Taiwan Tea House - Revisit

It has been a long while since I had been to Taiwan Tea House. My BFF regularly frequents the place and was more than happy to go with me the other day. I still like the simple décor and the real plates and bowls they use—and they’re actually pretty dishes, unlike the standard Chinese restaurant ware. Our server is very friendly—one of the owners I am sure, as he has been there every time I have been. Sometimes the communication is a bit lacking due to the language difference, but we managed.

I ordered the fried tofu ($2.75) to start, based on someone’s recommendation on one of my last posts. And I do like some good fried tofu. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it when I first saw it, because you could tell it wasn’t going to be really crisp and it wasn’t really, but it had a great taste. I really liked the soy-based sauce that they drizzled on top. The crust on the tofu taste good too even if I would have preferred it a little crisper. I couldn’t stop eating just a little more.

For my lunch, I ordered the mapo chicken ($6.99). This is my BFF’s favorite dish, and her usual order, but she wanted to try the spicy wonton noodles instead, so I got it. To start with, they bring you a bowl of soup (really, really hot as in temperature). It’s a simple soup, but I nice was to start especially on a very cold day. There are some nice chunks of tofu and some egg as well as some tomatoes and black pepper.

The chicken dish was a little disappointing actually—the chicken was cooked a little too far making it not just a bit tough, but giving the edges an almost crunchy texture. Both the chicken and the veggies just seemed like they were cooked over too high a heat. I do like the flavor of the sauce though—had a nice balanced taste with soy and some garlic and ginger perhaps. A touch on the oily side, but still good. The entrées each come with two crab Rangoon as well. I like the version they do here because they are nice and crisp and not oily at all. My only complaint was that one of them wasn’t quite warm all the way through. Assume they make them and then just heat them quickly before serving.

My friend’s spicy wonton noodles were good—they are really quite spicy—lots of little bits of garlic and chili in there and some stuffed wontons mixed in. They can’t really make the dish less spicy because he said they make the sauce in advance, and it has a fair amount of heat. They can make it spicier if you want though which would be too much for me, but I am sure some of you guys would like it that way.

All in all, an ok experience. It’s not a bad place to have nearby, and they do use a lot of fresh ingredients. I think my dish was a little off on this day, but it wouldn’t stop me from trying again.

Taiwan Tea House

3746  E. 82^nd Street

Indy 46250

317/598-9733

Grub House

Hubby and I woke up one morning a couple weekends ago and were really craving a greasy type of breakfast—you know how that goes sometimes. Of course, my mind instantly starts thinking of whether there is somewhere new to go that I can write about. I remembered driving past Grub House when I come home from downtown. So that’s where we went. We were the only ones in there for a bit, and the interior is very clean, although a little sparse other than the big graffiti art mural on the wall. There’s a glassed in window and it is sort of unclear whether you order there or what, but a lady came out and gave us menus and told us to have a seat. She waited on us throughout, although others came in and ordered at the window, so who knows. That window and the thick metal door separating the kitchen from the dining room lends a sort of vibe that they are worried about security.

I ordered the “4 Whole Wings” breakfast ($9.25) that comes with 4 fried chicken wings, two eggs any style, toast or biscuit, and one side (I got the fried potatoes—they also offer grits, rice with butter or a fruit cup). I appreciate the way the server warned me that the fried chicken takes a little longer.  I really enjoyed my breakfast. Especially the super crispy chicken wings. They were nice and meaty and well seasoned—I didn’t even throw on salt or pepper. Bits of the crispy outside flaked all over the place. There was certainly plenty of crunch. My eggs were cooked just the way I ordered them (over easy) and I liked the way the person cooking them seasoned them well with salt and pepper.  The potatoes were interesting—clearly homemade and I couldn’t quite figure out what the ingredients were—almost like an onion soup flavor. Very savory. I think I might prefer them at dinnertime. They were quite rich. I would guess the biscuits were not housemade and came from a bag or a tube, but they still tasted good with everything and you needed some bread to eat with the runny eggs.

