Happy Dragon
11670 Commercial Drive, Suite 400
Fishers, IN 46038
www.happydragonfishers.com

In the last month, two new Asian/Chinese restaurants have opened in Fishers including Asia Bistro and Happy Dragon. In this first of two reviews, I take a first look at Happy Dragon.

What I Ate:

Crab Rangoon (6): $4.39.

It seemed like this Crab Rangoon was the standard fare frozen kind that was just tossed into the fryer.  I would pass on this and go with one of their many other options like their fried dumplings.

Fried Dumplings (8): $4.79.

Nice size portion for the price and fried with just a bit of crispiness but not crunch.  Dipping sauce was soy based and nothing special, yet the combination worked well.  Above average dumplings and portions size earns my recommendation here.

Shrimp Lo Mein: $5.79.

The older I get, the more I appreciate a simple, but good lo mein.  The noodles were cooked perfectly and the sauce covering was enough to provide a lot of taste without overdoing it and making it runny like you find at other places.  A good quantity of shrimp that were not overcooked and veggies had nice crunch.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes.  I enjoyed what I ordered and their large menu leaves plenty of other options to try.  Prices on average seem a bit lower than other local completion, service speed was reasonable and the cleanliness of the facility was above average.  I will be revisiting Happy Dragon after they are more established to try some other menu items and see if the standards remain high.

-EatHSE

Qdoba
http://www.qdoba.com/

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and I find if I eat a more substantial breakfast, I am less likely to snack throughout the day.  The breakfast burrito at Qdoba has always been one of my favorites, so I decided to give their quesadilla a try.

What I Had:  Spicy Chorizo Breakfast Quesadilla; $7.00.

With the breakfast quesadilla, you can go small with a  ten inch shell or larger with the 12.5″ shell, which is what you see in the photo. I went with the chorizo but you can also choose to go with grilled chicken or meatless with cheese only.  As much as I enjoy Qdoba’s grilled chicken, it just doesn’t seem right for breakfast.  You can add extra meat for a small feel but that makes this menu item and even worse health option.  Eggs and potatoes are both optional and I went with just the eggs.  All of Qdoba’s salsa options are available for breakfast and I went with the Pico and their Salsa Roja.  I liked how even the quesadilla was even though it was loaded and the evenly distributed ingredients including egg, salsa, cheese and chorizo made this work.   The quesadilla never got sloppy and held up making it easy to eat.  Even when I re-warmed a piece the next day, it maintained its consistency and the spice from the chorizo and salsa really worked well for me.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, on occasion.   If the breakfast quesadilla was not so bad for you, I would get it frequently, but the high fat and sodium content makes this go into the category of a rare treat.  I split this over two days and I think it tasted even better re-warmed the next day.  I still like Qdoba’s breakfast burrito better as long as you get there when they first open in the morning and everything is fresh.  If you don’t the potatoes in the burrito are like rubber and that is when I would pass on the burrito and go for the quesadilla.

Note: Not all Qdoba locations are open for breakfast.

-EatHSE

Nutritional Facts

Total serving size (oz): 18.58 oz

Selected Items**

Shredded Cheese, 12.5in Flour Tortilla”, Pork Sausage, Eggs, Pico de Gallo, Salsa Roja,

Brewster’s Italian Cafe
11 West Merchant Street
New Buffalo, MI 49117
http://www.brewstersitaliancafe.com

Brewster’s is a small Italian Café in New Buffalo, Michigan located just north of the Indiana border a couple of blocks off of Lake Michigan.  Although New Buffalo gets dumped on with lake effect snow all winter long, it is a summer hotspot for summer vacationers and the Chicago crowd escaping the city.  The menu at Brewster’s changes every day for both lunch and dinner making each visit a unique experience.  This local owned café is a small establishment with a small indoor dining room along with tables beside the kitchen so you can watch all of the action.  During the summer, there is a private shaded patio that with the cool Lake Michigan breeze gives visitors an opportunity to dine and enjoy the environment.  The bar has a large beer selection including local brews from Michigan and a wine selection that gives diners plenty of choices.

