The Little India

We have been a bit in a rut with this whole Covid carry out thing…and I have been more determined to try new things. A couple of you guys recommended this place—it’s in the old Sobro Cafe location. The website is funny because it shows kind of a fancy dining area, but obviously it’s some stock images because the inside looks pretty much just like Sobro used to look if you have been there.

But no matter, we ordered carry out and when I went in to get it, the only people in the dining room were the owners’ kids playing on their tablets. It looks like it is a true mom and pop establishment—mom in the front and pop in the back cooking. And while there wasn’t anyone in the dining room, the phone rang off the hook while I waited to get my order—and there was a fairly constant parade of people and delivery service drivers coming in to pick up food. 

We went with our classic (and yes, I know, fairly unoriginal) order of chicken tikka masala ($12.95), palek paneer ($9.95) and lamb karahi ($12.95). I mean, we kind of have to compare it to our other stand-by Indian places to see which we like better right? We also got garlic naan ($2.75) and tried an appetizer of chicken pakora ($5.95). Please note I don’t necessarily think the pictures on the online menu are their actual food either, as the pakora looked quite different—the online looked like little chicken pieces, but in reality, they were basically like chicken finger size.

The tikka masala and the palek paneer were excellent. The chicken was tender and pretty plentiful (sometimes I feel like there is not a lot of chicken in the containers). The spice level was definitely present (it is listed as spicy on the menu) but isn’t so spicy that you don’t want to eat it—just the right amount (for my family) that slowly builds as you eat it. The palek paneer—which is basically like creamed spinach with hunks of cheese in it, was also very, very good. The spinach part of this dish was super fresh tasting—even though it was creamed spinach. I am not sure how to explain it except it was very spinach-y. There was also a lot of cheese chunks (which is my preference) although it is pretty big pieces and I like them a little smaller, which isn’t a big deal  because you can just cut them up and stir them back in. 

The boys in my family are the main lamb eaters with Indian food and thought the quality of the lamb, and the tenderness was really good. They didn’t like the sauce (ginger, onions, bell peppers and spices) as much, thought it was a little bland. They are excited to try some other lamb dishes though because of the quality of the meat. We also were intrigued by the Indo Chinese dishes which have a Chinese flair to them. There were several that look really good. 

The chicken pakora were a miss for all of us (the dogs felt very lucky though). There were a ton of them, but they were cooked in a chickpea batter but ended up tasting a bit like chicken in pancake batter—and didn’t re-heat that well so the crust was kind of soft. 

All the entrées came with rice and the naan was solid. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with naan right? And it was tasty. 

All in all, we were very happy and will definitely go back. Our go-to dishes are very good and we are excited to try some new stuff too. And always nice to support a local place like this. Who else has been and what did you like?

The Little India

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/220-8300

https://thelittleindiarestaurant.com/menu-list/

Blupoint Oyster House

I was excited to hear about a new place in Sobro with a good-sized patio and specializing in seafood. The stuff I read online was decent, and the menu looked very appealing, so we headed over to give it a try a couple weeks ago. Actually, this review is a combo of two visits—one with just hubby and one with the kids. They have a nice large outside patio (the inside looks cute too but I am not there yet) and a wine list that is also appealing to me.

At each visit we started with one of the tartares—the salmon tartare ($14) the first visit and the tuna ($15) the second. Ok, these were the biggest letdowns of both visits for me. There was nothing wrong with the quality of the fish but they were both pretty bland. The tuna was a little better because it had some capers in there that at least gave a salty kick every once in a while, but I would have guessed with anchovies, serrano peppers, and olives (according to the menu description) there would have been more flavor but it really just tasted mostly like tuna with a couple of capers. The salmon one said it had sesame oil, sriracha vinaigrette and sesame seeds, but again, I got very little flavor even when I dipped in the very minimal dollops of sauces on the side. Add some soy or something. And both needed a much bigger kick of acid. They were both served with freshly fried tortilla chips which were tasty, but because the fish was just ok, we didn’t eat that many.

