edaveindy Comments:
I'd give this a "meh" rating. Ok.... sorta good.... but not great. It'a an Americanized Tex-Mex place catering to gringos. It's close to authentic, but not like the hole-in-the-wall-catering-to-real-Mexicans places.

I've had better chips, and I've had better salsa. They kind of disappointed. And I've had better Americanized Tex-Mex.

Price and the portion sizes for their Super combination special were real good. $9.25 (supper price special) for the super combo special, $2 soft-drink with refills, plus tax and tip. The waiter spoke English pretty well, was attentive, and brought the check to the table.

Men's room cleaner than average. Either the signs were down, or they have two unisex restrooms.

A good amount of beer/liquor signage, but I've seen worse.

Overall, I think it's what you'd expect for the Park 100 / W 86th corridor. Convenient for lunch if you work in the area and want pseudo Tex-Mex, (or are working late and want to eat before going home) but not worth going out of your way for.

edaveindy Comments:
This was my first time here. This place has been in business at least two and a half years that I've been aware of. I noticed it while filling up at the next-door gas station, and then submitted it to the database a ways back.

I like these hole-in-the-wall humble authentic places that cater to a Mexican clientele. Opening hours are posted on the door, but not the closing hours. I asked when they closed and was told "when there are customers, later, and when there aren't customers, earlier."

Menu is very limited, with tacos, tortas (sandwiches), and burritos. The tacos are not tex-mex american (or Taco Bell) style, but just some meat in a tortilla. The burrito was the "put the toppings and the sides all inside" style.

I was disappointed they didn't have a chicken option for burritos, but they had 8 other options, including tongue, and brains (cesos). I'd avoid eating cow brains, even well-cooked, as that is where the BSE (mad cow disease) resides, in the brain and spinal cord. And temperature doesn't destroy the things that cause BSE, "prions."

Weekend menu has more items, but the only one I remember is birria (lamb). Good birria is good, and most of the birria that I've tried in town is good. So if you're at a birria-on-the-weekends place, try it some weekend.

You're probably going to think I'm a little generous in my ratings. But something about this place really appealed to me. The clientele included families with little kids. The spirit of the place and staff was just right for me. The cook and waitress were confident, friendly, put-you-at-ease types. So I'm giving them my "Linus' Sincere Pumpkin Patch Award".

The men's room was out of "papel higienico" but was clean.

If you like clean, cozy, friendly, little hole-in-the-walls that serve simple authentic Mexican food, you ought to like it.

And they must be doing something right to stay in business this long.

edaveindy Comments:
This restaurant has certainly had its ups and downs. Not long ago it used to be an upscale Asian seafood buffet. Then it went down hill, then renovated, etc. I don't know how many cycles it has gone through.

My feelings on their current state are mixed so I split my ratings between 4 and 3, with a slight edge to 4.

Overall: I have to rate this a "go". It's not impress-the- boss/wife/gf/inlaws worthy. And may or may not be worth going out of your way. But it's the best (and maybe only) Chinese buffet in Castleton. And, taa-daaaaa, it's now patronized by a lot of Asians, so they're doing something unique and/or authentic.

But go at the beginning of the meal time, not towards the end. Most of their food (especially the sushi) doesn't sit/age well.

Food Pluses: extensive and good salad bar. Going for just the salad bar alone would be worth the price to me. Mongolian BBQ, was very popular. Lots of sushi and nigiri. Lots of dim sum. Very extensive breadth of dishes. Stuff you won't see in most common chinese buffets. All you can eat sushi? Yes, count me in. But... see below.

Food negatives: Some of the items have what I now call "gunk sauce" that distills down into an ooze as it sits in the steam tray. Not all dishes were like that. And even when it does have that sauce, the dish can be good if you get it soon after they bring it out. Also, some of the chicken was just weird. I don't know if it was cheap, or old, or cooked too long or reheated. But the chicken in the chicken-and-vegetables and the spicy chicken-legs was rubbery and chewy.

Lots of dim sum, but the steam trays were open, so the dim-sums were mostly dried out or ugly. Lots of sushi and nigiri (fish slice on top of a thumb-size hunk of rice) but you have to keep it under plastic film to keep it fresh, and none was under film. So now I realize why _good_ sushi/sashimi/nigiri is worth the high price, and it has to be made to order. And you have to keep it under film or it dries out, and it's just not the same, the meat alters and the rice too.

But hey, for $8.83 for lunch, you're not going to get high quality sushi/sashimi with an all-you-can-eat deal thrown in.

Cleanliness: Good, both up front and in the men's room.

Service: Well staffed during the lunch hour. Old plate removed before I got back with the next plate-full, and drink refilled before it was empty. Staff is not smiley-happy as they usually are at most Chinese buffets. I got the impression that Mama-san rules the girls with an iron fist. Something's not quite kosher in that regard. I did not see her be mean, but maybe condescending, and the girls seemed afraid of her. I hope I just read the situation wrong.

Ambience: Good. Well decorated up front, and renovated men's room.

Value: Pretty good. Lunch price was $8.83, which included the buffet, soda with endless refills, and tax. I forget the exact dinner price, but it was also a good value. Given that there are enough good things about the food and enough good dishes (though you have to be choosey to get quality), the price makes it a real bargain.

You pay just a little more than the "fill up cheap" places, but if you're choosey, you can get some real quality food by avoiding the duds.

But like any buffet, start with tiny samples to see what's good, and go back to concentrate on that.

edaveindy Comments:
I went back for the lunch buffet. Yes, it is reminiscent of India Palace (on Lafayette Road) as I remember it from when I lived on the West side of Indy. EXCELLENT!

Chicken Tikkia Massala. Excellent.

Rice Biryani. Excellent.

Lamb curry. Excellent.

Chicken curry. Excellent.

Naan. Ooooh. Soft and puffy, brought to your table.

Chicken Tandoori. Moist and tender. Not dried out like most others.

I found so much I liked, I didn't have room to try more.

Today's lunch was busy. They had the older server from the west side with them today. He's efficient and matter-of-fact, but the hostess who also doubled as a waitress was very outgoing and personable. Plus there was another waitress on duty, plus a cashier.

Most of the patrons I saw were from India: Northern Indians, Southern Indians, and Punjabis. Most were families. (This being a weekend.) There were a few Caucasian customers too. So word has apparently gotten around about the new owner.

Elegant dining room. Glass tabletops. Glass drinking glasses. Stainless steel utensils. Paper napkins (for lunch). China plates. Ambience is pretty good, on par or perhaps better than what they had at India Palace.

Weekday lunch buffet price: $8 plus drink plus tax. Weekend lunch buffet price: $9 plus drink plus tax.

Lunch buffet goes through 2:30pm, and then they close until the dinner hour.

Menu service for supper.

This is impress-the-boss/wife/gf/inlaws worthy. If you have business clients staying in the Castleton area, and they want Indian food, you can safely take them here for lunch or supper.

edaveindy Comments:
They don't offer a buffet like they used to years ago. Where the buffet used to be, they now use for storage, so it's kind of unsightly.

The dining area was pretty dirty and dingy, and most table tops were grungy, but I managed to find an acceptable one. I was not brave enough to check the men's room.

I can't recommend dining in.

Food was acceptable, sauce was not too salty, fresh mushrooms (not canned). The order-taker/cashier was sweet.

Some of the regular reviewers might say I'm being a little generous in my rating of their cleanliness, ambience, and perceived value.

edaveindy Comments:
Carry-out (order at the counter) or sit-down-and-order-from-the-menu (waiter will take your order). This is _not_ a cookie-cutter strip-mall Chinese place. No back-lit pictures of entrees on the wall. No red-and-green-print menus. They have their own custom menu.

