Road Trip - 610 Magnolia, Louisville, KY

Man.  You know those meals you can’t stop thinking about? This was so one of them.  I have been looking forward to writing about this since I ate the meal.  610 Magnolia is set in a inconspicuous old house—honestly, other than the little lighted numbers, you wouldn’t even know there was a restaurant in there. You walk in to a very warm, inviting environment though (I really didn’t know what to expect based on the exterior). Lots of wood and dark slate gray.  I liked the feel of it right away. You knew you were in a nice place, but I don’t think anyone would feel out of place regardless of how they are dressed.

Chef Edward Lee has quite the accolades. He has won Iron Chef, was a favorite on Top Chef, and is on the list of James Beard semi-finalists for best Chef in the Southeast region.  And the food, well, the food speaks for itself.  It is a three or four course set price menu (3 courses are $55, 4 courses are $65). They also do a wine pairing ($45 and $55 depending on how many courses you get). You have a choice from at least 3 options for each course, and this was a menu that was hard to choose because so many things sounded good. Luckily hubby and I are very good at sharing and we ordered different courses the entire way through and split them.

The first course was actually an amuse bouche, so in the end you got a little extra.  This included 3 little things—a crisp Brussels sprout leave with chestnut puree, a slice of daikon with hummus (great rich flavor in the hummus) and a little sandwich with pork belly. This little bite was rich, and meaty and really delicious.

Our first ordered courses were lobster bisque and the raw Ahi tuna.  The tuna was so interesting—two sliced of beautiful fresh tuna topped with pieces of lardo (essentially thin cut pork fat). It was served in a chestnut and bay leaf sauce with a bourbon soy glaze and bacon powder.  I was sort of wondering how these flavors would blend with the tuna, but everything was amazing. The tuna was fresh and light, but the other things complimented it well turning it into a rich, decadent dish.  The bisque was also really good, and had a little lobster salad with pieces of lobster and greens.  It had nice little spicy kick to it to, making it stand out from other lobster bisques I have had.

Before I forget, they had a lovely bread service as well—both visually and taste wise.  The sliced bread from the local Blue Dog bakery (which we have enjoyed immensely in other restaurants in Louisville as well) was served in a little wooden basket and accompanied by soft tarragon butter that was amazing.

The next course was Carpaccio and a salad.  Both were really great, but honestly, as much as I love Carpaccio, I may have even liked the salad more.  It was local Bibb lettuce with little patties of warm blue cheese alongside.  There were julienne pieces of apples, hazelnut brittle, bacon, and a fennel vinaigrette.  I loved the way the blue cheese was warm, because it really brought out its flavor.  And the sweetness of the apples and brittle were great with it.  The Carpaccio was also really good.  The beef was thinly sliced on the bottom, with shaved foie gras all over the top. There was a little salad as well, and bits of crisp shallots and the most amazing little fried capers that were totally light and crunchy.  The salad was dressed with a light vinaigrette and had mustard oil as well.  For me, mustard is the perfect flavor to go along with Carpaccio, and they did it a very refined, but delicious, way.  Loved the additional richness from the foie gras, as if the perfect raw beef wasn’t enough.

The main dishes for us were the salmon and the wild boar.  I will have to say, this was the only course I had a hard time sharing because the salmon was so, so good.  (I am showing you a picture of it as served as well as after I deconstructed it a bit, just so you can see all the amazing looking ingredients that are kind of hidden in the initial presentation.) Wow, a perfectly cooked piece of fish on top of roasted fingerling potatoes—perfectly tender and perfectly crisp on the outside. The whole thing was topped with a pistachio brown butter puree and served on top of a nice little pile of melted leeks and Meyer lemon.  All of my favorite things. Melty soft, mild leeks, a nice lemony sauce, but with the little bit of sweetness that Meyer lemons have.  And beautiful potatoes.  There was also a nice side of broccolini.  I appreciated the well-balanced meal. And this main dish was quite a fair portion.

