Boogie Burger

Went to Boogie Burger in Broadripple last night for New Restaurant Saturday. Attending were Amber, Damien, and I, plus NRS Guests Jen and Jeff.

Boogie Burger is a tiny place--seating is available for maybe 15-20 diners who would need to like each other a lot in order to squeeze in. But the Monkey's Tale next door allows BB customers to use its patio, thankfully, and our group settled at an outdoor table with ample space on what was a beautifully cool summer night.

But most important, of course, is the food. Ber, Jen, and Jeff all got the "New York, New York" burger, BB's version of the old mushroom & swiss standard. All were impressed by the generous toppings and seemed to really enjoy their sandwiches. Damien got the "Blue Moon" burger, which was piled high with blue cheese. While he seemed to think it might be almost too much of a good thing, I for one was impressed by how generous they were with the cheese--most places sprinkle a few crumbles of blue cheese on a burger and call it a day.

I was in the mood to be adventurous, so I tried the Citrus-Grilled Ahi Tuna sandwich, which was topped with a spicy mayo. It was DE-licious. Really, really tasty, with a slight citrusy note, but not an overpowering one. Along side my sandwich I had the garlic fries. BB tosses their standard fries with freshly chopped garlic and parsley. The aroma from the bag was heavenly...but the fries, only slightly above average. For one, they needed salt (salt makes the fry for me); for another, the amazing smell of garlic and parsley doesn't actually transfer to the fries much because the garlic and parsley don't actually stick to the fries. Rather, it all fell to the bottom, no matter how many times I gave the bag a shake to redistribute. Sad.

Overall, we were pleased with our meals. I would definitely get the tuna sandwich again, and would like to try a burger there. At the end, we girls topped the meal off with ice cream, which BB also serves. Can't beat that.

Weber Grill

Saturday night saw another New Restaurant Saturday outing, this time with Amber, Damien, me, and D's friend Jeff. This week: Weber Grill.

All of us had heard mixed reviews, primarily of the 'it's overrated' variety, but Ber and I had both been wanting to try it so the boys agreed.

The ambiance was crowded and a bit noisy, but comfortable in a leather-and-dark-wood sort of way. And the service--well, I'm sad to say that the service was by far the worst part of the evening. We sat down and were given water, but no carafe of water like the other tables. Then we were brought rolls (very interesting 'pretzel bread'), but no silverware--namely knives--with which to spread butter. We were reduced to scooping the cheese-butter out with pieces of bread. Very uncouth. Besides that, she also mixed up our bills pretty badly.

But on to the food itself. Amber got the "Pick 2" BBQ combo of brisket (she liked it a lot) and pulled pork (she liked it not as much). Damien got the flank steak in chimichurri marinade and reports that it was pretty tasty. Jeff got Sesame Crusted Yellow Fin Tuna, rare, because it was sushi grade and seemed to enjoy it. I was probably the least satisfied with my choice--a Turkey Burger. I have had some seriously good turkey burgers in my time, and this was not one of them. It was okay, but did not leave much of a lasting impression. Leaving more of an impression on me was the Romaine Wedge salad--a twist on the classic blue cheese, tomato, onion, and bacon salad that's normally served over a wedge of iceberg. This one was on romaine, obviously, and was delicious. Large pieces of bacon, plenty of chunky blue cheese along with a cool, creamy blue cheese dressing. The only thing that it lacked was grape tomatoes--Scholar's Inn's wedge salad used to feature those small, sweet tomatoes which were a perfect compliment to the saltiness of the rest of the dish. Weber used ordinary vine tomatoes, and sadly they had little flavor.

D opted for the Dutch apple pie for dessert and was kind enough to share. It was very tasty, with as much crumbly streusel topping as there were apples, and served warm next to ice cream. Unfortunately the coffee he and Jeff got was less pleasing--they said it tasted burnt, like it had been sitting there too long. They asked our waitress to take it off the bill, and she obliged.

I think that does it for my evaluation. Perhaps the steak would have been fantastic if I had felt like spending $30 on one. My summation of this place's main issue? It's trying to be a fancy pants steakhouse, but 1) it's also catering to the masses and 2) it's just plain doesn't have the goods or the service to back it up. It's overpriced for what it is. My recommendation is to skip it.