Nicely decorated and extremely clean dining area. Stainless steel utensils, real plates, glass beverage glasses, nice paper napkins. Asian background music.

My standard Moo Goo Gai Pan was very fresh, noticeably more so than the average strip-mall Chinese place. The stir-fry sauce was different enough to be unique to this restaurant, not the ubiquitous white sauce served everywhere else. It also had a touch more garlic to it.

The egg-roll was pretty good, better than average.

Service was attentive.

Men's room was utilitarian, not decorated, and was also used for storage. It could have been tidied up or touched up a little, but was not dirty.

The only awkwardness is that the restrooms are located in the employee/server area, so you have to walk past the server stuff and the beverage cooler. To me, that detracts from the ambience. But the dining area was so much nicer than average strip-mall Chinese restaurants, that I still gave them the 4.0 on Ambience. (I tend to be a little generous with strip-mall restaurants since I don't expect much going in.) Table-tops and chairs were in good repair, not worn.

They had a steady stream of customers during the dinner hour, both for dine-in and carry-out.

edaveindy Comments:
At first I thought it was a "walk-up to the counter and order" kind of place, but you can actually sit at a table and they will take your order and bring the food out to you.

I forgot to check online here first, so I didn't know about the Korean or "authentic menu."

The menu is not the standard red-and-green-print menu at most Chinese walk-up strip-mall restaurants.

I could tell from the entree, and especially the rice, that they were either from Hong Kong or Southern China. Flavors and construction are slightly different than the average Mandarin-style of Chinese restaurants run by people from the Mainland outside of southern China.

Papa-san was very personable, going around to the tables to make sure the customers were satisfied. The kids (a teen and a college-age guy) ran the front counter and served, and Mom worked the kitchen.

Real china plate, stainless utensils, foam beverage cups, paper napkins. Very clean men's room. The men's room was actually decorated a bit, and not totally utilitarian as most strip-mall restaurant restrooms.

I concur with the kudos of previous reviewers.

edaveindy Comments:
You can order from the standard red-and-green print menu (dine-in or take-out), or get the buffet.

The quality of the buffet was kind of mixed. For this price level ($7.90 for dinner buffet, including drink and tax) it was a great value and had more dishes, more desserts (including vanilla and chocolate soft serve ice cream) and a better salad bar than I would have expected. Two of the shrimp dishes were excellent. The fried rice was excellent. Some of the steam tray items were good. And some of the hot meat/veg dishes had that thick glazey sauce that seems to blend together and ruin all the flavors; it's like the recipe seemed right, but the execution/preparation was off.

The dining area is large, and eat-in customers were sparse, but they had a steady stream of customers ordering take-out. So I would imagine that the menu orders were fresher and better prepared.

It looks like a mom-and-pop operation, with their teen-age or college-age children as the hired help. I really feel for the parents of teenagers. Teens are teens, and moms are moms, no matter where they're from or what language they speak. I don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese, but a mother/daughter argument is identifiable in any language. It was kind of fun making up my own translation in my head, based on their body-english and tone of voice.

I dinged them on cleanliness because of a sticky table-top and the condition of the men's room.

I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here, but if you're in the neighborhood, it's a great "value meal."

edaveindy Comments:
It lives up to the previous remarks.

All the food that we sampled was perfect. You just can't get a bad piece of meat from the servers that bring about a dozen different varieties to your table.

Everything on the salad bar was hand-picked, and arranged perfectly, including smoked salmon, prosciuto, a couple kinds of cheeses, roasted peppers, stuffed artichoke hearts, waldorf salad, chopped parsley salad, iceberg lettuce, romaine, spinach, huge asparagus spears, large brocolli heads, cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and more that I can't remember.

Everything was tip-top quality, and presented extremely well.

I was so fixated on the salad bar that I missed the sauces, oils and vineger, etc, that were on top at eye level over the end with the salmon and cheese.

The meats are seasoned so perfectly, you don't want to add anything to them. A1 Sauce would be sacrilege.

You serve yourself from the salad bar (not entirely vegetarian, as it does have smoked salmon and prosciuto), then the gauchos bring beef, chicken, pork, and lamb on skewers to your table.

For pre-cut pieces, they slide a piece from their skewer onto your plate, but for some meats that they cut right there, they slice only 1/2 slice, you then grab it with a pair of tongs, then they slice it the rest of the way off.

Our first server, who took our drink order and explained the deal, had an accent so heavy that we didn't understand most of what he said. He did not offer us a menu or anything to read.

The price has gone up since the review in Nuvo. Dinner (evening meal) is $46.50 for the salad bar and the meats. That does not include drinks, desserts, tax or tip. It does include fried banana, mashed potatoes, and fried polenta brought to your table. Total damages with just an inexpensive soft drink, tax, and tip was $60 per person.

The ambience is extremely upscale. And the wine list very extensive. Huge walk-in wine room. Men's room was elegant and very clean, with custom-printed expensive cloth-like paper towels.

We got there about 6:30pm on a Friday, and the rush really started around 7:00pm.

The gauchos move and speak so quickly, it's easy to feel rushed. But just remember to reply and eat at your own pace. They mostly, but not always, honor the "red/green" sided discs at your table. Sample the meats they bring, then when you come across something you prefer, just ask the next server to send that item next time, as you don't have to accept every gaucho's offer. It's just part of the show.

My favorite meats were the prime rib, filet mignon, and chicken drumstick; all suculent, mouth-watering, exquisitely seasoned. The lamb-chop was pretty good too.

This is definitely the place to impress someone.

Valet parking for $8. There's also a parking garage directly across the street. Enter the restaurant directly from the street.

At $60 a hit, this is going to be a rare visit. But it's worth experiencing at least once, and on very special occasions.

edaveindy Comments:
Wow, I can't believe it's been over a year. I shouldn't have let it go so long since patronizing again.

I got there in the late evening, and was the only customer. But a little later, an Asian couple came in.

The soft-wrap spring rolls were excellent, and I loved the dipping sauce that came with them.

I didn't intend to, but I ended up having the same dish as last year, rice noodles (not the soup) and stir-fried chicken. Very good, light, flavorful, not too spicy, and it didn't need any additional sauces, other than the little bowl that comes with it, that you stir in right before eating.

I had fried bananas for dessert. Good, but not quite as exquisite as the Thai recipe fried bananas that I've had elsewhere. These were served with some sweet tapioca on them. The portion size of this dessert was enough for two people.

Lunch is the better deal though, and lunch specials start at $6.

They are worth your consideration for lunch or supper if you live or work in the Castleton area. And if you seek quality authentic Vietnamse cuisine, they are worth going out of your way for.

edaveindy Comments:
Buffet is served during lunch only (not supper). It's a very limited buffet, but the price is only $6.25 including drink.

I've had supper there before and would give a "met" or "exceeded" on the food quality when ordering off the menu. But food quality of the buffet disappointed. I just gave a "met" on value since it was so cheap.

I'll go eat there again, and give another rating for the from-the-menu food after 30 days.

The men's room needed attention.

Friends recommended their food for take-out. So take-out is probably keeping them open. But they need to clean the place some, or they might not last long in toney Fishers.

edaveindy Comments:
I go to Korean/Japanese restaurants with high expectations, so I'm not as generous in the ratings as I usually am with the more pedestrian Mexican or Chinese strip-mall restaurants.

1. Food Quality/presentation. The sashimi appetizer was generously proportioned, perhaps the largest pieces of sashimi that I've been served. It was fresh and had a smooth consistency. There was a generous amount of very fresh ginger served along with it. The lemon-rind decoration was unique and caught my attention.