But moving on, we also tried the panzanella salad ($8). We actually had this both times. The salad included cubes of ciabatta croutons, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, feta, and red wine vinaigrette. This one had the kick of acid I was craving and was well done (other than I really wished for a couple more of the croutons).
With the kids we also tried the fritto misto ($15). This was excellent. It was lightly and perfectly fried shrimp, calamari and oysters with a yummy, slightly spicy aioli (my favorite dipping accountrement). This is one of the better fritto mistos in town I think. The crispy exterior just kind of cracks to reveal super tender seafood—even the calamari isn’t chewy. And throwing some oysters in was a nice bonus that you don’t see at many places in their fritto misto.

On one visit, we tried the gambas al ajilo ($12) as well. This was a nice piece of bread topped with several shrimps which were all cooked just right. The sauce had a fair amount of garlic, but also a lot of paprika and chiles. There were six of the shrimp, so it was pretty sizable. It was tasty. A squeeze of lemon would have been perfect. (I know, I am predictable.)

 

With two visits we also tried two of the pasta main dishes and both were excellent—in fact I would venture to say their pastas are their strengths. The first time we had the squid ink bucatini with lemon cream sauce, chile flakes and we added the shrimp ($18 + $5). This was really well done. The sauce was rich and decadent but had a distinct lemony flavor which helped balance it. The pasta was cooked just right as were the shrimp. Both hubby and I agreed we’d easily get this again.

We also had the linguine and clams on the second visit (the picture you see is half portion as they split it in the kitchen) ($18). They make theirs just like I do, and it is my favorite way—some white wine, chile flakes and garlic in the sauce. Simple, and just right. It had a nice balanced flavor and everyone was happy with this one too. 

My son also had the seared salmon entree ($24) which was served with roasted potatoes, olives and asparagus. It was served with salsa verde on the plate as well. He enjoyed the flavors but thought the portion was small--he is a 15 year old boy who just finished tennis practice so not surprising. But it wasn't huge. It was also cooked through so depending on how you like it, this may or may not be your thing. Or maybe ask for it medium rare (that's what I would do).

With the kids we had a couple of the desserts. My kids were happy with what I would assume was a foodservice chocolate cake. They have a strange love for foodservice cake and this one did not disappoint them (I on the other hand do not think cake should ever be cold). We also had the tartufo which was gelato covered in cocoa—simple, cold, and delicious. 

Overall, it’s a pleasant place to go. There are definitely some ups and downs food wise, but the pastas and fritto misto and solid. I hope they tweak the tartares because I love to order them and I can see potential with the quality of fish they are using. Service was good as well. 

Let me know if you have been and what you think!

Blupoint Oyster House
5858 N. College Ave
Indy 46220
317/559-3259
www.blupointindy.com 

Root & Bone

Whenever there’s a new restaurant that highlights fried chicken on the menu,  you know I gotta try it. Made a reservation with the fam and headed over. This is apparently a third location of a restaurant started by Top Chef winners—the first two locations being in Miami and NYC.  The menu touts itself as “honest southern food.”

We started with some “Grandma Daisy’s Angel Biscuits” ($7). You get an attractive cutting board with two biscuits on it, honey chicken jus, sea salt and benne seeds (which are like artisanal sesame seeds as far as I could tell). I liked the biscuits—they have a crispy exterior and soft interior, but I did not care for the honey chicken jus—it was just too much like drinking sweet buillion. Give me some soft salty butter any day—or do what I did and eat them with the pimento cheese from the next dish. (They also have fried chicken biscuits as appetizers which might be a better option, but I did not try them).

The fried green tomato “BLTs” ($11) were probably the most disappointing dish of the evening for me. These were little stacks of fried green pickled tomato, a pig dollop of pimento cheese, tomato jam, and then a slice of pork belly bacon and some greens on top. The best part was the pimento cheese aspect of it as I mentioned. I enjoyed just eating it with the biscuits. The fried green tomato part didn’t really stay in the crust, I didn’t really care for the tomato jam (too sweet for me) and the bacon was so fatty it was hard to eat. This one would be a skip for me, although I would enjoy it if they sold a side of the pimento cheese. It was tasty.

At this point, we hadn’t loved anything, and were a little nervous. We ordered a bunch of things to share—of course as mentioned, we ordered a half portion of fried chicken ($19). When it came, based solely on appearances, I wasn’t sure, but it was really quite good. It’s not a thick breading, but it had nice flavor and the meat was exceptionally tender. They say it’s brined in sweet tea—didn’t taste tea per se, but it was very tender. Even the breast. 

