What I'm Eating: Better late than never...Duos Food Truck (revisit), Fat Sammies Ciao Wagon, Binkleys (Chow Down Midtown) and Taste

Even though I went through a weeks-long blogging hiatus, that didn't mean I didn't still get my EAT on....

DUOS FOOD TRUCK (RETURN)

Take for instance, the Farmers' Market at Wishard held every (weather-permitting) Tuesday during the Summer and is located within walking distance of my work.  I think Wishard (or as it will soon be called [the new] Sydney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital) jumped the gun in calling it a Farmers' Market.  I think whomever is coordinating it needs to be researching a bit more vendors because it was looking a bit scarce (vendor-wise).  There were plenty of hungry and curious people venturing over.  I+ know they would have appreciated even more variety and options.  A little bit of produce, a local honey cultivator and some baked goods just wasn't cutting it.

 

But the main attraction was a familiar one for me: the Duos food truck (@DuosIndy on Twitter).  I had seen their tweets throughout the morning while at work and was super thrilled to see them posting up close by.  That day, they opted for an Asian-styled theme.  I went with the Pork Bahn Mi (a Vietnamese street sandwich with thinly sliced pork, julienned cucumber, pickled carrots and daikons, and cilantro and a slightly spicy aeoli on a baguette.  It seemed like they had prepackaged the sandwiches for a quick sale which is fine to do except it kind of sucked some of the life out of the sandwich.  The whole thing was a bit squished, the bread was a bit mushy and surprisingly, I thought the portion was a little weak for the price ($5) [I know that last time I tried Duos I complained about that sandwich being too big].   But the flavors were phenomenal and they even had a bottle of my fave Srirachi Sauce for a little added kit.

I also ordered their "Korean-style" soup: mushrooms, snow peas and chopped green onions in a miso broth.  I thought overall it was pretty delightful but nothing that blew my socks off. 

I totally understand that Duos probably has many kinks it has to work out regarding the menu and operationally which is why I would still eat there and also recommend them to others.  I dig their adventurous attitude and culturally diverse menus.  Keep on keeping on :)

FAT SAMMIES CIAO WAGON

Another day, several weeks ago, I was reading through my daily Tweets and saw that Fat Sammies (@FatSammies) was parked somewhere East of downtown.  I had been meaning to try them (as well as several others that I am slowly marking off my bucket list).  Turns out, they were parked on the corner of Washington and Johnson near the historical Irving Theater.  It was a beautiful, warm day so the area was buzzing with foot traffic and people lounging on patios.  Once I parked and approached the truck, I was greeted but a very nice man and woman.  I quickly browsed their small, limited menu and engaged in some chit chat.  They didn't have very many options to choose from but the ones offered sounded pretty good.  I decided to try the Meatball Sammie which came with an order of pasta salad on the side.  And to satisfy my sweet tooth, I additionally ordered the Nutella and Marscapone "sandwich". 

While waiting in line, a gentleman suggested I come sit, eat (my Fat Sammies) and enjoy a Sun King Cream Ale at the Irving theater while also checking out their Underground Writers' Series.  The hospitality and the enticement of the beer sold me so I made my way over there and tried to inconspicuously sneak into a seat in the back, trying not to disrupt the current author on stage.  Because I was dining during a live performance in the back of a dark, old theater, I was unable to photograph my food which is sadly an injustice to Fat Sammies (hopefully I'll have another chance to redeem myself).  Here are some of the notes I jotted down about the food:

• Meatball Sammie (1 giant moist and compact, flavorful meatball, onion relish on bottom, chunky marinara sauce on top, crumbled feta cheese on a flat bread) w/ pasta salad (large shell pasta (perfectly al dente), red onions, olive oil) perfect portion allowing for dessert.
• Dessert : nutella & marscapone "sandwich" on white bread and grilled. Magnificently simple, hazelnut, rich, sweet, buttery, melted&blended nutella and marscapone. 

My mouth is just watering thinking about the Nutella & Marscapone "sandwich"...the only suggestion I would have is to use a buttery croissant rather than plain white bread.  I stayed long enough to hear all of the author of Volt, Alan Heathcock (a bit of a Fred Armisen [SNL] lookalike).  I'm not sure that it was much of my scene but I was thankful that they extended a kind hand and chair to me so that I could enjoy my meal. 
I was a bit concerned before trying Fat Sammies that they would be very kitsch-y.  I had the guy from America's Next Great Restaurant in my head; you know, Joey, the creator of Saucy Balls. Yikes!  But my preconceived notions were incorrect and the food was exuberant, fresh and satiable!

