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Recess - Revisit

2:13 AM | Labels: Greg Hardesty, Independent Restaurants, Recess, SoBro

It has been awhile since we’ve been to Recess—not sure why, it is still one of the best restaurants in town. I guess maybe it seems like such a commitment, time-wise and food-wise. The good news is, it is totally worth it. It was on my in-laws list of places they have wanted to try in Indy, and it was the holidays, so a good excuse (not that you really need one).

I am sure you know by now that Recess is a price fixed menu—you get 4 or 5 courses—usually you have a choice for the largest protein and often there is an additional supplemental course for an extra charge (this night it was $56 with a $12 up charge for the pate). So you have to go on faith with what they are making that day. Most meals I have had have been good to really great, although there are always courses that I like better than others.

The first course on this night was the weakest one for me (and I think everyone at the table). It was mixed greens with sliced jicama, radishes and tortilla chops and queso fresco. There was a little dab of avocado puree there as well as what was described as a roasted poblano vinaigrette. The problem was there was so little dressing you couldn’t really taste it at all and it made the salad really hard to eat because it was like trying to fork dry leaves off the plate—there was nothing to stick them together. The particular greens used were also very bitter –without more dressing to smooth them out, they were pretty assertive.

The next course was fluke (which is a semi firm white fish) and it was perfectly done. I have always appreciated how well fish is prepared at Recess. It was seasoned and seared and served on top of cauliflower puree with arugula and artichoke hearts and hunks of bacon. The flavors were nice—it didn’t feel ridiculously heavy for a seafood course, but had a nice wintery feel to it with the bacon and the roasted artichoke hearts.

After that, we had the supplemental course that you could get if you wanted for $12. It was pork pate with caper berries, mustard and pickled red onions. We got one order to share between the four of us, and I think it as plenty to share (I saw one table where everyone got the supplemental course—no way could I have eaten the entire thing on my own). The pate was good—quite strong on its own, but I loved a bit of it on the bread with a little bit of each of the other accompaniments. They were a perfect combo. In the past, I have not been a huge fan of caper berries, even though I love capers and olives, because the ones I had were really firm. These were great with it though, and were soft. This was the kind of dish in which you realize every ingredient had an integral part—it was really well done.

Next was the main dish and on this night there was a choice between tombo tuna or hanger steak. I had the tuna and everyone else got the steak (although my mother-in-law and I agreed to share our two dishes). The tuna was amazing. It was quickly seared on the outside and served on top of wild rice, roasted Brussels sprouts, golden raisins and tot soi (a green). The sauce was perfect with it—it was a soy based glaze flavored heavily with ginger and lemongrass. I loved it all. The wild rice gave it some interesting texture in contrast to the buttery tuna. A little sweet burst from a raisin every once in awhile was a nice surprise as well. Honestly, this was a dish that I wouldn’t have ever designed because some of the ingredients aren’t typically my favorite things, but it was perfect. It was a dish that makes you appreciate the lack of choice at Recess because it makes you step slightly out of your comfort zone.

The beef was also very good (hubby and I argued over which was best) but I liked the tuna better. The beef was a great dish too though. It was nice medium rare slices of hanger steak with celery root, mushrooms, snap peas and served with a red wine beef sauce. A rich, hearty wintery meal for sure. For me, it just couldn’t compare to all the different flavors in the tuna.

The last course was dessert and it was also really, really good. It was a little apple fritter with a side of bourbon maple ice cream and topped with spiced nuts. The fritter was fried and had little bits of apple inside it. The fritter with the ice cream was really nice—again, a nice wintry dish that felt rich without being too heavy.

We did the wine pairings as well, and I think they do a very good job with them. I think the pours are fairly generous (not quite a full glass). I don’t think there were any selections that I didn’t like. The biggest downside of the meal was actually the pacing. Service was quite slow in between a couple of the courses—and not because of the server himself, but the kitchen just seemed to be having trouble keeping up or something. The place was pretty much full most of the time we were there which was nice to see. I was surprised to see that Room 4 was not very busy on this particular night for some reason. I haven’t been in awhile. I wonder how their business is going. Anyone been in awhile? Anyhow, Recess is certainly one of Indy’s culinary gems and we are lucky to have it.

Recess

4907 N. College Ave

Indy 46205

317/925-7529

www.recessindy.com

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Good Morning Mama's - Lunch

3:18 AM | Labels: Breakfast Places, Good Morning Mama's, Independent Restaurants, lunch places, SoBro

Because of the breakfast kick I have been thinking about Good Morning Mama’s lately, but we generally only go out to eat breakfast on the weekends, and the place is crazy on the weekends. So we decided to try it for lunch instead. It was definitely not as crazy busy for lunch.

