Tomo Japanese Steakhouse

I've gone here a couple of times, but I've only had the hibachi. I have never tried the sushi. I'm sure I won't like it as much as Sakura...but who knows...maybe next time.

Tomo was a nice surprise to me. The exterior is not an indication of how cute the inside is. I thought it looked very modern. There were plenty of regular tables for the sushi only eaters and a few U-shaped hibachi grills.

Service was good. Not overly friendly, but accommodating. Although, each time I felt that the server seemed a bit overwhelmed. Food was also solid. My only complaint was how salty and overcooked the salmon was. So I don't recommend the salmon, but if you really want it I would ask them for medium salmon and the sauce on the side. I didn't do that, and the sauce kind of ruined the rest of my food. :-/ We ordered the calamari as an appetizer. I liked how crunchy the breading was, but I wish calamari dishes gave more tentacles. I might be the only one that feels that way though...

Because of slower service during my first visit, we got a free dish of tempura battered ice cream. I think I would just prefer some simple green tea ice cream, but it was yummy. There was plenty of unmelted ice cream, and the batter was cooked just right. And as someone that tried to make fried ice cream at home, I know this is not an easy. 

The Info
Tomo Japanese Steakhouse
7411 North Keystone, Suite A
Indianapolis, IN 46240
317-254-8666
www.tomo123.com (Didn't work the last time I checked though.)

Usual Suspects

I rarely think of Usual Suspects in Broad Ripple as a place to go eat at. It's usually my go to dirty martini spot. Mike makes the best martinis. But after having dinner there, I will be thinking of it more often.

I ordered the french onion soup and the award winning osso bucco. It's like a challenge when you tell me your food is award winning! I thought the french onion was really good. Even though the cheese wasn't melting over the sides of the bowl, I have no complaints about the amount of melty cheese in this soup. And with a lot of the toasted cheesy bread dry, it added a good crunchy element. I also really enjoyed the osso bucco. I think osso bucco is normally a veal shank, but this one was a pork shank. The dish needed salt, but the meat fell right off the bone and there was a lot of it! Way more than shown on their website. The risotto wasn't memorable, but it was cooked all the way. Receiving undercooked risotto has been way too frequent for me.

Mike ordered the lamb kabobs after they ran out of beef tips. He was pretty disappointed. The lamb kabobs tasted ok, but they weren't amazing. Overdone. Probably won't order them again.

Overall, Usual Suspects was a great value. You get pretty decent food for not a lot of money. Also, if you're looking for a place to eat at with a big group, this is a good choice.

The Info
Usual Suspects
6319 Guilford Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46220
317-251-3138
www.usualsuspectsindy.com

Tortas Guicho Dominguez y El Cubanito

Wow! What a name!
This long named Fountain Square restaurant has a lot of gourmet Mexican sandwiches. I think it's fun that they name their sandwiches after celebrities. The #1 is the Salma H. which has chicken breast, ham, and mozzarella. Or the Shakira has breaded steak, chorizo and mozzarella. I went with the #10 Eduardo V.

It had ham, breaded steak, hot dog and queso blanco on it. All of their tortas come with mayo, avocado, and tomato.This super meaty sandwich was very, very filling! I ordered this because I was curious about the breaded steak and hot dog. The really nice waitress told me that they cut the hot dog length wise and cook it in a pan and press all the grease out. The breaded steak wasn't bad. I think because it was pressed so thin, it made it difficult to get very much beef flavor so it just tasted like breading. The bread was very thick and substantial enough for all of the meat and toppings. 

I definitely want to come back to this place and try a different sandwich. Maybe I'll get the France or the Enrique! If you're feeling really adventurous, you should try their Cubana Challenge! Eat 3 Cubanas in 30 minutes and get $100 plus entire table's meal is free! But if you fail then your entire table has to pay double. Let me know if you do it. :-)

The Info

Tortas Guicho Dominguez y El Cubanito

641 Virginia Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46203

317-658-0735

www.tortasguicho.com

Devour Downtown Catch Up

This post is terribly out of order. It's from Devour Downtown last summer. So I'll just put up pics and note a few things that I still remember...

St. Elmo's Steakhouse

I was really underwhelmed by St. Elmo's. Maybe it was all the hype, but I just didn't think it was that good. Peterson's is still my favorite place for steak, but I even liked Ruth's Chris better. I was also surprised by the atmosphere. It was very loud and seemed very casual. I guess I just expected more. I do have to say, our service was fantastic. Very attentive, especially when we were just ordering off the Devour Downtown menu.

127 S. Illinois

Indianapolis, IN 46225

www.stelmos.com

Iaria's

I am still trying to find Italian as good as what I had in Boston...Iaria's was just fine. Ok in pasta, but great in salad dressings! They actually make them in house and taste fantastic! I tried both their house Italian and Bleu Cheese. Both were really really good. I highly recommend NOT skipping the salad here just for the dressing.

317 S. College Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46202

www.iaraisrestaurant.com

Iozzo's Garden of Italy

Still not as good as Boston, but is probably one of the best in Indy. The inside and atmosphere is really nice. A little crowded, but not cramped. The ravioli isn't made in house, but the sauce and filling were very good. The only disappointing part was the cannoli dessert. I was expecting a big, flakier cannoli, but what we got instead was a bit weak. 

946 S. Meridian St.

Indianapolis, IN 46225

www.iozzos.com

Dunaway's

This place is so hit or miss for me. Sometimes it's good, and other times it's eh. This time was eh. The worst part was the cheesecake. It was overcooked and had a hard browned top. Definitely the worst cheesecake I have ever had. My eh experiences are always so disappointing because I love that Dunaway's is in the old Oxygen building, that you can eat on the roof, and how cool the bar looks. 

351 S. East St.

Indianapolis, IN 46204

www.dunaways.com

Adobo Bar & Grill

Really good! When I used to go to Adobo on the northside, I thought the only highlights were the guacamole and margarita. Now that they're downtown, it seems like they got a major makeover! The restaurant is a really cool looking place that I hear hosts salsa. And I thought the travelling mariachi band was a fun addition to the atmosphere. I'll go here again. Plus, they had ceviche! Not bad!

110 E. Washington St.

Indianapolis, IN 46204

www.adobogrill.com/indianapolis

Sam's Gyros

Mike and I were in the mood for some gyros. Normally, we really like to go to Canal Bistro, but neither of us wanted to get dressed to sit down somewhere. Instead, we ordered carry out from Sam's Gyros. I'll be honest, I wasn't super excited because I remember the last time we got food from here, I was pretty disappointed. I had ordered a lamb dinner dish with potatoes, and I remember it being dry and without a lot of flavor. So you'll understand how amazed I was by how delicious our gyro platter was!

The portion was HUGE! You could easily split this with someone, or save half for later. I had every intention of saving half for later, but was unsuccessful. I ate every bite! The lamb meat was so juicy and flavorful. I could not stop. It also came with this wonderfully creamy cucumber sauce. It was cool, refreshing, and really went well with the perfectly seasoned meat. I could have drank the stuff. This has become my go to place for carry out gyros.

The Broad Ripple location is currently going to an expansion so the restaurant looks like a giant construction area. I can't say how the service is if you eat there, but carry out was good. The girl was really nice and everything was pretty quick even though it looked like she was the only one there. I usually get a little annoyed with people don't ask for your name with carry out orders, but we didn't have any problems. They must not get a lot of carry out orders.

The Info

Sam's Gyros

5404 N. College Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sams-Gyros/100872579957722