In the Frig – Ichiban’s Noodles and Sushi Restaurant

Share

Linda's Refrigerator

Promote Your Page Too

Dinner from Ichiban’s
8355 Bash St
Indianapolis, IN 46250
(317) 841-0484

 

It’s a blustery fall day and we want noodles! Not chicken and noodles, but noodles in a lovely asian broth. So out we headed to Ichiban.

Several years ago, after an extended visit to the annual New Year’s car show, hungry for sushi, we visited Ichiban. I remember it being small, but not as small as it was on this evening’s visit. It’s the size of 1/2 a house. It has a three-seat sushi bar when you walk in, and two very small dining areas. If you have more than 4 people in your party, you will likely run your waitress ragged.

We were seated quickly in the one of the dining areas. There were three waitresses working and all seemed to be bustling. I think there were 10 people in the place, maybe 12. But remember, it’s a small place, so they were hustling about. For such a small place, the menu was fairly big. Ichiban offers several appetizers – most you have likely seen in other Japanese restaurants in Indy. They had several entrees, noodle dishes, sashimi dinner, nigiri sushi dinners, and bento boxes. It seemed they had something for almost every taste.  If you like Japanese food. 

Ichiban also had a selection of rolls and sushi. If you are a sushi enthusiast and have been to Sakura, Ocean World or Naked Tchopstix (NT’s), you may be disappointed with their roll offerings. Ichiban offers a few rolls, spicy tuna, scallop, Bob’s roll, a soft shell crab roll and a few others as well as the typical sushi. But they do not offer an equivalent to NT’s playboy roll (to die for) or anything that resembled a rainbow roll (various fish wrapped around rice with avocado and Krab with a K). They keep it simple with a few rolls and sushi offerings.

For starters, we ordered the shumai, steamed dumplings filled with shrimp and served with ponzu sauce.  We also ordered a spicy tuna roll and a Louis Roll.  The spicy tuna roll was pretty good. It wasn’t at all spicy, but it was smooth and cut into perfect bite-sized pieces. A rookie with chopsticks will have no problems managing the spicy sushi rolls. The Louis Roll is tuna and tempura chips in a spicy mayo sauce and was also good.  If you have been to Ocean World or Sakura, it will almost remind you of the soft shell crab roll, sans the crab. The crunch of the tempura batter was nice, and you could taste tuna, but it was a little heavy on the spicy mayo sauce. By the way, this roll also was not spicy. I think ‘spicy’ refers to the preparation of the spices in mayo more than it means ‘hot.’

Next on the list was the shumai. Now as dumplings go, I am a fan. Most times I have them fried and to be honest, you could probably dice up shoe leather, wrap it in dough and fry it and it would likely be tasty. However, these dumplings were steamed, which mean you actually taste something more than the “fry.” They were quite good. These little pearlescent dumplings were very delicate and pretty. One might expect to see these lovely little packages at a lady’s tea party.  They were a little hard to pick up with chopsticks as they wanted to slink out of the grip of my chopsticks. I finally gave up trying to show off my skills at the sticks, so I just pierced the dumpling with my stick and dunked it into the sweet ponzu sauce. WOW! Very nice. Again, very delicate, sweet but cooked perfectly. They were not doughy or too dense. Just light, mild and sweet. Without the sauce they are still very good, the texture of the dumpling against the flavor of the shrimp is very lovely. We gobbled them up quickly!

Noodles!
  

Within about 10 minutes of our appetizers, our noodle entrees arrived. (Ramen Shoyu on left, Seafood Udon on right). I do not think these pictures do the size of these bowls justice! These are big steaming bowls of noodles. When my waitress put my Udon in front of me, I sighed and said “No way I can eat all of this!” After my hubby received his Ramen Shoyu, I knew we could have split an order. But oh well, we’ll take one for the team, so we can share with you, the hungry inquisitive reader!

