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

Poke Bros.

Ok, full disclosure-- it is a chain, but still, I was excited by a poke place finally that wasn’t downtown or in Hamilton county—it’s the kind of thing I crave for lunch, but don’t necessarily want to drive really far for—you know what I mean. This one is in Ironworks so recently the kids and I headed over to check it out. It was so new as you can see, the sign wasn’t even up yet.

Anyhow, I found out about this place from a flyer we got in the mail. They just do one size bowl (but you can add extra proteins if you want). Also, I really like that they don’t count tofu as a protein (it’s a free topping) so I don’t feel like I am “wasting” a protein on a cheap ingredient like some other places do. And I really like tofu in my poke bowl to add a little creamy texture. 

Anyway, if you haven’t been to one of the poke places yet—you get a bowl, pick your base (white rice, brown rice, or greens, or a combo of two) and then just go down the line and add what you want. Lots of veggies and fruits to choose from. Most  of the toppings are unlimited except avocado, mango, masago, and seaweed salad which have a little upcharge. The bowls end up costing between $10-13 or so depending on what you get.

For proteins, they have the raw fish (salmon or tuna, seasoned or unseasoned, shrimp, chicken, or spicy chicken). I went with the marinated tuna as my protein and added avocado, tofu, edamame, masago and green onion. I do half rice and half greens. They top everything with soy sauce (they call it “OG sauce”) unless you don’t want it. Then you can add additional sauces. I added a little of the Sriracha aioli and a bit of ponzu to try and get a little acid. It was maybe a little too sweet but I liked the spicy mayo. 

My other favorite thing about this place is that you can add various crunchies on top for texture variation—they offer sesame seeds, tempura flakes, crispy onions, crushed cashews and wonton chips. I went with some tempura flakes and some wonton chips. I was a little nervous for my son who is allergic to cashews about cross-contamination, but luckily they had the containers right behind the counter and were willing to give him some that hadn’t been on the bar. 

My kids got similar variations to me with slightly different veggies, although my son got salmon and tuna. We all enjoyed it and they are certainly generous portions. The fish was fresh and tasty and I didn’t get any of those awkward fatty bites. All in all, I wish I had a locally owned option nearby, but I will likely eat here again as close as it is to me. And I am all about the free tofu. 

Poke Bros.

2727 East 86^th Street Suite 148

Indy. 46240

317/875-1699

https://eatpokebros.com/

Thai Station

 

I got to go out to dinner with one of my girlfriends recently (thank you science!) and I was super excited to go regardless, but then she suggested a place I had never been, and I was doubly happy. Thai Station is just up the road from my house too, so I had high hopes (and I learned a new cookie place is going in right by it, so that also seemed like a good sign).

It’s a strip mall location and I didn’t expect a lot atmosphere-wise, but it was actually very cute—lots of wood and several booths and a banquet of tables. They do a good job of only seating every other table and have sanitizer on every table that they do use. There were only a few tables that were seated while we were there, but they had a very steady stream of take out orders. They also have a cute little bar area and a decent wine selection for a small place. They served one of my favorite less expensive roses, and that is what I ordered. Nice glasses too. They are definitely making you feel like you are getting a true “out to eat” dining experience.

The menu is very large and quite appealing. They have a lot of interesting-sounding things. We ordered the crispy wontons ($6.99), mostly because we were curious about what they would be.  They were little wontons stuffed with lightly seasoned chicken and deep fried. They were served with that clear vinegar-based, slightly sweet Thai dipping sauce. The chicken was maybe a little bland on its own, but they were pretty tasty, especially with the sauce drizzled on them. 

For my entrée, I ordered my classic Thai dish—sauteed eggplant with meat and veggie. Here it is #34 and called “Eggplant Lover” ($11.99). It was so good. One of the best versions I have had in town—everything was cooked just right—the eggplant was still bright in color, but cooked soft and with the rich Thai brown sauce all absorbed into it. The chicken was thinly sliced and tender. There were also green peppers, thinly sliced carrots and basil. Oh, and of course white rice. The sauce was super delicious and plentiful so that you could really make your rice pretty well coated and get the flavor in every bite. I loved how bright and colorful the dish was and everything seemed really fresh. 

