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Hubby and I have a couple of good friends who moved to Indy from Chicago not long after we moved here, and we actually met them through my blog.   We have bonded over food in Indy and Chicago and they often give us great tips for more out of the way places in Chicago to go to, that you might not easily find if you didn’t have an insider’s knowledge.   So the other day I shot an email asking about dim sum or Chinese in Chinatown, because I had never really eaten in Chicago’s Chinatown.   One of the suggestions was Moon Palace.   Not only did he recommend it, but told us exactly what we MUST order—and I figured, hey, who am I to argue?   So we did. Chinatown is a really easy place to get to coming into Chicago from Indy, making it an easy stop on your way into town.   We managed to get there just in time for lunch and ordered (from the dinner menu, although they do have lots of lunch specials) exactly as we were told.   Chive dumplings ($7) and fish fill...

I saw Scratchtruck was parked on my way home from downtown the other day, so I stopped off and checked it out.   I was torn about what to get—the Tuscan chicken sandwich sounded quite delicious, but after a quick chat with the extremely friendly man on the truck, who said he could eat the chicken cone every day, I decided to go with that—after all, from what I have read, this is one of Scratchtruck’s signature dishes. So the chicken cone is a flour tortilla wrapped around hand breaded chicken tenders ($7 with fries).   The chicken itself is fresh—you can tell this is real chicken, not some nasty food service nugget.   They have a fairly thin breading and that is slightly spicy—sort of a red pepper flavor.   I noticed some sesame seeds in the breading as well.   There is slaw in the cone as well, what is described as mango-jalapeno slaw, although to be honest, I didn’t get a lot of mango or jalapeno (mostly cabbage), but I did enjoy the ancho chile...

A friend recently asked to try 10 01, as she had been curious about it.   Naturally, I was too, and had just been giving it the customary couple of weeks to get things in order before I went in.   But I was looking forward to it, as well as some well-needed girl talk. They have a lovely large patio overlooking, well, basically traffic on Broad Ripple Avenue, but the nice thing is that it is set up high enough that the traffic noise isn’t overwhelming.   But get there early or late if you want a seat out there, by 6:05 on a Wednesday, we got the last table, which unfortunately was in full sun (ok, so we were there before the straight week of 90+ degree temperatures we have been "enjoying" in Indy as of late--not sure if anyone has been sitting out there lately).   We could have sat inside, but it was too cold in there for me (again, what is with the sub zero air conditioning at every restaurant in Indy?).   I didn’t mind the sun, but it was getting pretty hot, an...

I stopped in at Hoaglin to Go for a quick lunch the other day.   Their menu is very appealing to me, and I really enjoyed the egg salad last time I was there , but since I feel like I should try something new when I am going to do a review, I ordered one of the daily specials—the veggie quiche with blue cheese and pine nuts.   I ordered it with greens on the side and the Champagne vinaigrette dressing ($8.50). I was told there were lots of veggies in it, and that was no lie.   There were certainly a lot of different ones—I remember carrot, tomatoes, asparagus and big thick pieces of sautéed onions.   And the egg part of the quiche and the crust were both good.   The crust was flaky and the egg moist and not dried out.   My biggest problem? I didn’t taste a lick of blue cheese or pine nuts which is why I ordered it to start with (those are two ingredients I really enjoy together). The salad on the side was good—simple mixed greens with some tomato and cucumb...

Just when I said I wouldn’t order another flatbread (seriously, most places should just call them “inferior pizzas”) we took the kids to Fire by the Monon where pretty much the only appetizers they have are flatbreads and salads, so we broke the rule and went with the “blue blaze” flatbread ($8.95).  It was a thin crust flatbread with thinly sliced grilled steak, rosemary, caramelized onions, blue cheese (gorgonzola to be precise) and tomatoes.   And y ou know, it wasn’t bad.   The ingredients were good and made a nice flavor combination. The steak was tender (seems like it was probably marinated to keep it as tender as it was), even though it was closer to medium than I would prefer.   There was ample blue cheese so that you could really taste it, and the onions (not a lot of color on them for caramelized though) and tomatoes were good-- adding the deeper cooked onion flavor and the fresh acidic flavor from the tomato.   The crust was probably the weakest ...

