Sully's Grill

I keep hearing about this place from friends and neighbors, but frankly, it’s a hardware store so I also keep forgetting there’s a restaurant in there. But recently I had the opportunity to try it and was quite happy with my lunch, and the creativity of the menu.

I shared Bavarian pretzel sticks with nacho cheese ($7) to start and these were good. Ok, nothing spectacular, but solid. The breadsticks were HOT, soft and had the appropriate amount of salt, and the nacho cheese was your typical nacho cheese. With the creativity in the rest of the menu though, I would love to see a more interesting homemade cheese dip served alongside—just a thought.

I had the smoked chicken breast sandwich ($12) for my main and I loved it. It was listed under the “craveable” section of the menu, and I will definitely agree that it has become a dish that is craveable to me. The chicken was very tender and it was topped with black garlic aioli, Havarti cheese and pickled zucchini. All of these flavors together were really interesting and different and I especially liked the pickled zucchini. This was a total page from my book—while I love proper pickles made with cucumbers, I am not a fan of quick pickled cucumbers, because, well, I am not a huge fan of cucumbers. I often make quick pickled zucchini to eat with sandwiches or various Asian dishes in place of cucumber salad. There was also some greens on the sandwich that added to the texture variation. Overall, a nice take on a chicken sandwich that was different and delicious.

The crowd on a lunch time during the week was mostly older women for some reason—maybe they’re the ones who have discovered this place so far—and there’s some seating in the hardware store and some in the restaurant section and some outside. The server was very friendly and pretty quick. I will definitely give this one a try again for sure—and honestly it is probably one of the closest places to eat around me for lunch so makes a nice option.

So if you need to hit up a local hardware store and get a bite to eat, this is a great option. Or heck, just go for lunch regardless. They also have a weekend brunch menu that looks interesting.

Sully’s Grill

Sullivan’s Hardware Store

6955 N. Keystone Ave

Indy, 46220

317/255-9230

https://sullivanhardware.com/pages/sullys-grill

Turf Catering Kitchen - Revisit

I have written about this place before, but I need to make sure you keep them in mind in these crazy days. It’s purely selfish, I don’t want them going out of business. To be fair, I could say this about a lot of places, but I had been missing their sandwiches for a while, and they just started doing them again for lunch, so you should check them out if you haven’t, or get one again if you have in the past.

My kids have never gotten to try the sandwiches before because they were always in school when we got to grab lunch (they are only open Monday through Friday) but it is now one of their favorite places as well.

My daughter got the burger, which my son had had the week before and was very impressed. It’s currently a double decker brisket burger ($12)  with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and caramelized onions. Oh, and their version of an “in and out sauce.” Ok, both my kids get it without the lettuce and tomatoes, but they loved the burger—and I think my son knew he would get a bite if my daughter ordered it because she rarely finishes things. He decided to try something new and got the chicken melt ($12). It was roasted chicken, onion, cheddar, mustard. Again—he got no onions. He really enjoyed this one too—it was super-hot and melty. And similar to my all-time favorite Turf sandwich, the turkey club ($12)—which is a hot sandwich with smoked turkey, lettuce, tomato, bacon, Swiss and black pepper mayo (love that mayo). You can’t go wrong with the turkey club for sure, but hubby convinced me to try something new because I was really intrigued by the grilled cheese with truffled egg salad. 

I was so not disappointed. Amelia’s bread, grilled with cheese, and stuffed with egg salad with a distinctly truffle taste. The bread was toasted perfectly, the cheese was melty, and the truffle scent and taste were just right. And it was one of the more unique sandwiches I have had in ages. I like that while the have standard sandwiches that you often see (that turkey sandwich for instance), they also mix it up and give you some new things to try. 