My friend got the (#33)($14.99) garlic and pepper preparation with shrimp. This was shrimp stir-fried with a garlic pepper sauce all on top of sliced cabbage, cilantro and green onions. I just had a bite of the veggies with the sauce and the sauce was really good—lots of garlic. We both ordered our dishes medium spice level and I think it was just right. Definitely some heat, but not crazy.

This may become one of our new go-to carry out places. There is a ton of stuff on the menu, including various fried rice versions and noodle dishes and I know everyone in the house will find stuff they like. I can’t wait to try more stuff. If you have been here, let me know what you like. 

Thai Station

3317 E. 86^th Street

Indy. 46240

317/929-1983

Doughnuts and Dragons

The other day I was out running errands early on a Sunday morning—my teenagers were still asleep. I was thinking I would surprise them with doughnuts, but our go-to Taylor’s isn’t open on Sundays. And I didn’t want to drive a bunch. I literally glanced around and saw Doughnuts and Dragons, which is just down the street from my house.

Honestly, I don’t know a lot about it, but it looked open and it has doughnuts in the name right? So I headed over to check it out. So I chatted with the two ladies behind the counter and they told me that they had opened just a few months before the pandemic and had built a pretty good business with the large space that serves doughnuts, craft beer and lots of board games and space to play all your games like D & D etc. They were hurt by the pandemic, and had to close down for a bit, but were back and trying to slowly build their business back up.

Anyhow, I ran in and was impressed by the looks of the doughnuts! Some interesting flavors and some decadent looking options, as well as some of your standard classics. Luckily, like I said, I had teenagers at home who will (and can) eat doughnuts all day with no ill effects, so I bought a bunch to try. I got the s’mores ($2.25 each), the chocolate iced with sprinkles ($1.75). plain glazed ($1.50) and a cinnamon sugar braid ($2.00). I got a 10% discount for ordering more than 6 as well (it’s even higher if you buy more than 12). 

I think the favorite among everyone who tried them was the s’mores. We are also a family who loves s’mores things and this one was done well—sometimes marshmallows turn too hard or chewy but these were just lightly singed but still soft. The chocolate on this one as well as the chocolate iced was soft and rich and tasted freshly made—speaking of which, they do make them all fresh in house. The chocolate icing is very fudgy, not as much like a hard icing you might get other places. The more basic glazed and cinnamon sugar ones were also solid. If this is your favorite doughnut, I don’t think you would be disappointed. All in all, I felt like it was a nice discovery for me—especially since like I said, Sunday doughnuts are a necessity. And my daughter, who has started playing D&D since the pandemic started (something you can do online) thought it would be cool to have her friends meet there once it is safe. They also have a very large selection of craft beers if that’s your thing as well. 

We went back a second time because my kids are sort of hooked, and hubby wasn’t home the first time we ate them. This time we got some repeats, and also ordered a butterbeer, more glazed (one of hubby’s faves), the banana nut muffin, and the cookies and cream. Honestly, hubby really liked the glazed and was very pleased. The banana nut, the butterbeer (which is like a butterscotch glazed) and the cookies and cream are actually a cake-style doughnut and had that denser consistency—they were fried so they had a little crispy crunch to them. The cookies and cream had vanilla filling in it too. Somehow, we didn’t get any cake style the first time so I was really glad to try these this time. They were all really very good. Loved the way the banana nut had the flavor of a fried banana nut muffin with icing. And a lot of nuts.

I am so happy that we discovered this place and my teenagers are gonna be there a lot I think. If you want a fancy doughnut, and maybe a beer on the side, this is your place (or even if you just want a doughnut to go). I feel for them opening in such a difficult time and they are worth a try for sure. A high-quality product. If you have been or decide to check it out, let me know what you think and your favorite flavors!

Doughnuts & Dragons

3838 E. 82nd St.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46240

317-288-0554

https://www.facebook.com/DoughnutsAndDragons

Ramen Ray- Revisit

Since COVID and quarantining began, we have developed a pretty regular list of places we get carry out from on a regular basis. Ramen Ray is one of these. They do a great job with carry out and even though it has to use a few more containers than is ideal, by keeping the noodles and everything else separate from the broth, it keeps the perfect consistency of the noodles and the eggs don’t get overcooked. And if I want to heat the broth up separately for a minute when I get it home to make it a bit warmer, I can easily do that too. My only complaint is they aren’t open Sunday nights which always seems to be the night we want ramen. They also do delivery through some of the third party services.

