Did approx. 24 hours in Indy this past weekend and had a blast. Ate and drank too well.

First stop in town, and first food of the day for me was Shapiro's, as noted elsewhere on LTH a cool Mannys style deli/cafeteria. Not quite up to Manny's imho but a good sandwich:




Reuben:


kids corned beef - w/ mac n cheese:


Shapiro's Deli
808 S. Meridian
Indy

Made a quick run over to Smoking Goose to check out their wares. Place smelled like heaven walking in, a nice smoke that lingered on our clothes for a short time after we left. Snout to tail butcher here, curing their own meats, etc. Tried some of their products later that night at Blue Beard and was impressed. Grabbed up some of their bacon, smoked italian sausage and lard to bring home.





Smoking Goose
407 Dorman
Indy

Had to get over to Goose the Market for a Batali I have seen mentioned on the site as well. Another cool market, definitely reminded me of PQM(but a little more pocket friendly), cool staff, knew their meat.




Grabbed up some andoullie(for some gumbo I have planned with some illinois raised salt water shrimp I am on the trail of) & some ground pork(duroc).







Batali is one of the finer sandwiches around, great meats, great bread:



Goose the Market
2503 N. Delaware
Indy

Rolled off to the Hotel over by the speedway for a quick swim then we headed out to Blue Beard for dinner, no reservations accepted so we got in right around 5.



Knowledgeable waiter, knew the menu front and back. Started with a mixed drink

The Pendennis Club(riverboat rye, wilks & wilson raspberry gome, regans orange bitters) - strong/tasty drink:





also enjoyed their $5 can of PBR and shot of house whiskey special.

Was interested in doing the meat and cheese offerings at Blue Beard as I had read Smoking Goose and Goose the Market provided some of the cured meats.

if memory serves(sopresetta, stagberry & delaware fireball for the meats):


cheeses: bloomy, idiazabal & arabella:


The meat and cheeses were the highlight of the visit here, the crab encrusted halibut with the razor clam maque choux, andoullie and sweet corn entree was really good as well. We really liked our visit here.

Blue Beard
653 Virginia Ave.
Indy

Next up I split off from the girls and didnt have my camera, they went to the mall, I walked a few blocks over and hit St. Elmo, & more specifically the 1933 Lounge. My bad for not knowing more of the history of the bar but I believe it was a speakeasy back in the day. Upstairs from the steakhouse, dark, and comfortable. Had the signature shrimp cocktail which is served at the 1933, they have a shrimp station behind the bartender to crank them out. I thought it was good, not the greatest, but good. Drinks did me in at this spot, glad I didnt drive home. Some of the healthiest pours I have ever seen. Had a beer and a shot to start, love places that pour shots in rocks glasses(filling it 3/4 of the way with the good stuff doesnt hurt either. Also had a Knob Creek Old Fashioned that I think is what knocked me on my ass. Muddled orange slice and bitters, a healthy pour of Knob Creek and some ice cubes. Loved the 1933 Lounge.

St. Elmo/1933 Lounge
127 S. Illinois
Indy

Started off the next day early and the first stop was Maxine's Fried Chicken & Waffles, had some Indy fried chicken spots on the list just to give them a try. Didnt want to head East of Indy for the fried chicken trail or drop $20 for a family style meal of fried chicken at Hollyhock, Iron Skillet, etc. Just wanted to try a few pieces of pan fried chicken.

Maxine's shares a building with a gas station:


Did up a single wing and waffle and also had them fry up to order a single breast and a couple more wings:



really good stuff, waffle was light, but also a little chewy, chicken was top notch. Breast had tons of flavor, meat and breading. - lighting was weird in there so I couldnt get too many pics without shadows. This was some good fried chicken.

Maxines Chicken & Waffles
132 N. East St.
Indy

While out doing some research on some breweries in Indy I drove past this place - The Sanitary Diner - Guess it was originally located in Cleveland (Euclid and 71st) during the 1940's -50's - OMahoney's - Now restored and possibly used as a lunch spot for Angies List employees.