We also ordered the shrimp and grits ($23). So this was an interesting and very tasty take on shrimp and grits. There was a nice pile of very creamy grits topped with just cooked shrimp (certainly nowhere near overcooked). There were pickled onions, some sweet corn, andouille sausage and beer jus on top.  Oh yeah and some soft broiled cherry tomatoes. I tell yeah, there was a lot of stuff going on, but it was good stuff. The tomatoes were the only part I wasn’t sure about, but mixed together with the other stuff, they added nice acid.

We also got the cast iron seared trout ($26). It was local red trout with a corn johnny cake, charred lemon, asparagus, and gribiche sauce—which is a sauce made with parsley, Dijon and boiled egg. I didn’t get a lot of the sauce on my bite (it was a little swish on the side of the plate), but the fish was cooked just perfectly and was well-seasoned. The johnny cake was kind of charred—I am assuming it wasn’t meant to be black. The rest of the plate was good.

Luckily, we had also ordered some sides anyway—the star of the two that we ordered was the gooey corn spoon bread ($8). So it was like a super soft corn bread—almost more like corn pudding topped with a huge dollop of cheddar and buttermilk cream. This was a table favorite for sure. The buckwheat cheddar waffles ($6), which sounded interesting, were a little less successful. They were two small very soft buckwheat waffles that had melted cheese on them and were served with bourbon maple syrup. This came across as a dessert with cheese on it. I expected the waffles to be less sweet than they were and then when you added the syrup, it really felt like dessert. Or breakfast. In fact, they feature these waffles in a dessert, which is probably a better way to eat them.

I liked the interior, and it was packed on a Sunday night, so I know some of you have been. What was your experience? 

Root & Bone

4601 N. College Ave

Indy 46205

317/602-8672

http://www.rootnboneindy.com/

Ukiyo- Revisit

This week hubby and I had a date night and decided on Ukiyo. I was interested to see how the menu had shifted now that we are going into summer. I was not disappointed. First of all, one of the first things they told us were the specials which included soft-shell crab. So instantly, I was happy.

We ordered two soft-shell crabs (there was one per order) ($13 each). Loved the pickled ramps with it—added a saltiness to the crabs that was tasty. They were just lightly fried with corn starch—a very light batter. These were super meaty crabs too—love it when you get a nice bite of crab with the crunchy soft shell. I will admit, I did dip it into some of the sauce from the gyoza—which was a soy/vinegar sauce with a bit of heat.

So those vegetable gyozas ($15) were also so good. They were wontons stuffed with scallions, mushrooms and glass noodles—it was minced inside so it still came across similar in consistency to a pork dumpling even though it was veggie. The filling was super flavorful and the dumpling itself was perfectly seared on one side. Like I said, the slightly spicy vinegar soy dipping sauce was really, really good. I could sit and eat those little dumplings all day. And I am glad to see they finally have dumplings on the menu. Maybe they will do a seafood one someday—that would be so good too.

We had the negiyaki ($13) as well which was a potato, leek, and green onion pancake with a ginger miso sauce and a fried sunny side up egg and fish flakes on top. I enjoyed the flavor of this one a lot, but the stringiness of the leeks and green onions made the texture a little off for me. That egg was perfect though.

We also had the tuna nigiri tasting flight ($16), which was a fun thing to try—you got one piece each of the lean tuna, the fatty tuna, and the really fatty belly tuna. Honestly, I probably liked the first two the best—and even that lean piece just melted in your mouth. The belly tuna was actually a little too fatty for me—made it a little chewy. But hubby loved it. Although he did say he would be perfectly content with either of the first two as well. It was fun to compare them.

Lastly, we had the crab fat fried rice ($17). This might have been hubby’s favorite thing of the evening. I loved the way they put the warm egg yolk in the middle of it to mix in to the rice, which cooked it a little bit more, but still stayed runny, as opposed to scrambling them into the rice. It gave it a luxurious creamy texture. And you can’t go wrong with the big chunks of crab in there. There was also a sweet/tanginess from yuzu and saltiness from miso. 