Hubby ordered biscuits and gravy ($4.50) with a side of eggs ($1.99) and bacon ($3). He thought the biscuits and gravy were fine, but not as good as some others in town. They had a peppery kick, but not much else that stood out. And they were the same biscuits mentioned above. They hold up because they’re fairly dense and crisp on the outside. One thing hubby didn’t like was that the eggs were on top, and once he broke into them, they watered down the gravy too much. I thought the bacon was decent for diner type bacon. We’re not talking fancy bacon, but it was cooked well and had had a good salty taste (so often cheaper bacon has no flavor at all).

I don’t love eating a meal like this from Styrofoam plates with plastic utensils, but I get that some places just don’t have the space to do dishes. It would really knock this place up a notch if they had actual dishes and silverware though. And when I ordered OJ, it was just a plastic bottle of Tropicana brought to the table. The people were very nice though and that chicken was delicious. I would totally frequent for that basic breakfast (or lunch, which they are also open for) if it were in my neighborhood.

The Grub House

1953 N. College Ave

Indy  46202

317/974-9089

Road Trip: The Little Goat --Chicago

At the insistence, or should I say, full-on threats from my friend Suzanne, hubby and I hit up the Little Goat Diner on our way out of Chicago for breakfast. This is the more casual restaurant brought to you by Chef Stephanie Izard, who also owns the Girl and the Goat across the street. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you can order off any part of the menu at any time.

They do take a few reservations and we managed to score one right at the height of the breakfast hour. I appreciate that even though they were packed, and there was a lot of people waiting, they got us seated right at our reservation time. Suzanne and her husband love the Parathas burrito ($13) and recommended it to us. I was glad she did because it probably wasn’t something we would probably order on our own and it was delicious. There was crisp warm Indian flatbread on the bottom topped with sunny side up eggs and sheep’s milk cheddar cheese. All of that had a chili pepper sauce drizzled over it and a wonderful bright, acidic salad on top with greens, avocado and beans. What a great combination. The eggs were perfect and there was just the right amount of heat with the cooling salad. I understand now why Suzanne orders it every time, and it will likely be on our order in the future.

We also ordered a special-- crab Rangoon omelette ($13) and it was also really delicious. Normally I would not order an omelette because they are usually just too dense and too dried out for me. In this case though, our waiter described it as a “light, French style omelette” and I was sold. And it was exactly that. The eggs were very light—not dense or dry at all. Folded inside was a moderate portion of the creamy, crab Rangoon filling. Just enough to taste the crab and liquidy cream cheese flavor, but not dominate. Across the top of the omelette were crispy wontons and Little Goat’s version of a sweet and sour sauce, which I am happy to say, was balanced with both sour and sweet (not just sweet like so many). Honestly, I went back and forth about which one I liked better. Luckily this one was a special, and isn’t on the regular menu so there will be less of a chance I can order it again and will be forced to try something new.

We also had a side of the hash browns ($5)—also delicious. They were cut very, very thin—like from a spiral cutter and were super crisp, just how I like them. And get this, they’re filled with mild melted cheese. That’s just pure genius. You get the super crispy exterior and the soft gooey middle.

This place does a great job of taking your classic breakfast dishes (and other meals too I’m sure) and spinning them just enough to make them really unique. I highly recommend checking it out if you’re in Chicago—and a great way to try Chef Izard’s food a little more on the cheap.

Also, if you’ve been, let me know what you’ve had that you liked because I’m going to have a hard time choosing.

Little Goat Diner

820 Randolph Street

Chicago, IL

312/888-3455

www.littlegoatchicago.com

Bluebeard - Revisit

I may post about this place more than some others, but man, it seems like whenever I go, I just feel like I have to share. I would say Bluebeard is one of the top couple of restaurants we have going in Indy right now, and this meal was no exception.

It also appears the entire city is onto this fact, since the place was jammed at 6:00 on a Saturday in October. We waited about 45 minutes for our table (pretty much exactly what the hostess estimated). I do appreciate that while the space to stand and wait is somewhat limited (if you don’t get a seat at the bar, which we did not), that you are still greeted and waited on by servers in the restaurant. We had a glass of wine within minutes.

