Road Trip: Chicago--Schwa

This is from ages and ages ago, but I have a little time right now so I am trying to play catch up. Schwa had been on my bucket list since we moved back to the Midwest. It’s quite difficult to make a reservation—the reservations are taken by whoever answers the phone, if anyone answers the phone, and often it’s the chef. Sometimes they will tell you to call back later. Often you get an answering machine and find a full mailbox. I’ve tried multiple times to get reservations…and even talked to someone once, only to be told to call back in a week or two.

So what it took to get a reservation was one of my friends having a friend who knew the staff. But hey, I’ll take it. The place is in a tiny storefront and there is like 10 tables. It‘s a pretty simple black and white minimalist décor—and of course the dripping air conditioner on the wall over my friends’ heads. There is a cool window into the kitchen though where you can see the staff feverishly working on the courses. There is very loud music playing at all times. On the night we were there it was Jurassic Five, which quickly became a favorite of hubby. It’s a BYOB place, and they whisk your bottles (or cans or whatever) away and pair them for you throughout the meal. They do a really good job with this. We really didn’t know what we were going to eat so we brought a lot of different wine, white, rose, reds…they paired them just right. Also, it’s advisable to bring something for the kitchen to drink as well.

The food is much more sophisticated than you might imagine and is really, really delicious. A very cool experience. The first “course” was actually the “bourbon olfactory journey” which was three types of bourbon paired with homemade air fresheners that smelled like different bourbon cocktail accompaniments. You were supposed to sip the bourbon whilst you smelled the different scents to feel like you were getting different drinks. A cool idea, but I am not a brown liquor person.

But there were many, many food courses (about 13 or so), and lots of wine, and a lot of time has passed since we ate there, so it’s hard to remember everything, but here’s some food highlights. 

The first food course was potato & Leek with yogurt, charred potato chips and salmon roe. Inside the charred leeks, there was roe and on top, little crispy potato chips. So tasty.

Um, raviolo with truffle and buffalo ricotta? You know I was going to like that one. It was definitely one of my favorites.

I also really liked the bone Marrow brulee with grapefruit marmalade and Osetra Caviar—it had a great texture variation as well as a nice salty and acidic kick. Or how about the ouster set in a gelee egg of 7 up?

One course was Pig face fried and topped with crispy chicharrones with bacon dressing, gooseberries, dried and not cherry tomatoes. We also got a little pretzel roll with bacon butter. Delicious. Another was lamb belly and lamb loin. 

There was “laundry soap,” a molecular gastronomy take on a drink—you mixed some crystals into a liquid and ended up with a blueberry lemonade type drink. It was tart and a nice palate cleanser.

A Humboldt fog cheesecake?  Yes please. My ideal dessert. A cheese with some blue cheese notes and a bit of a crust added. There was also an artsy sweet dessert.

Anyway, you get the idea. I could write a book if I described every nuance. There is lots of cool stuff going on here. The food is expertly and beautifully prepared and tasted really, really good. I hope that I can manage another reservation some day. And if you have the opportunity, do it. It’s a great food experience and just an all around good time.

Schwa

1466 N. Ashland Ave.

Chicago, IL 60622

773-552-1466

www.schwarestaurant.com     

Salt on Mass

Luckily my kids are always game for trying a new restaurant with me, and since we were taking them to a concert at Old National (the Murat), we decided to check out Salt, which is so conveniently located. I had been wondering about it because I haven’t really heard much about it since it opened initially, but I think the concept of a good seafood-centered restaurant in Indy is one that is needed. Let me state up front that this dinner occurred a couple months back, and it looks like the menu may have changed a bit.

The interior of the place is well done. You can see someone put some time and effort into it. Our server was very nice and shared opinions with us about what she liked the best. We started with the spicy Alaska crab dip ($16) because I love a good crab dip. This one was described as being made with seasonal crab, cream cheese, Sriracha and parmesan. I can’t say I loved it. Ok, yeah, it wasn’t very good. While the crab on top was nice and seemed fresh, the crab that was mixed into the dip came across as very stringy (the whole family was fighting over the tender bits). And while there was supposed to be cream cheese and parmesan, the dip actually came across more oily than it did creamy. I liked the chips—they were nice and light and crisp (even if they could have used some salt ironically). I would probably take a pass on this one in the future. Perhaps the restaurant realized the error of their ways with this dish as it is no longer on the menu.