2. Cleanliness. Very impressed with the cleanliness of the men's room. Dining area was spotless.

3. Service. Very efficient and polite. Waiter checked a few times to see if everything was good, and if I wanted more, and if I wanted dessert. Good on refilling my soda.

4. Ambience. Very tastefully decorated, especially for a strip-mall. There was a good feeling on the layout, so maybe it was designed with Feng Shui in mind. Very large interior. The fire marshall sign said 198 seating limit. There is a regular-table dining area, plus an area consisting of tables with places for the table-top stoves (and overhead ventillation), and a private dining area off to the side near the restrooms. The sushi bar was pretty large too.

The men's room was probably one of the best decor bathrooms I've seen at a restaurant in a long while.

5. Perceived Value. Generous sized cuts on the sashimi appetizer. Excellent value on the bibimbob, only $5.95 for lunch, with a large amount. Since the bibimbob was only $6, I thought it was going to be small, so I ordered the sashimi. But, I could have been filled without the sashimi.

Most but not all of the lunch crowd was Korean.

A fork was included in the cloth napkin along with the chopsticks, so you don't have to ask for it. The miso soup came with the traditional soup spoon, and the bibimbob also came with a spoon.

To me this is impress-the-boss/wife/gf/inlaws worthy, and going-out-of-your-way worthy.

edaveindy Comments:
This location used to be Masala Kitchen. Same furnishings and fixtures. The current owner of New India used to own India Palace on Lafayette Road. He took over this location less than two weeks ago. He said that his cook here was his cook over there at India Palace, so I expect the same great food, especially the lunch buffet.

It looks like he's doing here what he did at India Palace, having a banquet hall next door, and offering the catering from the adjacent restaurant.

Check out the web site, and if you want a catered event, you can rent the hall and get a buffet for $20/person with a minimum of 50 people.

I was used to having naan bread brought to the table as part of lunch buffets at Indian restaurants, and just recently learned that it is an extra cost item on the dinner menu.

However, somewhat similar to the chips-and-salsa that is included with most meals at Mexican restaurants, it seems that for the dinner meal at Indian restaurants you get papad (or papadum) and chutney. Papad is a very delicate thin crisp bread, usually made out of lentil or other bean flour. There were three little cups of sauce/salsa/chutney served with the papad: one green mint, one fruity/spicey, and one chunky spicey one that I couldn't discern the main ingredient. I really liked the green mint and the fruity/spicey ones. I'm not sure how you're supposed to eat them, but I used them on the papad and the naan.

I had the Tandoori Chicken, and enjoyed it. It comes served on a sizzling plate with onions and green peppers and a side dish of sauce, and a side of basmati rice. This is all separate from the plate you eat off of, so it would facilitate sharing and trying each other's dishes.

The owner was waiting tables. He and the other waiter/busboy seemed very professional, confident, and experienced; attentive, but not hovering. Not to disrespect the previous staff, but these guys deliver a more professional experience of what most people expect at fine dining restaurants. IE, it seems like they've done this a long time and are obviously good at it.

If you liked India Palace, you ought to like this new place.

edaveindy Comments:
One of the best sit-down Chinese restaurants in town.

Although it is located in an out-lot strip mall, this is not the typical walk-up Chinese joint. They come to your table and take your order.

Real glass water glasses. Cloth napkins. Cloth tablecloths covered in glass. Stainless steel utensils. Real china plates. Wait staff is professional. A pot of hot tea is served automatically.

The multi-page menu seems extensive, with plenty of regular (Mandarin?) and Szechuan and Hunan items.

This might not be elegant-impress-the-boss worthy, or driving-clear-across-town worthy, but for this neck of the woods, this place is great for a relax-with-a-nice-meal.

edaveindy Comments:
Their last review may have been overly harsh on the rating, but the comments are on the right track.

These folks are sincere, so I'll be "liberal" and give them ratings of 3's for good intentions (I'm being very generous here.)

If you go during busy times, the food is better right after they bring it out in the trays.

They do have soft-serve frozen custard (ice cream).

This is mainly a "fill up cheap" place if you don't have time to go to another buffet.

edaveindy Comments:
I went here a few days after eating at their new East 96th Street location, in order to compare the two. This (the College Ave location) is a very busy restaurant. I can see why the owners/operators wanted to leverage their skills/experience and open another location. They know what they're doing, and they're good.

First off, park in back if you can't get an on-street parking spot. The alley to access the parking lot is one way going from South to North, so you have to go to 62nd street, over (East) a half block from College, then North on the alley.

They are located just South of The Vogue, between 62nd Street and Broad Ripple Ave, on the East side of College.

There are two main dining rooms. I haven't been here before, so I don't know if the 2nd dining room is new, but it looks like they took over the store next door and turned it into another dining area.

There were 4 sushi chefs on duty at the height of the dinner hour, and plenty of wait staff.

Decor/ambience is nice, but nothing to shout about. Things are a little tight. There are tables for 2, for 4, and more.

Some of the tables have wide bench-like seating which is reminiscent of Japanese floor seating. It's a nice blend of East/West style.

The miso soup was average, nothing special.

I had a beef bento-box dinner, and was very pleased with that. Rice was sticky, Asian style.

It came with two pieces of sushi, which wasn't enough to judge their sushi offerings. But from what I saw at the sushi bar, and if their sushi/sashimi here is as good as the 96th Street location, it should be excellent.

edaveindy Comments:
Very new restaurant that hasn't quite been "discovered" yet. Everything is shiny and new. The decor is similar to their location on College Avenue, but everything is brand new, and a bit more elegant/upscale. Very well thought-out and planned decor.

There is a main dining area, and a large room off to one side for a large party, plus a few small rooms for 6 to 8 people. I think there is a bar area behind the sushi bar, but I forgot to go look.

The wide bench-type seating for many of the tables (but not all) is the same as their College Ave location. This type of seating gives sort of the look/feel of traditional floor seating, and is not out of place, and made me think it's a nice fusion of East/West.

There is more room between tables than the College Ave location.

The sushi chefs behind the sushi bar all looked Asian, with a mostly-Caucasian wait staff, same as College Ave.

I had the chirashi sushi/sashimi, which is sushimi served over a bed of sushi rice. It was excellent. The other places where I've had this, they pretty much throw the sashimi on top, but here it was crafted into an elegant presentation. The sashimi was noticeably fresh and had a very smooth consistency. The rice was perfectly sticky the way Asian rice is supposed to be, not westernized, for eating with chopsticks.

They were over-staffed in relation to the number of customers. So if you are going to check this place out, go before it gets discovered or before they reduce the staffing to match the level of business. But it's very new, so let's hope word gets out and business picks up.

The menu consists of three cuisines: Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. The menu items seem the same as the College Ave location, but the printed menu is slightly different.

They don't have the breadth of dishes that you would see in a one-cuisine restaurant, but they seem to have the most popular of Japanese and Korean dishes. Chinese dishes seem to get the short shrift though. This restaurant definitely deserves the "pan-Asian" label.

This restaurant really impressed me more than the College Ave location. This is definitely impress the boss/wife/inlaws/girlfriend worthy. To be this good so soon after opening leads me to believe that the owners/operators are pros in the restaurant biz.

edaveindy Comments:
This is a corporate chain, so check out the comments on the other locations, as they will likely apply to all stores of the same chain.

Order at the counter, and they give you a number, and bring your meal out to your table. Food is served on designer china plates. But stainless utensils (and wooden chopstix) and soda found drinks are serve yourself.

Deli items (bread, cookies, bottled drinks) like what you see at Starbucks or a bookstore cafe are also offered.