Along with a la carte choices, which I list the individual prices of each menu item I reviewed below, you can choose the Dinner for Two if you are on a date. Dinner for Two includes smaller portions but provides a salad, pizza, entrée, and desert for $32.99.  Some entree items such as the shrimp my wife and I chose add an additional charge of up to $6 and an additional $1.50 for the specialty pizza making our diner $40.49.  I have copied the Dinner For Two description from their website below:

DINNER FOR TWO     $32.99

You each begin with a House Salad, then you’ll split a pizza, followed by your choice of one of this evening’s Entrees.  Cookies and coffee are included for Dessert  $32.99
(Please add 1 for the Classico,3 for the Chicken and 6 for the Carne or Fruitta Di Mare)

What We Got:

Gazpacho; $3.99:  Gazpacho is a raw tomato-based Spanish/Portuguese soup primarily served during the summer since it is served cold and there is a more abundant variety of seasonal vegetables to choose from.  The Gazpacho is not part of the Dinner For Two but was actually my favorite dish of the whole night.  The soup was acidic and bold, yet refreshing on this hot summer day.  The teaspoon of sour cream added a base to balance the acidity.  I am hoping our readers can point me to some Indianapolis area restaurants that serve a good Gazpacho.

House Salad:  The salad was simple with spinach leaves, a few croutons, shredded cheese (probably parmesan) and a homemade Italian dressing that works well.  The salad is nothing special but gets the job done.

Pizza with Crispy Pancetta, Baby Spinach and Scallions on a Gorgonzola Base; $11.99.

The pizza was very rich and we only ate half of it but enjoyed our choice.  The crust at Brewster’s appears to be made in a wood burning oven giving it that nice crisp finish.  I did not see a wood burning stove in the kitchen but appreciated the effort.  Although I enjoyed this pizza, I would probably save the $1.50 and choose one of their more basic pizzas leaving you with more room for your entrée and dessert.

Tiger Shrimp, Brussels Sprouts, Broccolini and a Carrot & Bacon Sofritto; $23.99:  I always have a high appreciation of Italian cooking that does not include pasta.  This dish was cooked with butter and the addition of a small amount of bacon grease giving it a rich and salty flavor.  Many people hate Brussel Sprouts but I say they just haven’t had them prepared correctly.  The sprouts in this dish were fresh and did not include the water or mushiness of thawed sprouts.  Cooked on the grill, they maintained the firmness but had unbelievable flavor.  Ingredients were proportional but the six shrimp was a disappointment for two people sharing a meal.

Dessert.  Cookie and Coffee:

I had the white macadamia nut and my wife went with the oatmeal raisin.  These might be made in house, but if I remember correctly, I think a local bakery brings them in.  Regardless, they are good cookies to go along with Brewster’s own coffee.  The coffee has a nice kick to it but not overly bold like you find at some coffee houses.  Although it is not on the menu, you can ask to buy a pound of the coffee ground or whole bean for $10 if you ask.

Would I It Again?  Yes, without a doubt.  This was my second visit to Brewster’s in a year and both times I walked away impressed and completely satisfied.  On this visit, I sat next to the kitchen and watched the operation.  The kitchen was spotless and organized.  There was a visible head chef in charge and the kitchen ran smoothly with three chefs under his direction. Yes, the chef uses a clean pan for every dish he makes and at many places, they do not do this and you end up getting food that has flavors from another dish that should not be there.  Service is outstanding in that drinks were constantly full, the table was never empty of food including the in house mad bread and oil and I never felt like anything was pushed on me by the server.  The environment is local with the smallness of the restaurant, and the Bell’s Oberon Ale Kalamazoo, MI that I drank.  If you are ever headed to Northwest Indiana or through that area of Michigan, stop by and get some great authentic Italian food for dinner or even one of their homemade deli sandwiches or frittatas for lunch.

Can a reader recommend a Gazpacho that comes close to matching theirs in the Indianapolis area?