We also split a wedge salad ($8). They do them a little differently—with a split head of romaine instead of iceberg lettuce. There were quite a few bleu cheese crumbles. Although it was a wee bit lacking on the bleu cheese dressing (we had to order extra) it was, overall, a good salad.

For our main dishes, we ordered the Kona Tacos ($18), Fried Oysters ($15), Hawaiian Sashimi Tuna ($28), and a mahi-mahi dish. Hubby and I split the tacos and the fried oysters and we definitely preferred the oysters, although the tacos weren’t bad. The oysters were crispy, plentiful, and delicious. We were honestly surprised by how many came in a $15 order, there were at least 10 on the plate. They were drizzled in a nice remoulade sauce. There were some crispy bacon chips interspersed throughout the dish and the oysters stayed crispy despite the remoulade. The tacos were ok although they needed more acid and there wasn’t a lot of tuna compared to the amount of taco shell. I ended up breaking the shells in half and eating them open face with tuna so I could achieve proper tuna-to-shell ratio. I really wanted to like them and wasn’t wowed.

My kids were undecided on what to order (they didn’t want to order the same as each other and neither would give up their choice of mahi-mahi) so they compromised and each ordered a fish dish that they shared. My daughter got the Hawaiian sashimi tuna and enjoyed it. It consisted of rare tuna on a bed of Japanese red rice and was topped with sambal, caramel soy, wonton strips, and wasabi cream sauce. My daughter thought it a touch spicy (it had quite a bit of wasabi flavor) but hubby enjoyed it and ended up eating the rest of it after she finished. I enjoyed the crunchy texture-adding wonton strips. The tuna was cooked nicely rare and high-quality.

My son ordered a mahi-mahi dish with asparagus spears and some more of the crab dip (ugh) on top. The fish itself was well cooked. There was a beurre blanc sauce underneath that was good. I’ll try not to reiterate what I said above but I was not having the crab dip, it was oily and not a great addition to the dish. We ended up scraping most of it off. 

We had a little extra time left after dinner, before the concert, so we decided to order dessert. Hubby and I got a salted caramel brownie and the kids split a slice of chocolate layer cake. The cake was one of those generic, cold cakes that you see everywhere (guessing it comes in a box) although the kids seemed to enjoy it. Our brownie was ok, although a bit dense. 

In summary, Salt had a few good dishes but overall doesn’t have me racing back (I have not been back since). The food had some flaws and wasn’t quite as good as we had been expecting/hoping for. Anyone been more recently with better things to say?

Salt on Mass

505 Massachusetts Ave,

Indianapolis, IN 46204

317-638-6565

https://www.saltonmass.com 

Paragon

Recently my daughter and I headed to Ben Davis for her ISSMA (Indiana State School Music Association) contest. We were going to be down there for a while so while she was playing, I was researching where to eat. Quickly I found Paragon, after a twitter tip. It was less than a mile away so we knew we could get in and out fast. Since my sister lives nearby I invited her and we all met up.

The menu was three plus pages long and had everything from crêpes to paninis to gyros. We spent about 10 minutes just trying to skim it. Eventually I decided on the Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich ($5.99). My daughter got a Chicken Panini ($7.50) and my sister got the Fresh Spinach omelet ($7.55). Our food arrived quite fast. My sandwich was fine. I say fine because although nothing particularly stood out about it but it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t memorable either. The bacon was fine; the eggs were nice and runny (just how I like them); and there was a lot of unmelted American cheese (so much that I peeled some of it off). The sourdough bread I ordered was nicely toasted. 

I never got a chance to try my sister’s omelet but I did try her biscuits. The biscuits were OK, kind of dry but not terrible. We both had hash browns as a side, which we asked for extra crispy but sadly they did not deliver on this. They were a bit limp. My daughter’s panini was not particularly special either and she commented that her fries were dry.

All in all, the main word I would use to describe the place would have to be bland. The food was OK and the menu was huge. You can certainly please a lot of different tastes. The staff all seemed to be friendly and acknowledged that the portion sizes were large. Not a place I’d choose to go back to, but, if necessary isn’t somewhere I’d avoid at all costs. 

