The Garden Table - Review

A few Sundays back, my husband and I decided to try The Garden Table on Mass Ave in Indy.  The Garden Table is a locally owned eatery and fresh juicery.   From their website "We think it’s important to live a healthy and balanced life and we strive to do this by nourishing the body with clean fuel, supporting local businesses, giving back to the community and taking care of mother earth." 

 We've been to the location in Broad Ripple many times and love it. It's a bit smaller than the new location. Or at least it seems that way.  

The Mass Avenue location features a huge clean white tiled bar, beautiful exposed brick and huge spotless windows. 

Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by the hostess and seated immediately.  Seated by the huge windows in the front, we could see TGT was planning on having al fresco dining. There was a small patio area just waiting for the warm weather to welcome guests. We can't wait to enjoy it!

This location serves brunch until 3PM daily (check the website for opening times) AND serves bar bites and dinner! We are definitely going back for dinner very soon. The butter chicken and flankenfennel melt and a cocktail are calling my name. 

So, our waiter was extremely accommodating as was the entire team. It's refreshing (and rare) to see an entire team smiling and generally enjoying their work. 

We started off with hot green tea and a cappuccino. The cappuccino was as delicious as it was pretty. Loved the aqua cup and saucer as well as my foam heart. 

We decided to share the silver dollar blueberry pancakes. Hubs decided on the Hot Smoked Salmon and I on the garden toast.  I typically get the garden toast.  As usual it was delicious. Three triangles of sprouted wheat toast are topped with a fair amount of avocado, cherry tomatoes, baby onions and sprouts.  On the side was the most delectable preserved lemon ricotta. 

The Hot Smoked Salmon - WOW!  They top an everything slug (bagel) with whipped cream cheese, lemon, onion, capers & dill, and this amazing hot smoked salmon. I am pretty sure I have never had HOT smoked salmon. I am VERY sure this won't be the last time I have it!  

We typically share each others meals or at least try a good portion. I honestly wanted to eat all of both of our individual selections. I did control myself. 

The silver dollar blueberry stack was ok.  Don't get me wrong, they were cooked to perfection. They had an ample amount of blueberries. I believe they are made from  some sort of meal.  I'm not a huge fan of meal based pancakes. 

The only issue I had was that I ordered an egg to go with my garden toast. I had eaten most of my toast before it came. I always order my eggs - fried hard, hard, hard, hard, hard and then a little more hard". This was not the case when i finally received it.  Thanks to our waiter who didn't charge us for the egg. 

Overall, I would say if you are in the Indy area as a resident or visitor, you MUST stop by The Garden Table! 

Travel Tuesday

Source: prettystuff.tumblr.com via Erika on Pinterest

I absolutely love this above. It's so easy to get caught up in the touristy things when you travel. I think part of that(for me) is a fear of the unknown. Especially when you are in a foreign country. Venturing off the path can be a little scary. Especially if you watch a lot of the Criminal Minds type shows - lol.


 However, doing more local things really gives you a feel of a location. When we were in New York City last November, we made sure to leave the regular old places and walk the neighborhoods. Our hotel was in the heart of Times Square. You can't get any more New York touristy than that. Hey, we got a great deal at the W hotel in Times Square.

 My husband went to undergrad at Columbia University and lived in NYC for roughly 10 years. So, he knew a little bit about some of the neighborhoods. They just have a different feel. A more homey feel than the tourist traps. We ate in some of the local restaurants,shopped in the local shops and just people watched.

 Don't worry if you don't have someone to tell you exactly where to go to find local. You can usually google and find a blog from your travel destination. More times than not, if it's a lifestyle blog, they will talk about local places. Things they do - places they eat.

Once you get to your location, talk to the concierge. Ask them about things to do in the area. What do they like to do? Are their festivals going on? What the best _________ to get ____________. You fill in the blanks.


 You can also ask your friends on Facebook. You probably have friends from all across the country who would love to help you out. A word of caution - please don't advertise on FB when you are traveling. It's just not safe. Share your pictures and travel news once you get back home.


Another thing I do when we travel is watch the local news. I love hearing the stories from the point of view of the local newscasters. You can also find out what is happening in the area from the shows.