The decor/ambience is clean and modern, but it's corporate cookie-cutter. It has no soul. It's the equivalent of Qdoba Mexican Grill, Panda Express, and Moe's Southwest Grill. Yeah, it tasted good, but the zeit/numen/spirit was all wrong.

This shopping area, on the North side of West 86th Street, between Zionsville Road and I-465 is modern, clean, and the grass is well manicured, chemically treated, and automatically watered.

But it's too suburban-perfect "Stepford Wives"-ish. The feeling was just too plastic, too fake, too WASP-ish, too cold. It made me want to go back to a mom-and-pop with real people, even if the table-tops weren't squeaky clean and sterilized.

Don't get me wrong. I like clean. I like upscale as well as humble. I like well-decorated interiors. But you can have all those things and still have soul (such as Taiwan Tea House). But Noodles & Co, Panda, Qdoba, and Moe's don't have soul, they just have food.

edaveindy Comments:
The many good Japanese restaurants in Indianapolis set such a high standard, one goes to these places with high expectations. So compared to the average Japanese/sushi place in town, this is average, but it's good. If I could, I'd give all 3.5 ratings for this restaurant.

The first thing you notice is the huge fish pond in front, with the HUMONGOUS over-grown goldfish (some are white, some multi-colored). Those things have to be 20 to 30 pounders. Holy mackeral, those things alone are worth a trip to see.

The dining area is large. There are 10 hibachi grills (teppanyaki), plus plenty more tables-for-4 and tables-for-6. The sushi bar is pretty long too.

I had the "chirashi" which is eseentially a sashimi sampler served over rice. I like this dish, because it's a bit cheaper per piece of fish than if you ordered the same thing done up artistically as sashimi or nigiri. Less labor-intensive to make, I suppose.

Mine was very fresh, no fishy smell, and the fish had a very smooth consistency.

The ambience/decor is nice but not real fancy, not elegant. Suitable to go dressed up, but also suitable for casual dress.

Prices are in line with what they deliver.

Their location is kind of hard to find if you don't know where you're going. They are in Castleton, on the North side of East 82nd street, between Center Run Road and Castleton Square proper. They are located a few hundred feet North of Denny's, in a long building that runs North/South. The entrance is on the East side of that building.

If you're heading West on 82nd, turn right (North) into that little out-mall immediately before you get to Denny's, or turn into Denny's parking area. If you head straight for the front door of Dollar Tree, then Sapporo will be on your left, in the middle of that long North/South building.

If you accidentally turn into Castleton Square, you have to come back out to 82nd Street, and head EAST, and start over as below. From Castleton Square's parking lot, you can see the back door to Sapporo, and there's a big Sapporo sign on the back of their building.

If you're heading East on 82nd Street, turn left (North) onto Center Run Road. Turn left (West) at the first light (you'll see Subway on the corner.) Keep going until you're even with Dollar Tree's front door, then turn left (South) at Dollar Tree. Then you'll see Sapporo on your right, in the middle of that long building which runs North/South.

edaveindy Comments:
They have new owners (or new operators) since the last time I ate here a few years ago. The present people are from the China mainland (not Hong Kong), so the food no longer has that South China/Cantonese flair, and is more like the standard Mandarin Chinese restaurants.

The menu and preparation are pretty much standard, with the common red-and-black menu, and back-lit pictures above the cashier counter.

I had my standard Moo Goo Gai Pan, and noticed the freshness of the vegetables, and just the right amount of seasoning, no excess salt, chicken was good, the egg roll was great, and the pork-fried-rice was superb, with lean and succulent pork chunks, not the usual dried out pieces that normally come in pork-fried-rice.

Noticeable differences from standard Chinese walk-up-and-order restaurants are the self-serve soda fountain (Pepsi products), disposable chopsticks available alongside the self-serve plastic utensils, larger than average dining area, and a rack of kids' toys and puzzles, placed out near the magazine rack, so they were probably as much for customers' children as the owners' children. The cashier brought the food out to my table instead of just calling me to get it.

Location is on the North side of 126th Street, just East of SR 37, just East of the Shell gas station.

edaveindy Comments:
Yup, it's the same people as "Thai House" that was on Michigan Road, just south of West 86th Street.

Nicer restaurant, new furniture. Better ambience, even though it's in a strip mall. Some of the same pictures and wall hangings as before, but it doesn't look like it was shoe-horned into an old Arby's or Hardee's fast food joint.

Business travelers staying at one of the dozen or so hotel/motels along Michigan Road between 86th and 96th would find this a nice change of pace from the corporate cookie-cutter restaurants.

It's just East of McDonalds, on 96th Street, just East of Michigan Road.

I had a chicken and stir fried vegetable dish, over rice. Fresh ingredients. I ordered "medium" (one star) spiciness, and was pleased. Very fresh ingredients.

I'm worried that they're not going to get the drive-by traffic that they got at their old location. So I hope they do some advertising to make up for it, and put a sign out on Michigan. You just can't see this place as you drive along Michigan Road.

edaveindy Comments:
I still love the crust on their pizzas. Unique, crispy on the bottom, and softer on top. I think this is part of what is referred to as "California style".

I had the Chicken Tikka Pizza, a very good and unqiue combination.

This is mainly a walk-up and take-out place, and you can phone in your order.

Though the dining area is large, I was the only eat-in diner (though there were several take-out customers). On previous visits it's usually been just me or one other table with diners.

This would be a good place to have a party, since they have a large dining area that's under-utilized. They also still have the American fare that I mentioned in a previous review. You can get regular American-style/California-style pizzas in addition to their specialty middle-eastern and south-Asian style pizzas.

They also have a large screen TV with either cable or satellite, and a DVD player for entertainment, which you can ask them to turn on for you. This would also be good for a party.

The restaurant is owned/run by a nice family. I was hoping that there would have been more customers at the hour I was there. So if you are a fan of independent mom-and-pop restaurants, please consider patronizing this place and places like this, and encouraging your friends to eat at independent restaurants instead of the corporate chains.

edaveindy Comments:
Definitely worth patronizing when you're in the neighborhood. But nothing special to go out of your way for.

I had supper during the height of the dinner hour, and the food was fresh and well-prepared, with a decent selection of seafood items. I'd say this was slightly better than the average franchise of the "Super China Buffet" chain. So I'd give them a 3.5 rating across the board if I could.

The salad and fruit/dessert section didn't have as much variety as I would have liked, but it had suffient. They had fresh watermelon, and canned fruit, but were missing the very common chunks of honey-dew melon and cantelope that are served at most Chinese buffets.

Dinner was $6.28, plus $.99 drink (or free water), plus tax. I forgot to take note of the lunch price, but I'm thinking it was $1.00 less.

Buffet carry-out available.

The only negative was that the men's room had run out of paper-towels.

edaveindy Comments:
This is indeed a gem that you wouldn't normally expect in this part of town and not in this neighborhood. It's at the SouthWest corner of East 10th and Shadeland. Easy to get to from Washington Street, or the I-70 Shadeland exit.

The restaurant is also better than what you'd expect from outside appearance.

I liked the decor. It was very tasteful. The staff was all Asian. The hostess/cashier was sweet.

There was a large sushi-bar area with plenty of seating.

The men's room was clean.

Other Japanese/sushi places in town have set a pretty high standard, so that's the reason I didn't rate them higher. I don't think I'm being overly generous in the ratings on this one.

The menu was extensive, with lots of sushi options, and lots of non-sushi items.

My miso soup was pretty good. And the small lettuce salad was pretty good. The ginger salad dressing was not overpowering like at some places.

I had a sashimi sampler type meal. The sashimi was very fresh, noticeably fresh. I forget the name, but this came in a "box" served over loose sushi rice, so it didn't have the labor-intensive art that normally comes with a sushi or sashimi sampler. But it had all the ingredients, including real mint leaves, not plastic fins.

