The Ripple Inn- Revisit- Lunch

*********THE RIPPLE INN IS CLOSED*********

I heard there was a new chef at the Ripple Inn (Charles Mereday), and after checking out the fancy electronic video menu outside the restaurant the other day, I was intrigued to try it again.  I really want to go for dinner, but my schedule/babysitting has been so crazy, I have been having a hard time fitting dinners in.  So after seeing they have started serving lunch, the BFF and I headed over to give it a try. So walking in, there were not a lot of people in there, which has been the case the last few times I have been there.  We chose to sit in the bar, simply because there were some people there.

I’m not sure, but I think the menu is the same for lunch and dinner, which was a little confusing for me because I am not much for ordering an appetizer and entrée type thing for lunch, but there aren’t a lot of smaller options—well, there are a lot of appetizers and they still have the potato skins, and a few sandwiches, but it mainly seems laid out like a dinner menu.

I went for the filet “cheesesteak” appetizer ($14) which was an open-faced sandwich topped with lots and lots of extremely tender slices of filet, melted Gruyere cheese, a touch of truffle oil and topped with a healthy amount of micro-greens.  It was extremely rich, but really quite tasty.  The beef, as I said, was super tender and nicely seasoned. I love Gruyere on just about everything; it has a nutty taste that makes it distinct—and a bit of saltiness which was good with the beef.  And I know sometimes truffle oil is overused, but this was just a light amount, adding more of the aroma than anything (and there is nothing that makes me happier than the smell of truffles).  But I particularly liked the swoosh of something red on the side of the plate (I was going to ask what it was but forgot)—it had some sweetness and a bit of tartness that was perfect with the rich meat.  If I had one more swoosh of it, I would have been really happy—I would have liked dragging every bite through it.  I also appreciated that the greens were more than just a garnish—they actually added some peppery flavor and variation in texture to the dish.  But I love little greens like this because you never pull some giant leaf out that is then hanging out of your mouth awkwardly. Perfect little bite sizes.  I liked it, and I thought the dish was executed well.

The BFF had the warm spinach salad ($10) which was spinach (obviously) topped with eggs, mushrooms and a warm bacon vinaigrette that had a whole ton of bacon in it.  We wondered before she ordered it if she should add protein to the salad (you can add chicken, salmon or shrimp to any of the salads I believe) but wow, there was a ton of meat on it.  It was served with a warm dressing which wilted everything a bit (which I always enjoy).  And I couldn't decide whether it was impressive or annoying that they made all the dressing to order when she asked for more on the side—I decided it was impressive, but it took quite awhile to get it.  While there was a lot of bacon on the salad, there wasn’t a lot of liquid at first, and the salad needed more.  When they brought out more, they brought out enough for about 3 salads, but it was quite tasty.  Hopefully, they can find the balance from the start because I think this would be a really good salad if it came out dressed perfectly.

So, I can’t quite figure out what the deal is with the Ripple Inn. I know they have been through several chefs, but honestly, I have had pretty good meals there every time I have eaten there, throughout various phases. They have also started offering tasting menus at a pretty decent price (my parents just went and enjoyed it). Why is the place so empty whenever I go?  Have you guys had good or bad experiences there?  Regardless, I am looking forward to giving the Chef Mereday’s food a try for dinner soon.

The Ripple Inn

929 East Westfield Blvd.

Indy, 46220

317/252-2600

www.therippleinn.com

The Ripple Inn - Revisit

RESTAURANT IS CLOSED****

It was a Tuesday, and we randomly had a babysitter, so we decided to try The Ripple Inn again—it had been awhile and we had enjoyed it on our first visit.  We also happily discovered that they offer ½ price bottles of wine on Tuesdays, so we felt like we were certainly starting off on the right foot.  We decided to eat in the bar, because there were several tables of people eating there, and the restaurant was still pretty empty (it picked up a bit later, but not a lot, but then again, it was a Tuesday).  The bar was quite busy though.

