6 Years

Wow the last post on this blog was almost 6 years ago.  A lot has happened since then.  I got married.  I bought a house. I'm thriving at my job.  But I've thrown myself into other hobbies like playing pool instead of writing or trying to new restaurants.

I've been thinking about reviving this blog for a while.  I wasn't sure I would even be able to log in to it until today.  Maybe no one will read it, but the last time I was blogging I was losing weight for our wedding and still reviewing products and restaurants.  I need to get back on track with my diet, and get out of the funk we have been in by going to the same old places.

I'm not sure if anyone will be reading.  I'm not sure if I even want that (for now), but I think it's time to start going to new places and adding to new content here.  Let's see what happens.

My Favorite Healthy Snacks

For years I've heard people say that if you want to lose weight you shouldn't focus on eating just 3 squares a day. They say you should eat more often and smaller portions. For the longest time I thought this was BS. I mean losing weight is a simple equation. If the calories you consume are less than the calories you burn you lose weight. I didn't think it mattered how the calories were consumed. However, now I have to say I'm a believer.

In my quest to lose weight before our wedding I had been going on along really well until last week. An extended holiday weekend full of eating put the hurt on me. I decided that the week after I was going to make sure I did a lot of exercise and made sure I had healthy snacks in between smaller meals as I've heard recommended so many times. They say this helps boost your metabolism and you'll burn more calories. It worked. I've been having healthy snacks between all my meals this week and lo and behold I lost another 4.4 lbs and I'm down to a weight I haven't been since 2008. The point of all this really isn't to toot my own horn, but I wanted to recommend to you some of the snacks I've been enjoying so you can try them too if you'd like. (pictures of all items forthcoming)

1. Welch's Fruit Snacks
 I know you might think of fruit snacks as something your mom put in your lunch box every day in 2nd grade, but trust me these Welch's fruit snacks are good for kids and adults. Target sells them in value pack boxes that contain 22 individual packs of fruit snacks that are only 80 calories a piece and 0 grams of fat. The texture is soft and chewy without that stick to your teeth or wear out your jaw feel that some fruit snack give you. They are also made from real fruit and the flavors pop quite nicely.

2. Fresh Fruit
No secret here, but one of the things that has really been key for me is keeping our house stocked with fresh fruit. All fresh fruits are 0 WW points so they make a perfect snack. Since we're in the summer months everything is in season and tasting good too. If you like strawberries you can even eat them with fat free whipped cream (just don't go crazy) for a really low cal dessert.

3. Graham Crackers
The regular honey graham crackers you can buy in the store are very low fat and low in WW points. I think 2 whole sheets are less than 3 points. You can also put some fat free Cool Whip in between them and freeze them and it makes a low calorie ice cream sandwich variant.

4. Yogurt
At Kroger (or Krogers if you're from southern Indiana) they have a lot of great flavors of lite yogurt including banana cream pie and key lime which are my favorites. Every cup of lite yogurt is only 100 calories, and Kroger used to sell them for the cheap price of 10 cups for $4. However, the last time we were at the store the price had dropped to 12 for $4.  Also, I recently tried a fat free greek yogurt for the first time and while I don't think it's something I'd eat by itself very often (since it tastes more like a funky cheese than anything sweet) I thought it did make a good dip for berries or veggies.

Natural Doesn't Mean Good Product Review: Zevia Zero Calorie Soda

Cough syrup. If you're at all like me that's probably not one of your favorite flavors of all time. Most likely far from it. Yes I know some of you my compromise on that when it comes to alcoholic beverages, but be honest that's only because you really enjoy getting tore up from the floor up and little else. Well unfortunately the latest product I decided to try, Zevia Zero Calorie Soda (Dr. Zevia flavor) won't get you wasted, but it will waste your (or someone else's since Barry O is President after all) hard earned dollars.

When The Fiance and I made a trip into the Earth Fare market the other evening to get some fresh fruit I was saying to her that I would really like to have some pop, but I wasn't sure they would have anything there since it's supposed to be a "healthy market". Lo and behold I came upon the Zevia line of sodas ($3.50 for a six pack). These are sodas sweetened with stevia instead of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or other artificial sweeteners. I'm a diet soda junkie, and I'm not giving it up no matter what but I am always looking for new stuff. I decided to go with their version of Dr. Pepper since I know other soda companies have imitated the flavor pretty accurately. Man was I in for a surprise.

