Sunday, March 17, 2013

King Chef

8664 E 96th St.
Fishers, IN 46038
(317) 842-8989
www.kingchefindy.com

We were furniture shopping in the 96th and I-69 corridor and decided to grab lunch. I was running out of places to blog, so instead of going to Noodles & Co., I suggested we try King Chef which is next door. It was a while back, but my brother had mentioned that the food was pretty decent there. I should have called him before we actually went in because the restaurant had since changed owners and the food isn't as great as it used to be. Although I can't fault him for this suggestion, he did steer us in the wrong direction in what is to this day the WORST dining experience I have ever had. This was well before my blogging days, and I had always wanted to work in a reference to said experience into a post. The place was El Sol del Tala on East Washington St. We must have either gone on a bad night, because this place is historically rated as one of the better Mexican restaurants in the city. The service was atrocious and the food was even worse. The chicken was still pink. The food came out cold. It was just very bad. So the tie that binds El Sol de Tala and King Chef is my brother.

King Chef was very clean. The staff was friendly and welcoming, Where it lacked was the most important piece of a restaurant, the food. They are very generous with their portions for the price. You get soup, an egg roll, fried rice, and an entree for under $6. Where I used to base Chinese restaurants on how good their General's Chicken is, I have had too many bad experiences with General's Chicken and now I go with the Kung Pao Chicken. It is simply chicken, peanuts, and veggies in a spicy sauce. When my plate arrived, I was able to pinpoint how they can have their price point so low. They load up the veggies. I have never had a Kung Pao chicken with diced celery and carrots before, but this had ample amounts of both. I really don't like cooked celery in anything but soups and stews. I think it overpowers the dish. This was the case here. Each bite was mostly carrots and celery I found myself digging around and just eating the chicken. The egg roll was huge. I probably should have eaten that first, because it was the more enjoyable part of my meal. Like the entree, it was full of veggies.

 

The restaurant was very clean. The service was quick. Our server was friendly. I was watching an old episode of Top Chef this week, and they mentioned you go to a restaurant for the food, and come back again because of the service. If only the food was better, I would make a return trip.

"I was EAting at a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called Mother and Child Reunion. It was chicken and eggs. And I said, I gotta use that one." - Paul Simon

King Chef Chinese on Urbanspoon

Monday, January 28, 2013

Road Trip: Bonge's Tavern - Perkinsville, IN

9830 W 280 North
Perkinsville, IN 46011
(765)34-1625
Bonge's Tavern

I think I will quantify any place outside the 317 area code as a Road Trip. It took an hour door to door from my parents' house. Let me preface this review with a little backstory. We did not have the traditional Bonge's experience. Typically one would plan to wait outside and tailgate before eating. You see Bonge's only has a limited amount of seating. You can only reserve a table if you have a party of 10 or more. They only can accommodate a certain number of people a night and it can fill up pretty quickly on the weekends. The website recommends you call ahead to see if they can seat you that evening. They are closed on Sundays and Mondays, and open at 4:30. You must be 21 to enter, so find a babysitter. My family went on Black Friday as it was one of the few times we were all home together. We got there right at 4:30 and were seated right away. This was strictly a dining experience. My mother isn't exactly the tailgating type, so getting in early was the only way to get her eat at Bonge's. As you can see by the pictures, the restaurant isn't very big. What you see is pretty much all the seating. There is a small room in the back. I don't think the decor has changed much over the years. There are mounted animals and typical bar hangings that cover the walls for decoration. The service was flawless. Our waitress had a very good knowledge of the menu and explained each entree with vivid detail. I know in my last post I mentioned that I would not have any pictures, but luckily my brother was able to capture some for me. Unfortunately, the only picture of the food was my least favorite dish.

