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

10-01

I tried 10-01 soon after it opened with Abby, Josh, and P. I heard about it from my friend from high school that works as a bartender there. So I highly recommend getting a drink here from Q. He'll treat you well! I also recommend ordering one of these: the cucumber fizz.

This drink contains cucumber vodka, St. Germaine, lemon juice, and soda. It was so refreshing. A great summertime or anytime drink.

10-01 says it puts a culinary twist on comfort foods. I thought that they found success with the comfort food dishes and were just average when they tried to be fancy. To start, Abby ordered the 10-01 mac and cheese. It was a good balance of cheesy and creamy. It wasn't super thick, and it had bacon on top. Thumbs up.

Josh isn't hip to "sharing is caring" so he only lets me try a tiny bit of food. Therefore, I can't really say how much I, personally, liked his dish. He ordered the corn chowder with jalapeno corn bread and the 10-01 barbeque sandwich. The corn chowder was pretty good, but the cornbread was pretty plain. The jalapeno didn't come through enough for flavor or heat. The sandwich was pretty disappointing. My tiny bite didn't have a lot of flavor, and the fries were mushy. I didn't mind that I was only allowed a tiny bite.  Josh didn't seem impressed with his choices either.

P ordered the open faced duck burger. It came with cranberry basil bread pudding and sauteed vegetables. They didn't ask what temperature she wanted her duck cooked, which was unfortunate since it came out very well done. So if they don't ask you, I would recommend just offering that info to them. Since the duck was overcooked it was a little dry. Otherwise, the flavor was nice. I thought this was just ok.

I ordered the pan seared catfish. It came with risotto, buerre blanc sauce, herb tomato coulis (per Wiki, thick sauce pureed and strained from fruits or vegetables), and seasonal veggies. I'm a sucker for risotto, so I had to try this. I had high hopes. I really enjoyed the fish and risotto. They were both cooked well, but then it was overwhelmed by tomato coulis. I just couldn't get over it. Sad.

As usual, I saved the best for last. Abby ordered the best dish - the country fried pork. Not only did it look AMAZING; it tasted AMAZING. Actually it was better than AMAZING. It was very close to perfect. It was wonderfully salty, rich (but not heavy) and so, so comforting. I could have easily eaten the whole thing. Abby only ate half and it took a lot of self control not to eat her other half. DEFINITELY order this!

The Rating

The Info

10-01 Food & Drink

1001 Broad Ripple Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46220

(317) 253-1001
www.1001fooddrink.com

La Piedad

Normally my philosophy for finding a Mexican restaurant is to just drive around until I see one. This is because, unfortunately, none of the ones I've tried here in Indy have stood out to me. They all seem to have the same menus, and all of the food taste just as good as the last restaurant. Maybe, one of my problems is that I always order the same thing: The Combination Dinner of 1 tamale, 1 enchilada, and rice and beans. My visit to La Piedad was no different.

I heard La Piedad was pretty good. Actually, I've always heard that it's better than La Jolla, and it was. I ordered my usual with a Dos Equis. They brought the dos equis out with a lime wedge; which I've never seen before and there's a reason why. It's disgusting! Dos Equis is not a Corona! It's not meant to have lime in it. So if you get a Dos Equis with a lime, save the lime for your tacos.

Just like I suspected, the food at La Piedad was just fine. Not great. Not terrible. Just fine. Will I go there again? Sure, when I'm in Broad Ripple...but I won't be making any special trips. I'll just go down the street to the closest restaurant.

The Rating

The Info

La Piedad

6524 Cornell Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317-475-0988

www.lapiedadindy.com

There is a 10% off coupon available on their website.

Za

Za is a New York style pizzeria that sells pizza by the slice. I've had pizza in New York (I might have been intoxicated, but I remember eating it.), and Za was pretty good! By talking with one of workers, he told me they only use fresh ingredients and make everything from scratch. I wasn't convinced with the sauce, but the cheese definitely tasted fresh. That's more important to me.

