MEXICO CITY IN FISHERS?

Looking for a Mexican restaurant in the Indianapolis area?  Good luck with that (extreme sarcasm).  You can throw a piñata in just about any direction in these parts and have it land close to a Mexican joint.  There are the good the bad and the ugly choices, as always, and a few outstanding ones as well.  Mexico City Grill is easily in the good catgegory.  Located in a strip center (due tell) on the Northeast corner of 116th and Allisonville Road you will find your usual Tex-Mex items with a few surprises thrown in.  The place is much larger than you would guess from the outside.  At first glance it appears as if EVERYTHING is brightly painted and carved out of wood, lots of eye candy for the easily amused.  But it was very clean and the service was outstanding.  I went for a late lunch and it was moderately busy.  Freshly made chips and table salsa came out right away with a nice big glass of ice water.  The salsa was on the mild side but was flavorful.  I threw a couple of my choices out to my server and he said the Al Pastor burrito would be to my liking.  Upon it's arrival I was impressed with the presentation and portion size.  The Al Pastor didn't seem like it had been marinated for very long, but the pork was tender and it had a nice pineapple zing to it.  I would like to go back in the evening to see how their Margaritas are and check out some of the dinner entrees that are not on the lunch menu.

DAMI Nice Korean/Japanese spot in Bloomington

     DAMI ASIAN FUSION

409 E 4th St, Bloomington, IN

(812) 339-2735

My friend Julie and I were famished at about 6pm after an amazing lecture by Lydia Lunch, which was part of the William S. Burroughs celebration at I.U.  I knew we would find something interesting to eat on East 4th street.  I had read some good reviews of Dami so we found a parking spot close by and went on in.  Like many restaurants in the area, it occupies a former house that has been nicely transformed into a comfortable dining spot. A couple of Asian students were sharing a bubbling hot pot when we came in, which was a good sign.  Our server was super friendly and dropped off menus and some ice water.  The menu is pretty comprehensive, covering all of the desired Korean and Japanese offerings one would expect, with accompanying pictures to help out the unsure diners.  We ordered a chicken Yakitori appetizer to share.  Julie went for the Dolsot BiBimBap, which is rice, pickled veggies with a sunny side up egg served on top, all in a blazing hot stone bowl, allowing the rice to get nice and crispy.  I went for the chicken Yakisoba  noodles.  It came out bubbling in a cast iron griddle.  Dinners come with a small bowl of miso soup, which was perfectly seasoned, and 5 small Korean side dishes, but no kimchi :(  My dinner was a perfect balance of sweet and savory.  The noodles were cooked correctly with nice pieces of chicken and a couple types of onion.  Julie's dinner was more of a miss, no beef, despite our servers description, and lacking the usual dollop of Korean hot bean paste.  Our Yakitori came out during our meal, not as an appetizer before hand.  But it was so good it really didn't matter.  Lunch specials are offered for $7.95 and most dinners for one person are in the $10 - $18 range.  No alcohol is served. All in all a  pretty good dinner with a few hiccups.

