Baked to Perfection Bakery & Deli: Who Needs Cupcakes When You Can Have a Great Sandwich??

Baked to Perfection, 112 E. Fifth Street in Delphos, OH, is in an old storefront on the edge of downtown. Delphos is a fairly small town, so you could just drive around a bit once you get to the center and you'd probably find the place.  We've eaten there twice now, and the sandwiches are so good and reasonably priced that even a cheapskate like me was very pleased.  As we entered we could see the proprietor spreading a ridiculously thick layer of frosting on a red-velvet sheet cake.  I'm not much of a cake person but that had me wanting some. I think that's kind of the philosophy of this place:  it something is worth doing, it's worth OVERdoing.  Last time I had the Black & Blue Burger, and it had so much good, strong-tasting blue cheese melted on it that the meat was actually a little overwhelmed, so I had to scrape some off (but of course later ate it with a fork!).  

This time I had the Canal Club (the historic Miami & Erie Canal runs through Delphos) and she had the Panini Reuben.  Mine was pretty much your standard club, except it was maybe 2 1/2 inches thick with only top and bottom pieces of whole wheat toast.  Her Reuben, however, was a little work of art: a decent pile of delicate corned beef and sauerkraut with just the right amount of Thousand Island dressing between two pieces of marble rye, all held together by an enormous amount of melted Swiss.  She added her own touch of a little mustard, and when she let me have a bite, I was in Cheeeeeeeesy Heaven!  Check it out  at www.bakedtoperfection.net 

Eva's Pancake House & Restaurant: A Welcome Surprise!

Eva's Pancake House & Restaurant is a mini-chain, with 3 locations.  We happened upon the one in Pendleton, IN on SR 67 just down the road from the prison while on the way to visit The Little Woman's brother in Delphos, OH (You may recall her aversion to Interstate Highways and my driving on them), and at the time I didn't know there are also locations in Anderson and Muncie.  From the outside I wasn't expecting much.  It is just a tidy little brick building painted pale yellow, and the decor inside is kind of 80's vintage paneling and booths (think Jerry's, if you remember them).  TLW has embraced my penchant for adventure eating, but I think even she was having her doubts about the place.

Ah, but when the food arrived our opinions instantly changed:  Her tenderloin sammich was huge, thick, thickly breaded and very well seasoned.  In short, I was envious even though she shared some of it with me. I ordered the lunch special, an Italian Steak Sandwich with chicken noodle soup for (I think) $6.79.  Since I'm sorta doing the low-carb thing, I asked for it without bread (but of course I didn't turn down the fries TLW offered me, for shame!) and I added a side salad.  It turned out to be cheese steak smothered in melted mozzarella and seasoned with some kind of seasoning that gave it a delightful Italian flavor.

 In sum, I think we've found a new rest stop on the way to Dave's house.  Maybe next time we'll invite one of those nice young hitch hikers in tan or orange jump suits to come eat with us... or not.   I don't think we could fit on of their rakes in the car with us.

Teppanyaki Grill and Buffet: Ordinary Asian, But Done Well.

I went to Teppanyaki Grill & Buffet in the Cherry Tree Shopping Center (a really BIG strip mall) for lunch with about 12 colleagues.  There seem to be two basic forms of Asian buffets- one which feels like it was built in Shanghai in the 1940's and hasn't been updated since, and the other a streamlined-looking modern cafeteria with Asian-style furniture and a few other Far-East decor items.  Teppanyaki is one of the latter, with thick carpet, colorful blue and pink indirect lighting, and drop-spotlights giving it quite a pleasant atmosphere. It's one of those where a waiter or waitress takes your drink order and then you go get your own food, and man was there ever a lot of food: all sorts of Asian dishes as well as a whole steam table of American-style food for the xenophobes who get dragged there by their more adventurous spouses/family/friends.  It even has pepperoni pizzas. I hope I don't sound racist by telling you that our waitress was a teenaged little Asian girl with her hair worn so that a long strand fell on either side of her face, resembling the heroine of every anime film I've ever seen (which ain't many).  Memory was not her superpower, though, because she had to ask me twice what drink I'd ordered and then still brought me sweet tea instead of unsweet.  She was so polite, though, that I didn't have the heart to try to correct her again, and used it as an excuse to enjoy the guilty pleasure that is Sweet Tea....

I was a little disappointed in the more common Asian dishes.  The General Tso's Chicken was sweet and had very little heat to it, and the peppery chicken and shrimp likewise were not very peppery. A notable exception was the hibachi chicken, which was not spicy but had a delicious smoky flavor.  They do, however, have an impressive array of seafood that to me was better than most other Asian buffets.  There was baked fish, fried fish, salmon, cold mussels on the half-shell pre-dabbled with a sweet pepper sauce, steamed mussels on the half-shell, and baby clams on the half-shell, to name but a few.  I'm told they have a Mongolian-style grill to order bar in the back, too, but I didn't see that and had already loaded my plate(s), but I'll have to try that sometime.

