After reading Nuvo’s latest “Best of Indianapolis” issue, we decided to try a new place. Of course, we both realized we’d been there before, but it had been years.

I ordered Bob, a cheese omelet with calico potatoes and sourdough toast; Carlton ordered the SOB, which was scrambled eggs filled with fresh vegetables, cilantro, and salsa on the side. I also ordered a smoothie of mango, pineapple, and lime. The omelet was fluffy and delicious, but all items on my plate was a little cold when it arrived at the table. The calico potatoes had sweetness and cinnamon that were tasty. The SOB was underwhelming: despite being very colorful, it had little flavor or kick, even with the accompanying salsa. We agreed that the generous four slices of sourdough toast per person were delicious.

3 Sisters is in a very old house, but was very clean. I did not see the restrooms. My water glass had a vague dishwater odor, but the plates and flatware were spotless.

Our server was friendly and attentive. She complimented my choice of smoothie and helped me select the right potato side dish.

The atmosphere is relaxed, with local artwork on display throughout the brightly painted house-tunred-cafe setting. Sadly, the words in the painting of which I took a picture are illegible. It says “Unattended children will be given espresso and a free kitten.” I laughed out loud. Other quirky paintings liven the atmosphere as well. It’s a bustling, slightly noisy cafe with indoor and outdoor seating. The creaky floors and antique hardware add to the homey atmosphere.

The prices were somewhat reasonable, considering the large portions. However, I don’t equate large portions with value. The smoothie was $5, which was a bit pricey but was the most delicious part of my meal, so it was worth it.

6360 Guilford Ave
Indianapolis, IN
317.257.5556

[rate 3.5]

I think we accidentally found Ichiban while we were waiting for our tires at the tire shop. Please don’t be turned away by the fact it’s in a strip mall!

Ichiban has some classic rolls and some inventive sushi presentations. The non-sushi menu has a lot of great items too. Both menus have lots of vegetarian selections, and they even have a selection called “cooked sushi” for the less adventurous or immune-deficient customer. I have never tried something that I didn’t like.

The service varies; sometimes it is exceptional, sometimes it is a little slow. I recommend sitting at the bar to watch the master do his work.

The restaurant is clean; I’ve never used the restrooms.

The ambience is nice… though I wish they’d remove the television. During our last visit, our party was large enough to warrant on of the special rooms for six or more. The television was out of sight and the atmosphere was very fun and private.

The sushi competes with much more expensive restaurants for flavor and presentation. The price? At least 30% less than other Indianapolis sushi spots. Thank goodness a great restaurant can be found on the South side!

8265 US 31 South
317-883-1888

[rate 4]

I’ve shopped at the Indian grocer next door, but never tried the restaurant. It was 6:30PM on a Saturday night and we were the only ones in the restaurant. I was worried! However, I shouldn’t have been.

The food was absolutely delicious. There was a very large, varied menu to suit many types of preferences. A complimentary appetizer of flatbread and three distinctly different sauces whetted our palates (the spicy cilantro sauce was the best). I ordered a chickpea curry and Carlton ordered a chicken curry. Both were so delicious that we wanted to keep eating after we were full. The rice was fragrant and cooked well, except for a few lumps.

The restaurant was clean; the restrooms were tolerable but definitely needed an upgrade. The soap dispenser was uncovered and the commode’s hand rails were detached and sitting on the floor.

Our server was attentive but not always helpful. He recommended a good beer, but when I asked for a vegetarian dish selection, he simply listed all of the dishes on the menu. He was very good about not rushing us but being available.

The decor was very sparse and the music seemed to be a CD player behind the host stand. While the ambience was lacking, the delicious food and reasonable prices are enough cause to visit Ruchi again and again.

To see what a real food critic thinks, click here.

Located at: 2318 East Stop 11 Road

[rate 3.5]

I don’t know why it took me so long to post this wine tasting.  It’s been trapped on my hard drive for months!

I went to D’Vine a Wine Bar because of its emphasis on wine tasting.  With so many wines available by the glass, it was easy to focus on the wine.  The atmosphere was trying too hard to look like a modern wine bar.  There is some pedestrian wine art on the walls.  I don’t know why it irks me when the art is so obvious, but it does!  (Look, we like wine!  We're about wine!  We're classy!)

