Mudbugs Cajun Cafe Doesn't Exactly Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler

It's an institution.  That's a phrase I've heard people use when describing their love of the local Cajun restaurant Yats.  It's quirky, local, has delicious food, cheap, and fast.  Everything that I love about restaurants.  I had never experienced Cajun food in Indianapolis outside of Yats until The Girlfriend and I recently took a trip to Mudbugs Cajun Cafe in the Carmel Arts and Design District. Did Mudbugs live up to my Yats expectations? Well at least Mudbugs was local.

The Girlfriend and I decided one evening to take a trip to Carmel to walk around and find food inspiration in the Arts and Design District after our original dinner plans fell through.  While there are several options in the District some of them struck us as a little more expensive than what we were looking for on this particular evening.  We wanted something very casual that wasn't bar food.  We settled on Mudbugs because I was jonesing for some etouffe and I talked The Girlfriend into getting a Po' Boy.  When we first walked in I was encouraged.  It had a lot of the Yats feel.  Order at the counter, get your own drinks, menu in chalk on the wall, and a cozy local feel.  I even enjoyed seeing an expanded menu.  However, after we ordering was pretty much the time to stop being excited and start getting frustrated.

I ordered the 3 dish combo (3 small portions of jambalaya, crayfish casserole, and shrimp etouffee) and The Girlfriend got the Chicken Po' Boy.  With 2 sodas the whole meal totaled almost $24 or about $10 more than it costs for what we get at Yats.  That in and of itself made me unhappy, but we were trying some new things and I thought there was room for redemption.  I was wrong.

Even though it seemed to me that everything we ordered should have been served up quickly due to being prepared ahead of time (no one is making jambalaya a la minute) it took almost half an hour for our food to be brought to our table.  When it finally did arrive it was definitely not anything to celebrate. All three of my dishes were incredibly bland. If you're making Cajun food that should be a cardinal sin. The best part of the meal were the shrimp in my etouffee.  They had good flavor and were cooked nicely, but there were so few and so small they were hard to find.  The casserole had rubbery crayfish, and there was absolutely nothing at all memorable about the jambalaya other than the color was rather unappetizing.  My meal was also served with a piece of toasted French bread which was nice, but definitely not as good as I've had at Yats. The Girlfriend's Po' Boy was also pretty disappointing.  It was fried chicken strips that were obviously frozen and not hand breaded. All in all not a great experience and I doubt we'll be going back any time soon.

Taste 2/10 Normally I would consider giving bland food maybe a 4 or 5 as average, but damn this is CAJUN food.  It's supposed to be all about flavor and spice. When there is none it deserves an extra penalty.  Also frozen chicken strips on the signature sandwich? Come on man.
Value 0/10 The goose egg is harsh I know, but it deserved the whole way. Disappointing food, a ridiculous wait for food, and higher prices than a better competitor are the perfect storm.

Your Favorite Burger

I've probably written on this blog more than once that food can be a highly personal thing.  We each have our own likes, dislikes, and preferences and certainly this blog is an outlet for my opinions on all those things.  However, if I ask you what you're favorite hamburger joint is and you tell me 5 Guys  you are objectively wrong. Sorry. Of course that's not really a slight against 5 Guys Burgers and Fries which I do enjoy. It's a slight against you for not going out and exploring your local restaurants and food scene enough to know what a truly awesome medium rare burger with perfectly crafted toppings (see: The Local) tastes like.  Ladies and gents burgers are NOT just fast food anymore.  Tons of local restaurants are elevating the concept to another level. Are there still problems with not cooking the meat to the right temp or even *gasp* using frozen patties? Sure there are, but explore what's around you.  You'll probably be pleasantly surprised that for the same 10 bucks you spent to get a burger, fries, and drink from 5 Guys will buy you a burger that is just a little more special and definitely more tasty.

