After that very lacklustre dinner at the “kaiseki” restaurant in Indianapolis, Hinata, I was not thinking of doing any more serious food on this trip. I was snaking back towards Peoria from Indianapolis, including many stops like Terre Haute. These drives are my saving grace these days…what’s keeping me sane.
A quiet night when I arrived at about 4.30pm, and I parked myself at the bar. Nice to see some familiar faces! I relaxed with a cocktail as I looked through the menu and pondered my choices. I made them, and chilled out.
It’s so nice to have some time to enjoy my cocktail before they throw food at you — unlike at Tempus in St Louis a fortnight ago. I switched to a nice white when my starter arrived, the mussels.
Now this is a good dish. Lovely flavours, the mussels cooked perfectly — unlike at Cobble Hill in Cedar Rapids a few weeks earlier. Lovely fries too, which is saying something because I usually detest those things. Really enjoyable, I’m glad I made this stop!
I relaxed with a glass of rose before my main course arrived. Nice sufficient timing again as I switched to a red for the day’s pork special, pork loin.
Oh dear, the holiday curse hits. This is cooked way, way too overdone. Sawdust stuff in the centre. Pork doesn’t need to be cooked beyond white these days, folks… Oh well, a holiday short-staff mishap perhaps. But the crusting was nice, and the parts that had some fat were quite nice. Oh well, could have been an excellent dish.
I switched to a nice brown liquor for my dessert…
Oh this is nice! The chocolate was rich, but the jalepeno sorbet had some wonderful kick to it that really made it stand out. So good!
I relaxed, finished my drink, and hung out a little to enjoy some coffee before I headed back to Peoria to close out this very long 38-hour trip. 750 miles later I am home, just beating the downpour.
But I’m really glad I stopped here for dinner, even if the main course was a bit of an exercise in overcooking. It was far more enjoyable than last night’s overpriced mess, that’s for sure. It’s always good to know I have a safe place to drop into east of Peoria when I head back on future excursions.
Epiphany Farms 220 East Front Street Bloomington, Illinois
I was not planning an escape during Easter weekend, as I was tired and needed to catch up on some much-needed rest. But as I was playing around online, I got a booking for the Saturday at Hinata in Indianapolis — a coveted slot for a tough-to-book place.
Hinata is a rare kaiseki place in the Midwest, and the reviews have been glowing. However, looking at the menu, I wasn’t as impressed — especially compared to something as awesome as Nasime back in the DC area.
They seem to have monthly offerings, and for April the “Sumire” 9-course menu was the sole choice. I stayed east of town for once, having rolled into the city mid-afternoon. I was knackered, having woken up at 5am and setting off not soon after. I snaked around using small roads as usual, so what was normally a 3hr drive turned into something closer to 7hrs. But it was worth it.
I arrived in downtown Indianapolis on a busy Saturday early evening, and luckily found parking right away. I walked the block to Hinata and I smiled — it’s in an office building. How Tokyo is this? So once I walked in, I was seated at the counter.
The excellent sommelier came and I agreed on the pairing. I relaxed and looked over the menu and soon the pre-appetizer arrived.
The first item was a seasonal carrot soup, which was a nice little treat to start the evening. A little smoke, very tasty. Good start. I guess the pairings will start soon.
Chef Aki Tanigawa makes a very quick appearance to unwrap the already-prepped starters. And quickly disappears even before it’s served. Strange…
The appetiser set sadly was quite disappointing, especially for those who are used to kaiseki dining. This was the first alarm bell of the night (also from the chef disappearing). The bamboo shoot was pretty ordinary, as was the tamago with some very underwhelming mentaiko. The chicken breast (probably not jidori) was also boring in a very strip-mall-typical sesame thing, while the eggplant under the zunda was probably the best of the very underwhelming start.
The pairing of a very good champagne was nice, but for a person who does not like champagne this was wasted on me. But this was not a great start for the food, I must say. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but this was very mediocre — especially for the price of the experience.
The third course came quickly, and this was a dumpling of littleneck clams and assorted other things. Not bad, but this dashi was ridiculously boring. It’s like they took little care to make this broth. That says plenty about the quality and effort put into this experience from the kitchen. I’ve had more than my share of similar dishes in Japan, and although the dumpling was nice, the dashi was really sad.
My mood was starting to sour, even despite having a nice tasting of txakolina with the acid cutting through…tho it would have been far, far more useful if the dashi was better! Oh well. Then we switch to a good sake for the sashimi course…
Again, it was ALL PRE-PREPPED so all the chef did was to take it out of the fridge and hand it to one of the servers. No personal touch at all. And walked off. Is this a pandemic thing or he’s just disassociated from his customers?
Nothing too impressive. The maguro was so-so, the hamachi was quite nice as was the hotate. The best dish of the night, but really piss poor to not see any counter preparation. Do these people realise we’ve been to Japan? Sigh…
That was a treat for me since I’ve not had any sashimi since I left the DC area six months ago, so it was needed. Then back down to earth with the next dish, sakuradai.
