Cafe Korea
7262 Fishers Crossing Drive
Fishers, Indiana  46038
http://www.cafekoreaindy.com/Default.aspx

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never had Korean food.  I’ve always been curious about it, especially with all the Korean taco food trucks popping up nationally, but have never been curious enough to make the leap to check it out.   But, on a recent Saturday night, so families members and I were looking for somewhere different to eat and since they live nearby, we decided to give this one a shot (none of us had eaten Korean food before).  I’ve seen several positive reviews on this place before both in print and online, including this one at Indianapolis Restaurant Scene, so I was anxious to try this out.

Before I dive into the taste of the food, I have to say that the waitress/owner was perhaps one of the friendliest people that I have ever met.  She’s obviously familiar with the fact that there are a lot of people like us that have never had Korean food before, so she was more than willing to help explain the food and her culture to us, no matter how ugly of Americans we appeared to be.  So, service gets an A+++++++.

What I/We Got:  Seafood Pancake (Appetizer); $12.99 and Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop (Entree); $13.99.

We were going to start with two appetizers, one of which being this seafood pancake, but our extremely helpful server told us that would not be a good idea.  Thank goodness she did because although my photo does not really show proper perspective, this seafood pancake was about as big as a small pizza.  There were three of us and there was definitely enough for us to have second servings for each of us.  As for the taste, it was just okay.  The potato pancake and green onions were tasty, although they need an additional salt component (the pancake was served with soy sauce on the side, but not even it brought enough saltiness to the table).  The odd thing about this pancake was the pieces of squid scattered throughout the pancake.  I’m not against squid, but I’m certainly not a fan of it and every time I encountered squid while working my way through this one, it was extremely disappointing.  The squid, as it often can be, was very tough and chewy and when mixed with the relative flakiness of the pancake, that’s not really a good mix.

Next up was my entree that was listed under the “Favorites” portion of the Cafe Korea menu.  Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop is a dish made of pieces of beef and thinly sliced vegetables including bean sprouts, cucumber, carrots, cabbage and spinach served on top of a bed of white rice.  Then, this mix is then topped with an over easy fried egg and served in a PIPING hot earthenware pot.  When the dish arrives, you are supposed to mix everything together in order to get the egg yolk to spread and also because the pot is so hot, the rice will burn and stick to the bottom.  On the side, everyone is served a multi-compartment dish that includes cold spinach, cold bean sprouts, spicy cucumbers and spicy kimchi (cabbage).  Also, you are given a bottle of Sriracha-like hot sauce to top your dish.  Of course, since I am a hot food freak, I bathed mine in hot sauce and then stirred everything together.

In terms of how it tasted, well, it wasn’t outstanding, but it wasn’t bad either.  Much like the pancake, this really, really needed salt.  The thinly sliced beef was a little tough, but everything else was cooked perfectly and made a harmonious dish.  The problem was that there was nothing really particularly wonderful about it.  The thing that this dish really did have going for it was the egg yolk.  Every time I encountered some of the yolk mixed with the rice, beef and vegetables, it was creamy, warm and quite good.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough egg yolk to cover for the entire dish and was a downfall.

As for the sides, they were all good and I particularly enjoyed the spicy cucumbers and kimchi as they were both covered in spicy sauce and handsomely dressed with red pepper flakes.  The odd part about all of them, at least to me, was that they were served cold.  I’m sure that is part of the food culture, but it was something that my ugly American tastes did not expect.

Would I Buy It Again?  This one is a tough one.  While I didn’t dislike anything I had, I also wasn’t the world’s biggest fan.  Personally, I would say NO to buying it again.  Just not my cup of tea, so to speak.  That said, I would encourage everyone else to give this place a shot to see if they like it and/or can find a favorite dish.  It’s a small locally owned business by extremely friendly Korean business people that are trying to spread their culture to their little pocket of Fishers and I encourage everyone to help them stay in business by giving them at least once chance.  I’m certainly glad I/we did give them a chance because they deserve every bit of help they can get.