The owners/managers must have had really good previous experience to do such a good job so soon after opening. They've apparently done this before.

There is plenty of seating. And there are 4 side rooms, 3 of which have partial drapes across them for a small degree of privacy.

I'm not sure how to describe the flooring in the side rooms. It's a raised floor, but you sit on the raised floor (on cushions, not chairs) and you get the illusion that your legs are "underground", but your feet are actually on the same level as the rest of the restaurant's floor.

edaveindy Comments:
The restaurant is nicer than the tired neighborhood strip mall would lead you to believe. Well, nicer than the dingy Big Lots anchoring the strip mall led me to believe.

Casual yuppy-fied sort-of-Mediterranean atmosphere. Guys in t-shirts, khaki cargo shorts and ball-cap kind of place.

There are two sections. A dining section with booths and a bunch of tables-for-4 that can be arranged for larger groups. And the other section has tall bar-like chairs around tall round tables, but except for some beer signage, it didn't seem bar-like. They do serve alcohol, and the booth section seemed friendly enough for families and teetotalers.

I went for an early supper and it was not crowded at all. Waitress was attentive. I had the Sante Fe chicken specialty pizza. It was excellent. A very unique pizza. I think I could taste the smoke flavor from the wood-burning oven. The crust was thin and crispy and good, quite unlike other pizzas. The menu describes this pizza's crust as cornmeal.

The ambience was better than I was expecting for a pizza joint, and better than I was expecting for the neighborhood. Though the men's room could have been detail-cleaned a little better.

This place does impress if you're a pizza gourmet or a pizza fan. And I need to take my Italian friend to get her official opinion on their pasta next time.

Prices seemed a little high, but are in line with the quality.

If you're a fan of gourmet pizza, I think this place would be worth going out of your way for.

edaveindy Comments:
This was a pleasant discovery.

Other reviewers may think I'm being generous, but the cleanliness, service, and ambience met my expectations; and the food quality and price exceeded my expectations.

Buffet lunch price is $5.39 (includes drink, but not tax).

Buffet dinner price is $6.95 (includes drink, but not tax).

Take-out Buffet (one clamshell?): Lunch $4.95, Dinner $6.55, with no drink or soup.

My only two complaints: I like more selections on the salad bar. And some of the lettuce was brown on the edges, I had to pick through it to get pieces that didn't have any brown.

But other than that, the quality and selection of hot items were good.

They did have the standard lettuce/cucumbers/tomatoes. (Only 2 types of salad dressing, but since one was Ranch, I was happy.)

Large and fresh watermelon slices, cantelope chunks, and bananas in sweet red sauce rounded out the salad/fruit bar. I didn't try any of the sugary desserts, except the soft-serve frozen custard.

I was duly impressed by the quantity and quality of the seafood items. The rest of the hot items were standard and done well, in my opinion. No tired items bathed in that thick sweet glaze you find at many cheap buffets.

This is not a high-class/high-tier Chinese buffet. But what they do, they do well. It's not worth going out of your way for, and it won't impress the boss/wife/inlaws/girlfriend, but if you want well-constructed and well-prepared chinese-buffet-food at a great price, and you're in the area, this place is worthy of your patronage.

This is only a couple blocks from University of Indianapolis, and several of the customers looked like college students.

Open later than most, until 10:00pm Monday through Thursday, and open until 10:30pm on Friday and Saturday.

It's located on the NE corner of Hanna and Madison (US-31).

edaveindy Comments:
Years ago I heard from someone who lives in this neighborhood that this is a very good place.

It's a well-established restaurant, at _least_ 10 years in this location, if I remember correctly. And that's a long time for a restaurant.

When I checked the database listing, I was surprised that it hadn't been rated yet. So I put it on my mental to-do list next time I was in the area during meal time.

It's on the south side of Pendleton Pike, and the cross street is Hartman Dr.

I had lunch here, around 2:00pm, well after the lunch rush, and there were still a goodly number of customers.

It's almost a hole-in-the-wall, looking at it from the outside, but don't let that fool you. Inside, the decor is better than average for an authentic Mexican restaurant. All Hispanic staff, with very good English skills. I liked the staff's professional and confident demeanor. These guys are pro's at running a restaurant. Which probably explains their longevity.

The appetizer chips were thin, crispy, and warm, indicative of being made on premises. I couldn't tell if the salsa was made on premises or came from a bottle. It had a commercial consistency that made me think bottled, but flavor said home-made. It was flavorful and a just a little picante, but not biting. It could have used some more cilantro. You could scoop up lots of salsa on your chip and not worry about it burning your mouth.

I had the lunch steak burrito. At first I noticed the small portion, but then realized that was a good thing for the lunch, and also because it was only $6, which was a great deal when you consider the chips. Filling up on a huge burrito is not a good thing for lunch when you have to go back to work anyway.

The quality of the burrito, the chips, and the price made it a very good value.

I was impressed with the decor for this type of restaurant. Not fancy, but not jarring like many Mexican restaurants that cater to an Hispanic clientele. In other words, the decor is gringo-friendly, but it's not pretending to be something it isn't. It just fit well with me.

This is definitely worthwhile for lunch if you work in or near the area. I'll have to go back and try the dinner menu before I give it my "worth going out of your way for" rating. But it looks very promising.

edaveindy Comments:
Pretty much standard Chinese walk-up place. Eat in, carry out, or delivery with $8 min. Fax # is 317-781-8687. Located in Southern Plaza in the corner by Office Depot.

Paper napkins, plastic utensils, soda cooler out front, single unisex restroom. Everything's pretty average, except prices are lower than average. Service was friendly, cashier spoke English well, and she brought my tray to the table instead of calling me over to get it.

Lunch specials are $4.25 ($3.95 for some vegetarian selections.) Pint/Quart items are $4.25/$7.60 for pork and chicken; $4.50/7.80 for beef, and $4.75/$8.75 for shrimp. Combo plates (with Pork fried rice and egg-roll on dinner menu) are $6.25 to $6.75 (BBQ Spare Ribs $7.25). "Chef's Specialties" (dinner menu) are $7.95 to $9.25, with seafood specialties Happy Family ($9.75) and Seafood Delight ($11.75).

edaveindy Comments:
I had the lunch buffet. Excellent! Very good selection of salad items, including a lentil salad. The Mediterranean salad and baba-ganouj was excellent. The Apricot Chicken stood out too.

Kind of similar to Cairo Cafe on the west side of Indy, but a tad more Mediterranean than Middle-Eastern. Not as good a dessert selection as Cairo, but Mediterrano has a better salad selection.

Decor and cleanliness are very good here, in keeping with upscale Castleton. Several middle-eastern/Arabic customers were among the international clientele today. Background music was middle-eastern.

It was only $10 for the lunch buffet, including drink and tax. Self-serve on the fountain drinks, they don't come around and refill for you. But the $10 bottom-line price makes this an excellent deal.

edaveindy Comments:
Had supper here, and ordered the "Medio Pollo al Carbon" which is grilled/blackened half-chicken.

This was hands down the best Pollo al Carbon that I've had, well done, but still moist and flavorfull. The pieces were separated into thigh, leg, wing and breast, not all in one big connected piece.

The food quality was noticeably better than average. I had the dinner plate which was served with chips/salsa in advance. The plate included refried beans, rice, shredded lettuce, and a little pico de gallo. Warm and moist corn tortillas came in a "tortillera" on the side.

The waitress was excellent, but did not bring the check to the table. You go up to the cashier when you are ready to pay, which seems the S.O.P. in most Mexican restaurants.

