Super Bowl Update

Ok, ever since I wrote my last review of Adobo, I have wanted to go back simply because there was so much dispute over that post. I have to say, I haven’t been rushing back based on my last food experience though. But people told me I ordered the wrong things (which I still don’t think should be possible—if it is on the menu, it should be good) or that the classic stuff wasn’t any good (which I didn’t order the first time by the way) or whatever. But on the whole, it seemed like people really are defensive about it, so I figured at some point, I needed to go back.

Well, I chose devour downtown as that time for a couple of reasons. I figured they would put some of their specialties on the menu, and I figured I could try several things this way as well. I also liked that according to the online menu, you get 4 courses, because they include the guacamole as well as your choice of appetizer, and you get a margarita (well, you are supposed to—they charged me for mine until I reminded them it was supposed to be part of the deal).

The first thing I noticed how enthusiastic our server was. Maybe a little too enthusiastic for my taste, but maybe I’m just jaded. But when someone says “I’ll be back to see how great everything is!,” I find it annoying. Hubby and I joked all night, is it “crappy great,” “medium great” or “actually great?” While I also think the interior of the restaurant is pretty nice and feels modern, both times I have gone, I have been seated a little table right by the bar—and if you have a bunch of 4 tops available (or even better 2-tops), don’t seat people at those teeny tiny 2-tops right next to the bus station. The overall experience was not my idea of a nice night out.

I also started off slightly annoyed food-wise when I found out they technically aren’t including the guac as part of devour downtown unless 2 people order the menu. Hubby was going to order off the regular menu, so our server acted as though they wouldn’t include it. I went ahead and ordered it anyway, fearing that based on my last experience, that it might be the only good thing on the table. I wasn’t willing to take that chance. It turned out, what they ended up doing was charging us half price for it (I found out when I got the bill) which was fine, but if you are going to put it on the devour menu, you should be prepared to deliver it. Or make a half order. As usual, the guac was great—they do a really good job with that.

Based on comments from my last post, I also ordered my margarita on the rocks instead of “up” because I like mine to last a bit longer. However, it seemed like they just added more lime juice, making for a really tart drink. Which wouldn’t have been as bad, had it not been for the fact that for my next course I ordered the ceviche of the day. The ceviche was pretty good, a classic preparation with tilapia marinated in lime, avocado, tomato and onion (slightly different from how it was listed on the menu I think). Well, when I say “avocado” I think there was one piece of avocado in the whole dish. But luckily I still had my chunky guac and I just ate some of that with it. However, my very tart margarita was not really adding much to my lime-marinated fish. It was serious lime overload. At that point, I switched to wine.

As for my main, I could have ordered any of them. They all sounded good. I let the server guide me since apparently, I ordered all wrong last time, and he directed me to the pollo al Tamarindo. It was described as a grilled half chicken in a tamarind-chipotle glaze with salsa, tomatillo guacamole and charro beans. Now, this was one of the items that had been added specially for the devour menu, and was not one of their regular dishes. Probably a good thing, because it wasn’t very good. The chicken was really dry (see, this is why I don't usually order chicken out) and the sauce just too sticky sweet. I love tamarind, because it isn’t usually just pure sweet, but this dish just did not come together even with all the other sides. And I have to say, looking around at some other tables, and the amount of this dish that remained on plates in my vicinity, I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

Hubby, based on reader recommendations, ordered the fish tacos and they were infinitely better than my chicken. I liked the tenderness and crunch of the fish combined with all the flavors of the pickled cabbage and chipotle cream sauce. These were a far better choice and hubby really liked them as well.

For dessert I ordered the chocolate tamal, which is a gooey kind of chocolate cake that seemed to made with corn meal (hence the tamal aspect)—which made for an interesting, slightly gritty, texture. I couldn’t decide if I loved it, or it sort of freaked me out. The flavor of the chocolate was really good anyway, and it was served with vanilla ice cream.

So all in all, my experience was slightly better than the last, but I don’t know if there will be a third review here. And I still think the guacamole is the best thing going at this place. But c’mon, Adobo lovers, I know you have something to say, so let’s hear it!

Adobo Grill
110 East Washington Street
Indy, 46204
317-822-9990
http://www.adobogrill.com/

Really struggling for something new and different for lunch, we ran down the list and decided to try Aesop’s Tables. We always see it when we are on Mass Ave, and today seemed like the day.

The first thing I noticed was the very friendly greeting we got upon entering—I appreciate a warm welcome in a restaurant. The second thing I noticed was how cold it was in there. It was a warm day, but man, it was freezing. I am sure I have mentioned this before, but one of my restaurant pet peeves, that seems to happen in this city more than any other I have been in, is the way so many places are always freezing cold—especially in the Summer. It can be 90 degrees out, but you’ll often find me carting a sweater around just in case. Unfortunately, I forgot this day so I just had to be cold. We did ask them to turn the ceiling fan directly over us off, which helped a little.

Anyway, I liked the fact that while this menu has a lot of Greek dishes on it, it also has several other regional dishes as well. It was only lunch, so I couldn’t go too crazy, but I wanted to try a few things, so I got the “Aesop’s dipping plate” as well as a cup of the lobster bisque which is noted as a house specialty as well. Hubby had a gyro.