Noodle Knowledge for your Noggin’
Ok, short break to explain noodles. Ichiban serves three kinds of noodle dishes; ramen, udon and soba. The Ramen noodles are what most of us are used to seeing in packages, those thin stringy noodles. Udon noodles are thick white noodles made from wheat flour.  They have much more of a bite than ramen noodles. Then there are soba noodles. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour and resemble spaghetti. The things you never knew about noodles! Now back to the food!

My seafood udon had a large scallop, shrimp, and fish in a very light, very slightly salty broth. It was not what I expected. I think when you order noodles and you see the big pieces of seafood and the vegetables, you expect something intense in seafood flavor. But it was not. It was very light on the palate. It was warm and brothy and I immediately thought “this is something one would have the morning after one to many martinis.’ The scallop was large but mild and had poached nicely in the broth. The fish was also very good. They used tilapia which is a very mild fish. It had also cooked quite nicely in the steaming broth. The shrimp however were a disappointment. Shrimp are so hard to cook. It takes very little to overcook shrimp. You can almost just show shrimp to a fire, grill or burner and they will cook. I don’t know if they put the shrimp in a little too early or if the broth just cooked them too quickly, but they were a rubbery. I am not sure if you can order uncooked shrimp, but if you can, perhaps you order a few cleaned raw shrimp and plop them in as you eat. I ate them because, well, they ARE shrimp, but I didn’t enjoy the texture. To kick up the intensity of the broth, I added some light soy and some chili pepper which ultimately gave my noodles the ”umph” I felt they were missing.

My husband had the Ramen Shoyu with crispy fried pork. Shoyu is a broth with soy sauce, chicken stock, dashi (a Japanese soup stock) and sake. It is a very mild broth. The pork, surprisingly enough, was actually crispy. The ramen was thin and stringy and my hubby struggled for a while with his chopsticks and ladle. But, he finally conquered and slurped the noodles while grabbing bites of pork with the chopsticks. It had a different flavor than my dish, although it was still very unassuming, given you had crispy pork floating in this brown broth.  He also added soy and chili pepper to give it some kick. At the end of it, I got too full. My husband decided mine was better, pushed aside the remaining bites of ramen and slurped up my amber-tinged broth!

Not your Average Ice Cream

Unfortunately my husband and I never seem to save room for dessert. But this time, I pushed away my noodles early enough to have some ice cream. Most Japanese restaurants will offer fruit or ice cream for dessert. I have seen the odd offering of cheesecake, but that seems a strange dessert to offer in a Japanese restaurant, so I usually steer clear. Ichiban offered six flavors of ice cream: green tea, red bean, lychee, mango, black sesame and cappuccino. Green tea and red bean are usually typical dessert fare in the Japanese restaurants in Indy. Mango may or may not be standard, but it’s a more common flavor these days. But the black sesame? I have never seen this on a menu, so it was on my list to try. SIDE NOTE: I am not sure where cappuccino fits in – I am guessing it was selected to provide a more palatable flavor for the skeptical diner.  Well, we had to go with something different, so for our two scoops, we selected lychee and black sesame. 

You know what? We ordered well.  The lychee ice cream tasted like pear. For those of you unfamiliar with the lychee is a berry, reminiscent of a grape, only sweeter. At first, I wasn’t quite sure what it was. I couldn’t place the flavor. Don’t let that stop you from enjoying it.  I have had to learn to give the flavor a chance to develop on your palate before making a judgment. Sometimes an unfamiliar flavor can turn you off. But after my second bite, I thought, wow, it’s mild, sweet and reminds me of a pear. I am not a huge pear fan (unless the pear is poached in a lovely wine, then oh yeah, it’s on!), but I did enjoy the flavor.

Next, the black sesame ice cream. Sounds totally weird, right? First, I smelled it and yes, it smells like sesame. I was put off because sesame flavored ice cream sounds like an accident. I can tell you though, it is quite good. You get the taste of the sesame, but it’s not as overwhelming as you think. It’s there, oh yeah, but in the ice cream, it’s almost like a coffee flavor. The texture reminded me of Lindner’s chocolate chip ice cream. Lindner’s was a local ice cream store, back in the day. If you are younger than oh, 35 or not from Indy, you won’t remember Lindner’s. But trust me, the black sesame scoop looks like chocolate chip ice cream. It was really interesting and I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it.