These are some of the more interesting sandwiches going in town, and they are delicious. Probably one of the top 3 carry outs I have had in quarantine. The kids have decided it needs to be a weekly event, and I agree. I look forward to trying some of the various options and would be happy to eat any one of the above-mentioned. Also, they give you house made chips with each sandwich that are also delicious (super thin and crisp) and I always get a little tub of pimento cheese. It’s one of my favorite pimento cheeses in town and I like spreading the pimento cheese on the chips. They are also doing some limited grocery items as well (flour and yeast for instance if that’s still a problem).

If you like an interesting sandwich with super high-quality ingredients, get on over there. They are also taking orders to bring to healthcare workers. I think Friday lunch is going to be our day as a family, although I can’t lie—I wish they did the regular menu for dinner once or twice a week—it would be a regular dinner choice for us based on my somewhat disappointing carry out we have been doing since quarantine started. We are being cautious at our house about going out even after the restaurants can open so we are always still looking for great carry out options. So feel free to let me know your favorites.

Turf Catering Kitchen

8155 Castleway West Drive

Indy 46250

317/288-0173

www.turfcateringkitchen.com 

Yujo Ramen and Boba Tea

I met a friend for lunch the other day at Yujo. I am always game for a new ramen place. This is more of your quick service type of place where you order up front and then pay and they bring it to you. The interior is pretty simple and straightforward.

So their main thing is ramen and boba tea but they also offer a few other things like Japanese fried chicken and gyoza. However, we just tried the ramen. They had some interesting varieties of ramen, but we both ended up going with the spicy ramen ($13.50)—it is sort of the classic ramen that you think of—a miso and pepper-based sauce with wavy noodles, a slice of pork, a marinated egg, corn, fermented bamboo shoots, sliced scallions and charred beansprouts. There was also a garnish type piece of nori but I popped it out because I don’t like it when it starts to get kind of fishy tasting, but that’s just me. They also use some spicy chili oil on top. 

This was a very solid bowl of ramen. I added an extra egg (+$1.50) because that’s just what I do. The broth was extremely flavorful and the eggs were cooked just right. I really liked the crunch from the charred bean sprouts as well. Now I know that the big slab of pork is traditional, but I had a bowl in Rhode Island that had little bits of ground pork and that was so much better to me. I hate using chopsticks to try and bite off pieces of the pork.

However, overall, a very good bowl of ramen. Plenty of noodles, plenty of flavor and some unique takes—like the bean sprouts. There are also several other options that are a little more unique—one ramen that was yuzu-infused. Another is topped with black garlic oil. There’s also a veggie ramen. All sound very worth trying.

One thing I would change/add is to offer a smaller size option for lunch and maybe make a combo like some of the other places do with a couple of gyoza or a couple of pieces of fried chicken perhaps? Because I try to eat somewhat light for lunch, and I don’t know that this place has a real going out to dinner vibe for me. Speaking of which, there’s no alcohol. Like I said, lots of boba tea if that’s your thing though.

Let me know if you’ve tried this place—especially if you have tried some of these other items. I’m intrigued!

Yujo Ramen and Boba Tea

9431 N. Meridian Street

Indy  46260

317/669-0315

https://www.facebook.com/yujoindy/

Hoagies and Hops

Recently a friend suggested Hoagies and Hops for a quick lunch—it was crazy because it is just a few blocks from my work, but I had never even heard of it. It’s a cute little place that serves local beers as well as Philly-style hoagies, cheesesteaks and hot dogs. The owner (I believe) mentioned to us that it was the Hog Island sandwich that inspired her to open the shop after living in Pennsylvania. They are importing the bread from South Jersey and chips and pickles from Philly.

We shared a pretzel and beer cheese ($2.79) to start. I liked the beer cheese pretty well. The pretzel was good too, but I wish it had been heated up.  I ordered the 7” chicken cheesesteak with fried onions and sharp provolone. They cook it up fresh and bring it to the table. The ingredients were good, but I sort of wish I had gotten the “Philly Special” that comes with banana peppers, tomatoes, parmesan and spicy sauce just to add a little more flavor to it—I was itching for some acidity or something more. I think the tomatoes, onions and peppers would have done it. But I can’t say I am any kind of cheesesteak expert so I would love to hear what others think—I bet for people who grew up eating these types of sandwiches, this would be a welcome sight—it feels authentic, even though I am not really sure due to lack of experience. 

