Restaurant Review: Nothing Glowing at Ember Urban Eatery

There’s a moral of this story…it’s to trust your instinct.  And to never tolerate being served an $85.00 dinner on plastic ware.  But anyway, on with the review…

Recently, it was my husband’s fantasy football draft.  We were looking for a casual place to grab a bite to eat and use free wireless for the draft.  We immediately thought of Ember, a little restaurant in our neighborhood.  According to Yelp, there’s free wireless.  The menu looked completely appropriate for bringing a laptop to dinner—wings, sandwiches, salads, beer.  There was even a patio.  It was the makings of an enjoyable, laid back night.

When we arrived, we were promptly seated on the busy patio.  Busy is a good sign, right?  But I was instantly confused.  The menu was just one page of prix fixe meals as part of Devour Downtown—not at all like the $8.75 barbecue pork sandwich I’d already eyed up online, or the $10.50 smoked in house wings that received a few nods on Yelp.  Instead, we were looking at $30 per person for a half portion of an appetizer, an entrée, and dessert.  When you go to Recess, you anticipate multiple courses selected for you.  You don’t expect that at your neighborhood casual eatery.  I asked the server for the regular menu and she said it wasn't offered during Devour Downtown.  Immediately, I was uncomfortable.  After all, I wanted a sandwich.  But the draft was starting in minutes so we needed wireless, we were hungry, and we wanted to support a local spot.  We stayed.  But instinct should’ve taken over to leave.

Some background…Devour Downtown happens twice a year in Indianapolis.  Restaurants entice new diners with special menus and discounts.  For example, St. Elmo’s offers a three-course menu for either $30 or $40, depending on entrée selections, and it includes choices like their signature shrimp, filet mignon, and crème brulee.  If you don’t want to eat off the Devour menu, every restaurant I’ve been to in Indy still offers the regular menu.  The point of Devour Downtown is usually to save money while trying something new.  Instead, this neighborhood spot’s menu had truly been devoured by trying to go all fancy pants and pricey.

The appetizer selections ranged from four wings to a salad.  We both chose the wings.  Outside, they had great color and inside they were tender and moist.  The doneness was spot on, but the seasoning was weak.  They didn’t have that deep smoky flavor or a smoke ring.  They needed to be spun in a dry rub or sauce to have any kind of flavor.  The peppercorn ranch they were served with was heavy handed on the peppercorns—it had so much black pepper it was gritty.  My husband liked the dressing, I would have preferred plain ranch. 

Wings and wireless at Ember.  The wrought iron table was nice and sturdy.  The plastic chairs were not.  Not all tables have metal chairs, some have cheap plastic chairs.  The wings had a nice exterior, but no telltale pink ring of authentic smoking process or smoky flavor.  The ranch is acceptable if you really like black pepper.

Our entrees came—we both ordered ribeye steaks.  Mine was far from medium rare, but it wasn’t worth sending back at that point, so I didn’t have a new steak fired.  Nothing special, just a ribeye on a plate.  It could’ve used some seasoned crust, searing on a grill, or something distinctive.  The broccolini was acceptable—a little oily—but plain broccolini.  These two offerings were pretty much what my husband is capable of making at home with a skillet.  The standout was a mashed potato puff.  It looked like a hush puppy but was mashed potatoes rolled in breadcrumbs.  There was side of lemon aioli for dipping.  The lemon aioli didn’t entirely make sense (it was fine on the broccolini, fine on the potato) but didn’t really go with anything in particular.  I’m still not sure if it was dipping sauce for the potato puff or meant to be something else.  The potato puff was satisfyingly crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.  I probably would’ve been happier if I could’ve had a few of those as an appetizer and then gone home and made myself a sandwich.

Nothing special.  Steak, some broccolini, and the potato puffs.

Evidently, this is what Ember considers "medium rare."  It was tan all the way through when I cut into the steak's thickest part.

The next, and most substantial disappointment, was dessert.  I chose the amaretto cheesecake.  A small wedge came, served on a tiny plastic plate.  Plastic ware.  Not even the thick, sturdy Chinet kind.  It was heavy and gummy.  My husband chose something chocolate.  It was the tiniest 2x2 inch square of dessert in history, and was hard because part of it was frozen.  It was also on a flimsy black plastic plate.