I was interested to see the menu had changed somewhat since our first visit, which naturally made me happy (variety is the spice of life)—although I was surprised to see the “ripple skins” off the menu.  Turns out they were on a blackboard above the bar, so I guess they still have them, they have just taken them off the menu.  We wanted to go with some new items anyway, so we went with an all-starters dinner and shared. 

We had the steak tartare ($12), which is something I really like when done well, and this was a nice version.  It was the raw steak chopped finely and mixed with shallots, capers and housemade mustard and served with the super skinny fries on the side.  The tartare was served in little quenelles across the plate.  There were a lot of capers mixed in, which gave it the salty kick, and I love mustard with tartare—although a little more mustard might have been nice.  There were also some wide slices of parmesan across the top of the tartare, which was unique and gave the meat a touch of saltiness. The fries are salty and super crisp, but hard to eat with the tartare—I tend to be a scooper when it comes to tartare.  You sort of had to make a bite on your fork and then put some fries on top of it if you wanted it together.  But it tasted good, and the beef was as fresh as it needs to be to eat it raw, and it was not an overwhelming portion—I would order it again.

We also tried the fried oysters with Dungeness crab ($12) which was sort of a hit and miss dish for me.  There were several fried oysters which had a nice crispy crunch that was nice with the slightly briny taste from the oyster, but they were set into what was almost like a soup with pieces of the crab in it—almost like a buttery crab bisque without any tomato.  There were also some pieces of grapefruit in there that gave it an interesting citrus taste.  The parts on their own were tasty (when you got the crunchy oyster parts, the fry was perfect), but the oysters that were in the broth lost their crunch and got soggy which was a letdown.  My suggestion? Serve the oysters on the end of one of their long plates with the soup part in its own bowl.  Then you could either enjoy them separately, or dunk.  As it was though, I wouldn’t order this one again.

Our one repeat dish was the chili-citrus mussels ($13)—and they were just as good as we remembered.  The mussels are fresh, and small (my favorite kind) and are served in a broth of white wine, with a citrusy flavor (lime dominated it I believe) and a bit of smoky chili flavor as well.  I think lime and smoked chili goes really nicely together, and they had just the right amount of citrus and wine that gave it a crispness, but enough butter that it felt rich as well.  These are some of the better mussels around.  Again, they were served with the same matchbook fries that were a good complement to the tender mussels.

Finally, I was intrigued to try the filet mignon street tacos that were new on the menu ($9).  There were two of them, and they were the size that is becoming prevalent with all the fish tacos, etc. that are popping up on menus around.  I thought these were interesting because they were made with steak instead—unfortunately, the meat was the biggest downfall for me.  There were a couple pieces that were soft and more towards the rare spectrum, but most of the pieces of meat were quite well done (as in too cooked for me) and were tough.  The rest of the stuff that was on the taco was really tasty though—and I liked the way they took common ingredients you might see in a taco and tweaked it a bit.  They had big pieces of avocado, crème fraiche, pickled red onion and pico de gallo.  I am a sucker for pickled red onions, and they gave these tacos just a hint of tartness.  If the meat had been medium rare (I didn’t even think to ask), these would have been quite tasty. 

We also shared the banana peanut butter tart, which was not how I remembered it from the first time we went.  It was puff pastry with a scoop of cool, creamy peanut butter filling in the middle and drizzles of chocolate across the top.  I enjoyed the creaminess of the filling, and that it wasn’t too peanut buttery (your lips weren’t sticking together) but the whole package didn’t knock me out or anything.

Overall, I like the Ripple Inn.  I like that they are coming up with an interesting, inventive menu that doesn’t just have the same stuff on it that half the restaurants in Indy have.  They are taking care to think about their ingredients and what flavors might go well together—it wasn’t a perfect meal, but it is a place that I will certainly be repeating just to see what they are coming up with.  And I like having a nice restaurant with moderate prices in Broad Ripple.  I still haven’t heard a lot of people talking about it though—would love to hear some feedback from people who have been there.