The Damage
The bill was very reasonable, in fact, surprisingly reasonable, at $40. Most lunches for two at Ocean World or Naked Tchopstix will easily set you back $35-$40.  Ichiban was very reasonable – their rolls were very cheap, running on average around $4-$5. My seafood udon was only $10.95.  So for $40 we had shrimp shumai (5 pieces), spicy tuna roll, the Louis roll (both 6 pieces), two big bowls of noodles, two good-sized salads with ginger dressing(comes with entrees), and ice cream. Not bad for a Saturday night. The service was good, not overly intrusive and friendly enough to make you feel at ease.

My husband asked me for a grade, which I have never given in my reviews. I don’t think in terms of grades. But he really wanted to know and suggested I rate from 1 – 10.  Hmmm, I give Ichiban a 5 – 6. The rolls were fine. They were not “OH MY GOD” good, but they were good. I didn’t talk about the salad, because, well, it’s salad, but I did like the dressing a lot. And they were generous with the dressing and the salad. I thought the shumai were very good. The noodles were ok. They were not bad at all, and on a cold day (or after a 3-martini evening), they would be good for what ails you! But if you are looking for something really flavorful, I don’t think the noodles will quite do it for you. The black sesame ice cream was most memorable to me.  But you know what, it’s a decent meal for a good price with good service. If you have a craving for sushi and noodles, but cannot afford the $60-$70 dinner at H2O Sushi or Naked Tchopstix, Ichiban will like scratch your …itch!  But the only way you will know is if you leave the comforts of your neighborhood! Be adventurous and wander off your beaten path!

Directions
I ALWAYS say the same thing, google map it. Then I give you general directions. Well, this time, I am going to be REAL general. Ichiban is in the Castleton area on Bash Street. I’ll give you a vicinity. Bash is just west of I-69 off 82nd street and east of Castleton Square.  If you turn on Bash, left or right, you could still miss Ichiban because it’s a small house. Do yourself a favor and google map it or put it in your Garmin.

In the Frig – Queso Blanco

Share

Linda's Refrigerator

Promote Your Page Too

Dinner at Queso Blanco
102 S Union St
Westfield, IN 46074-9458
(317) 867-5200
http://quesoblancowestfield.com/menu

Friday night marks the end of a very long week – my mood has been as funky as the weather. What I want right now is a little warmth, something rich and something that makes me full and sleepy. Normally that means I want a meal from my mom, comfort food like salmon patties and macaroni and cheese. But on this nite, I wanted to continue the search for good Mexican places while getting my comfort munch on. However, I wanted to stay close to suburbia. My hubby and I had driven past Queso Blanco a million times on the way to visit friends or run errands, so we decided to finally make a stop and check it out.

Queso Blanco, which means white cheese, is a small family-owned Mexican restaurant.  The restaurant is owned by a husband and wife, Terrall from Georgia, and Yolanda, who is from Oaxaca, Mexico (pronounced WAH-HA-CA).  Terrall was in the construction business for many years until one day he decided to lease the restaurant in downtown Westfield, IN. Forty five days later, Terrall and Yolanda had the restaurant up and running. That was two years ago, and apparently they haven’t looked back. The restaurant is fairly typical in decor – sombreros and panchos, small tables you would find in a small diner. Fall has fell, so the decor also included pumpkins and scarecrows. It has a very family- familiar vibe.   The patrons were largely groups of families, and they seemed to know each other. There was a lot of camaraderie between tables and it just felt, I don’t know, like home.