-IndianapolisEater

Cancun Mexican Restaurant
6714 East 82nd Street
Indianapolis, Indiana  46250
http://cancun-indy.com/

It seems like I’m always on a quest to find a decent Mexican restaurant right near my house.  There are some up in Fishers and there are some farther south toward Broad Ripple, but I seemingly live in the dead zone of “authentic” Mexican restaurants.  Sure, there are plenty of the strip mall variety places that all have the same menu, but none of them are particularly understanding.  Continuing my quest recently, I decided to stop in at Cancun on a Sunday afternoon to check it out.  There was a Colts game that day, so I understand the lack of customers, but I was the ONLY person in the restaurant for my entire meal and I was there after 12:00 p.m.  Odd.

As with any Mexican restaurant, your meal starts with chips and salsa and it’s sometimes a good gauge of how your meal is going to turn out.  After eating these, I was not encouraged.  Sure the salsa had a little zing to it, but it didn’t taste fresh at all.  Honestly, this tasted straight out of a jar or at least like something that was made well in advance.  The chips tasted straight out of the bag too.  So, after the disappointing start, it was time for my meal.

What I Got:  Sonora Shredded Beef Burrito; $8.65.  Burrito consisting of shredded beef, cheese, refried beans and rice topped with cheese and salsa rachera.  Served with a side of refried beans (I had them substitute Spanish rice).

The menu said this was a giant burrito and it certainly was that.  Outside of its size, that’s about all it had going for it.  The shredded beef was slightly overcooked and chewy, the salsa ranchera was flavorless, the rice was obviously made well in advance and everything else was pretty much standard stuff that would would expect to see in a burrito.  To top it all off, it was served to me only lukewarm as well, so I had to eat fast before it turned ice cold.  Granted, I should have had them re-heat it for me, but I know that would have just consisted of them throwing it in a microwave and I wasn’t interested in that.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely not.  Despite Cancun being a free-standing building on its own, this place is nothing more than standard strip mall Mexican food and as I said, I am not looking for that.  I want authenticity and more importantly, flavor. I guess I should just learn my lesson and drive up to Fishers and go to Riviera Maya or Mexico City Grill to fulfill my cravings.

-IndianapolisEater

Black Diamond Barbecue
6404 Rucker Rd
Indianapolis, IN 46220
http://www.blackdiamondbbqcatering.com

I’ve driven by this place on Binford Boulevard (it’s on a side street right off Binford) about a thousand times over the years and have never stopped.  In all honesty, when it first opened, I figured it would last about three months and then go out of business because it’s not in the greatest location.  Three years later, it’s still chugging along and has even expanded to include outdoor seating.  Good for them.

Ordinarily, I do all my barbecue smoking by myself, but I was feeling lazy one Sunday and didn’t want to spend my entire day waiting for meats to smoke.  So, seeing that this place recently expanded, I figured it must be good and finally gave it a shot (one of the owners was working and gave me a little ribbing by saying, “you know we’ve been here for three years right?”).

What I Got:  Hungry Man’s Special (not listed on the online menu), $19.99.  This includes three meats (I got ribs, brisket and chicken wings) and two sides (I got cole slaw and macaroni and cheese).

First things first, the name of this combo does not lie…this is a TON of food.  Any regular reader of this site knows that I can throw down some food from time to time, but even this was too much for me for one meal.  It was actually enough for two meals because they serve you ample portions of all the meats and all the sides.  As such, let’s address these individually:

Ribs:  I’ve got to say, I was really impressed by these.  You often hear the term “fall off the bone” to describe how ribs should be cooked and these ribs fit that description to the letter of the law.  They were tender and had a strong smoky flavor.  A little greasy, but when you smoke meats as opposed to grilling them, that is to be expected.  Honestly, these were the best ribs I’ve had in a while.

Brisket:  These were served in a separate container because there was so much of it (LOL) and much like the ribs, this was also tender and had a strong smoky flavor.  I prefer my brisket to have juice oozing from it when I cook it and unfortunately, this brisket did not have that.  That said, when compared to other barbecue restaurants in the area, the brisket was exceptional.  The only reason I can complain at all is because of my ego when it comes to making it myself.  Ha!

Chicken Wings:  I’ll admit, I don’t know that I’ve ever had smoked chicken wings before and since I am thinking of doing it on my own smoker, I decided to give these a try in order to see what I was in store for.  My first impression of the wings was that they were HUGE (a good thing) and there were A LOT of them (a recurring theme).  What I found interesting about these wings was that while they were meaty, tender and juicy on the inside, they had a crispy outer skin that provided a nice texture contradiction to the softness of the inside.  As with the ribs and brisket, these also had a strong smoky flavor and I liked them quite a bit.  So much so that I’m anxious to try this myself.