Paragon Restaurant
118 S Girls School Rd, 

Indianapolis, IN 46231

(317) 271-3514

www.paragonrestaurant.biz 

Pogue's Run Grocer- Deli

I am doing an internship right now on the Near Eastside and had the opportunity to eat lunch at Pogue’s Run Grocer. It’s a little grocery store, but they also have a deli in there and a couple of tables and chairs. I’m guessing they mostly do carry out though, which is what I did. The deli has a pretty extensive list of sandwiches including vegan and vegetarian options. Being neither of these, I opted for one of the meat-filled choices.

The Tuscan turkey sandwich ($6.89) is Boar’s Head Tuscan turkey sliced with provolone, green peppers, lettuce, kalamata olives and basil mayo. I didn’t get the green peppers, because I can’t stand green bell peppers, but man oh man was this sandwich good. It’s one of those sandwiches that although it was quite large, I had a hard time not finishing the whole thing (ok, let’s be honest, I did finish the whole thing. I also got a giant pickle, which they quartered for me. Also delicious.

It had lots of the basil aioli on there, and you know how I feel about a well-sauced sandwich. It adds great moisture but also a ton of flavor, especially a sauce like this. Add the kalamata olives which are chopped up small and very plentiful and you have a killer sandwich. The turkey was sliced nice and thin and was tender (Boar’s Head is always good lunch meat). They press it in a panini press so everything squishes down a bit and the cheese gets melty. I am telling you, I am sitting here writing this thinking I need to get this sandwich tomorrow. For real. It’s basically an ideal sandwich for me between the aioli and the olives (and it’s warm, as I am not a huge fan of cold sandwiches usually).

Check out this place for a quick sandwich next time you’re over this way. It’s a worth a stop. And I am totally getting one this week.

Pogue’s Run Grocer

2828 East 10^th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46201

317/426-4963

http://poguesrungrocer.org/ 

The Vanguard

The other day some friends went with hubby and me to The Vanguard for a dinner while our sons played tennis. I have been itching to try it ever since I heard the guys from Turf Catering designed the menu.  I also received a very nice email from the owner telling me I was the one who introduced him to the Turf Catering guys through my blog, so how cool is that? It’s a small world indeed.

The Vanguard is in the old Usual Suspects space in Broad Ripple, which I had never been to. I am not sure how much redecorating/remodeling they did for the switch, but I really like the interior of the Vanguard. It’s modern and comfortable—and there is a family side with several booths where you can bring your kids (good to know, as we will likely do this soon). It’s a bigger spot than I would have guessed and feels a lot more grown up than much of Broad Ripple.

We started with several appetizers (I love friends who like to order lots of stuff). We had the pimento cheese ($10), the Cajun shrimp ($13) and the roasted vegetable gnocchi ($13). Every single one of these was a winner. Truly, I loved them all. The pimento cheese plate came with a nice portion of the cheese (if you have had it at Turf, you know how good it is—one of my favorite versions in town). It also came with some toasted bread slices, smoked ham, and half of a boiled egg topped with pickled mustard seed. You guys, I loved this dish. The cheese is so good, and the ham tender and smoky (I think they smoke all their own stuff at Turf). And the combo of the egg with the mustard seed was perfect. The only thing I would change is to ask for a few extra slices of the bread because we ran out before we ran out of the toppings. I could easily make a meal out of this plate by myself, but it's also a really nice thing to share and a great mix of different tastes.

Hubby’s favorite was probably the Cajun shrimp, which was really delicious. It was two large pieces of grilled crostini topped with the shrimp, which is cooked in a spicy, buttery, garlic sauce. And get this, the shrimp wasn’t tough and overcooked. It was just right. And there was plenty to share around the table. Such a nice rich flavor to the sauce without being too much. 

The last appetizer that we shared was the roasted vegetable gnocchi. Wow, this one was great too. The gnocchi were lightly sautéed, so they were just a little brown and crisp on the edges, which is exactly how I like them. They were topped with peas, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and shallots. There was a great acidic kick from the tomatoes and the mushrooms were wonderful. I even liked the peas and I am sort of washy washy on peas sometimes. The dish was mixed in a brown butter sauce, which is something I wish you saw more of in Indy. Brown butter gives a nice earthy, nutty edge to a dish, while still maintaining richness from the butter, but without being over the top with cream or cheese. Brown butter is a great sauce to use when you really want the ingredients to shine.