The boar was also very good—I don’t know if I have ever had boar in the form of chops. They were maybe cooked just a little further than I generally like meat, but had a nice, just barely game-ish flavor.  There was also an amazingly tender piece of boar shoulder that was really the star of this dish, even though the chops made it look impressive. There was also a black-eyed pea ragout which hubby loved—super flavorful beans, as well as some greens.  The dish was also flavored with rosemary and Guinness.  Really hearty, rustic type of meal.  Unusual in its main ingredient, but very comforting and familiar flavor profile.  Still, if I went back to the same menu, there is no way I would not order that salmon.

We just got one dessert to share (one of us got 3 courses, one got 4) and it was also very good (I am telling you this is one of the best top to bottom meals I have had in quite awhile.)  While we toyed with the idea of the cheese plate option, we ended up with the lemon panna cotta, probably because of the passion fruit element, which hubby and I are both suckers for.  It had a passion fruit cream, macadamia caramel, yuzu candy, yogurt and kaffir ice cream.  Loved all the tangy, fruity flavors going on in this dish, including in the ice cream. They also topped us off with some Bourbon chocolate bon bons just to give us the final chocolate pop. Perfect.

The wine pairings were great as well, and because they have a retail license as well, you can buy any bottles you particularly like—for us, that was nearly all of them, so we came home with several bottles of wine. I like being able to try them later in isolation to see if we like them as much as we remember.  So far, we do.  The service was also great—our server was super personable, not being snooty at all, but was happy to discuss anything on the menu, and to wonder with us about a table next to us that abruptly got up and left before ordering anything.

It was a great evening of great food and a wonderful experience. We are already planning a trip back with a group of friends because I want to share this one with some other people.

610 Magnolia

610 Magnolia  Ave

Louisville, KY  40208

502/636-0783

www.610magnolia.com

Brozinni - Revisit

Hubby and I were headed down to Louisville, and it was with all good intentions that I was going to try a new place. I swear. But then were thinking about how long it had been since we had been to Brozinni and the more we talked about it, the more we needed to go.

It was a Saturday though, and apparently they do table service on Saturdays—so we sat down and waited to be waited on. There was no need to peruse the menu; we knew exactly what we wanted.

We started with a small order of garlic knuckles ($2.50) (you get 4 knuckles) and then our slices (I think mine was $3.75 and hubby’s was $4.00).  The knuckles are little twists of pizza dough that are sitting in a huge amount of garlic butter.  Honestly, it’s the butter that makes these things so freakin’ good, and you really have to get it to have the butter to dip your pizza crust in.  The pizza is New York style—thin crust, but not too thin, and huge foldable slices.

For my slice, I got my classic, mushrooms and red onion, which they have to make up for me, but they just take a cheese slice and add the veggies and a little more cheese. I love that the onions are chopped fine and you get some in every bite.  I love that the sauce is savory, and there is just the right amount of it, and I love the chewy, but slightly puffy crust. I love this pizza.

Hubby had sausage, pepperoni, and mushroom, which was one of the ones that were pre-made. He thoroughly enjoyed it, but decided he actually liked mine even more just because it is so hard to get a pizza in this town with just the right amount of red onions on it like this one.  I think he’ll be getting what I had next time. 

The slices are pretty darn big (think two regular triangular pieces of pizza put together) and for me (and hubby too), one of them plus a couple knuckles is more than enough for lunch. And like I said, one of my favorite parts is dipping the edges of the crust into the garlic butter.

When people ask me what my favorite pizza is in Indy, I always say Brozinni. It had been awhile since I had been there though, so I always worry that things might have gone downhill. I think this was pretty much a perfect Brozinni experience. The pizza was great and the service was quick. It’s a casual place, and pretty inexpensive for what you’re getting.  I’m a fan.

Brozinni Pizzeria

8810 S. Emerson Ave

Indy 46237

317/865-0911

www.brozinni.net

Delicia

I am always excited when we get some new restaurants in town—and I think so is everyone else around Indy based on the hype that nearly every new place seems to get these days online. Or maybe the PR people are just earning their money.  Anyway, I waited as long as I could (I try to wait at least a couple of weeks) and hubby and I went to check out Delicia.

The first thing you notice about Delicia (other than the slightly problematic parking shortage in that area) is that the restaurant has a really modern, and quite buzzy feel to it. So far, they don’t take reservations (hopefully that will change eventually), and even at 6:00, the place was pretty well near capacity.  This makes me happy because I think it shows how enthused Indy people are for new places—and even places with menus slightly out of the ordinary such as the “new Latin” menu served here.  Prepare yourself for a loud night, not a quiet date place, but it is certainly a very social spot.

