Caplinger's Fresh Catch

Ok, quick little reminder/extra post about Caplinger’s, especially right now since they have fresh soft shell crabs you guys! I have been tortured by pictures of various restaurants’ soft-shell crabs and haven’t been able to get any. I informed hubby that we were going to lunch to make sure we got some before they go out of season. He was happy to oblige. So we were debating our strategy on the way there—maybe one dinner, one sandwich and share? Or should we even be distracted by bread? Well when we got there and found out the dinners usually have about four crabs, we just decided to go with that and split it. Oh, and add a quarter pound of fried oysters. Why not right?

So we ordered the dinner ($16.99). It also comes with two sides and a couple of hush puppies. Now, sides have been a struggle for me at Caplinger's. As much as I love their fried seafood and their fresh fish market, I have yet to find a side that I love. So I decided to just be uninteresting and go with fries. And hubby got red beans and rice. Oh yeah, and that order of oysters (around $6).

I love soft shell crabs. I loved these soft-shell crabs. And I loved that they gave me 5 of them because they were small (they were tiny for real!). They give you their remoulade sauce to dip them in, which is tasty for sure. The thing I realized was that I now love their fries! I was expecting some boring giant steak fries or something that I wouldn’t end up eating. What I got was heavily seasoned crinkle cut potatoes that were delicious in ketchup. I have finally found my side. Sadly, hubby didn’t think much of the red beans and rice, but he also loved the fries. And those hush puppies are moist and tasty too.

The fried oysters were very good too. Smoking hot out of the fryer and these oysters were huge. In a quarter pound, there were five. If I had any complaint, it might just be that they were SO big. But they were super juicy and fresh, and the breading was great. These people really know how to fry up some seafood. And I like that you know its fresh because, well, it’s a seafood market as well. They serve the oysters with cocktail sauce and it is very good. I was undecided if I preferred them dipped in it or the remoulade, so I just traded back and forth between bites.

Anyhow, if you like soft shell crab like I do, or if you haven’t tried it, here’s your chance. You can just go with the dinner like we did, or you can get them as a sandwich (right now there are two to a sandwich). And keep telling me if you have sides you are passionate about. I haven’t tried them all yet.

Caplinger’s Fresh Catch

7460 North Shadeland Ave

Indy. 46250

317/288-7263

www.caplingersfreshcatch.com 

Caplinger's Fresh Catch - Revisit

You guys, they have soft shell crab at Caplinger’s! Well, at least they did when I went last week! I had been in to pick up some fish for dinner the other day (one of my favorite fish markets in town) and saw them. I don’t personally like to cook soft shells myself because it involves deep frying (you know the best way to eat a soft shell crab is deep fried) and I don’t do that very often.

I told hubby we needed to go stat, and he was easily swayed. You can get it in sandwich form, which comes with one crab, or dinner form, which comes with two crabs and two sides ($19.99). Who needs to waste time and stomach space with bread? So we got the dinner and each had a crab. We had hush puppies and red beans and rice for our sides.

Those crabs? They were perfect. They were large, and not too hard, and the breading is spicy and crispy and perfectly delicious. You have to get the remoulade sauce and dip the crab in it. It is also spicy and delicious. I like that they don’t make everything bland to appeal to the masses. The sides were only okay, the hush puppies tasted like they had maybe been cooked earlier—they weren’t smokin’ hot like the crab.  But the crab, I could go back right now (I just ate them for lunch today) and eat more.

We also got the lobster roll ($13.99). Love the filling of the roll—it’s different from many I have had because they use claw and knuckle meat (there are some nice big hunks of claw and knuckle in there, which is my favorite part of the lobster). It’s very lightly dressed, and has a little bit of celery and green onion for just a tiny bit of crunch. Really though, this sandwich is mostly meat. And the bread is a pretty dense bun, so hubby and I pretty much just decided to eat the meat out of the bun. Particularly because we were eating those oh so healthy soft shell crabs. The only thing I would add here (besides maybe a slightly softer bun) would be a squeeze of lemon. But we both enjoyed it.

My advice to you is to get in there and get some crab if you like them—and if you have never tried them, you need to! If they don’t have them, get the fried fish, because that breading is delicious. Or try the lobster roll. And if you have a favorite side dish, clue me in, because I am still trying to figure that part out.

(Oh, and a great fish market too.)

