Restaurant Name: Mimi Blue Address: 870 Massachusetts Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46202 FACEBOOK / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / WEBSITE
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.
Deep Fried Brussels Sprouts
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
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!
Pork belly, pickled carrot, and daikon, jalapeno peppers, 5 spice BBQ rub, cilantro, cucumber, and a kimchi aioli
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!
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.
Brisket sandwich on a brioche bun accompanied with a house made horseradish aioli and white onions
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.
Last weekend I did a quick 48-hour trip down to Orlando, Florida to watch a few rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with my dad. I flew down first thing Saturday morning, we watched pretty much all day, ate dinner at STK – Orlando, and repeated the same thing Sunday. When the invitational was complete, my parents wanted to get dinner before I flew back and we decided BBQ was our choice. We weren’t near a 4 Rivers Smokehouse so I opened up the Yelp! app and did some researched and Cecil’s BBQ was only a few minutes away.
Looking over the menu and seeing the nice variety of smoked meats they had, my dad and I decided getting the Meat Sampler was the best way to go to get a good sampling of all the smoked meats they had.
The Meat Sampler: Beef Brisket, Ham, Spare Ribs, Pulled Pork, Sausage, Chicken, & Turkey
The meat sampler included four side dishes so we got baked beans, jalapeno mashed potatoes, collard greens, and potato salad.
I will admit that the appearance of the plates of food looked AMAZING! Starting with the sides, everything had your traditional look and they just looked delicious. The meat platter looks like a lot of food and if I’m being honest was a lot of food for my dad and I (my mom had a few pieces). When I inspected each meat individually you could for the most part see the infamous “smoke ring” that BBQ is known for. Some meats had it more than others.
Taste wise…the sides didn’t disappoint in any fashion. The Texas Toast was buttery and crispy. The greens, with a little hot sauce added to them, were spicy and salty. The jalapeno mashed potatoes were actually very complimentary flavors. I hadn’t seen many/any restaurants do that mixture but Cecil’s did a really good balance of jalapeno heat and earthiness of the mashed potatoes. The potato salad was also really good. I find myself going back and forth between white or yellow potato salad. Sometimes my flavor pallet fancies the creamier white and sometimes it’s the tangy of the yellow mustard potato salad. Cecil’s may be tipping the scale in the white potato salad as it was good sized but soft chunks of red potatoes and a balanced amount of cream. The baked beans I wasn’t overly impressed with which was a little bit disheartening as BBQ and baked beans are typically hand in hand.
The meats flavor ranged from excellent to just OK. If I had to rank the meats in order of my most favorite to least favorite it would be: pulled pork, ham, sausages, spare ribs, turkey, & chicken. I’m going to put the emphasis of this post on the pulled pork as it was excellent! It had a strong but not too strong smokey flavor, tender, and still moist without having to drown it in sauce. It had the smoke ring on some of the bark pieces which were mighty tasty. The portion that we had was still very easily pulled apart even more implying the tenderness was super all while still maintaining a good level of moisture with the meat. The ham, sausages, and spare ribs were good but not great. Hints of smoke were evident in the taste but needed some sauce. These three meats were moist but these are also difficult meats to dry out.
I was disappointed in the chicken and the turkey though. They were dry and needed some sauce. The turkey slices looked great as they had a solid bark on the outside, but the meat was dry still and made it difficult to taste the smoke as I had to use sauce with nearly every bite. Chicken and turkey are tough birds to BBQ and keep moist so it’s understandable and I’ve been there.
SUMMARY
All in all, I enjoyed my visit to Cecil’s. I’d return for sure for the pulled pork. Maybe try it on a sandwich and topped with some coleslaw like my BBQ friends in the Carolina’s do. Accompany it with some potato salad or the collard greens and it’ll be a fine lunch hour.
Restaurant Name: Lucky Dog Grill
Address: 729 Reading Road, Mason, OH 45040 Social Media: FACEBOOK / TWITTER / WEBSITE
Super BLT – March 9, 2018
Yesterday I wrote about Jamaican food joint Island Friday’s in Cincinnati, OH which is what I and a coworker had for dinner. Between meetings with different subcontractors and suppliers we grabbed lunch at the Lucky Dog Grille and I enjoyed this tasty classic of a BLT.
Super BLT: A classic sandwich piled high with 12 slices of our brown sugar peppered bacon for a unique flavor. Served with lettuce and tomato slices on marble rye with a side of fried onion petals.
This dish was so tasty! Before I get into flavors, let me share about the appearance of the plate. It’s a very well organized plate with half of it covered in the sandwich itself and then the other half covered in the fried onion petals. The rye bread was an excellent choice as it provides a darker tone and some color depth to the plate.
