Room Four and Black Market (Redemption!)

I know I review these places often, but since the menus change daily I am going to continue to give you reviews on them when we go there. For one thing, I want to promote them (especially Room Four) since we get excellent meal after excellent meal there. 

A week or two ago, Tim and I were out and about on a Tuesday night and wanted to grab dinner.  After debating several other locations, we turned to our favorite:  Room Four.

I got a tomato salad ($10) that was outstanding.  It doesn't look like much, but it was packed with flavor!  There were three thick slices of tomato which were ripe and tasted like actual tomatoes.  Then they were topped with some grated pecorino cheese, sweet vidalia onions, and red wine vinaigrette, and then sitting on top of all of that was an arugula/basil combo.  The vinaigrette was incredibly bright, and when it combined with the pecorino, which was salty, it just made the tomatoes taste unreal (clearly I never get any good, ripe tomatoes around here).  Basil is a no-brainer when it comes to pairing things with tomatoes, and the arugula added some peppery-ness.  $10 is a bit steep for some tomatoes and greens, but I can't regret something that tasty.

For my main, I got another one of the starters--roasted sockeye salmon with asparagus, roasted garlic, and pistachios in a red pepper sauce ($13).  There were also some microgreens sitting on top. It was a pretty small portion since it was a starter, but it was plenty for me when combined with that salad.  The salmon was well-seasoned and really good in the red pepper sauce.  I liked the pistachios because they added a nice crunch.  The asparagus was just asparagus, but it was well-cooked.  I mixed some of the roasted garlic cloves into some bites, and it added a nice sweetness.  Not the tip top fish I've had there (because salmon isn't my favorite), but still, a super solid performance.  As I've said, they do fish very well.

The second part of this post is just a few lines about our last trip to Black Market.  I forgot to take pics until late into the game, plus it was super dark where we were sitting, so I have no pictures.  But I have to comment on it, because they completely redeemed themselves in Tim's and my eyes after the last visit we had there (with the Beef Barbacoa that wasn't actually beef barbacoa).

We went with the specials for our entire meal.  They had a starter of morel mushrooms and ramps that had been 'melted' down to form an incredible tasting topping for bread--buttery and meaty and delicious.  It felt a little wrong to eat morels this way--I grew up eating them dipped in milk and flour and then fried--but the flavor was delicious.  For my main, I got the special Pad Thai of the day, which had salt-and-pepper fish fillets in it (can't remember the type--sorry!).  I am still dreaming of that fish.  It was well-seasoned and crispy but tender inside, and with the Pad Thai just tasted amazing.  Loved it.  Tim got yet another special, a type of fried rice that had pork belly in it.  He also loved that.  Additionally, one of our friends got the caprese salad (I think it was also a special) with the most amazing tomatoes (where are these restaurants getting their tomatoes?  I need a hook-up, please) and in-house made mozzarella.  It was also super good.  We kept saying, "THIS is what a tomato is supposed to taste like!"  I think our starter and the tomato salad were in the $10 range, and Tim's and my mains were each $23-24.  Not cheap, but certainly tasty.

Websites:  Room Four and Black Market

Food Trucks: Tacos Without Borders and Gigi's Cupcakes

Last week I was at a professional conference, and they called in food trucks to sell lunch to us since there are no restaurants in close proximity.  Genius!  There were about four trucks there, and they had to have made a killing.

One of the trucks was Tacos Without Borders.  I am all about tacos with an Asian twist--I enjoy West Coast Taco's flavors and really loved Tacorean when we visited DC (not to mention my most recent review--La Chinita Poblana), so I was excited by this Thai spin on tacos.

The tacos were $3.75 each or 3 for $9; I opted to just get two because I had dessert plans (second half of this post).  I chose the mild flavor (Sweet Chili Chicken) and medium flavor (Thai Chicken).  Both were topped by roasted tomato salsa, veggie slaw, green onion, and cotija cheese.  The mild was pretty sweet; I liked the medium better, I think.  It was a little sweet but had a nice spicy kick to balance it out.  I wasn't super impressed by the chicken, though.  It was all white meat, but some of the chunks were a bit large and a touch dry, making it harder to eat.  I suspect all of the chicken was cooked together ahead of time, and that the sauce they apply to it is done as they're assembling, because the chicken in both was similar.  I probably would have liked it better if the chicken had been slow cooked in the sauce.  But, overall, they were tasty.  I liked the veggie slaw a lot (I think there was broccoli and cabbage and maybe a few other vegetables in there), and the cheese added some saltiness.  I'd be willing to try these guys again; looking at their website, they apparently cook from scratch and offer a changing menu of different tacos.  I suspect they kept it simple (all chicken) to deal with the large crowds on this day.