It was a cold day and something hot and melty sounded good—so I ordered the spinach melt ($6.99). It was exactly what I wanted. It was spinach and walnut pesto mixed with seasoned cream cheese, Swiss cheese, tomato and bacon all pressed together in a Panini press on wheat bread. It was really good. Everything inside was warm and I really appreciated the bacon on the sandwich—honestly it made it for me. I loved the creamy spinach taste which had that earthy flavor from the walnuts, but the saltiness and the denser texture of the bacon was the perfect combo together. It would just be too creamy without the bacon. I debated on which side to get because I wanted something they were making in house (I wanted the potato pancakes but apparently they are not made there) so I ordered the mac and cheese ($1.99 up charge). They may be making it there, but it is just noodles and Velveeta (or similar). I am pretty sure this is prepared with the kid’s menu in mind. I passed on eating the rest once I had my obligatory bite. Next time I would try a different side. But the sandwich was very good.

Hubby had the Reuben ($7.49) (which is one of his favorite sandwiches) with a side of fries ($1.99). This was also really good and hit the spot on cold day. Normally I am not a big fan of Reubens because the proportions are too out of whack for me (way too much meat, not enough other stuff). This one was really good though. They do their own corned beef and it was all kind of mixed together making for a creamy, cheesy mix of the meat, the Swiss, the Thousand Island dressing, and the sauerkraut. I liked the way you got a taste of all the ingredients in every bite. Hubby always asks for extra Thousand Island dressing with a Reuben, but this one didn’t need it. He got fries as his side ($1.99) but they were just your standard foodservice fries. Nothing special. As far as what we had for sides, I would take a skip on the extra 2 bucks (anyone had any of their sides that are really good?)

All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience and we sussed out from the server what are the least busy times on the weekend to go for breakfast or lunch so we can take the kids next time. I think they will like it—the sandwiches were good and the whole kitschy diner thing are right up their alley.

Good Morning Mama’s

1001 East 54^thStreet

Indy 46220

317/255-3800

www.goodmorningmamas.com

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Oh Yumm Bistro - Revisit

3:15 AM | Labels: Independent Restaurants, lunch places, Oh Yumm Bistro, SoBro

I had a bunch of errands to run in the area the other day, so I stopped into Oh Yumm Bistro for a quick lunch. It used to be a regular place for hubby and me for dinner, but I haven’t been in ages. I found it interesting that the clientele was entirely female—and they were pretty busy.

Anyway, I first ordered a sandwich, was told they were out of it, and then I tried for the tuna tartare, and was told they were out of that too. My server was really embarrassed about the whole thing and tried to be very accommodating. I ended up ordering the pescado tacos ($8.99), and luckily, these were available. I also appreciated that my server also brought me a complimentary order of French fries (which are normally $3.95) because he felt bad about not having the things I wanted to order. I appreciate when a server takes it upon himself to do what they can to rectify a situation, even by just making a small gesture (my pet peeve is when they come and ask YOU what they can do to fix a situation, or when the server just disappears at the first sign of customer dissatisfaction).

Anyway, the fries were good—although I probably would have had them a little crunchier if it had been up to me. According to the menu, they are drizzled in rosemary oil, which may have been why they were a little soft. But they did have a nice flavor and they are a generous portion. (Sorry about the lack of many pictures, it was just too dark.)

The tacos were fine. They were served in slightly toasty flour tortillas with thin strips of basafish (which is a mild white fish similar to catfish in flavor) that were seasoned with several spices. They weren’t particularly hot (as in spice level), but had a decent amount of seasoning. I appreciated that the fish fairly tender. There was also cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, and some lime sour cream. Honestly, the fillings were all kind of soft when you smooshed them together—they tasted pretty good, but I could have done with some crunch factor—maybe a little cabbage or something along those lines? I did take all the extra pico de gallo that they served alongside and dump it all in there for a little extra crunch from the onion and acid from the tomato. I also asked for a bit of extra sour cream because there was only a little bit on the tacos—it added a good tang, although I didn’t get a lot of lime from it. Actually, a lime wedge would have been a nice addition too. They served homemade tortilla chips on the side as well and I didn’t really care for them—they were a little too thick and hard for my taste. (A little local trivia, according to the menu, Oh Yumm was the first place to serve fish tacos in Indy.)

Overall, it was a fine lunch, although I wish I could have gotten one of my first choices—perhaps it would have been a little more satisfying. Anyone else been there lately? And, since I have gotten myself on the subject, anyone have any restaurant pet peeves they want to share? Or servers, what are your pet peeves about customers? I always love a good discussion!