FoodieGal – Quit Waxing Philosophical and Get to the Food
Let’s get this out up front. Queso Blanco is not Pancho’s Taqueria. It’s a typical Tex-Mex place. You won’t find tongue, cabeza, menudo or pozole on the menu. I don’t know that this absence of the more exotic foods makes Queso Blanco less authentic. I just think it makes it more of what most Americans expect from Mexican fare; cheesy, saucy foods. On the menu you will find chimichangas, burritos, enchiladas, chalupas, fajitas and other familiar dishes. There are several dips, nachos and quesadillas for appetizers and the menu also includes items for the gringo in your group. Translation: you can get a taco salad and grilled chicken salad. The menu also lists several vegetarian items, which was surprising to me, as it seems rare to see Mexican restaurants emphasize this offering. This tells me they have an audience, so vegetarians reading this review, there’s something for you!

 Queso Fundido!
Queso fundido is Spanish for melted cheese (spanish fondue). The “fundido” part can include jalapenos, beef, chicken, or pork. In my experience, in most restaurants “queso fundido” is a thick white cheese fondue with chorizo, which is a spicy salty pork sausage.  The queso fundido was what I had come to expect, with one major exception: CHORIZO baby! If you cannot tell from the photo above, it’s loaded up with chorizo. I can honestly say I have NEVER EVER had a queso fundido with so much sausage. It was refreshing to see so much meat. Of course, the down side, if carnivores can find a down side, is the saltiness. I admit, I love me some sodium. I would rather eat savory rather than sweet any day of the week.  But a little chorizo goes a long way. I think it still tasted good, but the generous helping of chorizo made the dip very rich and filling. In fact, you could get this as your entree with a few tortillas, pico de gallo and a side of refried beans and you have dinner! We still managed to polish it off, dredging the very crispy chips through the slickery sausage fondue (add some of their fresh salsa to cut the salt) – but I have a feeling the wedding ring won’t slide on so easily tomorrow!

The Entrees
As always, our hungry eyes were bigger than our stomachs, as we ordered enough for at least four people. However, the best way to sample is to get a sampling, right? My hubby and I have always wanted to try homemade tamales, so we ordered two ala carte tamales, pork and chicken. For our dinners, I ordered tacos de azada con chorizo and my husband ordered pollo loco con chorizo (notice a theme?).

 First, the tamales. Terrall shared that it takes 3 hours to create these little packages of meat and I believe it.  They are delicate, but complicated and sensitive to cook. We loved the chicken tamale. You really taste the chicken and the ingredients. It was delicious and, as I said, delicate. The pork tamale was less impressive. If you were asked to guess what meat was in the tamale,  you might guess beef or pork simply because of the color, but not because of the taste. You really just got a meaty, almost a little overdone taste. If you dine here and order tamales, order the chicken (actually identified by the waiter as his favorite tamale) and skip the pork.

 

CHORIZO -PALOOZA!
First, you get big helpings here, so if you leave hungry, it’s not their fault. Second, um, yum! My dinner was tacos de azada con chorizo, or tacos with meat and chorizo (duh!). Four tacos were served in silver foil to keep them warm and “together” (so they don’t spill their guts on the plate) and came with a side of their fresh pico de gallo. If you cannot tell, the oil from the chorizo coats the outside of the corn tortillas making them a little messy – and delightfully E-VIL! They were really good. The steak was well cooked. It definitely was not rare, but it was not overcooked and it had a great snap along with the chorizo. Again, the chorizo makes these steak-loaded tacos very salty, so if you don’t like sodium, then you shouldn’t order them. To cut the saltiness of the chorizo, spoon some of the fresh pico de gallo over top and you will really enjoy these. WARNING: the pico is fresh which means they use fresh jalapenos! Most times when you get jalapenos in a Mexican restaurant, they are pickled. And if you order a side of jalapenos at Queso Blanco, you will get pickled jalapenos. BUT, in the pico, the peppers are fresh which means they retain their heat and their bite. If you don’t like spicy, avoid the pico. But if you are feeling rather food-naughty, indulge! You’ll definitely feel the heat.