Not only does Dr. Zevia taste nothing like Dr. Pepper, Diet Dr. Pepper, Pibb Extra, or anything else even in that neighborhood it doesn't even begin to taste like anything I know as soda pop. I thought what flavor was there was mildly reminiscent of cough syrup with a thinner texture. Absolutely disgusting. It wasn't as if the sweetness or lack of sweetness was the problem either. The problem was the flavoring of the beverage itself. It had kind of a sour note that I found completely unsatisfying and not refreshing in any way.  The only place this stuff deserves to go is down the drain.

Rating: Pass It By

P.S.  Although this product was a big miss we both really like the Earth Fare market. They have a lot of good stuff, and good prepared food also. It's also less pretentious (slightly) than places like The Fresh Market or Whole Foods. It's located in Hamilton Town Center.

Product Review: Nestle's Crunch Caramel and Coconut

Everyone loves Girl Scout cookies. Everyone probably doesn't love the fact that you can usually only get them once a year, and you get harassed to buy them by cute kids every time you go to the mall or to the store. Nestle created a solution that solves all of your problems with their new candy bar line featuring Girl Scout cookie flavors.

I'm not sure why, but the actual names of the cookies (Tagalongs, Samoas, etc) we've all become so familiar with do not appear on the packaging even though the Girl Scouts name and logo is clearly there. However, if you have an IQ even just barely higher than a sack of hammers you'll probably be able to figure out which flavors are which. For this review I decided to go with the caramel and coconut bar aka a Samoa because well those are my favorite. As you can see in the picture this might be labeled as a variation on a Nestle's Crunch, but really the similarity stops at the packaging. This is a smaller thicker candy bar where the crunch seems to come from more of a wafer than crisp rice. Also, "Nestle" isn't molded into the top of the bar like we're used to seeing. Instead there is this kind of caramel drizzle.  As far as the taste goes I have to say Nestle absolutely nailed the flavor of Samoa's, and that of course means it was delicious. However, if you were expecting the kind of textures you get from the cookie you won't find them here. This is more of a layered wafer with filling that has flavor. You won't find any toasted coconut or gooey caramel. Also, I calculated it and this candy bar is only 5 Weight Watchers points which means I could eat it as a snack without too much guilt.  I suspect the relatively low points value though is more due to the fact that the bar is rather small rather than really being considered "light" in any capacity. Overall very good, and they are selling them at Speedway right now 2 for $2 if you want to try a couple of different flavors.

Rating: Must Buy

Lunch Time at the Office Product Review: Maruchan Yakisoba

As of last week I've lost over 47 lbs since April. Part of my strategy to help me stick to the Weight Watchers points target is to not get lunch out more than once out of the 5 days a week I come in to the office. The old me tried to brown bag it a lot too in order to save money, but eventually I would get tired of eating the same old things or not have time to make a lunch before I went into work. But since I've been having so much success I've really decided to stick hard and fast to my 1 day a week rule. One of the things I've found that has made it easy is Maruchan's Yakisoba.

You may already be familiar with Maruchan from their line of cheap package ramen and "Instant Lunch", but the Yakisoba line is a little newer and much more tasty. Sure it's definitely not the traditional real yakisoba noodles you'll find in a good Japanese noodle shop, but the bottom line for me is that I can grab it quickly before I head out the door, it's ready in 4 minutes, the prep is easy, it's tasty, and it is only 14 WW points for a container.  It comes in multiple flavors, but my favorite is the teriyaki beef and the shrimp is a close second. It comes in brightly packaged container that acts like it's trying to trick you into thinking it is something cool you'd buy at an Asian grocery, but truthfully I'd need some cartoon cats and robots to be more convinced. Each package is noodles that comes with a flavor packet and a packet of dried veggies (and sometimes protein). Just at the veggies to the noodles and cover with a cup of water and nuke for 4 minutes. After a couple of cool down minutes where the temperature decreases from surface of the sun/hot pocket levels you can add the flavoring and mix. This results in tender noodles with a little broth.  The tang and sweetness of the teriyaki flavoring is superb to competing products that use liquid sauces. The only drawback is the noodles. If you don't add enough water they can be undercooked and crunchy, and also dried noodles just don't taste as good as the fresh ones that come in competing products. The best part however is the price. Maruchan Yakisoba packages run anywhere from 79 cents to $1.09 a piece. This is less than half the price of similar brands like Simply Asia or Annie Chun's.