Dragon House in Fishers

A good friend of mine recommended the Dragon House restaurant. I have become very tired of going to bad Chinese buffet restaurants and was happy to give this one a try.  I walked into the restaurant and was pleased to find an interesting variety of items on the buffet. Not a huge number of items, but there were several people attending to the buffet making sure everything was fresh which was very promising.  Pretty good egg drop soup, and pretty good hot and sour soup, small cold fruit/salad bar, and no bagged lettuce!  Obviously made in the house items such as the crab rangoon and egg rolls... and lettuce wraps, very nice.  However, the quality of the food did not match the originality of the product. The flavors were fine, if a little bit mild, but many items were too greasy.  Lo Mein noodles and Tempura Shrimp were the stand out items of the day.  I really appreciate the fact that they do not use any MSG in their food, and they serve Coca-Cola products (drink included).  The staff was super friendly and the place is nice and clean.  I will go back again hoping it was just a bad day.
SECOND VISIT.
I wanted to go back for a second visit.  This time the oil was under control and once again the items on the line were kept fresh.  I was pleasantly surprised to find pork clear noodle soup.  I also like the fact they have a small bowl of fresh cut scallions to add as a garnish in addition to the usual fried wonton slivers.  I forgot to mention before that a full menu is also available!
THIRD AND FINAL VISIT
Due to a screw up at my credit union, I had to make a mad dash there on my lunch hour.  Being only a few blocks away and in a bit of a hurry Dragon House seemed to fill the bill.
OMG....what a disaster.  It was about 1:15, which seems to me to be still a reasonable time for lunch. There were only a few tables occupied, but almost every other table was dirty and/or un-bussed.  I moved a few items off of the cleanest one and hit up the buffet.  Salad was old and wilted for the most part, so I passed.  Two thirds of the items on the hot table were either empty or dried out beyond belief.  I got some of the above mentioned silver noodle soup and a few of the least offensive entrees and sat down.  The soup was fine, everything else was cold or lukewarm at best.  No one was attending the buffet.  I went back up to the buffet and kind of stood around looking for any hope of an employee showing up to put out something fresh.  NO LUCK.  The only employee was the girl who took my money when I came in and she was way too engaged with her smart phone to look up and help me.  I left, pissed and still hungry.  On my way out a nice young couple with a kid were coming in.  I gave them the heads up to look at the buffet before paying.  I hope they took my advice.

RALPH'S GREAT DIVIDE...GREAT FOOD IN LOCKERBIE

DON'T BLINK....IF YOU DO WHILE DRIVING EAST ON NEW YORK STREET AROUND LOCKERBIE SQUARE, JUST EAST OF DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS, YOU ARE LIKELY TO MISS RALPH'S GREAT DIVIDE.  AND THAT WOULD BE A MAJOR LOSS FOR YOU.  THE RATHER NON-DESCRIPT YELLOW AND RED EXTERIOR NEVER EVEN TEASES YOU AS TO THE PRETTY AMAZING CULINARY GOINGS ON INSIDE.  READ THEIR HISTORY AND CATCH UP ON WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON HERE FOR DECADES, IF YOU WANT, BUT JUST GET THERE AND DON'T BE LEFT OUT!  THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE IS A SMALL DINING AREA WITH SEATING FOR 20 OR SO AND A PIANO FOR SING ALONG NIGHTS!  THE BACK BAR AREA HAS ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT OF SEATING WITH TONS OF FUN STUFF TO GAZE AT ON THE WALLS, AROUND THE BAR....WELL, PRETTY MUCH EVERYWHERE.  AT FIRST GLANCE THE MENU PROBABLY SCREAMS "GOOD AMERICAN FARE" WHICH IS TRUE, BUT THE SECRETS AT RALPH'S ARE A BIT MORE SUBTLE.  THE OUTSTANDING QUALITY OF THEIR BEEF, THE HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSINGS, THE MADE IN HOUSE BOURBON BAKED HAM, OFF THE CHART DESSERTS, AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON.  EVERY DAY HAS A DIFFERENT AND COMPLETE LUNCH AND DINNER SPECIAL.  I HAVE BEEN ALL OVER THE MENU AND I HAVE NEVER HAD ANYTHING THAT WAS LESS THAN VERY GOOD.  THE STAND OUTS ARE THE THE BEEF TENDERLOIN TIPS.  OMFG THEY ARE TO DIE FOR.  ALSO IN THE STELLAR CATEGORY IS THE HOT POT AUG, THEIR SUPER RICH CREAM OF POTATO, CHEESY CONCOCTION THAT CAN BE TURNED INTO HOT POT PIG WITH BACON FOR ONLY A FEW CENTS MORE.  THEY ARE ALSO FAMOUS FOR THEIR COCONUT CREAM PIE.  FULL BAR SERVICE IS OFFERED, AS WELL, WITH A KICK YOUR FACE IN SPICY BLOODY MARY BEING THE STAND OUT.  SEVERAL LOCAL BEERS ARE AVAILABLE BUT THE LAST TIME I ASKED THERE WAS NOTHING ON TAP.  SAD.  ALSO OBVIOUSLY MISSING ARE ANY VEGETARIAN OFFERINGS OTHER THAN AN APPETIZER OR SALAD HERE AND THERE.  AS FRIENDLY AS THE STAFF IS AT RALPH'S IT WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME IF THE WIZARDS IN THE KITCHEN COULDN'T WHIP UP SOMETHING FOR THE VEGGIE DINER.  THE SERVICE AT RALPH'S IS RELAXED BUT ATTENTIVE.  THE PIANO GETS IN GEAR ON MONDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHTS AND IT GETS CROWDED AND STAYS THAT WAY, SO CALL AHEAD. OUTDOOR DINING IS AVAILABLE, WEATHER PERMITTING.  ENJOY!