Before we had our drinks, they brought us an amuse bouche of a soup that had a nice, spicy (not chili pepper hot, but spicy) flavor. My only warning on this one--the cups they brought us were so darned hot, it burnt my tongue which was a little bit of a bummer at the start of a meal.  So be careful. Or blow on it or something.  Anyhow, we moved on to a margarita ($8) and the ceviche appetizer ($11).  The margarita was very limey, maybe a little tart for me, but actually seemed to get better as you drank it.  The ceviche was also very limey, but in this case, seemed appropriate and I really enjoyed it (it cooled off my mouth a bit too which was nice).  There was limed-marinated white fish, octopus, scallops and a large shrimp (that we cut up and mixed in) as well as hunks of avocado, tomatoes, onion and peppers.  It was good—if it needed anything, maybe just a touch more heat.  Make sure you dig down to the bottom of the bowl to get all the flavors in the marinade that sinks to the bottom. I think this dish is a good one to have alongside some of the other dishes to give that fresh citrus flavor profile with all the heartier richer, meat-based dishes.

ceviche

sopes

The next thing we had was the sopes de pato ($8).  These were really very good as well.  Totally different from the ceviche, they were little slight crisp corn cups topped with shredded duck that was slow cooked in a tomato and habanero sauce.  They were topped with a bit of a spicy crema, some sprinkles of cheese, and slices of radish and jalapeno.  The duck had rich flavor—if you didn’t know, you might even think it was pork. They had a fair amount of spice to them. These were hubby’s favorite item of the evening.

We were kind of going on a small plates theme because we were having a hard time deciding what to get, so the next thing we tried were the tostones ($13).  These were little cakes made of plantains that were served with a bowl of sausage meatballs topped with red onions and a dish of chimichurri sauce.  Basically, this was one that  you were supposed to top yourself. This was the weakest of the dishes for us, although certain parts of it were very good.  The tostones (the little cakes) were cold and tasted a little stale on their own.  The chimichurri was a little too oily and didn’t have a lot of herby flavor.  Hubby really enjoyed the meatballs on their own, and they had a spicy kick to them. I loved the pickled red onions served on top of them and used them all up on our last savory dish (and the only full entrée we ordered), the empanadas.

tostones

empanadas

The empanadas ($16) were fairly straightforward, but turned out to be another of our favorites. They are large pockets of puff pastry filled with shredded beef , Chihuahua cheese, and drizzled with habanero cream.  The pastry was cooked just right so it maintained its flaky texture but without being really dry, which I find to be the case with empanadas.  And man, when you threw some of those pickled red onions on top, it was delicious. (I will be from here on out asking for some of those on the side, particularly if I order that dish.)  I would happily order this dish again, although there are two of the empanadas and they are quite large, so it is a good dish to share.  The herb rice on the side didn’t do much for me—I didn’t find it had a lot of flavor.

We also tried the churros (which are sort of like tubular shaped crunchy doughnuts) with chocolate ($6), which I thought were just ok.  I mean, dipping something crunchy and sweet (with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg) into dark, slightly spicy chocolate can’t be all bad, but the churros themselves were inconsistent.  One would be super crisp and one would be sort of soft. Honestly, it was hard to tell which was the one they were going for.

All in all, Delicia is a great addition to Indy’s food scene. It’s something different, and judging by the crowds, I think Indy wants that (hear that all you burger/pizza/wings places??).  It is a really nice modern interior (although the lamps in the bar area, which are cute, are hung a little low considering how many people I saw bumping into them/wearing them on their heads). The feel of it and the energy of the crowd reminds me of a restaurant you might see in Chicago. One other comment on the interior though-- I am hoping they are planning on some light dimming shades for the front windows because the sun coming through at sunset is brutal.  The service could use some polishing as well, as it was spotty throughout the night, particularly in regards to drinks.

I do look forward to going back and trying some of the other options on the menu. Several of you have mentioned this place to me already, and there are several reviews out there already.  Tell me what you’ve had and what you liked so I can plan accordingly next time.