Had couple more stops to make before we jetted out of town. Rook, a Banh mi spot. Banh mi interested me, but it was the pork craklin and shrimp chips sides that caught my eye.

Did up a "Rook" (pork roll, chicken liver terrine) & some the cracklins and shrimp chips:



the pork cracklins were some of the best I have had, fresh from the fryer, crispy on the outside, creamy inside. Great stuff. Shrimp chips were also good.

Rook
719 Virginia Ave.
Indy

Fun times:



Next up we hit Jiallo's for some jerk chicken.



Hidden in a strip mall, their chicken did not disappoint. Neither did the plantaines or red beans and rice.



Menu had alot of other items on it, they were sold out of meat pies unfortunately.

Jiallo's
4202 W. 56th
Indy

Last stop in Indy was Mississippi Belle for some more chicken. Another spot in a strip mall, this place was packed with the after church crowd, all chowing down on family style fried chicken. Grabbed some to go with a choice of 4 sides for like $14.



Would love to come back & eat a meal here and not take it to go:

Good chicken, not as much flavor in the meat going on as Maxine's, but solid.





Mississippi Belle
2170 E. 54th St.
Indy

Great, quick visit. The pan fried chicken I did try was really good, that said LaSalle county can hold their own with them.

Bonus:

Didnt want to mess with I65, so ran US 52 most of the way back. Rolled through Fowler, IN. and spotted this gem:

Fowler Theatre:




Built 1940. Read that it was one of five movie theatres in the country to premier Gone With the Wind. Theatre fell on hard times, but was saved from being sold off and razed. Theatre is back in operation and being renovated.

Fowler Theatre
111 E. 5th
Fowler, IN.

I'm sorry I missed this before now; thanks for the fantastic post! I may just have to try those two chicken spots; never been to either. My opinions on central Indiana fried chicken revolve primarily around Hollyhock Hill's (and my mother's and grandmother's versions, no longer available); you might want to skip breakfast to leave some room and give Hollyhock a whirl if you get back again.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:I'm sorry I missed this before now; thanks for the fantastic post! I may just have to try those two chicken spots; never been to either. My opinions on central Indiana fried chicken revolve primarily around Hollyhock Hill's (and my mother's and grandmother's versions, no longer available); you might want to skip breakfast to leave some room and give Hollyhock a whirl if you get back again.

Thanks jils, really fun time down in indy. Hollyhock was tempting and on the short list for another time.

Quite the impressive tour Jim, sounds like many Tums were consumed on the drive back home.

Couple others to try next time are B's Po Boys in Fountain Square nabe just southeast of downtown. They fly in their bread and oysters daily from Nawlins it's the real deal - they fry up some excellent oysters.

Black Market on Massachusetts Avenue is also very good. It's been open couple years, very consistent and very good. Ball and Biscuit on Mass Ave is an excellent craft cocktail bar fun place to start the evening off if you're down there.

Meridian in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood has also been very good since they replaced the chef about a year ago. Nice room, more of a fine dining choice.

Fast Eddie wrote:Quite the impressive tour Jim, sounds like many Tums were consumed on the drive back home.

Couple others to try next time are B's Po Boys in Fountain Square nabe just southeast of downtown. They fly in their bread and oysters daily from Nawlins it's the real deal - they fry up some excellent oysters.

Black Market on Massachusetts Avenue is also very good. It's been open couple years, very consistent and very good. Ball and Biscuit on Mass Ave is an excellent craft cocktail bar fun place to start the evening off if you're down there.

Meridian in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood has also been very good since they replaced the chef about a year ago. Nice room, more of a fine dining choice.

Thanks for the tip on the po boys, etc. I had only driven through or bypassed indy on the way to Florida and S. Carolina. Glad we stopped, their bourbon knowledge and pours piqued my interest in a possible upcoming trip to their closeby neighbor Louisvillle.

Bombay Bazaar: Pakistani food worth a 3 hour drive.

With the new year rolling in and everyone posting their best of 2013 lists, I got to thinking a bit about my favorite meals. I probably won't get together a top 10 list of my own, but if I did the lamb chops at Bombay Bazaar would definitely be my #1.

