Review: Mesh on Mass Avenue
Author: WIBIA | Filed under: Food Reviews, Location: Indianapolis, IN
Mesh on Mass Avenue
725 Massachusetts Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
http://www.meshonmass.com/
Ever since Mesh opened, it has been toward the top of my list. It is owned by the Cunningham Group that also owns Stone Creek Dining Company, Boulder Creek, etc. I have been to most of their restaurants and leave pretty unimpressed. However, the menu at Mesh is more inspired than their other restaurants. In fact, when I looked online, there were four-to-five items that I wanted to try.
What I Ate: Cup French Onion Soup with Wild Mushrooms ($4), Gorg-Bacon Burger ($11).
The soup was served in a vessel that reminded my of a large ramekin. It really wasn’t a cup. Though it was very wide on top, it wasvery shallow and not a lot there. The broth lacked richness and the soup didn’t have a lot of flavor. If I had to guess, I don’t think they cooked the onions long enough as they were transparent instead of having the dark brown color that I would expect.
In my book, cremini mushrooms are not wild mushrooms. The mushrooms were cooked with the soup and I would’ve preferred a freshly cooked stack of mushrooms on top of the cheese instead of in the soup. Either way, it was pretty bad and I was thinking…. they can’t mess up a burger right?
The good news, they proved me wrong with the burger. $11 is at the top of what I would pay for a burger unless it has some type of gimmick with it. Kobe beef, truffle something…or made from a celebrity chef like Hubert Keller’s “Burger Bar” in San Francisco. Rambling, but I am sure you get the point…an $11 burger in the Capitol City needs to be pretty damn good.
The burger was topped with of Gorgonzola Glaze, Applewood Bacon, Onion, Relish, Roasted Tomato and Black Pepper Mayo. It was an likeable burger, but I think that I would’ve liked it more without a few of the items. First, take off the gorgonzola glaze and I am not sure it needed bacon either. I really liked the roasted tomatoes and onion relish. I found the black pepper mayo should have a little more pepper in it, but it was tasty as well.
With all that being said, there is a way to improve this burger, but I enjoyed it as it was served. The fries were excellent and I ate all of mine and some of my wife’s. However, I was slightly disappointed that they were served with ketchup. Mesh has a lot of interesting sauces and mayos on the menu and I will ask to try those out with my fries next time.
My dinning partner ordered the lobster bisque and grilled cheese. The lobster bisque was pretty weak. I didn’t see any chunks of lobster and it wasn’t anything better that I could get from a gourmet takeout container. The parmesan crusted Cuban loaf was too thick for a grilled cheese and she didn’t care for it at all. Although, I believe the error was more conceptual as I believe it was cooked correctly.
Would I Buy It Again? Ehh…one more try. Lunch was around $55 and I realized that I had a burger, two beers, soups and grilled cheese. I like the restaurant itself and found it to be comfortable and service was generally attentive.
The Gorg burger hit the spot, but there were problems with everything else. I can’t put my finger on the problem, but I think they are trying too hard to straddle the innovative cuisine v. casual dining idea. You don’t have to re-invent the grilled cheese sandwich, it is perfect as it is. Just make a really good version and I am happy.
I really want to like Mesh and I think that it is a good fit for Mass Ave. Even though my thoughts have a negative undertone, I advise you to give it a try as restaurants have off days and maybe I didn’t order the “right thing.” I am going to give it a try for dinner and then make a final opinion.
-wibia
Tags: cunningham group, Food, french onion soup, grilled cheese, lobster bisque, mesh on mass avenue, Stone Creek Dining Company
I’ve been there for dinner three times and every time I go I like it more – the first time I had a salmon special that was pretty good, the next I had the sea scallops that were delicious and I cleaned my plate, and the last time I had a shrimp pasta which was pretty good but I think I would have been happier with something else. My husband gets the filet every time and raves about it. Order a cheese plate too, that was very good (small, but enough for an app). I heard the Amish chicken is very good and is their signature dish, but I’ve never had it.
I’ve only been there for a luncheon, and it was an improvement for me from the old SI but still needed something. I do love the Bourbonzola at Rock Bottom if you are looking for a good burger with gorgonzola cheese – though the onion relish does sound good. I’m with you, I’ll give it one more try…
I have only been for dinner but had quite good meals–although the ingredients in your burger sound good, it does sound like maybe it was a bit much. Yeah, you should really try dinner. Agree with the other commenter about the schmear plate (cheese). Some great things on there.
I’m really glad that I’m not the only one who notices little things like a “cup o’ soup” not being in an actual cup or cup-like vessel. Like yesterday I had lunch at a place that had very cool-looking forks which unfortunately had very rounded (dull) tines. They couldn’t stab or pick up anything. I was eating salad too, lol.