Restaurants @ atrulove.com

Salumi

Erica and I visited Mario Battalis dad's restaurant Salumi. Salumi is a Italian deli located in Seattle. It is owned by Mario Battlais father . .. and its claim to fame is that at Salumi they cure all the meats themselves.

This restaurant did not disappoint. We had the perfect lunch thanks to Salumi and Chateau Ste. Michelle

While my parents waited in the hotel room Erica and I went to Pioneer Square. We excitedly waited in the line that stretched out the door and down the sidewalk. In line with us where other lovers of good food. . . the people in front of us had also been to Babbo

Erica and I let the person preparing the meal to suggest a few items. We ended up getting two sandwiches. One sandwich was a margarita with home made mozzarella, home made Prosciutto, basil, and a marina sauce.

We also picked up the sandwich of the day. . . which was piled high with meat and cheese and a pesto . . .but I can't remember the name. We also picked a mixed meat sampler which included a variety of meats and cheeses prepared at the deli.

We then left Babbo and with my parents in tow we drove out to Chateu St. Michelle. At St. Michelle Winery we bought a couple bottles of wine and enjoyed the 75 degree weather and the beautiful landscape.

overall it was the perfect lunch, and the "eating" highlight of our trip.

OakleyBistro

Erica and I went to Oakleys Bistro on 86th street. This restaurant now ranks as number 1 within Indianapolis (though Bonges beats it on pure food). Oakleys has ambiance, service, and fantastic artistic foods. . .
Went to Oakleys Bistro.

Trojan Horse

Trojan Horse
Bloomington IN

Some restaurants that get national attention raise their prices, and take advantage of that recognition. Cafe Potachou, Tour D'Argent, for example, are more rip off then excellent cuisine.

Trojan Horse is different, it is good and cheap Greek American food.

To start we had the sampler appetizer, for 4.50. The sampler is a collection of pita and 3 kinds of spreads. Humus, spinach and feta, and something else. . .

My wife and I were in a sandwich mood so for entrees we got the Gyro sandwich and the Falafel. We also ordered a super size Fries. . . (Sandwiches were 4.50 each, fries about 3.50).

The gyros and the falafel were great. Plenty of meat/falafel and served with fresh veggies on a toasty pita bread. The fries were the icing on the cake. The fries were large and home made, and fantastic.

As Trojan Horse is known for their dessert, we had to get the house specialty. We split a nice warm baklava and a serving of baklava ice cream.

We left Trojan horse and happy at the low price of the meal. . .much better feeling then when we left Tour D'Argent (Paris).

Crossroads Diner

116th St. (317) 578-1486.

The family and I went for a walk to the CrossRoads Diner (going to be called cuisine . . .when they get a new sign I guess). The restaurant has gone "Persian" or you could call this middle easter. The menu is full of different Kababs (lamb, beef, chicken, etc). The restaurant also served a good variety of Gyros, and rice. The restaurant reminds me of the excellent Kabul, at 86th and Ditch. . .but not quite as excellent.

You can not fault the wait staff. . .perhaps it was the desperation in the air, but they were eager to make our every wish come true. They brought out random samplings of soup, and salad and a great sampling of bakalvas.

The food was good but served kind of cool. It was about 12 kabas for 6 people but perhaps it was to much for the chef. We ate everything, but man. . . it would of gone up a star if it was a hot kabob.

The rice was good, but bland, I keep going back to Kabul with its falvorful rice with currants and almonds. . ..you can't beat that and Crossroads did not beat it.

The Pita served was store bought and nothing special. They should spin less time on home made soup and yogurt and more time making a nice hot home made pita. . .