The club chairs are very comfortable for relaxing and enjoying wine; however, the round tables are FAR too small.  One wine flight is four glasses; if there are two flights being tasted, nothing else fits on the table and it’s precarious to choose a glass in the middle.  If one orders an appetizer, forget it: it has to be held in one’s lap.  It’s too awkward.  So here’s what I tasted:

White Flight
Lagaria Pinot Grigio- Venezie: This is what I have come to expect from Pinot Grigio: light, crisp, lemony.  The nose is also predictably chalky.  Not a bad wine, but not remarkable.
King’s Ridge- Pinot Gris- Oregon: Following the Lagaria, this wine was bolder and fruitier.  It had a peach-like roundness and soft lime zest finish.  Tasty with good balance.
Trimbach Pinot Blanc- Alsace: This wine won the white flight.  Interestingly, flavor names did not spring to mind for this one.  Modifiers included “elegant” and “smooth.”  Clean- but not crisp.  Subtle- but not boring.  I can’t put my finger on it.  But I definitely like it.

Red Flight
Erath Pinot Noir- Oregon: Soft and subtle.  This wine shows its youth in its light, unconcentrated color.
Au Bon Climat- Santa Barbara: Again, a young, new-world wine that is what I’d call a porch wine: easy to drink but not terribly memorable either.  I have a bottle at home because this type of wine often appeals to non-wine drinkers.  I think a couple of years of cellaring could improve the complexity.  I like the label because it looks like I might have made it on my own laser printer; the stuff IN the bottle is more important than a beautiful OUTside.  I didn’t realize how much I liked it until I realized I was going back to this glass for sip after sip.  This wine wins the red flight.
Jeriko- Mendocino: this wine tasted like carmelized nuts to me with a bourbon taste on the second sip and a slightly harsh finish.  I think the oak overpowers the fruit and the wine is not as balanced as I’d hoped.

Not part of a flight:
Gary Ferrel Redwood Ranch Sauvignon Blanc- Sonoma: Wow!  I lifted this glass and smelled an explosion of tropical fruit.  Mango, papaya, and a good dose of pineapple exuded from the glass.  The oaking was clean but flavorful.  There was some sweetness, but it was not cloying.  I would recommend this wine with dessert- maybe vanilla ice cream with a habanero-tropical fruit salsa. Yum.  This was my favorite of all of the wines and I savored every sip I took from the glass.  This is the wine that converted me to liking whites.

There was an unforgivable sin committed by the staff.  The sweet, attractive server was attentive but knew nothing about wine.  Nothing.  Barely knew red from white, didn’t know what was available, couldn’t name a wine grape at all.  She had to go fetch the bartender who was better but not great.  He knew a few wines but nothing about food pairings.  Two of the wines on the menu were unavailable but neither of them knew it until I requested them.  There was no sommelier in the building at that time; I’m not sure if one was on staff.  I’m not complaining about a cute server: it’s better for business.  But there are plenty of attractive people who know something about wine.  It told me that the management was not so interested in the wine experience and more concerned about immediate sales.  What the management doesn’t realize is that an impeccable wine experience leads to loyalty leads to long-term sales.

I will go to D’Vine again because of the wine selection, but everything else needs work.

Atmosphere: [rate 3]
Beer Selection: not rated
Wine Selection: [rate 4]
Food: [rate 3]
Service: [rate 2]

We ate at Houlihan’s for two days of the Con.  On the first night, we had meant to go to Hard Times Café and were confused by the similar, next-door awnings.  I was glad for the confusion.  Houlihan’s has an innovative menu and more upscale fare.  However, despite an extensive menu with all kinds of choices, I had a hard time finding a dish I wanted.  I’m limiting carbs, especially white carbs like potatoes and white rice, but almost all dishes were breaded or mixed with rice. 

I settled on a grilled tilapia and vegetables.  The entrée was very good and the service by Yvonne was understated but present.My fellow dinner guests liked the place so much that we went back for a second night.  This time, I had a chance to sample some beer on tap.  They had a limited selection, but the seasonal wheat put my homebrew to shame.  The Guinness was good but not fresh (wow I miss Ireland).  I didn’t sample the mixed drinks, but the menu looked promising.  I was sitting next to a vegan and wanted to be respectful and order a non-meat dish.  Recall that I could only find one item that wasn’t full-o-carbs on the whole menu…I was stuck ordering a grilled asparagus appetizer that was *sigh* breaded and fried.  So much for the health-kick diet. 