Delicia

5215 N. College Ave

Indy  46220

317/925-0677
https://www.facebook.com/DeliciaIndy

Brockway Pub

Met up for lunch with my friend @wibia the other day and we decided to try Brockway.  The one thing about going to lunch with him is that he has to go to places that aren’t too girly (he says fruit is not an appropriate side dish) which I guess is good because it makes me try places like Brockway.  Brockway is a pub first and foremost, and has a very traditional Irish pub menu. There are some interesting items on the menu I would like to try, but I figured if I got anything too out of the ordinary, someone would probably yell at me for trying something weird and not trying the fish and chips ($9.65) which is listed as one of the house specialties.

So I ordered it and was quite pleased with the fish.  Honestly it is probably some of the better fish and chips I have had in Indy.  Just the way I like it-- they use a beer batter that was really nice and crisp.  You could really taste the beer and you could taste that they were well seasoned—it was a little salty, and that is just how I prefer my fried fish (I usually salt them or use vinegar and these didn’t need it).  The fish itself was very tender and moist and was thick cut pieces.  Using skinny fish in fish and chips almost always seems to create a dried out piece of fish.

The chips were the thick, flat steak fries that I have never really been a fan of, even if they are the traditional accompaniment to fish and chips.  For what they were, they were cooked right, fairly crisp on the outside and nice and hot.  I only ate a couple though and might get something else as a side next time.  I was intrigued by the blue cheese slaw.  They also do house made chips (or “crisps” if you are sticking with the English vernacular).  The tartar sauce served alongside was pretty thick and chunky. Not a bad tartar sauce, but I don’t usually eat a ton of it either.  A bite of wibia’s Reuben was good, but not great. The corned beef was cut pretty thick and kind of dominated everything else.

It’s a pub, and it feels like a pub. Wooden tables, kegs of beer sitting around, and efficient (if maybe slightly gruff) service.  I would go back for the fish though and I would like to try some of the other items as well.  The rarebit sounded good.  Anyone been there? What else is good?

Brockway Pub

12525 Old Meridian

Carmel, IN 46032

317/669-8080

www.thebrockway.com (is it just me or is the menu not on the website?)

Bluebeard - Lunch

Hubby and I scheduled a nice lunch out the other day and decided to try Bluebeard.  We have been several times for dinner, and I was interested to see how the lunch menu differed.  The last meal we had there was outstanding, so we were hoping for more of that.

Bluebeard’s lunch menu features many of the items from dinner—the charcuterie, cheese and many of the “snacks.”  But they offer several sandwich options as well.  We decided to mix it up and share several things.  We started with a small portion (they call it a side) of the duck confit Caesar salad ($8).  First thing, for a small salad, this is an extremely generous portion. I can only imagine what the full portion is like.  The salad was really good. Hubby could not stop talking about how much he liked it.  There wasn’t too much in common with a traditional Caesar salad when you looked at it other than some lettuce and croutons—it was full of lots of other things—red onions, thinly sliced fennel, carrot ribbons, olives, some grated hard boiled egg, a bit of celery, and of course, the duck confit. It did have an anchovy vinaigrette, which gave it that taste similar to a Caesar.  All the crunchy earthly flavors were really really good with the salty dressing (and thankfully it was tossed and properly dressed).  Pretty sure I will have a hard time getting hubby not to order this every time (it’s on the dinner menu too).

My choice was the egg salad sandwich ($9). Now, I realize that sounds boring, but this is an exceptional egg salad sandwich.  There was the base of the egg salad, and there was also goat cheese, pickled red onions, some greens, capers and bagna cauda (which is a spread or dip that is made with anchovies and garlic).  And all of it was on nice toasty, grilled, hearty slices of Amelia’s bread.  Wow, this is a really, really good sandwich. You have the richness of the egg, the briny flavor from the capers and anchovy, and the slightly tart yet creamy taste from the goat cheese and it is a perfect combination.  All the flavors work really well to balance each other out (and it doesn’t hurt that I love all of these things).  No one taste overwhelmed the others; they were in just the right proportion.  They were served with very crunchy house made potato chips.

