Oakley's - Revisit

Indy has a lot of really good restaurants these days and Oakley’s is certainly one of them.  I like that it is consistently good (even if every dish doesn’t always completely wow me) and the service is professional and the menu gets mixed up a fair amount.  It’s been around a long time but manages to stay fresh and maintain a high level of quality.

I was with friends and we ended up sharing a bunch of the small plates—totally one of my favorite ways to eat. I love eating with people who are willing to share. The first round, we ordered the deviled eggs ($5)(I’m a sucker), the oyster rolls ($11.25 for 3) and the Creole gnocchi ($12.75).  I loved the Creole gnocchi. There were several pieces of the gnocchi (but not a ton) as well as crawfish etouffee.  The little crawfish tails were really tasty and similar in size to the gnocchi.  The whole dish was in a spicy seasoned sauce—but not “hot and spicy,” just true New Orleans style spicy. It was really well done.

The oyster sliders were interesting.  They were not what I expected. The oysters were pounded flat and then fried and stuck inside the bun with some apple slices as well as a sauce (we had so many things even I am having a hard time remembering all the ingredients).  The buns were nice and toasty and I enjoyed them.  One was just right though, there was a fair amount of bread to them and any more would have been a little too filling for me I think with everything else we had.

The deviled eggs were also good. I do love the whole deviled egg trend, as they are one of my life long weaknesses.  These had a little piece of house made copa (which is similar to prosciutto—a cured pork with maybe a bit more fat).  The copa was crisp and stuck in the egg. There was also a little ramp kim chee on top.  They were very good.  Like I said, I love a deviled egg and these were no exception.  The thing that made these different were the things on top, not so much the seasoning in the eggs themselves which was pretty standard deviled egg (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

The next course we ordered several things including the toad in a hole salad ($10.75), which is one of my perennial favorites at Oakley’s, and anywhere, really.  It is a crisp piece of brioche with a hole cut out and an egg put in and cooked runny. It was topped with lots of greens, as well as some pieces of asparagus, prosciutto, artichokes, pickled grapes, cheese and with a truffle vinaigrette and some dots of a red pepper sauce.  It was really good. I loved the slight sourness from the artichokes and the pickled grapes. Really nice with the rich bread and egg.  They do a nice job dressing things and making sure salads don’t come across as dry or unbalanced (and they are so pretty too).  Veggie-wise, we also had a side of the roasted Brussels sprouts, which are some of the best I have had—they were quartered and roasted with some bits of pancetta (if I am remembering correctly) they were exactly the right amount of roasted so that they were cooked all the way, and not burnt, and amazingly crisp on the outside which a nice bit of salt. I could eat another bowl right now.  We also ordered the harvest salad which had beets and fennel I believe, but I only had one small bite, so I’m not really really qualified to write about it.

We also shared the scallop appetizer-- it was also really beautiful and really tasty.  The scallops were perfectly cooked and I did not get any little bits of sand in any of the parts I ate (I have bad luck with this). It was a hearty sauce and there was more of the copa served with it.  It was described as having melted leeks, but I only noticed a few maybe on the bottom of the plate.

At this point we were ready to share a couple of desserts and call it a night.  Again, we went with a classic that I have always enjoyed, the brownie with caramel corn.  The brownie is baked to order, but it is better than the typical molten chocolate cake because it is a heartier brownie. They serve it with a little crème anglaise on the side and delicious caramel corn. A great classic combo of flavors.  We also had the lemon crepes which were a special on this particular night.  They were also tasty—the crepes had a lemony filling and little cubes of lemon curd alongside. It was nice to have the two different sweet/sour flavors side by side.

I’m not sure why I often forget about Oakley’s when I am thinking about a nice dinner.  Because the food is worth remembering.

Oakley’s Bistro

1464 west 86^th Street

Indy 46260

317/824-1231

www.oakleysbistro.com

Tavola di Tosa at the Nestle Inn

Tony Hanslits is the Executive Chef at the Chef’s Academy here in town and with his wife, owns Nicole Taylor’s pasta company. He used to be the chef at a restaurant back when I lived in California called Tavola di Tosa that a lot of people in this town really liked (you have no idea how many people have told me about it) and worked at many others before that.

Apparently, he has been working in private catering as well as doing some dinners out of Nicole Taylor’s for awhile now, but from what I gather, it is very difficult to get booked with him in either place.  Luckily, a friend of mine told me about Tavola di Tosa dinners he is now doing monthly at the Nestle Inn downtown and we booked a table in February. Technically, it was supposed to be a Valentine’s dinner, so it was a little more expensive than the other dinners hosted there (this was $125 if I remember correctly, tax and tip included, but most are $85 for a multi-course, BYOB dinner).