My regular order is a half order of miso ramen with an extra egg and chopped pork. The noodles are tender and great, the eggs are perfect and I really enjoy the chopped-up pork over the big slabs of pork which are more challenging to eat with a spoon and chopsticks. Hubby also gets the miso—sometimes a full order, sometimes half, depending on his mood. There is a spicy miso option as well, but last time I had it, it was so spicy, it was almost too much.

The kids both prefer the shoyu, which is a soy sauce type broth—and they also get an extra egg—which gives you three halves…just the right amount if you ask me. We also usually get at least one order of dumplings—you can get pork or veggie—we always get the pork. They are lightly pan fried and I like the vinegar/soy dipping sauce to give a little bite of acid to go with the rich ramen.

All in all, a solid experience—and the guy in there is starting to recognize me which shows you how much we get it. One of the things I like about it, is that it is carry out that isn’t pizza or fried food and feels a little healthier. So, let me know what your favorite slightly “healthier” options are these days. 

Actually, please tell me new and unusual places you have found good carry out. I need some new inspiration---but something I can carry out. At least for now. 

Ramen Ray

5628 East 71^st Street

Indy 46220

317-288-7120

https://ramenray.com/

Big Lug -- Revisit

As you know if you’ve been reading my blog lately, I have been kind of picky about where I will eat right now due to concerns about safety. We are only eating outside and I am looking for places with nice space, employees who are following the rules and you can see they are taking precautions. One of the first places we went—and one of the places we go the most right now is Big Lug. I love their patio right on the Monon and we all agree that we really enjoy their food. So I am just going to highlight a few of our favorite things we’ve had over the last few visits. We have our regular favorites and have tried several specials recently.

To start with, I love the slushy alcohol drinks they are offering this summer-there’s a frozen margarita and a rhubarb version as well—they are even better swirled together (between $9-11). My family also usually orders the fried cheese curds ($8) to start as well—my kids describe them as fancy cheese stick nuggets. I like that they give you a couple of dipping sauces as well—green goddess and chipotle sauce. Both are good. They know how to fry things well at Big Lug and you will see that theme continue on several other things we typically order.

Like the “People’s Champ” ($7 small/$11 large)  (large pictured) for instance, which is sort of like their version of a popular fast food chicken sandwich—they brine the chicken in pickle juice and then fry it in their light batter. Its served on a small or large knot bun with more pickles. This is a very good sandwich and is typically ordered by someone at our table in either the small or large size.

Oh—and for the last month or so they’ve also started doing breakfast bagel sandwiches on Saturday and Sunday mornings and these are tasty as well—pictured is the bacon, egg and cheese bagel ($5) but they have a bunch of other flavors too—a good option if you’re out on the Monon in the morning. 

Burgers here are also a good option and I have had the Phrisco Melt on numerous occasions. The fam also often goes for the straight poutine, particularly when the weather is colder. But what has been one of the most popular sandwiches with the male half of my family recently is the Cuban ($8 half/ $12 full). It has braised pork belly, ham, Dijon, Swiss cheese, dill pickles and all on a smashed grilled Hoagie bun. It’s very well done for sure.

Recently we have had a couple of specials as well—most recently I had the Heirloom BLT special ($14). These were beautiful sliced heirloom tomatoes, lots of bacon, Bibb lettuce, and everything spiced mayo. I liked that they season the tomatoes and that they cut the bacon into smallish pieces, making it easy to eat (although making me sad when a couple pieces fell on the ground). I had the onion rings for my side (I appreciate the flexibility that they give you to switch out any sides you want—even though I am sad to see the tater tots are off the menu. I have a weakness). This sandwich was great and was exactly what I wanted for a summer lunch. And these are exactly the kind of tomatoes you want on a BLT—I like that they wait til they have good ones in season to offer this sandwich. One of the last times we went we also tried their specialty taco pizza ($12) which was very interesting with a tortilla layer on top of the crust and then, ground beef, refried beans, pico de gallo, cheese, black olives, green onions and some drizzled sour cream.