All in all, this was the best meal I have had at Ukiyo to date. I have always enjoyed it, but I feel like the menu is continuing to evolve and it has been for the better. If you have yet to check it out, now is the time. And hopefully they will still have the soft-shell crab.

 Ukiyo

4907 49^th Street

Indy  46205

317/384-1048

www.ukiyoindy.com 

Half Liter

The newest addition to the Sahm’s empire is Half Liter, which is a Texas-style BBQ place that is in the back of Liter House on the Monon. It’s an impressive huge high-ceilinged place with vary casual picnic style tables. Downstairs there are only the benches and tables, but I think upstairs has some regular tables with chairs with backs. The one weird thing is I still don't know where the "front" door is on this place. I ended up going in through the patio because the door by the parking lot that said enter here was locked. 

It’s a cool place though and it was packed for a midday lunch (but not so packed we didn’t get a table right away). The concept is Texas dry rub BBQ and they serve several different BBQ sauces on the table. They have a Carolina-style mustard sauce, a traditional Texas style red sauce and a sweet, Dr. Pepper-based sauce. I ordered a quarter chicken leg for my lunch ($7) and it came with 2 sides. I went with potato salad (because I always try potato salad whenever I try a BBQ place) and a green salad because I was feeling peckish for something green.  The chicken was really, really good. I always worry that it will be horribly dry, but this chicken was anything but. It was so, so good. Super moist and with a ton of smoky flavor. It was a big leg/thigh quarter and it was a great lunch portion for me. I would be hard-pressed not to order the exact same thing again. Seriously, really good. As for the sides, the potato salad was a no-go for me. I am weird about potato salad and when I like it, I really like it. And if I don’t like it, I just don’t. There’s no middle ground. This one had celery in it, which isn’t my favorite, but it also had a certain sweet flavor I didn’t care for. Like I said, I am super weird about potato salad. Although my green salad was simple—just fresh lettuce, red onion and tomatoes. They only have like 3 choices for dressing (again one of the choices is Dr. Pepper flavored). I went with ranch and was happy I did—it was really tasty—not just ranch but ranch with some spicy kick to it that went well with the BBQ. 

My friend had the Eddie’s melt sandwich ($10) with one side. The sandwich was really interesting—it had pulled pork, collard greens, pimento cheese, and caramelized onions  It was something I am not sure I would have ordered before, but really enjoyed. His mac and cheese side was the superior of the two hot sides for sure. Not fancy or anything, but really good. 

We also got to try the cornbread and the waffle fries randomly, because I guess they made a serving of them on accident and because we were by the service window, they gave them to us. The waffle fries were good waffle fries—I liked that they made them a little unique with some extra seasoning. The cornbread was a nope for me. So dry and crumbly it bordered on sandy. But it was nice to have the opportunity to try them out.

All the meat I tried (which sadly wasn’t a ton) was spot on. Had a good deep smoky flavor and was very tender. The sides were kind of hit or miss—honestly, I would likely go for the mac and a salad again because I liked the dressing so much. There are several other options to try. And of course you can never go wrong with tots. 

I am looking forward to going back with more people and trying some more of the meats. Hubby can’t wait to try the brisket. Anyone had it?

Half Liter

5301 Winthrop Ave 

Indy 46220

463-212-8180

https://www.halfliterbbq.com/

Pots and Pans Pie Company

A neighbor recently brought a Pots and Pans pie to my house, and then another friend mentioned it again, and I realized I needed to check it out more fully when I heard about all the savory options they have. I will admit, there are only a few sweet pies that really wow me, so I was a bit slow until I heard about the savory options.  Each day they offer a fresh hot selections (one pot pie and one gallette) and then you can order frozen versions to cook at home as well.

One Sunday hubby, my daughter, and I headed over to have brunch there. It’s a tiny little place to eat in, but they do have a few tables. And they only have a few hot options each day, but on this day, it was biscuits and gravy individual pie ($8) and the goat cheese and caramelized onion gallette ($6). The thing about these pies is the crust. Man oh man—it is so light and flakey, but yet rich and buttery all at the same time. The crust alone is worth eating the pie. Then when you throw sausage and sausage gravy inside it, you have the makings of something truly delicious. Hubby was over the moon and it was hard to get him to share at all, but he did. 