Our first course was a gnocchi dish—not your typical potato gnocchi but gnocchi made from cheese and herbs and dusted in flour and served with a drawn butter sauce with fresh Parmesan.  They were very light and I appreciated that they didn’t overdo it on the portion size since we still had several more courses coming.   I loved the way Chef Hanslits came out and told us about each course as well. It was fun to see and hear so much enthusiasm.

I loved the next course (of course I did). It was beef Carpaccio with an arugula salad. There was red onion, Parmesan and capers giving it the salt and the crunch and the greens were nicely dressed with the right amount of acid.  The beef was so tender and delicious. My only complaint is that I wished I had more of the beef. It felt like a little bit of a tease.  But of course, there was more to come.

Next was a pasta course called Nona’s kerchief, which was similar in flavor to lasagna, although it was more petite in size.  It was a large piece of pasta that was sort of wrapped up like an envelope around cheese and then topped with marinara sauce and served on top of a creamy béchamel sauce.  It was probably the least unusual of the courses, but still tasty.

The last course before dessert was probably the favorite at the table—it was seared sea scallops with really tasty caramelized Brussels sprouts, pieces of pancetta and walnuts, all with spicy chili oil.  The scallops were cooked just right and came out smoking hot. The Brussels sprouts practically melted in your mouth.

Dessert was a flourless chocolate cake with a blood orange (and Sprite!) sauce.  I don’t really get too excited by flourless chocolate cake anymore, but it was meant to be a Valentine’s meal, so chocolate is sort of required I think.  They also sent us home with a couple of truffles as well.

After the meal Chef Hanslits came out and just sat and chatted with everyone—answering questions and telling stories.  It’s a little room (it holds seating for 12) so it was a very intimate situation and it was really fun listening to someone who obviously has extreme passion for what he does.

 

I realized before I posted this, I was going to need to book another night because I have a feeling it won’t be long before these dinners all get sold out as well. 

Tavola di Tosa at Nestle Inn

637 North East Street

Indy  46202

317/610-5200

http://www.nestleindy.com/tavola-di-tosa/tavola-di-tosa-at-nestle-inn.htm

Bagger Dave's

I met my friend @wibia the other day for lunch at Bagger Dave’s-- a mostly Midwestern chain of burger places that has recently come to Indy.  Honestly, I was kind of expecting more of a fast food kind of place, but this place is a sit down place with table service. It’s still fairly casual, but not so casual as a Five Guys, Punch, or 96^th Street Steakburgers. More along the lines of Bru Burger.  (There is also a toy train that is constantly running around the entire interior of the place, which might be a good kid thing).

They have several of their own combo burgers, or they have a sheet on the table that you can design your own the way you want ($4.19 for small).  That’s what I did.  Some of the combos sound interesting, but they all are a little toppings heavy for me.  I got the small burger (which is one patty vs. two) (also, when did one patty become “small?”).  I had it with one of their custom sauces (the “Railhouse Burger Sauce”), cheddar cheese, grilled onions and pickles.  What can I say? The burger was fine. That’s it.  It was a little dry (overworked maybe).  The sauce was like Thousand Island dressing (which I have noticed is a favorite at burger joints these days—when did that start? Has that always been a thing?).  I like it, basically slightly spicy mayo and ketchup together.   You could also choose your bun (sesame, plain, honey wheat). I kept it simple and got plain.

We also split a single order of fries ($2.59) even though the server tried to convince us we needed a double.  It was a generous portion and plenty for both of us.  The fries seemed fresh cut and were pretty tasty. I could have stood them to be a little crispier.  They weren’t bad though. We got a couple dipping sauces to try (the ranch and the horseradish ranch). Eh, I think they were better with just ketchup to be honest.

Our server was very enthusiastic, and I think also very new to serving, and hadn’t quite gotten his groove yet. He came to the table just a little too much. 

Overall, it’s a burger, and not a bad one, but not a really good one either.  I can see how it may fill a niche on this side of town though—there were a lot of business people in there having lunch.  They also have a bar in the back with what appears to be a pretty decent beer selection.  They also do “craft soda” which is an interesting concept.  My soda (I just got a diet) wasn’t very fizzy.  But if you want somewhere along that Michigan Road corridor that is kind of an “upscale casual” restaurant, that serves beer, and has a very accessible menu, you might give them a try. If you want a kick ass burger, I would go elsewhere.

Speaking of, what is your absolute favorite burger in town?