We also shared the carnitas tacos ($13)—there were three in a serving. They each had tons of avocado and the carnitas, meat.  There was also salsa, cilantro, a bit of cream and fresh jalapenos with limes on the side.  I have to say, this was our least favorite of the day.  Nothing really wrong with it, but the meat was a little too dry and the flavors just didn’t stand out like the other things.  There was a ton of the meat, and they needed a bit more of the toppings to meld everything together.  There was a lot of avocado, but that was about it.  Also, the limes that came with were really dry—I couldn’t get any juice out of them.  I asked for some new ones that were much better. Once you got a really nice squeeze of the lime juice, they improved a lot.  But this was one item I probably wouldn’t get again just because there are so many other delicious sounding things on the menu.

Even though we had really had quite enough to eat, we broke down and ordered dessert.  We had the zeppoles ($10) with some coffee (hubby wanted me to be sure and mention how much he liked the coffee) and tea.  Zeppoles are little fried balls of brioche dough. I guess you could call them Italian doughnut holes.  Wow, they were really delicious (and addicting).  They were really light and super hot.  I really enjoyed the 3 different dipping options they gave you—chocolate ganache, honey goat cheese, and strawberry preserves.  I couldn’t really tell you which I liked best.  And a combo of a couple was good too—I especially liked a little double dip into the goat cheese and the strawberry. Sort of like a really delicious cheesecake.  The portion was quite generous and would be great for sharing for up to 3-4 people.  The zeppoles were great, but the entire Bluebeard dessert menu looks so good.  It is one of the most original dessert menus in Indy I think, and every single thing sounds great.  I would happily eat every one.

As far as I can tell, Bluebeard just keeps growing and improving. Pretty much every visit has been successfully better and better.  Our service was spot on, and the food was very, very good. I can’t wait to see what future visits hold.

Bluebeard

653 Virginia Ave

Indy, 46203

317/686-1580

www.bluebeardindy.com

Peterson's- Revisit

I’m glad we have Peterson’s—we have so many chain steakhouses in Indy, it is nice to have one that is locally owned.  Unfortunately my steak connoisseur son will not get to try it for several years because you have to be 21 and over to eat there.  He was a little annoyed about this, as it is his personal goal to eat at all the steakhouses in town.

Anyway, we were celebrating my sister and her hubby’s birthdays and my brother-in-law loves steak, so it seemed like a good time to give it another try (my parents were with us as well).  I like the interior of the place (and hey, I am not complaining that there aren’t more kids in there). I was sort of surprised how loud it was, but it was quite busy, which is a nice thing to see.

we had already eaten 2 of them....

My sister and hubby got there before we did and placed an order for the tempura lobster fingers ($16). I have had these several times before and they are always good. How can you go wrong with freshly tempura-fried lobster? They were fresh, and tender and dipped in the accompanying honey mustard (they also give you drawn butter), they are delicious.

Hubby and I then ordered our own appetizers, the tuna tartare for me ($15) and oysters Rockefeller for hubby ($20).  My tuna was disappointing. It was just calling out for some sort of acid.  The tuna was good quality, but seemed fairly unseasoned (even though the menu describes it as “sweet chili tuna”).  There was a sweet soy type sauce underneath and some sliced daikon on top.  After eating the first chip worth, and a furtive glance around the table, I grabbed hubby’s lemon and squeezed some on my tuna. Much better.

Hubby’s oysters were great though. For classic oysters Rockefeller (spinach, cream, Romano cheese and Pernod), these are some of the best in town I think.  They oysters are a decent size, but not huge so they are still tender and easy to eat.  Very rich and creamy and well done.  I also had a bite (o.k., several) of my sister’s clam chowder ($8), which was the soup of the day. I have to say, this was really good as well. Super chunky with lots of pieces of clam and very well seasoned. Not a bit of salt or pepper necessary. It had a nice peppery bite to it.

Normally hubby and I would split a steak at this kind of place because they are usually so big, but we couldn’t agree on which to order, so he got a ribeye ($43) and I had a filet ($35).  Both steaks were really very good.  Peterson’s definitely knows steaks—they are prime and they are cooked well. Mine was so tender that I was really glad I had gotten it, even though hubby’s was very good as well (just a little firmer).  Ok, his was maybe cooked slightly beyond the medium rare he ordered, but the meat is so good, it was still very good. Honestly, I think there is a chance that they mixed up a couple of the steaks at the table because my brother-in-law ordered his slightly more cooked.