For dessert, I got a Gigi's cupcake.  They had a long list of flavors, and I opted for the strawberry lemonade.  First of all, look at the frosting on that puppy.  It was really an obscene amount.  This wasn't my first time to have a Gigi's cupcake, and it's my main complaint with them.  No human can or should eat that much frosting on one cupcake!  Tim absolutely hates it when cupcakes have that much frosting--he rejects it on principle.  I do find it ridiculous, but it doesn't stop me from just knocking most of the icing off and then eating it.  I love me a cupcake in almost any form!

The cake portion was a fairly standard lemon cake--no fillings or anything special--but it was really moist and very tasty.  The icing was super sweet without much strawberry flavor, which made it more just a 'lemonade' cupcake than a 'strawberry lemonade' one, but that was okay.  The icing was topped with large-grain decorating sugar and a chewy lemon candy (love those).  I cannot remember the exact price, but I'm pretty sure it was, as all of those cupcake store cupcakes are, severely overpriced--I'm thinking it was around $4.  But I suppose I'm the sucker in this case, since I paid it!  Like I said, I like cupcakes.


Websites:  Tacos Without Borders and Gigi's Cupcakes

La Chinita Poblana

Earlier this week, before going to a concert in Broad Ripple, Tim and I needed a quick bite to eat.  We finally hit upon 'that fusion taco place that's in the little building where Boogie Burgers used to be,' which turned out to be called La Chinita Poblana.

We were greeted by a very enthusiastic server at the counter, and ordered two tacos each plus agua frescas to drink ($2.50).  I got pineapple strawberry (the one on the left) and Tim got horchata (on the right).  Horchata is made with rice and cinnamon, and it was DELICIOUS.  Super tasty.  I enjoyed my slightly tart but sweet and very refreshing beverage, but I coveted his just a bit.  I will definitely get it next time!

All tacos are $3, and there are quite a few options plus a special of the day.  I got the tilapia taco, which was "yellow curry blackened" and served with chipotle mayo, pickled napa cabbage, and 'herb mix' (i.e. mostly cilantro).  It was super good.  It had two large pieces of fish on it and they were juicy and flavorful.  The mayo added a kick of heat, and the cabbage was good, although it didn't taste all that pickled to me.  I picked off the herbs, of course.

My other taco was the Red Braised Pork Carnitas, which was shredded pork with crispy edges (as carnitas should be).  It was served with an avocado crema that was awesome (wish there had been just a touch more!) and diced onion, and of course, herb mix.  I really enjoyed it, also, although the tilapia was my favorite.

Tim got the skirt steak, which was red curry marinated and served the same way as my carnitas, with avocado crema, onion, and herbs.  Neither of us were super impressed looking at it, but he LOVED it.  He said it had wonderful flavor, both the steak and the crema.  His other was the special of the day--it was a shredded, marinated beef with onion and herbs.  He liked that one also, although not as much as the steak.  I didn't try that one.
 

 (Clockwise from top left: tilapia, carnitas, steak, shredded beef)

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience and already have several others picked out to try next time!

Website:  La Chinita Poblana

La Hacienda

La Hacienda has a couple of locations in Indy.  I really enjoy going to the one on Binford, which is a bit bigger and has a great deck, when the weather's  nice.  Tim and his coworkers have a particular fondness for it, especially the margaritas, and I must say I've grown fond of it (them?) myself.

Closer to our home, in Ft. Harrison, is another, smaller location.  It's in an old train depot (so cute) and has its own little patio to the side.  It was there that Tim and I sat on a recent early spring evening.

To the left is one of the said margaritas.  We usually go with the Texas margaritas, traditional lime flavor over ice (not frozen).  The batch Tim and I shared that day (small pitcher $11.50) was extra tasty--not too cloyingly sweet (it tasted of oranges and limes, very fresh, not like the margaritas you sometimes get made with  neon-green bottled mix).