The gallette was also very good- not quite as filling as the pie because there is less crust, but because of the richness of the toppings—there was a layer of goat cheese in the bottom crust and then caramelized onions on top—it was still extremely rich and satisfying. It was a little more unusual I guess, but honestly, I can’t even say that because I had never had biscuits and gravy pie either. Both were very good. You can feel that every bit of these pies is homemade, and fresh. I would eat that biscuit and gravy pie any day.

So I decided to order some sweet pies for an upcoming event I was hosting, and went with the chocolate tahini, “Bruce’s lemon pie,” and the apple crumble (full sized pies are $25). Again, the crust is so, so good. My favorite was probably the chocolate tahini, because I liked the nutty flavor from the tahini, but without having nuts in it, which my son with the nut allergy appreciated. It had that little bit of umami that I love in a sweet dessert. The lemon pie was also very tasty, it had a nice tanginess to it that I appreciated. The apple was good too, but apple tends to not be my favorite pie overall and this was less exciting. And overall, I definitely preferred the savory pies, but as I mentioned already, that’s to be expected from me. I think hey are just more interesting all around. 

With all that said though, we ordered a full-size frozen “taco truck” pie to take home and cook at a later date for dinner. Based on everything I had eaten, I was really excited about this and served it for family dinner one night. However, this was not a big hit. Again, the crust, as always, was delicious, and heated up nicely from frozen (except for a few edges that were broken straight out of the box). However, the filling for this pie probably should have been called something like “Asian taco truck” or something, because it was very different from what we expected. It was filled with pork shoulder, and lots of Asian veggies—bok choy, cabbage and had a much more Asian flair to it than we were expecting. It was much more veggie centered than we expected as well. I was sort of expecting more of a Mexican/Latin flavor and none of us particularly cared for it. Oh well, you win some, lose some. But I would try a different one in the future. And I appreciate the crust to filling ratio of the individual pot pies better as well over the larger versions.

All in all, a nice little addition to our local food scene—something different. Honestly, I would love to just try the straightforward chicken pot pie as well. And there’s a bacon and egg gallette that’s calling my name. 

So who else has been and what have you enjoyed? I need details.

Pots and Pans Pie Company

4915 North College Ave

Indy 46205

317/600-3475

www.potsandpansindy.com  

Next Door-revisit

I have started a job not too far from SoBro, so that is my go to lunch area when I can sneak away. I met my friend Suzanne at Next Door this week because I thought it was about time for me to try it again after a less than stellar first experience. 

We met just before noon, and I was surprised to find it not very busy. On my first visit, the place was packed. I didn’t have time for a long lunch, so we jumped right to entrées. Based on the server’s recommendation, I went with the chicken sandwich ($9.95 +$2 upgrade to fries). It sounded good—all the things that typically elevate a chicken sandwich—avocado, herb aioli etc. It also had lettuce and tomato and red onion. And a bun. A very large puffy bun that was a little dense for me. It was kind of hard to eat for me because the sandwich ended up being so big. I ended up eating it kind of open-faced and took the tomato and some of the lettuce off. I wished for a little more aioli and asked for it. I initially got it for my fries but used it for the sandwich as well. It was good on the fries, and I like the whole shoestring fries thing, I just wished they were a little hotter. But they were tasty dipped in the aioli. And I wished the aioli was a little brighter. It had a lot of herbs but could have maybe used some lemon. Or garlic. Or both. An ok sandwich that I likely would not order again.

I also had a bite of Suzanne’s honey Sriracha crispy shrimp bowl ($16.95). It was fried shrimp served on top of brown rice, charred broccolini, pickled daikon, carrots and cilantro slaw. She has had this dish a few times and has had mixed results, but when she had it and it was really good, she really liked it. I thought the shrimp were cooked nicely—they had a nice crunch to them and a slight sweetness I assume from the honey. There was a distinct taste of sesame oil to the dish, which I like. We both agreed it needed just a little bit more something—maybe just a little soy.  Not quite enough of the pickled flavor to balance it out. Overall though, it was certainly the more interesting dish of the two. A few more shrimp would have been nice, particularly at that price point for lunch. 

All in all, I can’t say this visit really changed my opinion about Next Door. It’s not bad, but it isn’t a place that makes me want to rush back anytime soon. Or possibly ever. 