Writer's Note: I've decided to change my rating system on product reviews since the blog relaunch. From now on instead of a 1-10 grade I will simply label products either Must Buy, Give It a Try, or Pass It By.


Rating: Must Buy

Review: Drake's

Castleton. An indy neighborhood where there is shopping, traffic, and very few good food options or independent restaurants to satisfy all those shoppers and rat racers. It's sad really, but everyone who lives or works on Indy's North side knows that Castleton, food wise, has fast food and chains but little else. There are some notable exceptions like a couple of sushi bars and the Castleton Grill, but if you want a good sitdown meal you don't have a lot of options. That brings me to today's review which is a place that is trying to change that landscape a bit...Drake's.

Drake's is located in the strip mall on 82nd right before you get to the green bridge, and right behind the old Music Mill (now the not so impressive Brewstone). Drake's certainly isn't anything revolutionary. Their menu basically consists of burgers, chicken, salads, and the usual appetizers, and interestingly enough sushi. While the sushi certainly sets it apart I didn't try it on this particular visit so I can't really comment. What I did try was their fried pickles (annoyingly called frickles on the menu) and their Tavern Burger.

The fried pickles were delicious because well...fried pickles are always delicious, but here at Drake's I thought they were even a little better than the ones I've had elsewhere. First of all these pickles were cut lengthwise instead of in to chips which I think made them more crispy during the frying process and the pickles weren't so overwhelmed by the breading. The breading itself was also very well seasoned, appeared to be hand battered, the breading didn't slough off when you took a bite, and the sauce they served with them was different and better than the typical ranch you get at most places. Definitely had a mild but nice litle extra kick. My only quibble was that the cost of this app was 8 bucks which seemed a little high, but it's probably comparable to other similar restaurants.

The Tavern Burger was something I wanted to like was more than I actually did. The concept sounded great. Thick burger, pepper jack cheese, spicy remoluade sauce, and grilled onions.  It was served with either fries or tots and I chose tots.  When the burger came to my table it certainly looked big and appealing, and I could definitely tell it had all the elements just like the description stated. However, what was missing was something you can't see. Flavor. Despite the grilled onions, and sauce, and cheese it was just kind of bland. It wasn't as if the condiments were covering the flavor of the meat because I wasn't getting the spice I expected from the cheese or the sauce either. I will say that it was a very juicy burger even though it was cooked to well done without an option as to how it could have been prepared. The bun was toasted and was ok but it may have been a bit too large. I also wish the onions had been grilled and caramelized a little more. I think just a couple more minutes would have let them add that nice sweet flavor they can contribute. The tots were tasty and well seasoned, but they were your basic tater tots.

Even though maybe the burger was only a little better than okay I will say I liked eating at Drake's quite a bit. It was a nice day so we walked in and seated ourselves in front of the bar area and right near the open "garage doors" that make up the front of the restaurant. I like the semi al fresco dining experience a lot more than places that have patio seating under umbrellas. Our server was nice and service was prompt. I think Drake's is definitely worthy of another shot especially if I can gather some friends that will share some of that sushi with me.

Rating 6.5/10

Fourth of July Food

Today....is our Independence Day! Those are the immortal words of President Bill Pullman before he got in his fighter jet and kicked alien butt back on July, 4 1996. In celebration of this momentus occasion it is an American tradition to gather with family and friends, watch Will Smith sci-fi films and eat copious amounts of food. Of course everyone has their own outdoor grilling favorites for the 4th, but I like to keep it pretty basic with burgers, dogs, and maybe some brats or Italian sausage. I think where you can really set your cookout apart though is in what you or your guests bring for side dishes. So if you have a unique side that you like to bring to cookouts go ahead and leave it in the comments or better yet post your recipe or give us a link to one. I'll start.  In our family we have a traditional dessert that is at every holiday gathering called Cherry Delight. It was originally made by my grandmother and now my mom, but the premise is simple. It's a lighter and more airy version of a cherry cheesecake and it is fantastic. Also, I've convinced The Fiance to make a mixed berry cobbler this year. Yum.  Also, does anyone actually make this flag cake thing that is on the cover of every grocery store magazine in the month of July?

