On my list has been to get over to Banura since a good friend had recommended it. She has been eating there for years, apparently it was originally located on Illinois where Oh Yumm Bistro sits now. The owners re-opened the second Banura (ironically called “Banura 1”) on the west side of the City, on Michigan Road. It’s another one of those restaurants located in a strip mall that blend into all the others.
The menu is quite interesting for a Greek place. It actually has lots of stuff on the menu besides Greek, many sandwiches, and even several pizza options (and my friend tells me the pizzas aren’t bad). We decided to stick with the Greek food. We shared homous, and Baba Ghannooj and I also had Spinakopita*.
We got small portions of the homous and Baba Ghannooj which were more than enough to share. The homous (spread made with chick peas, tahini, lemon juice and olive oil) was pretty mild, a little thinner in consistency than would be my preference, but still tasted good. The Baba Ghannooj (a spread made with baked eggplant, tahini, lemon juice and olive oil) was ok, not overly exciting. I have to say though, I probably prefer the roasted garlic hummus from Trader Joe’s all in all.
The spinakopita was outstanding though. In case you don’t know, spinakopitas are little pies made of filo dough wrapped around spinach and feta and then baked golden brown. The appetizer order consisted of one piece, which was about as big as half a standard size sandwich. The filo was so perfectly crisp and browned, that I had to order a second one after I ate the first. Delicious.
My friend, who has been eating this food for years, told me she pretty much always gets the dolmathes. These are grape leaves stuffed with rice, ground beef and seasoning and topped with marinara. She really likes them obviously, but they were a little blah for me. Didn’t have much flavor to them and seemed like it was mostly rice inside.
We were also given a little complimentary piece of baklava for dessert which was quite rich. Lots more filo with walnut and honey filling. It was nice, but I was pretty full at this point.
The service (by the owner) is quite gruff—I am not sure if he uttered more than 3 words our entire visit. The interior is pretty basic, and was fairly empty when we were there (although others were starting to come in), but all in all, I really enjoyed the spinakopita and would happily go right now for another wedge. Next time I think I would get the spinakopita plate which comes with some rice and homous. Or maybe the vegetarian combo plate with spinakopita, tyropita (cheese filled filo) and falafel (deep fried ground favas).
Banura 1
7940 North Michigan Road
Indy 46268
317-334-0497
http://www.banura1restaurant.com/
* I have spelled all items as they were spelled on the restaurant menu. I have seen most of these items spelled many different ways, and honestly, I don’t know what the proper spelling truly is, but just so you know, so you don’t email me and tell me I have them all wrong, that was my method.
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