That being said, tell me your favorite places to eat in SoBro and that area, and what your favorite dishes are… I am always looking for inspiration.

Next Door

4573 N. College Ave

Indy  46205

317/643-3480

www.nextdooreatery.com 

SoBro Café

I met a friend for lunch the other day at SoBro Café. It’s the beginning of the year, and like so many, I may have overindulged a bit over the holidays, so I am looking for places where I can still eat out and be somewhat healthy. SoBro Café sort of seems like one of those kinds of places. Because you know I am not giving up going out to eat.

I ordered the mushroom skillet ($10.49), which was fried potatoes on the bottom and was topped with sautéed mushrooms and onions, two eggs, goat cheese crumbles, and diced tomatoes. Before you say, “hey, fried potatoes aren’t very healthy,” I will say I only ate like two of them, just to try them. I really liked the flavor of the dish—they used some truffle oil on the mushrooms, which some people get all worked up about, but I don’t mind its use in moderation. I love truffles, and the essence of it was a nice add. The mushrooms were cooked well, and there were lots of tender onions too. For some reason, I spaced telling them how I wanted my eggs cooked (and they didn’t ask), so they were a bit overcooked, but honestly, I will eat an egg just about any way, so I was fine. But next time I would ask for them over easy. I loved the kick from the goat cheese and the acid of the tomatoes. It was a nice combo. And wasn’t too bad health-wise, since I didn’t eat the potatoes. On that subject, I wished they had been a little crispier, but if they were, it probably would have been more of a temptation, so that was ok. 

My friend ordered the “shrimp po bro,” which was their take on a po boy. Shrimp was not fried, which added to the healthy aspect, and it was served on a hoagie roll with kale slaw, and a tangy remoulade sauce. They say it had an Asian twist, and I will agree. I thought it was good, but the bread was a bit big for the sandwich. I liked the acidity of the sauce on the sandwich though, and the shrimp were cooked properly.

All in all, I would say that I was able to meet my needs to go out to lunch and eat fairly healthy. I like that you can order off the brunch or lunch menu, and I like how warm it was in there on a very cold day. I was sad not to order the biscuits and gravy, which I love, but again, trying to stay healthy, right?

What are your favorite go-tos when you want to try and stay a bit on the healthy side for lunch but you still want to go out?

SoBro Café 

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/920-8121

www.sobrocafe.com 

Ukiyo -- revisit

Recently I met a friend for lunch at Ukiyo. It has been quite a while since I was there, and the cold days make ramen sound good. I was happy when we got there to see they have sort of condensed the lunch and dinner menu into one and include ramen for both. I love the new small plates format as well. Of course, they still have the full sushi menu, but the rest is focused on shareable plates.

At lunch I had a half portion of the pork shoyu ramen ($9) and my friend the half order of chicken ramen ($9). They also have a vegetarian option, and I love that they offer the half portions, because I think they are plenty big. Plus, then you don’t feel like you’re over ordering if you want to try something else, which we did. The ramen is good—it is not spicy at all but has a nice depth of flavor in the broth. They were both on the mild side, but all the ingredients were tasty—I liked the fact that the slices of pork in mine weren’t fatty and were very tender. The only bad part of the ramen was in my friend’s chicken version. The pieces of chicken suffered from being a little gristly. 

We also had the bacon and cheese okonomiyaki ($10), which was the standout. So glad I ordered this, and the feeling was held by my friend as well. So okonomiyaki are Japanese pancakes made with shredded scallions and cabbage, and I believe some mountain yam was in there. Plus, of course, the bacon and cheese. There was a sauce drizzled on top and bonito flakes. This was the reason that I went back less than a week later with my daughter. That pancake was so tasty. Lots of flavors in there, lots of umami as they say. Seriously, next time you go, give it a try. It is rich though, so you will want to share it.

So at dinner, we ordered it again, and enjoyed it just as much except that it came at the very end of our meal and we had overordered and were getting pretty full. The first thing that came out was their version of tuna tartare called maguro zuke ($16). It is large cubes of tuna with chunks of nagaimo, which is a type of Japanese yam. These chunks are raw and it has a really interesting light and crunchy texture that is a cool contrast to the tuna. Not going to lie though, I would rather have more of the tuna and a little less of the yam. There were also some Chrysanthemum greens. It had a light shoyu sauce, that was maybe just a little light for my taste. I appreciate the freshness of the fish etc., but I would have loved a little more of the salty flavor of the sauce. 