When I think about a BLT…I think that the most important thing is of course the BACON!!!! I’m quite picky when it comes to eating bacon whether it be by itself or as part of a dish. To me bacon needs to be crispy and near burnt but not fully burnt obviously. I like the crunch and the sound of a strip of bacon snapping when I bite into it. Throw in some brown sugar and black pepper coated around each strip of bacon it’s like candy.
This dish is taken over the top with the fact that it has 12 STRIPS OF BACON in it! This sandwich is essentially 3 strips wide by 4 strips tall and the bacon was on point delicious. The rye bread was a nice bitter flavor to go with the sweet and salty bacon. The lettuce and tomato are nice color compliments but don’t overpower the sandwich by any means and the focus is really on the BACON!
The only downside to this sandwich was the lack of mayo! I was caught off guard as I dove more and more into the sandwich and didn’t get the smooth, creamy, and unique taste that mayonnaise brings to this sandwich. I would’ve liked to have had some mayo but I guess the exorbitant amount of bacon will counter this knock on this sandwich.
SUMMARY
Overall, this is a mighty tasty sandwich. The bacon is 100% on point and definitely takes the sandwich up a notch. Some mayo would’ve been a nice add, but the fact that this sandwich has 12 STRIPS OF BACON in it is definitely a must try. Maybe ask for a side of mayo and then add it on your own.
Restaurant Name: Island Friday’s Address: 2826 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45219 Social Media: FACEBOOK / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM
Jerk Chicken Dinner – March 8, 2018
Today and really this whole week I’ve been traveling for work and by traveling I literally mean I’ve been driving all over much more than usual. This past Tuesday I had a pre-construction meeting at a project in Lafayette which isn’t really too bad because it’s near my alma mater of Purdue. Wednesday I ventured up to St. John, IN for a pre-bid meeting and then hurried back for Wednesday Night Youth Service at Club 365. Today I woke up early and hit the road at 7:00 AM to go to a northern suburb of Cincinnati, OH known as Mason for a full day of meeting with subcontractors and suppliers.
With my evening plans freeing up, it opened up the opportunity to return to my absolute favorite place to get 100% legit and authentic Jamaican food at Island Friday’s. You may have heard about this place near the University of Cincinnati as it was featured on the Food Network show “Diners, Drive-in’s, & Dive’s”. When you think about Jamaican food you may jump right to the exotic of curry goat or a fish dish, but for me I think of Jerk Chicken.
Jerk Chicken Dinner with red beans & rice, Jamaican greens, and fried plantains
Let me begin this review with the “appearance” review. Obviously, you can’t score really high when your meal is served in a styrofoam container. I’m not hating on places that do, but when it comes to appearance of the dish to me a styrofoam container doesn’t look appealing. When you open the container though the Jamaican greens jump out and the shine of the jerk sauce on the chicken. Not even taking into account the flavor of the steam that hits your nostrils is amazing!
Taste…where to begin when it comes to the taste of this dinner. The jerk seasoning/marinate is AWESOME! So awesome I bought two jars of it as I was leaving. I like to consider myself as a person who likes hot and spicy foods, but I don’t like hot just because I can and burn your face off hot. I prefer hot but robust and flavorful hot and the jerk seasoning and sauce here bring it 100%. I do love the choice to use bone-in chicken thighs as thighs are meatier and typically easier to keep moist. The chicken wasn’t dry except for maybe in a few spots where the skin may had been peeled back, but overall the meat itself was moist. But obviously the jerk seasoning and the sauce is what makes this dish come alive. It is so full of flavors your tastebuds will be getting stamps all over its passport in each bite.
The jerk seasoning sauce (also known as “Island Magic”) has ingredients like habaneros, onions, scallions, garlic, thyme, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, pimento, seasoning salt, soya sauce, & vinegar as it’s primary ingredients. Seeing this list it speaks ROBUST FLAVORS all the way. Hints of sweet, savory, salt, bitter, and then a nice little jab of heat in every single bite. If you’re looking for melt your face off hot, this sauce isn’t it, but if you’re looking for a tastebud adventure it’s a must try flavor profile.
The sides were all really good too. The Jamaican greens were tasty…didn’t need any hot sauce as I typically do with most greens but they were a good accent to the dish. The red beans and rice were awesome especially the portions that got some of the jerk seasoning sauce on it! Mighty tasty bites there. Fried plantains are unique. They don’t have a distinct flavor that blows my mind, but they do provide a nice subtle sweetness to the dish.
Negatives of this dish…really just come in the presentation. I think most of their customers get their food to go, but it’d be nice if for people dining in to get their food a plate of some sort vs. a styrofoam container. The food itself I wouldn’t change a thing!
SUMMARY
Overall, jerk chicken is one of my favorite flavor profiles. It’s a whirlwind of flavors in every bite that really is good on anything…just so happens to be commonly on chicken. Great choice to use chicken thighs and perfectly cooked side dishes were complimentary flavors to the focal flavor of the jerk chicken.
IndyBBQGuru 