His Place: Food for Everyone’s Soul

His Place is a quintessential soul food restaurant on the east side that serves chicken and waffles, ribs, and other non-low-fat offerings.  I got a groupon for His Place after seeing fried perch on the menu because perch is one of my favorite fish and nearly impossible to find in this area. I was intrigued by the idea of spaghetti as a side dish and by the dessert offering of sweet potato cheesecake.  I was not disappointed.

The worst thing about His Place is how difficult it is to visit.  They are open six days a week but the hours are literally different 5 of those 6 days.  But since you need to fast at least 6 hours before visiting to make ample stomach room for the goodies, planning ahead isn’t really such a big deal.  It also is in an older building that smells a bit funky inside in the way older buildings do.  Again, totally worth it.

I obviously opted for the fried perch, which came with two sides.  I chose bourbon creamed corn and the spaghetti, which I admit isn’t the most natural combination, but how do you turn down those options?  I was very pleased with the fish.  Many places in Indianapolis have a beer-battered fish, which I find a bit soggy and puffy.  This fry batter was more substantial and crunchy and reminded me of the fish fries up north, if a bit thicker.  I got four filets, which I thought was pretty generous for $10.  The spaghetti was standard spaghetti, which actually was a really interesting side to fried food.

As tasty as the fish and spaghetti were, I wouldn’t order either again because next time I go back I am ordering a quart of the bourbon creamed corn for dinner.  I couldn’t pinpoint what made the corn so delicious, but it was pure bliss.  Slightly sweet, slightly creamy, slightly peppery, the envy of everyone at the table.  Seriously, you have to try this stuff.

Abby ordered fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and stuffing.  She was impressed by the juicy meat and nice crispy fry batter of the chicken.  It’s hard to mess up mashed potatoes and gravy, and His Place certainly did not.

Phil got ribs, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes with gravy.  I enjoy ribs in theory, but unless the meat falls off into my mouth, they just seem like so much work.  Happily, these ribs and my laziness were a perfect match.  Their combination of dry rub and just a touch of barbecue sauce on the side is exactly what I look for in a rib, and I will probably order these myself next time I visit.  (with the quart of creamed corn, of course.)  The macaroni and cheese wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, a bit on the overcooked side, but still a perfect accoutrement to ribs.

After that huge meal, I loosened by sweatpants and was all geared up for a piece of the sweet potato cheesecake! My heart was fairly broken when they didn’t have any available and  I consoled myself by ordering banana pudding.  

The problem with eating a really delicious meal at a new restaurant is that it’s very difficult to try something else the next time you visit.  I still want to try the sweet potato cheesecake, but now that I know how good this banana pudding is, I don’t think I can not order it again.  It was the most wonderful creamy consistency, like maybe there was whipped cream mixed into the banana pudding?  And then there were layers of bananas and vanilla wafers and I just was so so happy.  See the little Nilla wafer crumbs on top?  Like a hug in a dish.

In summary, I loved His Place. The price was right, about $10 an entree which included sides, and $3.50 for very generously sized desserts. Our server was extremely friendly, our food was extremely delicious.  Run away winners were the creamed corn and banana pudding, but everything was flavorful and well-cooked.  It’s not a fancy culinary destination, but it is feel-good food at it’s most satisfying and I will be back.  As soon as I have my cholesterol checked.

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K&T Deli-cious

I’m not proud to admit it, but when K&T Deli was recommended to me by foodie friends Nick and Alice as “Dirt cheap and authentic Vietnamese food,” I was fully prepared to write a hole-in-the-wall blog:  “You can ignore the grungy floors and flickering lightbulbs because the food is so good” type of deal.   I will still tag it as a hole-in-the-wall  because it’s small, limited English-speaking, and located in…an interesting part of town, but honestly, K&T is way too nice for that moniker.

The first thing you notice about K&T is that it’s pretty clean inside.  This isn’t one of those things I like saying, but you all know what I mean.  It’s tidy, it’s bright, the tables and chairs all match.

The second thing you notice is that you have no idea what to order because everything looks tasty but all kind of sounds the same.

I’d been told the pho was delicious, so we ordered a bowl of#30, the Pho bo, “rare beef and rice noodle.”  The server told us “rare beef” actually meant “beef flank, tendon, brisket, and tripe,” but that he could leave out the…connective tissues if we wanted.  Well, I didn’t come for Campbell’s, bring it on! 

The pho was $7 and literally came in a 2 quart bowl.  At least.  I didn’t realize it from the menu, but it was clearly intended to be shared.  It was served with a plate of amazingly fresh bean sprouts, jalapenos, lime, and what looked and smelled like Thai basil.  The pho itself was a very simple beef and rice noodle in a rich beef broth, enhanced with only white and green onion.  Between two of us, we were able to eat almost 2/3 of the pho, but seriously contemplated staying all afternoon just to finish.  (In case you were wondering, the 1/3 we left did include all the miscellaneous animal bits.  I’m not proud, but I’m also not hungry for tendon.  Oops.)

The pho was tasty and I will absolutely have it again.  But what I was really excited to try was a good pork banh mi.  Banh mi is sort of the Philly Cheesesteak of Vietnam. Literally, the phrase refers to bread, but ordering one usually yields a sandwich with cucumbers, julienned pickled carrots and some type of meat or tofu.  It’s become very hip lately to make dishes “inspired by” a banh mi, and I’ve had plenty of those, but never tried the actual sandwich!  When I saw a pork belly version listed on the extensive menu of banh mi options, you know I had to pick it. 