We also had a hot chicken bun to share ($3), which was also quite delicious. I love a good Japanese bun, and this was a good one. The bun itself was really tender and I appreciated that it wasn’t as fat as some I have had, so it had a good ratio of bun to fried chicken. The crispy coating on the fried chicken was so crisp it just shattered when you bit into it. It was coated in a kind of hot honey sauce that didn’t feel ridiculously hot at first but built up in your mouth. Add some pickles, and you have a great little bite. 

We also shared the pork katsu donburi ($14), which I also really enjoyed. The pork was breaded and fried crisp, egg, and these melty sweet soy onions. It was all served on top of steamed rice. A really nice dish with crunchy bits and lots of smooth silky texture as well. It had a good, slightly sweet flavor, but also with the hit of soy. We both really enjoyed this. 

We also felt like we should order a sushi roll as well, since well, it’s a sushi place right? My daughter picked the crab, avocado and salmon roll ($17). The ingredients are some of the freshest around, and I love the actual crab in there—but I guess maybe I am realizing that I like some of the gooey sauces on my sushi. This one had a very light sauce on top, but honestly, it was so light, it isn’t particularly memorable to me. I get letting the fish shine, but I like a little burst of flavor too I guess. Bottom line, I think there’s a lot more flavor in the small plates, and I would probably just stick with that part of the menu on future visits. It is certainly the part of the menu that lures me back in.

All in all, it’s a great addition and I like that we have a lunch and dinner place with such an interesting Japanese menu. I like that you are no longer limited to only ramen for lunch and that you can get ramen at dinner and have more options than just sushi as well. It’s funny, because my first review I thought the sushi was the star compared to the other dishes we had, but now I think my opinion has flip flopped.

I am excited to see how the menu keeps evolving and changing with the seasons. I look forward to checking it out again soon. Let me know your menu favorites.

Ukiyo

4907 49^th Street

Indy  46205

317/384-1048

www.ukiyoindy.com 

Open Society -- Revist

I met some friends at Open Society for lunch the other day. I heard they have a new chef and I looked at the menu online and was intrigued. It has been changed a bit since the last time I was there, which was quite a while ago.

smash burger?

So I was torn between breakfast type items and lunch, but when I saw they had something called the society burger, which is further described as a “smash burger,” I got even more interested. Could it be a nice thin burger? I mean what else could “smash burger” mean right? Well, I don’t know why they use that term, because this was actually more like a meatball than any type of patty. I was kind of sad about this. Also, it was a very well-done meatball, which was also a bummer (they didn’t ask how I wanted it). It came topped with cheese, arugula, pickles and a special sauce. I enjoyed the flavors of the toppings, but sadly, the meat was disappointing. And the bun was also quite round in shape. The whole thing ended up being like the opposite of a thin burger. The fries here are quite delicious though. I particularly like the crunchy end bits. I like a nice crunchy fry, and these hit the spot. They serve them with ketchup though, which is kind of boring.

I also had a couple of bites of my friend’s avocado toast ($12), which visually looked amazing. How can you go wrong with avocado, egg, and cheese right? Well, the whole plate, salad and asparagus included, was strangely under seasoned. I guess because avocado and eggs both cry out for salt, but we kept salting it (which we had to ask for) and still were not getting it right. Same thing with the dressing on the greens. It was kind of sad for something so beautiful to be lacking such depth. Especially since the description described Aleppo oil (Aleppo is a type of pepper) as an ingredient, which we thought would liven it up, but we struggled to find the flavor of it. 

The final thing I had just a bite of was ‘nduja sandwich ($15). It came topped with local ‘nduja, avocado, roasted red pepper and Havarti on Amelia’s bread. It also had chips on the side. This sandwich had a distinct spicy flavor to it, unlike the others. It must have been the ‘nduja, but it had a kick to it for sure. It was not like ‘nduja I had had before—not as soft and spreadable, but still the sandwich was pretty good. I liked the thin cut bread. This is the type of bread I really enjoy on a sandwich. I can’t say it’s a sandwich I would repeatedly order, but I enjoyed the bites I had.

