Restaurant Reviews


by Canadian in Indiana

I guess that I consider myself a foodie (the Wikipedia definition of foodie being someone who wants “to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food”).

I thought that I’d include a page about restaurants I’ve visited in Indiana. Every once in a while, B.B. and I try out some of the local restaurants as suggested by Urban Spoon. Unfortunately, we are often disappointed by the recommendations listed on that restaurant review site. So, I’m just going to make a personal list of Indiana restaurant recommendations and condemnations. I also have a pending section where I list restaurants that I am willing to give a second shot (restaurants in this category are places that I am willing to try again because either other people have rated it highly, even though I was not impressed, and/or the food was not great, and I complained and received a complimentary gift card for my next visit).

Recommendations

Pubs that I like:

Coffee Shops that I like:

  • SoHo Café & Gallery, 620 S. Rangeline Road, Carmel, IN

 Hit and Miss restaurants:

  • Benihana, 8830 Keystone Crossing, Indianapolis, IN (menu) 
  • Charleston’s Restaurant – 14636 US Highway 31 • Carmel, IN (check out the menu)
  • Kincaid’s, (2 reviews: positive, negative) – 14159 Clay Terrace Blvd., Carmel, IN 46032  
  • Shapiro’s Deli – 3 locations: Shapiro’s Downtown 808 S Meridian St • Shapiro’s Carmel 918 S Rangeline Rd • Shapiro’s at the Indianapolis International Airport (check out the menu). 
  • The Journey – 7155 E 96th St. • Indianapolis (check out the menu)

 

Avoid it:

  • (none at the moment, check back later)

  

My food palate

When I was little, my parents made me try a bit of everything, no matter how much I detested the look or smell of the food. I often couldn’t leave the table unless I ate the doled portion of food on my plate. I had the typical childhood food aversions: I didn’t like brussel sprouts, beets, tomato juice, peas. My mom cooked a variety of dishes which included cuisine that ranged from western dishes, Asian dishes, Italian, Russian. The end result, is that as an adult, I don’t shy away from eating unusual foods. Some of the more unusual things that I have tried include:

  • crocodile
  • ostrich
  • buffalo
  • escargot
  • durian fruit
  • dragon fruit
  • rabbit
  • bear
  • nato (Japanese dish with fermented soya beans and mixed with raw egg and put over rice–and acquired taste, but I’ve always liked it)
  • rattle snake
  • dog (in Korea, I unknowingly ate some in a stew)
  • elk
  • silkworm (also known as bondeggi, in Korea and is served boiled and in little Dixie cups with a toothpick)
  • raw oysters

There are a lot of things that I haven’t tried yet (prairie oysters come to mind–and I’m not talking about the drink). The point is that I have tried a lot of things and I’m not afraid to try something new.

Some of my favoured ethnic cuisines include (in no particular order) Thai food, Japanese, Greek, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Indian, Italian. I have visited some Asian countries where the food often tastes better in the country of as good as back home (Thai food in Thailand is way better than at the restaurants in Canada). I have frequented a number of restaurants in Vancouver where there is no shortage of good restaurants serving cosmopolitan dishes. For example, fusion food is also a trend that is common in Vancouver, and other countries where there is a large influx of immigrants (Pacific Rim areas like California, parts of New Zealand and Australia).

I also like to try new recipes that I find by surfing the web  (my favourite websites include Epicurious, Food Network, and Allrecipes) and sometimes, I will try recipes that I see while flipping through magazines.

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