Tour D’Argent

it was to be the highlight of our trip, a dinner in a fancy Paris restaurant to mark our Anniversary. I had done my homework, and I knew that Tour was not the best restaurant in Paris, but we thought the experience would make up for any small short coming in food/service. The restaurant overlooks the river Seine and Notre Dame. Paris is called the city of lights, and to see the sun set and the cities lights flick on was a great experience. Food? The food was indeed great. I had the Foi Gra which was served like hard serve ice cream from a ceramic tub using a ice creap scooper. I am a Hoosier, and as such my Foi Gra experiences are somewhat lacking . . . this was my third, but it was my best. My wife had some kind of appetizer with lobster and caviar, pretty good stuff. My main entrée was a beef dish (Beof in French) . . .it was on par with a Ruth Chris steak, but Ruth Chris was the better price. My wife’s entrée was a lamb dish, that she enjoyed, yet the highlight of her entrée was this weird potato dish. It looked like a see through brown ball, and we had no idea what it was but when we took a bite . . .we found out it was a potato. To this day I’ve never seen a potato prepared in such a way. . . My wife and I skipped dessert because the staff set a group between the view, and our table. So we decided that we had paid enough for this experience, and without the view. . .it wasn’t worth it. My wife and I had the worst table in the restaurant, near the kitchen and far from the window. I had the feeling that they saw us coming, and new what to do with Hoosier tourists a little bit out of their league. After sitting a group between us and the window, cutting off the view of the city of lights, we decided we were done. So we headed down the stairs, out the door passing pictures and signatures of Bill Clinton, Regan, and John F Kennedy and headed deeper into the Latin Quarter for a store front crêpe.

Giessen

Giessen Germany is a town north of Frankfurt. In a way it reminds me of Bloomington/Terre Haute in Indiana. Instead of a big shopping mall, it has a large open mall area at the center of town. Giessen also has no shortage of restaurants. I have been here for 4 weeks and have not had to eat at the same place twice.

Giessen top restaurants

• Tandreas - This was one of the best experiences. The service was good, the staff being very attentive. They translated the menu for us, and constantly monitored our progress. The food, a three course meal, was great as well. The meal was artfully presented.


• Dan Michaels - Just down from the hotel this Italian place serves very American pizzas. Yet I learned the key to a Italian restaurant, bring an Italian. Not only did we get a slice of pizza but we were served a pasta sampler that was awesome. Ravoli stuffed with Proschitto, green fettuccini with porcini mushrooms. . .the best Italian meal I've had so far
  
• Veniza Cafe - turn right at theH&M and go back a little bit and you will find the Veniza cafe. Unlike the rest of the Gelatto places in Germany this one serves ice cream that captures that Gelatto experience. Huge piles of Gelatto-ice cream stand in front of you, at least 15 selections. Classic selections, in german, such as pistachio, chocolate. . .and others so beautiful but I don't know what they were. Then the ice cream. . .it was like I expected. Soft, not to cold, so that you don't feel like your eating a hard USA style ice cream. Gelatto feels like soft served, but better. . .
  
• Thai Noi - This restaurant looks cool. As I said in my interview to the local press "The Thai Noi has the largest drink menu of any restaurant I've been to". This place has stuff like Thai Grog (Nail polish per Tivi) along with popular favorites such as Mojitos etc. The food at Thai was fairly good with a decent amount of flavor. After I kicked up my food with a little spice, the inability to get "tap water" was quite distressing.
  
• La Hacienda - no Chiliqueles con Huevos, no Orchata. . .no Mexican food. NEXT
  
• Alt Giessen - Good Stuff. The first night we stopped in at Alt Giessen. This place has "classic" German food and it is all good. A reliable favorite, though with classic slow german service.
  
• Dach Cafe - The scariest elevator ride of my life. I don't know why but part of me was sure that the elevator would give out under Tivi and I's weight up to the 13th floor. The cafe overlooks giessen. The food is good, decent, German food. The dessert selection was awesome. Just make sure you know German before entering (or at least be able to read a German menu).
  
• Cafeteria - A decent salad bar and a 2 menu items a day. Sometimes they miss (ask anyone about the Calamari one Friday). Most of the time the food is good, and is at least 10xbetter then Lilly Indy. Oh and a Lot of free coffee, hot chocolate, and tea.
  
• Havana Club - great for pitchers of Cuba Libre. . .and a beautiful Espresso machine.
  
• The castle - Not worth the 1hr trip, but definitely worth the 10minute one the second time. The drive was an adventure (near collision with a bmw, several getting lost, getting directions in German)

  This castle over looks the lilly affiliate from a hill across the country. The food is good, quality, German food. I am hoping that i'm here when it is a little warm because sitting at a biergarten overlooking the countryside, at the base of a castle would be cool indeed. Though I'm just glad we didn't loose any coworkers when they went up the castle tower with only a Phone for light.
  

Malibu Grill, Bloomington IN

Malibu Grill
106 N Walnut St
Bloomington, IN 47404
812-332-4334

When Malibu Grill disappeared off of 86th street (to be replaced with the global franchise Bonefish Grill) I was disappointed. I loved the restaurant with its Nuvo cuisine at a moderate price.

