Thunderbird

I had been wanting to try Thunderbird since it opened, so I convinced Tim and two of our friends to go there for dinner a few Saturdays ago.  I'd heard a bit about it, and knew the cocktails were the focus, but the menu sounded interesting, also.

The menu I'd seen (and linked to, below), unfortunately, wasn't priced the same as the one at the actual restaurant.  If you take a look, there are several items priced at $10, but several are also priced at $4.  So, I figured we could each get a $10 dish (which I assumed would be bigger), and a few of the $4 dishes to share, allowing us to taste several items plus a couple of drinks.  It would be pricey, but no worse than several other restaurants in town.

Therefore, we were rather displeased to see that ALL of the food items are now priced at $10 (well, except for a few 'snacks').  Some of these items include hush puppies, ham croquettes, and a mac & cheese that comes in a tiny ramekin.  Not paying $10 each for those, sorry!

So, what did we get?  I opted for the pimento grilled cheese, and it was a good-sized sandwich filled with the aforementioned pimento cheese, tomato, and pickles.  On the side were pickled peppers, which (forgive the Emerilism) really kicked the sandwich up a notch--seriously good with those added.  Was it worth $10?  Eh, I don't know about that, especially since it came with no fries or chips or anything on the side, but it was a tasty sandwich.

Tim got the duck neck biscuits and gravy, and he loved it.  It was one decently sized biscuit that was covered in gravy made with duck neck meat (I imagine the neck itself also imparted its own flavor into the whole thing).  The meat was finely shredded and tender.  It was topped with a fried egg and some micro-greens, and the whole thing was tasty enough that one of our friends ended up ordering it after tasting  Tim's (he had originally opted just the crisp hominy, $4, thinking that we weren't going to stay long.  For the record, he did enjoy that, too!).


 Our other friend got the chicken and hoecake sandwich.  This was a fried "buttermilk" chicken thigh between two cornmeal hoecakes, topped with smoked cheddar and bacon honey butter.  Sounds great, right?  Unfortunately, he reported that the whole thing suffered from a lack of flavor.  It wasn't seasoned enough, and the hoecake was somewhat flavorless, also.  Maybe more bacon honey butter would have helped?

I did force Tim into dessert, because the beignets with espresso cream cheese ($4) were calling my name.  You can barely see them in the picture (apologies for the poor quality/lighting of all the pics, but it was super dark in the back corner where we were seated), but we got four donut balls covered in a slightly sweet cream cheese icing and sprinkled with what I think may have been tarragon.  These were SUPER good.  Not exactly like the beignets I've had in New Orleans, but they did hearken back to those, texture-wise, and they tasted fantastic.

We did have several of the cocktails, but I the pictures turned out crazy dark.  I started with the Ti' Punch ($9), which is La Favorite Rhum Agricole, Lime, and Cane Sugar.  It was good, but not overly complex--it mostly just tasted of lime.  Which, again, is good in my book, because I like lime, but not overly special.  I also had the Joke About Jamaica ($9), which is Smith & Cross Rum, Gosling's Rum, Montenegro Amaro, Lime, and Pomegranate Demerara.  The pomegranate gave this one a more floral, fruity kick, and I really liked it.  Only negative I'd give about either of these, is that my glasses were only about 2/3 full.  They still packed a punch, but come on--they are $9.  Top off the glass.

The final conclusion we came to when we were done was that we'd primarily go there just for cocktails...but if we just want cocktails, Tim and I, at least, would pick Ball & Biscuit any day.  I'd be happy to go there with friends if someone wanted to, but I don't know that I'd suggest it myself--I wasn't blown away enough.  However, if they ever update their menu and reconsider their food price points, that might be a good reason to try it again!

Website:  Thunderbird  (again, warning that the prices aren't up to date)

Aristocrat Pub: Bier Brewery Beer Dinner

A week or so ago, the Aristocrat Pub held a beer dinner with Bier Brewery.  It was reasonably priced ($30) and we LOVE Bier, so we decided to give it a try.

This was different than the other two beer dinners we've been to, in that it was much less formal--there was no official menu posted beforehand and no assigned seating.  And it turns out that the Aristocrat mostly just used items off its normal menu, rather than create a whole slew of new dishes.  The surprise was that this actually worked pretty well!  Just about all of the dishes paired with their respective beer pretty beautifully.


The six-course meal started with a little crock of beer cheese, which came with crostini (they were thoroughly crusty and buttery) and granny smith apples.  This went really well with Bier's Special K Kolsch: a German-style ale very similar to a pilsner, but more aromatic and less bitter, and which is a great, clean, drinkable beer.  The beer cheese was good--would have been great with a soft pretzel (looks like it's served with pretzel bread on their regular menu)--but not warm at all, sadly.  I imagine it sat around waiting for the event to get underway.