 

My hubby’s dinner was pollo loco con chorizo! It was a very tasty meal. For some reason most restaurants struggle with cooking chicken. It’s usually an over-cooked, rubbery impersonation of chicken. But in this case, it was tender and moist.  It wouldn’t be “con chorizo” if you didn’t have that lovin’ ladleful of that salty, spicy chorizo.  Believe it or not, you could still taste the chicken even in the wake of the chunky chorizo topping. NOTE: not for the faint of heart (meaning, do you take cholesterol medicine?). Chorizo is not known for its’ low fat properties. In fact, I believe it’s sacrilege to use low-fat and chorizo in the same sentence. At any rate, you will have a deep orange-red oil slick on your plate. Close your eyes and savor/ The treadmill can punish you later!

A Family-Owned, Family-Run Mexican Restaurant with  Great Service
 The restaurant was bustling when we arrived – both rooms of the restaurant were filled and the staff was on the hustle from the moment we arrived until we left. Our waiter was the owner’s son and he warned us up front that they were a little behind in the kitchen. I love it when waiters (or other staff) are honest and up front about the hitches in the giddy-up! I find it refreshing to have someone warn me so my expectations are set. He was very friendly and while he was hot-footing it the whole time we were there, he always smiled and he kept our drinks refreshed and apologized for the delays. The co-owner/wife Yolanda was also busy; bussing tables, running to the kitchen and serving food. The same can be said for the daugher-in-law, who had her 14 month old little girl on her hip as she bussed tables. Terrall, co-owner/husband was also busy, serving food, bussing tables. However he still took time to chat with this guests. He proudly introduced us to his grand-daughter (after removing her from mom’s hip) and spoke fluent spanish to her, which made her giggle and wink at us.

Overall it was a very lovely experience. The vibe was very friendly – moreso than any other place I have ever visited.  The first visit and you are on a first-name basis. What’s that song from that popular show from the 80s? “Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your na-a-ame!” I think I have underestimated how nice it is to have someone be so friendly, but not sickeningly friendly – but genuine. The food was good, some things were great, others were ok. Again, if you are looking for the more bizzare or adventurous cuisines of Mexico, you likely won’t find it here. But the familiar foods will be comforting. Just make sure and take a diuretic before you go, because, wow, it’s salty!

Our dinner came to $40, which is a good deal considering we had queso fundido, two entrees and two tamales, ala carte, a diet coke and iced tea. Oh yes, they do not serve alcohol and you cannot bring it in. If you are thirsting for a margarita, don’t go to Queso Blanco, they are teetotallers! If you really want to enjoy a drink, have dinner at Queso Blanco, then venture a couple doors down to Keltie’s and have a drink at their small bar.

If you are on in the Carmel/Westfield or Noblesville area, check out this little place. And if you are from Indy, be adventurous and take a road trip to greater northside of Indianapolis. Ok, the northside of Carmel. Either way, get off that sofa and check out something off your beaten path.

Directions
You should totally google-map this depending on where you live. But here are some quick and dirty directions. Follow 31 North through Carmel, past Clay Terrace Mall, Best Buy, Marsh, Don Pablos and the WalMart, just keep going until you get to State Road (SR) 32. Turn right on SR 32 and follow a couple of miles to Union street. It resembles mini-downtown Carmel or Zionsville. If it’s after 6pm, you can park in the pharmacy parking lot across the street.

Indianapolis Bloggers

Powered By Ringsurf

In the Frig – Bub’s Cafe

Breakfast at Bub’s Cafe
220 2nd Street SW (Right off the Monon, around the way from Baxbeaux’s)
Carmel, IN 46032
www.bubsburgersandicecream.com/cafe/about.html

One Saturday morning I convinced my husband to join me for a walk on the Monon. I thought it would be a great, healthy way to start the day. It never crossed my mind that we would stop and eat. After all, it was walk done with ”health” in mind. However, while walking back from the Farmer’s Market, my husband persuaded me that we needed sustenance for the journey home. So we stopped at Bub’s Cafe. (NOTE: since I had no plans to stop for breakfast on my “healthy” walk, I did not have my iPhone, so the above picture is the only one I feature on this post, sorry! I will give you some verbal cues when it’s time for you to imagine the food! See if you can identify them!)