Caplinger’s Fresh Catch Seafood Market

7460 North Shadeland, Suite 400

Indy  46250

317/288-7263

www.caplingersfreshcatch.com  

Miyagi's-the next visit

I am starting to worry that maybe my standards are lowering after too long in this town or something---we had another great meal, unbelievable! I am loving it, but still, I worry. Anyway, this was a relief really because the last time we went to Miyagi’s, it wasn’t very good. But they have gotten the quality back up to my first visit, (and raised a few of the prices) and several things were damn good. And we had a really sweet, unobtrusive server.

As usual, we were really attracted to the appetizers at this place. There are so many yummy sounding things, how could you possibly get a big dish when you could get lots of little things and taste so many different flavors?

Although we ordered everything at once, it was nice that they didn’t bring it all out at once. The first thing they brought was the hot rock steak which was outstanding. In fact, it was so good, after we ate everything; we ended up getting another order. Basically, it is thin slices of raw New York strip that was marinated in a teriyaki type marinade with lots of little chives on top. They bring you a really hot rock (literally) and you cook it yourself on top. Interestingly, we ordered the same thing last time, but we were given a little iron skillet to cook it on—this was really a hot rock. Pretty cool. Anyway, it is really thin steak and it cooks in like a second—I just put it on for like 2 seconds, flip it for about 1 more second and eat it. (My tip—cook the chive side down first, and the chives stick to the meat and add a little extra flavor.) Delicious. Like I said, we liked it so much we ordered another one after we finished everything else. (And it isn’t really that filling since it is just meat after all.)

We also ordered the citrus tuna salad with mango salsa and topped with avocado spread. It was pretty good, but there really wasn’t a lot of tuna there—it was nice with the mango though. The tuna was raw and cut into dices, like a tartare. It was in about the same sized pieces as the mango, but there was about twice as much mango as there was tuna. And there were some greens as well. Like I said, it wasn’t that exciting, but very fresh and light. I probably would order something else next time.

We ordered the King Kani as well, which was two pieces of a large roll of sushi full of king crab marinated in Japanese mayo and topped with chives. Hubby liked this one more than I did (it’s that seaweed thing), but the crab was quite tasty. It sort of wasn’t what I was expecting based on the description, but still tasty.

We also ordered the softshell crab again (of course) with ponzu sauce on the side. I am happy to say, it is way back up to the quality level it was at when we ordered it the first time. The second time, the quality had fallen way off, but these were great. They were meaty enough and the crust was nice and light and crisp. Now, the price has risen from $4 to $6 to I think it was $10 on this visit. But the portion is not bad (I think it was 2 whole crabs cut in half) and it was enough for us with everything else we had. Of course, after eating all this, we ordered the second order of the steak, so maybe it wasn’t really, but I think it was more that we just really really liked that hot rock steak!

We also had our favorite dessert item at Miyagi’s (ok, the only thing we have ever tried because we like it so much)—the honey toast. Basically, just a great big piece of toasted bread drizzled with a honey sauce as well as a little bit of chocolate and raspberry sauce and served with vanilla ice cream. Doesn’t sound that exciting, but a nice simple flavor combo that ends the meal nicely.

I also like this place because it has a very modern interior and is usually at least half full of people. More like a place you might see in San Francisco---I mean, so many of the traditional Japanese restaurants look exactly the same inside and just don’t provide the ambiance for a night out if you know what I mean. Miyagi’s delivers on this point too. The food is also quite artfully presented and I like that the menu actually changes somewhat. We will certainly be back to Miyagi’s—and it won’t be quite as long this time!

Miyagi's

3625 E. 96th Street

Indy, 46240

317/846-7077

http://www.indymiyagi.com/

Euphoria-Late Spring

***As of June 5, 2011, Euphoria is closed as a restaurant and is only open for private events. The chef has also left the restaurant.****

There was a moment when I thought I wasn’t going to write up every meal I have at Euphoria because I go there more than a lot of places. But then, I was like, forget that, this is some of the best food in Indy, and I am going to write about it! My readers need to know.

