Chile Verde
7369 N Shadeland Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46250

It seems that this city is filled with strip mall Mexican restaurants and Chile Verde is another one of those located on the Northeast side at roughly 75th & Shadeland Avenue.

As with most Mexican restaurants, they start you with unlimited chips and salsa and ordinarily I wouldn’t comment on this, but in this case, I have to because this was good salsa.  The salsa was little runny for my tastes, but outside of that the taste was spot on.  I prefer my salsas to be overpowering and this one had an overpowering taste of onion and cilantro.  If you like mild salsas, you aren’t going to like this one because this one might make your nose run.  Anyway, on with the actual meal…

What I Got:  Pick Four Combo (Chicken Taco, Beef Burrito, Chicken Chalupa, Bean Enchilada) $9.99.

First things first, this was A LOT of food, as you can see.  In the lower plate are the taco and the chalupa.  The upper plate includes the burrito, enchilada, rice and refried beans (rice and refried beans are served with all combo meals).  As with most of these strip center Mexican places, my food was served in about fourteen seconds.  I don’t know how they do it, but that always makes me laugh.

Taste-wise, the chicken taco and chicken chalupa were outstanding and that is because the chicken was outstanding.  The chicken was freshly cooked, large and tender.  In my experience, that doesn’t happen a lot and when it does, it is truly appreciated.  I also appreciated that they used traditional queso fresco on all the dishes as opposed to the cheddar cheese that you see on most “Americanized” Mexican dishes.

The burrito and enchilada on the other hand were just boring.  They weren’t bad, but they also weren’t anything to write home about.  The beef was greasy, mushy and seemed like it had just been sitting in a warmer box for hours even though the restaurant had just opened for lunch.  Not an encouraging sign.  The beans in my enchilada seemed like they were poured straight out of a can and really were no different than the bean mix that you would get in a bean burrito at Taco Bell.  If I’m paying “premium” prices, I’d like my beans to be a little better than that which I could get at Taco Bell.

The rice and beans were just rice and beans.  Again, the beans were the same thing used in the burrito, so they weren’t all that wonderful.  The rice, while tasty, seemed like it had also been sitting in the warmer box for a while as well and that was disappointing.

Would I Buy It Again?  Perhaps I’m a glutton for punishment, but yes, I would buy this again.  In the future, I wouldn’t mess around with the beans or the beef though and I would go straight for the chicken.  I’ve certainly had better Mexican food than this and I’ve definitely had worse, but for $9.99 (I also had a $1.00 off coupon from coupons4indy.com), you are getting a very filling meal that really isn’t going to cost you all that much and has a halfway decent taste.

-IndianapolisEater

Tiger Lily
1146 West 86th Street
Indianapolis, Indiana  46260

Tiger Lily is new to the scene.   It is in the same place as Hunan was, between Ditch and Meridian on 86th Street.  Reviews on UrbanSpoon have been really solid and Indy Grub Review liked it as well.  The interior was comfortable and the staff was very attentive and welcoming.   So far, so good.   The lunch menu was a nice mix of something new and something old.  If you like Chinese food, you can easily find your favorites here and a few of their own creations.

What I Ate:  Schezuan Beef; 7.00   Included is an spring roll and crab rangoon.

The crab rangoon was good, but nothing to write home about.  The spring roll was interesting.   There were very small pieces of veggies inside and it was a little doughy.  I didn’t really care for it that much.  Also, they appear to be full size on the pic, but the spring roll is two bites and the same with the crab rangoon.

However, the sweet and sour and spicy mustard were really good.  They make the sweet and sour there and you can tell…probably the best that I have had.   I would buy the sweet and sour if they packaged it.   They do need to ditch the low rent ketchup and mustard bottles.

Next up was the Schezuan Beef.  The veggies of celery,carrot, onion and mushrooms were fresh and delicately cut with very consistent slices.  Notice that you do not see any oil on the plate, which I was glad to see.  The beef was a better quality as well and it was really flavorful with almost a crispiness on the outside.  I had one mushroom that was not cooked as much as I wanted it to be, but otherwise this dish was really good.  It easily exceeded my expectations.

All positive so far….well, not so fast.  If you read the blog, you know that I am not a light eater.  The portion size is a lot smaller than any competition.  I am sure that it is a portion that “we should be eating”, but I was starving and I was looking for a lunch that would fill me up.   This will probably make you lose your hunger, but not fill up the majority of people…especially my friends.

Would I Buy It Again?   Yes and No.  Their food is good, really good actually.  It was a very refined version of a classic, the service was awesome and this just tasted fresh.   However, they need to revamp their lunch menu.  Have the option to add on soup for $1-$2 or a larger lunch portion for $2.00 more.  I don’t care how you price it, but they need to find a way to put a little more food on the plate.   I can do two blocks away and get Sesame’s Schezuan Beef for $4.75 with a cup of soup.