Once we were seated, we started our menu negotiations. Standing around in front of the kitchen didn’t help because we saw so many delicious-looking items coming out of there.  We started with the bone marrow with tomato jam, shallot confit, cornichon, whole grain mustard and francese ($16). We ordered this because it sounded very similar to a dish that we had had at Bluebeard in the past and had been blown away by—while the ingredients were very similar, this one was very different. It was more of a deconstructed take on it. You were served the bread with the creamy bone marrow (not sure what they are mixing it with, but it makes it so creamy and smooth) and then everything was on the side to build as you wish. The flavors are great. Rich but balanced with all the pickled things and the slightly sweet tomato and shallot mixes. I prefer it when they put it together for you in the kitchen, but we still really enjoyed it.

The next thing we had was their take on oysters Rockefeller ($12). Man, were these good. Super fresh oysters that were amazingly juicy topped with a creamy spinach mix that had these great little teeny dices of foie gras mixed in. They were then topped with a parmesan/breadcrumb mixture that was perfectly broiled. The dish was just warm enough so the oysters lost nothing. And getting those little bites of creamy foie gras just took a classic dish to another level. There were only three, and usually in a case like that, I give hubby the extra. This time, I made him cut it in half. He wanted a second order.

For our main course, we split one large plate and a small (love that you can mix and match sizes depending on your mood). We had the pappardelle with wild mushroom ragout, chicken and hen of the woods mushrooms, cream and parmesan ($26). So, so good. I am picky about pasta and rarely meet pasta dishes in this town that I love, but this was one of them. It was rich, but not drowned in cream sauce—there were meaty mushrooms and the thick cut pasta was fresh and tender. Again, I ate more than what I would normally eat of a pasta dish. 

But if all these amazing dishes weren’t enough, we also had the toast with soft scrambled quail eggs, golden brook trout roe and crème fraiche ($18). Whoa. This blew my mind. It wasn’t super complicated, but there were a couple pieces of light and toasty bread sitting on the thick and slightly tangy crème fraiche and topped with the moist eggs and healthy amount of the roe. I’m not sure what the deal is with this, but it was perfect. But it was also a little small for me because I really wanted it all for myself. So instead of dessert? Another round of this. That’s how much I liked it for real.

I really love that we have this place. I would gladly eat at this restaurant if it were in any city in the country. I feel like they just keep refining everything here, from the food to the service. I’m so glad to see this place so busy. It’s much deserved.

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Avenue

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com 

Bangkok Restaurant and Jazz Bar

I met my friend @wibia for lunch the other day at Bangkok. It’s been on my list forever, but I haven’t been able to get there and I have heard pretty good things about it. They offer a lunch buffet ($9.99), and again, even though I generally pass on buffets, I thought it might be a good way to try lots of things. I feel kind of mixed on it—I am glad I tried several things because there were several things I didn’t really care for and I would have been bummed if I had ordered a whole dish of them. There were several dishes I liked, so I think I could make a more ideal single choice on a future visit.

The thing I liked the best was probably the “Ginger lover’s pork.”  It had a great ginger flavor and stood out to me from all the other things on my plate. Not sure I would order the pork with it, but I would be tempted to get the “Ginger lovers” version with chicken or shrimp (when you order the entrées on the menu, you can choose whatever protein you like, including tofu).

The green curry chicken was probably the spiciest dish, and I appreciated that considering it was a buffet and it seems like restaurants often turn down the heat under those circumstances. This one had a fair amount (although it was the only very spicy thing that I tried). It had a distinct coconut flavor and had bamboo shoots, bell pepper and basil mixed in.

The pad see ew is often one of my favorite things at Thai places and this one wasn’t bad, but a tad bland. These are wide noodles mixed with carrots, broccoli, cabbage and egg. This one was featuring tofu. I like tofu, but these bits were stir fried pretty hard and didn’t have that underlying velvety texture that I like.