Bagger Dave’s

8840 North Michigan Road

Indy  46268

317/870-3531

http://baggerdaves.com

Taste- Revisit

I know I have written about this place several times before, but every time I write about it, someone tells me they try it for the first time because of my post. And if I can turn just one person on to Taste that has never been there before, well then my job is done. I probably go to Taste just about weekly, although I rarely write about it because I usually get the same thing.  This time, we were with my in-laws, so we got several different things and I got to try them all.

 

My classic, which is a BALT (bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato), ($7.25) was of course one of the choices.  Taste is one of the few places you can trust to get a decent tomato even in the winter.  The thing I like about this sandwich as I have said several times is that they dress the greens, and there is also their great basil aioli on there to boost the flavors of everything. The bacon is really good as well.  I love this sandwich and it will always be one of my favorites.

I also had some of hubby’s ham and egg wrap ($8.00) which is scrambled eggs, ham, cheddar cheese, red onions, greens, roasted tomatoes and roasted red pepper vinaigrette.  This thing is pretty huge, and definitely a shareable item.  A couple of things that really stand out about it—the eggs are incredibly light and fluffy—not those dense, dry things you see a lot of places.  And I really like the addition of the vinaigrette—again, it just takes what are very good ingredients up to the next level.

My mother-in-law also gave me a bite of her sandwich, the “erin.” (great name) ($7.25).  I have always been intrigued by this sandwich because she swears by it, but had never tried it.  It was also really good. It may be a potential future order for me.  It is a vegetarian sandwich with asparagus, sprouts, red onion, provolone and Swiss cheese, basil aioli and Dijon dill sauce.  Again, it’s the great and unique flavors of the sauces that make the sandwich. It takes a bunch of ingredients that I inherently like, but not sure if I would put them on a sandwich normally, and makes them really delicious.  I also liked that there was enough cheese so that the sandwich had real substance, and not too many sprouts (I don’t like sprouts when there are too many because they make the texture off.)  The asparagus gave it a unique flavor as well.

Of course we had some of the frites ($4.50) too. It’s the basil aioli dipping sauce that makes these for me.  The fries themselves are thin and crisp and nice and salty, but without the sauce I don’t know that they would be the temptation they are for me every time I go.  And one order was enough for all of us to get our fill (of course we all ordered our own sandwich which are pretty filling).  I also had one of their deviled eggs, because they are another weakness of mine.  Honestly, one sandwich with frites is enough for two people, but I was glad to get to try lots of things.  I was only a little bummed because they didn’t have the onion ring special I had seen on the menu a few times before, because I was going to get some this time since we had enough people to split them and the fries.  Anyone had the onion rings? Are they good?

Anyway, Taste is still one of my favorite places to eat lunch in Indy, and a place I always recommend to out-of-towners for lunch.  The ingredients are high quality and fresh, and they do a great job of giving standard sandwiches and dishes that extra kick to move them from good to great.  I have heard they are getting ready to open a wine bar next door as well, and I look forward to it.

Taste Cafe & Marketplace
5164 N College Ave
Indy 46205
317-925-2233
www.tastecafeandmarketplace.com

Latitude 39

Again, another new place right by our house—Latitude 39 is more of a “fun center” than a restaurant, but since we did ate a meal there (and had an appetizer while we bowled the other day), I figured it was worth a post.

First of all, I know this place is new, but every time we have been there it has been nearly empty (during the day). I am wondering how their business is doing. Who has been in the evening? I wonder if it does more business then.  (A side note, a lot of people I know do not like taking their kids there because it is so expensive—you have to rent a bowling alley by the hour on the weekends (plus shoe rental) and the prices run between $35 and $42 per hour).

We went bowling once (and with only 3 of us bowling managed to barely get in 2 games in an hour) and ordered some guacamole and chips ($8.99) and a “perfect margarita.”  The menu says they make the guac in house and it was pretty good.  You could see some nice chunks of avocado and it had some diced onions, jalapenos and tomatoes.  We all quite enjoyed it—even the kids who are very selective about the guacamole they will eat. The chips were a major letdown though. They were cold and out of a bag, and not even a particularly good bag of chips. The “perfect margaritas” (which are the top shelf margaritas at this place) were pretty tasty too.

A couple weeks later we decided to try lunch.  There were several of us, so we started with the buffalo chicken queso dip ($8.99). As it turned out, this was the best thing we had and we actually enjoyed it, despite its very orange hue.  It certainly had a distinct buffalo sauce flavor, and was very creamy (from cream cheese and cheddar jack).  There were also some nice pieces of chicken breast mixed in. The chips were the same ones as before, and thus, not overly impressive.