Bub’s Cafe vs. Bub’s Burgers and Ice Cream
For those unfamiliar with these two Monon icons, Bub’s Cafe and Bub’s Burgers are owned by the same people (no way, get out!). Bub’s Cafe specializes in breakfast and lunch while Bub’s Burgers and Ice Cream specializes in burgers and ice cream. Bub’s Cafe is only a block or so south of her sister on the Monon. Now, when Bub’s Burgers is open, you smell it before you see it.  The smoke from their grill permiates the air with that intoxicating burger smell! Bub’s Cafe emits no such odor, but simply advertises its’ presence with a friendly red awning and a sign with a stack of pancakes.

My husband and I were in the mood to battle bees, so we opted to dine on the patio. (We watched a father dutifully kill the bees buzzing around his daughter’s fruit-topped pancakes). The patio is set far enough back from the Monon so passers-by don’t smell any pancakes, but they can still catch a glance of you – so make sure and take a oversized bites of food so you can make the passing joggers green with food-envy!

The Menu
The Bub’s Cafe menu is reminiscent of the menu at Cafe Petitchou (Clay Terrace Mall, Carmel IN), without some of the French-osity! (sorry…but French-osity sounds cool to me. If you adopt this word, give FoodieGal props). It features the standard breakfast fare: eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc. Bub’s also has daily specials, like pumpkin pancakes and quiche of the day.  There were also a couple of interesting items on the menu like Elk Sausage and Bub’s Holes.

Eyes Bigger than Stomach?
 My hubby ordered the pumpkin pancakes, link sausage and Bub’s holes and I ordered Quiche Lorraine and Elk sausage. Ok, so we ordered a lot. But we did it for you, the reader. We took one for the team because we are givers! Well – and - because things smelled good and we wanted to try a lot of stuff. Walking made us hungry!

What are Bub’s Holes?
Bub’s Holes are basically donut holes. They come in four flavors: cinnamon-sugar, powdered sugar, glazed and chocolate (if you put some French-osity on it, it’s SHOH-CO-LAH!). But these donut holes are a little bigger, more dense and look like hush puppies!  They were not bad. And by that I mean, I liked some more than others. The cinnamon-sugar ones were really the best, mostly for the lovely crunchy sugary coating. After that I favored the glazed. Believe it or not, the chocolate one was my least favorite. It didn’t taste bad, but to me, it reminded me of getting a too-dry cake donut with chocolate sauce in the box of expired pastries from a supermarket bakery.  I took a couple of bites, just so I could give back to you. They smell awesome and look pretty. I don’t think you will slobber yourself over them, but they are enjoyable. Besides, it feels good to pick up these little doughy golden-brown confections and eat them slowly as the runners labor down the Monon!

The Food, Get to the Food!
If you are not familiar with Quiche Lorraine, it’s like egg pie with swiss cheese, bacon and onions. The serving size of quiche at Bub’s Cafe is HUGE! When the waitress brought out my quiche, I thought it looked like a monster piece of cheesecake! The waitress commented that the slices of quiche had grown considerably since she had started working at Bub’s.  Either the chef is just an exceedingly generous guy or some country in the axis of evil is conspiring with him to keep Americans jolly. Yeah, it’s that big!

In the case of the quiche at Bub’s cafe (sounds like a Scooby Doo mystery, doesn’t it?) I think less would have been more. It was too big and dense for me to get a great bite of egg, bacon and crust. I finally gave up trying to cut a piece of the quiche in the “upright” position and rolled it onto its’ side, eating the crusty bottom and the middle. When quiche gets that big, you tend to taste more egg than the other ingredients. I used a little extra salt and pepper to season the egg and it wasn’t terrible. However, I didn’t finish it (neither did the lady sitting at the table next to us). I would not order the quiche again unless I just had an out-of-control egg-pie craving.

