sörenberg bahnen

I owed a friend a lunch, and he wanted to go to 96 th Street Steakburgers (cheap date right?)so I figured it was a good time for a revisit.   This time I spent a little more time looking over the menu before ordering my usual burger and toppings and went with one of their signature styles (they call them “stylized” burgers.) I decided to go with the “monster style” which is a take off of the In ‘n   Out “animal style” if I am not mistaken. So the monster style means the bun is grilled with mustard and the burger includes grilled onions, both things I like, although for some reason, I don’t usually order my burger with mustard.   I also had cheese and pickles and a side of fries.   The burger was really tasty and was cooked just the way I like it—thin and with nice crispy edges from the grill.   I was much more impressed with this burger than I was the first time I had one.   It probably also helped that I ate it there this time and it was piping hot. I lik...

So Meridian is one of those places that frustrates me.   I love the space, the service is very professional and the menu can be somewhat interesting.   I have yet to have an amazing meal here though.   Honestly, it had been quite awhile since I had been (about 2 years), because the last couple times were quite spotty.   But I figured it had been long enough, that there would probably be some new things on the menu, and I would give it a fresh review. There were a few new things on the menu, but not a lot really.   The appetizers looked remarkably the same.   So, because in the past we have had the fried oysters and enjoyed them, we split them to start ($11.25).   They were as good as I have had them at Meridian, happily fried perfectly (chicken fried).   They are their version of oysters Rockefeller and the oysters sit on top of some creamed spinach and have a little sliver of bacon on top and a drizzle of Hollandaise around the plate.   The ...

I have been in the mood to clear some long time dwellers from my “list,” which is probably a better, slightly healthier goal than the recent fried chicken fixation.   I probably should have organized my list by date so I knew which ones had been on there the longest, but it is pretty haphazardly organized.   So Sesame has been on there quite a long time I know, and the other day I was running around, and it was the place that popped to mind, so I stopped in. It is yet another one of those strip mall places, the décor to this one is somewhat minimal, but it overall seemed clean, and my server was prompt in helping me.   I ordered the chicken in hot garlic sauce lunch special   ($4.50) with hot and sour soup (I know wibia swears by this soup so I thought I would try it).   The lunch also comes with an egg roll and fried rice (which I switched to steamed, because that’s just me). My server fairly immediately brought out my soup as well as some crunchy fried wo...

So back to the Italian food quest for a minute. My sister and her husband share birthdays within a couple weeks of each other and they wanted to go back to Iozzo’s to celebrate (they had been, we had not). I was happy to continue with my quest to cross some places off the list, so it was a good choice. So, I really like the way this place looks—from the outside and the inside.   It has a nice independent restaurant feel—the outside looks like it has a lovely outside seating area when the weather is nice (and apparently a back patio area as well) (although the freeway overpass is quite near, might be a little loud out there) and the inside has beautiful exposed brick walls and wood floors.  It feels warm and cozy. One of my favorite interiors I’ve seen in Indy in awhile. We sat down and looked over the rather extensive menu.   My sister had already ordered the cheese bread when we got there which is served with fresh marinara ($5).   They were slices of bread covered ...

So I have to admit, I get a little burnt out on Mexican food around here, because so much of it seems the same.   And even within a particular restaurant, oftentimes, it is just many of the same ingredients being used in different shapes and tortillas. One of our regular Mexican places is La Hacienda because it is really close to our house, and if I am honest, because I really like the Texas margaritas and chips and salsa.   The kids really like it, it is really fast, and they people are generally pretty nice. I met a friend for lunch the other day though and she recommended something new—something I had never even actually noticed on the menu (which, like many Mexican places is enormous)—the chicken soup.   Sounds boring huh? But I really liked it.   And honestly, it is a lot of those same ingredients, but just enough different, that it didn’t bore me. So it is an enormous bowl of soup with all kinds of things in it.   There were even pieces of tortil...

Image via Wikipedia This is not my typical post, but I was having so much fun reading all the recommendations on Twitter, I wanted everyone to get a chance to chime in. The Cooking Channel is looking for Indy restaurants that have great really spicy food with great atmosphere and/or extreme spicy food challenges to feature on a show.  They already know about the shrimp cocktail at St. Elmo, so something other than that.  Tell me the restaurant, and what food you would recommend from it that is nice and spicy. What do you guys think? I know you will have some great ideas! -Erin

Yay! Another good ethnic place a little closer to home for me!   I finally dragged the BFF out to Café Korea the other day (we have a really bad tendency to end up at the same places together a lot); it has been on my list ever since I noticed it when I reviewed the Dragon House Chinese restaurant next door. We were greeted by an exceptionally friendly woman who told us to sit wherever we wanted.   We looked over the menu, and I have to say there are several things that look quite good.   But when the same lady came back to take our order, I decided to ask her advice. I loved the way she looked out the window to see what the weather was like, and then told us we should order the Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap because it was a nice hot dish that would warm us up.   We ordered that, as well as an order of beef Bulgogi and decided we would share. The Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap ($8.99) was great—I really liked it.   It was a sizzling hot earthenware pot with white rice on the bottom, a...

My Dad and I laughed on the way to the place about the fact that it was pretty much a guarantee that one of us would like this place and the other would not, since we rarely tend to agree on restaurants, but they were game for trying somewhere new with me anyway.  We were on the Northside, so we figured we would check out The Local, based on a a lot of recommendations. So it is in a strip mall at 146th and Gray Road, and is somewhat set back, which is probably somewhat of a disadvantage (and based on all the signs on the roadside saying they are open, my guess is a lot of people have no clue there is a restaurant back there).  But we knew it was there, and headed in.  The first thing I noticed was the entrance is somewhat disjointed from the place.  There is a bar side and a restaurants side with a door somewhat in the middle that hardly looks connected to either part.  But we went in and were promptly seated in the bar (I am assuming if you had a kid with...

The other night I wanted somewhere new to go with the kids, and stumbled upon the menu for Michael's Southshore in Geist.  They had a nice looking kids menu, and a somewhat interesting regular menu, so we decided to give it a try. As we walked in, I thought the atmosphere of the place was nice for what was obviously a family friendly restaurant (there is a bar side though if you prefer not to sit around kids). There is a fireplace in the middle of the restaurant, between the bar and the dining room, and we had made a reservation, so we got a table near it which was pretty, but the table for 4 was quite small and difficult to maneuver with every seat full.  My kids loved the dry erase boards they were given to draw on (why do kids love dry erase boards so much?) and I was pleased that they were kept occupied while we figured out what to order. We started with an order of the homemade potato chips with gorgonzola, pancetta and tomatoes ($7).  Sounded good.  The chips w...

Let me start by apologizing for the lack of pictures on this post. I do have them, unfortunately, I had already loaded them onto my computer shortly before I had some major problems and had to leave it in for repairs.  So, I won't tell you how hard it has been for me living without a computer for over a week now (hard), but I will make you a deal--when I get it back, I will post the pictures then.  Unorthodox I know, but I hate for them to go to waste.  So if you want to see a few pics, check back in a week or so. *****Ok, obviously I have gone back and added the pictures....enjoy!****** Ok, as for the review, I have been mulling this place over in my head for the last week or so (I actually went twice because I am so torn about it).  Here's the thing.  There are many things I like about it--the ingredients are really fresh and high quality...the interior is modern and clean and the service staff is pretty spot on.  And even the menu is reall...