Next they brought us Belgian Blonde (a light pale ale similar to a Belgian Triple, but slightly sweeter and with less alcohol, but still over 6%) to go with a kale and bean salad.  The salad was warm and surprising--there was a lot of acid in it, and quite a bit of heat.  I wasn't sure about it at first, because I'm not huge on beans, but I ended up eating most of the kale because it was pretty tasty.  I didn't see this one on their regular menu.  The beer was great.  I'm a huge fan of Belgian beers, and this was a solid Belgian Pale Ale.  Not bitter at all, with a smooth finish.

Our third course was a little crab cake, along with Bier's DFG IPA, an American Double IPA, which packs an alcoholic and hoppy punch!  I generally despise IPA's (I am not at all a fan of hoppy beers), but I actually, and to Tim's great delight, liked this one.  Probably couldn't drink a whole glass, but I did enjoy it, I'll admit.  And it went well with the dish.  The crab cake was really very good, which is saying a lot since I don't normally like them, either.  If you are looking for a mostly lump crab meat, hardly any filler, fresh, chunky crab cake, this one isn't for you...it was pretty creamy inside, but in a good way, and was fried crisp on the outside.  I really dug it with the chipotle mayo on top and greens with a tangy dressing on the side (and a squeeze of lemon).  Very satisfying couple of bites.  This one's on the menu.

Fourth course was portobello raviolis in a marsala cream sauce.  It doesn't look like much in the picture--it was VERY heavily sauced--but I love a lot of sauce, especially when it's as good as this one was.  The raviolis were meaty and mushroomy, and the sauce had that slightly sweet marsala wine flavor, and was well-seasoned.  It contained a few slices of button or crimini mushrooms, also.  This dish also suffered from not being very warm, but Tim and I both still loved this it--it was that good. I'm sad to say I don't see it on the regular menu!  They have other pasta dishes--maybe they'll add this one someday.  I know it seems crazy to consider going to a pub and ordering pasta, but this was really flavorful.  Yum.  The beer was their Belgian Dark Strong, a robust, malty, dark beer with a slightly sweet finish that balances out the high the high alcohol content (about 8.5%) nicely.  Again, I love Belgian beers, and this was in my wheelhouse.

Our next course was Bier's Chinookalicious with fish tacos.  I really enjoyed my taco.  The fish itself was cod, battered and fried crispy--I'm assuming it's essentially their fish and chips fish that's been re-purposed.  They break it up so you don't have one huge piece and it's easier to eat, then top it with a jalepeno slaw that was outstanding, and an avocado/cilanto/tomatilla salsa that adds nice tang.  I'd totally order these again some day.  Well balanced, good textures.  On the other hand, I am not a fan of Chinookalicious.  Many, many people LOVE it (Tim included), and they are entitled to do so, but this IPA made with Chinook hops is just too bitter for this gal.


To finish, we had a special beer--an Oak Aged Pumpkin Porter.  It deserved a great dessert, and was perfectly paired with a flourless chocolate cake.  I'm not normally a massive chocolate person, but it went so well with the beer, and there were some candied walnuts adding crunch.  It was a great way to end the night!  The beer was spicy in a fall pumpkin pie spice way, but with no cloying flavors--they were all mellowed by the oak barrel aging.  Really smooth, really delicious.  And special--this one is a rare seasonal they held back just for us!

Aristocrat is not one of our regular haunts--we've been there a few times, but never to eat.  It's got some tough competition, being just down the street from Twenty Tap and a myriad of other fantastic restaurants.  I venture to say that it will be more on our radar, now, though.  We had a lovely experience, and as at other beer dinners, we had entertaining conversation with the folks we were sitting next to.  All around, a lot of fun.  Give beer dinners a try!

(I just have to add a special thanks to my husband, Tim, for helping me with the beer descriptions!)

Websites:  The Aristocrat Pub and Bier Brewery

Szechwan Garden

A few Saturdays ago, Tim and I went to Szechwan Garden at Lafayette and 38th.  He and his co-workers had recently started going there at lunch, and he was very impressed, especially with the dumplings he had.  He had noted that they serve dim sum on the weekends, and we'd both always wanted to try dim sum, so off we went.

First, a brief explanation for the uninitiated--servers come by with carts that are filled with bamboo steamers and plates of food.  They tell you what they have; you select a few; they stamp a card on your table to show the cashier what you bought.  Most of the plates came with three pieces of whatever the item was.  Since everything was in Chinese, and we had no idea how much we were paying for each item, we decided to just go with it and eat until we were full.

I won't go into detail about everything we had, but you can see from the pictures that we were pretty dumpling-happy.  The top left was a relatively standard steamed dumpling with pork, if I recall; the one on the top right was shumai that contained some shrimp.  Bottom left contained shrimp and pea shoots (this was one of my favorites); bottom right were a pan-fried version with pork and scallions.  They did offer us a hot chili paste dipping sauce; I would have loved a soy/ponzu based dipping sauce, too.  (Tim said they serve one when you order dumplings off the menu--we probably could have asked for it.)