A New "Best Burger in the City" at Fat Dan's Deli

Sobro. That's the annoying portmanteau of a phrase that people use to describe the area just south of Broadripple's main drag. When you get there you'll probably find a couple things 1. Annoying hipsters everywhere (You're a 25 year old man. Your handle bar mustache just makes you look like a moron.) and 2. a lot of cool independent restaurants with good food and good beer. Just in case you couldn't figure it out by my parenthetical commentary I go for the latter rather than the former. Over the weekend I decided to make the trek down there from my home on the far North side to find a gem known as Fat Dan's Deli.

As some of you might know Fat Dan's used to be located right on Broadripple Ave and is known for a being a place known for Chicago favorites such as Italian beef and real Chicago style hotdogs. After disappearing from that location for a few months they have reopened with a vengence at the new location at 54th and College across from the Fresh Market and right next door to Twenty Tap.  While the former location had limited seating and you ordered at the counter the new restaurant is much larger, has a bar area with good craft beers on tap (as well as the Chicago favorite Old Style), and table service.  The last time I visited Fat Dan's I got the dipped Italian Beef with melt-your-face gardinera and it was fantastic so this time I wanted to try something different. I had heard good things about the burgers so I wanted to see for myself.

I decided to go with the Wells St Fat Burger with an order of "The Best Fries in the Universe". This version of their "Fat Burger" line included grilled onions, bacon, bbq sauce, and gorgonzola cheese. At first you might think those are some pretty assertive flavors to put on one burger, and you'd be right but man it works in a great way. The onions had that wonderful sweetness, the bbq sauce added tang, the bacon was fairly thick and had a wonderful smokiness and great chew, and the gorgonzola probably would have been out of place on most burgers but here it was necessary to not get covered up by the other flavors. A slice of  Swiss or American would have just faded into the background.  Also, the burger itself was excellent and cooked perfectly to medium just as I asked. That in and of itself is a rarity in this city.  The fries, served in a giant pile on butcher paper with your sandwich, are easily a big enough portion for 2 or 3 and are absolutely delicious. They are not only the great fresh cut, double fried, variety but they are also perfectly seasoned. I also liked the addition of some cottage fry pieces in with the regular french fry cut variety.  The burger was $8.50 and the fries were $3.75. A little on the high side, but well within reason for the great quality you're getting. There are plenty of restaurants charging twice or 3 times that much for burgers that are of lesser quality.

Rating 10/10 Perfect score. I rarely hand those out, but this is literally a can't miss. The service was great. The burger is the best in the city. The fries are the best in the city. And it won't break the bank. Get there asap.

Bar Food Lament and Recommendation

Jealousy. That is the feeling I get a lot since I've been watching what I eat. Now, I'm not saying that I'm starving myself. In fact quite the opposite. The plan I'm on doesn't really prevent you from eating anything, but if you do you have to make a tradeoff somewhere else. Most of the time I determine it isn't worth it. The only problem is as a pool player (my favorite hobby) I play in a league every week at a local watering hole that always has awesome and terrible for you food on the menu. It can be frustrating to see your teammates indulge in waffle fries, chicken tenders, breaded tenderloins, and wonderful wonderful beer without consequence. I imagine a lot of people in my situation feel the same way. The best way to deal with it? Eat dinner at your house before you go out. You can make yourself a nice meal the way you want it and you won't be hungry when you're at the bar. Also, when I'm playing league I just get a Diet Coke focus on my game. If you're really really craving it go ahead and get something and just try your best to make it sensible. See if someone wants to split the fries with you etc. Now that we have that out of the way let me tell you about a place where the bar food (if you decide to eat it) will not let you down.