Sides:  Along the lines of the recurring theme, the sides didn’t come in little miniature cups…they came in sizeable containers as you can see in the picture above.  The cole slaw was obviously homemade (big positive in my book) and was more vinegar based as opposed to mayonnaise based, which I prefer.  It was crunchy and fresh, although it could have used a little something extra to give it some kick.  I would rate this as a B/B+ effort.

As for the macaroni and cheese, well, I’ve got some strong thoughts on this one.  I will be the first to admit that I’ve never been a huge macaroni and cheese fan because it is so often botched and lazily made (cheeses are too bland, not enough cheese, etc.) in so many different places.  Because of that, about the only time I will eat macaroni and cheese is when it is out of the Kraft box and yes, I know that is pathetic.  So, in what I thought at the time was an act of stupidity, I decided to give Black Diamond’s macaroni and cheese a try and I am so glad that I did because this was incredible.  It was easily the creamiest and richest macaroni and cheese that I have ever had and I loved it.  They certainly didn’t skimp on the cheese and unlike most places that I’ve eaten macroni and cheese, they actually used a cheese that had a little kick to it and I LOVED that.   Honestly, if you skipped all the meat and just got a huge order of macaroni and cheese, you would be delighted with your order.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely and without hesitation. I can see why that despite an odd location, Black Diamond has managed to stay in business and actually expand in the three years that it has been open.  This is damn fine barbecue and it will always be my FIRST choice on the days that I decide to not make it on my own.  There are not a lot of great barbecue options in this city, so I would strongly advise you to give it a try if you are a barbecue lover.

By the way, Black Diamond caters (one of the owners made sure to let me know that) and also has coupons on my new favorite website, Coupons4Indy.com.

-IndianapolisEater

Mediterrano Cafe
5941 East 86th Street
Indianapolis, Indiana  46250

I’ve known that this place existed in Castleton for several years but never knew what it really was.  It’s in a dreary strip mall and I figured it was just a dreary place, so I never really gave it any thought.  My curiosity got the best of me one day as I was driving by and I decided to do a little internet research and much to my surprise, Mediterrano Cafe had some solid internet buzz (see Worth Your Attention’s review).  I decided that was enough for me, so I had to give it a shot.

The thing that stinks about Mediterrano Cafe is that they are open on odd hours.  For whatever reason, they’ve decided to bag dinner service and are now only open for lunch (11:00-3:00 on weekdays, 12:00-3:00 on Sundays), where they run a lunch buffet.

When you walk in here, it is pretty much no frills.  It’s very clean, which is nice, but they didn’t take a lot of time to work on the ambiance with minimal artwork and paper tablecloths.  Basically, it’s tables, chairs and a buffet line.  You walk straight to the register, pay for your food and they give you a paper Pepsi cup, your utensils and turn you loose.   All the food is hand-labeled with the Mediterranean name of the dish along with a very brief description of what each dish is made up of for those people that are unfamiliar with some things (like me).

What I Got:  Lunch Buffet with Drink $14.00.

I’m not going to walk you through the buffet and give you a taste comparison of each item like I’ve done previously but I do have some pictures and I will highlight some of the menu options that they have available.

The buffet features a lot of meat dishes such as ground beef kabobs, chicken kabobs, gyros, lamb stew and several other pasta and food mixes combining meat and vegetables (I didn’t take the greatest notes and some of the names are names that I am not entirely familiar with).

In terms of the meat dishes, I would put specific highlights on the gyros meat (tender, flavorful and perfect), the ground beef kabobs (pictured above; oddly enticing as well and juicy and flavorful), the lamb stew (pictured in the bowl above; lamb was tender but the winner was the stew sauce which was both sweet and spicy at the same time; I’ve never tasted anything quite like it and actually was using it as a sauce on some other dishes), the spicy chicken (pictured below above and to the left of the pasta; not really spicy but very tender) and the apricot chicken (chicken wrapped in a leaf and cooked and steamed).

The buffet also includes falafels (not a fan), regular white basmati rice as well as a rice mixture that included lentils and cilantro.  Other side dishes (cold) included traditional Greek salad (pictured below; loaded with feta cheese, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes), lentil salad (lentils mixed with onions and cilantro; that is it under the kabob above), cabbage salad, a parsley salad (pictured below; I would not recommend it), and some other mixed Mediterranean dishes (baba ghannouj, hummus, etc.).