HOTEL CAESAR PARK IS HOME BASE IN BUENOS AIRES.

AFTER AN UN-EVENTFUL 10 HOUR FLIGHT FROM ATLANTA, A 40 MINUTE OR SO CAR RIDE GETS US TO THE HOTEL CASER PARK.  LOCATED CLOSE TO THE LA RECOLETA DISTRICT OF BUENOS AIRES, IT'S A MEDIUM SIZE BOUTIQUE BUSINESS HOTEL.  LOCATED IN A STATELY OLD BUILDING, THE INSIDE HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REHABBED WITH A BEAUTIFUL SPACIOUS FRONT DESK/ATRIUM AREA, WITH A SMALLISH RESTAURANT AND BAR AREA OFF IN THE WINGS.  OUR ROOM WAS NICE WITH A GOOD SIZE FLAT PANEL TV, A DESK AREA AND A VERY SPACIOUS BATHROOM WITH A SEPARATE TUB AND SHOWER AND EVEN A BIDET!  OUR VIEW WAS LESS THAN SPECTACULAR, EVEN THOUGH IT LOOKED TOWARDS THE BAY, MOST OF THE WATERFRONT IS PRETTY INDUSTRIAL.  HERE IS THE BREAK DOWN ON THE HOTEL.  LOCATION:  IF YOU ARE IN B.A. ON BUSINESS WITH A NICE EXPENSE ACCOUNT, YOU ARE IN LUCK.  ACROSS THE STREET IS A NICE HIGH END SHOPPING MALL AND CLOSE BY ARE SOME VERY NICE UPSCALE DINING OPTIONS. FOR THE POOR TOURIST LIKE MYSELF, IT IS A BIT MORE OF A CHALLENGE.  TAXI'S ARE PLENTIFUL IN THIS AREA, AND NOT TERRIBLY EXPENSIVE UNLESS YOU GET JAMMED IN TRAFFIC.  AVOID TRYING TO GET AROUND DURING RUSH HOUR.  BUSSES SEEM TO BE FAIRLY EASY TO CATCH, BUT THE CLOSEST SUBWAY STATION I COULD FIND WAS QUITE A HAUL AWAY.  I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE STUDIED THE BUS ROUTES MORE THOROUGHLY, BUT I DID A LOT OF WALKING AND CAUGHT A CAB HERE AND THERE AND DID JUST FINE.  AMENITIES: THERE IS A SMALL FITNESS CENTER WITH AN INDOOR SWIMMING POOL ATTACHED.  THERE IS ALSO A SMALL DINING AREA WITH A BAR AREA ATTACHED FOR GET TOGETHERS.  THE CONCIERGE DESK WAS ALWAYS STAFFED AND VERY HELPFUL.  ALL OF THE STAFF ARE SUPER PLEASANT AND SPEAK FLUENT ENGLISH IF YOUR SPANISH ISN'T UP TO SNUFF.  EVERY MORNING THE DINING AREA FEATURES AN AMAZING BRUNCH.  SEVERAL FRESH FRUIT SELECTIONS INCLUDING FRESH SQUEEZED JUICES, CEREALS, DELI MEAT, CHEESES AN OMELET STATION AND HOT SELECTIONS ROTATING DAILY.  AS WITH ANY BUFFET, THE HOT ITEMS ARE SUBJECT TO VARIOUS ELEMENTS THAT USUALLY DETER FROM THEIR ORIGINAL PREPARATION.  ALL THE OTHER ITEMS ARE SPOT ON!
A SHORT WALK AWAY ARE SEVERAL LOCAL EATERIES, SEE SOME MORE REVIEWS, AND SOME INTERESTING SHOPPING OPTIONS.  STAY TUNED FOR MORE ON MY TRIP TO BUENOS AIRES.