Nachos are one of my favorite foods--classy?  Maybe not, but delicious for sure.  This time I opted to try the pork nachos.  I had had a burrito made with their pork before, and the nachos utilized the same pork.  It's slow-cooked in beer, so it's fall-apart tender and has wonderful flavor.  My only complaint was that I prefer white cheese sauce (you know the stuff) over shredded and melted cheese, and sadly I got the latter.  The pork was pretty salty, so the heaviness of all that shredded cheese took it over the salty ledge.  Oh well.  It was still great.  Side note:  The pictured order is a half-order of their nachos ($4.35).  It was plenty for me.

Website:  La Hacienda

Chatham Tap

A few weeks ago, we met some friends at Chatham Tap on a Friday evening.  We got there pretty early--around 6pm--and subsequently didn't have to wait for a table.  If you've been to Chatham (the original one on Mass Ave., of course--the one up north is a pale imitation of the original's glory), you've probably hovered in the entrance waiting for someone to give up their table.   It's just what you do there.  It's tiny and the tables are jammed together, and it's loud and busy, but while those issues might annoy me at other bars, at Chatham it's just part of the charm.

Don't get me wrong--it's not the place for groups larger than 6, or really over 4 if you don't want to wait for ages.  But if it's you and your date and a friend or two, it's great.

We mostly went for drinks, but Chatham has a great food menu, too, so we opted to have dinner there.  I got a build-your-own pizza (small $7.49) with rasher bacon (add $1).  It's my standard, and so good.  They've got a great puffy, doughy crust, the sauce is light and fresh, and the rasher bacon (i.e. smokey ham) is meaty but feels healthier than pepperoni or sausage.  This time my pizza could have been cooked for another minute or two--the crust was right on the border of  being undercooked, and I like my cheese with a touch more color--but it was still super good and satisfying.

Tim got the St. George's Philly ($7.49)--corned beef and grilled onions (like a cheese steak) with a mozzarella-dill mayo mix that makes a sort of sauce.  The bite I had was pretty tasty, and Tim very much enjoyed it.  It came with a few side options, and he chose homemade chips.  They could have used a touch of salt, but were otherwise solid. 

If you're there late at night, you've got to get the garlic cheese chips ($6.49)--crispy, salty fries topped with a garlic ranch sort of sauce and shredded cheddar (not melted--sounds odd, but it's perfect).  The montauks ($7.49) are also a favorite of ours--slices of french bread topped with rasher bacon and Gouda, which is in turn topped with pan-seared tomatoes and basil.  Sounds odd, but it's tasty.

Website:  Chatham Tap

Bluebeard: Revisit

My first visit to Bluebeard was so good that it inspired me to start this blog.  We've been wanting to go back for some time, but other restaurants (and the hefty price tag that came with our first visit) have always deterred us.  Lucky for us, spring is a time of many celebrations for Tim and I--first his birthday, then our anniversary, and now my birthday--which means more excuses for eating at nice places, and that we've had the opportunity to go to a few of our other favorites recently.  And so, when deciding where I wanted to go for my birthday, since we'd cycled through our other favorites, Bluebeard was selected.

I started with their version of a Dark & Stormy ($8--I kind of like that drink, if you hadn't noticed).  Ginger beer, rum, lime.  This one had a nice peppery ginger beer and a good dose of lime to balance it out.  Pretty top-notch.

We knew we wanted to share some things, so we started with a small Duck Confit Caesar salad:  escarole, radicchio, carrots, celery, fennel, olives, boiled egg, and croutons ($7).  The picture to the right is about half of it, since we were sharing.  It was a really good salad, but they were super heavy-handed with the anchovies in the dressing, and subsequently the whole thing tasted like them.  The duck confit's flavor was completely lost, and instead it tasted almost like tuna.  It was incredibly tender and still yummy, but it just wasn't very duckish.  Again,  I'll stress that I enjoyed the salad very much--it was just kind of strange.