Hubby and I then shared the seared tuna appetizer ($10.99) as well. It was crusted in sesame seeds and served with wasabi sour cream and soy sauce.  Eh, I wasn’t overly impressed. The fish had very little flavor and a few of the pieces of fish were a little too fatty. Luckily the cabbage underneath was lightly dressed with a soy/wasabi/ginger dressing and helped season the fish a bit when you ate them together.  But all in all, I would call this one pretty bland.

My son had the cheese pizza, which he had before on a visit with someone else and claimed he really liked it. It actually looked pretty good—real thin crust, but the flavor instantly reminded me of the pizza I would get in the school cafeteria when I was a kid. I don’t know if it was the flavor of the sauce or the crust, but I couldn’t eat it (I didn’t care for it then and I don’t now).  My son did like it though and ultimately that is all that matters right?

The service was pretty bad as well. There was hardly anyone in there eating and our server disappeared for long periods of time. My daughter’s chicken quesadilla had no chicken in it, and it took us forever to get that fixed.  Hubby ordered a “Perfect margarita” again based on the last ones we had, and this time it was really bad. It tasted like they had made it with the wrong alcohol or something. It was totally off.

My thoughts are this—if we go back to bowl, I would be willing to get a couple of the appetizers—both dips were pretty good (except for the chips), but I think I would pass on eating another sit down meal at the restaurant.

I wish someone would open a really great independent place in the Castleton region. We have way too many restaurants with almost the exact same menu. Sigh.

Latitude 39

4016 East 82^nd Street

Indy  46250

317/813-6565

www.latitude39indy.com

Cobblestone Grill

We had to be over near Zionsville the other day to pick up extra cookies for my daughter’s Girl Scout troop and naturally, I took it as an opportunity to try a new lunch place in a side of town we don’t get to that often.  We decided on Cobblestone because it seemed kid friendly and was right on Main Street which we thought would be fun to walk around on for a bit.

I had heard this place had a new-ish chef and has been working on its menu lately and adding a few new twists to what is a pretty traditional menu of sandwiches, salads and a few basic entrées.  I think a lot of the new items are on the bar menu (and maybe the dinner menu?) because the lunch menu didn’t look like it had been updated in awhile.

We did ask for the bar menu and ordered the house made pretzel rolls to share from there.  The rolls were pretty good—they had the distinctive pretzel taste although not as much the smooth, sort of shiny exterior. They were chewy like a soft pretzel should be, although maybe a touch too doughy, and were served with a very strong mustard dip.  Would have loved a little salt on the outside, although you could taste a salty kick to them.  My daughter loved them. Hubby was the least impressed.

For my lunch, I had the fish tacos ($8) which are Cajun-spiced pieces of whitefish inside flour tortillas and topped with chopped onion and cilantro with salsa on the side.  I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about them, but they were pretty tasty.  The fish was heavily seasoned (in a good way) and really very tender.  Wrapped with the cilantro and onions and some of the salsa made for a nice, fairly light lunch.  The portions are large, but other than the large flour tortilla (which ideally would have been grilled a bit), you felt like you were eating fairly healthy.  And with a decent amount of flavor.

Hubby had the crab cakes ($13) which were not bad, but not great either.  I liked that they were fried really crisp on the outside, giving it a nice buttery crunch to them.  The flavor was your pretty classic crab cake, which doesn’t really excite me that much, particularly when they aren’t really that “crabby.” It was served with a creole aioli, which wasn’t bad, although overpowered the crab cakes a bit maybe.  The annoying thing was there was also what appeared to be a nice little salad on the plate, but it was totally undressed.  We asked for some vinaigrette on the side and then it was a nice combo to eat some of the salad with a bite of the crab cake.  It just seemed like a waste of the greens to serve them totally undressed.  They did serve a lemon wedge on the plate, which I guess you could have put on the greens, but it was better squeezed right on the crab cakes.

The kids both had cheeseburgers off of the kid’s menus and thought they were just okay. They looked pretty darn dry to me (hubby said they tasted like they had been frozen), so honestly I didn’t even try them.

I can see this being a decent option for lunch if you lived in Zionsville.  However, the worst part about the meal was the service.  The restaurant only had a few tables in it when we got there, but it took quite a long time to get attention throughout the meal.  Also, the décor is a bit tired—looking distinctly like late 80s/early 90s that has been pretty much untouched since then.

So Zionsville folks, what do you think of this place? And where are your favorite places to eat in Zionsville?