Eddy's. It's a medium sized sports bar in Noblesville located in a strip mall on Mundy Dr. It definitely doesn't appear to be anything special, and it often plays second fiddle to the nearby Britton Tavern in the minds of most of the older crowd that patronizes bars in this area of town. However, in my experience it's a for sure go to if you want some good bar food. While this isn't a specific review I have ate there several times and I've never been disappointed so I thought I should share. The staff at Eddy's is great, and they have told me that everything on the menu is made to order.  The chicken tenders, tenderloin, and chicken sandwiches all look to be hand breaded and fresh showing none of the horrible uniformity that indicates frozen. Everything is always seasoned well, and the sauces pack a lot of flavor. Trust me if you get buffalo wings or a buffalo chicken sandwich you're definitely going to know it and so is everyone else at your terrible from the wonderful smell that permeates the nearby area. I hope to do a more detailed and specific review in the future, but for right now go check it out and let me know what you think.

P.S. One thing of note is that Eddy's still allows smoking so that is a downer for a lot of people wanting to go have dinner and a couple of beers, but I say if it bothers you get it to go and try it out.

It's been almost a year..../Weight Watchers Ice Cream Candybar Review

Honestly, I have no idea if anyone ever still comes by here and checks in from time to time. I certainly wouldn't blame them for not doing so. It's been almost a year to the day since I wrote my last blog. I'm not sure why I took such a long hiatus. I think it was a combination of a lot of factors. For one the blog started to become a lot more like work than fun. While it gave us a good reason to seek out new places sometimes it felt like a chore to find a place just for blog purposes and then upload the pictures and write it up. I decided that if it stopped being fun I would stop doing it. Also, a great many things have changed in my life in the last year. For one I got engaged. (Henceforth The Girlfriend will be referred to as The Fiance...at least until Oct 19th...ps we're registered at Target and Macy's.) I bought a house. And most importantly in how it relates to having a food blog I started on Weight Watchers and I have lost over 40 lbs.  If you've read some of my posts you probably realize that this was not a blog about eating healthy. Far from it. This is a blog mostly about decadent and delicious restaurant food.  I've been thinking about restarting this blog thing, but how do I square it with my new lifestyle? We're not eating out nearly as much, and when we do I rarely indulge like I used to. I'm just not sure the things I've been eating lately would be that interesting to read about, and I'm very hesitant to make this into a blog about eating healthy or my diet progress.  If anyone reads this please post some feedback. As for right now I think I am going to be blogging again with just whatever food related ideas or reviews suit me. Stay tuned.

Oh while we're at it let's go ahead and do a quick review. While I've been losing weight like most people I've still got a desire to have sweet things now and again. Most of the time when those cravings hit I try to make myself have some fruit, but when it's Summer you just have to find a way to have some ice cream. Unfortunately, most ice cream is pretty terrible for you calorie wise, and it's not worth it to me to blow a good day eating right and exercising to have a little bit of ice cream. Fortunately, there are actually some good products out there in the grocery store freezer that don't make you sacrifice. My current favorite right now is the Weight Watchers Ice Cream Candybar. Yes, I was skeptical of these types of products at first too, but once I ate one I was a believer. It's only 4 points plus on Weight Watchers (read: not very much) and it tastes exactly like a Snickers Ice Cream bar. It's even a good satisfying size so you don't feel like you're getting ripped off. Prices on stuff like this are always going to be a little higher, but prices on ice cream novelties in general are high so it's not much of a difference.

Rating 8/10

P.S. I'm currently thinking of revising my whole rating system to something more general or maybe eliminating it entirely and just giving opinion in the post itself. If you have any feedback let me know in the comments.

Fast Food Review: BK Tries BBQ and Sweet Potato Fries

No shirtless David Beckham's please. Over the last year or so Burger King has been a fast food chain obessed with reinventing itself and marketing itself in new ways, including the aforementioned ploy, in order to regain tons of market share lost to competitors and turn the tide of negative public opinion. Every time I have tried one of BK's latest gimmicks I have been thoroughly unimpressed. I've commented on this blog before that BK's new ideas are basically just crap McDonald's has been doing for a long time. Smoothies, salads, coffee drinks, "premium" chicken, they even made a big deal about changing their fries to compete with McDonald's. The overall verdict? Pretty lame. That's why when I saw the latest commercial for their "Memphis BBQ Sandwich" and sweet potato fries I gave them by my emphatic eye roll yet.