The cold hoagies seemed popular and that is what my friend had. It was the Hog Island that I mentioned earlier. This includes salami, black forest ham, prosciutto, capicola, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onions and oil. I liked the lettuce and dressing to add some of that flavor I was looking for, although I would put a little vinegar or something in there too. Or maybe some of the whole grain mustard they mentioned in the menu. Loved all the fresh onions though. 

Overall though, like I said, the shop seems to be a labor of love to the owner (I think) who it sounds like ate these types of sandwiches in Philly and was inspired to open a sandwich shop. The people were really friendly and the service was fast. There were lots of working people grabbing a sandwich here and I love how close it is to my work. I am sure I will give it another try to see if I can create my perfect sandwich. 

Please share what you think if you have been here.

Hoagies and Hops

4155 Boulevard Place

Indianapolis, IN 46208

317/426-5731

www.hoagiesandhops.com

Caplinger's -Revisit

You know how much I love soft shell crabs. The other day I saw this picture on Instagram and immediately texted hubby to say we were going for lunch. Sadly, by the time we got there, they were already out of the soft-shell crabs, which made me sad. However, since we were already there, we went ahead and ordered the “The platter” ($15.99) to share. This is a dinner that consist of one piece of fried basa, ¼ pound of fried shrimp and ¼ pound of fried clam strips. Also, you get two sides and two hushpuppies.  My son got the Caplinger’s special sandwich ($6.99) which comes with 1 side. 

They fry up some good  seafood at Caplinger’s, and even though I was sad about the soft-shell crab. The basa is actually even better than some of the more expensive fish I think—it has great flaky but moist texture. The shrimp might be my favorite though—their little fried shrimp are delicious. The clam strips were a mixed review—hubby didn’t love them, but I had several that were really soft and tender. A couple were chewy (why hubby didn’t like them). They give you cocktail sauce and remoulade sauce—I really like the remoulade. It is tangy and has some nicely seasoned. I like this on everything. The hush puppies are tasty too—a nice corn bread type flavor. We always get the fries which are heavily seasoned waffle fries. Love them in ketchup. I struggle with a second side—the weakness of Caplinger’s for me is the sides. We get mac and cheese, which is tasty, but not as good as the fried stuff. 

My son loved his sandwich, although he usually ends up eating it open faced because their pretzel rolls are really big. 

All in all, even though I was sad about the sift shells (always another day), we had a very tasty lunch. And we got a nice piece of fresh salmon for dinner on the way out. Caplinger’s is a great place to have in Indy and I hope you go if you haven’t already (they are closed Monday though, so don’t go today!).

Caplinger’s Fresh Seafood

7460 North Shadeland Ave

Indy. 46250

317/288-7263

www.caplingersfreshcatch.com 

Milktooth- Revisit

Hubby and I had a free weekday lunch the other day and decided to head to Milktooth. I have not been in quite a while and it was still as busy as I remember—we had to wait quite a bit for a table. Eventually we got the end of one of the community tables.

We were lured back in by the fact they had returned the Korean BBQ wings to the menu, which were always a favorite. For a long time they replaced them with hot wings that had a warning that came on the menu saying they were so hot and that they wouldn’t offer a refund if you thought they were too hot. I hate food that eats away your taste buds, and I hate the fact that they billed something like this—a total turnoff to me. But when I saw the BBQ wings, I was excited.

