restaurant like this. I am particularly interested in trying the new asparagus and goat cheese fritters.

Shoefly Public House

122 East 22^nd Street

Indy  46202

317/283-5007

www.shoeflypublichouse.com

Shoefly Public House

This is a place that I have been hearing a lot about. I was excited to try it, but as always, wanted to give it a couple of weeks before I ventured in. I met my friend @wibia there one day because he was wanted to try it as well, and then when another friend asked to go a week or so later, I went again. 

The menu is actually pretty appealing to me—lots of things that sound interesting—I had a hard time making up my mind. On my first visit, the server recommended the walleye fish and chips (lunch portion is $11), so that’s what I went with. Wibia had the Cuban pretzel flatbread ($9) and we shared an appetizer of the Boursin mac and cheese ($7).

I really liked the fish and chips. The walleye was very fresh and was done in a beer batter. It was a thick, very crisp, batter and you could distinctly taste the beer in it. It also came with plenty of housemade fries, which were tasty as well, although could have been maybe a tad crisper. My favorite part of my meal was the house tartar sauce they served along with the fish. It was great. It was a little thinner than the traditional mayo mixed with relish stuff and had way more flavor. It tasted like there were capers and some mustard in there. I dipped everything in it. There was also some slaw alongside that had a very sharp acidic flavor to it that made it a little much for me to eat just by itself. But I am kind of weird about slaw.

I had a piece of the Cuban flatbread as well. It was interesting. I think people will either really like this pretzel-based crust or hate it. Imagine if you took a soft pretzel and made it into a flatbread. It had the pretzel taste and was chewy like a soft pretzel is, but thin. It was topped with pork, capocollo, pickle, mozzarella, and whole grain mustard. The flavors complimented the pretzel taste, although I think I might have liked a little more pickle and mustard flavor, at least in the bites I tried. It seemed like mostly meat and cheese to me.

The mac and cheese was very good—a large portion as well. It had a nice flavor from the Boursin, which is like an herby cream cheese, and was topped with herbs and crunchy breadcrumbs. The noodles were curly and hollow and ridged on the outside and held lots of the cheesy sauce. We did add a little salt and pepper to it but other than that, it was probably one of the tastiest things. Definitely worth ordering if you are into mac and cheese.

On my second trip, I went with the BLT ($9), again because of the server’s recommendation. She said it was one of the best versions she had had and she told me they were using Smoking Goose bacon, so I was sold. It was a big sandwich; that was for sure. One of those ones I have trouble fitting in my mouth. The bacon was cooked perfectly (seriously, you know when they cook it just the right amount of crunchy and it kind of melts in your mouth?), and I liked the addition of avocado (of course I did). There was an aji sauce, which was a bright yellow pepper-based sauce, but to be quite honest, it didn’t have a ton of flavor. The bread (sourdough) was pretty thick. It was a decent sandwich, but I would probably get something different next time. We also shared a side of fries tossed with parmesan and garlic and with a hickory Dijon dipping sauce ($3). I loved the hickory Dijon and sort of wished it was on my BLT instead of the aji sauce. It was mustardy and tangy and just a little smoky all at the same time. The fries however suffered from being pretty soggy. My favorite thing on this visit was the housemade limeade ($3). I have been ordering things like this lately only to find them too syrupy sweet, but this one had a real tangy limey kick. Man, I would love to have this with some booze in it.

I like that there’s parking in back so you don’t have to try and find it on the street. The interior of the place is pretty simple. Only a few photographs of people decorate the walls (people who work there?). It’s kind of hard to tell from the décor (or lack thereof) what identity they are going for. Do they want to be a pub or a family restaurant? And a random thing, the banquette seating was a little odd because the booth part was taller than the chair so I felt very short sitting in the chair. Good to know if you need a place for a business lunch and want to feel like you’re the one with the power I guess. 

I do like the creativity that the menu exhibits, even if not everything is pulled off flawlessly. Little touches like the tartar sauce and the hickory Dijon (and the limeade) make the food stand out from the crowd a bit. I am looking forward to trying it again and trying some different things. I know a bunch of you guys have been—would love some comments about what you like to eat here.

Shoefly Public House

122 East 22^nd Street

Indy  46202

317/283-5007

www.shoeflypublichouse.com