BBQ. My personal favorite and something sacred to a lot of people and a lot of cultures. Burger King doing a version is practically food sacrilege. In spite of all of that I decided I had to give it a try. Honestly, I have to say that in terms of all the bbq I've ever ate it was probably not near the top half of the list. However, it's important to note that, for a Burger King product, it was surprisingly good, and I would even venture to say that it's the best new item BK has put on the menu in years. The bbq meat itself was very finely shredded (probably too much for my liking), and the flavor of the sauce was sweet but subtle. My sandwich also had a strange kind of sauce in addition to the red bbq sauce that seemed almost like a honey mustard. At first I was apprehensive but I didn't hate it. The sandwich was topped with some pitiful looking raw onions which I removed. They simply don't belong on a bbq sandwich. Granted, there was absolutely nothing that made this sandwich "Memphis" bbq which usually means heavily spiced meat and no sauce, but I understood from the get go that labeling it "Memphis" is just marketing.

The sweet potato fries are another matter altogether. I have to confess I'm a total sweet potato addict. I've ate them since I was a little kid, and in recent years when sweet potato fries have been the trend I've been a happy man. It was about time that a fast food chain jumped on this, and I think it was especially a good move for BK. Their regular fries are something I wouldn't feed to my dog so anything is a step up. Unfortunately, the sweet potato fries must not be a huge hit because the ones I had must have been sitting out quite a while and were rather soggy and cold. That being said I still can't hate too much on sweet potato fries and at BK I'd get them over their regular fries any time.

Taste 7.5/10 A fairly solid effort from BK that exceeded most of my admittedly low expectations. I would order both items again.
Value 8/10 I got a medium combo with upgraded fries and a special sandwich and it was basically the normal combo price. The Girlfriend got a Whopper Jr. combo and our bill was still only 11 bucks or so.
Misc I would be remiss if I didn't mention the entire experience of going to BK. Two words: it sucks. Burger King can revamp their menu, add a bunch of sundaes and drinks, and replace the traditional menu board with LED screens, but one thing hasn't changed. The service. The employees are easily the  worst in all of fast food. We got ignored when we walked in, no one smiled, tables were dirty. It's just the type of thing you don't normally see at McDonald's. It's the reason my fries were cold, and that's why it's hard to go back.

Product Review: The Better Chip

Every once in a while I'm privileged enough to review products that get sent to me to review. I never make any promises of good reviews, and never make any demands. I just want to give you my honest opinion. A couple of months ago I was contacted by a snack food company I had never heard of promoting a product that they called The Better Chip. I told them they could send me some samples to review if they wished.  Time went by and honestly I forgot all about it until a box showed up at my door. Honestly, with a pretentious name like "The Better Chip" and generally douchy food words thrown around like "organic" I wasn't terribly excited. However, any snack food is worth a shot even moreso when it's free.

They sent me small samples of 4 varieties: sweet onion, red pepper, jalapeno, and traditional corn. The first thing I should note that at first glance these look like your basic tortilla chips you've had thousands of times with little fanfare. On a second look however, I noticed that these chips had something I had never seen before. The flavorings weren't just a dry powder coating on the chip. The jalapeno variety actually have dried flecks of real jalapenos worked into the chips. Ditto for the red pepper and sweet onion. This made for flavors that were extremely potent, and regarding the jalapeno specifically probably the spiciest chip I've ever had. The red pepper chip, though not as spicy, was equally as satisfying. It was a taste similar to a salsa flavored chip made by other companies but with a fresher taste. In contrast the sweet onion flavor was maybe the worst snack food I've ever tasted. The fresh taste that was there in the other varieties was totally lacking here. Instead the onion taste was overly abrasive and almost rancid though that may be a touch too harsh. The good news was that the plain corn variety was as good as the sweet onion was bad. Out of all the tortilla chips I've eaten in my life I have never had one actually taste like real sweet corn until I had The Better Chip. I've heard that they sell these at Meijier, and I will gladly spend my own money to get a bag. I'm not sure how much they cost, but it's worth it.