The little fried things—the spring roll and crab Rangoon were good. They maintained a good crispness even after sitting on the buffet. As always, I like a bit of crunch to balance out all the other things. The tom yum (lemongrass) soup was a nice break from all the different flavors and gave you a little heat and a little brightness from the lemongrass.

There was also a stir-fried beef dish (I think it was the “Thai Spicy Basil”) that was also fine, but I am usually not a person who orders beef in stir-fry type dishes, just because it gets kind of tough. 

My least favorite thing was the pad thai. This one featured chicken. Generally, I really enjoy pad thai, but this one had a very distinctive funky taste—(maybe a lot of fish sauce?) that just sort of put me off. I am glad to know that they prepare the dish this way because I would not order it as an entrée, which I might have done before trying it.

For lunch I think I would try a full entrée of the garlic lovers, or I might splurge and get the dinner entrée of sautéed “Eggplant Thailand” with bell peppers and basil. That’s a dish I often love and would be interested to try their version. Actually, the dinner menu has a lot more entrée options that sound more interesting than the more straightforward, classic Thai entrées available as lunch specials.

As for the buffet concept, I would pass on it next time. I’m glad I did it once to try several things, but honestly, it is hard for me to appreciate the nuances of all the dishes with so many flavors on my plate. Plus, we both noticed the food, while it was constantly refreshed while we were there, was not super warm. The service was extremely friendly and attentive, and the place has a nice interior—worthy of a dinner visit, unlike many smaller Thai places. They do a very good business for lunch though, which is always a good thing in a buffet-based model. I would say a majority of people were eating from it as well. My guess is it’s a welcome change for central downtown business diners.

Has anyone else been? What about at dinner? I wonder what the crowd is like with the “Jazz Bar” part of the restaurant’s name.

Bangkok Restaurant and Jazz Bar

225 East Ohio Street

Indy  46204

317/632-9000

www.bangkokrestaurantandjazzbar.com 

Road Trip: Grace-- Chicago

I am going to write about this dinner, because I need to purge it from my mind, but I am not going to go into tons of detail about it, as I usually do because, well, I just don’t have the energy for it.

Chef Curtis Duffy is an extremely celebrated chef in Chicago—he worked under Charlie Trotter and Grant Achatz at Trio and Alinea and has been awarded two Michelin stars at both Avenues, and his current location, Grace. Hubby and I had eaten at Avenues and not really dug it, but thought it was maybe too close to when they ended up closing. Well, as it turns out, we just don’t really care for his food. And seemingly we’re the only ones. But when you spend several hundred dollars on dinner and a wine pairing and for the second time you leave the place fairly nonplussed, we have decided we’re breaking up with Chef Duffy for good.

It’s a 9-course prix fixe menu. The meal started with several little amuse items in a log. One of them was a bruleed banana which would have tasted great for dessert, but kind of killed your taste for the other things in the log. The next course, which really annoyed hubby, was a little jar filled with bits of cod, caviar, lychee and chive. They put it in a jar in the style of yogurt (why, I’m not sure) but when you opened it smoke came out. Hubby inhaled a bunch of it and it was very strong smelling. Food-wise, it wasn’t overly flavorful, which seemed to be something that carried throughout the seafood courses. They were beautiful, like the Alaskan king crab dish (that was just like one we had at Avenues) with the sugar disc that you cracked into to get to the crab below and the tai (a sea bream) with plum and chanterelles. Pretty but lacking.

The first non-seafood dish we had was probably the best of the savory courses. There was a little piece of amazingly tender and perfectly medium rare lamb with some artichoke in various forms—my favorite being the long crunchy piece of artichoke that was crispy. This one had a lot of interesting sauces and various textures. I was excited about the sweetbread course that came next, but again, it ended up kind of bland—there was a lot of crunchy grains mixed in that made the dish a little strange in texture and took away from the creaminess of the sweetbread.