All in all, this is one of our regulars that everyone can agree to. I like that that they have a weekly specials menu to give some changing options, that they change the regular menu every once in a while, and that there are many things on the regular menu that are super tasty. I also appreciate everything the owners have done to support the local community during this pandemic from offering groceries from their restaurants to opening one of their restaurants to Second Helpings. This is a place that is worth supporting for that alone, but the food is damn good too. 

Big Lug Canteen

1435 East 86^th Street

Indy  46240

317/672-3503

www.biglugcanteen.com 

Daredevil Hall - Revisit

Recently we were stuck without a reservation on a Saturday evening due to the uncertainty that comes from tennis tournaments and we thought we could maybe get into Daredevil and we were right. There was a pleasant crowd but there was still space, and although there were a number of us, we got one of the tables with chairs and not the benches, so all was good. 

We started with some pork rinds ($5) and hot pretzels ($7).  We were actually very pleased with both. The pork rind platter was quite generous and we were glad to have 5 people eating form it, and we still didn’t eat them all. They are fried pork skins, and they drizzle them with a molasses sauce, which is a bit sweet. I was undecided how I felt about this sweetness, but decided it was pretty good. I might have preferred something more savory, but I appreciate the creativity. They were just the right amount of light and crunchy.

The pretzels were also good—they are covered with brown butter and lemon and sea salt and served with hot beer cheese. They were a little more unusual than your average soft restaurant pretzel, and they were good with the beer cheese—which I only wish was a little sharper. Hubby enjoyed dipping the pork rinds into the beer cheese.  Overall, everyone really liked both apps.

Several of us went with the smash burgers—I had the single hall burger ($10.50). Several others had them as doubles ($12.50) or singles. I like the smash-style patty even though it’s not super thin—but it is a tasty burger. If you get it the way it comes, it has lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, remoulade and American cheese. That’s how I got mine. Other than the tomato, the toppings were good. I like the remoulade on it—I like burgers with a special sauce. It is cooked just right and was excellent. Everyone with a burger was very happy. It’s one of the better burgers in town. I had mine with a side salad, which was fine. The fries here are the only thing I find a little disappointing because I just want them to be hotter, saltier, and crispier. 

My mother-in-law had the midwest fish fry ($18) which is beer battered cod (12 ounces of cod—it’s a good size) served with fries. Usually it comes with tartar sauce, but she subbed it out for remoulade. This fish is very, very good. It was a favorite at the table. I think hubby ate almost as much of it as she did. The fish was tender and juicy and the breading light and crisp.

Hubby had the special sandwich of the month, which looks like it is on the regular menu now—the Cuban ($13). It was a tasty sandwich, but not quite as good as everything else. It is smoked pork loin and ham topped with Swiss cheese, picked and mustard on a pressed hoagie roll. Maybe because the pickles have a lighter pickle to them, they don’t stand out on the sandwich as much as I like them to with a Cuban? I am not sure. It was definitely a good sandwich, just not quite as good as the burgers and fish.

Oh, and I didn’t know that they even had dessert but one of the choices was little fried balls of bread pudding with caramel and chocolate dipping sauce. These were so dang good for some reason. Seriously, do yourself a favor and give them a try. Soft inside, but crunchy outside. Strangely addictive. 

Anyhow, from top to bottom, this meal was great. The service was on, the room was the right temperature and we could hear each other talking (the live music they have sometimes can be a little overpowering in the room). And the food was very tasty. A good standby in our neighborhood and I am glad to see the menu get mixed up and improved as they figure it out. 

Daredevil Hall

2721 East 86^th Street

Indy  46240

317/757-2888

http://daredevilbeer.com/thehall/ 

Madera

It’s funny how you guys sort of know where I live—as soon as this place opened, I started getting messages about whether I had been there. And yes, it is really close to my house so we were excited by a new non-chain to visit.

It’s a “tex-mex” menu which apparently means lots of smoked meats—some on buns and some as tacos. Most of the toppings are pretty much the same across the board and there isn’t a ton of variation. There are also four different barbecue sauces on the table to use—original, sweet, hot, and chipotle mustard.  But I am ahead of myself.