Oh Yumm! Bistro

5615 N. Illinois

Indy, 46208

317/251-5656

www.ohyummbistro.com

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Room Four - Revisit

3:36 AM | Labels: Greg Hardesty, Independent Restaurants, Room Four, SoBro

Wow. As you can probably tell, we go out to eat a lot, and while I have a lot of good meals, I am still always excited when I have one that really makes me repeatedly say things like “this is sooooo good” throughout the entire meal. Anyway, this meal was one of those. And makes me regret not going here more. It was a random Wednesday and we ended up with a sitter—I had seen the Room Four menu earlier in the day and had thought that it sounded good so off we went (some days certainly sound better than others). We were seated right away, although the place was probably 2/3 full and people continued to come in the whole time we were there.

I ended up getting a starter that wasn’t actually on the online menu-- so sometimes there are additional or slightly different variations of things once you get there. My starter was a salad of thinly sliced prosciutto, fennel, and green apple on top of a blue cheese mousse and topped with crumbled pistachios ($10). There also seemed to be a very light vinaigrette on top as well. This salad was superb. Seriously—definitely one for the mental bank to try and re-create at home. On the bottom of the plate was a fairly thick blue cheese cream that was topped with the little mounds of prosciutto, several slices of tart apple and lots of the fennel. I was worried the fennel might be overpowering, but it wasn’t. It was all light and crisp and went really well with the meaty softness of the meat and cheese. The pistachios also gave it a nice teeny bit of crunch. (Side note though, I was surprised to see them since they weren’t listed on the menu—and as a mom of a kid with some severe nut allergies, these things stick out to me). It was really, really good though. A bunch of ingredients that I probably wouldn’t have thought to put together, but which I will be in the future (with something else to replace the nuts).

Hubby had the rabbit rillette ($12) which was also really, really good. It was basically like a light pate made from rabbit—and served on top of the perfect pickled carrot mustard—I like some mustard with things like this to cut the fattiness, but sometimes it can be too sharp. This was perfect--and without the pickled carrot flavor it wouldn’t have been as good. There were also hearty sunflower shoots on the side that gave a nice crunch with everything else. The thinly sliced sourdough bread that was toasted and buttered was great too. We only wished for another piece or two. We had a hard time deciding which appetizer we liked better, but honestly they were the perfect two things to split.

For my main, I had the fried pork tenderloin tonkatsu over soba noodles ($16). I absolutely loved this dish. It was thinly cut, breaded and fried pork tenderloin that was sliced across a bowl of noodles that were slightly cold. There was a ton of flavor in the noodles from the ginger scallion sauce—lots of small bits of ginger and scallions in there and maybe a bit of heat from some jalapeno? The pork was perfectly tender and the breading also added some nice, slightly salty, flavor. Hubby really liked it too, and honestly I had a hard time sharing it. We ate every single bite. If this was a dish available regularly somewhere, it would be one of those dishes that I would crave and buy a lot. Fairly simple, but perfectly executed.

Hubby got the both the tacos of the day ($6 each). The first one was a chicken version with avocado, arugula and chipotle salsa. The other one was with black olive picadillo, roasted poblanos, queso fresco, and cilantro cream. We both really liked the chicken version—and I have to admit I kind of like the gooey more “fancy” tacos quite a bit that you get at places like this and H2O. All that cream and stuff may not be totally authentic, but it sure is tasty. The chicken was super tender and the salsa gave it just a kick of heat. Not too much, but enough you could feel it. Honestly, neither one of us was as big of fan of the other one—there was something strange about the consistency of the filling for us. It was even spicier than the chicken one—although I did like the cilantro cream which I have had before on other tacos at Room 4. The taco menu changes daily but they almost always have some flavors—I look forward to trying some of the other flavors.

We were on such a food high, we went ahead and got dessert because we pretty much knew it would be good because it is usually the only offering at Room 4 and it has always been good. The candy bar cookies ($5) are basically big gooey chocolate chip cookies with bits of random candy bars in them. Pretty sure there was some Kit Kat in ours. They serve them with some whipped cream dusted with chocolate. If you like warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookies, you are going to like these. (And really, who doesn’t?)

All in all this was up there as one of the best Indy meals I have had in awhile and is going to remind me to think of Room 4 more often when we are going out.

Room Four

4907 North College Ave

Indy 46205

317/925-7529

www.recessindy.com

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SoBro Café- Revisit

2:51 PM | Labels: Independent Restaurants, lunch places, SoBro, SoBro Cafe

I thought I would write a little mini-update about SoBro Café because I went back today for lunch with a friend and got to finally try the Pannekoeken-which were what I wanted the first times I went, but they were out of them or weren’t serving them. I got the “farm fresh” version which contained egg, bacon and cheese ($5.75). I asked how the eggs are done and normally they do them scrambled but I asked if they could do them with runny yolks. And they did. And it was delicious. It is basically a crepe, with a nice crispy edge wrapped around the egg, nice small pieces of bacon and I think a couple of types of cheese. Simple and perfectly well-cooked. I liked the little garnish of bacon slivers on top as well. My one complaint is that they served it with a little garnish of lettuce and I would have liked it if it were slightly more than a garnish and had some dressing on it. Also, the portion is fairly small, even for me, so I would recommend ordering a soup or some other side if you have a larger appetite.