In terms of bread-type things they had the typical pita bread for gyros (the pita bread seemed to be store bought and not fresh; it was the only real disappointment of the buffet).  They also had something called Spanikopita (first picture at the very top of the plate).  This was something new to me that was a mix of spinach and feta cheese in a crispy phyllo dough.  All I can say about this is that I would eat it every day of the week for the rest of my life.  Incredible.

To top it all off, the buffet also includes some vegetarian dishes (didn’t try any), a soup (didn’t try it) and also some dessert type items that included coconut cake and rice pudding.  I’m not a huge fan of either coconut cake (or anything coconut) or rice pudding and eaten alone, I still wasn’t a big fan.  When I mixed them together, I was a HUGE fan of the contrasting doughy blandness of the cake with the creamy sweetness of the rice pudding.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, definitely.  This really was an awesome array of tastes (the buffet was quite large) and nearly everything was delicious.  I wouldn’t go often because $14 is a bit much to spend on just myself (yes, I’m frugal), but I would go a few times a year.  Just an FYI, if you are going to go here, try to find a way to have somewhere nearby to lay down when you are done due to the fact that you are pretty much assured of walking out of Mediterrano Cafe being absolutely stuffed since you won’t be able to push yourself away from all these wonderful flavors and will end up overeating.  I really don’t see how anyone could go here for lunch and then go back to work after that.  It would take incredible self control and I know I wouldn’t be able to do it and thankfully I visited on a Sunday where I could go home and take a nap.

All in all, I’m so glad that my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give this place a shot despite the drab exterior.  You can tell that the owners take real care and pride in putting out delicious food and they seem to have developed a regular clientele as well since the owners were interacting with the other customers as if they’ve known each other for years.  Mediterrano Cafe is a hidden gem and I would recommend that everyone give this place a try.  Chances are good that you will not regret it.

-IndianapolisEater

Tamale Place
5242 Rockville Road
Indianapoils, IN 46224
http://www.thetamaleplace.com

If you are a WIBIA regular, you know that taquerias are my “thing.”  I have received mutiple e-mails about the Tamale Place telling me that I have to go.  Smokin’ DB was one of those e-mails so we decided to grab lunch and talk shop.  The Tamale Place opened in 2003 and with plenty of competition in the area, so you know they have to be doing something right.  In fact, probably a lot of things right.

Most tamales are between $2.75 -$3.50 range.  There were nine available tamales on the chalkboard.  Three of them were vegetarian options:  cheese, tofu, veggies.  Meat offerings were pretty standard, beef, chicken, pork and a few wild cards.

I asked the lady behind the counter, “How much would a normal person eat?”  She said, ”two Tamales if you are pretty hungry and haven’t had breakfast.”  I was starving and ordered three tamales.

What I Ate:

Beef and pobalano chili with cheese, Chicken with in a banana leaf (Oaxaca style) and pork in roasted red sauce.

Yes, that is a full size plate.  The tamales were above average in size, no doubt about that.  I first tried the beef/poblano and cheese tamales.  I liked it because the masa was crazy fresh…made with a lot of love and attention to detail.  The flavors didn’t slap me across the face and in fact, they were very subtle.  Nice balance between masa and filling.

Next up was the Oaxaca Chicken.  Oaxaca is a region in Mexico, so this is really more about how they prepared this.  If it is still not making sense, think along the same lines of regional BBQ.  It is a lot different in South Carolina than it is in Memphis.  Moving on…

When I think about an Oaxaca preparation of tamales, I think banana leaf (check) and a black mole sauce.  Unfortunately, the mole sauce was non-existent, though there was some seasoning to enhance the flavor.  I found it to be a little dry and it was my least favorite of the three.

Finally, a top shelf Tamale!  The pork in roasted red sauce was absolutely delicious.  A healthy dose of moist roasted pork and the masa soaked up the majority of the red sauce.  As good as it gets in this city.  My favorite of the day.

I am not going to jump on my soapbox about the argument that you can’t base a restaurant off one visit.  I say that you can and in fact, most people do.  So instead of coming back to places, I usually just order more food.  My appetite is rarely challenged.