I could have walked away at this point of the meal and been happy and fairly full, but we ordered three of the main dishes as well. Hubby and I ordered the fried chicken (of course I did) ($16) and our friends ordered the short rib ($20) and the Mediterranean chicken ($17). The winner here was definitely the fried chicken, although nothing was bad. The fried chicken had a slight smoky flavor as well as a hint of pickle—maybe it was pickle brined? It was really good and cooked just right. The meat was tender and the skin was crisp. The pieces (there was a breast, wing, leg and thigh) were served with mashed potatoes and chicken pan gravy. All of it was good—and that gravy was delicious. I am not even usually a gravy person when I eat fried chicken, but I found myself dipping the bites in it—it had a nice salty kick, which just enhanced the chicken. 

I had a bite of our friends’ dishes and they were my least favorite of the evening, but not bad. The short rib was very smoky (maybe a bit much for me) and just a touch on the dry side. My friend who ordered the chicken doesn’t like chicken on the bone, and this was a seared boneless breast topped with tomatoes, garlic, olives and herbs and for me, this tasted more like something you might make yourself at home on a good night. They also have a butter-smoked chicken (on the bone) that sounds more interesting to me if you’re not in the mood for fried and don’t mind eating off the bone.

All in all, I can safely say that this is certainly one of the best new places to open in Broad Ripple in ages, and is likely one of the best places for food in Broad Ripple right now period. I could easily and happily make a meal of appetizers (there were several more I would like to try) and would love to try that butter-smoked chicken, if I can pull myself away from the fried chicken. We will certainly be taking the kids as well, as my son loves fried chicken the way I do, and my daughter is a gnocchi fanatic. If you haven’t been here yet, you should go. And why this place isn’t getting more press, well, that’s Indy for you.

The Vanguard

6319 Guilford Ave

Indy  46220

317/254-1147

www.vanguardindy.com 

Pioneer--Revisit (New Chef)

After spending three weeks in Italy this summer, my kids have been itching for some good Italian food. Yeah, we all know how that goes in this town. Particularly after you have actually experienced Italy and the wonderful variety of food that is offered (I know, I’m a broken record but it’s not just red sauce and alfredo people).

We decided to give Pioneer another try because I have been told they have a new(ish) chef (Lane Milburn) and that he used to work in San Francisco at Delfina, one of our old favorite neighborhood Italian joints. The menu has a Northern Italian/Alsace bent.

It’s a big place and I usually prefer sitting in the bar area for a bit of coziness, but we had the kids with us, and well, this is Indiana so we sat in the main room. I am happy to report that by the time we left, it was pretty full out there. And again, it’s big.

To start with, they brought us some little happy hour freebies (nice to see them doing this outside the bar area) of fried chickpeas, olives and sausage with pickled mustard seeds. It was a nice little treat, everyone loved the chickpeas and you know olives and me. Hubby was particularly fond of the sausage.

As appetizers, we ordered the pretzel with beer cheese and honey mustard ($6) and the short rib Milanese arancini ($6). The pretzel was a huge hit with all of us. It was obviously homemade, and had just the right amount of texture to it as well as salt. I am going through a little beer cheese obsession right now, and this one was just how I like it. More of a spreadable consistency (not melted) and had a nice kick from the beer. The honey mustard was also a nice variation or addition to the beer cheese. Pretty sure there will be two orders of this in the future if we take the kids again. The arancini were also very well received, particularly by hubby. The rice was nice and tender and stuffed with some short rib. The outside was breaded and fried just right so that it gave it the crunchy edge without drying out or liquefying the inside. They were sitting on a bed of saffron aioli, giving them a nice dipping sauce with just the right amount of tanginess.

Both the kids wanted to order pasta for their main dishes, so hubby and I went a little lighter on our choices because we knew we could eat part of theirs. When we were on the Amalfi coast in Italy, my entire family became obsessed with the tiny clams that are everywhere there. They are like the size of your fingertip. I have never seen them anywhere in the U.S. But there was linguini and clams ($21) on the menu at Pioneer, and my daughter was determined to get it and hopefully relive the vacation experience. While they weren’t the teeny tiny clams that we had (like I said I have never seen them here), they were nice and small and the dish was excellent. Definitely one of the better pasta dishes around town. The linguine was cooked just right and well seasoned with pancetta, red chili flakes, and white wine. The clams were small and tender.  A really tasty dish.