Ambience is better than average for an authentic place.

My ratings here may seem a bit generous, but they are in relation to what I expect at strip-mall Mexican restaurants.

Cleanliness up front was better than average. I would have given them an "Exceeded" on cleanliness, but there was no soap in the men's room, not even an empty container. But the waitress was very apologetic when I pointed it out.

My bill was $8.56, including tax and a canned soft drink.

They also do carry-out.

This isn't really worth going out of your way for since Mexican restaurants are so ubiquitous, but this is the best Mexican food along this section of High School Road from 56th St down to Crawfordsville Rd. (Though West 38th does have some good ones, such as El Sol Azteca, and El Maguey.)

edaveindy Comments:
One of the few fine-dining Chinese restaurants in Indianapolis. Elegant atmosphere/ambience. White tableclothes, cloth napkins, stainless steel utensils, glass tumblers for soft drinks, stemmed water glasses, china plates.

Upscale menu. No Moo Goo Gai Pan, so I ordered the next closest thing, Chicken with Deluxe Vegetables (it came in white sauce). There were at least two kinds of mushrooms in it that I really liked: shitake, and another kind that isn't the standard white "button" mushroom. The vegetables in this dish were indeed deluxe. My order was cooked just right, with vegetables slighty crisp, and the white chicken pieces cooked to just the right texture.

Your order is brought to your table on a separate serving plate (to facilitate sharing meals between diners) with a separate bowl of white rice.

Most dinner entrees were around $9.50. $1.50 soft-drinks.

The decor is slightly reminiscent of the older "grand" style of Chinese restaurants, but more conservative and modern. Decor has been kept up, and is not old.

My waitress didn't seem fluent in English outside of standard restaurant vocabulary, but the hostess/cashier was fluent in English.

This place is definitely worthy of impressing the boss/wife/inlaws/girlfriend. Worth going out of your way for. This would also be a good place to take out-of-town business guests who are visiting the College Park or Park 100 area.

edaveindy Comments:
Recently opened restaurant. Walk-up Chinese restaurant in a strip-mall shopping center. Noticeably clean, with noticabley new furnishings. One unisex restroom.

Pretty much standard cookie-cutter type. High ratings are because I'm comparing it with other walk-up Chinese restaurants in strip-mall shopping centers.

Flimsy plastic utensils are in a bin on each table, along with a stack of cheapy paper napkins.

This is apparently run/owned by a mom-and-pop young couple. Pop cooks the food, Mom runs the front counter, but is often back in the kitchen helping out. I was there during dinner rush hour, and there were lots of carry-out customers.

Very fresh ingredients, including fresh (not canned) mushrooms in the Moo Goo Gai Pan. The ggg roll was freshly cooked, with fresh ingredients, and was noticebly better than what I've received at similar restaurants. Dine in food was served on a styrofoam plate.

The only reason I didn't give them an "Exceeded" on the food was that the Moo Goo Gai Pan was just slightly undercooked, which was good for the vegetables, as I like them a tad crisp. But the chicken, while it was sufficiently cooked for proper hygiene, wasn't sufficiently cooked for proper texture.

I'll stop by if I'm in the area again, but I don't get to Brownsburg much. I didn't mention the (slightly) undercooked chicken to them, but will if it's like that the next time.

edaveindy Comments:
I went for the lunch buffet, and was impressed. $7.95 buffet, plus $2 soft drink, plus tax.

As soon as I walked in the front door, I liked the spicey exotic aroma. Upscale decor. The whole place was very clean, including the men's room.

There were 9 items on the steam tables, ranging from good to very good. There was one dish that included both chicken kabob pieces and ground beef meatballs that stood out. And a couple of the stew-like dishes impressed me.

The salad side of the buffet had a lot of items, including hummus, babaganoush, stuffed grape leaves, mouth-watering olives (really, I was impressed), iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and more stuff I don't remember. (I need to write stuff down when I'm there.)

For dessert the buffet has cream-filled honey-infused triangle pastries. Not baklava, but really good.

There are two seating sections in the restaurant proper: one of booths and one of tables. Then there is the bar, which is also a hooka bar, that open to the section of tables, so you do get a whif of the cigarette/hooka smoke. Another section has the market/deli of high-priced exotic imported foods.

It looks like the section with tables turns into a dance area, with a place for a DJ or a keyboardist, and a professional sound system and keyboard.

The owners seem to be professional restauranteurs.

This place is good for both the food, and for a place to impress the boss/inlaws/wife/girlfriend. Worth going out of your way for if you like middle-eastern food.

edaveindy Comments:
This is in a little strip, at the intersection of West 86th and Moller Road, just East of Sybaris. It's situated in between Claude & Annie's, and the Subway restaurant.

This restaurant just re-located to here, in March or April 2008, from their previous location at 7853 Michigan Road. Same owners, same furnishings and posters.

They're also related to (or maybe same owners as) "Gyro N Kabob" at 3681 W 86th St, corner of Michigan Road; as they cross-advertise.

The atmosphere is fast-food-ish. You walk up and order/pay, and they call you to the counter when your order is ready. The only real decor indicating ethnic, are the Greek food posters, and some posters of Greece.

Soda is from a self-serve fountain, and the plastic utensils are self-serve.

I had a shawarma combo, it was kind of like a burrito. I liked it, but don't know enough to rate or judge it. The fries that came with the combo were pretty good. The shawarma and fries were freshly cooked, and didn't come from under a heat-lamp, so that was good. After placing the order, it did take a reasonable amount time to get my food, so that also let me know they were actually preparing it to order. So it's not exactly "fast food", though I understand gyro meat is kept hot and ready-to-serve.

The young lady behind the counter was pleasant. She appeared Arabic/Middle-Eastern, and was wearing a hijab, but otherwise was dressed Western-style. The three other customers appeared Arabic/Middle-Eastern and spoke with her in what sounded like Arabic.

The menu is pretty extensive with at least two dozen main items, plus appetizers and sides.

This looks like a good place to try things when you get tired of the standard American fast food and sandwhich shops.

edaveindy Comments:
Yeah, what Jo Ann said.

I'll give them an "Exceeded" on service, since they brought my food out to my table, and the cashier was fluent in English, and friendly.

I'm being just a tad generous on cleanliness and ambience. I don't think they deserved a "below", but the men's room could have easily been better, and the dining area was poorly lit.

The stir-fry sauce of my chicken dish had way too much salt.

edaveindy Comments:
Very clean. Atmosphere is casual but very tasteful. Great for a date or family.

I echo the previous gourmet pizza comments. Four styles of crust, four styles of sauce, and more than just standard toppings, including several kinds of olives and peppers, chicken, and shrimp.

Eat in, take-out, or delivery. They serve wine and beer, but there is no "bar area" so it's not bar-like.

Prices seem higher than other mom-and-pop pizza places, but are in line with the gourmet nature and high quality.

Service is attentive and friendly.

edaveindy Comments:
There was a pretty sizeable lunch crowd, both dine-in and carry-out. Prices are very good. Cleanliness above average. Service above average. The waitress seemed very professional. Ambience and food seemed average though.

As with many Mexican restaurants, remember to go to the cashier counter when you're ready to pay; they don't bring the check to your table.

edaveindy Comments:
Very busy and homey place. I noticed some American military guys there tonight. And an equal mix of Asians and Caucasians as customers.

Compared to Bando, I think the food is a bit spicier, especially the kimchi. I think Bando has a slightly better ambience for westerners. But Mama's looks like it has been in business longer. From what I understand, each restaurant has its own following within the Korean community. So I don't think you could say one is more authentic than the other, it's just a matter of preferences and taste.

