Restaurant Name: Late Harvest Kitchen
Address: 8605 River Crossing Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46240
FACEBOOK / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / WEBSITE 

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Pork Chop – May 3, 2018

Earlier this week, my parents came down to Indy to celebrate my birthday. I always enjoy a nice fancy type of dinner every now and then and especially for my birthday so I got my folks and I a reservation to Late Harvest Kitchen. Tucked near the Keystone at the Crossing and Fashion Mall area, this restaurant is a little bit hidden, but quite the gem of a place. 

My mom ordered the General Tso’s Pork Belly over a bed of stir fry vegetables. My dad got the salmon. We shared sides of “Potatoes Minneapolis” and the Korean Fried Broccolini. Both sides tasted fabulous. The deep fried broccoli was super crispy which made the dish AWESOME! You won’t hear me say that too often about a vegetable, but it was really good. The bread was great and had a really nice garlic butter to go with the wide array of breads.

My main dish was the pork chop. The pork chop was accompanied with some baked beans, vinegar peppers, bacon marmalade, and a house kraut. When the dish comes out it looks very complex. You see beans, you see the pork chop, some kraut, the mound of bacon marmalade, and a pool of pork chop juices and it can be difficult to decide where to begin.

Let me start with the accessories to the pork chop. All were complimentary and tasty by themselves, but the bacon marmalade was my definite favorite. I would take a slice of the chop and put some of the marmalade on it and it was like a pork on pork explosion which was mighty tasty. The beans, peppers, and kraut were good on the eye and unique on the tastebuds. Complimentary but not outstanding individually. 

The pork chop itself was grilled PERFECTLY! A slight bit of pink in the center which for pork is acceptable to me. I want to tip the hat to the chef as their grill mark game was SPOT ON! The meat was tender but not fork apart tender which was good. It had a simple rub and traditional pork chop flavor and really allowed you to utilize the accessory foods for a fun array of flavors. Salty and sweet with the kraut, salty and heat with the peppers, salty and smokey with the baked beans. All delicious adventures for the taste buds. 

The only “negative” about the dish would be maybe too much pork chop juice can make the plate look a little messy and disorganized. Some brighter colors to make the dish pop some I think would also be a nice addition. The green chives are good and all, but don’t quite pop as what maybe some red onion would.

SUMMARY

Overall, this plate was great. Full of flavor and easy to eat. A fun adventure of flavor with the array of complimentary sides on the pork chop. Definitely a must try if you visit Late Harvest Kitchen.

 

Restaurant Name: Mimi Blue
Address: 870 Massachusetts Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46202
FACEBOOK / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / WEBSITE 

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Meatballs Part 1 – April 29, 2018

Earlier this week I met up with a former student of mine for some catching up time. A good meet in the middle type of place that we both had never been to before is this place called Mimi Blue. Most famous for their meatballs, but plenty of other things on the menu, I had to try first them first hand. 

If you explore the menu they have an option for 4 meatballs of any kind or 3 meatballs of just one kind. It was a no brainer for me to go with the any 4 meatballs and sauces to make sure I get a good spread of flavors and textures. 

I ended up ordering a classic meatball with marinara sauce (top left), another classic meatball but with a bourbon bbq sauce (top right), a beef meatball with a spicy bolognese sauce (lower left), and lastly a turkey meatball with the honey Sriracha sauce (lower right).

Looking at the four meatballs and their accompanying sauces, I was very intrigued to see which one I would enjoy the most. All four meatballs and sauces were delicious, but my favorite meatball was actually the turkey meatball with the honey Sriracha sauce. I want to say it was more the sauce than the meatball, but I don’t take one without the other as they’re complimentary to each other. 

The meatball was very well cooked and perfect size. Not too large where I have to fork and knife the whole thing, but not too small where I can eat the whole meatball in one bite. The meatball is tender enough it could be sliced with a fork, no knife needed. The sauce is OH MY GOODNESS AWESOME! A great balance of heat and sweet is the combo of honey and Sriracha sauce. Taste bud explosion right off the bat, with a salty flavor meatball middle and another punch of heat and sweet to end it. 

The meatballs are a must try and all the sauces were good, but this first post will focus on the turkey meatball with the honey Sriracha sauce. Future posts will discuss the others, but seriously…go and try them! 

Side note…the deep fried brussels sprouts are also worth getting. I don’t usually talk much about vegetables, but you know they’ve gotta be good if I’m showcasing them. 

I must also give a shout out to fellow foodie Samantha at In The Midst Blog for her recommendation on getting the Banana Mousse. It was a creamy deliciousness that I will admit I should’ve gotten some other photos as this one below doesn’t fully give it justice. The crushed vanilla wafers in the middle add a really awesome texture and flavor depth to the banana flavors and creaminess of this dish.

SUMMARY

All in all my first experience at Mimi’s was AMAZING! I’ll definitely visit again and try a new spread of meatballs and sauces. You should do it too!