Cobblestone Grill

160 South Main Street

Zionsville, IN 46077

317/873-4745

www.cobblestonegrill.com

Hotcakes Emporium

My son has started requesting to go out to breakfast, and it just so happened I had a gift certificate I had won at a fundraiser, so we were off to try Hotcakes Emporium. I sort of thought it was a chain, but it turns out they just have three locations in the Indy area.  It also turns out, it is an extremely popular place on the weekends. We had to wait a bit, which wasn’t a big deal, and they were pretty prompt at getting us seated.

Seriously though, the place was jammed.  Once we got seated, the service was quite fast though.  Hubby and I got our basic standard breakfast of eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns, but one of us got pancakes and the other one toast. You have to try the pancakes in a place called “Hotcake Emporium” right?  Overall, the food was pretty straightforward breakfast food. The eggs were cooked exactly as ordered and were nice and runny inside.  The bacon was good—nice flavor, not fancy.  The hashbrowns needed to be cooked a little more crispy. (I’m curious, are there those of you out there who like your hashbrowns soft and without any crispy edges, or is this just a universal problem?) On any return visit, I would certainly ask for them well done. In fact, I think I may just start doing this with hashbrowns always. What’s the chance they are going to be TOO crispy? I digress.  They have sourdough toast which I like, and it was perfectly toasted and I liked that they ask you if you wanted it buttered or not.

Anyway, the pancakes themselves were really good. Nice and fluffy.  The only bad part was that they were sprinkled with powdered sugar, which makes them a little sweet for us. Neither of us even used much syrup with the pancakes. And the dollop of butter that comes on top tastes like it has honey in it or something. It was slightly sweet as well. So, next time (what? I’m always thinking about making something into more of the perfect experience for me) I would get a pancake because they are really good, and ask them to hold the sugar and the butter (they have regular packets of butter on the table).

My daughter had the chocolate crepes—she said, you know, for the sake of the blog. She loved them and ate just about every bite.  What’s not to like about crepes wrapped around chocolate, and drizzled in chocolate sauce and topped with melty chocolate chips.  Yes, certainly more of a dessert, but tasty. And you know up front this thing is gonna be sweet.

All in all, we were in and out in a decent amount of time despite the crowd, and the food was good, basic breakfast fare.  If it were my neighborhood, I can see repeat visits.  I am not sure how often I would drive over there otherwise.

Hotcakes Emporium

8555 Ditch Road

Indy 46260

317/254-5993

http://www.hotcakesemporium.net/

His Place Eatery

Apparently, good things come in old Waffle Houses. One of our regular go to places for margaritas and chips is La Hacienda, in an old Waffle House, and His Place is also in an old Waffle House. I love that they giant Waffle House sign is still visible behind the place too.  They have cleaned it up and given it a bright coat of paint.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the place half full at 11:30 when we got there, and get this; it was actually WARM in there! So rare in this town.

So I have been stalking this menu online because of the fried chicken, and knew that’s what I wanted to get.  They have many other menu options though including fried fish, rib tips, fried pork chops and the option of waffles with your fried chicken.  They have a great little lunch special for $6.99 which includes one of the entrees (with chicken you get two pieces of white or dark or 4 chicken wings), a side, and either white bread or homemade corn bread (like that’s even a decision).  So we each got one of these lunch plates, but I had to add an additional side in order to try as much as possible, which turned my lunch into a dinner which are $9.99.

I had the dark meat chicken (one leg, one thigh) and hubby had the 4 chicken wings.  The chicken was really good.  Super moist and tender—not overcooked, not undercooked, and the crust was of the deep fried type.  It was nice and crusty and little bits of it fell all over the place when you ate it.  It wasn’t super-highly seasoned, but you could taste a bit of seasoning in it (and you could see the flecks of pepper). It was very good, solid fried chicken.  Even hubby’s wings weren’t dried out.  I think we decided next time we would get one order of dark and one of white and switch so we could each have one piece of each type.

As for sides, hubby was bummed that they were out of greens that day (and apparently so were some other people around us, which made us just want to try them even more next time), but between us, we tried the mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and creamed corn with Bourbon.  First of all, the clear standout that we were fighting over was the corn. It was really good. It was whole corn kernels, bits of chopped onion and peppers, in a creamy sauce that included a hint of Bourbon (and parmesan cheese).  It was really good—the Bourbon gave it a nice, rich flavor and the cheese a little extra creaminess. This stuff is a must order.  My next favorite was probably the mac and cheese—it is homemade with several kinds of cheese. It was nice and smooth and cheesy, but it could have used a touch more seasoning. A bit of salt and pepper helped.  They also offered hot sauce. Probably should have thrown a bit on there too.  My least favorite was the mashed potatoes.  In fairness, I asked for them without gravy, which is probably a bad idea—they were pretty dry.  They were freshly made with bits of skin in them. I like my mashed potatoes creamy and gravy-free so I would take a pass on them next time (because I am totally getting the corn anyway). The cornbread was in the form of little muffins and was really good.  It was nice and moist with just the right amount of crumbly-ness.