There were 10 tables with grills in the main dining area, plus a big round table, plus another handful of tables-for-four.

A nice feature here is a banquet room with about 14 grills, Karaoke/big-screen, and a small dance area. I didn't count the seats, but I'm guessing the banquest area could easily hold 60 people. They said that rental of the banquet room is free with food purchase for your group, but make a reservation.

They have a large kitchen and adequate staff, so they seem capable of serving large groups. This would be a good place for an IEF party.

The regular Bi Bim Bap (not the hot stone kind) was a deal at $9.99. It came with soup, rice, the main dish, and 10 sides. Big enough for two people.

They have ready-made jarred (canned) Kimchi for sale/take-out.

edaveindy Comments:
Luke's and caltinbay's reviews still pretty much reflect my experience.

Better than average chips. Excellent dip that comes in three bowls: red/brown, green, and pico de gallo (the chopped tomato, onion, pepper, cilantro). Excellent spiciness level on the dips so that you can put some of the one you like on your meal, in addition to the chips.

My waitress had no problem with English, was quick to seat me, and take my order, and refill my water glass.

Prices are pretty good. I had the chicken enchilladas, with green sauce. Very good. Beans and rice were better than average too.

They still have a large screen TV and another flat-panel TV tuned to a Spanish station.

There were just a couple negatives. The juke box from the billards area was way too loud, and detracted from conversations in the dining area. And the men's room, had water on the floor, and needed both cleaned and major remodelling. It wasn't so much dirty as it was extremely run down. I'm being a little generous with the "met" ratings for cleanliness and ambience.

There are four billards tables in another section, but the partitions around it don't go to the ceiling. You're all in essentially the same room.

The excessively loud jukebox and the restroom sort of nix it for a date, but it's good enough for a guys' night out if you appreciate good Mexican food.

edaveindy Comments:
I had the lunch buffet. As far as food variety, food quality, and lunch buffet price/value, they're good, but I'd rate them slightly lower than India Palace and Udupi.

I don't intend to dis them with the "Met" ratings, it's just that the other Indo-Pak restaurants in town that I've been to have set a pretty high standard.

But the big selling point here is the ambience. They really went to great efforts and expense. The decorating appeared top notch to me. Walking in here is like being transported to India or Pakistan. I didn't realize how much an effect that tablelcoths and chairs can have; impressive. The decor is not an afterthought, it seems authentic and it really works.

This place is definitely more upscale than, say, Udupi, and not as Westernized as India Palace.

In addition to the two main dining areas (where they have tables/chairs), they have a floor dining area, the kind where you recline on the floor and eat off of low tables, resting on pillows.

The dining area is large, and is in two sections, essentially two rooms that can be separated with curtains, so you can still have a very large private party or catered event in your own private dining room.

I'll have to come back to sample the evening fare.

This place is worth sampling at least twice, once for lunch, and once for supper. I'd suggest going there soon, because the location is bad for business. This back-lot North of Lafayette Square (and East of the strip that houses Udupi/India Palace) doesn't get any drive-by or drive-through traffic. So I don't expect this place to be open for long. But let's hope that word-of-mouth drives enough business there.

edaveindy Comments:
They've been open for well over a year now, and have kept it up pretty good. Everything is still shiny and clean, not worn or tired looking. It's so nice to eat someplace where the dining area, the restroom, and the part of the kitchen you can see are spotlessly shiny clean.

You can still order the fried chicken/fish/potato wedges (with their attendant sides), or opt for the Filipino food. As mentioned befoe, the Filipino cuisine is a bit limited during weekdays, but go on the weekend for more variety and quantity.

They close at 7pm during the winter, so adjust accordingly.

Weekday Filipino food includes: Lechon (pork), pork on a skewer, adobo (pork), menudo, stew, pork/vegetable eggrolls (the big ones), lumpia shanghai eggrolls (the small ones), rice, and turon (fried plaintain) for dessert.

Weekend Filipino food includes the above plus more, but call ahead.

They don't cater per-se, but can make large quantities in those aluminum chafing-dish-like things. I got turned on to Eduardo's when they catered (or provided the food for) the local Filipino association's annual festival.

They still have four tables-for-4 and a counter area that seats 3. If needed, the could possibly squeeze in a few more.

edaveindy Comments:
Very enjoyable. Worth going out of your way for. Suitable to impress the boss/wife/GF/inlaws.

The interior fits in with the upscale shopping center in which this is located. Cloth table cloths, cloth napkins, water and beverages served in real glasses not plastic.

All the servers were caucasian (most were rather young) and the three sushi chefs on duty looked Asian. I got there for an early dinner, was served quickly, and my waiter was quick to refill my soft drink.

From the front, it looks smaller than it is, but there is ample dining towards the back, and there is an additional dining room which you can't see from up front. So don't walk away if it looks full.

This additional dining room has a door that can be closed for a private party or large group.

They appear to have an extensive wine menu (it is Castleton), and even a glassed off side room for wine. The sushi prep area is at least twice as wide across as most most other sushi bars, and with three sushi chefs, they must do a lot of sushi/sashimi business.

The sushi/sashimi menu is probably the largest one I've seen so far.

I had the sashimi ishi combination, the larger of the three. Very fresh and high quality, including the squid. I don't remember having octopus sashimi before, so I'm not sure how to rate that item. The garnish included large mint leaves (no plastic fins here.) Very artistic and well-constructed. Those who like to take pictures of their food would have found it to be photo-worthy.

As I write this, I haven't tried the other Castleton Japanese restaurants (Asaka, Sapporo, Sarku) yet, but it appears this would be a good place to take sushi-loving out-of-towners who are in Castleton on business.

It's a little pricey, as most Japanese places are, but it seems to be in line with other Japanese restaurants of similar quality.

edaveindy Comments:
Excellent food, prices and overall experience. It was a busy Friday night, but not every table was occupied, so I was seated right away, and service was still pretty quick. Aside from the kitchen staff, there seemed to be only one waitress/cashier and one bus-boy on duty, and they were constantly on the go, working very hard. But my soft-drink glass was never allowed to get empty.

I suggest to diners that you make sure you get a glass of ice-water in addition to whatever beverage you choose if you are not accustomed to the spicey-hotness of Korean dishes and sides.

I ordered the regular Bi Bim Bap, #34, and loved it. It comes with miso soup served first, and then another 10 (yes, TEN!) side dishes, each in their own little dish.

The miso soup was among the best I've ever had, very fresh and flavorful.

Because of the portion size, it seems as if most entrees are intended for two people, and so you can order another empty plate to share. That's what I saw another table of two couples do. There were three tables of caucasians, including me, and seven tables of Koreans and Japanese. For one of my Korean clients, this place is the real-deal, and is the "go to" Korean restaurant in town. Judging from the activity I saw, he's right.

I'm used to eating seaweed dishes, so I can say that the seaweed side dish was pretty good. Out of the 10 sides, only one was so-so, about four were good, and about five were great. I'm not a regular consumer of kimchee, but the kimchee side dish was great, loved it. The bean sprout dish was notable too.

Bi Bim Bop is served sizzling in a very hot stone dish. There was rice, noodles, vegetables and sauteed beef in it, topped with fresh lettuce and a fried egg.

Considering the portion size and quality, the prices/value are excellent.

I'm being a little generous on the 4 rating for Service, but the waitress and bus-boy worked very hard, and were good. They were just short-staffed, and needed another waitress up front.

I'd give it a 3.5 on Ambience and Cleanliness if I could. I would have given it a 4 on Cleanliness if the men's room had been detail-cleaned a little better. The dining area deserves a 4 on Cleanliness, tables and floor up front were spotless.

