Restaurant Guide Update: March 2018
A tour of the city’s best dining
Broken English Taco Pub
This Chicago-based franchise serves up a short list of street tacos set against a funky cantina-style backdrop of graffitied walls, colored lights, and piñatas. The menu’s not as vast as the space itself, but covers all the bases with an enchilada bowl, burritos, sweet-corn hush puppies, and a chorizo-laced queso fundido. Carne asada, pork belly, and fried chicken taco variations stand out, as does the nutty pepita-fortified salsa verde and, for dessert, the decadent churros atop salted-caramel gelato with chocolate sauce. Of the cocktail/tequila/craft beer selections, the unassuming frozen house margarita packs a surprising punch. Lunch and dinner daily. 141 S. Meridian St., 317-362-0072
Oca
Goose the Market brings a sausage-and-sandwich counter to Sun King Brewing, providing sustenance in the form of imaginative sausages (as in links combining salmon belly with blood orange, Berkshire pork with octopus, and turkey with foie gras) explained on a casual laminated menu. Long communal tables inside the downtown brewery’s tasting room fill up with pint glass–nursing guests sharing charcuterie boards as well as pretzels, and a “salame can,” which is an empty Sun King beer can filled with a bouquet of cured meat, cheese, and pickle. The most rewarding order is the sharable choucroute garnie platter brimming with assorted sausages and a smoked rib chop. It’s big enough to get you through at least two rounds. Lunch and dinner daily. 135 S. College Ave., 317-602-3702
Taxman Fortville
Rustic gourmet dishes like mussels and frites in a garlicky, bacon broth, and messy barbecue-topped Liège waffles are the reward after the trip to this laidback Geist-area hangout. Head chef Ryan Kernodle’s menu builds on the Belgian-style beers from Bargersville’s Taxman Brewing Company. The lineup changes with the availability of ingredients (many supplied by nearby farmers), but the seasonal salmon and the duck do not disappoint. Lunch and dinner Fri.–Sun., dinner Tues.–Thurs. 29 S. Main St., Fortville, 317-482-1272
Ukiyo
Two dining rooms—a dark and cozy wood-lined room with modern Danish lighting and the bright and inviting sushi bar—comprise chef-owner Neal Brown’s meticulous spin on Japanese cuisine, where guests are welcomed to the table with a small sampling of ginger milk, like Japanese horchata. Early favorites included an uni toast appetizer, chicken skins with honeycomb, and pork shoguyaki with Napa cabbage, soba noodles, and caramelized onions. In the reservations-only omakase menu option, Ukiyo’s chefs prepare an ever-evolving tasting selection of their choice. Lunch and dinner Tues.–Sat. 4907 N. College Ave., 317-384-1048