My friend, who has been gluten free for many years, was jealous of mine, although we chose the place because they serve all their sandwiches on gluten free bread as an option and he seemed to enjoy his as well.

So I wanted to update you all because I really enjoyed the Pannekoeken—even if I wished I had just a little more to eat. Also, my friend, who has just been discovering how many gluten free restaurant options are out there, will appreciate any more recommendations you all might have in this area.

SoBro Café

653 East 52^ndStreet

Indy 46205

317/920-8121

www.sobrocafe.com

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SoBro Café

3:23 AM | Labels: brunch places, Independent Restaurants, lunch places, SoBro, SoBro Cafe

This is a review in which I am actually including two visits—my first was for brunch with the family and the second for lunch with a friend. We ended up there for brunch with the kids recently when we wanted to hit Taste with the kids, but when we got there, the line was out the door and none of us had the patience for it. At SoBro, we sat right down and were greeted by a friendly server. It was between 11:00 am and noon on a Sunday, and the only menu option at that time was the brunch menu, which was limited to 6 or 7 items, but luckily there was something that appealed to everyone.

I had the fried egg sandwich ($9.50 with bacon), hubby had the biscuits and gravy ($6.95) (they also have a vegetarian version), my son some scrambled eggs and toast and bacon ($5.95), and my daughter the “French kiss” toast ($7.25). I didn’t notice a children’s menu at all, so they were just ordering off the regular menu (although there were a few kids in there besides mine).

My fried egg sandwich was tasty, although simple. I didn’t ask for the egg to be any certain way, I sort of thought I would see how they do it, and they fried it fairly hard (boo) but the flavors of the bacon, the avocado, tomato, lettuce, and cheese were all good. I would recommend sourdough bread (which is what I got) because the wheat that my son got alongside his eggs was a little hard. There was also a generous portion of home fries with the sandwich--they were fine, the ones that were the crispiest I liked, but I have to admit, I am not generally a home fries kind of girl anyway. It is hard to find any that have ever really gotten me excited.

The best item by far on the table though, was hubby’s biscuits and gravy (I hate it when he out orders me). There were two biscuits cut in half and covered with the chunky, sausage filled gravy. The sausage was nice and peppery and I loved the thinner gravy. Usually I am not a big fan of biscuits and gravy (and really a lot of gravy in general), because of the over-thickened, fakey, taste that so many of them have. This gravy was great. Thinner, like I said, and exceptionally well seasoned. It had a fair amount of peppery spiciness. I also really liked the fact that the biscuits stood on their own and remained crispy under the gravy. Honestly, I clearly preferred hubby’s breakfast to mine (even though mine was fine too). Luckily, there was plenty for us to share. Hubby, who is a big biscuits and gravy fan, declared this may be his favorite in town.

The French toast was very popular with the kids, and I am pretty sure they would both get this on a return visit. It is supposed to come with cream cheese and strawberries on top, but my daughter asked for them on the side. She did end up spreading the cream cheese on several pieces and enjoyed it together. I think she might even let them make it the way it is listed on the menu next time. I had a little bite. It was basic French toast to me—nothing that made it stand out from what you might make at home, other than I have never topped mine with cream cheese. The eggs and bacon were also straightforward—my son ordered them scrambled. Your basic scrambled eggs with some pretty tasty bacon alongside (although now every time I see bacon on a menu, I am hoping for Smoking Goose, I love that stuff.)

So the next visit I met a friend for lunch, and was disappointed to be told as soon as I sat down that they were out of their specialty Dutch Pennekoeken, which are listed as “pancakes” but which I am told are a lot like crepes actually. They have several savory options, and I love a good savory crepe. Sadly, I didn’t get to try one this time. So we split an appetizer of corn fritters ($4.50) which were like little pancakes themselves, but with chunks of corn in them and made with at least some cornmeal I would guess. I liked the chunky bits of corn and the sweet flavor, but they were maybe just a tad dry. They were served with a spicy black bean dip as well as a flavored sour cream which I really enjoyed. The sour cream had an extra tangy flavor (lime perhaps) and it added good moisture to the corn cakes. They also brought us a side of their sweet potato fries (which are baked actually) on the house ($3.50 or $2.25 with a sandwich) because they felt bad for the fact that they had run out of pancakes. I think these are one of the things that are not housemade, and to be honest, they didn’t really wow me. They did have a nice crunch for being baked, and I appreciated that. I also liked the thick homemade ketchup alongside. I did appreciate the gesture though—they certainly wanted to make us happy.