-EatHSE

Dragon House Chinese Eatery
7260 Fishers Crossing Drive
Fishers, IN 46038
http://www.dragonhousefishers.com

Dragon House has been in a strip mall where there is frequent turnover of stores and restaurants at the corner of 116^th Street and Allisonville Road for over ten years.  About ten years ago just after the restaurant opened, I gave it a try and had a bad experience saying I would never go back.  Over time, they must be doing something right to survive in this location and have consistent recommendation word of mouth from many people who live in Fishers locally.

I arrived at just after 4:30 and no food was on the buffet.  By 4:45PM, it was fully stocked and ready for me to try at its freshest best.

What I Got:  Dinner Buffet; $9.25.

Plate 1:  Sorry for the blurriness of the picture.  Spicy Sour soup is a favorite of mine and although this was not my favorite ever, it was one of the best and I ended up have two cups.  The fried rice was what you would expect with good ratios of everything that comes in fried rice and well done overall.  The buffet had an abundance of deep fried breaded items (too many for me), but the crab rangoon was solid with good size pouches of crab.  The crab claw on the right side of the plate was a two bite treat that I got each trip back to the buffet.  Although I like dark meat chicken, I do not like it deep fried for sweet ‘n sour chicken and the lack of white meat was a disappointment.  With the fried rice, I got a fresh mushroom bourbon chicken that I enjoyed, with a sauce that was not too salty.  Overall, plate 1 was a winner.

Plate 2:  This time I tried the Egg Drop soup and although it was not as good as the spicy sour, it was still above average.  I like how there is a bowl of fresh green onions on the buffet next to the soup you can add to garnish and give your soup a little more taste.  The Lo Mein was not as good as what you can get from China Wok in Fishers, but did the job and was still above average.  The Szechuan chicken was done well and the vegetables were fresh but lacked spice.

Would I It Again?  Yes and No.  Although I liked what I had in general, there was little I loved so much that I would want to go back very often.  The buffet had too many deep fried items and not enough traditional dishes to eat with rice and that was a big problem for me.  There was also no seafood to be found and I have been to better buffets than this that at least offered fresh shrimp.  There was a small dessert bar, but they did not look appealing to me.  With these problems and a $9.25 price, I cannot recommend the dinner buffet.  However, at $7.25 for lunch that also includes dumplings not found on the dinner buffet, you can have some good soup and a good rice and chicken dish and walk away satisfied with your Chinese food craving having been met.

-EatHSE

China Wok
11681 Brooks School Road # 7
Fishers, IN 46037-9758

With more time on my hands during the summer to eat out and try new places, I have begun a mission to find a place that offers consistently good Asian cuisine for a reasonable price in the north suburbs and far north side of Indianapolis.  The first stop in this series of reviews is China Wok in Fishers.  China Wok was busy even at 8:30PM on a Tuesday night and has a commonly found large menu of over one hundred menu items.

What I Ate: Crab Rangoon (6); $3.00

Too often I find Crab Rangoon over deep-fried with too small of a pocket of crab in the middle.  This Crab Rangoon had neither of those problems and the only problem I had is that I wish I had ordered my own instead of sharing with my wife.

What I Ate: Curry Chicken with Onion; $8.95 a quart with steamed rice.

I like spicy food and the first thing I did was scan the menu for spicy options.  With about 25 spicy options on the menu, I had plenty to pick from.  I am always hesitant to get curry at a place that does not focus on Thai food but decided to give it a shot.  The curry in this entrée was not overdone and provided some good kick.  The problem I had with this entrée was the ratio of onions, 50-60%, being too high in comparison to the chicken.  I love onion and this dish had several kinds including green and yellow, but in the end, the ratio of too much onion to everything else left me disappointed.

What I Ate: Shrimp Lo Mein; $7.45 a quart.