Taste 8/10 jalapeno and red pepper, 10/10 corn tortilla, 0/10 sweet onion As I said above there isn't a lot of middle ground here. Just know what to get and what to avoid.



Value ? I don't know what the retail price is for a bag of these chips, but I'd be willing to pay 5 or 6 bucks for a bag of the jalapeno, red pepper, or the corn and be very happy.

Back From A Long Hiatus With a Stop at Conner Station Pub and Eatery

As you might have noticed I've had a little layoff from blogging as of late. I won't bore you with excuses, but let's just say Samuel L. Jackson stopped by my pad, told me he was "putting a team together" and I've been a little occupied ever since. But aside from my duties as Iron Man I've just been very busy and have been fighting a host of computer problems. But now that I'm back, baby, I want to share with you a little bit about my recent journey to what is perhaps Noblesville's newest restaurant, The Conner Station Pub and Eatery. 


Located in a building just off of Noblesville's downtown square Conner Station is a restaurant and bar that is just now 2 to 3 months old. As a Noblesville local and someone who enjoys many of the other restaurants and shops on the square I was eager to give this place a try. Also, I'm a sucker for the design features of restaurants like Conner Station. It's in an old brick building with an updated interior and large glass windows in the front. Unfortunately, this was one of those situations where the dining experience didn't necessarily live up to the pre-dinner excitement.


Let me say upfront that I think a lot of the issues we experienced are part of the regular growing pains of a new restaurant. We had tried to go once before and during the prior experience we couldn't even find a hostess to take our name let along seat us or tell us how long of a wait we could anticipate. This time (a couple months later) was a little better in that we were greeted by the hostess, but she still seemed a bit out of sorts. We told her we were a party of 2 and she looked around frantically as if she didn't know where or if we could be sat.  She finally glanced over at the bar area (never my first preference) and said we could take a table over there. She failed to actually walk us to our table or bring our menus.  Apparently such tasks are given to the bartenders in that section on top of their normal duties of serving everyone seated at the bar and making drinks for the entire restaurant. Due to their overwhelming responsibilities our service suffered. 


Once we finally got menus we gave them a quick once over and really didn't see anything that seems that original or interest-piquing. It is your typical lineup of sandwiches, salads, burgers, and pizzas. If you wanted a real entree with sides you would seem to be out of luck here. We decided to go with the appetizer of the 2 big soft pretzels, my main was a build your own burger with cheddar, bacon and bbq sauce, and The Girlfriend's choice was the breaded tenderloin.  

Despite being a straight out of the bag item the pretzels took a considerable amount of time to get to our table (the entrees did as well) to the point where it was almost comical, especially for a restaurant that was not overly busy.  The pretzels were warm and soft and served with a "spicy cheese", but it was honestly comparable to something you might get during the 7th inning stretch at Victory Field. This bares no resemblance to the homespun creation we had previously at C.R. Hero's. My burger was just ok. While I certainly ate it all it was cooked well done and calling it juicy would be a stretch. Most likely without the bacon and bbq sauce it wouldn't have been very palatable at all. The bun was soft and pillowy with some nice toasted edges, but it was almost too big for the burger underneath. The Girlfriend's tenderloin looked like a better play. It was hand breaded and fresh, but it did not come with the toppings she requested. Also, it seemed rather small even when comparing it to other "non-pounded thin" tenderloins I've seen.  Both my burger and her tenderloin were served with straight out of the bag potato chips. As you might know that is one of my food pet peeves. Just throw in the damn french fries. I "upgraded" to fries for the criminal upcharge of almost $2(!), and while the seasoned potato wedges were crispy and had a nice kick the penalty for ordering them felt only slightly more fair than a 70s Olympic basketball game against the Soviet Union.


All in all I think it was worth trying, but I don't think we'll be rushing back anytime soon...at least until some of the kinks get worked out.  



Taste 5.5/10 My meal was completely average in almost every way. They get the half-point above average for the slightly above average quality of The Girlfriend's tenderloin.


Value 3/10 I could have spent the same amount or less and had a much better meal and experience. DOWN WITH UPCHARGES!! GIVE US FRIES!!


Misc Comments: Service issues and food timing issues here. Also, a tip for the restaurant: have a real hostess station and waiting area so it's not so hectic.

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.