The downside of buying pizza by the slice is that you're at the mercy of what they have available at that time. So when I went I could only get cheese or pepperoni & sausage. They had a lot of other exciting combinations and ingredients like margherita, greek style, and gouda, but those were only available if you ordered a whole pie. Since we just popped in, I could only get a slice. :-(

Overall, it was pretty good! I'd go again.

The Rating

The Info

'Za Pizzeria

801 Broad Ripple Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317-602-3753

www.zapizzeria.com

Pupcakes & Cupcakes - Parcha Sweets

The problem with being behind in my blog posts is that when I write one for some place I went to awhile ago, I get really hungry for the food I'm writing about. So even though I'm super full from dinner, I really want a cupcake..or two...well, look at these pics! How could I not?!

April 20th has a certain significance for a lot people, but for me, it's my "kid's" Coco's birthday! My little pomeranian turned 2 years old. So to celebrate, I picked up some pupcakes from Three Dog Bakery for the dogs, and some cupcakes from Parcha Sweets just down the street. It's super cute inside, and the lady that helped me was ridiculously helpful. Turns out the chef has a very impressive resume, and sometimes she will just make whatever she feels like (see the above picture of the mini cheesecakes!) along with the regular cupcakes on the menu.

Top Row (from left to right): Caribbean Coconut, Lemon, Cappuccino Cream

Bottom Row (from left to right): Peanut Salty Caramel, Red Velvet, Wedding Cake

Right Picture: Tres Leches

(All descriptions are from the website.)

Caribbean Coconut Cream: White chocolate coconut ganache hidden inside a coconut cake frosted with coconut buttercream. (P's favorite!)

Lemon: Sweet and tangy lemon cream filling tucked inside a ricotta lemon cake frosted with smooth vanilla buttercream.

Cappuccino Cream: Mocha cake, Kahlua filling, and vanilla frosting sprinkled with cinnamon. (One of my favorites!)

Peanut Salty Caramel: Chocolate cake surrounds delicioius salty caramel filling, all crowned with peanut butter frosting.

Red Velvet: A marriage of sinfully rich red cake and white cream cheese frosting. A touch of Southern charm!

Wedding Cake: A light and moist cake is infused with vanilla, almond and brandy and finished with delicate vanilla buttercream frosting.

Tres Leches: Vanilla sponge cake soaked in a combination of three classic milks and topped with marshmallow fluff frosting. (You'll need a spoon!)

All of these cupcakes and desserts were AMAZING!!! What I really enjoyed about these cupcakes is that there was a good balance of icing and cake. Sometimes you get cupcakes that have so much icing that it's all that you can taste. Not here! I thought a lot of flavors were creative and great combinations. I really loved this place and will come here again. And for those that want more than cupcakes, Parcha offers coffee drinks, ice cream desserts, custom cakes, and free wifi at their store.

The Rating

The Info

Parch Sweets

2101 Broad Ripple Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317-723-5600

www.parchasweets.com

Boogie Burger

Along with writing this blog, I spend (too much) time reading food blogs. One of my favorite blogs reviews burgers, so I feel like a bit of an expert. They look at how juicy and well seasoned is the patty, how well the garnishes balance with the meat, and how the bun holds up. So that's how I am going to review Boogie Burger.

We heard from many people that Boogie Burger was the best burger they have ever eaten. We also heard that the garlic fries were to die for. I, unfortunately, did not have the same experience. Boogie Burger gave me heartburn and made me puke. :-/ But to be fair...it was most likely my fault. P said it best; sometimes I forget that I'm a small girl and not a big, burly man.

Sarah, Jamie, and Mike ordered the Wild Wild West Burger. Boogie Burger's most popular burger. It has onion rings, chedder cheese, bacon, and bbq sauce.

P ordered the Disco Inferno (I knew she would!) that has grilled serrano chiles and pepper jack cheese. Sorry that I couldn't get a picture of the burger..P was hungry. ;-)

The fatty that I am ordered the Boogie Monster (bwahaha!): Two beef patties with onion rings, grilled pastrami, a fried egg and bacon. I'm getting heartburn just thinking about it.