The highlight for me, though, was the pork buns--yeasty rolls stuffed with barbecue pork (picture to the left).  So amazing.  I wished they had come by earlier; if they had, we probably would have had two plates of them.  Yum. 

The other highlight for me was the sesame balls.  These odd, sweet little nuggets were first introduced to us by some Chicago friends, and I've wanted to try them again ever since.  Well, there they were, and they were as good as I remembered.  They're glutenous inside--I believe they're made with rice flour--and are stuffed with sweet red bean paste.  And yet, they are crispy on the outside because they've been deep fried, and with the nutty coating of sesame seeds... it's just a strange and wonderful experience to eat one.  You have to try one for yourself to understand.

As I mentioned, we have no idea how much each individual item was, but our total came to around $20 for 6 plates of food, so I'd imagine they are each in the $3-$4 range (some cost more than others, I'm certain).  Not bad, and we certainly left full.

I would love to go back for more dim sum, now that we know what to do.  And I'd also like to try their regular menu, which Tim assures me is also tasty.

No website, but here's their Urbanspoon page:  Szechwan Garden

A Couple of Updates: Thai Spice and Twenty Tap

Last time I reviewed Thai Spice, I told you about the lunch special ($7.80 for soup, spring roll, entree, and fried banana).  Well, here it is in take-out form (minus a picture of the soup).  As you can see, it's a pretty hearty portion of Pad Thai--I usually get two lunches out of it.  And, the fried banana that was missing when I did my last review was present and accounted for this time.  I love that crispy wrapper drizzled in honey as a last bite after this meal!

I also recently visited Twenty Tap and tried a couple new things--they've added several items.  Tim and I split an order of poutine for our starter, and I believe it was some of the best, most straight-forward, no frills, hearty, awesome poutine I've had since I had my first poutine in Vermont a few years ago.  They have great fries at Twenty Tap, and these were topped with a rich veggie gravy, cheese curds, and green onions.  Nothing fancy, just tasty.  It was an enormous portion, and four people could easily share this as a starter--I had no room for my entree after scarfing these down!

For said entree, I tried another new item--the Fried Shrimp Po' Boy.  The shrimp seemed to be fried in a cornmeal-based batter, which is the right way to fry shrimp for a po' boy, and it was served on a light french roll with "tomato chow chow," sriracha aioli, and lettuce.  The shrimp were huge (see the photo, below--also, nerdy oxymoron alert!), and there were maybe 5 total on the sandwich.  It was pretty insanely messy to eat, especially since the shrimp were so large that you had to bite through them, and that made everything slide around on the bun. They were pretty well cooked, though, and super flavorful with the aioli and a bit of the chow chow (which is a pickled relish).  I ended up taking half of the sandwich home and just eating the remaining shrimp since the bread was, by the next day, soggy, but it was still really tasty.

Twenty Tap has also added a pork belly starter that sounds really good, along with a few other items.  Can't wait to get back there to try more!

Websites:  Thai Spice and Twenty Tap

Taverna

Pretzel croissant

 Brace yourselves--this isn't going to be pretty.

We wanted to go to Delicia with some friends on a Friday night, but faced with a 1.5 hour wait there, we opted to go someplace else.  Our friends suggested Taverna, because none of us had been there and we all love trying new places, so we happily agreed.  The menu looked good, if a bit on the expensive side.

We arrived to no parking spots (this was the weekend after the Big Snow Storm of 2014 and half the lot was under a snow pile).  So, we parked around back.  Upon entering, a woman warmly welcomed us but immediately said she'd 'watch our cars' for us.  Excusemewhat? Why did she need to watch our cars?  Well, the woman who owns the store next door owns the spots behind their restaurant, and regularly has cars towed, even when her store is closed.  So, that was a reassuring start, right?

She was warm and welcoming, though, so we were all still optimistic.  We were seated without menus, so we patiently waited for someone to bring some to us and just generally acknowledge our presence...and waited...and waited...it was a minimum of 10 minutes before we were even able to flag down the hostess.  She said she'd send our server out.  We waited a few more minutes before said server finally emerged.

She was...scattered. That is the only word for it.  But I'm willing to forgive someone's bad day if the food is good, so we went ahead and ordered.  I got the special that night, Steak Diane, which came with asparagus and au gratin potatoes (I think it was around $36).  Tim got the Moroccan Style Lamb ($28), our friend Damien got the Black Sesame Mustard Seed Tuna ($29) and I think a salad, although I don't remember which one, and our friend Jeff got "Six Onion Soup" ($7) and the Fruit de Mer ($24).  Have you noticed those prices yet?  Yeah.  I don't mind paying a lot if a place is extremely good and the service is even better, but Taverna turned out to be a disappointment in both of those areas.