It had been awhile, and we hadn’t hit the latest menu yet so we got ourselves on over there. When we got there, we learned it was the last night for this particular menu, which always seems to happen to us, but we were happy to enjoy the last of the season’s morels. We started with the ½ order (thank you thank you for putting half orders of pasta on the menu, this makes me so happy) of the morel mushroom pasta, which was pasta “rags” (or large flattened pieces like really wide pappardelle, covered with a creamy sauce with Pecorino Romano and Taleggio cheeses, and morels and asparagus mixed in. Man, was this good. And I was so happy to see they have (at least for now) added a pasta section to the menu with two pasta choices in full or half orders. I have said many times that Chef Gates’ pasta could compete (and win) against just about any in the City. This pasta was so good and rich, but had a sharpness from the Taleggio that I really enjoyed. The morels and asparagus added a nice flavor and texture break, and the pasta was perfect. Hubby and I shared this, as well as the next item, and we both loved it.



The other appetizer we had was the tuna tartare. This is clearly the best I have had in the City (well, I had a really good one at Puck’s once, but I think it may have been influenced by the fact that Chef Gates had worked there because it was very similar). It was a layer of a sweet onion/tomato relish, a layer of avocado, and the chopped sashimi tuna with horseradish-Dijon vinaigrette. The flavors went perfectly together, and there was just enough acid between the vinaigrette and the tomato relish to make all the flavors shine. Plus the teeny little crunchy pieces of the onion were perfect with the smooth avocado. And the salty sesame crackers were the perfect thing to eat with it--adding the salty taste and the crunchy texture. I had a really hard time deciding which was better. I would happily order either or both, again. Outstanding.






We had already ordered our entrees (sharing the pan roasted black grouper and a half order of the lobster tortelli) when we were chatting with the Chef who told me there were soft shell crabs on the bar menu! I hadn’t even looked at it because everything on the regular menu sounded so good! Well, like I said we had already ordered our food, but no way was I going to pass up soft shell crab, so we just added an order of those to our meal as well!

The soft shell crabs were delicious—really meaty ones, not like some you get that have no meat in the body. They were coated in breadcrumbs made of graham crackers as well as some other savory spices and were fried. They were really good too—a very similar coating to his calamari I think which is also quite good. There were three dipping sauces and I really liked them, except maybe for the tartar, it just wasn't exciting. They were a great deal too, there were 4 on the plate (even though there are only 3 in my picture—hubby got to one before I had my camera ready) and I think it was like $16.





Back to the things we initially ordered, the grouper was served with toasted couscous, ramps, English peas, a charred tomato vinaigrette and basil pesto. Again, the flavors all went together beautifully and the fish had a wonderful crispy skin.


The lobster tortelli has been on the menu before, and I have had it a few times. It is little tortellis stuffed with lobster, served with leeks and a “shallot-tarragon beurre fondue.” It was probably my least favorite thing we had, although it was still good. The pasta was a little dense I guess, but I love those smoked tomatoes on top for garnish. The flavors are rich and go together really well, but everything else was just so good, it seemed to lack a little luster in comparison.

Obviously, after that much food, we couldn’t do dessert, and hubby made a nice lunch of leftover fish and pasta, but one of these days we are saving more room for another cheese plate.

Euphoria
337 West 11th Street
Indy, 46202
317-955-2389
http://www.indycanal.com/

***June 21st update: went back the week after this review (what can I say, some friends wanted to get some of those yummy crabs, and who am I to argue?). Had lots of our standbys, the crab (natch), the beef tartare, and a cheese plate, all delicious as usual. Also tried the venison chops (we shared them). Outstanding. Not gamey at all and wonderfully prepared. Almost like a meatier, jucier lamb chop. Oh, and of course, the chef informs me the menu is changing yet again this week...a repeat visit may be necessary soon!

Miyagi's-Reprise

****THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED****
.....heavy sigh..... I am just not having good luck right now with food. We went back to Miyagi's after our first really great meal. We were sort of anxious to go back because we enjoyed it so much last time. Sadly, the quality had dropped a bit. The soft shell crab...what happened? Last time it was so good and this time it was so mediocre...has the crab changed? We didn't even finish it. And I also noticed, after thinking it was the deal of the century last time ($4 for 2 entire crabs), they have apparently raised the price and lowered the quality. It is now $6 and not nearly as good. What happened?? I guess I should have been prepared. My parents went after reading my first rather glowing entry about this place and did not seem nearly as impressed.