For a side most of us got the garlic fries. They're your thicker cut standard frozen fries tossed with fresh garlic and parsley. Mike hated them. He felt like he was eating cloves of garlic and a couple of spuds.

1. Were the patties juicy and well seasoned? Jamie and I agreed they weren't. Kind of tasted like the pre-formed frozen patties you can get at the grocery. Very disappointed.

2. Did all of the extras balance well with the meat? For mine...it was a little much. I love egg and bacon on burgers, but the grilled pastrami didn't add anything and it was very dry. The Wild Wild West and Disco Inferno were better. P said that the Disco Inferno had just the right amount of heat.

3. How did the bun hold up? The bun for my burger was pathetic, but in its defense, there were a lot of stuff on the burger. Everyone else's burgers seemed to hold up pretty well.

I'm willing to try Boogie Burger again, but I will definitely NOT get the Boogie Monster. I think I'll acknowledge my limitations and just get the single Boogie Burger.

The Rating

The Info

Boogie Burger

927 East Westfield Blvd. (Moving to 1904 Broad Ripple Ave. Corner of Broad Ripple Ave and Crittenden)

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317-255-2450

www.boogieburger.com

3 Sisters Cafe

We, at the Part-Time-Animal-House, watch a lot of shows about food and eating. It's probably why I've convinced myself that I'm hungry and want to eat ALL THE TIME. Even though I've seen this place a million times, I didn't want to go there until it was featured on Food Network's Diners Drive-in's & Dives. The dishes featured were unique mixes of ingredients that worked really well. We ordered everything we saw on the show and then some.

...And it was goooood...

For our breakfast item, we had Lemon Corncakes with Fresh Seasonal Berries. It's served with lemon curd or berry sauce. Our server, who told us his job was to bring us our food and drinks (that's good?), recommended the lemon curd. Even though it was good, I wish he told us we could get both sauces like he told the little girl at the next table. Guess it pays to be cute and 10. The corncakes were pretty good. They were light and sweet.

The fish tacos weren't special, but they were really tasty. Two corn tortillas (key for tacos) filled with flaky white fish and served with greens, salsa, guac, and chili mayo. Can't go wrong ordering these.

The best thing we ate, which I'm craving right now thinking about it, was the D'Nai. It's a slow roasted ham sandwich on a french roll with kale and pepper jack cheese. And it was FANTASTIC. Super juicy. Lots of flavor. I would have been ok with just ordering more of these sandwiches instead of the fish tacos and lemoncakes - really. It came with a dipping sauce. So if you plan on splitting this sandwich, make sure you split with someone that doesn't mind double dipping.

The fish tacos and D'Nai both came with sides. We chose the soup and homemade applesauce. Both were good. The soup was smoky and had mushrooms and other veggies. The applesauce was sweet and a good amount of cinnamon.

At 3 Sisters we had to order dessert. On DD&D, they had the blueberry pie with basil and goat cheese. And before you furrow your brow and say, "huh?", this pie was amazing. Everything was SO well balanced. As you brought a piece of the pie to your mouth, you'd smell the basil. Then after the pie was in your mouth, the goat cheese would mix really well with the sweet blueberries. Ugh, it was SOOO good.

Definitely, try this place out!

The Rating

For the D'Nai and blueberry, goat cheese and basil pie.

Info

3 Sisters Cafe

6360 Guilford Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317-257-5556

Fat Dan's Deli

After my failed 8 mile run (damn you shins!), Mike and I walked (painfully) for something to eat and stumbled upon Fat Dan's Deli on Broad Ripple Ave. Little did I realize, it was on Jamie's restaurant list. Mike and I both thought it was just all right. Solid food...but not spectacular. Fat Dan's Deli has late night hours, and I think I would like it better after a night of drinking....

Fat Dan's Deli boasts to be a "No Bull. No Chains. No Gimmicks." authentic Chicago-style deli and pub. And that's exactly what it is. Mike ordered the Italian beef; I got the pulled pork; and we split the fries. The sandwiches were individually wrapped, and the fries came out on a giant piece of paper. Very, VERY casual.