I liked the au gratin potatoes ($9) on this trip—in the past I have complained that Peterson’s sides weren’t that good, but I enjoyed these.  They weren’t’ exactly what I think of when I think of au gratin, because they were cubed and baked with cream instead of sliced, which was what I was expecting.  It also didn’t hurt that they were topped with crumbled Smoking Goose bacon. They were my favorite side.

We also ordered Brussels sprouts ($7) based on the awesome ones I had lately, and also based on more of the Smoking Goose bacon being included, but unfortunately these were too undercooked for me, and honestly, I couldn’t really taste the bacon.  They were halved, and just not cooked through.   Finally, we had some of the King crab mac and cheese ($11) which I also really enjoyed, although from what I could tell, there wasn’t a ton of crab in there.  The mac and cheese tasted good and had a nice crumb topping though—it was a white cheddar and fontina cheese sauce and was rich and tasted great with the steak.

Ok, so that was the meal.  I would say my overall impressions is that they do old school items very well—and their steaks on the whole are top notch.  My biggest problem of the evening? The service.  They were really busy and it seemed like our server was sort of in the weeds all night—we sat there holding our menus for way too long (we still had them when our apps came because we hadn’t yet ordered our main dishes) (and they have those really large menus that are awkward). It also took forever to get our wine. And while he seemed like he was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the food, he seemed to disappear for long periods of time (at least from our table).  It sort of all made sense when we got the bill and there was an automatic 20% gratuity added to our check (which he did not point out to us, luckily hubby caught it).  I thought this was kind of weak considering there were only 6 of us and I have never seen an auto gratuity of 20% (that seemed excessive particularly due to the bad service). I feel like our service suffered so much because he knew he was getting a good tip no matter what he did. I realize I sound annoyed, and I was. Very. We are normally generous tippers, but when service is this bad, I do not generally leave 20%. I know I talked to some of you about this on twitter already, but what do you all think? Do you think service suffers when an automatic gratuity is being added? Servers, do you worry about those tables just a little less?  Is it legitimate to cross out an automatic tip and write in a new lower one? I know you can add to it, but can you subtract from it? I would love to hear what some of the restaurant people out there think too.

Ok, enough of my rant, but unfortunately the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth, even though the food was on the whole pretty good.

Peterson’s

7690 E 96^th Street

Fishers  46037

317/598-8863

www.petersonsrestaurant.com

Spice Box

I have to say, I have been pretty bad about getting around to all of the food trucks. I guess I am kind of weird about liking to sit down and eat, and since I don’t work in any of the offices where the trucks often park, it makes it more challenging for me.  Also, in winter, you can’t even sit down outside. I am assuming the trucks’ business suffers a fair amount in cold weather, but maybe I’m wrong—whatcha think?

Anyway, I was in Carmel at an appointment and noticed on twitter that Spice Box was at an office building close to me. So I decided to pick it up and take it home to eat. I figure Indian food could probably travel fairly decently (and that’s what passenger side seat heaters are for right?). So I hunted them down and got the “spice box” with two of the main dishes—the spicy shrimp and the butter chicken ($9 for 2 items, $7 if you just want 1). It also comes with rice and a piece of garlic naan.

The first thing I noticed about this truck was how exceptionally nice the two guys were who were working there. They asked me if I had been before, and took a lot of time telling me about the different options.  I wanted to try a couple of different things so I got the shrimp and the chicken, although they really had me sold on the chicken.  One of them then asked if I liked spicy things and told me about the sauce they had on the side and fixed me a little cup of it to go with my lunch.  He was telling me all about the ingredients (Thai green chili, cilantro, a tiny bit of mint, a bit of yogurt, as well as many other items).  It is pretty obvious that they are enthusiastic about their food. They also specifically asked for any feedback, good or bad—they obviously are looking to make their truck as successful as possible.