After re-evaluating my options, I settled on the Tunisian Melt just because it sounded intriguing (and our server said it was one of her favorites) ($8.25). It was an open faced sandwich (Texas toast) topped with tuna salad with potato chunks, sprouts, a little spinach, boiled egg, a lemon caper dill sauce, harissa (a type of chili sauce), and topped with melted cheddar cheese. Sounds kinda strange huh? But it sort of made me think of a Niçoise salad kind of flavor which sounded really good to me. And I really quite enjoyed it. The tuna part itself was not like your traditional tuna salad kind of thing (which I NEVER order by the way)—it wasn’t mayo based the way so many are. I really liked the salty, tangy lemon caper sauce and the texture variation of the eggs and the potatoes. It was slightly warm with the melted cheese. I appreciated the fact that it was something very different from most sandwiches you see around and I thought the flavors pretty much worked. There was a lot going on, but I enjoyed it. I would get it again I think, although hopefully at some point I can get one of those pancakes (anyone had one?)

One of the nicest things about SoBro café is how friendly the staff is—our server was super friendly and apologetic about the pancake situation and knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the food. Another person (manager/owner?) came by several times as well to refill our drinks and check on us. I also liked the cute little statues that hold the checks at the end. The food is nearly all homemade, and there is creativity being demonstrated, which I like in a lunch place. So often sandwich menus look identical, and there are some deviations here (although there are plenty of standards as well). I would love to hear what you guys think of the place if you’ve been.

SoBro Café

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/920-8121

www.sobrocafe.com

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Room 4--Revisit

2:26 AM | Labels: Greg Hardesty, Independent Restaurants, Recess, Room Four, SoBro

Recently, I had the opportunity to take advantage of Recess/Room 4’s special lunch hours during Super Bowl week. Even though technically, by the time you read this, you won’t be able to take advantage of it yourself, since they were just offering their normal Room 4 fare, I figured it was game for a post (even though we were actually sitting in Recess) because you can always go to Room 4 and get some similar types of stuff.

I was with the BFF and we both started with the “hangover chicken soup” ($11) which was perfect for me because I felt like I was getting just a touch of a cold, and the spicy rich broth was exactly what I needed. The soup was loaded with pieces of seasoned, tender chicken and a ton of veggies—celery, carrots, onions, jalapenos, tomatoes and zucchini. There was a nice little garnish of cilantro on top. The veggies were tender, but not tasteless mush, like so often happens in soup. But seriously, the thing about this soup was the well-seasoned broth. It had so much flavor, a nice amount of heat, tasted good, and seriously helped out the sinuses. I also liked the lime wedge alongside to add to the freshness from the cilantro.

The grilled fish tacos ($16) were great. I think this was the first time I have had monkfish in a taco, and it was really nice. The fish was grilled, and very slightly charred on the edges, but the fish was really tender and I love the way monkfish has such a sweet taste. But my favorite part about these tacos was all the flavor from all the toppings. There was mashed avocado, a tangy cabbage mix with lime and fresh sliced jalapeno. They were topped with a seasoned crema, which had a little spice, but still gave you the creamy coolness that made the whole thing a perfect combo. I had just a little taste of my friend’s carnitas as well, and it had a nice meaty taste (had cotija cheese and salsa on top) but if I were going back and had the same choice, pretty sure I’d be going with those fish tacos. They were bright and delicious. There was also a black bean salad along with the tacos, and while it was good, I enjoyed the tacos (and soup) so much, I didn't have much room for it.

I was glad to hear that several of our Super Bowl celebrity guests got up to Recess to try the food here. It was good to see a few of them venturing outside of the chain-zone downtown. I am looking forward to a return visit soon for dinner.

Room 4

4907 North College Ave

Indy 46205

317/925-7529

www.recessindy.com

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Twenty Tap

3:28 AM | Labels: Beer, Independent Restaurants, SoBro, Twenty Tap

I have been hearing a lot about Twenty Tap from various people and was intrigued to try it. Ok, I will just get it out of the way right now, I am not a beer drinker, so this is a food review (as are all of my reviews) so please don’t yell at me. Yes, this place is a bar/restaurant specializing in lots of different local and regional beers and serves appropriate grub to go along with. The kids were on fall break and I sent a quick tweet to see if they were kid friendly. I got lots of responses emphatically telling me yes they were welcoming of kids; that they have a separate dining area where kids can sit, that they have a kid’s menu and that they are in fact non-smoking. We were good to go on all accounts (and that non-smoking thing is nearly a requirement for me with or without kids anyway).