Again, we did a bunch of appetizers and one large roll. We did a couple of the same apps and a couple different just to see. The two things that we got the same as last time (because we liked them so much last time) weren't as good. As mentioned, the crab really fell off. We also had the lobster spring rolls again. They were still quite good. Just not as good--where was that really fresh mango salsa from the last time? Where was the orange vinaigrette? Not too much flavor except the rolls, which could have stood to be a little more crunchy. But all in all, still good and still worth ordering.

The bright spot was the hot rock steak--they brought several very thin slices of beef (you can also get it with tuna--maybe next time) that are raw but marinated in a tasty sort of soy teriyaki sauce with a lot of chives on top. You then sear it to your desired temperature (for us about 3 second per side--that is how thin they are) on a hot iron skillet thing at the table. I actually really enjoyed this--it was much better and more tender than the beef dish we had last time which was actually made with filet (gyu no tataky). Also better than the hamachi that we had that was cooked at the table last time (by the waiter though). It was overcooked. Cooking it yourself ensures that doesn't happen. I would certainly get this again.

We had the same roll that we had last time--the diablo roll with the tempura king crab and shrimp rolled in rice with salmon, roe as well as a spicy sauce on top. There was also some sort of strange cole slaw type stuff on top that wasn't that great. The roll, much like other things, fell off on this visit. Will definitely inspire us to try something different next time.

We also did the chef's special ceviche which was shrimp with an orange marinade. Needed some tartness--which is what makes ceviches so good, if you ask me. It was not bad, but didn't stand out. We were talked out of the ahi ceviche which sounded quite good because the waiter said it was small. I saw it come out and it looked decent to me (of course, I do not require massive portions like some around here). I would like to try it next time.

Speaking of our waiter, we had the same waiter on both visits. He needs to mellow out a little--his style is a little too brash--he strangely carded us when we ordered our drinks (which he didn't do last time) and believe me, we are both quite a distance from age 21. I am not exactly sure why he did this, but it was a bit annoying. When I go out to eat, I want a more relaxing experience than that. Again, the interior is quite nice and modern and on a Friday night, the place was quite busy (and challenging to get a parking space at sometimes due to the comedy club next door which is also quite popular).

All in all, we will be back, but we need to wait a bit this time I think. And I am really hoping for better luck next time when it come to a great meal. I have heard the Tavern at Bugg's Temple (now to be called Euphoria) will be re-opening October 21st (thank you for the info Feed Me/Drink Me) with Chef Gates back at the helm. I can't wait.

Miyagi's
3625 E. 96th Street
Indy, 46240
317/846-7077
http://www.indymiyagi.com/

Miyagi's

****THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED****
Woo-hoo! I get so excited when I find a new restaurant that is good. Really good. And not a chain! Oh happy day. So hubby and I came by Miyagi's seperately and yet both suggested it the same week for date night. We had both seen an ad for it, and I will admit, been drawn to the coupons for the place mixed with the description as French infused Japanese. And face it, we were looking for something new.


So, we were doubtful, and even had back up plans if it looked too questionable. (I mean, it is not often that we choose a restaurant based on coupons in a free mailer) But we pulled up to the location on 96th street (near Keystone) and were pleasantly surprised by the modern decor and prompt greeting. We were seated and ordered drinks (there is a full bar for those who are interested). As we perused the menu, we were happy to see an actual French influence on many of the options. There were so many things I wanted to order. You need the first drink to have whilst you look over everything on the menu, as it is quite extensive. There is a hot kitchen and a cold kitchen and separate appetizers and entrees (well, sushi rolls for the cold kitchen and regular main courses on the warm side). I was thrilled when I saw all the choices on the hot appetizer side. All of my favorite things, crab and shrimp, scallops, rare-cooked high quality meats, all combined with citrus and ponzu sauces. Yummy.


I decided to go with 3 appetizers and have a tapas-style meal. I had the soft shell crab (natch), gyu no tataky, or thin slices of filet mignon atop cucumbers, tomatoes and avocado, and the lobster spring rolls. Hubby ordered off the cold menu and got the Hamachi appetizer (which is actually cooked quickly at the table) and a fancy roll called a diablo roll.


The lobster spring rolls came first and they were outstanding! They were crispy and served over a bed of mango chutney with a orange vinaigrette. They were perfectly cooked and we both loved them. Next came the soft shell crab which had a soy based sauce with it. Now you know how much I love soft shell crab and these certainly did not disappoint. My final choice was the beef dish which was very medium rare (which is exactly how I like to eat beef) and it was served with very thin (wafer thin) slices of tomato, cucumber and avocado. It was quite tasty as well, but probably not quite as good as the other things.