And the food, well, that butter chicken was delicious. It consists of chunks of boneless chicken in a rich hearty sauce—the sauce had a fair amount of spice, and it lingered in your mouth, but not in a hot burn your mouth kind of way. Lots of Indian spices, lots of butter and tomato paste. It was really addicting. The chicken stayed tender and the sauce was great soaked into the rice.

I didn’t like the shrimp as much, not because it was bad, but just because I really liked the chicken more. The shrimp was well cooked (I would worry it would get overcooked in a dish like this) and the sauce had a bit more heat, but it was more of a curry type taste, with a distinct undertone of coconut, which isn’t my favorite thing. So it is more of a personal preference. But I will go back and get the chicken in a heartbeat (and apparently it is one of their most popular items so I guess I am not the only one).

I really enjoyed the green sauce too—it had a lot of cilantro in it and I liked the freshness it added to everything (I pretty much added it to all of it).  It also added a bit more heat, but wasn’t overwhelmingly hot. Be sure and ask for some of this if they don’t offer it (my guess is they will though, as friendly as the were).

The Naan (which is an Indian flat bread) was tasty—it had a lot of garlic flavor, which is always good. My only complaint was because they put it in the box with the entrées, it gets a little soft from the steam of the food. I would have liked it a little firmer (maybe if they wrapped it in foil separately or something). I probably would order an extra piece next time too. It had a really great flavor.

I would say this is a truck that is worth checking out if you happen to have them in your area.  I am looking forward to getting the butter chicken again. And don’t forget to tell me about your other favorite food trucks. You guys were the ones who turned me onto this truck, and I appreciate it.

Spice Box (food truck)

Various locations

Twitter: @spiceboxindy

http://spiceboxindy.com/

Punch Burger - Revisit

The males in my household have a thing for burgers lately, and frankly, I was getting kind of tired of going to the same places that we always go, even though I like them.  We decided to take a little road trip downtown and revisit Punch Burger with the kids.

Ok, so maybe the secret real reason I wanted to go again so soon is because I know Punch recently changed their bacon to Smoking Goose bacon and I wanted to go in there and show some support (and eat some of that bacon).  I have also been hearing about this “burnt cheese” option which intrigued me, so that is also what I ordered—the burnt cheese burger with a runny fried egg and bacon (of course) ($9.24).  I sort of screwed it up because I really just wanted those things on the burger, and they gave me the regular burnt cheeseburger that also has a bunch of other stuff on there too (lettuce, ketchup, onions, etc.). No biggie, I just picked them off, but I need to be more careful about how I order my burger.

Ok, it looks messy, but tasty!

So first off, the bacon was great. Soooo much better than the old bacon option there. I will say, it is slightly pricier, but this is certainly a case of you get what you pay for. And it is totally worth it.  The burnt cheese was very interesting. I sort of expected the cheese to be melted regularly on the burger with just edges that were burnt.   These were actually crisps of cheese that were cooked until crispy and then placed on top.  They were tasty, and had an interesting crunch to them, but I can’t say this would be a regular order for me because I missed the cheesiness of the cheese on the burger. But a very interesting concept.  The burger itself was good. The quality of the meat is high—I just wish they wouldn’t cook it so much. I was so busy ordering all the extra things I wanted (and screwing it up), I didn’t even think to ask to have it cooked to a particular temperature. Next time I would see if they would do it. They did ask if I wanted the egg runny or not, and they cooked it perfectly.

Hubby ordered a “build your own” (what I was trying to do) with cheese, grilled onions and bacon ($7.54).  It was really, really good. He got even more bacon than I did and had the right amount of cheesiness that I missed. He did love my little fried bits of cheese and added a few on top of his (hmmm…wonder if you can just order a side of fried cheese).  We shared waffle fries.  They’re waffle fries, so you know they are not making them fresh, but they were done exactly how they should have been. Hot and crispy—and they season them with a seasoning mix that is pretty tasty.

The kids each got a kid’s meal, which comes with a smaller slider and a side of waffle fries.  They thought they were fine, but because they were pretty small, they were even a bit drier.  (My daughter also informed me that the buns were just a bit too big for the size of the meat). I think next time they would just split one regular burger and be happier.  The kids also enjoyed the fancy soda machine where you can mix up different flavors into your soda (even though they don’t drink soda).  They made different flavors of lemonade and were happy.