My vegan guest could not find anything else he could eat either, though he was not limited by the white carb thing I’m following.  So we both ended up with plates of asparagus.  The asparagus was delicious.  Maybe part of the reason it was so good was that it was the first fried food I’ve had in months!  The ends were a little tough, but the horseradish cream was a delightfully unexpected twist.The service was really bad.  Our server (Shannon?) was thrown into being triple-seated.  Drink orders were missed, the vegan’s dinner came with cheese on top, dinner salads were forgotten.  Shannon was extremely apologetic and offered free dessert to the whole table.  I would have expected such a gesture, but was still pleased that she did so.  Throughout the ordeal, she remained pleasant and did not display her stress to us.  She then took it out on herself and reduced our tab by 20 percent!  I could tell that this was not her normal level of service. 

She was so accommodating that I would certainly go back there and request her as a server. My only real complaint is that for such a seemingly full menu, and I’m not a picky eater either, I was hard pressed to find a choice that was right for me.

Atmosphere: [rate 3]
Beer Selection: [rate 3]
Wine Selection: not rated
Food: [rate 3]
Service: [rate 3]

Another beautiful restaurant in Waikiki.  The theme of the restaurant is Chinese-Italian fusion.  Fusion is a big hit these days, as fetuccini alfredo can only be done so many ways.  This place had the right ambience for the most part.  However, they went a little too far with each staff member calling themselves by a fusion name: for example, one server’s “name” was “Bella Chai.”  Ha ha, we get it.  Please focus on the food.

We ordered and shared asparagus, the scallop ravioli, and a seafood lasagna that had been recommended to us.  The asparagus was crisp-tender with a light sauce, shiitakes, and bamboo shoots.  All three flavors blended well and were not overcooked or oversauced.  The scallop ravioli was a gorgeous presentation; however, the presentation made it nearly impossible to eat.  It was two large sheets of beautiful fresh pasta stuffed with small scallops and a light white wine cream sauce.  It was utterly delightful.  Again, the ingredient quality was stellar and each ingredient could shine.

I was chosen as the sommelier for this trip and I was picking lots of wines I’ve read but never tasted.  I chose a Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Riesling, thinking the East-West flair would go well with the dishes we’d chosen.  This New World wine has a clear green apple note with a lemon drop finish.  It paired well with all but the seafood lasagna.  Then again, the lasagna was gluey and lacked flavor, so I am not that disappointed.

The lasagna was highly recommended to us, so I was surprised when it was not good.  The fish and other seafood was almost indistinguishable from the sticky pasta pieces.  It was overgarnished with fried rice noodles.  The noodles were very good when just a few were eaten with the dish to add crunch.  I sincerely wonder if they were holding the dish too long or something because it was honestly out of character with every other aspect of this dining experience.

The service was understated but prompt.  The food actually came too quickly, as my dad didn’t have time to finish his salad.  I don’t like to feel rushed and I think that the kitchen simply had poor timing.

Once again, I was dealing with a relatively short wine list with a heavy bias toward new world- specifically California- wines.  Maybe because California is closer geographically?  Or the import taxes are awful in Hawaii?  If any wine geeks read this blog, please comment and tell me why this is so.

Atmosphere: [rate 5]
Beer Selection: Not rated
Wine Selection: [rate 3]
Food: Bipolar! [rate 5] and [rate 1]
Service: [rate 4]

Another hotel restaurant.  I was forced by nostalgia to go to this place.  I had been nine years earlier and I thought it was the kind of place my dad would like.

I was nonplussed by the “famous” salad bar.  It was good but not any more special than any other salad bar I’ve seen.  No special tropical dishes, just regular white mushrooms, sprouts, and pots of dressing.  It was a good salad, just not “famous.”

Dad and I both chose the fresh fish.  I asked what was freshest and the server was quite knowledgeable.  I chose monchong, firecracker style, and Dad chose monchong, Duke’s style.  The fish was superb in flesh and flavor in both styles.  The side of rice had lots of broken grains and was obviously scooped from a big, congealed batch, but did have good flavor.  Both styles worked well with this kind of fish, and the firecracker heat was very low, allowing the fish flavor to shine along with the fresh guacamole relish topping.

For the wine, I picked Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio from Italy.  I normally only use Pinot Grigio in making white sangria because its flavor is often too mild to stand against a food pairing.  However, my dad is intolerant of lots of stronger wines, so I thought I would try this wine a friend had recommended.  It was crisp, refreshing, and tasted like fresh apples and light spice.  It was overwhelmed by the firecracker fish, but paired well with the milder fish prep Dad had.  It would be refreshing to drink on the patio on a hot summer day, but too boring to stand alone for long.

Duke’s is fun but tourist-y.  Dad liked it and so did I.

Atmosphere: [rate 3]
Beer Selection: Not rated
Wine Selection: [rate 3]
Food: [rate 3]
Service: [rate 3]