My meal was a bright spot--the steak was, overall, well-cooked (although I encountered an odd piece of gristle on the outside, strange for a filet), and the sauce was delicious (after I added salt).  The asparagus was asparagus, and not overcooked, which is good.  The potatoes had great flavor, but were lukewarm when they came out.  Not okay.

Tim's lamb was just two little lamb chops which he said tasted like they hadn't been seasoned.  It came with a sauce on the side for dipping which he liked, but I didn't care for.  He said his couscous was likewise flavorless.  Damien enjoyed his tuna, but there wasn't much of it on his plate.  And Jeff had the worst time of all--his onion soup, he said, was lacking seasoning, and his fruit de mar was overcooked and much of it seemed like it came straight out of the freezer case.  His rice was ALSO lacking seasoning. 

The only other semi-bright spot was the "pretzel croissants," which we were told where exclusive to Taverna.  We assumed that meant made in-house, until we heard a waitress tell another table that they weren't.  Sigh.  Not that I'm expecting them to make homemade croissants, but at least they'd have that going for them if so.  (Oh yeah--and we had to ask someone to bring us some because our waitress didn't.)

Overall, just a very disappointing experience.  No real redeeming qualities here, as far as we're concerned.  Over priced by a mile for the level of cooking, and definitely for the level of service we experienced.  (Oh yeah--beer was pretty expensive, too.  My Goose Island 312 in a bottle was $5.)  I expect it won't be around for long, based on the relatively empty dining room they had on a Friday night.

Website, if you still want it after this scathing review:  Taverna

Puccini's Smiling Teeth

Quick one, here... Puccini's Smiling Teeth is a staple for my family.  We go quite a bit--it's very family friendly.  It's also centrally located for a lot of my friends, so I tend to meet people there quite often.  On this occasion, I met up with some of my high school girlfriends for a little reunion.

I still managed to order what I normally get when I go with Tim, though.  I may be uncreative, but I know what I like.  I ordered a medium pizza with meatballs and gorgonzola ($8.95 plus $1.10 per topping), which should come as a surprise to none of you.  Puccini's has great pizza--the crust is chewy and a bit sweet--not crackery like Bazbeaux and Jockamo's--and the tomato sauce is chunky and fresh.  The meatballs are smaller than Jockamo's, which make them a bit easier to eat, but there's still plenty of gorgonzola to add a sharp tang.  It is delicious, and just looking at the picture is making me wish I had some right now, despite the bad lighting in the photo.

I did start this meal with a dinner salad ("mega abundant" $3.95, although on this occasion I found out you can also get a lunch size salad for $3.25), but didn't take a picture.  The dinner salad consists of a bed of romaine that is topped by tomatoes, green peppers, red onions, black olives, and mozzarella cheese.  My favorite dressing is the Buttermilk Herb, which is their ranch.  It's housemade and very garlicky and just generally awesome. 

There are a number of Puccini's locations throughout the city.  Their calzones are also excellent, and their pasta's pretty good as well.  It's a great place to go with the whole family!

Website:  Puccini's Smiling Teeth

Scratch Truck

Tim and I have now been to Scratch Truck three times.  I say "been to," but I suppose I truly mean that "we've purposefully visited the Upland Broad Ripple Tasting Room when we knew Scratch Truck would be there so as to partake in some burgers and Upland beer" three times.

And burgers are, indeed, what we have always ordered.  Okay, the first time I did get the Scratch Grilled Cheese, which contains short rib, and it was good, but after tasting Tim's burger that trip I knew I probably wouldn't venture beyond said burger from them on.  They have a pretty good burger, is what I'm saying.

The Scratch Burger ($9.50) is cooked medium rare and topped with bacon marmalade, arugula, and gorgonzola, and is served on a toasted bun.  It all works pretty harmoniously together to create a sweet, smokey, blue cheesy, herby/peppery, messy symphony of flavors.  Very tasty.

And normally their poutine is, too.  The price of the burger includes normal fries, but we've always upgraded to the poutine for a few dollars more.  Their fries are pretty good and seem to be lightly battered (no idea if they are homemade or from a bag).  Then the fries are topped with chicken gravy and cheese curds, as any good poutine is, plus herbs--rosemary being the most prominent one.  We generally adore them, but this time they were a bit soggy.  I suspect they were just sitting around too long--the truck was relatively busy and it may have taken them a few minutes to bring our food into Upland (yes, they hand-deliver your food).  It was a touch disappointing, but the flavor was still good.

Scratch Truck can be elusive--they often don't open for dinner, presumably because they do a lot of business at lunch and don't need to--so the odd Thursday when we're in the area at the same time as them is rare.  But that also makes it a special treat when we do find them--and generally worth the somewhat steep price point.

Website:  Scratch Truck