My son went with the rigatoni with “Sunday supper sauce,” meatballs, ricotta, and pancetta bread crumbs ($19). You want a rich and hearty (and delicious) plate of pasta? This is for you. I loved the balance with the creamy, tangy ricotta and the texture offered by the breadcrumbs. It was a deep, rich red sauce with a lot of flavor, but was so much more interesting because of the other things going on in the dish. Really well done. Again, one of the better pasta dishes I have had around Indy.

Like I said, hubby and I got appetizers as mains (and some sides) because we shared the pasta. I ordered the beef Carpaccio ($13) with radicchio, caper berries and Parmesan and hubby ordered the warm chicory salad with a poached egg ($11). We also ordered a side of the spatzle ($5) and the German potato salad ($5). The Carpaccio was a little different than most I have had—the beef was sliced a little thicker, but it was very good. It was so tender it was not hard to eat, even though it was a bit thicker. Loved the caper berries that were sliced on the plate to give it the acid that Carpaccio absolutely needs. The Parmesan added some saltiness. My kids were begging me for more bites of this all through dinner. It was a crowd pleaser for sure. Personally, I may have slightly preferred the chicory salad though. Wow, that was a great salad. It was slightly warm, so the chicory wasn’t too tough and it was dressed with a garum vinaigrette, which is a dressing made with a spice blend that gave it a great flavor. Plus there was more shaved Parmesan, croutons, and that wonderful poached egg giving it a rich creamy decadence. A wonderful salad. I highly recommend.

The sides were the only things that didn’t really impress as much. The potato salad was the better of the two, and was seasoned with gorgonzola, bacon, and dressed with Banyuls vinaigrette. It sounded much more interesting on paper than it actually tasted. I was looking for more kick from the dressing and the blue cheese, but it was kind of bland. Not bad, just not as exciting as I had hoped. The spatzle was quite dry and didn’t seem to have any seasoning to me. It was supposed to have lemon and black pepper, but I wasn’t really getting much of it. We left most of this one.

All in all though, this was a really, really good meal and I look forward to returning soon. If you are looking for some interesting Italian dishes, go give this place a shot. I still feel like it flies under the radar a lot more than it deserves. Go give them some love. (Only downside here...what is up with the parking in Fountain Square? Oy. Although Pioneer does have it's own parking lot in back).

Pioneer

1110 Shelby Street

Indy 46203

317/986-6761

www.pioneerindy.com 

Joella's Hot Chicken

I met a friend at Joella’s the other day for lunch. Man, people in this town certainly like a new place! The line at lunchtime was literally out the door of the restaurant. My friend was running late though so I went ahead and got in line. The line moved pretty fast, but still took 15-20 minutes to get through. There was no problem at all getting a seat once you placed your order though s it seems to be pretty efficient as far as moving people through.

I had plenty of time to look over the menu. I settled on the “Pick a plate” with a quarter dark meat chicken ($8.50 with one side included). I added a side for an extra $1.25. You also choose your heat level and I went with “Ella’s favorite,” which is “just a touch of heat.” For my sides, I had the kale salad (because I saw them making it on a tv feature and was intrigued) and the Parmesan garlic fries (+.75). My friend also had the quarter dark, a touch hotter, and got mac and cheese and green beans.

I liked the chicken. It was very tender and had a nice slightly spicy flavor (I ordered it that way so I was pleased with it). I am still unsure whether I prefer my chicken to be spicy due to a sauce on the chicken, or because of seasoning in the breading, but that is clearly a personal preference. I was impressed that the skin remained pretty crunchy despite the sauce.  The pieces were a bit on the small side, although someone else’s plate of wings was huge. Maybe that would be the way to go, even though I generally prefer dark meat. Loved the pickles served with the chicken, and you can order extra for .35 (I did). I would be intrigued to try some of the sandwiches as well. They have some nice options (chicken and pimento cheese perhaps?)

I enjoyed the fries as well—they had a rosemary and Parmesan seasoning and I thought that was tasty. They were thin and quite crisp, which is how I like them. I didn’t care for the kale salad as much as I hoped, as it had more of a sweet taste because of the abundance of currants that were in it. I had seen them make it with a lemon juice dressing and was hoping for a bit more acid. Also, it ends up more like the texture of greens (kind of mushy) rather than a salad. I think my favorite were probably the fries and the mac and cheese. The mac was pretty straightforward but hit the spot with the chicken. The green beans were fine, but had that kind of mushy cafeteria texture. 