The beef that came next was interesting—the pieces of beef themselves were very nice. Some raw, some roasted and I liked the crispy rice cracker type thing. The slightly sweet peanuts were good as well. There was a lemongrass flavored broth to sip alongside. It had an interesting taste, but it was just too much going on. And the sauce on the plate didn’t really do anything for me.

There were several desserts that were probably the best 3 courses in a row of the meal but still didn’t blow my mind. There was a green chartreuse course, which was a frozen herby liqueur with blueberry, ginger and mint, a peach course with almond and lemon verbena and then a final chocolate course with huckleberry and whisky. They were pretty, but again, don’t stick out a lot. There were truffles as well and honestly my favorite thing, a spicy chocolate bar that they sent us home with.

The tour of the immaculate clean and quiet kitchen after dinner was a nice touch and reminded me of Charlie Trotter, where they also gave tours.

I don’t know, I guess this chef’s style is lost on me. I have friends who rank this place very high on their “best meals” list. Honestly, I’d rather hit Bluebeard on a good night and spend a small fraction of the money.

Grace

652 West Randolph Street

Chicago, IL 60661

312/234-9494

www.grace-restaurant.com 

The North End - Revisit

This is another revisit that I feel I need to update after going back after my first post. My son and I were both excited to try the chicken at the North End again because it was just so darn good that first time. We were with my in-laws too, so we got to try a few new things as well.

We had the salmon dip starter ($8) again, which we really enjoyed the first time. For some reason, I wasn’t feeling it as much this time—I realized later it was because I didn’t have the lemon wedges to squeeze on top that I had pilfered from the oysters last time. I would potentially get this again, but it needs the lemon to jazz it up. The thick cut house potato chips are great though—super crisp and well seasoned.

We also tried the pimento cheese spread with Johnnycakes and green tomato chow chow ($7). The portions for these starters are generous. The cheese spread was a big hit with my kids as were the Johnnycakes. Unfortunately, there aren’t really enough Johnnycakes to go along with the cheese. We used some of the potato chips when we ran out. The cheese spread is pretty mild, even borderline bland, but the Johnnycakes were tender and I appreciated the little bit of acid from the tomatoes. Again, this was a dish my kids really liked.

So I was psyched for ordering my perfect combo based on figuring out what I thought were the best things. I got the half chicken with two sides ($15). I had the fries and the mac and cheese. Sadly, the chicken really let me down this time. It was very dry and had none of that amazing juiciness that it had the first time. I guess it’s just a matter of luck and hopefully this time was the aberration rather than the first time. Luckily they give you all those different BBQ sauces to try with it. I decided after trying them all again that my favorite is the “classic” because it has a nice kick of vinegar to it, but still has the thickness of a good sauce (but not so thick that it’s gloppy). The mac and cheese was consistent with the first time—it’s good and I like the addition of the rib jam to jazz it up a bit. Nothing that knocks your socks off, but solid mac. I love the fries—they are hand cut fries and are coated in smoked bone marrow butter and topped with some sliced jalapenos. And even though they are coated in butter, they somehow stay sort of firm. The bone marrow flavor gives them an extra richness. I would say top to bottom, these fries are one of the best things on the menu.

A couple of us got the cornbread as well—it is also a favorite with my kids. It has a big hunk of maple Bourbon butter on top adding to its sweetness. Again, I like it for dessert. 

So there you go, I think the sides have stayed fairly consistent and I feel like I know which ones to order. I’m sad that the chicken was disappointing (my daughter had the sliced turkey, which she also described as dry). I didn’t love the pulled pork the first time so I am not sure whether I will be motivated to go back when I don’t feel confident that I can find meat that I will really like.

The North End

1250 E. 86^th Street

Indy  46240

317/614-7427

http://thenorthendbbq.com/ 

96th Street Steakburgers - Revisit

****THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED****
96^th Street Steakburgers is a quick place that our whole family can agree on. It’s borderline fast food, but about as close as I get on a semi-regular basis. They do cook the food to order and even the French fries are fresh.