Despite the misleading name, it is a Pakistani grocery and butcher shop (always a good sign) with a small 2 table eating area in the rear. If you are familiar with the Indianapolis area, it probably comes as a surprise that the best Pakistani food you'll ever eat comes from Fishers, IN. I visit family in the area regularly, so I've been lucky enough to hit up this spot numerous times, and I can say the with the utmost confidence that this is a truly amazing food. Considering how amazing Khan is, I surprised I'm typing this... it is better than ANY Pakistani food I've ever had.

They are a butcher shop, so the meat will be the focus, goat and lamb in particular. My favorites have never disappointed: Biriyani, Channa Masala, Palak Gosht, keema (ground Lamb) naan, lamb chops.

Bombay Bazaar
7247 Fishers Landing Dr
Fishers, IN 46038
Open daily until 8pm

Driving from north shore to Fishers (NE Indy) and back tomorrow for a wake. No funeral, just visitation.

Going to need to eat, suggestions for that specific vicinity? No way the hub will want to drive anywhere more than 5 minutes out of the way with all that driving time in 12 hours.

Also anything don't-miss on 65? Thanks!

ETA: ended up at a spot called Heroes, in Fishers. Really cute "hero" decor with superheroes and American hero and first responder hero memorabilia. I managed to have the breaded pork tenderloin and loved it, though it did not exceed the diameter of the bun like some shown here. Hubby had an excellent burger. By no means a special destination but if you happen to be in Fishers, it's worth a stop.

http://www.crheroes.com

http://beholderindy.com/food-menu/
Beholder:
Here we are, to the one, in ourselves. Free. And, Beholder kinda sucked. Not like in a bad way. Some suckage was in effect. But, look at us, we didn't care. A bus boy directed to swipe my hamachi after I had just taken a bite?! Pin bones in both orders of perfectly-cooked salmon? Egregiously, the slam bang motherfucker of a bitch of a dish, the pig skin noodle pad thai(I don't order pad thai, ever) nothing wrong with pad thai if you are ordering off a street cart in Chiang Rai, but...fuck, fuck, fuck, this, the taste I had of E's was a serious philosophy, say, bacon, say, friable pork belly, say a perfect balance of nam pla vs. whatever you throw in the wok. Fuck Jesus, this is a beast of a bastardization of a dish. See You Next Tuesday Pad Thai. Then S's order of the same dish was a fucking wildebeest, lovely, horrible, suckage funk and ungrateful urns spillage toxic thick cut pig skin glowing rot neon. Hey, I appreciate a fuck you up dish, but, S, respectfully did not. We brought the salmon pin bones to our server's attention, we brought the discrepancies between the two pig fat pad thais to our servers attention and received a whatever. So, you know what Beholder!? Fuck you too. Hey, pay attention. Just fucking
pay attention. "But, how were the portions?" ed: the sommelier was fucking awesome, they deserve their place on Food And Wine's Top 100 New Wine Restos.

http://ukiyoindy.com/about/
Ukiyo:
Everything kicked Beholder’s ass: from plates to service and back again. Chef Neal Brown does it again.

dish: Hot chicken: oh delirious, oh, tender frat boy hurling into the gutter as you hold back his mullett, the frat boy says I want this, I never knew, I want this, he fumbles with his zipper, you relent, help him unbuckle, and he explodes in your mouth. Best fried chicken on the planet. Tender like a suggestible drunken frat boy, crisp and moist, spicy, somewhat sweet. Deliriously-great.

http://www.goosethemarket.com
http://www.smokinggoose.com

Also, I popped in to say hello at Goose. The manager offered to arrange a tour and/or stage for me at Smoking Goose. Unfortunately, I lacked the time. My store offers the widest range of Smoking Goose charcuterie in NYC. Manhattan and the boroughs are in a love affair with Smoking Goose. Them, Charlito's, Olympia, Cremenelli are fierce in the domestic making other stuff with meat ranks. At work I sport my Goose the Market ball cap with aplomb. Indianapolis represent.

The Burmese Restaurant at the Heart of ‘Chindianapolis’

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/b ... ilto_share