Bosphorus

This past weekend, my book club went to the Turkish restaurant Bosphorus, located just across East Street from Lilly in downtown Indy. It was YUMMY.

We split a number of appetizers--babaganush (an eggplant dip), which Lynn especially loved (it was not my favorite, but I did enjoy it), tzatziki (cucumbers, dill, and yogurt) which Tricia requested and we all enjoyed, and borek (feta and parsely wrapped in fillo dough and fried), which was freaking amazing. The owner/manager also brought us a sample of hummus and challenged us to name the four states whose capitals begin with the same letter as the state (think: Indianapolis, IN) by the end of the meal; if we got it right we would get free dessert.

We moved on to the mains--four of us got the Beef Hummus, a rich and slightly spicey stew of beef and veggies (the veggies looked like they were from a frozen mixed-vegetable bag, but the flavor of the over all dish made up for that fact) on a bed of hummus. And when I say a bed of hummus, I mean an enormous bed of hummus. HEAVEN. We were stuffed afterwards, but happy. Tricia got the lamb shish kebab. The meat looked fairly tasty, but she sadly reported that it was rather dry and ended up dipping it into her tzatziki. So, disappointment there. If I go back I'd get the beef hummus again, or possibly try the doner gyro wrap.

Most of the girls got a glass of the house wine, and I got Turkish hot tea. It was delicious, though sadly not served in a traditional glass tea cup.

Overall, a great experience. And no, we didn't get free dessert. We almost did--we got Indianapolis, of course, plus Dover, Delaware and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. But instead of going with what we thought was too obvious--Honolulu, Hawaii--Amber suggested Hilo, HI. (Yes, it's all Amber's fault--we completely blame it on her). Oh well, we were all full to the brim anyway.

Keltie's and Oberweis

Amber, Nikki, and I got together last night for a New Restaurant Saturday. Our choice? Keltie's in Westfield, IN (north of Carmel). Ber read a favorable review for it on Indy.com and so we all agreed to venture further north than we've ever been before (for an NRS, that is).

The best description I can think of for Keltie's is that it's "casually classy" or possibly "small-town fancy." It features an interesting combination of down-home (pot pie, meatloaf, sandwiches) and classic (Beef Wellington, steak, Beggar’s Purse) dishes that have all been gourmet’d up a bit. Our server seemed extremely busy and a bit rushed and could have been friendlier, but she was far from the worst I've been served by and did check on us often.

And now to the food. We all started with the House Salad, a delicious combination of greens, strawberries, almond slivers, and cheddar cheese all tossed in a sweet poppy seed dressing. It was amazing. For our entrees, Amber and I both tried the Beef Wellington as a special treat. If you've never heard of this blast-from-the-past, it's a 6oz filet topped with a mushroom mixture and wrapped in puff pastry. Yum. This particular version was topped by onion confit and sat atop a bed of risotto, asparagus, and red peppers. I am still unsure whether I liked the onion confit--to me, the entire dish began to taste like the tangy-sweet onion mixture rather than allowing the distinctive flavors of the mushrooms and beef to come through. But, it did add a nice zing to the dish. The risotto was a bit al dente for me, but not disturbingly so (and it's better than being mushy). But I'm nit-picking here. Overall it was very good.

Nikki had the meatloaf. It was a large, thick slice which they grilled before setting it on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus and topping it with a small amount of flavorful gravy. I'm not a fan of meatloaf as a general rule, but Keltie's may have won me over--the bit I tried was VERY good. Nikki seemed very happy with her choice and told me it was a "flavor explosion of meatiness" (that may be paraphrased, heh).

After dinner we couldn't resist stopping by the Oberweis ice cream shop/Dairy Store. I didn't even know such stores existed! They had a wide variety of ice cream flavors and other treats, and we all enjoyed what we got (me: Butter Brickle in a sugar cone; Ber: Chocolate Peanut Butter in a waffle cone; Nik: a chocolate-marshmallow latte). But, of course, it's hard to go wrong with ice cream.

Mama Carolla's

Last night Amber, Damien, and I went to Mama Carolla's to celebrate Amber's birthday. Amber has been there before, and Damien had been there many years ago, but since he had only vague memories and I had never been we are counting it as an New Restaurant Saturday.