Very impressive. Worth going out of your way for. Worth going to for a dining adventure. Worth taking your boss/wife/GF/inlaws to impress them. But if you want to take small children, I'd suggest items that are not grilled at the table. And I haven't seen any minors there the two times I've gone.

edaveindy Comments:
Pretty much a standard cookie-cutter strip-mall walk-up-and-order-at-the-counter Chinese Restaurant.

It now has a dine-in seating. About 4 or 5 tables-for-four, and a couple tables-for-two.

Dine-in food is brought to your table and served on the reusable type of plastic dinner plates, but the cheap plastic utensils, sauce packets and napkins are self-serve.

My Moo Goo Gai Pan was good, but not quite enough to get the Exceeded rating. Ambience was standard. Cleanliness slightly better than average.

Prices are good, $3.80 to $4.50 for the lunch specials. $6.00 to $6.50 for the dinner combos. Plus the standard Pint and Quart offerings. Chicken dish pints are $3.80 & quarts are $7.50. Shrimp dish pints are $4.75, and quarts are $8.75.

I dined in during the dinner hour, and there was a steady stream of take-out customers, and just one other dine-in customer.

They are open late, until 10pm Mon-Sat, and until 9pm on Sunday.

Not worth going out of your way for, but these kinds of places are like the McDonalds of Chinese cuisine. Nothing spectacular, but formulaic enough so you know what to expect.

edaveindy Comments:
Normally, I'm a bit generous when rating strip-mall walk-up-style Chinese restaurants, and mom-and-pop Mexican restaurants, because I don't expect that much, and those kinds of restaurants don't pretend to much.

So please don't think I'm disrespecting this place by giving it only 3's. Based on other Korean/Japanese/sushi places I've been to, it just didn't exceed my expectations. But it certainly met expectations and met my own standards that I can feel comfortable going back when I'm in the area.

I agree with what some previous reviewers have written, this place doesn't wow you. But it's suitable. Prices seem to be in line with what you get, and if you study the menu carefully, you can find some real bargains compared to similar restaurants. The dinner that I had cost about 1/3rd less than what I've paid for the same thing at other restaurants.

To find the parking, from the main entrance, go EAST a few feet on 116th Street, then go behind the building. And then you can enter via the rear door.

edaveindy Comments:
Better than average strip-mall Chinese restaurant. Walk-up to the counter and place your order. Dine in or carry out. Self-service for the plastic utensils and napkins. Food served in/on styrofoam. But they do bring it out to your table.

They specialize in Szechuan/Cantonese food, and apparently are from the southern province in China that borders Hong Kong, so the food is pretty much Hong Kong style. My Moo Goo Gai Pan had that Cantonese bent. Not that that's a bad thing. It was done well. But you'll notice a slight difference in composition and taste from what you get from most cooks that are from other parts of China.

My friend got the Szechuan chicken. He normally doesn't go for Chinese food, and even he liked it.

Good prices too.

edaveindy Comments:
They have a Chinese cuisine section on their menu, but I've only ordered Vietnamese food here.

Excellent pho and bun dishes. The goi rolls and peanut sauce are great too.

Friendly wait staff.

Ambience is not quite as high end as some other Vietnamese restaurants, but I think the food and prices are as good and make this a worthwhile trip.

This is the Vietnamese "go-to" place in NW Indy. It's the only Vietnamese restaurant in the NW quadrant (North of 46th Street, and West of Meridian.)

If you're a fan of Vietnamese food, this place merits your patronage, and deserves to be busier. Please talk it up to your friends in NW Marion County if they like Asian cuisine.

edaveindy Comments:
$7.99 for lunch buffet, plus $1.99 for soft drink with unlimited refills.

The selection on the lunch buffet isn't as large as the buffets on the West side of town (Udupi and India Palace), but what they do, they do right.

I was impressed by the naan, the spinach cheese (paneer?) dish, the chicken tandoori, and the chicken tikka massala.

The waiter kept my soft drink glass full.

Very clean dining area and men's room. Glass table-tops over nice table-cloths.

Worth going out of your way for. Worthy of taking your boss/wife/girlfriend/inlaws.

Can usually find a $1-off coupon for lunch buffet, or $5-off a $25 order, in various foodie/coupon publications.

edaveindy Comments:
Stereotypical strip-mall Chinese restaurant, but pretty much done right, good food, nice prices, and no surprises. Walk-up and order. Take-out or dine-in.

Both the dining area and the men's room were cleaner than average. I'd give them a 3.5 on cleanliness.

The vegetables in the Moo Goo Gai Pan were noticeably fresh. The pork-fried rice was very flavorful. The egg roll was just about perfect.

When dining in, they bring the food out to you instead of just calling you to the counter. But napkins and utensils are serve-yourself. Food is served on reusable plates.

The only negative was that it smelled like one of the employees was taking a cigarette break in the back. Now that the smoking ban has been in effect in Marion County for a few years, it amazes me how jarring it is to smell cigarette smoke inside a building now.

edaveindy Comments:
This restaurant is a bit unique as far as strip mall Chinese restaurants go. There are plenty of tables (for 2, 3, 4, 6, 8) for dining in, and though they have carry-out, there is no walk-up counter. One big round table in the corner has the lazy-susan turntable thing in the middle.

The decor is kind of a mish-mash. It has a tile floor and the walls are tile up to the wooden wainscot, and then painted above it.

There are some wall hangings and things hanging from the ceiling to make it look Chinese, but it just made things look disjointed, as if "making it look Chinese" was an after-thought. Whoever did the remodeling job before they opened it as a restaurant did it on the cheap or rather unprofessional.

I was going to give it a "Below" on Ambience, but they did have tablecloths, glass water glasses on the table, nice (not the cheapy) paper napkins, and stainless steel utensils. So on average, it was at least as good as the typical strip mall Chinese restaurant.

Cleanliness here was also typical of strip mall Chinese restaurants. "Clean enough" but could have been detailed better with just a little more effort.

I've only been here once so far, and only had a vegetarian dish, the Buddhist Delight, with white sauce, served with steamed rice, and won-ton soup. The rice was long grain and didn't stick together. The entree and rice were served on separate plates from the one you eat on, to facilitate sharing among the diners in your party; I like that. The food quality was better than average. (But I realize the real test is in how they do the meat dishes.)

The two ladies who operate the place were very friendly, attentive and efficient; and fluent in English. No problem in communication.

The prices were on the low side, especially given the quality of the food, and the location.

I can't recommend going out of your way to eat here. And it won't impress the boss/wife/girlfriend/inlaws. But if you're in the area, and want Chinese food at a good price, this is a good place.

edaveindy Comments:
This time I had the enchiladas with mole sauce, which were pretty good. It came with salad (shredded lettuce, tomato slice, onion slice, avocado slices, and lime wedges), rice (with vegetables), and refried beans, and 4 enchiladas covered with mole sauce and sour cream. There was a nice picante "bite" to the enchiladas that you don't get in restaurants aimed at a gringo clientele. The plate as served here seems more authentic to me. Both times I've been here, I've been the only gringo (guero) in the restaurant.

Chips were good, but not great. The salsa had just the right level of bite and cilantro, though I prefer my salsa a little bit chunkier, this was on the soupy side, but the taste was perfect.

The big screen TV was tuned to Univision, and the music from the juke box in the bar area filled the whole restaurant.

Karaoke is also a regular feature later in the evening, though I left before it started.

As I mentioned in last year's review, the bar area is visible from the dining area, you have to traverse the bar area to get to the restrooms, and there are lots of beer banners, so it's not family-friendly, in my opinion.

The menu is bilingual, so there shouldn't be a problem ordering, and the waitress knew to bring the check to the table.