However, once we got there, we decided we should try something new to go with the burger that we absolutely had to get (it is one of the best in town if you ask me no matter how they make it). So we ordered the burger, and we went with the everything spice fried new potatoes with a sunny side egg, cream cheese chive aioli, shallot, caper and dill pickle ($12). This was a great dish and we were very happy we ventured out with something new (even though I still want those wings). It’s sort of like all the flavors of bagel and lox without the salmon, if that makes sense. And I loved, loved the pickles and capers with it. And the creamy aioli—but with tons of texture from all the seeds. 

Like I said, the burger ($12) is always good. Always. Sometimes they mix up the meat, sometimes the toppings. This one was a double--sometimes they are singles. Since the first time I have gotten it, I nearly always have repeated it. The meat is tender, the sauces add just the right amount of flavor and interest. And the bun is just the right softness. It’s one of our best Indy burgers, let’s face it.

All in all, while it may not be the hot place, and while I may not be able to go as often as I used to, it is still a great place. I am glad to see that they are continuing to mix up the menu on occasion, as it seemed like it got a little stagnant for a while.  If you haven’t tried it yet, now is the time. 

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.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  

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 

Turf Catering Kitchen- Dinner at Turf!

Pretty sure I have told you this before, but Turf is one of the best things going for a dinner party with friends. You can have up to 10 people (it’s a squeeze, but we managed) and the chefs will develop a menu for you. You can BYOB and the whole menu is $85 per person. They don’t skimp either.

And the food…well it was amazing. First, we had a crostini with Petite Basque cheese, topped with cooked tomatoes and olives and drizzled with pistachio and herb pesto. This was one of my favorites—I mean add olives to stuff and you know I am going to like it. But I really appreciated the combo of saltiness, acid and rich creamy cheese. And I got to eat pistachios, which is something I avoid at home because my son is allergic.

The next course was family style poutine. It’s funny, poutine is our comfort food at home---the thing my kids will make when they’re on their own. It’s simple, and this was a good one. Crispy, thin fries tossed in a salty, beefy gravy and topped with lots of fresh cheese curds. It was kind of addictive and while it seemed like a ton of food (they brought out two big bowls for the 10 of us), we managed to eat it all. My only complaint here is that I wish the fries and/or the gravy were a little bit hotter.

Next, they brought us a beautiful bright salad with all kind of things in it-there were chickpeas, hearts of palm, greens, tomatoes, avocado, pickled red onions, roasted cauliflower, and boiled egg. And the real treat of the salad were the bites of smoked trout scattered throughout. The whole thing was topped with an herb vinaigrette. This was pretty much like my perfect salad. All my favorite things. 

The main entrée was a wagyu filet of beef that was topped with this insanely rich oyster mushroom ragout. There was a mustard buerre blanc underneath it. This was a very popular dish at the table. It was perfectly cooked (medium rare) and the mushrooms added a nice nutty flavor. There was a hint of truffle oil as well. I will admit, I was getting pretty full though and took some of mine home. Delicious though.

But just when I thought there was no way I could eat another bite, they brought out dessert. This sounded kind of simple, and I guess it sort of was, but it was so, so good. It was hot chocolate cake with marshmallow cream and caramel and ice cream. Seriously, I don’t’ know what made this cake taste so good, but I asked them for an extra piece to take home to my kids because I knew how much they would love it. I think that marshmallow throughout really made it have that hot chocolate flavor. So, so good.

All in all, this is such a good deal and a fun way to have a dinner party with friends where you don’t have to clean up. You have the place to yourself and can drink what you want. They’ll even let you pick the music if you want. And the people there are all so nice. It’s an intimate setting and you can talk to the chefs and ask questions if you want. They will also make accommodations for dietary restrictions if you let them know. I highly recommend it! And for what you get, it’s a great deal. 

P.S. They have some of the best sandwiches for lunch too. Just check the schedule on social media first, because they aren’t always open if they are catering.

Turf Catering Kitchen

8155 Castleway Ct West

Indianapolis, IN 46250

317/288-0173

www.turfcateringkitchen.com 

Burger Study

The other day I found myself downtown with some friends at lunch time and we decided to try Burger Study. It’s the burger place from the St Elmo people. There was a group of us, so we got to try several things, which always makes me happy.