I found out that the rent went to high for Malibu on 86th. They were planning to reopen but, as of yet, they have not. They still have the original (all good things start in Bloomington these days) and the expensive Malibu on Maryland.

The drive to Bloomington took 1hr 15 minutes from the North East Side of Indy. It was a beautiful drive as you approach southern indy. The flat Indiana landscape gives way to hills, trees, and a relatively unspoiled natural beauty.

The Restaurant itself is downtown Bloomington. A very cool downtown lined with a variety of restaurants and shops.

I ordered the long remembered Thai Style pizza. This pizza starts with a peanut glaze that is topped with spicy chicken, carrot shreds, and more. It is cooked in an actual wood fired oven.

Erica had the cheese and crab quesadilla. I can testify that it was good . . . though it was mostly cheese (kind of light on the crab).

My parents split a nice, thick, steak. It looked good, but they tore into so quickly I did have a chance to try it.

I found the pizza and the quesadilla to be as good as I remembered from the 86th street grill. The pizza itself was a little to sweet, and not as “spicy” as I would of liked. The crispy wood fired crust was deviances.

Price? My pizza was 10, as was the quesadilla (appetizer). Between Erica and I we had one slice of pizza and half a quesa to take home.

Service: Service was good . . . but standard guy making it through college service.

Chris Review
Food . . ***
price . . ***
service . . . **

over all . . * * *

El Pastorcito

El Pastorcito
7876 N Michigan Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46268
Phone: (317) 872-5676

According to my Friend, this is authentic Mexican. This is the same friend who will not step into a Taco Bell . . . nor will he discuss the good American Mexican food items such as Burritos.

This restaurant proves that he may be onto something. It is a small restaurant. The restaurant is a series of booths with tables in the middle. Don't come to El Pastorcito expecting ambience, there isn't much . .

The menu was given over with a shot of Spanish. My wife and I were accompanied by our Spanish speaking friends. We are trying to learn the language ourselves, and loved the challenge. . .

Erica ordered a Torta. It was a battered beef sandwich. I ordered the "El Pastorcito" which was a mix of Bacon, Chorizo, green peppers, onions, spices . .everything good. My dish was served with a nice helping of good corn tortillas.

Overall we loved the experience. It was great food and cheap. Tacos are 1.50 (there about 10 different kinds), tortas are 4.50, and the hambres are only 5.00

The only authentic Mexican restaurant in town gets a thumbs up from me. . .

Santorini

Santorini used to be a small restaurant, located off of Fountain Square. It was small, and packed . .and with a reservation you always have to wait. Then Santorini moved, and the new restaurant is much larger. . .

Santorini is as good as Greek food gets in Indianapolis. The other contender, Greek islands, just doesn't cut it.

service

Service was exceptional. We had around 18 persons and the waiter took no notes. He "remembered" everyone’s orders. When we got our dishes. . .we got the right one. We were very impressed.

With 18 people I’m a little more forgiving on water refills . . . I got refills, but not often enough and I had to ask for them

Food The appetizers were fantastic. The saganaki with the flaming cheese was the crowd favorite. The spanakopita was also popular (filo dough in triangles wrapped around spinach/feta).

The recommended entree from the waiter was the family style dinner. This sounded pretty good. ..but the group wanted to go on their own.

Most persons ended up with the chef sampler (including myself). The Chef Sampler is a mixture of Greek favorites Moussaka (layered Eggplant, meat, and a béchamel sauce on top), Pastachio (similar to moussaka, no eggplant), Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), potatoes, fried tomatoes, the list goes on.

We got a huge amount of food. . .and most of it was pretty good. It was not the best Santorini experience. The mousaka / pasticho was a little cooler then we like. . .overall it was a great place for a group

the new place
The new place was about 4x the size of the old plays. Hopefully the bigger location pays off for this Greek restaurant. Tuesday night it wasn't that busy, and we had our own section to ourselves.

Yats

I was able to take the Belgium affiliate to YAts (downtown at mass and college).

The Belgium affiliate enjoyed it as much as the French affilitae. There was a large amount of jumbalaya to be had. . .while i sticked to the fantastic Ropa Vieja. Yats Ropa Vieja is some nice pulled pork, with capers, and stewed tomatoes. . .the ropa vieja is not to be missed.

I still recommend the 54th and college orginal, but if you can't make it try the downtown one. If you go in the evening bring a bottle of wine (no corkage fee).

As always Yats is 5.00 for a single dish. ..6.00 for 1/2 and 1/2 . . .and cokes are always a buck.