The people in this place are great. Our server was really nice and immediately upon sitting down warned us what they were out of, which I appreciated so I didn’t get my heart set on anything (there are several items that they don’t make every day apparently—luckily I don’t think the corn is one of them). The food was out very quickly and I enjoyed the way the chef/owner walked around and talked to everyone in the place when he wasn’t cooking.  He obviously has a nice crew of regular customers. He recognized pretty quickly that we were new and welcomed us and made sure we knew about signing up for email offers, facebook and twitter.  He is obviously working hard to make his business a success and based on his crowd, I think he is doing a pretty good job. We certainly plan on returning.

His Place Eatery

6916 East 30^th Street

Indy   46219

317/545-4890

http://www.hisplaceeatery.com/home.htm

Pearl Bistro

Pearl Bistro is a place that has been on the list forever, after a food-loving friend had recommended it to me for dinner.  I am not sure why it always slips my mind, but I finally managed to get over there for lunch with a friend the other day.

The menu is pretty straightforward—several salads, several appetizers and sandwiches, etc.  They also apparently have daily specials, which is what we ended up with after hearing about them.  We also agreed to completely split everything in half because we both wanted both things.  We had the special Greek salad with spanakopita.  I really enjoyed this dish.  I mean, it was simple, and exactly as described, but was well done.  It was greens with feta, red onion, black olives, a few pieces of tomato (they were actually red) and two triangles of spanakopita (cheese and spinach wrapped in filo dough).  At first it seemed under dressed because the dressing was sort of drizzled on top rather than tossed (nothing makes me happier than a tossed salad) but once you sort of figured it out and mixed it in a bit, it  had a great flavor—nice and tangy.  The spanakopita was also really good.  Just the right amount of crispiness and the right amount of spinach and cheese filling. Again, fairly straightforward, and very enjoyable.  And it felt like you were eating a fairly healthy lunch as well.

We also had the daily quiche special which on this day was spinach and goat cheese ($8.50).  You have your choice of a salad on the side or soup, and we chose the soup (since our other entrée was based around a salad).  I even asked for an extra bowl and spoon so we could split it down the middle. We had the special soup of the day, cream of broccoli, which we both agreed we enjoyed because it wasn’t overly cream heavy, and I liked that it had nice chunks of broccoli in it (I like soup with at least a little texture to it).  It was maybe a little bland, and could have used a bit more seasoning, but soup is always good on a cold day (which it was).  I would say maybe the quiche also suffered a bit from underseasoning, although I did enjoy the bites with the goat cheese in it (and there was a decent amount of goat cheese in it).  They had the nice tangy kick of the cheese.  It wasn’t bad, but I think I would try something else next time (and I probably shouldn’t order quiche as much because I am learning I am sort of picky about my quiche).

We also shared a dessert which was bread pudding with a Bourbon sauce and which was pretty tasty as well, although I was pretty full at this point, so I just tried a few bites. My lunch date seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.

I actually managed to get back one more time before I posted this review and had the veggie melt with spinach, tomatoes, red onion, provolone and cheddar grilled on their housemade focaccia. I really enjoyed this on a cold day as well--it was nice and warm and melty--and I enjoyed the flavor of the focaccia. You could taste the olive oil and slight saltiness.  The bread alone made it for me (they make most of their bread in house). They also do a combo of housemade chips from potato, sweet potato and beets. I really enjoyed this super thin, nearly transparent, crispy chips.  They were light and tasty. Again, the meal was straightforward, but well done.

All in all, I liked this place.  There was nothing about the food that made it jump out at you, but it was solid, and fresh, and well done.  The place had a decent business mid-week including several guys having lunch on their own.  Once a month they offer Sunday brunch, which I am always looking for (and you can bring kids as well). It’s a cute little place with friendly service and simple, well-executed food.

I don’t hear people talk about it too much though, curious about what you guys think.

Pearl Bistro

1475 West 86^th Street

Indy  46260

317/876-7990

http://www.pearlbistro.biz/

Drake's

I had actually heard decent things about this place food-wise from several people, including my parents, who really enjoyed certain sushi menu items when they ate at the branch in Lexington. I have also had several readers recommend it. 