All in all, I would try it again with some adjustments. I’d maybe add a third piece of chicken or get a sandwich. I’d probably stick with fries or mac and cheese. Also, I will wait until the hype dies down a bit, because I’m not that patient about waiting in line. It’s solid, and a nice addition to that area of town that doesn’t have a ton of options, but I’m not sure it makes me want to wait that long in line.

Joella’s Hot Chicken

4715 East 96^th Street

Indy  46240

317/663-8880

https://www.joellashotchicken.com/

Northside Social --Revisit

We snuck out the other night to grab dinner with friends while our boys were in a  55-hour long tennis tournament (ok, it was only 5 hours, but seemed like longer). We were undecided about where to go, and I remembered that Northside Social had a new chef, Dean Sample (check out his instagram for some of the new dishes).

To be honest though, I hadn’t been in quite awhile, so while I can’t really say exactly how much of the menu had changed, but I can tell you that just about everything we had was tasty.

To start with though, it was strange when we walked in—the restaurant was only about 1/3 full but they wouldn’t seat us without a reservation. We were on a time crunch so we walked into the bar, but when we started discussing it, we thought it was weird since the restaurant was so empty, so my friend’s husband went back up and then they sat us right away. And by the time we left there were still several empty tables. Anyhow, once we were sorted, we ordered some salads and dinner. I just had a green salad ($5) with blue cheese dressing and it was solid. It had chopped up tomatoes and red onions and was mixed greens. Hubby had a Caesar ($6) and was happy.

I ordered the potato-crusted basa ($21) and I have to say, it was delicious. Basa is a tender white fish made crispy on the outside with potatoes that are crusted and then pan-fried. The fish was great, and the lemon butter sauce on the fish makes it for me. It has such nice lemon flavor and herbs on top. I love my acid for sure and I didn’t even use the extra lemon wedge on the side. The sauce was just right. It was served with brocolini and mashed potatoes underneath. The potatoes were fine, but we all ordered a side of mac and cheese ($8) to share and it might be one of the better versions in town. I like that they mix the pasta with green chilies and make the top super crunchy with breadcrumbs. It is a very good mac and cheese.

One friend ordered the spicy Spanish triggerfish ($21) and it was very tasty as well. The fish is a bit thicker and denser than the basa, but remained tender and was a good match for the heartier, spicier flavors of the spicy Spanish shrimp sauce and the ratatouille. There were these really great roasted tomatoes in there that just sort of exploded with flavor. It was a good and interesting dish.

Hubby was excited to see a cassoulet ($21) on the menu, as that is one of his favorite things. They do a pork version here. It’s basically a bean and meat casserole. He liked the dish and the pork that was in there but thought the sausage wasn’t as tasty, but he said he would totally order it again, and liked that a restaurant is actually offering it.

The portions here are good-sized and I don’t think anyone of us finished our entrées. Our server was very friendly and helpful and kept up with our drinks.

Overall, it’s a nice place to grab a more grown up dinner in Broad Ripple. The new chef seems to be mixing up the menu a bit and producing good dishes. If you haven’t been in awhile, you might want to check it out again. And let me know what you think.

Northside Social

6525 North College Ave 

Indy 46220

317/253-0111

www.northsidesocial.com 

Brozinni Pizza

You guys, if you’ve been following me for a bit, you know Brozinni is one of my places. Let’s face it, pizza in this town is not that good. Seriously, we can argue about this all day long, but you know I’m right. There’s lots of pizza, and there’s some good pizza, but there’s a lot of crappy pizza. Mostly crappy.

My all time favorite though is Brozinni. It’s New York Style and it just has the right chewy, foldable deliciousness. One slice is big enough for your lunch, well, with some garlic knots on the side, and you’ll be all set (be sure and dip that crust in the garlic sauce).

I introduced my hairdresser to them on my last visit, and she used to live in NYC. She has texted me since telling me she can’t stop thinking about it.

If you haven’t been there, you should probably go check it out. It’s what pizza should taste like.

Brozinni Pizza

8810 S. Emerson Ave

Greenwood IN 46237

317/865-0911

www.brozinni.net 

LongBranch

Hubby and I decided to hit up Longbranch the other night for an early dinner. We went on the early side because of all the positive write-ups lately, we were worried that we wouldn’t get in. However, this place is a bar and the night we were there (which was a Friday), we didn’t have to wait at all. It didn’t really start to get busy til we left. It’s also a big place, so not as much competition for seats.

