Goldmine Tenderloin Sandwich

The Goldmine Restaurant
7628 Southeastern Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46239
317-862-0352

The Goldmine is located on the Southeast side near Wanamaker in Franklin Township.  I’ve driven by this location many times and had never stopped in until recently.  A new ownership group took over during the summer and after some renovation, including a new outdoor patio, re-opened with aggressive daily specials, cheap beer and an emphasis on food.  A brief chat with one of the owners during a lunch visit let me know that most of the food is scratch-made in-house with many of the Italian dishes made using family recipes.

What I Had: The owner suggested an order of the Sausage Pie, made using a recipe from his grandmother and touted the hand-cut pork tenderloin as the “Best in the State.”   That sounded like a challenge to me, so in went my order.

The Sausage Pie arrived quickly and it was a surprise, finely ground sweet Italian sausage with a good hit of fennel bound with three different cheeses (I’m guessing mozzarella, parmesan and maybe Asiago) and a little bit of salami.  The revelation was the crust.  I’ve had this before at other places and the crust was heavy and bread-like.  At the Goldmine the crust was more pastry-like, flaky and buttery.  Delicious.   Accompanied by a house made marinara for dipping, we were off to a very good start.

The tenderloin sandwich can be ordered breaded or grilled in the tradition preparation or “Italian.”  I was curious what an “Italian” tenderloin sandwich would be, so that’s what I ordered.  The sandwich arrived with probably two- thirds of it hanging off the plate.  This thing was big.  The breading was comprised of panko breadcrumbs with specks of basil, oregano and parsley clearly visible.  Hot as volcanic lava, I actually cut the slab into thirds and piled it on the bun in order to make it manageable.  Deep fried nicely, the meat was cooked through while still tender and juicy and the “Italian” season actually added a pleasant change of pace to the ubiquitous Hoosier Tenderloin sandwich.

Would I Buy It Again?  YES!  At just $7.95 for the sandwich, including my $1.00 up-grade to seasoned fries instead of chips, and $4.99 for the half-order of Sausage Pie, not only was this a delicious lunch, but also one that I would consider a good deal.  A warning:  on a subsequent visit my sister-in-law ordered the same sandwich and it arrived covered with marinara and mozzarella.  There is no mention of the marinara and mozzarella on the menu but our server said that was the standard.  Weird.  So just ask the server when you order to be sure what you are getting.

-Smokin’ DB

Tags: Food, goldmine, Italian, sausage pie, Tenderloin

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Food Reviews, Location: Indianapolis, IN. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.