I would say overall, Punch has taken a pretty solid burger and made it even better with the addition of kick ass bacon. It’s nice to have a local place downtown serving this kind of more casual food.

Punch Burger

137 E. Ohio Street

Indy 46204

317/426-5280

www.punchburger.com

Movable Feast - Revisit

You know those moments when you eat something and instantly know it is going to become something you crave regularly? Well, I had one of those the other day when I stopped into Movable Feast for a late lunch (that I took home to eat).

I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood for but remembered having a little sample of the chicken salad in the past and enjoying it.  So I decided to get a half sandwich and some soup ($6).  Ok, normally I don’t order chicken salad. Seriously, like pretty much never.  But for some reason it sounded good and it was. What I like about this chicken salad is the sauce. It is made with yogurt and is very tangy and not gloppy if you know what I mean.  It isn’t over thick and gooey like mayo-based sauces can be.  There is also a ton of dill in it, and a bit of crunch from green onions and celery. The chunks of chicken were white meat, and were nice and tender. I just had it on simple wheat bread, which was nice and soft.  Seriously, this is how I feel about egg salad at Patachou. Simple, and comforting. A great thing when you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to make something yourself (because these are exactly the kind of things I would make myself).

I also enjoyed the soup.  It was lemon chicken and rice soup and I also have a weekness for soups with lots of rice.  It had a nice distinctive lemon flavor (there was actually a slice of lemon in my bowl). It needed a little salt though, but you got it when you crumbled in the saltines they sent along with.

I have a thing for tangy things, and when you want some simple, but well executed, clean food (and not ridiculous portions) for a very reasonable price, this is a great spot.  Super friendly couple that works there too.

My biggest problem with the place is deciding what I will order when I go in (although chicken salad is likely to become a regular). I know some of you frequent the place (I have seen it on twitter), so please tell me your favorite things here.

Movable Feast

5741 East 71^st Street

Indy 46220

317/577-9901
www.movablefeast.name 

Serenity

After my post on Cobblestone, several people emailed me to give me suggestions about where to eat in Zionsville.  I was meeting my friend @indyfoodswap and she had had a good meal in the past at one of them, The Sanctuary restaurant, so we agreed to meet there. Unfortunately it was closed for remodeling (they might want to put a little more noticeable warning on their website, just a thought), so we decided to try Serenity instead (which had also been recommended).

It is a cute little house with several tables that were pretty full when we got there.  The service was a little strange—the meal took quite a long time from start to finish, even though we didn’t mind too much since we were chatting.

For my lunch, I had the Serenity club panini ($9.95).  It was a toasted sandwich with turkey, bacon, red onion, provolone cheese, tomatoes and spinach with a basil sauce.  I had it with a side salad.  For me, the sandwich hit the spot. It was cold outside, and the sandwich was hot and melty.  It wasn’t overstuffed (the tomatoes were a little meh though) and the veggies were fresh, as were the components of the salad. I could have used a little more bacon, but all in all I liked the sandwich.  The salad was quite large and underdressed, but much better when I asked for some dressing on the side (it was a Thousand Island type dressing).

Unfortunately, Suzanne’s meal wasn’t as good. She ordered the black and blue salad  ($11.95) that was described as having “roasted beef tenderloin” on it.  She was a little disappointed with the very small amount of beef and the fact that it almost looked more like deli roast beef than the pieces of filet that she was expecting.  I didn’t taste it, so I can’t speak for the flavor—I can just tell you my visual observations.  They did end up giving her a discount after she mentioned her concerns about how the salad is described, which she didn’t ask for and which I thought was a professional way to handle the situation.

All the entrées come with a scone, and I remember really enjoying the one I had had at the other restaurant they used to own in Carmel.  The chocolate chip/cinnamon one that came with my meal was a little soft though and I didn’t eat much of it.

All in all, I would say at least based on what I had, Serenity isn’t a bad lunch option in Zionsville.  It is a very feminine place (think high tea)—I think the place was pretty much full when we left, but there was only one guy in there.

Serenity

135 S. Main Street

Zionsville, IN

317/873-5590

http://www.occasionsdivine.com/serenity.html