Each entree comes with soup or salad, potatoes, veggies, and jalepeno cornbread. Our waitress said the most popular items are the Perkinsville Pork and the Harger Duck. Since it was the day after Thanksgiving, I went with the Beef Brisket as I wanted to stay away from poultry. I should have ordered the Pork. It was easily the best thing on the table. Between the 6 of us, the ladies in my family ordered the Pork; my brothers had the Duck and NY Strip; my father ordered the Applewood Smoked Prime Rib. Now the Brisket wasn't bad by any means. It was very tender and fell apart easily. I think it was braised in a red wine sauce. There was a generous amount of brisket as well. I definitely did not leave the restaurant hungry. I think the cheapest menu item was $19, but they make sure you get your money's worth. The potatoes were julienne cut in a creamy cheesy sauce. The veggie was sautéed broccolini. I actually brought some broccolini to Thanksgiving this past year. My family thought mine was better, but you aren't going to Bonge's for the sides. They know what they are doing with the menu. They do a handful of items with excellence, instead of having a phonebook full of average entrees (I'm looking at you Cheesecake Factory). Each dish was cooked to perfection and I was able to take a sample bit of them all. I'll admit I am not the biggest fan of duck. I had a bad experience once and it has ruined it for me. The pork was pounded thin with a breading of parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. It was fried to a beautiful golden brown while maintaining the juiciness of the meat. I think our waitress said it was cooked in lemon butter, which gave it a fresh citrus flavor. It complimented the saltiness of the parmesan cheese. It was just heavenly. My father had a complaint about his Prime Rib being too tough. I tried to tell him not to order it well done, so I rest that on him. My brother's NY strip was very good as well. I think I am always going to go with the pork every time. I know that variety is the spice of life, but when something is that good, it's hard to stray away from it.
"EAting crappy food isn't a reward, it's a punishment." - Drew Carey

 

Bonge's Tavern Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Chef Dan's Southern Comfort

Food Truck
@ChefDansIndy
Chef Dan's Southern Comfort

My sincerest apologies for the hiatus. Where I thought I would have time to blog more during the holidays, they were much busier than I had planned. You can't put a price on spending time with the family. I would rather be doing that, than blogging. Also, I got a new phone and I lost all my pics, so the next couple posts will be picture-less. Luckily I enjoyed both places, and will return.

We had Chef Dan's Indy come to the office one day. Since this occurrence doesn't happen very often, I decided to keep my soup and sandwich in the fridge for Chef Dan's. Since it is a food truck, I can't really go in depth on atmosphere. The truck is Southern Comfort themed. There is a painting of some New Orleans streets on the side of this bright orange trailer. The service was great and the lady taking the orders was really friendly. Our food came out in less than ten minutes. There was only one other customer in front of us.

They had a special going. For $10, you got your choice of Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich or Pulled Pork, choice of side (slaw or Cajun fries), a drink, and banana pudding. I asked which was better, and I was told there was only one chicken left, so I went with it. Also, I figured you can get pulled pork pretty much anywhere and it wouldn't be a good gauge of true southern cooking. I think I made a pretty wise decision. The chicken was pounded to about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick and it was bigger than the bun. The chicken was juicy and had big Cajun flavor. It had a pretty mild heat to it. The breading was pretty light and had a good crunch. I had it topped with lettuce, tomato, and onion. There was a Cajun aioli as well. There sauce was was a nice creamy compliment to the crispy fried chicken. The Cajun fries were also nice and crispy. The seasoning had a pretty mild heat. I forgot to grab ketchup packets when I went back upstairs, but ketchup is unnecessary. There is enough flavor in these fries, you really don't want to dip them in anything. They stand well on their own. They ran out of banana pudding, so my meal was dropped to $9. For my drink, I ordered the swamp water which is 1/2 sweet tea and 1/2 lemonade. I think the past 10 years of only drinking diet drinks has ruined sugary drinks for me. I always get a headache now when I drink anything with real sugar. My coworker ordered the andouille sausage Po' Boy. I had a couple bites of the sausage and it was delicious. I think I would opt for the Po' Boy next time. There was an ample amount of sausage, tomatoes, lettuce, and the perfect amount of aioli where you wouldn't feel guilty eating this sandwich, unlike the one at Papa Roux.

"When engaged in EAting, the brain should be the servant of the stomach." - Agatha Christie

 

Chef Dan's Southern Comfort on Urbanspoon