The first time we went, it was just hubby and I, and we ordered off the sushi menu.  We had the New York roll ($11.95) and the tempura shrimp roll ($7.95).  They were both very good.  I was impressed with the quality of the fish, and the quality of the rolls.  They were straightforward, but not so plain that they were boring.  The shrimp tempura roll was the fried shrimp and avocado inside, and a drizzle of eel sauce and a dusting of sesame seeds on top.  The eel sauce gave it the right moisture and a slightly sweet flavor and the shrimp the crunch I like.  The New York roll was tuna and avocado inside and tuna on top (I also asked them to put a little tempura bits on it, which they put on top).  It was very good as well.  The fish was fresh and cut exactly to the right thickness and the rolls were bite-sized.  We were both quite pleased.  They weren’t overly complicated but well done. 

Shortly after, we decided we needed to go back and try some of the non-sushi items and see how they were. We took the kids one day for lunch.  We started with a tempura California roll ($7.50) (ok, not all non-sushi) which is your basic California roll (crab, cucumber and avocado inside) but the whole roll was then tempura fried.  It was after eating this fried roll that I have come to the conclusion that I do not like deep fried rolls.  I always think it might be good thing because I do like a bit of crunch in my rolls, but this is just too much. For me, all you can taste is the crust—you can no longer taste all the ingredients inside.  And I think they did a good job with them.  If you like California rolls, a regular non-fried one might be a worthwhile option.

I ordered the California grilled chicken sandwich ($8.99).  In words, and in theory, and mostly in actuality, I liked the sandwich.  It had a ton of stuff going on though.  There was the chicken which was marinated and had a distinct char grilled taste, and there was guacamole, greens tossed in vinaigrette, tomato, blue cheese, bacon, mayo and Dijon mustard.  It was served on heavily toasted sliced white bread.  I appreciated that the lettuce was dressed and tangy, and the guac was pretty good. The tomato had to be immediately removed due to its white color tinge.  The blue cheese was plentiful as was the mustard—there were large mustard seeds evident.  A lot of strong flavors in generous portions. Overall I was good with it because I really like all the flavors.  The chicken, however, was pretty darn dry and overcooked which kind of blew it, although if it had been tender I would have really enjoyed this extremely messy sandwich.  I got tater tots because they sounded good and they were (and I was glad because the fries were crinkle fries which I almost never like).  Everyone in my family wanted my tots.

Hubby had the small Tavern burger ($7.49) (their burgers come in 2 sizes, small and regular, which I appreciate). This burger is topped with grilled onions, pepper jack cheese and remoulade.  This one was a miss. The burger was tough and way overcooked.  It really wasn’t worth eating and hubby pretty much just shared my sandwich.

My daughter had the mini cheeseburgers ($4.99) which pretty much suffered the same fate as hubby’s although she isn’t as picky about it.  She ate one of the two though and was done.  My son had their mac and cheese ($3.99) and didn’t like it. But he is kind of weird about his mac and cheese. This one didn’t have a ton of flavor though.  He ended up eating the other one of my daughter’s mini cheeseburgers.

So Drake’s is the latest of several very similar restaurants opening in the same location on 82^nd Street. A sports bar with TVs, a large menu, working toward attracting a younger crowd I think (and I am not talking about my kids).  You can pretty much guarantee the older people are going to be turned off by nearly every table basically being a bar stool or a high wooden bench. (My parents are scheming about bringing in a couple of stadium chairs so they can enjoy their favorite crab Rangoon roll with a back on their seats).  I think there are 2 chairs in the whole place that have a back and they are in front of the fireplace.  Maybe that’s the point, keep the old people out by making the seating hideously uncomfortable.  As for service, both our servers seemed quite indifferent to the whole idea of waiting on people and seemed a little bored to be there.  To be fair, there were a few enthusiastic people working in there, thank goodness, or we never would have gotten refills on our drinks (which for some reason are JAM PACKED with ice).

Overall, if you are going to eat here, I would recommend the sushi. They have a separate little sushi kitchen and they do a good job.  My guess is that at some point we will return. I liked the big garage doors in the front—it could be fun on a nice day. And there were a lot of people in there watching basketball on the afternoon we went with the kids, so I think that watching sports here is a big draw as well. Too bad about the chairs though. They make hubby cranky.

Drake’s

3740 E. 82^nd Street

Indy 46240

317/436-7531

www.drakescomeplay.com

Meridian - Revisit

My in-laws were in town, and when we have a chance to go out to dinner with them without the kids, we try and let them pick a place that they want to go—this time they really wanted to try Meridian and we were happy to oblige.  I was surprised how hard it was to get a reservation on the night we went, but as it turned out there was a Butler game and various theater events, so that was the reason why.  

