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Restaurant Name: Upland Brewing Company Carmel Tap House Address: 820 East 116th Street, Carmel, IN Social Media: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Upland Nachos
A coworker and I took off early on a Friday to enjoy shooting some guns at the local gun range and then enjoy some food and drinks nearby at Upland Brewery’s Tap House in Carmel, IN. Upland Brewing Company is actually based out of Bloomington, IN but this tap house in Carmel is a nice little getaway as not only do they have delicious craft beer but great food too! On this particular visit we shared two dishes. This review is focused on the Upland Nachos with Pulled Pork.
Blue corn chips, mozzarella & cheddar-jack, tomatoes, fresh jalapenos, black beans, tomato-jalapeno salsa
To start my review let me begin with the APPEARANCE of this dish. I will be honest that my first thought was “Wow, that’s a lot of tomatoes!” and the thought had crossed my mind that there was just way too many vegetables on this plate. As I look at the picture above and refresh my memory of the plate the look of the nachos is very eye appealing as the tomatoes have a fresh and vibrant red color and the placement of the fresh jalapenos really jumps out too.
Nachos are a tough dish to review because there’s two main trains of thought on the cheese. One train says to use runny nacho cheese and pour it over all the chips and stuff. The second train says to use shredded cheese and melt it at the end. I tend to lean more towards the first train when it comes to nachos…nacho cheese that’s gooey and sticky and that unique after taste that nacho cheese has over cheddar, mozzarella, or colby jack cheese. So putting my “preference” aside on how I like my nachos, the overall flavor profile of this plate is quite astonishing. The pulled pork topping is definitely a bonus, but the nachos by themselves without the pulled pork are still worth a taste. If you get a little bit of everything on a chip then it will EXPLODE your taste buds. The veggies are crisp, the chip is crunchy, you do taste the cheese, the black beans add a really good texture and a bit of a salty salivating left hook of flavor. Depending on if you have the jalapenos in the middle, bottom or top will determine when the heat and bite of the jalepeno come in but it’s a great accent flavor to the bite. The pulled pork was more sweet than tangy for pulled pork which was a good compliment to the bite and heat of the jalapeno. The sides of guacamole, pico de galo, and sour cream are available if you’d like but it will make for a very messy chip if you try to get all three of those on top of what already usually comes on a chip.
The only “negative” I could come up with is a challenge that every order of nachos has…getting cheese on every chip. The chips on the bottom middle of the plate are always bare by the time I get to them. The struggle is real for the nachos out there…all the chips just aren’t getting treated fairly. The ones on top get everything…but those on the bottom get nearly nothing besides the scraps the chips on top leave for them.
SUMMARY
Overall…the Upland Nachos at Upland Brewing Company Carmel Tap House are great for an individual or sharing with friends. Pair it with a nice craft beer of your choice and you’ve got great food, great drinks, great friends, and a great time!
Restaurant Name: Rosie’s Place Address: 10 South Main Street, Zionsville, IN Social Media:Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
California Egg Sandwich
This morning I met with my coworker Adrian for breakfast and we decided to venture to downtown Zionsville, IN and enjoy the food at Rosie’s Place. The last time we went here (before this blog was started) I had their breakfast taco’s and they were AMAZING! Surprisingly both the breakfast taco’s I had last time and the meal I’m about to review had no meat in it!?!?! Crazy right? You’d think a site like this is 100% into just meat, which is a majority of this sites emphasis, but ultimately this site is all about really good food.
The “California Egg Sandwich” at Rosie’s Place consists of “2 eggs any style, baby spinach, tomato, avocado and herb cream cheese on grilled ciabatta, served with country potatoes” per their menu. I paired this dish with their “Granola Parfait” which is “Layers of creamy vanilla yogurt, fresh mixed berries, & granola” and some fresh coffee.
So let me start with the APPEARANCE of this once it hit the table…GREAT looking plate and glass! Splitting the sandwich in half and showcasing the components of the sandwich makes it stand out and not be in the same tone of color as the country potatoes. The berry wedges on the top of the yogurt parfait glass really make it pop and the layering of the yogurt, granola, and fruit really makes you want to eat the whole thing in one sitting (which I almost did). Good size plate that wasn’t too small or too large and an easy enough plate to handle. The portions were spot on and in fact, as I’m writing this post which is about 5 hours after I ate this I’m still pretty full and skipping on my lunch today which is rare. I don’t care if my food touches so that’s fine with me…if you don’t like your food touching then you may need to request that.
The sandwich in of itself speaks one main word really loud and it’s the word “FRESH!”. The bread is freshly baked and the components of the sandwich are prepped that morning and the flavors of the avocado and the herb cream really compliment the eggs, spinach, and tomato. Every bite is full of those flavors with not any one flavor overpowering the other and it’s not a messy sandwich to eat as in no drippings of the herb cream as it’s a perfect amount and the ciabatta bread has a little bit of a crunch to it so that helps absorb any moisture from the herb cream.
Finding a negative to this dish is difficult. Really the only thing that I could critique negatively would be the amount of the scrambled egg white hanging over. If you look back at the picture above there’s about 1.5″ to 2″ of egg white extending beyond the bread which can make it difficult to grab at first. I’ve got big hands though so I was able to manage well. Not really sure how Rosie’s Place could alleviate that outside of cutting the scrambled egg whites after they’re cooked.
SUMMARY
All in all, the California Egg Sandwich at Rosie’s Place in Zionsville is an absolute must try for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. Great balance of flavors and freshness take this dish over the top.
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