ARGENTINA HERE I COME....LIKE IT OR NOT!

THANKS TO MY WONDERFUL PAL JERRY, I AM OFF TO BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA FOR THE FIRST TIME.  WITH A CONNECTION THROUGH ATLANTA I WAS ABLE TO MEET UP WITH LEE CUTHBERT, A GREAT FRIEND THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN IN YEARS.  WE HAD JUST ENOUGH TIME TO ENJOY A SANDWICH AND A BEER BEFORE I HAD TO HOP ON THE TRAM TO THE INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL AND WAIT FOR MY DEPARTURE.  THANKS TO SOME UN-MENTIONABLE MECHANICAL PROBLEM WITH THE PLANE, OUR TAKE OFF WAS DELAYED FOR OVER AN HOUR.  NORMALLY NOT GOOD, BUT THANKS TO JERRY'S DIAMOND MEMBERSHIP ON DELTA, WE HIT THE SKY CLUB TO PASS THE TIME.  WHO WOULD HAVE IMAGINED THAT I WOULD ENJOY ONE OF THE BEST BLOODY MARY'S I HAVE EVER HAD.  SUPER SPICY AND PERFECTLY LOADED WITH GIANT GREEN OLIVES.  THANK YOU DELTA!  I AM READY FOR A SMOOTH 10 HOUR FLIGHT, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO A GREAT WEEK IN BUENOS AIRES.

NO, NO, NO TO LA CABANA MEXICAN GRILL AND BAR

DAMN THE ALPHABET.  IT WAS LUNCH TIME AND COUPONS 4 INDY ALWAYS HAS A COUPON FOR LA HACIENDA, WHICH IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE LOCAL MEXICAN RESTAURANTS.  SO I TYPED IN "LA" AND START TO SCROLL DOWN AND BEFORE I GET TO THE H's, I SPY LA CABANA.  LOCATED AT 7035 E 96th STREET IT WAS ON MY WAY AND I'M ALWAYS WILLING TO TRY OUT A NEW PLACE.  I CAN FIRMLY SAY THAT I WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO LA CABANA.  LET'S START WITH THE CHIPS.  NOTE TO SELF....WARMING UP STALE CHIPS DOES NOT MAKE THEM FRESH.  THE SALSA REMINDED ME OF CATSUP WITH A FEW ONIONS AND PEPPERS THROWN IN.  I ORDERED A TACO SALAD, WHICH SOUNDED LIKE A GOOD CHOICE ON A HOT SUMMER DAY.  FIRST IMPRESSION WAS THAT IT WAS KIND OF SMALL, BUT IT WAS A LUNCH ITEM SO WHAT THE HECK.  CRACKING INTO THE SHELL OPENED A FLOOD GATE OF SOME MYSTERY LIQUID THAT THE CHICKEN, BEEF AND SHRIMP WERE SWIMMING IN.  THE ONLY REASON I KNEW THAT IT WAS CHICKEN AND BEEF WAS BECAUSE OF THE MENU DESCRIPTION, CERTAINLY NOT THE FLAVOR.  ON TOP OF BEING HARD AND DRY IT WAS BLAND.  THE SHRIMP, HOWEVER, WERE ACTUALLY COOKED PROPERLY.  SO YOU ARE ASKING YOURSELF, 'WHY DIDN'T I COMPLAIN"?  AT THE TIME IT SEEMED POINTLESS, I COULDN'T IMAGINE ANYTHING COMING OUT OF THAT KITCHEN THAT WAS GOING TO BE EDIBLE.  AS A MATTER OF FACT, AFTER LEAVING I BOLTED INTO ALDI TO GET SOME ICE CREAM TO GET THE NASTY RESIDUE OUT OF MY MOUTH.  NO KIDDING....IT WAS THAT BAD.