When we sat down and looked over the menu, I knew I must order the fried cheese curds ($7)—never having seen them on a menu before. I don’t usually go with a big appetizer for lunch, but like I said, I couldn’t pass them up! They were quite good and strangely addicting. They are little cheddar curds, that are soft and somewhat salty and then they were tempura-type beer batter, with seasoning in it. You got to choose from two of their housemade aiolis to dip in—we choose the roasted garlic and the chipotle (both could have used a little more zip I think, especially the garlic). Nothing like dipping fried cheese into what is essentially mayonnaise. Hubby and I had a difficult time not eating all of them…although it is a very generous portion so we didn’t finish them all. And even not being a beer drinker, I am pretty much sure that they may be the perfect pairing with beer.

For my lunch, I had heard good things about the burgers, and there are several varieties on the menu. I went with their version of one of my favorite combos, which they called the “wake up” ($9.00). It was a burger with cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, bacon and a fried egg served on an English muffin. I enjoyed it pretty well. The beef was pretty tender and very juicy, although I would ask for it medium rare next time (to be fair, it states on the menu that they do medium unless you ask otherwise). It was certainly medium, if not a little beyond. My biggest peeve though was I specifically asked for my egg to have a runny yolk, and it was totally fried hard. I am sure that is how they normally do it, but I thought if I asked, I could get it that way (and my server didn’t tell me otherwise). I liked the English muffin part of it too, making the bun less bulky. I hate it when burgers are so big they are hard to eat. The kids both had cheeseburgers off the kid’s menu ($5 each) and really liked them. My son ate half of his and then ate the other half for dinner (it re-heated very well I might add, and I appreciated the non-styrofoam containers that they give you to go). We all had fries as a side and they are the battered-type of fries that are quite tasty, especially dipped into the aioli, although I would doubt that they are made in-house. Hubby had the Indiana brat ($8), and seemed to enjoy it, but honestly I think he was a little jealous of all of our burgers. The brat was served with beer mustard, pickles, onions and roasted peppers. I can’t speak to its taste, because I didn’t try it. I can see again, how this would probably be a good pairing with beer (duh, beer and brats right?).

Anyway, it was an enjoyable experience—we all had a good meal and I appreciate that while they are obviously going for a beer place with somewhat familiar comfort type food items, that they are putting a twist on things and are not afraid to venture a little out of the mind-numbing options that seem to appear on so many pub-type places. They have several interesting burgers and several interesting salad and sandwich options that are not just like everything else you see at other places. The service was very friendly (although slightly absent a lot considering there were only a few tables there at the time) and while I bet in the evenings it is more of an adult crowd, it was a good place for a family lunch. Nothing totally blew me away, but everything was good. Tell me what you have had, and what you think. And hey, if you want to tell me what beer you like with those fried cheese curds, maybe I’ll even order it next time.

Twenty Tap

5408 College Ave

Indy 46220

317/602-8840

www.twentytap.com

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Taste Café and Marketplace- Revisit - Dinner

4:00 AM | Labels: Aftertaste, Independent Restaurants, outdoor seating, SoBro, tapas, Taste Cafe and Marketplace

For some reason I always forget about Taste as an option for dinner—I guess because it is only open a couple of nights a week (Wednesdays and Thursdays I believe) because I never forget about it as a lunch option. It is one of my favorites for lunch for sure. (Check out my other reviews of both lunch and dinner here.) Hubby and I had a babysitter on a Thursday the other day and actually remembered it. It was also a beautiful night so we thought it would be nice to sit outside.

I think the food hits a spot that Indy is lacking in though---good but not overly fancy, small plates. (They do have entrées, but we always get small plates when we go). The menu is quite extensive though, so it always takes us awhile to decide. And then when the server told us the specials, it was almost overwhelming. There were probably 10, each with about 10 different ingredients. It took quite awhile for him to read them all off to us. I am thinking it may be a lot easier (and less time consuming) to either print up some daily specials sheets or else just update the regular menu more often.

We shared several items—the panzanella salad ($8) was the first thing delivered and it was very good. Hubby had just been complaining about one we had elsewhere, and declared this one to be superb. It was a spinach base, with giant white beans, nice hunks of bread, tomatoes, capers and red onion served with Champagne vinaigrette. There was feta sprinkled on top. I liked the variation on a traditional panzanella which often is focused more around just the bread, tomatoes and basil, and I have most often had it served with mozzarella. This one was nice with the spinach and the texture variation from the beans, and the salty flavor of the feta. The salad was dressed perfectly, and we both really enjoyed it. My only complaint is that I would have loved it on a slightly bigger plate—it was mounded so high, it was actually hard to eat it without making a mess. But we managed.