I had the Chicken Rigatoni, which involved--no surprise here--both chicken and rigatoni. The sauce seemed to be composed almost entirely of olive oil, along with pancetta, garlic, and crushed red pepper. The flavor was pretty good--the picante-ness of the red pepper sort of built up over time, which I enjoyed--but I couldn't help wishing that the sauce was a little more creamy and a little less oily. But oh well. There was plenty of it, and the leftovers I had for lunch today were almost as good as the dish was in the restaurant last night.

Amber had a different sort of chicken dish--I can't remember the name, but it was chicken cutlets rolled around prosciutto, spinach, and mushrooms and smothered in a delicious tomato sauce (she let me try it). I enjoyed the bite I had, and she seemed to really like it. If only I could tell you what it was called... Damien had the salmon, which came in a creamy dill sauce. He told me that he liked it, and indeed the bite I had was pretty tasty (but not tasty enough to win over the seafood-disliking Amber, though she did brave a tiny bite).

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Ber and I went to an early free movie screening of Bella last night, and afterwards decided totry Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries up on 86th St.

Their shtick is that they have a few basic burgers--you can get plain hamburgers, cheeseburgers, baconburgers, or bacon cheeseburgers--and then add as many of their toppings as you want for free. I got a 'Little Bacon Cheeseburger' (one patty rather than two) with ketchup, mustard and tomato; Ber got a little more daring and had a LBC with mushrooms and fried onions. Mine was tasty, with crunchy bits of bacon and practically drowning in ketchup and mustard (luckily I like lots of sauce); Ber seemed to enjoy hers, and the mushroom I tried was canned rather than fresh but had been sauteed so the flavor was good.

The highlight of Five Guys, however, is their fries. Available in plain or cajun, the amount of fries you receive is enormous. When Ber ordered a large for us to share, the cashier actually asked her if she was sharing--'too many for one person!' She assured him she was, and the large proved to be almost too much for the two of us! We got the cajun, and though I might have liked even more spice, they were fairly liberally dusted and DELICIOUS. My closest comparison would be the fries from Penn Station Subs.

Five Guys is definitely worth a try if you're in the mood for burgers and fries. We were at the one by College Park on 86th, but there's also one in Greenwood (yay) and one up in Fishers.

Da Blue Lagoon

Last night Amber, Damien, and I went to Da Blue Lagoon restaurant on College Ave.

Da Blue Lagoon was not on our radar before last night. In fact, we had decided to go to a popular tapas restaurant downtown but were thwarted because we didn't make that decision until it was too late to get a reservation. So Ber and I did a little searching on Intake Weekly, and thought some Caribbean food would be a nice change from our normal fare (not to mention that it's a rarity in Indianapolis).

The restaurant takes its island theme to heart--not so much in the decorations, which though bright and cheerful are not particularly tropical--but certainly in the service. The food took quite awhile to come out--our entire visit was almost two hours, in my opinion a surprisingly long time for such a small place that didn't have very many customers. But I hardly noticed the wait, due to pleasant company and a wonderfully cheerful waitress. It's a very laid-back place, no hustling and bustling in sight, which made for a relaxed dining experience.

The food itself was a nice change from the ordinary. I had 'combo' plate that consisted of both jerk chicken and jerk pork, as did Amber. I believe D also sampled the jerk chicken, and in addition he tried the orange-ginger chicken and seemed to enjoy it. Along with all of the entrees came rice and beans, sauteed cabbage, broccoli, and carrots, fried plantains (yum), and crispy cornmeal fritters called festival rolls (double yum). We received a ton of food for only around $11.

My one complaint is that while a definite smokey taste came through in the 'jerked' meats, I did not taste much of what I traditionally consider to be jerk flavors. I once had amazingly delicious jerk chicken in LA, and the sauce was both slightly sweet and very hot (I think we were given options of varying degrees of hotness, jerk sauce traditionally being made with the incredibly hot Scotch bonnet pepper which may be too much heat for the average person). I didn't detect any sweet or heat in Blue Lagoon's jerk dishes. That being said, they were still enjoyable.

One last plus was the restaurant's drink options. While Ber and D opted for classic Red Stripe, I had a fantastic Jamaican ginger beer. If you haven't heard of it, the answer is no, it's not alcoholic...but it IS delicious. It's similar to ginger ale but there is a more pronounced, fresh-tasting ginger flavor. I became seriously hooked on it Down Under, where it's available everywhere.