Product Review: Lean Pockets Mesquite BBQ Chicken

Saying Lean Pockets does bbq is a little like saying your deadbeat cousin who plays Guitar Hero is actually a musician.  Truthfully it's a hackneyed imitation of bbq that ventures into self-parody when cliched phrases like "mesquite" are used in the description.  Did any of that stop me from trying out this new product though? Of course not.  Let's be honest here. I'm pretty sure any modicum of high brow disdain for certain types of foods on this blog went out the window with the McDonald's Biscuit and Gravy review from a while back. But let's get down to bidness.


The humor in these Lean Pockets doesn't just start with them being ridiculously labeled "mesquite", but also from the fact that each pocket is supposed to contain chicken and "roasted red onion".  If that wasn't enough these ingredients are stuffed inside of a pretzel bread pocket.  In each instance this product over promises and under-delivers.  The term mesquite is a type of wood used for smoking meat, but there was absolutely no smoke flavor in either the chicken or the bbq sauce.  In reality it was just sweet on sweet.  Not necessarily bad when you consider it's a Lean Pocket, but you can't say it was good either.  As for the onion I couldn't even tell it was there at all.  I was a little concerned because red onion is one of my least favorite flavors.  I suppose it was somewhat of a blessing in disguise that it was almost non-existent on my palate.  The pretzel bread was even more of a let down.  It bore absolutely no resemblance to any type of pretzel you could imagine in terms of flavor.  It might have an appearance that looks somewhat pretzel like, but the texture and flavor what traditional Hot Pocket all the way.  Also who thought bbq+pretzel was a good idea?

Taste 3/10 I love trying new products.  I love some flavors of Lean Pockets.  I  think their pizza varieties and chicken bacon dijon are quite good. My best advice?  Stick to those.  This bbq version is a waste of time.

Value 3/10 While not particularly expensive this flavor of Lean Pocket is lacking enough to be a bad value even with good 5 for 11 sale at Kroger.  I could have bought one of the pizza varieties I like a lot more.

Eating and Blogging and Fried Pickles

Hello faithful readers. I know I posted recently that I planned to do a lot more blogging, and certainly that is still the case. However, I have been saddled with some technical issues with my laptop and blogging like this from my phone is difficult. Don't worry though I have a new computer coming in the mail so I should be able to get back on the horse soon. In the meantime I wanted to say a little something about a fried pickle appetizer I had at The Mill Tavern in Westfield.

Now I have reviewed their Jellystone burger before and found it playful and unique.  Their take on fried pickles is similar in that regard. Instead of the usual chips these pickles were cut lengthwise. I thought this allowed the pickle flavor to stand up to the breading a little better. And speaking of the breading I much preferred their lighter cornmeal crust to the usual thick batter.  All in all very enjoyable, and a good value at only $4.50 for a large portion.

Weekend Preview

Happy Friday to ya, you guys! Once again the weekend is upon us and with it allowing myself a bit of indulgence food-wise. We don't have any definitive food plans yet, but I recently found a new Chinese takeout place with an awesome name that I think I'll be trying tonight. Also I recently was awarded a nice promotion at work so I think at least some sort of celebration might be in order! Happy eating and have a great weekend!

Classy Pizza Review: Some Guys Pizza, Pasta, Grill

Most of the time when I have pizza it's something so quick, cheap, and dirty it almost feels like a Secret Service outing in South America.  It's true and I'm not going to act like I'm ashamed of it.  The siren call of $5 Little Caesars is hard to resist, and lately I've been wondering if maybe I've lost my ability to appreciate pizza that you can't buy with just the change you dug from your couch cushions.  A couple of weekends ago I decided to test myself with some pizza that has a better than average reputation. The Girlfriend and I decided to try Some Guys.

Located in an older strip mall at the corner of 62nd and Allisonville (other location 126th and Gray Rd.) Some Guys definitely doesn't look like much at all. In fact, unless you knew about it in advance or saw it while you were spending quality time at the discount tabacco shop you may not even have known it was there at all.  When I first drove by it some time ago it looked so small from the outside I thought it was takeout only.  However, when you finally walk in you're in for a pleasant surprise.  The atmosphere is bistroesque with deep warm colors, and while the seating area is small (protip: go early) its bigger than you would think. 