 

Dessert--I hope you like plastic ware.  Unremarkable cheesecake and brick hard, mini-square of partially frozen chocolate "something" bar.  Really disappointing.  This was the nail in the coffin for me being able to give this neighborhood spot any love in the future.

So there we were, we’d drafted a decent (but not as fantastic as last year) fantasy football team, but without purchasing a single drink, racked up an $85.00 dinner at a neighborhood sandwich spot.  And eaten off plastic ware.  The pain of the realization that we could’ve gone to St. Elmo and had their Devour Downtown menu, which I guarantee would’ve been executed spot on and not include plastic ware, hurt.  I’ve never spent $85.00 on dinner and it included plastic ware.  Heck, I threw a birthday party out on the horse farm recently and paid $.42 per plate to rent china because people enjoy eating food off real plates.

I really wanted to like Ember—it’s local and the server was pleasant.  I could walk there from home.  But I just can’t.  A wings, sandwiches, and salad joint should KISS: keep it simple, stupid.  I’d rather eat a well-executed sandwich seven out of seven days a week (and twice on Sunday!) than something trying to be fancy, but just flat and overpriced.  Not to mention, they missed the point of Devour Downtown.  The Devour Downtown menus are an additional option at other restaurants, not the only option.  Even when Devour Downtown is over, I doubt I’ll return.  Even if I wanted to go back for the pork barbecue sandwich I set out for, there’s something inherently tacky about a place that uses plastic ware for a prix fixe dinner and serves dessert that’s partially frozen.  I simply can't support that.

Devour Downtown: McCormick & Schmick's

From January 20, 2014 to February 2, 2014, almost 70 Indianapolis restaurants are offering discounted tasting menus as part of Devour Downtown.  I'm a huge fan of this concept because the discounted menus entice people who haven't experienced Indianapolis gems like St. Elmo's and Mesh to try somewhere new (and hopefully local!)  Moving to Indianapolis about one year ago has burgeoned my appreciation for non-chain restaurants.  Devour Downtown is a nice mixture of chain and local establishments at varying price points.  The least expensive option is a two for $15 deal at Fresco Italian Sandwich Shoppe.  The most expensive options are $38 per person at Dunaway's and Fogo de Chao.

Thursday night, my fiance and I decided to eat dinner out to celebrate his birthday this week.  He challenged me to pick the Devour Downtown menu he'd like best.  I decided to forgo some of the predictable favorites like St. Elmo's because the beef option was a filet.  While a filet is a likable lean cut of meat, when we eat out, we're looking for an indulgent, marbled cut like a ribeye or New York strip.  As much as I prefer local eateries, I picked McCormick & Schmick's based on the totality of the menu.

The McCormick & Schmick's Devour Downtown menu offers bang for your buck (if you choose expensive selections) and a lot of choices.  I saw options that are Greg's favorites, like lobster tail and chocolate lava cake.  Much of the Devour menu is similar to options on the regular dinner menu.  Granted, the Devour Downtown offerings are often slightly smaller than regular menu options, but assuming you selected the most expensive  option from the appetizer, entree, and dessert options, the regular menu prices would add up to about $60.97 ($12.99 for calamari, $39.99 for steak medallions and lobster tail, and $7.99 for the molten chocolate cake).  Given that the Devour Downtown menu price is $35, that's a savings of about $25.97.  If you picked the least expensive options (soup for about $5.99, snapper for about $19.99, and creme brulee for $6.99), your total would be about $32.97, which comes in under the Devour Downtown price of $35, and Devour Downtown might not be a savings at all.

The Devour Downtown menu at McCormick & Schmick's with my notes comparing pricing to regular menu options.  The math isn't exact since many Devour Downtown menu items aren't on the regular menu, but the value is obvious if you're ordering the more expensive options.  If you choose the most expensive item from each course, Devour Downtown offers a 43% discount from the approximate regular menu price.

The experience was pleasant, if not predictable.  I had the calamari appetizer.  I was pleased to find both rings and tentacles in the mix, as well as lightly battered pieces of carrots and peppers.  The lemon aioli was very mayonnaise-y, but mixed with the side of cocktail sauce, made a nice piquant sauce.  All of the pieces had a springy and crispy texture.

Well prepared calamari from McCormick & Schmick's.  The combination of rings and tentacles added authenticity, the addition of fried carrot and pepper slices provided variety in each bite.