UPDATE, 07/14/2014 (Sort of)- Went to the Teppanyaki at 38th/Moller Road, and the food was completely different from the one in Cherry Tree Plaza.  It wasn't bad, really, but everything tasted strange to me, even the staples like General Tso's Chicken-- it was vaguely sweet with almost NO heat, quite unlike the General Tso's  I'm used to, and, sadly, not to my liking.  I'll stick with the Cherry Tree one....  

Pollo Michoacano: Down Home Mexican Food

I was running around for work today and happened upon Pollo Michoacano, 2134 W. Washington St.across from George Washington High School in Indy, which is NOT in a strip mall, yahoo!  It's just a block or so away from the hub of Little Mexico, Belmont & Washington.  Some folk consider that part of the 'Hood, but I felt reasonably safe, during the day at least.  Anyway, it's in kind of an old building but has been nicely renovated, with lots of bright colors on the inside, typical of many such places. The inside was generally very clean; I couldn't see into the kitchen, but the waitress station was pristine.  Pollo Michoacono sort of translates to Michoacan-style Chicken, but I have yet to find anyone from Mexico that can tell me exactly what the difference is between the cooking in the various states of Mexico, other than the fact that those along the coast have lots of mariscos (seafood), and I discovered myself that Hidalgo, having been colonized by British Miners, favored many English dishes, the most prevalent being pastes (which in English is "pasties") baked pastry shells filled with cheese, meat, and vegetables, like an empanada only more stuffed. But I digress.... 

 It was early in the day (like 9:00 a.m.), which surprised me they were even open that early,  and they weren't very busy.  I ordered a Quesadilla Mediana with beef to go for $5.99;  it was big enough for us to split for lunch and it was GREAT!  They used a corn tortilla for the outside, which is not my favorite for tacos, but it was toasted just right for a Quesadilla.  The meat was very done and nicely seasoned, and there was a lot of cheese inside.  They gave me a little cup of tomatillo (green) sauce and one of pepper (red) sauce, as well as lettuce and a dollop of sour cream to compliment it.  Both sauces were home-made and very tasty; the red had quite a bit of fire to it, which makes Daddy very happy.  I'm pretty sure my next round of errands will somehow necessitate my going by there again....  Mmmm.  

The Peppy Grill: New Life for a Fountain Square Institution

I have no idea how old the ridiculously tiny Peppy Grill, 1034 Virginia Avenue in Indy, really is.  When I came here 23 years ago it had been owned by Jerry Wyman and later his ex-wife Mary for many many years, and they ran a pretty tight ship.  At that time it was one of very few Southside eating establishments that was open all night, so it was a hub of activity in the wee hours, with a mixture of hungry cops, thieves, repo men, drunken night club goers, and early-shift factory workers all sitting down across from each other in order to get some good basic diner food.  (They gave cops a 50% discount except during the hours of 3 to 5 a.m., when the cops were asked not to come in because they frightened away the drunks.  A small bit of corruption, I suppose, but hey, bidness is bidness and ya gotta respect that, y'know?) Alas, at some point Mary retired and sold the place, and thereafter it suffered a long, slow decline as it passed from one lazy or inept owner after another.  The last time I tried to eat there was about 2 years ago, when I sat there for almost 30 minutes without anyone lifting a finger to help me, so I left and never went back.

A Facebook post saying the Peppy was under new management brought me back, however, and on a Saturday morning we journeyed to Fountain Square.  At 10:00 in the morning the place was full of twenty-something hipsters, and if they're the new face of Fountain Square, I'm all for it. Vive La Renaissance!  There was only one waiter and he didn't seem terribly experienced, but he was hustling.  She ordered a Grilled Tenderloin Sandwich along with (so glad they're back!) Sour Cream Fries with Ranch dipping sauce, and I had a Western Omelet.  The service was a little slow, but the waiter guy and the owner, who called herself Grandma Suzy, kept our coffee cup and iced-tea glass filled while we waited.  I dunno what kind of coffee they used, but it was darned good, and the tea seemed to have been brewed rather than poured out of a jug from Sysco.  Since tenderloins are an Indiana tradition, everyone has their own idea about which is the best.  This one was big,  pounded thin and very well browned, which is just the way I like it, and the omelet was chocked full of onions, peppers, and tomatoes, very tasty.  Our total bill was like $23, not too bad for a $$ guy like meself.  The jury's still out on whether this current iteration makes it, but it is still nice to see the Peppy Grill full of semi-satisfied people again, even if they're not gypsies, tramps and thieves!        