CHOW DOWN MIDTOWN: BINKLEYS in SoBro

My excitement was barely containable about Chow Down Midtown once all the participating restaurants started revealing their special menus.  But when the event came, we were in the middle of our moving craziness and only had time to get to 1.  I was so disappointed in myself and D.  I was sooooooooo looking forward to trying at least 3 of the restaurants.  Unfortunately, it just didn't work out that way.  Next year, it's on and we'll plan better! 

Luckily, the one restaurant we got to go to, Binkleys, didn't let us down!

Course 1: Appetizers

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus: The classic Purée of chickpeas and roasted red peppers. Served with naan.  THE BEST HUMMUS I'VE EVER HAD!

Course 2: Entrees

(D) - Bleu Cheese crusted Filet Medallions: Two four ounce filet medallions with a seven spice rub and a blue cheese crust.  He chose onion rings and roasted potatoes.  D gave 2 thumbs up and ate almost everything on his plate.

(Me) - Tilapia: Pan seared tilapia topped with sautéed spinach, mushrooms, bacon, and red onions in a white wine butter sauce with roasted potatoes and green beans on the side.  Best complete meal I've had in months.  I could eat the roasted potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I could only eat half so I boxed up the remaining.

Course 3: Dessert

Cannolis: We originally ordered the Triple Berry Cobbler but then our server thought they were out of so we ordered the cannolis.  But luckily, they found a couple more cobblers so we cancelled the cannoli order.  But to our delight, both were brought to the table.  Were were told to just keep them!  We took the cobbler home for later. 

D and I shared a wonderful date night adventure to a new place, and all for $30 + the cost of a couple rounds of drinks + tip.  You can't beat that.  Kudos to the Chow Down Midtown organizers!

TASTE (in Broad Ripple)

Recently, I met up with my friend, Tim, for a week day lunch-sesh.  I suggested we go to Taste in SoBro which was somewhat a middle meeting point.  I had been to Taste one other time but it had been a while and I wanted to go somewhere with an outdoor patio.  We went right at noon which was probably not the best idea because it was pretty crowded.  The line moved fairly quickly with just enough time to read through their options.  They have an extremely large (slightly overwhelming) menu that is both typed and written (in chalk) behind the counter.  They also display several items that can be purchased for take home that both tease and tantalize your taste buds. 

I decided on the Grilled Salmon Salad which was displayed as a daily special.  All the specials are listed without prices and to my dismay when I got up to the counter to pay, they were charging $15 for my salad!! That was very disappointing considering none of their other salads were over $8.  I decided to go with the Fish Tacos, instead.  Tim went with an egg, turkey, and spinach wrap. 

Once you order, you take a seat (anywhere that is available) and they will bring the food to your table.  We poured our own waters which are stationed near the cash register and are self-serve.  Then, we grabbed a two-top out on the patio.  The water glasses were so small that by the time I sat down, I was already ready for a refill (which the staff does not provide so I had to make my way back inside again).  The restaurant was noticeably busy.  It took over 25 minutes for our meals to come out and I remember thinking that if I was on a lunch break from work, this would be unacceptable.  My fish tacos came out first but I kindly waited another 5 minutes for Tim's food to arrive.

Tim was a little mixed on whether he liked his wrap.  If I remember correctly, he was a little thrown back by the intense (and weird) flavor of the horseradish cream sauce that dominated his palette.  Besides that, it was pretty pleasant.  Despite the horsey-blip, he ended up eating most of it; he's a growing boy! 

I really enjoyed my fish tacos.  Like always, I would have preferred the healthier alternative of corn tortillas but other than that I found very little fault overall.  I liked the light, spiciness of the accompanying salsa, all of the diced cilantro and finely shredded veg.  I was only able to eat 2 out of 3 before realizing I was stuffed. 

I've seen/read all of the accolades that Taste has received over the years recently and I felt a bit jipped. I think they need to retweek their customer service/process and maybe scale down their menu to focus on great food, made efficiently and served within a reasonable time.  I don't see myself jumping to get back there any time soon.



Needless to say, I've packed on a couple pounds over the past several weeks.  Nothing a little walking and cooking at home can't take care of.  Now I have to start trying out the south side joints!