We started with an order of the beer cheese tots ($9). This was tater tots topped with beer cheese, chives, bacon and bits of pretzels. The beer cheese was a somewhat mild flavor, but I really enjoyed these. I have a weakness for tots, and then the salty bacon and bits of pretzel added texture and were really tasty. They seemed to be liked by everyone at the table. We also got a Brussels sprouts salad ($12). This was also a solid favorite. It was shaved Brussels sprouts, pumpkin seeds, onion jam, cilantro vinaigrette and a big hunk of burrata cheese. This was really good. The sprouts were really well dressed (nice and tangy dressing) and were good even without the cheese. But the cheese of course, was great as well. I would order both of these again.

I ordered the “double major” burger ($13), which is described as a burger with two thin patties topped with American cheese, “Study sauce,” dill pickles and shredded lettuce. I changed it to a single burger patty because I was hoping to find a good thin smash burger. The other burgers on the menu are thicker patties. The burger was decent but wasn’t truly the super thin burger I was hoping for. And I think you really needed the extra patty to stand up to the bun. The study sauce was sort of like a thousand island dressing. Everything on the burger was good, but like I said, the proportions were a bit off, but that was really kind of my fault. 

A couple of people at the table ordered the “Semester at Sea” burger ($18). This was a tuna patty topped with ponzu mayo, Napa slaw, wonton crisps, and tomato. The tuna was really high quality and the burger was better than my beef burger. I liked the flavor of the ponzu mayo and the crunch from the wonton crisps. Several people ordered shakes as well and really enjoyed them, even though they take a while to get.

We tried several sides as well from the mac and cheese, to fries, to zucchini straws. I can’t say any really impressed me, but they were fine. I did like the black pepper mayo that came with the zucchini and I ordered a side of it to go with my fries.

The service was pretty off—things were forgotten, and several things took a long time (including the bill) but it’s a decent lunch option when you have a large group with varying tastes. I would go with a different burger next time—a friend had the southern classic ($14) with pimento cheese and bacon, and it looked tasty. Or maybe the double major with both patties. Based on the tuna burger though, I bet the tuna poke is tasty too.

All in all, the appetizers we ordered were my favorite part, and according to everyone else, so were the milkshakes. I would like to try it again though. It’s a nice space in the middle of an area of downtown with a lot of chains, which makes it a nice alternative. What have you guys tried there?

Burger Study

28 W. Georgia Street

Indy. 46225

317/777-7770

www.burgerstudy.com 

Mandarin House

I met a friend for lunch the other day at Mandarin House in Carmel. It’s so weird because I have never actually even noticed this place before. And I have been in and out of the City BBQ a couple doors down several times. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised with the atmosphere of the place and the welcoming greeting I got.

It’s a pretty standard Chinese restaurant menu, and you can get a decent deal for lunch (most are around $7 and come with soup and two crab Rangoon). I got my usual first dish at any Chinese restaurant, garlic chicken ($6.95). It was curious that there was a garlic pork on the menu listed as hot and spicy, but garlic chicken was not. Anyway, I was impressed with the depth of flavor in this dish. It was a welcome surprise. The sauce was rich and salty and had a ton of garlic in it. The veggie mix had mostly water chestnuts and then a few mushrooms, which were my favorite part. They serve it with lightly seasoned rice and the crab Rangoon. I didn’t love the crab Rangoon, they were a little soft and doughy. I also chose the hot and sour soup. It was a decent version—certainly not the best or worst I had had. Good flavor and some nice pieces of tofu, my favorite part. They also give you those crunchy fried wontons with your soup, and let’s face it, those make any soup better.