Greg selected the blue crab and roasted corn chowder.  He shared a taste.  I didn't have any crab meat in my bite, but the small sweet corn niblets were tender, unlike the overly soft vegetables that often show up in chowders.  It was well seasoned and the base was smooth and creamy.  It was much more of a creamy soup than a chunky chowder.

The restaurant was still bustling (surprisingly) at our 8:30 p.m. reservation time.  The wait to entrees was a little long, but I sipped a glass of Penfolds Shiraz ($9) contently.  Standard wine markup is about three times retail price.  The bottle should retail for about $13, so if you're assuming four to six pours per bottle (hoping for a generous barkeep who offers a taste first!), the price is in line but to the high end of three times markup.  Depending on the size of the pour, the three times markup price per glass should range from about $6.50 to $9.75. 

We both ordered the steak medallions and lobster tail entree.  Greg talked me out of the shrimp trilogy with the argument that I should splurge on surf and turf indulgence.  The presentation was workmanlike.  The dish components were spread out across the plate, and a grilled tomato offered some color and freshness.  There was adequate white space on the plate.  Crowded plates are one of my pet peeves, so I was pleased to see all the food on an amply-sized plate.  The steak medallions were thin slices of what appeared to be tenderloin, based on the grain and flavor.  The medallions were simply seasoned and juicy, cooked perfectly to my requested medium rare.  The lobster tail was a nice size for the price of the dinner, broiled, and served with a side of butter.  The lobster was broiled slightly too long and the edges were overdone but edible.  The roasted potatoes were an adequate side.  I would have preferred them to be crispier, but I also order hash browns well done.  I enjoyed the grilled roma tomato on the side--it was the lightness the plate needed since bites of butter, steak, and potatoes were heavy. 

Nothing artful or unpredictable: a nicely executed steak  medallion and lobster tail entree for a steal of a price at McCormick & Schmicks during Devour Downtown.

Dessert was the only disappointment.  The kitchen was out of the mango creme brulee.  Mango is one of my favorite flavors.  Coupled with the fact that I'm allergic to cocoa, dessert options were looking bleak given that restaurants who participate in Devour Downtown do not permit substitutions from the Devour menus.  After explaining my cocoa allergy to the server, she came back with news that the kitchen had one vanilla bean creme brulee left from the ordinary dinner menu.  Greg had the chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream and I had the kitchen's last remaining vanilla creme brulee.

The vanilla creme brulee was very successful.  It was a perfect texture, not overcooked and not a lump of eggy-ness to be found.  The dish was covered in the telltale black specks of vanilla bean, a reminder of the authentic vanilla flavor.  Its only downside was that it wasn't mango.  Perhaps McCormick & Schmick's should be cranking out creme brulees for the weekend services given that they were on short supply Thursday.

McCormick & Schmick's vanilla bean creme brulee.  One of the better creme brulees I've enjoyed in recent history.  The ramekin was dotted with black specks of vanilla bean, even though I tried to eat every last bit.  The disappointment was that it wasn't mango.  Part of choosing McCormick & Schmick's for dinner was to try mango creme brulee for the first time.

The total for two Devour Downtown offerings, a glass of Penfolds Shiraz, and two Arnold Palmers was $91.33.  We added a respectable tip to the amiable server who did what she could to fix the dessert issue.

Overall review of McCormick & Schmick's Devour Downtown offering: Mostly positive.  The lack of mango creme brulee was sad.  The value is excellent if you order the expensive options.  Compare your selections to the regular menu if you aren't selecting higher priced items to determine whether the $35 price tag is worth it.  The decor and ambiance are pleasant inside, but nothing you haven't seen at a nice chain restaurant.  The wait staff is very pleasant and eager to please.  The calamari appetizer was standout, and the steak medallions and lobster are predictable but pleasing so long as the lobster isn't over broiled.  All the dishes were presented in a simple manner on well-sized plates.

Insider tip: If you aren't interested in Devour Downtown, or the dinner menu is out of your budget for an ordinary weeknight, check out happy hour Monday through Saturday from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the bar area.  For $3.99 you can score a burger and fries or sliders.  Also, keep an eye on Foursquare.  The Indianapolis McCormick & Schmick's used to offer buy one, get one free entrees to the Foursquare mayor.  This special isn't available right now, but maybe the restaurant will re-join the ranks of Foursquare specials in the future.