First, we ordered chips and queso ($7) and we were impressed with the fresh fried tortilla chips. They were hot and really crisp and you could tell had just been made. The queso was tasty, but nothing that really made it stand out—white queso with some green peppers mixed in. But the chips made it worth ordering for sure. They also served it with some soft flour tortillas as well if that’s your thing. 

The rest of my family ordered tacos with various forms of meats inside ($6-$8) and most with pickled onions and guac on top. I ordered the pulled chicken sandwich ($8) which was according to the menu also supposed to come with red onions and guac but only showed up with the pickled onions. I think the sandwiches are the way to go here—or even maybe just the meat by the pound. It was the exact same meat in the tacos, but it felt weird to put barbecue sauce on tacos, but you really need it I think. I tried all the sauces and they were good—I appreciate that they are slightly unique from other places. My favorite sauce by far was the chipotle mustard sauce—I typically like mustard sauces but I really liked this one because it had a little heat that mustard sauces don’t usually have. I also thought the pulled chicken was really good on its own. There was a fair amount of the more tender dark meat mixed in. When I saw it, I worried it would be dry, but it was very tender. The bun and the tortilla were sort of unnecessary. And they were kind of unexciting—nothing really adding to the meat. Next time I would just split the pulled chicken by the pound and eat it with sauce. I feel like the main ingredients of the meat and sauces have been thought out, but the rest was sort of just ok. The mac and cheese and fries we all shared were just sort of average and standard, as were the buns and the guac on top. I would recommend a nice dipping sauce with the fries to jazz them up a bit.

The other meats were decent too, although hubby thought the brisket was a little dry, likely because it was chopped up so small. He agreed with me that probably just getting the meat on its own was probably the way to go. 

We ended with some churros ($5). They didn’t taste bad (I mean, churros!). But the sauce tasted pretty much like Hershey’s and there was nothing to make them really stand out., Would love to see a fancier tasting sauce—maybe something with dark chocolate and cinnamon or dulce du leche. And even if they don’t want to make it themselves, there’s plenty of local folks they could ask to help.

Atmosphere-wise there are a lot of TVs showing sports, but I liked that the sound was off on the TVs so it didn’t become impossible to have a conversation. The server was efficient and the staff was friendly. I look forward to seeing how they evolve—I would love to see more effort put into sides, desserts etc. that it seems like they are putting into the meats and sauces (and the house fried chips). And I really enjoyed that mustard sauce. And the proximity to my house.

What do you guys think? Have you been? 

Madera

5711 E. 71^st Street

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317/845-1336

http://maderatexmexbbq.com/

Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe

This may be the closest restaurant to my house so when I saw it open, I knew I had to give it a try. I was disappointed a bit that it is a chain, but at least it has a unique cuisine for fast casual dining—Mediterranean food. It’s one of those places where you order your food at the register and they bring it out to you. They menu is pretty big and they are proud to tell where different ingredients come from and try to offer several healthy options. 

We started with the appetizer of whipped feta ($5.99) blended with spices, topped with honey and served with pita on the side. You can get soft pita or baked crunchy pita or a mix of both—which is what we got. This was delicious. I was impressed. Hubby and I had had a similar dish at a restaurant in Nashville and loved it—this was very similar and very good. The feta is creamy and tangy but flavored with some herbs and spices and the sweet honey takes the edge off the feta. I was undecided whether I preferred the soft pita or the crunchy pita—both were very good. The soft pita was basic, but good and the crunchy baked pita had more seasoning on it and was more like a cracker. I just ate some of both. If I had to choose, I would probably go crunchy, but I really liked having some of each.

My daughter ordered the grilled chicken basil-pesto chicken gyro ($9.99). This was very tasty—it was strips of very tender seasoned chicken with pesto, tomatoes and feta inside a wrap. I was impressed with all the dishes as to how tender the chicken all was. Not sure how they keep it so tender, but it was great. Kind of like a Greek burrito. Nearly all the dishes come with chips and a choice of a second side. My daughter got the rice—which looked kind of bland to me, but she said it was good (I didn’t try it). 

My mother-in-law had the weekend special that was a pasta dish—“Taziki’s signature pasta” ($8.99). So there is a bed of lettuce on the bottom and penne pasta and chicken on top that has been tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette. The pasta then has chopped tomatoes, feta and fresh basil on top. Again, I was impressed with how tender the chunks of chicken were. And I really liked the balsamic flavor for “sauce.” It was unique and I like the acid. Add tomato and feta and it was a tasty dish. Enough for two people, but good. She ordered a side of the tomato-cucumber salad which was nice too and could be a good garnish for the sandwiches—it was nicely marinated and had some onions in there too. 