Now cherry bream is one of the many breams that you are offered. I’m not the biggest fan of them, but when done well they are excellent. Sadly not today, very meh. It’s like they fried up a piece of it and dumped it into tempura dipping sauce. The fish was thick and slightly overcooked (it was starting to “sawdust” if you know what I mean) but at least the coating protected it from getting soggy. Good idea as always, but executed less than perfectly with a rude chunk. Again, something you don’t see in Japan…
I need to stop comparing this place to Japan and remember I am in Indianapolis. A quick drop back down to earth. But why is this priced like Tokyo then? Sigh… Next up with some nice red we have the beef…
Very ordinary beef. Not anything special at all. And was this sous vide pre-grill (or blowtorched)? This was extremely ordinary and boring, and rather tasteless. When it needs the sauce, then I know I don’t like how my beef is done. Sigh.
This is not just not good compared to Japan, this is not good compared to most Japanese places in the US. This is really a false imitation of kaiseki, compared to what Nasime does in the DC area for example. Now that is a real kaiseki place, this is a poor rendition of it, with a terrible Midwest twist.
I was not in the mood when the next dish showed up, the tempura dish. It’s actually the 2nd best dish of the night, done very well. Lovely visuals. I love how they warned people about the curry salt when it has zero kick whatsoever. I. Am. In. Indianapolis…
Then we get to the “rice” dish, and again, this is a great reminder of not being in Japan. This is just a skewed way to end the savouries. Not the traditional rice dish, this is just a sad depiction of this meal in a nutshell…
I was very uninterested in the almond milk panna cotta, although it was not bad at all. I had lost all interest in this dinner. The drinks were done well, so that’s good — but a very expensive pairing. I excused myself to the bar since there’s no one behind the kitchen counter anyway. Had a few drinks chatting with the sommelier Shane, who was excellent. Frankly he’s more Japanese than anyone else in the restaurant.
I’m sorry, but for such an expensive experience — way more expensive than Nasime — this was a total joke. Nasime had top quality ingredients, today was a joke. You know when they don’t exhault the specifics of the ingredients that they are getting it from almost anywhere. This is a sad sign of the times, to be honest.
They say they’ll change the menu once a month and hope to see me again. Nope, no thank you. I’d rather fly back to DC and eat at Nasime and it may still be a cheaper experience. And WAY better and more authentic.
Hinata 130 East Washington Street Indianapolis, Indiana
As I mentioned last week, I take these weekend overnight trips to help clear my head. And I sorely needed another one. And I timed this weekend’s trip to St Louis to enjoy one of my favourite symphonies, Dvořák’s 9th (Z Nového světa), performed by the St Louis Symphony Orchestra. The perfect piece of music, let’s hope the performance lives up to the SLSO’s reputation!
I took some winding roads towards St Louis, crossing over a lot of rural areas and entering via Alton. A warm day already, so after a few stops I dropped into the venerable Schottzie’s Bar and Grill for lunch. It’s been years since I had their brain sandwich. After a rather long wait (for the last brain), it was not really worth it. It’s even less tasty than the last time I had one here. I miss the excellent fried brain in Vienna…
I headed out, making a few more stops before I got to my hotel to quickly shower and change and head back out. Before the symphony I was having an early dinner. I read about Tempus, and it intrigued me. The prepay system intriged me far less, but that’s fine. The two-hour limit intrigued even less than that, but I have to get out in that time anyway tonight, so…
I got there and was told that Saturday street parking was metered until 7pm. Damn. Had to quickly move the car, but at least my cocktail was waiting for me.
Delicious. No, I didn’t drink two, just formatted the photo like this. The cocktail on the right was what I had with dessert (see below). I ordered then as well, then relaxed…
Very soon the bread came out, accompanied by butter and sorghum. Nice. I enjoyed a small piece of bread, the sweetness of the sorghum worked very well with the butter, but the bread wasn’t very warm inside for some reason. Then just as I was about to take a sip of my cocktail, my starter comes out…
Sigh… Do they ever let you relax and enjoy a cocktail BEFORE dinner these days? I asked my very capable barman and he basically said “our kitchen is really on” — whatever that means. I guess they don’t anticipate people wanting to relax with a cocktail. Sigh…
Now this was sadly very, very ordinary. The beets were in nice chunks, and the goat cheese done well. But very skimpy, to be honest. Compared to last week’s starter at Cobble Hill, this was negligeable content… At this point I also switched to a nice orange wine and just as I was sipping it, my main course comes out.
What is this, do they want me out of here in 45 minutes? Sigh… Again, all I heard was “our kitchen is really on” and I just sighed… Now this crab dish is quite good, with a generous amount of crab. Good flavour, just enough kick for it to be interesting. So despite all the rush rush stuff, this was a good main. But that still bothered me as I finished and I told my bartender I need a break.