I wasn’t even going to write about the meal because it hasn’t been that long since I wrote about it—but by the end of the meal, we were all sufficiently impressed that I felt like it merited a new post (this also explains why there aren’t as many pictures) (and sorry they're so dark). 

Hubby and I started with the beef tartare ($13.75)—so far it is the best version I have found in Indy in a restaurant (although this one was definitely smaller than the last time we had it). There was the beef, with a decent amount of capers and onions mixed in, some garlic mayo and little crunchy chickpeas with diced tomatoes. There is also a raw quail egg on top.  Everything mixed together (keep those crispy chickpeas to themselves though so they don’t get mushy) is great. And if you squeeze them lemon wedge they serve with it on top, it is near perfection.  You have the salty taste of the capers and chickpeas with the acid from the lemon and the tomatoes and the extra creaminess of the egg and the mayo and well, it just is really well balanced. I like the crisp grilled flatbread they serve with it as well. It has a little flavor to it but doesn’t detract from the rest of the ingredients.

My in-laws had the fried oysters Rockefeller ($12.25) which have been on the menu as long as I can remember.  These were really good this night—the oysters were small and very crispy.  You got a little smokiness from the small pieces of bacon and there was just a touch of creamed spinach and some hot sauce.  A classic dish that Meridian is still doing very well.

Hubby and I shared a salad—it was Bibb lettuce, sliced Fuji apples, walnuts and Danish blue cheese with a herb walnut vinaigrette ($8.75). It was really good. I appreciated that they split it for us in the kitchen so that we got an even amount of the goodies and dressing.  It had just the right amount of toppings in relation to the lettuce, and the right amount of dressing as well. Blue cheese and walnuts are one of my favorite combos, so this was a great salad for me. Hubby liked it a lot as well.

Hubby had the salmon entrée ($26.50) (well, we shared our entrees) and it was outstanding. Probably the best dish on the table.  It was Skuna Bay salmon with a potato hash, leek fondue, and asparagus and artichokes.  Hubby asked for the salmon to be cooked medium rare, which they did perfectly.  The potato hash was little fried diced potatoes which were still hot and crunchy (yay! texture!) and then the leek fondue gave it a little creamy sauce and the bits of artichoke and asparagus the right amount of veg.  The sauce had a distinct lemony flavor (yay! acid!).  All ingredients I love and it all went perfectly together. I would get this again in a heartbeat.

The dish I ordered was actually the biggest disappointment of the evening. It was actually a starter on the menu.  They called it “Bacon and eggs” ($13.25) and it was a slice of pork belly, cheddar grits, a sunny side up egg and sweet and sour Brussels Sprouts.  I was kind of excited about this dish because I had a similar thing last time with eggs and grits and shrimp that was really nice. The addition of the sweet and sour Brussels sprouts had me intrigued.  The egg was good and the grits were good—but the pork belly was quite dry and the Brussels sprouts were just not cooked enough. They were seared on the edges, but they were just too hard. It was a bummer because I think this could be a really cool combo. Maybe if they par cooked the sprouts or something.

My mother-in-law had the turbot (which is a mild, white fish) ($42) and it was also very good. I only had a couple of bites so it is hard for me to discuss it too much—and there was a lot going on. There was the fish, prosciutto wrapped prawns, beets, leeks, asparagus I think and kumquats. I loved the kumquats—they were sliced really thin and definitely gave it that tangy bite that I like.  I was a little surprised by how much more expensive it was than the rest of the entrées when I glanced at the bill, and that they didn’t mention the price when they told us about it.  But maybe I am just being picky (and I wasn’t paying so I guess I shouldn’t complain).  I also had a bite of my father-in-law’s boar Bolognese that was also very good.  I am a sucker for fresh pasta. We all shared a side of the fries as well, which are really, really good fries.

Hubby and I shared a different dessert this time (often being lured in by the fresh doughnuts which are always good). We had the butterscotch brulee ($7) which was a butterscotch pudding that was caramelized on top. My favorite part was when you dug down into it; you came up with bits of shortbread cookies. That was a nice surprise and we both enjoyed it.

Overall, I think Meridian is doing some really good food.  The place was jam packed. I have always loved the interior, and our service was great on this visit.  In fact, at one point when the air conditioning actually came on next to our table (and it was cold outside) I asked our server if she could ask them to turn it off and she actually did.  Usually they kind of look at you and say they will try and nothing changes. I was impressed.

Meridian is going back into our rotation.  Have you been lately? What did you think?

Meridian

5694 N. Meridian

Indy 46208

317-466-1111

www.meridianonmeridian.com