I ordered the grilled chicken roll-up ($7.99) which is a flour tortilla filled with chicken, tomato and feta and then grilled so the tortilla is crisp. The little rolls are served with fresh salsa. You really need the salsa with this—otherwise the dish is a little boring. I sort of wished for a bit more of the tomato and cheese—and maybe some taziki sauce as well, although the salsa was very tasty. It just needed a little more, even though again, the chicken was nice and tender. I had the fruit as my side, and I will pass on this in the future—it was a little too melon heavy for me.

I would certainly order that feta dip again and would like to try their hummus and taziki as well. I wish they had a combo plate of the dips—they also have a pimento cheese. I would be nice to try them all. I couldn’t even get them to sell me a small side of taziki to go with my lunch. She only would sell me an entire other appetizer size, which we didn’t need. Offering small sides might be a good idea. 

My daughter also got some of the dark chocolate cake ($2.79). She always gets desserts, especially if there is chocolate cake. I have to say, we agreed this was the weakest thing we ate. It just had a weird taste that we didn’t care for. 

But overall, even though it is a chain, and given its proximity to our home, it will likely become a fairly regular stop. I like the unique flavors for a fast-casual place. And that you could get something fairly healthy but still with some flavor. They also offer full dinners for 4 to carry out which might be something we try as well. And they have beer and wine. Not a huge selection, but some local beers and a couple of wine choices. 

If you have been, what were your thoughts?

Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe 

4025 E. 82^nd Street

Indy. 46250

317/315-1125

www.tazikiscafe.com 

Public Greens - Fashion Mall

The other day my daughter and I decided we needed to do a little shopping and ended up in the Fashion Mall food court at around 11:30. Since we were there, we decided to grab a bite to eat and headed into Public Greens. Although I’ve been to the one in Broad Ripple before I decided trying a new location could offer a different experience.

After looking at the menu for a bit… and learning that they had just gotten local, amazing, strawberries in from a friendly waitress we went up to order. I ordered the Fried Chicken, Basil Pesto Fritters, and Strawberry Shortcake ($16). The way pricing works there is you either pick one ($6), two ($10), or three ($14) items from the salads, snacks, or proteins sections and add an extra $2 for each protein. My daughter decided to go with the Santa Fe Pork Bowl ($16), which is another option if you want more of a put together meal. She also grabbed one of their specialty juices, with a combination of grapefruit, apple, and lemon juice.

We sat down at a table and only had to wait maybe 10 minutes before our food came out. First, we tasted the basil pesto fritters, which from what I understand have pesto blended into the dough and are topped with a balsamic glaze. The idea was intriguing as they were presented almost as if they were a dessert but were clearly savory. The glaze had a nice flavor as did the fritters, although the texture of the fritters was interestingly denser than you might think, with and the flavors hinted at maybe a partially chickpea-based flour? They were decent but needed some extra oomph. A little more texture would have been nice.

I have had the fried chicken at the other Public Greens and thought it was good. This similar version was good as well, but not as good as in the past. They weren’t that hot and a little dry. Almost like they are reheating them. They were still fairly crisp, but I did feel like they could have used a sauce, maybe something spicy or fresh. My daughter enjoyed sneaking bites of my chicken which is rare for her, not being so much of a fried chicken addict herself. Her pork dish was decent if a little bland. It consisted of a quinoa, pinto beans, and Santa Fe style pork base, and supposedly was topped with cilantro, scallions, feta, and ranch. The only true topping I noticed in any quantity was the ranch sauce on top, which did help to moisten the quinoa (which unfortunately, like most quinoa, was rather dry) but didn’t add a ton of flavor. The pork and beans were well cooked, although the pork could have used a little more spice. Overall, the dish was ok and she seemed satisfied although I felt it could have used more of a flavorful topping. 