Pumpkin Pancakes and Elk Sausage
For most of us, pumpkin pancakes conjour up images orange-tinted stacks of dough with that familiar sweet pumpkin flavor (you know, your co-worker Sally’s pumpkin bread at the annual pre-Christmas pitch-in). These pancakes are not “pumpkin-y” sweet. They taste like, well, pumpkin. It’s a nice flavor.  Add the butter and the sweet maple syrup and actually, not too bad. If you have kids and they think they are going to dig into a huge pancake and get a mouthful of sugary sweetness, you better doctor up the pancakes first or they will be disappointed. It’s more about the pumpkin flavor than the sugar! If you like pumpkin, you will probably like these pancakes.

Now, here’s the deal with Elk sausage: there’s something to be said for fat!! I have had reduced fat Jimmy Dean’s sausage in gravy with biscuits and in sausage-egg biscuit sandwiches for dinner (one of my favorite winter dinners). Reduced-fat sausage is not at all similar to its’ full-fat cousin but it’s not bad. But Elk Sausage? You can taste what is missing. If that pattie could talk, it would say “please, I wanna be a sausage!” It’s the Jan Brady of sausage! If you are a carnivore, but are inflexible on eating fats, then get the elk sausage. It will “look” like you are eating sausage, but it will remind you that you really just want pork!  To really get some flavor out of this meat, you need to douse it in maple syrup and take a deep breath as you fork the meat into your mouth. Only then will you get more of the sausage effect. If you love breakfast meat, skip the elk and the links and get the bacon! Bacon dredged seductively in a glossy amber pool of maple syrup will drive those Monon Running-Junkies crazy! (Oh yeah, and make sure and eat it like one of the models on the Hostess cupcake commercials – come on, you know what I am talking about. Really ENJOY that bacon).

So, What About Bub’s?
You know, nothing was bad. The service is friendly, the view is nice and Bub’s has that friendly neighborhood vibe going on. I would go back, but would stick to the traditional breakfast fare or opt for the Belgian waffles (smelled awesome). I personally think it’s hard to make breakfast a memorable and extraordinary meal, but I think maple syrup is a great accoutrement to any breakfast. Plus watching those sweaty spandex-clad race-walkers lust after your breakfast makes everything taste ever so sweet! 

Be adventurous!  Get off your couch, throw on those sweats or pack yourself in the car, and try something on the beaten path! Right off the Monon, just south of Carmel Drive in downtown Carmel. Check out the website for directions: http://www.bubsburgersandicecream.com/cafe/contact.html.

RUNNERS, WALKERS, GYM RATS AND FIT PEOPLE: I consider myself a member of this group. I love to walk and jog on the Monon. I train at least 4-5 times a week. The reference in my blog to making runners jealous, well, it’s more about aesthetics than it is snarkiness – although I do feel a bit of a snark coming on. Since I don’t have any photos, I thought references to dredging bacon in glossy amber syrup was a great cue for a visual image. All those commercials of people eating those big Hardee’s Angus burgers lovingly, well, it does conjour up images of gluttony. So again, I opted for the images of jealous joggers eyeing greedily the plates and syrupy mouths of Bub’s patrons to provide visual stimulants to my readers! Remember, because I am a giver!

Bon Appetit!

In the Frig – Peppy’s Hamburg Grill

Lunch from Peppy’s Grill
1004 Virginia Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46203
No website found, sorry!

Yes, you will see signs that liken “airports to…assholes” and celebrate bad attitudes! And yes, you might see a grouchy-looking lady fry cook, sporting a Peppy’s apron. (I think the irony is intentional). But what you will not see? Valet parking, beautiful perky hostesses and a table set with salad forks! This is a typical diner! Small, non-descript, with a small counter and tables fronting the grill. They do have a bigger “dining room” which features an animated picture of a lovely beach, just what you thought you might see outside of a small, greasy diner!