The Ripple Inn

929 East Westfield Blvd.

Indy  46220

317/252-2600

www.therippleinn.com

The Ripple Inn

*****THE RIPPLE INN IS CLOSED*******

I was excited to try the Ripple Inn—I often lament the lack of nice restaurants in Broad Ripple.   There seems to be enough bars for just about everyone, but I love Broad Ripple, live close by, and enjoy having a few finer dining type establishments as options.  Ripple Inn is located in the former Broad Ripple Steakhouse and the interior has not changed dramatically although the bar area now has additional seating and is more of an extension of the restaurant rather than a separate bar.  There is also an upstairs bar area called the “Parlor” featuring drinks and live DJs.   So maybe the Ripple Inn is attempting the best of both worlds—a nice restaurant for us old folks and a hipper bar area upstairs for the young folks. 

Anyway, as we walked in, the restaurant was still fairly empty, but continued to fill as we were there.  The restaurant was also freezing because of a problem with the heating system, but actually came on about midway through the meal.  Our server promptly greeted us and was extremely professional but also relaxed.  A refreshing change of pace from some of the overenthusiastic types and possibly undertrained servers I have experienced elsewhere lately.  When I asked her for some recommendations, she told me some of her favorite things, and not just what was popular, which I appreciate.  She knew the menu and could answer all of our questions.

There were 4 of us, so we started with three different appetizers to start.  We had the mussels, the potato dumplings and the lobster potato skins ($13, $9 and $10 respectively).  I was quite intrigued with the whole “Ripple Skins” section of the menu (several different variations of potato skins) since I saw the menu for the first time and knew I had to try one of them.

We all enjoyed the lobster potato skins.  There were 4 of them, and each freshly cooked potato skin contained a mix of cream cheese and crème fraiche with egg, caper and shallot and a lobster claw on top.  The bites I had with all the flavors were delightful.  The chef has done a great job of choosing great flavor combinations to give you some great bites.  The lobster was tender and not chewy at all.  The creamy cheese did not overwhelm the other flavors which was nice.  These potato skins were unique and very well done.  I am anxious to try some of the other flavors, including the traditional cheddar, bacon, scallions and sour cream.  I have a weakness for good potato skins, and they are hard to find freshly made anymore.

The chili-citrus mussels were also really good (possibly the best appetizer we had on this visit).  They are the smaller black mussels which are always my preference and these were done in a white wine broth with smoked chili citrus butter.  They were served with teeny crunchy fries (like matchstick sized fries) and sea salt.  The flavors of this dish were great.  The broth became a fairly thick and rich one with the flavored butter, but the wine and citrus helped to keep it from being overbearing.  There was  a smokiness from the chilis that made them more of a hearty flavor, but was not overly spicy in anyway.  It was a nice sized serving and I could probably happily eat this appetizer as my main dish.

The final appetizer we had was the Parmesan Pink Peppercorn potato dumplings.  Think large gnocchis that are seared on the edges.  These were also tasty, but probably my least favorite.  The dumplings themselves were very dense and filling and I could only eat a couple of them—the sautéed veggies on the side were great though.  They were simple, but exceedingly fresh.  It was a combination of shaved fennel, fresh spinach and halved cherry tomatoes in herb butter.  I loved the lightness of the sauce combined with the freshness of the veggies—I would love to see them served with some fresh pasta as a first course just to lighten it up a bit, although the dumplings are also nice and hearty for this time of year.

Hubby and I split the field greens salad.  It was excellent—one of the best salads I have had in awhile.  It had a ton of different stuff in it—apples, grape tomatoes, blue cheese, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds and I loved getting several different flavors in each bite.  The dressing is a Champagne-basil vinaigrette.  AND they split it for us in the kitchen, which you know I always appreciate.  The salad was outstanding and half was a perfect middle course.