We also got the special antipasto platter of the day which is somewhat similar in accoutrements to the regular one on the menu, but included just speck as the meat. If you aren’t familiar, speck is very similar to prosciutto in appearance, but is smoked as well as seasoned and has a much more distinctive flavor. They served it with marinated artichokes, some roasted seasoned tomatoes with a slice of fresh mozzarella, and a couple of boiled eggs. There were a couple of slices of wheat baguette alongside as well. We both enjoyed eating this dish out there in the open air. Just a pure flavor of summer.

Finally, we shared the rare roast beef tartine with blue cheese, horseradish and balsamic onion marmalade ($12). A tartine is basically an open-faced sandwich and taste does them very well. The beef is actually rare, and tender, and the blue cheese combined with the onion marmalade really complement each other as well—the salty distinct blue cheese with the sweet, slightly tangy marmalade. One of my favorite combos. The horseradish was just lightly grated across the top, giving it just the right amount of horseradish-type heat. Of course, we also had a side of the frites ($6), which are some of my favorite in town, mainly because of the basil aioli on the side. I always get these for lunch and dinner. The fries are light and crunchy and topped with salt and some parsley. But it is the slightly tangy aioli that is the reason I keep ordering them. They were also offering a chipotle aioli this night, so we tried a side of it is well. It was good too, but I am still partial to the basil.

Taste is a good casual place to go for a dinner sized exactly the way you want—you can make a nice light meal out of just a couple of the smaller plates, or you can go the traditional route and order an entrée. I still prefer it for lunch, but it is a good change of pace for dinner as well.

Aftertaste (Taste Café and Marketplace)

5164 N College Ave
Indy 46205
317-925-2233www.tastecafeandmarketplace.com

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Room Four

4:15 AM | Labels: Greg Hardesty, Independent Restaurants, Recess, Room Four, SoBro

I was interested to check out Room Four ever since it had opened, but I hadn’t gotten around to getting there. The thing about this place that sort of surprises me is that it seems like it is flying a little under the radar—as big a deal as the opening of Recess was, it seems like Room Four has just sort of quietly opened, and there hasn’t been a lot of press. I have mentioned it to several friends-who have all eaten at Recess, and they had no idea what I was talking about. In case you don’t know either, it is the newest addition to Greg Hardesty’s ventures and is actually accessed through the same door as Recess—instead of going in the front door and turning right, you go left to a new, smaller dining area. The menu is a la carte, less expensive and they don’t take reservations. I had heard that it was easy to get in, so we called some friends and asked them to meet us. Unfortunately even at a fairly early hour (6:30), while they weren’t full, they had no tables for 4 available so we had to wait about a half an hour to be seated. The tiny room (almost a hallway) is made up completely of tables for 2, which they push together for larger groups. We did get some wine while we waited, which was nice, but it was a little frustrating that there were several tables for 2 available but not next to each other. (I would’ve happily bought a glass or two of wine for any couple willing to scootch down one table so that we could slip into a table for 4, but hubby wouldn’t let me ask any of them). My advice though is that you can probably get seated fairly quickly if there are just 2 of you—more than that and you may want to prepare for a wait.

Anyway, we eventually got seated and had already checked out the menu, so right away we ordered several appetizers—the corn fritters ($8), the mixed greens salad ($9) and the quesadilla (which was actually listed as an entrée--$13). Loved the corn fritters—there were 3 fritters to an order (ok, we had 2 orders) and they were super moist little fritters that tasted wonderfully of sweet corn, with a crisp pan fried edge. But my favorite part was the topping on them—the menu called it “avocado cous cous caviar.” It was cous cous mixed into a lightly seasoned avocado spread—sort of a milder guacamole. I loved the addition of the cous cous. What a unique way to add another texture to what was a very tasty dish.

The salad was also really good too and was a nice thing to have on what was a scorching hot night (and this place can be a little warm even with their blinds drawn) because it was cold. There were mixed greens topped with sliced roasted shitake mushrooms, thick slices of beautiful ripe tomatoes, jalapenos and a ginger vinaigrette. I liked this salad because it wasn’t necessarily something I would have put together myself, and the flavors went together really well—it had a bit of Asian taste with the dressing and the shitake mushrooms, but also great sweetness and the right acidity from the tomatoes, and a touch of heat from the jalapenos. I have always liked the thoughtfulness of flavors in Recess (and other Hardesty restaurant) salads. This one was certainly no exception.

The quesadilla was also universally enjoyed and devoured quickly (and another one promptly ordered). It was a crisp tortilla filled with Capriole goat cheese, zucchini slices and black beans. I have never made a quesadilla with goat cheese and I am pretty sure it will be happening around here soon. It was so creamy but had that extra depth of flavor that goat cheese has—tangy yet light. The other ingredients gave it nice weight and the salsa of charred tomatoes, cilantro and chunks of avocado on top were perfect. I so enjoyed eating all these wonderfully ripe tomatoes…hopefully by the time this post is up I will have a few of my own coming out of my garden.