I haven’t written about it in a few years (holy moly does time fly) and since it is a fairly regular spot for us, I figured I’d do a quick revisit. The burgers are tasty—my favorite part being the special sauce they use. It’s got a little bit of tanginess to it and gives some extra depth to the burger. I get mine with cheese pickles and the sauce—hubby usually adds lettuce and grilled onions. Both options are tasty. It’s a fairly thin burger, and they cook them all the same, but the maintain a fairly juicy inside and have some crispy edges. The burgers are around $4 for a single and around $6 if you make it a combo with a drink and fries.

Like I said, the fries are freshly cut and cooked—they can vary slightly in how crispy they are, but they have a good flavor. I love it when they’re really crisp, and the last couple of times they have been. Sometimes they can be a bit greasy though. The portions are generous with the fries (our family of four usually splits two orders). My daughter loves the milkshakes (around $3) and usually gets the chocolate. 

Anyhow, it’s a good place to get a quick bite at what is basically an independently owned fast food joint. You don’t see too many of those.  The service (counter service) can be a little gruff at times, but they’re quite fast. The place never seems very crowded though. Whenever I go I wonder how they maintain such a big place on the amount of business they have.

What do you guys think of it?

96^th Street Steakburgers

4715 East 96^th Street

Indy  46240

317/844-6351

www.96thstreetsteakburgers.com 

Milktooth

Of course I have been anxious to try Milktooth and as soon as I asked my friend Suzanne if she’d meet me, she said yes yes yes! She had been to both the preview brunches at Recess and really enjoyed them. I had been trying to wait my obligatory couple of weeks, but could barely stand it.

First of all, this place is pretty darn adorable. Very shabby chic—lots of reclaimed and vintage pieces throughout, mismatched china, etc. I thought the chairs at our table looked familiar and then was told they were from the library at IU Bloomington. I probably sat in those same chairs! Even the tables were made by the chef himself from reclaimed wood. I also liked that although cute, the chairs were comfy. Also, hallelujah for a parking lot. It may not hold all the cars when the place is full, but it holds a lot of them I’m guessing. Food-wise, they’re sourcing much of the ingredients from local purveyors.

It’s a brunch place so naturally, there are eggs everywhere and I was completely overwhelmed with deciding what to order. It all sounded good. We ended up settling on the sweet tea fried chicken and biscuit ($14) from the “Classic” side of the menu and the Chilaquiles roja ($14) from the “Divergent” side of the menu. Of course we needed to try something from the “Adjacent” section as well and chose the latkes ($5).

Ok, this place lives up to the hype (and there has been a fair amount). Everything was good. Really good. If I had to choose a favorite, it was probably the fried chicken. So, here’s the set up: really good, chunky, chorizo gravy on the bottom of the bowl topped with a freshly made biscuit, several pieces of the fried chicken (my piece was a boneless thigh) and a perfectly beautiful sunny side up egg. The egg was seasoned well and the flavor of the chicken was so, so good. Rarely do I eat an egg and not want to season it a little. This needed nothing. The spices in the chicken were my favorite part and I wanted to dole out a little bit with every single bite. The biscuit was buttery and somewhat dense and the gravy gave it just the right moisture. It was all perfect together.

We also had the chilaquiles, which were made up of hunks of lamb carnitas and collard greens. Normally when I have had chilaquiles in the past, crispy tortillas were part of the dish, and this was more of a saucy meat base, but quite good. I liked the slight bitterness from the collards mixed in and when you got just the right bite with the meat, some egg (another perfect sunny side up egg), a little of the guac and sour cream on the side and a few of those julienned (very lightly pickled perhaps?) radishes, it was a wonderful bite. I only wished for a bit more of the sour cream to go around with every bite. It was the kind of dish that could be very spicy, but this wasn’t. It had good spice flavors, but not in the hot kind of way.

The giant potato latke was fantastic. It was super crisp on the edges, but not in the least bit burned. It had a wonderful buttery taste to the potatoes and the drizzles of harissa ketchup and aioli were perfect. A little spicy kick to a familiar ketchup flavor and a little bit of tanginess from the aioli.