With all that being said, I was surprised how good the food was.  I would love for this place to do well as it is nice enough for a weeknight date and casual at the same time.   I am going to go back for dinner and see what my wife thinks…

-wibia

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

Thai Papaya
3905 West 96th Street, Suite 1000
Indianapolis, Indiana 46268

WIBIA and I had been working together to help him move and we saw this place nearby.  Since I had never eaten Thai food before and wanted to try it (the food education of IndianapolisEater is a never-ending process), we decided to pop in here for a visit. 

What I Got:  Kao Padd Gra Prow (Pork) $9.95
Spicy Thai fried rice served with eggs, banana peppers, green and white onions and Thai basil.  Comes with your choice of soup, a spring roll or Thai salad (I got the spring roll).

Kao Padd Gra Prow

Since this was my first venture into Thai food, I figured I’d order something that seemed vaguely familiar, so I got this dish served with pork (chicken and beef were the other options).  You can also choose the temperature of the dish and the options were mild, medium, hot or super hot.  Since I’m semi-adventurous when it comes to hot food, I chose the hot option.  Despite this, all I can really say about this dish is “blah.”  It was pretty much just a pile of all the foods listed in the description with a nice spicy kick.  There was nothing really special about it and I must say that I was bored after eating it.  The pork was also a little dry, so that definitely subtracted from the dish as well.  If this had one thing going for it, it was a healthy portion size which was good because I needed it after the pathetically small spring roll that came with the dish.  Check out the picture below…that thing was barely bigger than a AA battery and was covered with grease.   It was not really appetizing at all.

Thai Spring Roll

Would I Buy It Again?  Definitely not. For my first venture into Thai food, I was not impressed.  Maybe it was the dish that I ordered, maybe it was the particular restaurant (this place does get positive reviews online.  Hmm…) or maybe it was just the food not being something my palate prefers, but I’m definitely not in a hurry to eat Thai food again.  It’s too bad too, because I really would like to expand my horizons and try all different kinds of cuisines.  

-IndianapolisEater

El Bodegon

El Bodegon
8510 East 96th Street
Fishers, Indiana  46037

El Bodegon is a Tapas Bar and gourmet shop.  Although the store has a few grocery items, it is what you find in the deli case that makes this store unique to the north side of Indianapolis.  Inside the case, you will find many meats and cheeses imported from Spain and South America.  Although the prices are high, the quality and authenticity looks good.  You can buy the product to take home and prepare or choose items off their menu and have them prepared for you.

What I Got:

Paella Valenciana (Seafood Paella) $7.99 (far left of photo)

There are probably hundreds if not thousands of versions of paella in existence.  This paella was fresh and just out of the pan when I walked into the store and it smelled great.  The seafood included some whole shrimp that were quite large, some squid and some small clams mixed in with the rice.  Unfortunately, the dish was overcooked with the seafood being rubbery and the rice too soft with little taste or seasoning and clearly not cooked in fish stock.  This was a special on the menú and is one I would avoid if it happens to be on the menu if you visit.

Tapa de morcilla de arroz (Rice-filled blood sausage tapa)$2.50 (top right of photo)

I tried this because the sausage in the case looked excellent and it was something completely new and unique to me.  The bread tasted fresh and the crust had a nice crunch like you might get in a European bakery.  The sausage was freshly made and the rice complimented the sausage nicely.  They key here is fresh.  Unlike the chicken empanada this was fresh making me wish I had ordered a couple more tapas to try.

Empanadas Argentinas con pollo $1.99 (bottom right of photo)

I love a good chicken empanada if it is well made.  If you have never had an empanada, it is like a turnover that is stuffed.  Although this one had a good shape and size to it, the turnover was chewy and the chicken inside was dry.  It was only after I ordered that I noticed they were pre-made and sitting under a heat lamp at a counter behind the main counter.  What could have been great was a disappointment.

Service

I waited for 15 minutes to get my order and there were only two other customers in the store.  Considering that there were more employees than customers, I found the wait time to be unacceptable.  I took advantage of the time to talk to both of the other customers and both were returning customers that had favorable experiences previously.

Would I Buy it Again? Of the three items reviewed, I would only try the tapa again.  However, I like to see a place with a unique products succeed in a city with little character and many strip malls.  Per the recommendation of the other customers, I will go back and try one of their Spanish Bocatas made with a crusty bread, olive oil, Serrano ham and manchego cheese along with some more of their tapas.  A follow-up review will be posted early in 2010.

-EatHSE