Overall, I was a little disappointed with the food I had, particularly my “smash” burger. Hopefully one day I will find out what it has this name.

Open Society

4850 North College Ave

Indy 46205

317/999-8706

http://www.opensocietyindy.com/

Noise rating (at lunch): 1 bell out of 5.

Next Door

The family and I finally got around to trying Next Door, the other new Kimbal Musk restaurant. This one is in SoBro. I have always thought this location just called out for a restaurant—it pretty much looked like an old diner, so I was glad to see something interesting go in here.

We went for lunch (although I think their menu is the same at all meals). Wanting to try a lot of things, we ordered a couple of shareable items to start. We had the chips and guacamole ($8.95) and the buffalo chicken bites ($10.95). We were excited when we saw the chips—they sort of reminded us of the flour tortilla chips from Nada, which we all love. But these were not as tasty and needed salt. They were fine but not super exciting. Sadly, the same could be said of the guac. It definitely needed salt, and a little lime, and maybe some heat would have helped too. It was just kind of bland. The buffalo chicken bites were good. Nice slightly spicy flavor from the buffalo sauce that was tempered by the creamy dressing and chunks of blue cheese. I liked the flavor from some thin slices of celery and celery greens as well. I guess if I were going to improve the dish, the only thing I would suggest is that the pieces of chicken might be slightly bigger—they were a tad on the dry side. But ultimately, this ended up being my favorite dish on the table.  Hubby and I also had a house margarita ($7.50) and I have to say, it wasn’t very good—it was very light and had little flavor going on. I rarely meet a margarita that I just don’t like, but this was one.

For our main, hubby and I wanted to split a Cuban sandwich ($9.95) but were told only upon ordering it that they were out (hint, might want to tell people this at the very beginning of the service). We last minute changed to the “Merlin’s Carolina pork” sandwich ($11.95). This sandwich has pork in mustard BBQ sauce, pickles, crispy onions, and cole slaw. So, this sandwich suffered from dryness too. You could barely tell there was sauce on the pork, and there seemed to be more crispy onions than there was pork. I liked the idea of fried onions on the sandwich, but in this case, they sort of just added to the dry factor. I asked for a side of sauce, which I eventually got, and this made the sandwich bearable, but still not particularly good. They serve the sandwiches with chips and dressed greens. Both were fine, but nothing that stood out.

My son had the burger ($10.95). It comes topped with white cheddar and with the traditional garnishes on the side. They did not ask how he wanted it cooked, and it was cooked pretty well done. So guess what? Also, dry. Of the main dishes, it was probably the best one, but still not great. They really ought to cook it to order, or else cook it closer to medium.

The worst of the entrées was my daughter’s ancho chile chicken bowl ($13.95). If I thought the other dishes came across as dry, this one took the cake. It was mainly rice topped with shredded chicken—both of these things pretty dry. There were some tortilla strips on top, a bit of corn, beans, and peppers and then the whole thing was very lightly drizzled with lime crema. There was nowhere near enough of this crema to bring the moisture this dish needed. The few bites she ended up eating, she had with some of the leftover guacamole. The chicken wasn’t particularly flavorful either. This was definitely a pass.

We thought we should try dessert just to give every course a chance. The only option was a gluten free chocolate chip cookie, so we went ahead and took a pass on this, considering we had homemade gluten-full chocolate chip cookies at home. 

Ok you guys, I wanted to like this place, and it’s really cute, but there was nothing that made me want to go back. Even the service was up and down. For instance, it took a solid 15-20 minutes to get our appetizers, but then we got our entrées within five minutes of getting the apps, even though we ordered them separately and later. It took awhile to get that side of sauce for our sandwich, and to get extra plates and things like this. We sat outside, which was lovely, but inside seemed pretty loud. The only thing I would consider ordering again were the buffalo chicken bites. So, if you have found something you love, please let me know. Otherwise, I am unlikely to return.

Next Door

4573 North College Ave

Indy 46205

317/643-3480

www.nextdooreatery.com 

Noise rating: 4 bells (out of 5) inside, quieter outside.