Hubby's hamachi, which as mentioned was cooked at the table, was probably the biggest disappointment. It was good, but cooking it even that long was too much. Maybe sear it on one side only for a couple seconds. The seasonings were good though. If it wasn't so tough, it would've been better. His roll, on the other hand, was outstanding. It was tempura king crab and shrimp wrapped in the classic rice with salmon on top and roe as well as a delicious spicy sauce. It isn't on all the menus (apparently, even though they have only been open for 3 months, they already have an "old" and "new" menu. But if you like fancy rolls, order it!

We also tried the honey bread dessert on our waiter's recommendation. It was sort of a sweet bread drizzled with a honey cinnamon sauce and served with ice cream. I wasn't overly excited about it, but the waiter had not steered us wrong so far, so we went for it (and after all, we did have that coupon!). It was really good. The bread was crispy and mixed with the ice cream and sauce, it made a really good combination.

The service was very attentive and informative. Our server really knew the food and made great recommendations on the whole. By the end of the meal, he was a bit almost pushy and a tad know it all-ish which got annoying. But he did really know and appreciate the food.

The wine choices were somewhat limited (which seems to be the case with most Asian restaurants it seems, well, except Shaghai Lil which has great choices) and a little on the flowery/sweet side for me, but I know that is what you are supposed to drink with spicy, or Asian food, and I struggled through, but would love to see a few more crisp choices by the glass. Hubby had a mixed drink to start which he said was very good.

We will certainly be back--and I will order some of the same things and some different things off the appetizer menu. There were so many appealing choices!
One last thing, I think they should drop the "'s" after Miyagi and just be "Miyagi" instead of "Miyagi's." It sounds like it is owned by the guy from the Karate Kid movie. Just my 2 cents.
Miyagi's
3625 East 96th Street
Indy, 46240
317-846-7077
http://indymiyagi.com/

R Bistro and my love of soft shell crab

****THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED****
I have mentioned before how much I love soft shell crab. I only wish I saw it on more menus. In case you don't know, soft shell crabs are blue crabs right after they have molted their hard shells and haven't quite grown their new ones. They are caught at that point and you can eat them whole, shell (such as it is) and all. I love them. In fact, I declared to my hubby last night that they are probably one of the most perfect foods. They have the yummy tender crab inside with the little bit of crunch that normal shellfish lacks. They are almost always fried somehow, either sauteed or deep fried, just to add that much more crunch.

So when the menu came out Wednesday for R Bistro and one of the featured items was soft shell crab served with two of my other favorite summer time things, tomato and corn relish, I booked a reservation. The crab was served on top of grilled bread with some yummy spread, tomato slices, mizuna greens and bacon. The corn relish was on the side. It was one of my all time favorite things I have eaten at R Bistro.


Many of the menu items were actually selections from other well known female chefs/cookbook authors. Alice Waters, Patricia Wells and the 2 Fat Ladies to name a few. When I saw the summer tomato pudding as an appetizer, courtesy of the 2 Fat Ladies, I knew I had to try it. I watched their show quite a bit while I lived in England and was sure it would be good knowing their propensity toward cream, butter and all things rich and delicious. I didn't even ask what exactly it was but went for it. It turned out to be a chopped and seasoned tomato mixture covered in a sort of soft tomato-ey bread crust with a bunch of stuff around it like cream fraiche, green olives, boiled egg and some more tomatoes. It was even better than expected. Light and so flavorful. I highly recommend it.

We tried dessert, thinking someone else's recipe might help in this area (as I think desserts are R Bistro's biggest weakness), but it still wasn't overly memorable. It was Alice Waters' chocolate pave, which was like a flourless chocolate cake. It was just ok, not a lot of flavor. I really need to learn from experience and just skip dessert, as everything else is usually so good.

My suggestion is to get there by Saturday and get the soft shell crab, or if you can't do that, go to R Bistro and see what's on the menu anyway. And hey, they are even on opentable.com, so it is even that much easier to make your reservation!

R Bistro
888 Massachusetts Ave
Indy 46202
317-423-0312
http://www.rbistro.com/