Tag Archives: Beer

Innovative Fare at Tavern on South

30 Jan

Filet Mignon Meatloaf

Tucked away behind Lucas Oil Stadium is Tavern on South, an inviting restaurant with an upscale, innovative menu and a gorgeous bar. Chef Allen Schideler, formerly of Broad Ripple Steakhouse, displays his talent for combining flavors and a flair for artistic plating. Tavern on South has only been open for about a month, and I visited during the very hectic Devour Downtown. I always expect a new restaurant to take some time to settle in, and while Tavern does have some room for improvement, the depth of experience of Owner Steve Geisler shows. Service was running smoothly and there were more hits than misses on the menu.

Tavern Salad

When I saw the filet mignon meatloaf on the menu I was instantly intrigued by the idea of using one of the finest cuts of beef in a meatloaf. It was even better than I imagined. The flavor of the filet really stood out among the chunks of fresh vegetables and the slightly smoky, sweet tomato sauce. This is truly a wonderful dish and I can’t wait to have it again. Other hits include the Tavern Salad with its granny smith apple vinaigrette and the broiled sea bass with a bloody mary corn and crab sauce. Next time I will try the Indiana “Shagged” Ahi appetizer.

Broiled Sea Bass

The big miss of the evening was dessert. Something went terribly wrong here. Its just incongruous to have such well-prepared entrees and a completely sub par last course. The apple strudel was a tough, over-worked pastry with a mushy apple filling that was almost completely lacking in flavor. The crème brulee, while flavored appropriately, was runny. The crème in crème brulee is actually a custard that is prepared the day before and sets up in a refrigerator overnight. This was not a proper custard. It’s possible that it did not contain enough egg yolk. However, I think it is more likely that they ran out of the dish and made the decision to make more and serve it without the proper setting time. For now, I’m going to blame the disastrous desserts on the restaurant’s newness and the demands of Devour Downtown. I look forward to going back to Tavern on South, ordering dessert, and eating it too.

Overall, I give Tavern on South a rating of 2.25. I think this restaurant has the potential to become a 3, and I look forward to reviewing it again later this year.

Price = $$$

Deliciousness = 2 (good to very good)

Ambiance = 3 (a feast for the eyes)

Service = 2 (friendly and efficient)

Bang for Your Buck = 2 (overall experience justifies the price)

Overall Dining Experience = 2.25

Click here for an explanation of my rating system.

Here’s what others are saying about Tavern on South:

Review by Traci Cumbay, IndyStar Correspondent

Review by W. Alexander, blogger, Indiana Insider

Review by Erin in Indy, blogger, Indianapolis Restaurant Scene

Tavern on South on Urbanspoon

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Rustic Pizzas & Unique Concept at Thr3e Wise Men

28 Jan

Broad Ripple’s new Thr3e Wise Men Brewery is neither your typical brewpub nor your typical Broad Ripple eatery—and that’s a good thing.  Instead Thr3e Wise Men offers a refreshing combination of traditional favorites and new ideas.  The seating in the dining room is all long picnic tables, so if there are fewer than eight in your party, be prepared to make some new friends.  If you’d rather not socialize, you can play with your table’s iPad.

The menu is simple—a handful of appetizers, salad, pizza and dessert.  Without question, the pizza is the standout star here.  Fresh toppings served on a thin, rustic, hand-tossed crust make this the most gourmet pizza in Broad Ripple.  Another hit is the salad, which is tossed and served tableside.  And although I didn’t get an opportunity to taste it this time, I have to give big bonus points for including elephant ears on the dessert menu.

Salad & Breadstick

 

As the name suggests, Thr3e Wise Men is a brewery, and they offer quite a selection.   We sampled quite a few—our favorite was the Hoggy Style Amber.  If beer is your thing, click here to read my friend Scott’s more beer-focused review.

Beer Sampler

Thr3e Wise Men has only been open for a couple of weeks, and they are still working out some bugs from a service standpoint.  We tried to get call-ahead seating, but no one answered the phone.  Also, our appetizers, salad and pizza all came at once instead of staggered through the meal.  A manager did come to apologize, however, and acknowledged that it is something they are working on.  I anticipate that the service will continue to improve over the next few months.

Hummus Pizza

For offering an upbeat atmosphere, rustic pizzas and a unique concept, I give Thr3e Wise Men an Overall Dining Experience rating of 2.  I anticipate better service, and a higher rating, on my next visit.  Here is the breakdown:

Price = $$

Deliciousness = 2 (quality of food is very good)

Ambiance = 3 (a feast for the eyes)

Quality of Service = 1 (friendly but not efficient)

Bang for Your Buck = 2 (overall experience justifies the price)

Overall Dining Experience = 2 (a solid restaurant that beckons with appealing cooking)

 

Click here for an explanation of my rating system.

 

 

Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co. on Urbanspoon

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Thr3e Wisemen Brewery: A Scotty’s Experiment

23 Jan

I know food, but beer is not my area of expertise.  So I turned to my good friend Scott for his review of Broad Ripple’s new Thr3e Wisemen Brewery.  You can expect to see him as a guest poster here from time to time.  I’ll be putting in my two cents about Thr3e Wisemen next week.

I love a good micro-brew.  The only thing better is a good local micro-brew.  So I was excited to hear about the opening of Thr3e Wisemen Brewery (sorry folks, that’s how they spell it) in Broad Ripple.

Part of the Scotty’s group of restaurants, this is the first one that has a brewery onsite.  It is clear from the moment that you walk in that there was a LOT of money spent here.  From the specially inlaid plates to the iPads bolted to the tables to the huge brewery area, there is little doubt in my mind that this was a pet project of Scotty Wise first and a business second.  Thr3e Wisemen opened its doors to the public on January 17, 2011 and eager to check out a new Broad Ripple location and potential source of tasty beer, a friend and I went that night to check it out.

The first thing you notice after walking in, besides the fact that they chose to keep the automatic sliding doors (a remnant of the grocery store that used to be in this location), is that this place is big and open.  Glass walls separate the brewery area from the restaurant, which further lends to the feeling of openness.  This is not what I would call an intimate venue.  The general motif is concrete floors and warm woods everywhere else which might sound sort of rustic but actually has a clean and polished feel to it.  Everything was shiny and new and there were plenty of flat screens around a la Scotty’s.  I hope all the money put into Thr3e Wisemen isn’t going to come back to haunt it.

We got there around 6 pm and even though it’d only been open since 4, the restaurant was full.  This may be partly due to the majority of the dining area tables being picnic table style that take up a lot of space but don’t really seat a large number of people, or opening night, or both.  We managed to find a couple of seats at the bar which worked since we were there for the beer anyway.  We ordered a couple appetizers and two beer samplers that consisted of three 6 ounce glasses arranged in a larger block of wood with the requisite insets for the glasses.  (Games of giant Jenga come to mind.)  This let us sample all but two of the in-house beers.  We chose to forgo the Two Lucy’s Blackberry Wheat and the Golden Zoe IPA as they were the two we were least interested in trying.

So what beers did we try: Continue reading →

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