They are known for their cocktails, so I felt like I should try one, even though I am typically a wine person. I ordered the “Sayonara” ($9), which had rum, sake and a nice citrus and ginger flavor. Hubby had their version of an Old Fashioned. Both of us enjoyed the drinks—I really liked the pickled ginger garnish in mine. 

We started with the Rangoon ($7) and the egg rolls ($8). Both of the dishes were excellent. I liked that the Rangoon had shrimp inside them instead of the tiny little flakes of crab that you usually see. The chunks of shrimp were larger and actually recognizable. The wonton part was super crispy and freshly fried. They were served with their housemade sweet and sour sauce, which is something I don’t typically eat—you know that bright pink sauce that is more sweet than sour…but this one was really good, much more depth to it and much more acidic kick. It was a great match. 

The egg rolls were really good as well—they put a nice hunk of monkfish inside theirs, and I really enjoyed this to give them more weight and more complexity than your typical veggie egg roll. It gave a nice silky texture as well. They give you a sampler of three different homemade sauces with the egg rolls and these were tasty too. There was a ginger scallion dashi, a duck sauce, and hot mustard. I liked the ginger scallion sauce the most, although the duck sauce was tasty too. I don’t really go in for hot mustard sauce typically just because it is so overwhelming. They do a very nice job with the sauces here, much more interesting than what you typically see in a Chinese restaurant.

For our main dishes, we got a couple of things to share. I ordered the tofu entrée ($10) and we really enjoyed it as well. It was chunks of tofu that were lightly breaded and fried and mixed with sautéed eggplant and a miso sauce. There was a nice amount of microgreens on top as well as some sesame seeds. I find that tofu dishes often have more flavor and seasoning than some other dishes in general, and this one was no exception. I like the soft texture of the eggplant and tofu and the richer flavor of the sauce on this one. My only complaint was that after it sat for a bit, the stuff on the bottom sort of became a bit greasy.

Hubby ordered the short rib with avocado rice and an egg ($16). This is short rib done in the more Korean style, sliced long-ways and not slow cooked in the way you typically see short rib on menus. I liked the way they made the rice extra creamy by mixing it with the soft avocado, and how it added a richness to the rice. Of course you know I love an egg on top, and the yolk added a nice sauce. I guess my only complaint here would be the pure richness without something to sort of balance it out a bit. We found mixing a little of the tofu into the beef dish made a nice little combo though.

We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves, which led to the decision to order dessert (this most often happens when we’re having a really good meal). There aren’t a lot of options, but we ordered a couple of the cookies offered—the peanut butter version with miso cream and the almond version with matcha cream. Man, that peanut butter one was so, so good. The cookie part was so flaky and buttery. And peanut buttery. The other one was good too, but seriously…that peanut butter version... I have thought about that cookie many many times since then.

All in all, Longbranch is a good addition to our food scene. I am not sure why Chinese food is so lacking downtown, particularly with drinks, but I am glad to see this place open. It’s an adult only place, so you may see that as a positive or negative, and it definitely has a bar vibe. I was impressed with the service and the knowledge of our server, and it was a nice relaxing and tasty meal. I would say give it a go, I am looking forward to tasting more of the dishes when we get a chance. There are a lot of good sounding things on there.

LongBranch

2205 N. Delaware Street

Indy  46205

317/602-6726

www.longbranchindy.com  

UPDATE: Ok, so I ended up going back before I even posted this first post, and I have to say, the second visit didn't wow me quite as much. We had a couple of the same things, the spring rolls, the shrimp rangoon and the tofu dish as well as some new things. The rangoon is great. I highly recommend. The spring rolls had less fish this time and weren't as memorable. I still liked the tofu. We also had the General Tso's sweetbreads ($15), and although they are marked as spicy, I thought they weren't very spicy, unless you ate one of the chilis on top. They were a little sticky too--the breading didn't seem crispy enough. The hanger steak (for 2)($26) felt like a bunch of disconnected parts. The meat was good, but there were just little piles of other things on the platter and it didn't come together as a cohesive dish. We loved the spare rib appetizers ($12) though--they had a lot of flavor--like Chinese 5 spice flavor and the meat was cooked just right. So if you average out my two visits, there are definitely things worth having, but there is a bit of a one-dimensionality of some of the dishes. I can't say it will be a regular for me, but it is certainly a good choice for a change of pace, and I am glad to see someone focusing on a cuisine that we don't have a lot of in downtown.