One of our friends had the lobster bisque for their middle course and it was very good as well.  It was the kind of bisque I really like, not too thick, but with not too much tomato flavor—you could really taste the essence of the shellfish as well as the hint of Sherry.  The menu also listed smoked tomatoes as an ingredient and I enjoyed the very slightly smoky flavor as well.  Very well done. I am not a fan of bisques that are so thick they look like they would keep the shape of the bowl if you dumped it upside down, you know?

For my main dish I had one of the two vegetarian entrées, the Provencal Vegetable and Capriole Goat Cheese Wellington ($15) (I am a sucker for pastry-wrapped items).  This dish was quite lovely visually, a good sized round of pastry filled with layers of veggie and the goat cheese.  There were smoky roasted tomatoes and red peppers as well as nice tender slices of Portobello mushrooms.  The dish was surrounded by both a basil pesto as well as a tomato pesto which gave some nice additional flavors that added depth to the pastry and the goat cheese.  There were also asparagus spears and olives served alongside.  There was quite a bit going on, but I appreciated the fact that the thought that went into the vegetarian dishes was obviously the same as for the others.  I sometimes wonder how people can be vegetarians in Indy and eat out happily, as options are so often limited.  (By the way, the other vegetarian option was a mushroom and butternut squash risotto.)

Hubby had the ribeye which was a bit of a disappointment.  It was described as cherry-wood smoked with thyme butter and served with poached baby veggies, spinach arugula salad, autumn fruit chutney and cabernet glaze.  The flavors were well put together, but the meat itself was a little too chewy.  The veggies were also a little al dente for hubby’s taste.  It is also the most expensive entrée on the menu at $28.

One of our friends had the roasted chicken entrée though, and it was probably the best dish on the table as far as main dishes went.  It was fairly simple— half of a free range chicken roasted with lemons and herbs and served with 5 cheese macaroni and cheese, green beans and roasted tomatoes with a Champagne hazelnut sauce.  I loved that the chef has taken a simple ingredient—chicken; and prepared it in a simple way, but added lots of layers of other flavors to go alongside.  The chicken itself (at least the portion of the dark meat that I had) was very tender and the skin had wonderful flavor.  This was a dish that I would now consider ordering (and was also mentioned as a favorite by our server).

We shared two desserts.  One, the  “Bourbon Street” coffee and doughnuts was a bit of a disappointment—they were the New Orleans style beignets served with café au laite panna cotta.  So I am not sure if they meant for you to dip the little fried pieces of dough into the panna cotta, but it was much too firm for that, and the beignets too delicate.  I would have preferred some flavored liquid to dip them in.  We did really enjoy the peanut butter tart which was a butter polenta pastry square (but still light and flaky) topped with Chantilly cream (with peanut butter), bittersweet chocolate veloute, vanilla crème anglaise and praline crunch.  This one was yummy.  It sounds like a lot of stuff, but really it was still a moderately thin tart, and I enjoyed the deep flavor of the chocolate sauce and peanut butter cream and the crunchiness of the pastry and the praline crunch.  I would consider ordering this one again.

You know what I really like about the Ripple Inn? Everyone seems to care about what they are doing.  The server was great, and extremely apologetic about the heating situation. She gave us good advice on the menu and could answer every question we had.  And she wasn’t annoying.  The dishes seemed well thought out, and unique flavor combinations are the result.  Maybe potato skins don’t seem that unique, but ones with duck confit, crab, lobster and salmon (not all on the same one mind you)?  That is different. And fun. And accessible.  The food is generally cooked well, and presented well.  They have done a good job of taking ingredients people are comfortable with and made them a little bit more special.  You aren’t just getting mashed potatoes with your steak or your chicken, and the chef has thought about what goes with what things, and they are included in the dish, not served as generic sides like many steakhouses do these days.  Was it all perfect? No.  Some dishes were not as successful as others for sure, but I truly appreciate the effort.  I am looking forward to a return visit.

The Ripple Inn

929 East Westfield Blvd.

Indy, 46220

317/252-2600

http://www.therippleinn.com/