After we walked in we were seated promptly and began to look at the menu. We decided to start off with a classic appetizer of garlic bread with cheese.  While such a choice may seem pretty boring at first I have to say I'm a fan and I don't care...especially when it's done the way Some Guys does it. The bread was a crusty but soft sliced Italian roll and the garlic flavor was perfectly subtle. The cheese on top was melted without being burnt or crusty.  The app was good, but the pizza is the reason to stay.

While the Some Guys menu is varied in terms of entrees and toppings we knew we were going with a pizza and desired a classic combination with a dressed up twist.  The House Pepperoni with hand sliced pepperoni, ricotta cheese, and fresh basil was the perfect choice. It was the first time I had experienced any of those ingredients on a pizza and I was honestly blown away.  The hand sliced artisan pepperoni was thick and crisp on the edges with the ideal hint of heat.  I believe it may have ruined regular pepperoni pizza for me forever.  The ricotta added a nice creamy element that was a great complement to the spice of the pepperoni. The fresh basil had been added before baking, which I thought was an interesting choice, but the basil and tomato sauce combination is always a winner. And speaking of the sauce, it was quite good but I suspect that a good number of you might say there wasn't enough on the pizza.  I don't consider that a problem because I think of the sauce almost a condiment that adds flavor almost without being noticed. Just a personal preference.  Also, I found the crust extremely appealing in that it was thin without being either too doughy or cracker-like which I consider the death knell of an otherwise great pizza.



Taste 10/10 I'm still yet to make it to the much vaunted Pizzology, but as of right now Some Guys makes the top of my list of pizza available in Indianapolis or surrounding areas.  No complaints.  Zero. Even our service was exceptional.

Value 10/10 A double perfect score and well worth it. We ordered garlic bread with cheese, 2 drinks, and a medium pizza for under 25 dollars.  Considering that neither one of us went away hungry and the high quality of the food and service this is an absolute steal.

Quick Review: Hardee's Bacon Cheddar Breakfast Wraps

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!  That's probably a phrase you've had condescendingly thrown at you from various sources since you were in grade school. It may or may not be true, but honestly I don't care. I just know that I'm a guy that needs to eat at least something in the morning to get going. Usually that means a small portion of instant oatmeal, but sometimes the old testosterone kicks in and makes me crave cheese, eggs, and something that got its house blown down by a big bad wolf.
In this case I decided to fill that craving with the Hardee's Bacon Cheddar breakfast wrap. Of you're wondering it is exactly what it says it is. Strips of bacon, a scrambled egg, and cheddar cheese sauce in a flour tortilla. Hardee's certainly isn't inventing this concept here. I remember being underwhelmed by a similar BK product a couple of years ago. However,  Since I'm a Hardee's fan and because I liked the idea of a cheddar "sauce" I figured it was worth a shot.
With a price tag of only $2.50 for 2 wraps I can't say I was dissatisfied,  but I think the execution held back the potential here. For example the cheese on my wraps was inconsistent. One was so overflowing it was incredibly messy while the other barely had any at all. The flavor of the cheese though was quite good and possibly my favorite element. The bacon was on par with the Hardee's bacon I've had in the past. It was salty, smoky, and while not thick it was better than average fast food bacon. I think the egg was the biggest disappointment. The "folded" scrambled egg was thin, rubbery, and flavorless. Much room for improvement.  The tortilla, on the other hand was a surprising bright spot. It was very soft and warm. Much better than a stale tortilla that one might get at Taco Bell.

Taste 5/10 The ultimate in average. Some good spots, some not so good. If you had the time you could easily make a much better home version, but it serves as a nice fast food breakfast diversion.
Value 6.5/10 At $2.50 for 2 and the ability to combo that for under $5 makes it an above average value.

p.s. I always try to use my own photos to back up how my meal appeared as opposed to the idealized version. I apologize for using the Hardee's photo here.  I was just to hungry to stop and think of taking a picture I guess.