To conclude our meal we tried the Strawberry Shortcake, treating it as our dessert, even though it's listed as a snack, based on the server’s recommendation. This was honestly the biggest disappointment of the meal after all the hype we had heard about the strawberries. It’s not that the strawberries tasted bad (they were quite sweet and delicious), it was that we were only given 2.5 strawberries for an entire slab of pound cake. We only ended up eating about a quarter of the cake simply because we ran out of strawberries to eat it with. Despite this, the bites we did have were excellent and the cake itself was lovely and moist. 

Ultimately, I feel Public Greens is a wonderful idea (with all their proceeds going to charity) with a somewhat iffy execution. Their food needs more flavor and really needs a bit more of an interesting spin to really impress me. You feel like you are eating a healthier option, but not necessarily a particularly flavorful one.  Does anyone have any recommendations as to what to order there that has a bit more flavor?

Public Greens

8702 Keystone Crossing

Indianapolis, IN 46240

317/818-0765

http://publicgreensurbankitchen.com 

Noise Rating: 2 bells (out of five)

Provision -- Revisit

We took my sister and her husband out for their birthdays (they are close together) and they chose Provision. We were happy to go back and check it out. It still just as busy as it has been since it opened from what I can tell, so you can see how much this area was crying out for a restaurant like this.

Before we even got our orders, they brought us a nice amuse bouche, which was a crispy slice of bread with blue cheese and a nice little acidic sauce. Very tasty. Then we started with the bread plate ($5), because it’s just really good. They seem to always have a soft German pretzel stick and slices of Blue Dog Bakery baguette, which are some of my favorite things. This time there was also Naan, and a grainier type of bread. They serve it with nice soft butter as well as some flavored dipping oil. The bread is delicious in either.

I really think they shine at appetizers at Provision. We had the king crab toast ($36) and the tuna tartare ($22). Both of these are excellent, and in my mind, worthy of being dinner if you have a smaller appetite. The king crab toast is pieces of light and buttery brioche-type bread that is toasted and then topped with nice hunks of king crab with jalapeno, Thai basil, and Thai chile beurre blanc—basically an amped up butter sauce. But it is used in just the right amount so as to not take over the delicate flavor of the crab. This was a table favorite and my brother in law nearly ordered a second one for his dinner.

I really liked how they have changed the tuna tartare from how it was originally. It’s funny, because it kind of reminds me of the dish I like downstairs at Blue Sushi Sake. It’s basically fried little rice cakes that are topped with chopped and seasoned tuna tartare. There's some nice spicy sauce on each piece and some red onions and cucumbers. I thoroughly enjoyed this, as did everyone else.

For my main, I was swayed by the special, which was halibut cheeks with all kind of seasonal sides—asparagus, morels, and spring peas and then garnished with a rhubarb salsa. Loved the acid and kick the rhubarb gave to the dish. It added so much brightness. The veggies were all good. Sadly, the halibut was a touch overcooked and came across a bit dry. I was happy to get my first morel of the season though. It was very springy dish for sure.

The boys both had steaks because in the past, hubby had enjoyed steaks that others had ordered. They do season their larger bone-in steaks quite a bit.  The filets on the other hand aren’t quite as heavily flavored, and I think hubby ended up thinking he liked that better. They do nice Robuchon potatoes with their steaks as well, so at least you get a little something with your steak, unlike many places. We also ordered a side dish to split—the potato bacon terrine ($8). Can’t really go wrong with basically a giant tater tot wrapped in bacon right? My sister ordered a starter for her main—the lobster dumplings ($18). They are sauced with chile oil and a sweet soy vinaigrette. I just had a bite—we had a lot of food. They were good, but nothing that really jumped out at me. And not as good as the other two starters. We all shared a piece of sugar cream pie with coffee ice cream for dessert. It is tasty and I like the way they brulee the top of it, giving it just a little crunch when you stick your fork in it.

All in all, I think Provision continues to be a solid new restaurant for the northeast side. The service has improved tremendously since they opened, and I appreciate that they change the menu up a bit with the seasons (I would love to see even more variation). Next time I think I am going to do a dinner of all appetizers and I will be perfectly content. 

And hey, here’s hoping something good goes in the now-closed B Spot just down the sidewalk. It’s really helping my mood to have so many new places that are good so near by.

Provision

2721 East 86^th Street

Indy  46240

317/843-6105

www.provision-restaurant.com