Coals Artisan Pizza-- Best in the Derby City?

I've been told that Coals Artisan Pizza, 3730 Frankfort Avenue in Louisville, KY (or is it in St. Matthews? It's certainly close to downtown St.M) in the upscale shopping complex that has grown up around the old Vogue Theatre, is the closest to true New York style pizza you'll get in that fair city.  I dunno if that's true, since Louisville has a LOT of pizza places, but I do know I love Coals' pizza even if it isn't "Louisville Style", which as I understand it is the piling on of toppings without any extra cheese or sauce. (Bearno's is supposed to be a good example of Louisville style, which I always loved.  There was a Bearno's here in downtown Indy for awhile but I believe it has closed).  

Coals has a coal-fired brick oven that supposedly operates at almost 1000 degrees, which produces a delicious toasty, crispy crust in about four minutes.  It's thicker than the cracker-thin crust you get at Donato's or with Pizza Hut's Thin 'n Crispy, yet it is every bit as toasty and crisp.  The array of gourmet toppings you can get in both red and white pizza is quite varied, and several combinations of toppings are named after Louisville neighborhoods.  We had lunch there and I had the Clifton, which is a red pizza with a combination of onions, peppers and cheeses as well as Italian sausage that had me singing its praises, much to the dismay of other diners because I don't sing very well.  Some of the user reviews in TripAdvisor said this place is pricey, but the lunch deal was really decent-- a 10" personal pizza and a large side salad for $8.95  The salad was extremely fresh, and it was showered with diced cubes of mozzarella cheese.  Some reviews said the tables were too close together, but I didn't find it to be any worse than Cracker Barrel!  The orgasmic climax to this, my dream pizza experience was that they have a FULL BAR!  Woohoo!  What's not to like?  Huh?  Huh?  Mangia!

The Galt House Hotel: A Grand Deal on a Grand Hotel

The Galt House, 144 N. 4th Street in Louisville, KY right on the Ohio River, garners more respect and admiration from me every time we stay there.  It's listed in most directories as a 3.5 star hotel, which baffles me because it has every amenity you could want except for an indoor pool.  The nearby Hyatt is listed as 4 stars, and it is nowhere near as nice the the GH, as far as I'm concerned.  If you're ever planning a weekend visit to the Derby City, the Galt House is really the place to stay.  It is older but impeccably maintained and several areas have recently been renovated.  Because GH caters primarily to business travelers and convention visitors, you can really get a deal there during holiday periods when neither of those groups travel much.  The last time we stayed there was during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, and this time we checked in on New Year's Day for two days.  Both times, we got a really great price ($53 per day + $13/day in taxes and fees this last time through Priceline.com vs. the advertised price of $114/day) and both times they upgraded us to a suite at no extra charge, which had a sitting room w/TV, a big bedroom with TV, and an elegant glass-door shower big enough for 4 people! The only drawback to being there New Year's Day was that the place seemed virtually empty except for that boy riding his big wheel and the two little twin sisters in matching dresses, whom we passed often in the hallway....  I thought at first we had no warm water, but it turns out there were so few guests that it just took a long time for the hot stuff to be drawn up to our 3rd floor room from the boiler! After running the shower for about ten minutes we finally had all the steamy goodness we needed.  

GH has 2 bars:  Al J's, which is inside the huge glass conservatory which serves as the 3rd floor bridge between the hotel's two towers, and Jockey Silks, an intimate little place on the 2nd floor of the East(?) Tower.  Al J's has a view of downtown and the river, and the bar is actually a saltwater fish tank with several varieties of fish that swim back and forth under your drink.  Jockey Silks is low-ceilinged, wood-paneled, and has an impressive array of Bourbons.  They're not cheap, but they're reasonable considering their convenient location in the hotel.  We always stop in at one or the other for a nightcap before retiring to our room.

There are three restaurants, four if you count Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse, which is not part of the hotel but is directly accessible from it.  Rivue is the $$$$ upscale penthouse restaurant that has relaxing live music and two parts of the dining area that rotate, giving you an alternatiing view of the river and the skyline.  The food there is excellent, too.  The other restaurant is on the Third Floor and is $$ for us cheapskates-- we've never eaten there, but the food looked and smelled delicious as we walked by.  Fnally, there is Thelma's, a 24/7 snack bar in the conservatory next to Al J's, which has coffee, soft drinks, pastries, and sandwiches.  If you go down to Thelma's in the wee hours, you might see an old, only slightly disheveled homeless man sitting in one of the unoccupied chairs tucked away in a corner.  He wears a once-grand trenchcoat and sits quietly, sipping his cup of Thelma's coffee or dozing. They never run him off and he never makes a sound, an unwritten charitable agreement between them, a mark of true Southern Hospitality.  God bless y'all!.