My wife went with the Lo Mein and I will admit, I rarely get Lo Mein as it I find most places serve it lukewarm or with the noodles are overdone.  China Wok is an exception to the rule.  The noodles were done perfectly and they had a good ratio of green onion and other greenery to compliment the noodles.  Some places skimp on the shrimp but I found shrimp with almost every bite.  I only wish I had gotten my own Lo Mein.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes. Prices for quantity are comparable to other restaurants and it is always a bonus to have leftovers for lunch the next day.  I like how you can stand near the counter and see your food being made fresh in what is a clean and well-kept kitchen giving me confidence in the quality of the food I am purchasing.  Although I was not satisfied with the Curry Chicken & Onion, there are many other spicy choices on the menu to pick from in addition to the above average Lo Mein and Crab Rangoon that will have me retuning to China Wok in the future.

-EatHSE

Jim Dandy Family Restaurant
2301 Conner Street
Noblesville, IN 46060
http://www.jdrest.com/

I love breakfast.  It is my favorite meal of the day and I am always on the hunt for places that offer something out of the ordinary.  I have driven by the retro looking Jim Dandy in Noblesville countless times and decided to take my family to give it a try.  I am 35 years old and on this morning, I was at least twenty years younger than the rest of the customers.  A busy breakfast on a weekday morning is usually a good sign.  As I sat and observed the surroundings, it was clear that many of the retired customers were on a first name basis with the waitstaff giving the environment the welcoming small-town feel.  Service was outstanding throughout the visit with my coffee never getting less than half full.

A breakfast bar?  Yes, for $5.00, you could have eggs, bacon, pancakes, biscuits and gravy and a variety of other choices.  Although perfect for evaluating a lot of food, we arrived near the end of the breakfast bar hours and fresh food was no longer coming out so I passed and went to the menu.

What We Got:

Denver Omelet $5.99 + $1 for Hash Browns

The Denver is one of just a few specialty omelets on the menu and all omelets come with a choice of pancakes or an English muffin.  I did not want either and would much rather hash browns be one of the options for $5.99 but chose the English muffin in this case.  The English muffin was clearly toasted on the griddle to perfection and went well with my coffee.  In comparison to most breakfast restaurants, the hash brown serving size was small but was thin and had the perfect crispy like crust that make hash browns one of my favorite breakfast foods.  The omelet was also thin the way I like it and had plenty of green pepper but not so much that it overpowered everything else.  The ham used seemed of lunch meat quality, yet it still worked.  I like how Jim Dandy puts some of the ingredients on top of your omelet to sort of dress it.

The only big problem I had with the food was the cheese used.  It is clear from the squares on top that Velveeta-like American processed cheese was used both on the top and on the inside.  I quit eating that kind of cheese years ago and the amount inside made my omelet taste like a Velveeta green pepper omelet and that is not a good thing.

Bacon and Cheese Omelet $5.99

My wife chose her own combination which allows for up to two ingredients that she enjoyed and would buy again.  Of particular note, this omelet had complete strips of bacon placed inside the omelet.  I like this much better than the bacon bits that become hard or crunchy like you sometimes experience at other restaurants.

Pancakes with Syrup and 5 strips of Bacon $3.99

The pancakes were huge, came out steaming hot and were grilled well with a nicely browned on the outside.  The syrup must be the cheapest stuff they can buy and I would have gladly paid an extra fifty cents for thicker syrup that did not taste watered down.  I am not sure I have been anywhere where you get four-to-five strips of bacon in a meal for $3.99.  An excellent value and my two young daughters demolished this meal with delight.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, we will be going back to Jim Dandy. If no cheese alternative is available for the omelet, I will go for some of the other well priced menu items or hit the breakfast bar.  Yes, they even have a loyalty card that gets you a stamp for every $5 you spend getting a free meal after $50.  I have also heard the fried chicken is good and would like to give it a try.  Overall, service was excellent and the value was high for a small family to have an affordable breakfast.  I am fearful that as their aging customer base passes away, so will the remaining few local diners in favor of chains that lack character and that small-town local appeal that Jim Dandy still maintains long after the end of its drive-in years many years ago.