We were there on a Sunday, and they have an abbreviated "bar menu" that day, so the mains were primarily sandwiches.  We each got one and shared.  I opted for the Paesano: smoked brisket, bbq sauce, cheddar, grilled onion rings, pepperoncini, and a fried egg ($14).  As you can see, it was an open faced sandwich, and thank goodness as it was nearly impossible to eat neatly with a knife and fork so there's no way I could have picked it up.  Very messy!  The brisket was super tender and the bbq sauce was great--not too sweet, not too spicy, not too smokey.  Just right.  The pepperocini gave it a nice kick.  The onions were a bit unwieldy, and the egg was pretty unnecessary, but even so this sandwich was our favorite of the night. 


We liked Tim's "Smokey Burger" less.  Our waiter really sold it, saying it was one of the best burgers he's ever had.  Granted, we have some high burger standards after Room Four and Scratch Truck and Twenty Tap, but Tim's a sucker for burgers and the description sounded great. It was a combo of beef, lamb, and pork and was topped with lettuce, provolone, and jalapeno mostarda ($18).  I think there was also some fennel on there (slices of the fennel bulb), along with pickles.  It was okay.  The meat was great, but it was a touch under seasoned (at least if held to Room Four standards of seasoning).  The cheese provided zero flavor.  The mustard wasn't very pronounced, and the fennel, while intriguing, ended up just falling off and being messy.  Tim said he was "disappointed," and I'd have to agree.  Again, not a bad burger, but it just pales in comparison to the ones I've mentioned.

 We also split an order of that night's version of poutine ($15), since we will order poutine anytime we see it on a menu.  This version was a sort of Mexican twist--the fries (their standard house fries, crispy and well-seasoned) were topped with a sort of chorizo gravy, jalapenos, queso fresco, cilantro, avocado, and an egg (yes, another fried egg).  On this occasion, the egg was helpful in giving the whole thing a bit more 'sauciness' because the chorizo gravy wasn't super saucy.  It was very rich but the spice of the jalapenos and chorizo cut through a bit.  I should have asked for no cilantro--I probably would have enjoyed it more--but it didn't distract me too much.  Not my favorite poutine ever--and arguably not poutine, really--but pretty tasty.  Tim enjoyed them even more than me, but I do enjoy a good smothered french fry and this was no exception.

 Because we were celebrating my birthday, Tim graciously said we could get dessert.  We opted for the rhubarb cake with lemon curd 'terrine' and a blueberry sauce.  It was topped with whipped cream and some micro greens.  I would never have known that the cake had rhubarb in it if not for the descriptions--it just tasted like a very firm vanilla cake with white buttercream frosting--but the lemon curd was spectacular.  It was the perfect tart compliment to the sweet cake, as was the blueberry sauce.  I don't quite get the micro greens--I mean, I'm sure they wanted to be edgy/add earthiness or something, but I think it missed the mark.  It was more of a distraction.  Still, overall, a yummy dessert.

 This visit was no where near as impressive as the first.  There was some great potential there, but we were let down by a few items.  I don't think we are likely to return on a Sunday, but definitely want to try it for a regular dinner service again.  It's a huge menu that's always changing, so we'll be back.

Website:  Bluebeard

Sakura: Photo Update

One of my first posts on this blog was for Sakura.  Last week we took the kids there again, and had another great experience.  It remains my favorite sushi place in town, for sure.

We ordered pretty much the same thing as always, and I've already given my review for those items here.  However, I didn't post pictures back then.  So I'll do that now!

These are the super awesome gyoza.  They come five to an order--we managed to devour three before I remembered to pull out the camera.  They're nicely golden on one side and so yummy, with a great green oniony-pork flavor.  But that dipping sauce is the star.  The chili oil floating on top is what makes it so addictive.

This picture is HALF of the chicken cutlet order our boys shared.  Our waitress was particularly great this time and loved the boys.  She was impressed that they like miso soup, and when we mentioned that they especially love the tofu, she made sure there was a ton of extra tofu in their bowls!  She also brought the cutlets out already divided onto two separate plates (as seen above), a really, really nice touch (they've never done that for us before).  They halved the rice and the veggies, too. 

And, of course, four of Tim's and my favorite rolls are above.  Starting at the top, Bob's roll has asparagus tempura and smoked salmon.  At 3 o'clock is my absolute favorite, Florida Mix roll (tuna, salmon, crispies, roe, etc.).  At the bottom is the New York roll--shrimp, avocado, spicy sauce.  And to the left is the Texas roll with its jalapeno masago.  Mmmmm.  So good!