This thing.  Holy cow.  The first thing I noticed was the perfection of the bread.  Soft and easy to bite through, but so crispy on the very outside that my shirt was covered in crumbs.  Crackle, crackle.  There was just enough pork belly that you could taste it, but this wasn’t a meat sandwich, per se.  This sandwich was an exercise in balance.  Crispy, mellow cucumbers, tangy pickled carrot,  flavored with cilantro and pork and what I think was a touch of mayonnaise-like dressing.  I could have eaten six.

The last thing I noticed about the sandwich was that is was THREE. FREAKIN. DOLLARS.  Ok, actually $3.50.  The man who was helping us pick lunch said his personal favorite was the sardine banh mi, and let me tell you, I won’t make it a week before going back to try it.  For that price and that amount of perfection, I could eat one every day.  Unfortunately, the banh mi aren’t listed on the regular menu, so I’ll just have to go take a photo of the list for you.  So soon.

Ok, I confess, I went back before I could even post this and tried the sardine banh mi and it was fabulous.  I also tried the egg rolls, the charbroiled pork chop, and the beef and noodles.  Guess what?  They were all excellent!  And cheap!  

The drink menu was almost as extensive as the food menu and included a variety of things I’d never heard of, like sugar cane juice and avocado smoothies.  Don’t laugh, but I’ve had a decades-long aversion to avocados stemming from an unfortunate bout of gastroenteritis very close in chronology to consumption of guacamole.  Since I realized I actually love them (about a year ago), I’ve basically been shotgunning them to make up for lost time.  Naturally, therefore, an avocado smoothie was ordered.  Did we want boba, fruit jellies, or lychee?  Um…let’s try all three. 

There’s really no way to describe this drink, except to say it was silky and smooth and mildly sweet and perfect.  Even if I said it was awful, you know you’d have to go try one now that you know they exist.  So just go try one.

While we’re on the topic of ethnic food, allow me to rant for a moment.  I’m always irritated when I go on Yelp and people are like “Pffffffft!  Trust me, I’m from San Francisco (lived there for a year while trying to be a musician!) and THERE we have WAYYYYY better *insert ethnic or specialty food*. This isn’t authentic at all!”  1. You sound like a pretentious ass.  2.  Does everyone’s Grandma make the same chicken noodle soup?  Does every American make apple pie the same way?? No!  When I review food, I try to decide whether or not I like it, period.  I realize that comparisons are natural, but they should have basis:  this bread wasn’t cripsy enough, I like sweeter sauce, etc.  Please don’t expect that your taste is the same as everyone else’s and if the sauce was too sweet for you, that means it was too sweet period.  Nobody cares that the one cup of coffee you had in Brussels or wherever Daddy paid for you to spend freshman summer was SO much better than this. End Rant.  (By the way, everyone on Yelp loves K&T Deli.  But even if they didn’t, I would.)

The moral of the story is this:  I’ve never been to Vietnam.  I’ve never been to a Vietnamese restaurant.  But this place was fantastic and I loved it and you should give it a try. You’ll probably see me there.

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Tortas mucho excellente

I’m writing this post at the end of a long block of exams, during which I gave myself almost complete carte blanche to eat garbage whenever I felt like it.  That’s not to say some produce didn’t sneak in here or there, but believe me when I tell you that a fair amount pizza and ice cream and Sour Patch kids by the handful snuck in with a much higher frequency

Like most women I know, when the gloves are off, I head straight for bread.  And one of my favorite ways to eat bread lately is in a torta.  Torta is of course a word derived from the same family as tortilla and also indicates a flat, round piece of bread.  In this particular case, it also indicates that it’s wrapped around meat and cheese and tomato and avocado and mayonnaise.  But how exactly a torta differs from a sub sandwich is one of those things that would seem nuanced and subtle if I described it, when in reality the difference is dramatic and obvious.  Just go try one and save me the hassle of waxing poetic over the unbelievable fluffiness of the bread  and the irony of saying je ne sais pas to describe a Mexican sandwich.

There is a perfectly nice tortas shop in Fountain Square which I’m quite enamored with, Tortas Guicho Dominguez y  el Cubanito.  But on this particular day I was in Speedway, and had been itching to try a little shop catering to the factory lunch crowd called Super Tortas.  Bonus points for the shop being bright yellow and having a fun name.

Inside, the shop is…well, it isn’t fancy.  I can’t really comment on how clean or not clean it was, because it’s quite dark inside, but it seemed nice enough and the staff was BEYOND friendly.  The specials were incredibly priced and they had strawberry Jarritos, which is my favorite and not usually available, for some reason.

I should note for any first-timers that at both places I mentioned, the sandwiches are served with tomato, mayonnaise, and avocado unless you ask them to hold it.  They are also served with a little dish of jardiniera, which is probably for your sandwich, but I almost invariably sneak some to munch on, then have to buy another drink when my face starts sweating.

I opted for the Italiana, which was basically ham and cheese.  This is what I’m talking about when I say I can’t really describe why a torta is delicious-if you go and decide the Italiana isn’t really any better than your mom’s ham and cheese sandwich, I will personally refund your $5.50

Phil opted for the Super Torta Cubana, which-I’m not kidding-has Smoked Leg, Breaded Steak, Ham, Turkey, Chorizo, Hot Dog (seriously), Egg, Head Cheese, Mozzarella, Feta, and American Cheese. (This one was $7.75, by the way.  And the extra $2 goes toward meat and meat and meat)

I’m embarassed to admit that we both got half our sandwiches boxed up to go, but pleased to report they reheated beautifully.  I would highly recommend the sandwiches from this little hole in the wall, and if you can overlook the sparse interior, I’d recommend staying to eat them.  If you want shiny floors and a fancy bathroom and locally sourced artisanal meats in everything, take your torta to go and sneak it into where sandwiches aren’t $5.50.  Happy eating!!