My friend had the house beef ($7.25), which was listed as hot and spicy, but wasn’t particularly spicy in my mind. I don’t love beef in Chinese restaurants typically because the beef is always cut small, gets cooked well done, and I usually find it a little chewy. This one was no exception. It couldn’t compare to my chicken in my opinion. Seriously, I was pretty impressed with that garlic chicken sauce. I would certainly order it again.

Their dinner menu is much more extensive, I would be curious to hear what items people think are good. And while it was all pretty straightforward, I would be interested to try some of these other dishes. Let me know if you have favorites.

Mandarin House

1370 S. Rangeline Road

Carmel, IN 46032

317/846-6405

www.mandarinhousecarmel.com 

Rize -- Revisit

I have been to Rize a couple of times, but I always seem to forget about it---and hubby had not yet been, so one day when we had some time for lunch together, I actually remembered it and off we went. It was a really nice day (and yet, it was freezing in the restaurant), so we chose to eat outside. They have a nice little patio that’s not on such a busy road (it faces the parking lot).

Anyway, I find this menu very appealing, and so did hubby. It was closer to lunch time than breakfast, but we decided to get a little of both types of dishes and share. We ordered the egg tart ($11), the ham sandwich ($13), and the crispy potatoes ($5). I have had the tart before and it is pretty tasty. The custard comes in a tart shell, and then is topped with all kinds of veggies—there’s broccoli rabe, mushrooms, squash and spinach I believe. And pickled onions on top as well as some micro greens. There’s this hibiscus mustard on the plate that makes the dish. With all those veggies, I would have loved a little more. To be honest, the egg part actually kind of gets lost in all those veggies. I think if I ordered it again and it came so veggie heavy, I might just remove half of them right away to make the proportions a little more balanced. I feel like there were more of them than the first time I went. 

The ham sandwich sounds simple., but they use a croissant, scrambled eggs, prosciutto, high quality cheddar and then hollandaise. We asked for the hollandaise sauce on the side (on the recommendation of our server), which I think was a good plan. This sandwich was so good—and so was the hollandaise. But it was nice to use as much as you want and not have your croissant go all soft and gooey. They do the eggs really well, they are light and fluffy. The ham was very tasty and in just the right amount. There was also a nice little side salad that was maybe slightly underdressed, but still good. 

Finally we had the crispy potato side dish. Hubby was in love with this dish, and they were very good. Imagine like a giant tater tot—it was round and made of shredded potatoes and was very nice and crispy. It sat on top of a creamy mornay sauce (cheesy cream sauce), but I will say, I had a few yummy bites dipped in the hollandaise. These are completely worth ordering and I know they will always be ordered when I am with hubby.

After trying this sandwich, it makes me want to try the other sandwiches as well. They have some nice combinations and it seems they try hard to come up with something more interesting than the standards. Even the grilled cheese seems interesting. I hope this place stays around, as I find it so much more interesting than the other breakfast place at Ironworks. Now, if we can just fill the B Spot space with something good, we’ll be all set. What do you guys think should go in there?

Rize

2721 East 86^th Street

Indy 46240

317/843-6101

www.rize-restaurant.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.

Ali'i Poke

I really enjoy poke (it’s pronounced “poh-kay”) and am excited to see new options springing up around Indy. So poke is sort of like a deconstructed sushi roll in many ways—the star of the dish is meant to be the fish, and it is usually served raw and marinated. You choose your base (rice, greens or nacho chips) and then you choose your proteins, your toppings, and your sauces. Or at Ali’I poke, you can go with one of their signature bowls, in which they have created a bowl of ingredients that they think go well together. We built our own.