The fries were hand cut, and you could tell because they came in all different sizes and shapes. Which was interesting, but made it tough to dip in ketchup. You're better off just dumping your ketchup on the paper the fries come out on. They weren't very crispy but it's probably because of the size of some of the slices.

Mike's Italian Beef was pretty good. The peppers give it a nice spicy kick and it works really well with the thinly sliced beef. I really liked the french roll that all of it came piled on. The bread was soft, but dense enough not to fall apart from the juice, which I wish they gave more of. I wish I had ordered that instead of my pulled pork.

My pulled pork was ok. The pork wasn't tough, but it wasn't incredibly tender or flavorful. They just put it on a miserable white hamburger bun that just fell apart. It was just a miserable sandwich. (but I bet I would have loved it after at 2am Saturday morning, like I love Taco Bell.)

The Rating

Info

Fat Dan's Deli

815 Broad Ripple Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46220

(317) 259-7777

www.fatdansdeli.com

Garuda Indonesian Restaurant

Like every day that I know I'm going to try a new place for dinner, today I was super excited to try Garuda Indonesian Restaurant. My trainer told me about it. It had just opened up a couple of weeks ago, and he said it was really good. So good, that he recommended it to me again yesterday.

We at the Part Time Animal House minus Sarah ordered carryout and shared the lumpia (spring rolls), Nasi Uduk (Satay and Lemongrass Coconut Rice with half beef/half chicken), Ketoprak (Noodles in Peanut Sauce with half chicken/half tofu), and Beef Rendang (slow roasted beef). Before you get too excited...I forgot to take pictures. :-(

But you're not missing much because the food wasn't good. The Noodles in Peanut Sauce were the best part though. They were tasty. The Satay and Lemongrass Coconut Rice was very underwhelming, but even worse, the rice was way undercooked. Maybe because we're Asian we are more particular about our rice? Eh, no. Undercooked rice is just no good. P did like the vegetable salad that came with it though. The flavor of the Beef Rendang was pretty good. It had a lot of spice and just enough heat, but the potatoes in the dish were raw which ruined it. Maybe because I love potatoes so much I am being to harsh? Eh, no. Because I love potatoes so much I kept eating the raw potatoes hoping for a cooked one.

The three of us were incredibly disappointed today. Since this place is still new, I'm going to give it another try in about 6 months.

The Rating

- for good flavors and potential

Info

Garuda Indonesian Restaurant

653 E. 52nd St.

Indianapolis, IN 46205

(317) 920-8121

P.S. Since this was sooo disappointing, I made Baileys Brownies. See next post.

Brugge

I've been to Brugge a few times and except for the beer, I never thought it was anything special. Crepes were ok. Mussels were all right. And fries are fries.

Maybe because I was craving mussels and fries that day...or maybe because I was really hungry...but I thought the food totally hit the spot.

Abby, Jamie, and I ordered mussels: Asian, Provencal, and Tomato Lemon Cream, respectively. All were very tasty. I took Abby's advice of taking out enough mussels until I could dip them into the sauce. The Asian came with seaweed which was a nice combo. Be careful if you eat the mussels this way because small pieces of shell could get caught in your throat. Although you'll probably be fine if you take time eating your food, instead of inhaling it like I did.

Sarah and P got sandwiches: Meatball Sandwich and Veal and Pork Meatloaf Sandwich. Both said they were just ok. I only have 1 picture of them because they looked the same. You couldn't see it under the giant pile of pomme frites. So thumbs down for presentation, but it sounds like the fries were the best part.

Mike got a the pork tenderloin with goat cheese crepe. I thought there was too much crepe relative to the meat and goat cheese, but it still tasted ok. I'm not a fan of the mustard sauce that was drizzled on top, but other people told me this combination was fantastic.

Overall, this was definitely a much more positive experience than before. Things to definitely try are the fries, mussels, and beer.

The Rating

- Thumbs up for the beer, half for the food

Info

Brugge Brasserie

1011 East Westfield Blvd #A

Indianapolis, IN 46220

(317) 255-0978

www.bruggebrasserie.com