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- TRAVEL REVIEW: “What’s in Indianapolis?” The most popular question I was asked when referring to my travel plans to take a trip to Indianapolis. Apparently, Indiana isn’t a “looking forward to going” travel state. I always keep an open mind when visiting a state or a city that I’ve never been to. I’m glad that open mind was kept, because I had ALOT of fun in Indiana. Indianapolis doesn’t have a “city” feel to it, and when I refer to “city” I give examples of D.C., New York, Atlanta, etc. The airport is a nice size, but I wouldn’t say that this is the nicest thing Indianapolis has to offer (usually I give an airport reference to an area that I didn’t enjoy going, which is code for “there isn’t anything here but the airport so you can get the h*ll out of here, haha). What was really cool about the airport is that, I was unknowingly walking next to a soldier who I’m assumed just returned home from a brief stink over in another country. (My awareness for a NFL Madden rating would be 83). How did I know it was a soldier? There was a huge scream, signs, and love all around him. It was a beautiful site, I should’ve took a picture or a mini-video of it but I was hungry and the only thing on my mind was food, which coincidentally the airport has a huge food court! I decided to get breakfast before venturing out to see what Indianapolis had to offer. Indy has a sign for tourist or people who want to feel like tourist where you have to find the sign that reads “ndy” and you stand on the side of the N to become the I to create the word “Indy”. I thought that was pretty neat. Most of my time was spent in front of that sign, walking downtown, and standing in front of the War For The Union Monument people watching. What is people watching? It’s exactly what it sounds like. You sit down, and you watch people do “people” things. Try it one day if you haven’t, it’s pretty funny. You never know what someone is thinking or what’s going on in their life. Most people walk around like everything is ok, but deep down their not ok, and I’m fine with that because we should all keep things to ourselves sometimes.
- RESTAURANT REVIEW : (Breakfast) : Let’s grab some breakfast shall we? Well, because it’s close to 12 that would make it brunch, right? Well, let’s grab some brunch. I decided to go to this restaurant called Mesh. What was so special about Mesh? Good Question, but all of the other places I saw for breakfast the menu’s didn’t look too appealing. As I walked inside of Mesh I noticed that it was a gorgeous restaurant. Nice designs, simple plating, and a nice bar area. When I travel, most times I like to try more than one dish. I decided to try the shrimp and grits, and steak and eggs. I haven’t had steak and eggs in a long time so I decided to get some (even though I’ve had it before). So, before I discuss how good my meal was, I wanted to talk about the service that was provided. I rarely if ever talk about service because I’m a pretty easy-going person. See my water low? Fill it. See me finished with my food? Ask me for desert, which in return I’ll most likely ask for the check. Why am I bringing up the service this time? My waiter reeked of alcohol, dirty nails, and a drowsy attitude. I get it, you went out partying hard the previous night, but people judge you based off of your experience. I’m sure if I was extremely meticulous I would’ve asked for another waiter(ess) or left the restaurant. Although the actual service provided wasn’t bad at all, it was the appearance that should’ve bothered me. Ok, back to brunch. I ordered the shrimp and guajillo grits. It included pork sausage, salsa borracha, and a fried egg. The grits were good and the salsa provided a kick to it for more flavor. However, the shrimp was overcooked. Why do I say it was over cooked? It was rubbery and tough. Shrimp shouldn’t have the consistency when eating it. It should have more of a “soft”feeling when chewing it, almost as if it’ll melt in your mouth. There’s not too much to say about a shrimp and grits dish because it’s shrimp and grits. Although the presentation was nice, I probably wouldn’t order this dish again. Also ordered was the steak and eggs. I’m not sure if I was really hungry but the steak and eggs was by far one of the best brunch dishes I’ve had in a long time. The steak was cooked perfectly, as I like my steak medium, but the highlight of the dish was the hollandaise sauce. For those who don’t know hollandaise sauce is a buttery sauce that includes butter, egg yolk, and lemon juice. Sounds simple right? Try to make it and let me know how that works for you. (Google hollandaise sauce for directions, haha) My hollandaise sauce always comes out like scrambled eggs, it’s really not the easiest thing to make. Overall, I’d give this restaurant a 3.5 out of 5. Beautiful restaurant, nothing to brag about food, and a stinky waiter.
Dinner: I decided to eat at this restaurant called Vida. The reason for my choice in this restaurant was I could actually eat something I’ve never had before. During my traveling experience I noticed that most of the restaurants looked as though they could’ve been homes previously. I thought that was pretty neat and different. The inside of the restaurant is beautiful! You walk in to see a chef cutting fresh veggies and preparing herbs. You also see a full garden hanging on the wall of fresh herbs and some vegetables. The aroma of the restaurant smelled like fresh vegetables and that was one of the reasons in my opinion. For my dish(es) at this restaurant, I opted for what I would call a taste testing menu. See something you’d like? Order it, and taste it! A little different from your 5 course meal. The five dishes that were ordered were Spec, wait… What’s spec? I’m going to get to that… Just keep reading, please 🙂 Chowder, Scallops, Duck Pastrami, and Halibut. Decker Melon and Speck was my first dish. It included speck, bbq spiced pork rind (brings me to my teenage years when I used to eat pork rinds), feta cheese, and chow chow. So.. What exactly is speck? “Speck is a cured meat native to the Tyrol, a region which spans part of Northern Italy and Southern Austria” What does that mean in english? It looks like prosciutto or pancetta and taste exactly like it too but with a hint of more smokiness. This is definitely an acquired taste, as it would NOT be something I would order again but I would encourage you to try it. The pork rind brought back so many memories, in fact, I’m going home to look for pork rinds, but do they still make em? The second dish was chowder, which included lobster clams, corn, bacon, and truffle. The chowder was blah. Nothing more, nothing less. The second dish was scallops. Yes, I know I said second dish twice but I figured the chowder was so bland that I would forget it. The scallops were seared with mango, chayote squash slaw, and chili gastrique. All fancy words, which means pan seared scallops with a chipolte cole slaw. I loved this dish as the scallops were perfectly seasoned and not too mushy in the inside. They were nice and form and perfectly seared on both sides. I love scallops so I would’ve been disappointed if they were overcooked. The third dish was the duck pastrami which included sweetbread and a sauerkraut remoulade. The duck was perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. I order my duck medium because I can fathom a little blood, but it was tender, moist, and easy to devour. The sauerkraut that came with it was a nice accompaniment. It was almost like cole slaw to go next to your “smokey flavored” meat. This is a dish that I would order consistently if I came back to this restaurant. The next dish was a healthy size Halibut. They were really generous with the size of the halibut. It came with risotto, tomato, and saffron aioli. This would be a dish I would consistently order as well, as it’s meaty and flaky. I have nothing negative to say about this restaurant as I’d give it a 4.7 out of 5. Why not a 5? What was blah? 🙂
RATING
Mesh- Stuck On The Runway
Vida- Business Class
- Where to Next? Dinner Reservations: Tomorrow. Let’s go visit Colonel Sanders. 🙂
SavoryTravels 