Restaurant Name: Moontown Brewing Company
Address: 345 S. Bowers Street, Whitestown, IN
Social Media: FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WEBSITE

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BAHN MI – NOVEMBER 9, 2018

Moontown Brewery is a place that I frequently visit. My work built the place, my boss is an owner of the place, they have dankly delicious beer, live music a lot of times, and of course very tasty food. I love the fact that they rotate their menu. Sometimes some of my favorite items are always there (Brisket Sandwich and Porky the Pig Flatbread) but sometimes some of my favorite things go away for a season like the pretzel nuggets and beer cheese. They did replace it with a a whole pretzel twist so that’s good. 

One item that has been added to the menu for the fall is ‘Bahn Mi”. If you’ve never had Bahn Mi before YOU ARE MISSING OUT! 

I ordered the Bahn Mi as soon as I saw it was added to the fall menu. As a lover of all things BBQ and smoked meats and especially pork belly, this was a no brainer for me to order and try. Decided to get this tasty sandwich with a side of french fries and dank glass of the Cecil IPA.

Let’s start with the fries real quick…freshly cut and fried to a good level of crispiness. One thing when it comes to fries that’s a big turn off is soft NOT crispy fries. These fries are on point, dash of salt, and go very well with the sandwich. 

The Bahn Mi…at first glance comes open faced and looks amazing. The cucumbers obviously jump out as it kinda covers everything underneath it, but the color is nice on the eyes and the tray looks very full and not really empty which is always good when you’re getting a meal. If you take the cucumbers off the view of the sandwich is AMAZING! You can see all the components of the sandwich and even more colors come out with some orange from the carrots and yellows from the kimchi aioli.

Biting into this sandwich is a lot of fun. Great choice on the bread with a slight toast and crisp to it really makes the sandwich hold up well and the bread doesn’t get soggy. Each bite gives you a journey of flavors that your taste buds better have a passport. Smokey pork belly, sweet and sour kimchi, spicy jalapenos, and even the veggies compliment the flavors and add an added level of crunch in the middle of the sandwich. Great balanced flavors and decent portions of the sandwich components. 

The only thing I’d really like to see changed to this sandwich is to have some of the cucumbers removed when the dish comes out so that I could see all the components of the sandwich before I bite into it. More pork belly? Perhaps too much to ask? A couple strips or thick cut pieces is nice, but can you really have too much pork belly? Maybe a flash frying of the pork belly would add a really neat texture dynamic. I can’t be too critical of this sandwich because it is amazingly balanced and quite the adventure for the taste buds. A must try for anyone visiting Moontown!

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BRISKET SANDWICH – APRIL 9, 2018

Tucked away in the suburban city of Whitestown, IN was an old high school gymnasium. For many many years it sat abandoned, empty, and deteriorating. Debuting a few months ago after an extensive interior and exterior renovation, Moontown Brewing Company was born and opened. This place has a special level of value as my work did the renovation. So this may be my first food review, but it definitely won’t be the last!

 

The menu at Moontown Brewing Company is very diverse and very tasty. They’ve got small bites, big bites, flatbreads, the pit aka BBQ, desserts, and side dishes. The first meal that I enjoyed from this awesome looking brew pub is the Brisket Sandwich. The brisket is served on a brioche bun and accompanied with a house made horseradish aioli and white onions. This sandwich comes with a side dish and for this particular visit I got the smoked beans.

The brisket sandwich, and most of the dishes, come out on a metal tray lined with paper and is plated very well. The sandwich, side dish (in this case smoked beans), and a pickle provide a good sized spread that doesn’t get dwarfed by the size of the tray. A couple things jump out when this dish comes out. First is the infamous smoke ring on the beef brisket slices. It’s red and thick but not too thick and easily visible. The white onion slices are a very nice eye appeal as well when the tray is set in front of you. The smoked beans have one major thing that makes it stand out…the MASSIVE CHUNK OF PORK BELLY in it! 

Flavors of this plate are AWESOME and everything you’d expect from a BBQ sandwich. Smokey, sweet, salty, and even a little bit of tang. The buttered brioche bun is a great texture to start the sandwich. The little bit of toasting of the buns adds a nice little crunch to this sandwich too. The brisket itself was thick cut and super tender. A good amount of smoke was not only visible but also evident in each bite. The brisket slices were juicy too, but not so juicy that they made the buns soggy. 

The smoked beans were a great complimentary dish to this sandwich. Really can’t complain about the beans when a massive chunk of pork belly is in it. Takes the depth of flavor to a new level not just in taste but in texture too.

If I had to find something “negative” on this dish I would have to go with the brisket being almost too tender. This is probably me just being like a BBQ judge and having a specific tenderness that’s not quite fall apart but has some stiffness to it but still easy to eat through. 

SUMMARY

A brisket is a tough cut of meat to BBQ and smoke properly. Moontown Brewing Company does a great job of smoking the meat and pairing it with very complimentary sides and flavors for a totally enjoyable taste bud experience.