I was eyeing Smokin DB’s tacos the whole meal, so I had to try one myself.  I got a Chorizo Taco ($2.00) and the taco was outstanding.  I found the chorizo to be a little greasy, but perfectly cooked.  There as a little dab of sour cream and it brought a nice richness to the taco.  My favorite part of the taco was the tortillas. A corn tortilla that was thicker than most, but I found it to be pillowy, not sure if that is a word.  Give me credit for trying.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, but I would order all new items.  The Tamale Place has a true command over masa and tortillas.  It is really what they do best.  They didn’t have a lot of spicy menu items as they are more about subtle, pure flavors.  Next time, I am going to order nachos and a few tacos.  All in all, it was a great meal, a good value and probably some of the best and most authentic tamales in the city.  Although, I would’ve liked to see more options for sauces that you can add on to the tamales.

Btw, there are only six seats at a counter.  This is primarily a take-out place, but I question how well the tacos and nachos would travel.

-wibia

I have been to P.F. Chang’s before, but this was my first time since starting the blog.  The company was taking us there for a free lunch, so I couldn’t complain. My prior thoughts were: overpriced, nice atmosphere, sauce shtick is lame and therefore I wasn’t in a hurry to return.

We started with the Dynamite Shrimp (a spicy selection on the menu, I believe it was around $6). This dish was not all that spicy, the shrimp were incredibly small and over-breaded. They were going for a spicy/sweet thing here, but failed.

For my main course, I ordered the Beef A La Sichuan (around $13.00) consisting of crispy beef strips with julienne celery and carrots, which is said to be their spiciest beef dish.

I have had this once before and it was so spicy I could barely eat it. For some reason, I ordered it again. This time, it wasn’t spicy at all.  In fact, there wasn’t a lot of flavor. I didn’t dislike this dish, but I also didn’t love it, so I would give it a 6.5/10.

Two people at the table ordered Chang’s Spicy Chicken. It tasted like the same sauce that was in the Dynamite Shrimp and there were no veggies served with the dish. I am thinking that this is basically frozen breaded chicken, tossed with a super sweet honey based sauce and sold over rice for about $11.50. The profit margin on this dish has to be outrageous. Oh yeah, we had their famous lettuce wraps as well…they are so overrated. Sorry.

Would I Buy It Again? No. Honestly, I think their food rivals Panda Express at twice the price. I understand why they exist, but if you cut out the ambiance and let the food talk for itself, Chang’s really struggles. I bet that Chang’s has a few dishes on the menu that are pretty good, but I just haven’t found them yet.

With all that being said, I find myself having a strong preference for hole in the wall Chinese. This does not include your China Garden #13 all the menu’s look the same type of place either.

-WIBIA

Taco Bell 5-Layer Burrito

What I Got

:  Taco Bell Beefy 5-Layer Burrito 89¢

I was looking for some food late at night recently and some friends and I decided to make a stop at Taco Bell.  I had eaten the Beefy 5-layer burrito before but had forgotten to take a picture to do a review, so I figured I’d make up for my mistake on this visit and get one to go.   And being that I am a champion of the Taco Bell value menu, this was right up my alley.

They introduced this one with the past few months, so it is relatively new to their menu.  On this burrito, there are naturally five layers, as the name would imply.  These layers include “layers of seasoned ground beef, beans, real cheddar cheese and cool reduced-fat sour cream all wrapped in a flour tortilla with a special layer of warm nacho cheese sauce.”

I have gotten it with sour cream before, but for the purposes of my visit this time, I had them remove the sour cream because I am not a fan.  That said, with/without the sour cream, this thing is still good.  It’s the perfect Taco Bell menu item.  It’s sloppy, tasty and cheap.  Also, unlike a lot of their menu items, this thing is quite filling.  Honestly, the size surprised me and I was quite delighted.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, definitely, especially when you consider that they have got this thing on their value menu.  If I wasn’t such a glutton, one or two of these would serve me well for an entire meal and any “meal” for under $2.00 is naturally a winner.  Combine the cheap price with the fact that this tastes well and Taco Bell has got a real winner here.  Hopefully they don’t rotate this one off the menu like they do with a lot of their food, because this one deserves to stay on there.

Oh, by the way, this one packs 550 calories, so be smart with how many of these that you eat.

-IndianapolisEater