Probably the best thing was the lobster bisque—it was very brightly colored though and very thick, thicker than any lobster bisque I have had, but it had a good flavor. And you could really taste the lobster. Hubby thought it was the best thing we had, and declared he would go back for it.

The dip plate was Tuscan bean dip, hommous, and a feta/sundried tomato spread. They were all just ok, all a bit dry for my taste. I don’t like my bean dips too runny, but I don’t like them so dry that you can’t really dip in them, you have to spread. You could see all the herbs in the Tuscan bean dip, but it still tasted sort of bland. The hommous tasted like humous, but was also sort of bland--maybe a bit more garlic? A bit more lemon? The feta/sundried tomato was interesting, but was so much stronger in flavor, it overpowered the others a bit. The plate was served with nicely warmed, tasty pita as well as French bread. I also ordered a few extra olives on the side. I really like eating olives with my hommous. Hell, I like eating olives just about any time really. I just really like olives.

Hubby thought the gyro was fine, nothing special, and not horrible. I did like that when you ordered your drink; they brought you a little carafe of extra at the same time so you certainly never ran out of your drink. The service was efficient but laid back.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad place, but not sure I’d be rushing back in. Tell me though; do you have any suggestions for good lunch places that I have maybe never heard of? I need some new places to add to the list.

Aesop’s Tables
600 East Mass Ave
Indy 46204
317-631-0055
http://www.aesopstables.biz/ (nice website by the way!)

***As of June 5, 2011, Euphoria is closed as a restaurant and is only open for private events. The chef has also left the restaurant.****

Well, we took some friends who had never been to Euphoria for devour downtown (what? It’s a new season, and yes, I love this place). Anyway, I was interested to see what they would do for the devour downtown menu. I am really trying to eat off the $30 menus to see if restaurants are really showcasing their best. And because I want to see what I would think if I walked in for the first time specifically to try the cheaper menus.

I was glad to see that the Euphoria menu featured something besides steak (which I have seen on most of the menus) and highlighted one of the chef’s specialties, the scallops grenobloise. Another nice touch was that they were offering a wine pairing with each course for an additional $20.

Anyhow, I started with the Gruyere Salad which was red oak leaf and bibb lettuce with gruyere, croutons and a Dijon vinaigrette. I have had this salad before, and it is tasty. Properly dressed (actually tossed in the dressing) and had the cheese and croutons tossed in as well so they were nicely distributed. I kind of have a pet peeve with a lot of the restaurants in this city about salads. I hate when they give you these nice salads with great greens and then either drizzle a tiny bit of dressing on top or pile all the toppings on top in a bowl that is far too small to mix them up in. The best salads I have had are ones where you can stick your fork in, get a bite, and taste all the flavors at once. Even the dressing. This is a salad like that. Still fairly simple, but the flavors are all there in each bite.

Hubby had another classic standby, the steak tartare off the bar menu. It was, as usual, yummy and huge. Seriously, that is a lot of meat. Enough for 4 people I think. It looks so pretty all layered the way it is served, but hubby always promptly mixes it all together into a yummy mash. But I am glad to see this staying on the menu, as I haven’t had it anywhere else around here where it is any good (I can only think of one other place where I have even seen it on the menu).

I had the scallops for my main. They are always perfectly seared (yes, I have had them a few times) and they are served over fingerlings from the farmers market with green beans and garlic croutons and lemon caper butter. I love the totally zip of the lemon butter. You can actually tell there is lemon (and capers too) in there. It is tangy. And that’s how I like it. The croutons are nice with it too, although mine had absorbed a bit too much of the sauce and were a little soft. I have had it before when they are really crunchy and I like the juxtaposition of the softness of the scallops with the crunch of the croutons.

The other choice on the devour menu was a roasted chicken with maitake mushrooms, polenta and a black truffle-fines herbs jus. This was a tough decision for me because I have had this before as well and it is also really tasty. One of the few places I would actually consider ordering chicken out (I hardly ever do). I think the only other place I did it often was the Slow Club in San Francisco (man, they could cook some mean chicken). But back on topic, one of my dining companions did order the chicken and she and her husband both really enjoyed it.

Hubby had the sardine appetizer for his main dish. They were grilled whole sardines with sweet cherry tomatoes, arugula and lemon-thyme vinaigrette. This was probably the only let down of the evening. Hubby ate a whole lot of whole grilled sardines in Europe and generally really likes them. Unfortunately, these were a bit too small and the bone to meat ratio a little high. The flavors were good, but it was hard to get the meat off the bones easily.