At Ali’I, you get a small or large bowl ($9.50 or $12.50). In a small bowl, you get two scoops of protein and in a large, you get four. I was really torn because I like to get a scoop of tofu in my bowl, but only one scoop of fish seemed inadequate. And in the interest of blogging, I also wanted to try the salmon. So, in order to write the most thorough post possible (it’s your fault I got such a huge portion), I got the large. However, for future reference, you really don’t need the large unless you’re really hungry—the portion they give is quite generous. I had two scoops of the marinated tuna, one of the marinated salmon, and one tofu. The kids both got the small and both got all tuna. First of all, I think the fish quality is slightly better than the other poke place I have tried in town. The pieces are cut a bit bigger, and they give you more in a scoop. I think the bigger pieces make it harder to hide fatty bits. Both the tuna and the salmon were very good, and I only came across one piece that was a touch fatty. The tofu was nice big chunks too, and because they don’t mix the proteins up in the sauce (which has its good and bad points), it stays that way. As for the base of my bowl, I got half sushi rice and half greens, and I think at this place, I would just stick with the rice in the future. I really like greens in poke, but these were bigger, harder pieces of lettuce (mainly romaine), and weren’t as good as softer mixed baby greens. Just harder to eat I guess.

As far as toppings, I went with edamame, sesame seeds, crispy onions, avocado, and scallions. I also like that they don’t charge you extra for anything (even the avocado), so you know just what you are paying from the start. There are a ton of sauces and I had a hard time choosing. I ended up getting some of the creamy miso and some of the spicy mayo, and both were good (they will let you taste any that you want as well). My daughter did the creamy miso and the sesame shoyu and I think it might have been a little better. I would also like to try the sesame vinaigrette. There is also classic unagi sauce and honey wasabi. (I told you there are a lot of choices!).

All in all, we quite liked this place, and to be honest, it is not much further than driving to Carmel, which is our other regular poke haunt. We were torn amongst the group as to which we liked more, but I think because the fish and the portions were a bit better here, I would choose this one, although I will still frequent both. This place was doing a bustling business on a week day, and I think may be a favorite of the staff at the IUPUI campus.

I know there are some other places offering poke bowls as well—have you had any of them, and what did you think?

Ali’I Poke

910 West 10^th Street

Indy 46202

317/602-3632

www.aliipoke.com 

Primanti Bros.

Ok, a quick one here. My daughter and I ended up at Primanti Brothers the other day before going to see an event at Banker’s Life. We literally could not get in anywhere and were running out of time. This was the first place that we could find that could seat us.

I was not really familiar with this place, but we just went with what we thought sounded good at the time. I got the buffalo chicken sandwich ($8.79), and my daughter got the Italian crostini ($8.79). She had fries for her side and I got tater tots (I have a weakness). I guess they are famous for some of their sandwiches that have French fries on them, but the ones we ordered weren’t those, and honestly, that just sounds like a really fat sandwich to me. So feel free to yell and me and tell me why I am wrong.

I also have a weakness for a buffalo chicken sandwich, and this one was fine, but there wasn’t really anything special about it. It didn’t have a ton of sauce, and the chicken was pretty thin. They serve it with lettuce, tomato and red onion as well as blue cheese dressing, but it didn’t really have enough blue cheese so I got some more. It hit the spot, but it will still never be as good as my favorite version from Sahm’s. The tots were spot on. They serve it with their special “zesty Retro sauce.” Not sure what is in here, but it tastes like maybe some hot sauce and ranch or something. It had a slightly sweet edge though, so I didn’t eat a lot of it.

My daughter likes a lot of salami type meat on her sandwiches, and this one was up her alley—it had capicola, salami, pepperoni, mozzarella, vinaigrette, lettuce and tomato. She wasn’t a fan of all the lettuce and tomato, but she liked the sandwich ok. The fries were tasty. 

As for the service, it was great. Our server was friendly and fast, which we needed. But overall, it’s the kind of place I wouldn’t be opposed to going to in a pinch, like the situation we were in. However, it’s also the kind of place that helps me remember to make a reservation on a night like this so I don’t get myself in a pinch. Any Primanti lovers out there? Tell me what you think.

Primanti Brothers

Circle Center (other Indy area locations)

49 West Maryland Street

Indy. 46204

317/384-1946

www.primantibros.com 

Noise rating: 2 bells (out of five)