Continuing along with the series on a few of my favorite Indy places (food and drink type places I frequent on a regular basis), I thought I would talk about Kona Jack’s fish market.   Honestly, this is an easy segment for me to write because literally you are just along on the ride with me on some of my regular errands… Anyway, when I want fresh fish, and seafood in general, one of a very few places I will buy it to cook at home is Kona Jack’s.   And if I want sushi grade anything to make a ceviche or something along those lines, this is one of only two places I would trust.   For me, I have to have a little extra time, because it isn’t super close to my house, but I can always count on it being really fresh. The nice thing about the market is that because it is also a restaurant and sushi bar, so you know their turnover is very high.   You can just go in and look in the case (my picture is of the main fish section, there is another case that contains mostly shellfi...

I have had a few recommendations for this place, and it is very close to our house.   So the other night, when I really didn’t want to cook, we took the kids and headed over.   It hasn’t been open too long, and from what I have heard and seen, this location has never done very well with any restaurant.   When we pulled in, we thought we might have trouble getting in, because the parking lot seemed very full.   However, I guess the restaurant must be quite a bit larger than the parking lot (and they have a fair amount of outside seating) because the inside was pretty empty.   We were the only table in our entire section. So this place is a chain, although a chain in Montana, Idaho, and Washington, so I am not exactly sure what inspired them to open one in Indiana, other than I guess chains do so well here (sigh).   It will be interesting to see how they do, particularly in this location. Anyway, our server was friendly, and fairly attentive.   We starte...

  After a couple of days in Disneyworld, we were so ready for a couple of relaxing days at the beach.   We rented a car and drove to St. Pete Beach .   We had been once before, several years ago, and remembered having a great dinner at the Maritana Grille in the Don Cesar resort.   So we booked a kids club night for the kids and made a reservation.   The restaurant has won several awards for its food. For a hotel restaurant, I like this place because it is on the small side, and is quiet and relaxing (seriously what I was needing).   They specialize in seafood, but have a fairly extensive menu.   The service seemed fairly professional, although again, we had a server that wanted to explain just a little too much.   I am sure there are people who really need all that information, but I am not sure why any server assumes everyone does.   And then when we actually did have a question, he didn’t know the answer (but would go find out for us). Fi...

Thanks to everyone who has recommended their favorite City Market lunch spot to me either here, or via email.   I really do pay attention—and based on one reader’s advice, this week I decided to check out the Grecian Garden.   The spinach pie (or spanikopita) was recommended, and I love a good spanikopita. First, I will say just how friendly the staff at the Grecian Garden were—they were quick and answered all my questions. After perusing, I went with my gut and got the spinach pie ($4.95)“for here” and after a quick moment while they heated it, I took it upstairs to eat. As for the food, you know, it was pretty good. I love phyllo and this was a nice sized piece of spinach pie with lots of phyllo.   If I had my preference, I probably would have had them heat it just a little bit longer, because I like it really crunchy.   But with that being said, there was a nice ratio of dough to filling, and the filling-- sautéed spinach, onions and bits of feta scattered throug...

I am sort of torn about the whole Groupon thing—I mean, who doesn’t love a deal right? But sometimes Groupons and coupons in general (but particularly when you have paid for them) just make me feel guilty. I keep seeing it, knowing it is going to expire at some point, and then forgetting to use it.   Maybe it’s just me.   I bring this up, because I had a Groupon to Chef Mike’s Charcoal grill, had had it for about a year, and I finally got around to using it recently (about a week before the expiration date).   It is a bit of a haul for me, particularly during rush hour, so we were pretty hungry by the time we got there. Unfortunately, upon arriving, and it was one of those ridiculously hot days, we found out their air conditioning was not working.   Of course, I can’t blame them for this, as it wasn’t their fault, but it made for quite a warm dinner (we sat next to the portable air conditioning unit for our dinner and the thermostat read 91 degrees).   I did fin...