I am amazed at the amount of staff working here—they have got baristas making their special coffees (my macchiato was delicious although I did sorta want two sugar cubes vs. the one they brought me when I asked for sugar) and there was one person who looked like he spent most of the time pressing fresh OJ. We sat near the bar where you could watch every dish come out of the busy open kitchen and wish you had ordered that too. The place is lovely to look at and so is the food. And the flavors measure up to the presentation. I can see some people potentially complaining about the portion sizes being small though, although I found them just fine. I found the “modifications are politely declined” wording on the menu fine as well, but am a person who is happy to eat a dish the way the chef wants to prepare it. Others might be less so, but go in knowing this is not your average “2 eggs any style/choice of meat/choice of bread” kind of diner. Put yourself in their hands though, and I think you’ll be happy. I certainly was.

Milktooth is a great addition to Indy’s food scene. And how badly did we need a great brunch spot (and there’s booze too)? I hope maybe they add a night or two of service because I’d be happy having dinner here as well. 

I am anxious to hear what people think about this place and how your experiences have been (and what you ate!), so leave me a comment and let me know.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com 

Souper Bowl

Every time I write about pho, someone mentions Souper Bowl in Westfield to me. Obviously, I needed to try it so I got my friend Suzanne to go check it out with me since she lives on the north side and is always up for a food adventure. We always order too much food, and this day was no exception.

We started with the fried tofu and the avocado rolls ($3.25). I had never seen an avocado roll on a menu (at least that I can remember) so I was intrigued. It was a cold Vietnamese-style spring roll filled with mainly rice noodles and some crunchy herbs as well as a couple of slices of avocado. It was just okay, not my favorite thing just because it didn’t have a lot of inherent flavor and the thick peanut sauce served with it was a little too much. They were too plain on their own, but all you could taste was the peanut sauce if you did use it.

I think we both liked the fried tofu much better—they were very simple and just the right size (and really, really hot). There was the right amount of tofu to fried exterior ratio. Plus we almost always order this dish when we’re together eating at a restaurant that offers it. It’s kind of a tradition. The one thing I didn’t like about it was they served it with just a standard sweet and sour (read: sweet) sauce, which isn’t my favorite. Usually when I’ve had it, it’s served with a light fish broth, which I prefer. I just used a dash of soy instead. But the tofu itself was tasty.

I order the sliced beef pho ($7.65) and Suzanne ordered the Banh Mi ($3.95). The pho was very good. I liked that the smaller portion wasn’t as overwhelming in amount as it sometimes is—I can never finish those huge bowls. Pho is really about the broth and this one was nice and rich and beefy. There was a fair amount of the very thin sliced beef and lots of the rice noodles. There was a fair amount of really thinly sliced onions in there as well and a smattering of green onions. The side plate was simpler than some-mostly bean sprouts with some Thai basil, a couple of slices of jalapeno and a lime wedge. There was not a lot of the basil and no cilantro, which is also good with it. I threw all of it in (well, not all the bean sprouts) and slurped away. 

Suzanne and I shared both so I also got to sample the Banh Mi. It was also well done, although the bread didn’t have that super flaky texture of others I have had in the past. There was a thin layer of the pate-type spread and some thinly sliced pork. The sandwich was dressed with lots of fresh bean sprouts, sliced cucumber, julienned carrots and a bit of cilantro that were light dressed in a slightly tangy dressing. It was a tasty sandwich (and extremely reasonably priced). I would have liked maybe just a bit more meat on it, but for that price, you can’t really complain. Overall I liked the pho better but Suzanne liked the sandwich better, so there you go.

I also ordered a limeade club soda ($2) that was fantastic. They make fresh (and tart) limeade and then mix it with soda. What a great accompaniment to this type of food. And you know me, add some tart, tangy drink on the side and I’ll be happy. 

If this place was in my neighborhood (and hey, it’s Vietnamese in Westfield!), I would easily visit again. The menu is large and there’s a lot to try.

Souper Bowl

112 East Main Street

Westfield, IN 46074

317/399-7858