I had actually heard decent things about this place
food-wise from several people, including my parents, who really enjoyed certain
sushi menu items when they ate at the branch in Lexington. I have also had
several readers recommend it.
The first time we went, it was just hubby and I, and we
ordered off the sushi menu. We had the New
York roll ($11.95) and the tempura shrimp roll ($7.95). They were both very good. I was impressed with the quality of the fish,
and the quality of the rolls. They were
straightforward, but not so plain that they were boring. The shrimp tempura roll was the fried shrimp
and avocado inside, and a drizzle of eel sauce and a dusting of sesame seeds on
top. The eel sauce gave it the right
moisture and a slightly sweet flavor and the shrimp the crunch I like. The New York roll was tuna and avocado
inside and tuna on top (I also asked them to put a little tempura bits on it,
which they put on top). It was very good
as well. The fish was fresh and cut
exactly to the right thickness and the rolls were bite-sized. We were both quite pleased. They weren’t overly complicated but well
done.
Shortly after, we decided we needed to go back and try some
of the non-sushi items and see how they were. We took the kids one day for
lunch. We started with a tempura
California roll ($7.50) (ok, not all non-sushi) which is your basic California
roll (crab, cucumber and avocado inside) but the whole roll was then tempura
fried. It was after eating this fried
roll that I have come to the conclusion that I do not like deep fried
rolls. I always think it might be good
thing because I do like a bit of crunch in my rolls, but this is just too much.
For me, all you can taste is the crust—you can no longer taste all the
ingredients inside. And I think they did
a good job with them. If you like
California rolls, a regular non-fried one might be a worthwhile option.
I ordered the California grilled chicken sandwich ($8.99). In words, and in theory, and mostly in
actuality, I liked the sandwich. It had
a ton of stuff going on though. There
was the chicken which was marinated and had a distinct char grilled taste, and
there was guacamole, greens tossed in vinaigrette, tomato, blue cheese, bacon,
mayo and Dijon mustard. It was served on
heavily toasted sliced white bread. I
appreciated that the lettuce was dressed and tangy, and the guac was pretty
good. The tomato had to be immediately removed due to its white color tinge. The blue cheese was plentiful as was the
mustard—there were large mustard seeds evident.
A lot of strong flavors in generous portions. Overall I was good with it
because I really like all the flavors.
The chicken, however, was pretty darn dry and overcooked which kind of
blew it, although if it had been tender I would have really enjoyed this
extremely messy sandwich. I got tater
tots because they sounded good and they were (and I was glad because the fries
were crinkle fries which I almost never like).
Everyone in my family wanted my tots.
Hubby had the small Tavern burger ($7.49) (their burgers
come in 2 sizes, small and regular, which I appreciate). This burger is topped
with grilled onions, pepper jack cheese and remoulade. This one was a miss. The burger was tough and
way overcooked. It really wasn’t worth
eating and hubby pretty much just shared my sandwich.
My daughter had the mini cheeseburgers ($4.99) which pretty
much suffered the same fate as hubby’s although she isn’t as picky about
it. She ate one of the two though and was
done. My son had their mac and cheese
($3.99) and didn’t like it. But he is kind of weird about his mac and cheese.
This one didn’t have a ton of flavor though.
He ended up eating the other one of my daughter’s mini cheeseburgers.
So Drake’s is the latest of several very similar restaurants
opening in the same location on 82nd Street. A sports bar with TVs,
a large menu, working toward attracting a younger crowd I think (and I am not
talking about my kids). You can pretty
much guarantee the older people are going to be turned off by nearly every
table basically being a bar stool or a high wooden bench. (My parents are
scheming about bringing in a couple of stadium chairs so they can enjoy their
favorite crab Rangoon roll with a back on their seats). I think there are 2 chairs in the whole place
that have a back and they are in front of the fireplace. Maybe that’s the point, keep the old people
out by making the seating hideously uncomfortable. As for service, both our servers seemed quite
indifferent to the whole idea of waiting on people and seemed a little bored to
be there. To be fair, there were a few
enthusiastic people working in there, thank goodness, or we never would have
gotten refills on our drinks (which for some reason are JAM PACKED with ice).
Overall, if you are going to eat here, I would recommend the
sushi. They have a separate little sushi kitchen and they do a good job. My guess is that at some point we will
return. I liked the big garage doors in the front—it could be fun on a nice
day. And there were a lot of people in there watching basketball on the
afternoon we went with the kids, so I think that watching sports here is a big
draw as well. Too bad about the chairs though. They make hubby cranky.
Drake’s
3740 E. 82nd
Street
Indy 46240
317/436-7531
