Maru Sushi

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Maru Sushi is out of place in West Lafayette. I'm not saying we don't have good food around here, we do, but Maru, it's on another level. I've had sushi in on the east coast and the west coast, but Maru is consistently my favorite.

Let me make a declaration first, Maru does not dabble in the high end, super expensive tuna cheek you can find if you travel with Anthony Bourdain, rather, they make really good nigiri and rolls that you can find variations of throughout the country. They just do it better, and you can stuff yourself for $20 or less

I dined at Maru Sushi last Friday for date night with my wife. The meal begins with water, soda, sake, or hot tea. The tea is barley, and is great even in the summer. No matter what you get on the menu, you are always presented with a few small appetizers such as pickled daikon, bean sprouts in sesame oil, or cucumbers with chili sauce. You also get a small bowl of miso soup. For free! Who does that? I'm surprised Texas Roadhouse still gives us peanuts.

When perusing the menu at Maru, there are loads of choices to please the sushi-fanatic and the sushi-phobe. For sushi, their platters are quite good, but the rolls are where the good stuff is. Crunch munch, white castle, chauncy, and the dragon are some of my favorites. Each are prepared with artistic detail and have a combination of fish and sauces that make you want more.

There are also noodles, noodle soups, and a few tempura dishes on the expansive menu. One item you need to take note of though, is the kopdol bibimbap. You see, Maru also serves some Korean food. And this dish, this is what I go back for time and time again. It's white rice, shitaki mushrooms, spinach, carrots, bean sprouts, bulgogi (a marinated beef), and a runny egg on top, all served in a very hot stone pot. You add some homemade chile sauce on top and mix. The rice gets crispy from the hot stone, the chile and egg fuse to make a binding, rich sauce, and the plethora of vegetables are all wonderfully cooked. Hungry yet? I am. Best part, it's $10. That's it!

Maru is one of my favorite places to eat in town, for lunch or dinner. It gets quite packed around dinner time, so plan accordingly, or you can order takeout or even delivery if you're close by.

111 N Chauncey Ave, West Lafayette, IN
(765) 743-2646 ‎

5/5 Sheepdogs






For other restaurant reviews in the Lafayette, Indiana area, you can visit my dedicated page or Eat'n Local

Wings Etc- A Review

You can find this and other food reviews from me at Yelp or at GLdineonline.com

Wings Etc recently opened up down the road from where I live, which made me excited to have a sports bar where I could catch a game with some (hopefully) tasty food and cold beer. It's a chain regional to the Midwest and seems to have somewhat of a following, so what the heck.

I went with coworkers on two occasions. One, which I will briefly touch on, was to conquer their "Wall of Flame Challenge" which involved eating 16 crazy hot wings with no food or drink. Success! At the sacrifice of all taste for the next day. Worth it? Well, I did get a free t-shirt.

Back to Wings. Having worked in restaurants for a decent part of my life, I am critical when it comes to service. I'm not a jerk by any means, and I understand the concept of being busy, but there should be a good line of communication between staff and customer. Wings Etc does not have this. We waited 10 minutes for our waitress, 15 minutes for our drinks, 30 minutes for our food, and then 20 minutes more for her to bring us the check and then run our credit cards. That's just not acceptable. And the second time I went back, the service was just as bad. Not friendly, and way too long.

As for the food, it's ok. The boneless wings are cooked to death so you get crusty nuggets and the traditional wings are a bit big (because they are jumbo) and have a large skin pocket on them that does not cook very well, leaving you with a flabby, fatty wing to eat. The sauces are ok, much thicker than any other wing place I have been to, and most seem to have a tomato base. So the sauce does not really stick to the wing, meaning the wings are a bit bland. The fries they make are very tasty, but that's pretty much all I found enjoyable about the experience. So sadly I will have to travel further down the road if I want chicken wings or a football game, because this place is just not working out.

1/5 Sheep Dogs

Fiesta Mexican Grill

Next up in my restaurant review files is Fiesta Mexican Grill, a local burrito joint near Purdue's campus.  Somewhat similar in the vein of Chipotle and Qdoba, they offer up a service line of burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and salads. The similarities end there.  This place is easily one of my favorite places to eat, and you will quickly learn I'm not a stickler for fancy dining, I just like good food. 

Fiesta prepares their burritos as close to homemade as I have found.  They make their own tortillas and sauces, as well as having a variety of fresh accompaniments to top or stuff in your food.  I've heard the tacos and quesadillas are good, but I order a burrito every single time I come here.  Why mess with something so good?  They let you choose your choice of fillings including rice, two types of beans, and multiple meats (including a great grilled steak or roasted pork).  Then you can choose to have your burrito enchilada style, and let me say right now, do that.  They top it with a sauce of your choice (green tomatillo, green chile, or red chile), sprinkle it with cheese, and bake it.  Then you can add salsa, sour cream and a few other sides if you wish.

This place has become somewhat of an obsession at work, with "Fiesta Trips" happening every other week.  The food is outstanding.  The grilled steak burrito is my current favorite, with green chile sauce on top, which adds just the right amount of spice and lends great flavor.  If you live in Lafayette and have not visited here, you are truly missing out.

5/5 Sheepdogs

Land Ho!

You can find this and other food reviews from me at Yelp

I found this place in the local news on a recent trip to Cape Cod.  A local hangout, this place was PACKED in the middle of the winter with my favorite people, New Englanders who have lost all ability to pronounce the letter "R".  They have the normal variety of New England food, meaning lots of fish, grinders, and beeah (yes that's a word.  I think).

I started with the kale soup, which was highly recommended and ohmygosh was it good.  Sausage, beans, veggies, it was fantastic.  So much in so that I tried to replicate it at home a few nights later.  But that's another post.  I had fish and chips for my lunch, which were quite tasty, and though most fried fish tends to taste the same, I could tell this fish was extremely fresh.  It tasted like fish, not batter.  Emily had fried clams, which were great, and her mom had a really nice pastrami sandwich.  Her dad had flounder which was just alright, but the soup we all had more than made up for it.

4/5 Sheepdogs