I had the chocolate cake “cappuccino” for my dessert which was a warm molten chocolate cake served in a coffee mug with a mocha-brown sugar crème fraiche. It was pretty tasty and a unique way to serve it. But I have to say, the standout dessert was the rather large cheese board we ordered. We asked the chef to put together a nice plate (we generally like the stinkier ones) when we ordered our appetizers so that they cheese could come to room temperature. I applaud Euphoria for being the only place in town with such an extensive cheese menu. And now, it is expanding even further with the addition of new cheeses from a new purveyor. I can’t even begin to tell you all the ones we had, but suffice it to say, they were good. And gooey. My only gripe was that the crackers were too flavored and detracted a bit from the cheese flavor. I like mine plain. Or maybe a little sweet. So I asked for some bread, which they nicely toasted for me, and I was set. Oh! I totally forgot about the bread thing too. One of the things that Euphoria in its current and former incarnation has struggled with (in my opinion) is the bread service. But they have started baking their own bread, and it is really good. Nice and soft with a good crust and a slightly sweet edge. Kudos to that. Come to think of it, if they could slice it super thin and then toasted it, it would be amazing with the cheese.

Ok, one last little gripe…what happened to the pasta? I love the pasta at Euphoria (and the half orders) and I miss it. What I really wanted was an order of the papardelle with local corn, pancetta and Parmesan cream that came as a side with the one side seared beef. That sounds awesome.
I do appreciate the fact that almost every dish utilizes fresh items from local Indiana farmers--if you read through the menu you will see many local farms mentioned. I know Chef Gates hits the farmers market regularly to assure fresh produce on the menu. It really makes a difference.

Hey, I just noticed on the website they are extending the devour menu through Labor Day. Now’s the time. I tell you, for $30, this menu is a steal (I mean the scallops a la carte alone are $27!). And this is a devour downtown menu that is, in fact, showcasing what this kitchen is all about.

Euphoria
337 West 11th Street
Indy, 46202
317-955-2389
http://www.indycanal.com/ (glad to see they're working on their website...although it still doesn't fit on my screen right).

It was midweek, I didn’t want to cook, and we didn’t have a babysitter. Sick of all our usual haunts with the kids, so we decided to give George’s another go. We had been once before for lunch and weren’t overwhelmed, but a few of you guys have recommended it to me since, and I always believe every restaurant (well, except maybe one in this city that will go unnamed) deserves at least 2 chances. Sometimes it is just a bad night and you never know what you might be missing. (And hey, it is really close to my house!)

Anyway, the first thing I like about this place is the little room in the restaurant with old style stand up video games. Instantly, my kids were over there checking them out—and my kids are so young it was like 10 minutes before they even asked for a quarter to play them. They just liked watching the screens and the example games just as much as playing. So basically hubby and I enjoyed some quiet time during what is usually the grumpiest part of a meal out with our kids (they’re hungry and impatient). So I really like a place with something for the kids to do.

As for the food, well, I ordered some onion strings to snack on to start. They were good. They were onion strings. Served with a horseradish sauce which was pretty tasty, but I still am old fashioned about this, and like my ketchup. They were similar to most onion strings I have had in Indy, so I am starting to thing that they must all come from the same place.

For my main, I had the steak salad which was a small filet served over lettuce with blue cheese crumbles, provolone and your choice of dressing (I chose blue cheese of course). Others have recommended the salads at George’s, but based on this one, I would not. The meat was fine, and cooked to my requested temperature, but it wasn’t the highest quality of meat for sure (but what do you expect for $9.95 I guess). However, that being said, the meat and blue cheese crumbles were the best part, the worst part was the lettuce mix itself. It was just like those bagged mixes with iceberg and little hard strips of carrot. Yuck-o. The dressing was also nothing special—seemed like it came straight from a bottle. I have certainly had better blue cheese dressings at similar midrange restaurants (Arni’s and Scotty’s come to mind). So I guess all in all, the salad was a miss.


Hubby, on the other hand, ordered a pork tenderloin sandwich and it was much better (and marked as a specialty). The pork was juicy (the problem that causes me to rarely eat such sandwiches is that they are usually too dry) and the batter was nice. I think one of the things that kept it pretty juicy was that it wasn’t pounded so thin to beat all the tenderness out and then overcooked. A lot of times, restaurants seem to want to go for the biggest looking tenderloin at the expense of tenderness. The egg bun was the proper proportion to the sandwich—not so big you couldn’t fit the sandwich in your mouth and was fresh and tasty. This was a good sandwich and based on it, I might just give George’s another go (well, that and the video games).



Here’s the reason I might not rush back too soon though. My son (he is 3) picked up a mint on the way in (you know those round starlight mints lots of restaurants have sitting out in bowls?) and after he finished eating, he popped it in his mouth (without my knowledge). Well, you can probably guess what happened, he started choking on it and Mommy had to Heimlich him right there in the restaurant. It popped out, along with half his dinner and the whole meal ended a lot more stressful than it began. Needless to say, I don’t know if my son will be wanting to rush back, video games or not, and I can tell you right now, I think he is off mints for good. But note to parents (and anyone really), you may want to brush up on your Heimlich skills, as you never know when you will need them. Instinct sort of took over for me, but I did take a class several years ago after my first child was born and I am sure glad I did.

Nothing like a little drama to end a meal.

George’s Neighborhood Grill
6935 Lake Crossing, Suite B-12-15
Indy 46220
317-577-1600
www.georgesneighborhoodgrill.com