-EatHSE

Einstein Bros. Bagels
http://www.einsteinbros.com

Einstein’s is my favorite morning place to stop and get a bagel.  No other bagel maker pulls off the Everything bagel with the right combination of garlic, onion and salt like Einstein’s.  The coffee is solid and the service is always fast for me on my way to work.  I recently got some coupons in the mail for some of their lunch items that I have never tried, so I decided to stop in and see if lunch was as good as breakfast.

What I Ate:  Club Mex Signature Sandwich combo; the combo includes their red potato salad but no drink for $6.75.  At $8 bucks with a drink for lunch, this combo was going to have to have to be top notch in taste and quality to earn a Yes rating.

Einstein’s gives you a choice to order your sandwich with a French bread, a regular bagel or bagel thin.  Looking at the ingredients of the Club Mex which included roasted turkey, bacon, pepper jack cheese, ancho mayo and veggies, I decided to go with the Everything Bagel as my bread choice.  The sandwich was dry and lacking enough ancho mayo to overcome how dry the bagel was.  I did not choose to get my bagel toasted and as you can see from the picture, it was overbaked when originally made leaving a burnt taste.  The turkey was no better than average grocery story turkey lunch meat but there was enough to make the sandwich filling.  The vegetables tasted fresh and ripe tomatoes in Indiana in March that are any good was a surprise.

The highlight of the meal ended up being the potato salad.  The red potatoes were not overcooked were firm and chunky as they should be in a good potato salad.  The potatoes were not drowning in the mayo and it had a good pepper and salt seasoning that required nothing additional to make this a good side to what was a disappointing sandwich.

Would I Buy It Again?  No. At $8 for a combo that included a drink, the product was disappointing regardless of whether the bagel itself had not been burnt.  I got my combo with a $3 off coupon making it $5 and even at that price, I’d rather have Subway, which I am not a fan of, for the price.  Stick to breakfast at Einstein’s.

-EatHSE

Qdoba
http://www.qdoba.com

I love gumbo and any other soul food that has some kick to it.  When I saw Qdoba had its own Mexican Gumbo, I decided to pass on my regular burrito and give it a shot.  Most fast food places take anything that traditionally has spice to it and makes it bland and boring for the masses.  I came into my Qdoba with low expectations of their gumbo but was curious to see how different Mexican Gumbo is from my southern favorite.

What I Ate:  Mexican Gumbo, 31 ounce bowl; $6.29

Looking at the menu after placing my order, I realized the “gumbo” was nothing more than their own tortilla soup with sour cream, cheese, and salsa topped with tortilla strips.  Soggy tortilla strips are a turnoff of mine and I generally find that sour cream overpowers the taste so I passed on both adding a half scoop of salsa verde and corn salsa to my gumbo.  Chicken, steak and pork are all available and I went with the pork option.  Overall, the aroma had me ready to go and the bowl was visually appealing when I got home and was ready to eat.

I was proud to have passed on my normal 1200 calorie burrito only to find out later that the bowl of gumbo was 1100 calories.  So much for the low carb healthy approach.  As I ate, I found there to be a variety of flavors in the gumbo and what looked like some kinds of peppers that were so soft like the pork that it almost melted in your mouth.  As I ate, the heat began to build and I found the gumbo to have just the right amount of kick to keep things interesting and meet my need for heat.  As I ate, I never had a spoonful that had a chunk of one ingredient that overpowered the rest of the ingredients finding even distribution throughout the serving.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes. I look forward to getting a burrito at Qdoba and have been reluctant to try anything besides a burrito when I visit.  Being someone who enjoys good southern fare and it being Qdoba, I had low expectations of whether their Mexican Gumbo but thought it would be a lower calorie option.  Although the bowl of gumbo has nearly as many calories as a burrito, I enjoyed the variety of flavors, how tender the pulled pork was and that it actually had some spice to it, which you rarely find at fast food restaurants.  On a cold Midwest day, I would be plenty satisfied with another bowl of Qdoba’s Mexican Gumbo and find it to be a good substitute for Yats Gumbo or the best gumbo in Indianapolis at Black Diamond.

-EatHSE