What’s on the menu?
There’s no fusion cuisine or scallops done with delicate herbs in some foo-foo wine reduction. Just food cooked on a grill or in a fryer. Fries, hamburgers, eggs, bacon; all of these high-fat, warm and greasy lovelies are available 24 hours a day! It’s a beautiful thing! For our “appetizer” we had mozzarella cheese sticks, deep-fried and served with a small microwaveable marinara sauce. No, the cheese sticks were not homemade, but they were deep-fried, so what’s not to like? And no, the marinara was not homemade either. It was not so delicious, but it was tasty and a good complement to its frozen companion.

Hamburgs!

If you watch Three Sheets on the Fine Living Channel (Zane Lamfrey recent travels took him to Hamburg), you will know that the city of Hamburg is in Germany but was not named after a hamburger, but after a castle called Hammaburg.  The hamburg steak was introduced to America by the Germans as a hamburger, which means of Hamburg.  So a hamburger is really just a ground beef pattie of “Hamburg.” Thus the name! WOW FoodieGal, that’s great, but what does it have to do with Peppy’s?” Nothing really, it’s just a good transition from the last paragraph to talk about the hamburgers.  The hamburgers are really good and you can get them loaded up with bacon, onions and other standard items such as lettuce, tomato, pickle, etc.

My husband ordered the cheesy-meaty item above – sans the fixins! (he’s a purist and just eats his cheeseburgers plain!).  Note to the burger connosieur: your peppy fry cook (who may look grouchy) will smush the burger onto the grill with the spatula. The connosieur reading this  just flinched at the image of flattening the hamburger, juices pouring out of the burger and onto the spitting grill. This is not the proper way to cook a burger. THAT SAID, the burger was still good. It still retained some juiciness and it tasted like a “diner burger” for it’s juice joined blood of a thousand others and thus was endowed with the hamburgs of years past!

Alongside my hubby’s cheeseburger were Peppy’s seasoned “fries.” Now, these were not the skinny fries you get at McDonald’s or In-n-Out burger (YUM, by the way, total YUM), these were home fries, french onion flavored home fries served with …ranch dressing. Sounds a little odd, right? Maybe gross? But no, actually pretty good. Again, the ranch dressing came in on of those small little peel back packages you get with your salad at the airport, but the marriage of the french onion taste and the ranch dressing was pretty good. I can only imagine how good it would taste at 2am after an evening of consuming cheap cold beers and bowling! I bet it would taste like food of the Gods!

I had to have a diner classic and so ordered a patty melt (above). It was pretty good. The hamburger wasn’t so juicy, but the grilled onions gave the appropriate “patty melt” flavor. I dunked bites of the crispy burger in thick globs of  mustard, and it was pretty fulfilling! I got it with chips, but didn’t eat them. I instead helped my hubby gobble up the seasoned fries.

Overall, it was a good experience. I originally ordered the chili and unfortunately, they had run out. Their chili is homemade so I bet it’s ridiculously good in its simplicity and beany saucy goodness.  The bill was a little less than $20, so a great cheap meal.

We went on a Saturday around 1:30pm, so it was relatively empty. The guests that were there were a might crusty, perhaps just waking up from a long night of rowdy drinking and multiple hands of Texas Hold ‘Em. We were told by another pierced and tatooed fry cook that it “gets interesting around 3am.”  But I am sure that only lends to Peppy’s “je ne sais quas.” (French for a certain ”I don’t know” Although, there’s nothing French about the Hamburg grill). This place has great character – a place where you will see every walk of life, 24 hours a day, seeking out good food. So be adventurous, leave the comfort of the suburbs and check out Peppy’s! It’s open 24 hours a day- so you have no excuse about finding the time!

How do you get there?
Seriously, I would google it. I only know how to get there by just driving. What I would do? I would hop on the interstate, find my way to 70West and get off on McCarthy – near Eli Lilly – then I would hunt and peck my way there. It’s easy to find if you know the area and have a Garmin! It’s just north of Fountain Square proper off of Virginia Avenue!