Now I’ve heard this “our kitchen is really on” thing at more than a few places lately. Sadly that just tells me that the front of the house failed to communicate to the back, or the front just don’t care. I just don’t know anymore…
At least now there’s better understanding with my barman on my preferred pace. Too bad it’s almost over. I finished my wine and indicated I’m ready to move on. So nicely, a rum-centric cocktail and a piping cup of black coffee appear. And soon after, my dessert.
Pineapple. Honestly this really was nothing to write home about. The pineapple wasn’t bad, but for someone who eats pineapple all the time this really isn’t anything special. The banana sorbet was rather bland, and there’s not much of a coconut hint anywhere. Oh well.
I was a little early for my event, so I enjoyed a small tipple of rye before I headed out for the symphony. Honestly the food is pretty good, but nothing special. Definitely wasn’t worth the hassle of prepayment, especially feeling so rushed all night for absolutely no reason since I finished with half hour to spare in their two-hour time limit (which also annoys me).
Do people still remember this is the hospitality industry? A cookie to close the night…
Oh well. It’s a once and done place for me. My poor luck with STL continues…
* Unfortunately the St Louis Symphony Orchestra did not wow like Orchestra Iowa did the previous week. Reminds me of Paavo Järvi’s “emo” take on Dvorak’s 9th, with some very odd tempi. Missouri did not do this most Iowa of symphonies too proud.
I has been many years since I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Cedar Rapids. It was a weekend overnight trip that was sorely needed. Had one of the roughest weeks I’ve had in a long time, and that’s not even counting the hours of doing Ukraine-related things — which is just soul-draining…
It’s hard to function when your heart is breaking almost on a minute-by-minute basis…
I know for my mental health, in order to be effective, I need to escape once in awhile. So I headed to Cedar Rapids, ostensibly to enjoy a night listening to Orchestra Iowa. The amazing Joyce Yang was performing Rachmaninov’s ridiculously-demanding 3rd piano concerto, and that’s something I’d drive much further than 3 hours to hear.
As if that fucker Putler was watching me, my CHECK ENGINE LIGHT comes on soon after leaving Moline. FFS… Despite several stops and strange noises from my engine, my crappy VW — which I now named Zitrone (that’s of course LEMON — AUF DEUTSCH), I made it in one piece to Cedar Rapids.
An early dinner at Cobble Hill was perfect for the symphony, it being across the street at the beautiful Paramount Theatre. I was quickly seated at the kitchen counter of a very busy restaurant at 5.30pm. My readers know I’m not a big fan of dining on Saturday nights, as restaurants are always slammed and that affects the quality and consistency of both sides of the house. So I took it all with a grain of salt.
A nice cocktail — Garden of Eden — started the night, as I poured over the menu. I was hungry, having not eaten all day despite hiking over several cemeteries, so I ordered — and left a possibility for more. I relaxed and soon finished my cocktail. The place was indeed busy and my poor server had to cover multiple sections, not just me at the kitchen counter. So when she came for my next drink order, I just ordered two — another cocktail and a wine for later.
The second cocktail, Fly Over State, was also nice. I sipped at it until it was about done, just in time for my starter. And it was a big portion of mussels.
Well, unfortunately this was one of those times I wish I wasn’t here on a busy Saturday night. The mussels were somewhat undercooked, and a good number — more than usual — did not open. And it was extremely bland — and sadly, did not cover the taste of somewhat undercooked mussels. I would have said something if I wasn’t so bloody tired and hungry, but…sigh.
But it was a big portion, so I ate what was there that opened. The drippings for the bread didn’t help as it was rather tasteless, which was too bad. In any case, I relaxed and hoped this was an anomaly…
After a little, my overworked server came by and I asked for a glass of red. It came as my main course arrived, the pork special.
The loin was quite good, but small. It’s always odd when the main course is half the size of the starter. But the belly in the middle? Oh dear it was a fail. It was plasticky mushy, and the crips was not there. Sadly not good execution.
After all that, I was still hungry, but had lost my appetite. And the server was now completely overwhelmed. I felt so bad for her because so many people had events to get to and they were absolutely slammed. But tonight, sadly, it was the kitchen that really fell behind.
The front of the house sensed something and asked what was up. I’m glad they took such care of their customers, but by then I was too tired to bring anything up. Frankly, I also don’t like a situation where they take things off my bill if I had already eaten everything. I almost stopped saying these things now because of how quickly places start to comp, which is something that makes me terribly uncomfortable if I’ve already consumed all of the dish.
I decided to call it a session and closed out. I don’t know if it was an off night by the kitchen, them being so busy during the early rush, a post-covid thing or what, but it was definitely nowhere as good as my previous visit.
Cobble Hill 219 2nd Street Southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa
* As if there was any doubt, Joyce Yang and Orchestra Iowa was absolutely fantastic. Wonderful acoustics, excellent conductor, fabulous orchestra, and simply amazing soloist. I just hope us enjoying a few drinks together after the concert didn’t affect them too much for the next day’s matinee!
** And yes, somehow Zitrone with the check engine light and the weird engine noise got me back home through some more windy country roads, so at least it’s a resilient lemon…
melhuang1972 