We also all shared one of each of all the other entrées (ok, so we ordered everything on the menu except the soup because it was like 150 degrees outside, what can I say? That is the benefit of taking other people with you.) The chicken wings ($13) at Room 4 are some of the best in flavor when it comes to chicken wings. They are marinated and well seasoned and then deep fried and served on top of a fairly thick pool of blue cheese celery sauce—I really liked the sauce—a ton of blue cheese in it, but it wasn’t a really cold sauce as you usually get with wings, but a room temperature sauce which I liked—gave the wings a little more gourmet feel. There were little bits of celery in it, instead of your traditional side of celery sticks. An interesting twist. And the wings themselves were so hot (as in temperature) we had to wait a bit to eat them. While I enjoyed them, and have had the pleasure of having them before (although with slightly different seasonings I think), I wouldn’t say they were my favorite thing of the evening.

Their take on “spaghetti and meatballs” ($13) was also a good one. Normally, I would never order spaghetti and meatballs in any restaurant. To me, it isn’t exciting or overly interesting and a fairly easy dinner to make at home, so why bother? Since there were several of us and we were going to share everything, we went ahead and got it. It was different—more like papardelle and meatball. There was one large meatball, and the tomato sauce, was a super fresh one with large hunks of fresh ripe tomatoes. It was lighter than what you think of with spaghetti and meatballs and I enjoyed it because of that. The meatball was also tender, unlike most meatballs I have had in my life. Everyone enjoyed it.

The last entrée we had was the gilled cobia ($15) served in a light broth (described as chimichurri butter sauce) with zucchini, French horn mushrooms and kale. Ok, so this is the one I can speak the least to, because it was the farthest away from me on the table, and I only got about a bite before it was gone. The fish was very tender, although with a very distinct, slightly fishy taste (I think because the skin was on the fish). You have to like fish to have liked this—we all did, but it wouldn’t be a dish for someone who likes only very mild fish. It is a little firmer than a lot of other white fish as well. The veggies with it were wonderful and as I have said before, Chef Hardesty has a way with fish. It is always cooked properly and with just the right things on the side. Being served in the buttery sauce also made it even more intensely moist.

Ok, so there was only one dessert. Of course we had to order it. They were cookies. Warm homemade cookies made with large hunks of various chocolate-y candy bars. Seriously, even with as full as I was (and a bit too much wine), I could have eaten several more of these. I don’t know if they are always on the menu, but I hope so.

So to sum up, this place is such another great addition to the ever-growing group of restaurants in the City that are taking familiar dishes and tweaking them a bit to give it a gourmet spin. And in the hands of this kitchen, they are doing it with more finesse than most. The ingredients are impeccable and many of the flavors are complex, but the dishes are approachable and affordable. I have always loved Recess, but this place will have something to please everyone I think, and I know I cannot wait to return.

Room Four

4907 North College Ave

Indy 46205

317/925-7529

www.recessindy.com

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Just Judy's

4:41 AM | Labels: Breakfast Places, Independent Restaurants, Just Judy's, SoBro

One of the last breakfast places near our house that we have been wanting to try is Just Judy’s. It is in an old Waffle House on 54^th Street. It’s a pretty big place, and actually serves other meals besides breakfast and even has a bar. The breakfast menu is fairly standard, and hubby went with your traditional choice—a 2 egg breakfast with bacon, hash browns and ½ order of biscuits and gravy. I went with the breakfast sandwich on a croissant.

Unfortunately, it will also likely be the last time we ever eat there. Some of the things were fine—the eggs were generally cooked well, and….well, honestly, that’s really about it. The bacon was so hard you couldn’t bite a piece off of it. After trying to take a bite of my sandwich, and not being able to do it, I pulled it all off and set it aside. I still had my two eggs with melted cheese on my croissant, so it wasn’t too bad. Hubby unfortunately also ordered the bacon and felt the same way. A lot of bacon went uneaten and that’s just a shame. But it was that bad. The croissant itself was okay, it held everything together, but it wasn’t very flaky.

I also wasn’t overly impressed with the hash browns—they did offer home fries and hash browns, which I always appreciate, but these hash browns were a pile of fairly mushy potatoes. There was no real crispiness to them.

Hubby’s least favorite thing was the gravy. He said it had none of the pepper flavor that he likes and it was strangely sweet and almost had the color of maple syrup.

The service was fine, and the prices reasonable, but honestly, with as many other breakfast places there are in the area, I am surprised there were as many people as there were in there.

Just Judy’s

2210 East 54^th Street

Indy 46220

317/254-8796

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