During the holidays I received a call from one of my girlfriends who is always looking for the next fabulous restaurant. As we checked our schedules, I wondered to myself, “Where will we go this time?”
Shortly after my inner monologue, she asked if I wanted to go to Black Market. I kept hearing about this restaurant so I immediately said, “Yes! I’ve been curious to see what it is all about.”
This was such a genius idea. We traveled through the cold and rain to Black Market, a bar located at the east end of Mass Ave.
Walking into the establishment I was completely blown away. Black Market is small, but is packed with so much style and character. Complete with exposed brick, community style dining tables and a stunning light fixture above the bar, I had a feeling that this experience was going to be something special.
The aesthetics of the bar were impressive, however, I didn’t allow myself to become too worked up. I’ve been duped before by restaurants with fabulous décor with less than average food at ridiculous prices.
We found a seat, surveyed the scenery a bit more and turned our attention to the menu. The brains behind the operations kept to a trend I’m seeing more and more – small, but well thought out menus.
Their claim to fame is serving comfort food with a modern update and the revolving menu was reflective of that.
My friend goes crazy for a restaurant’s version of French fries. Sticking to her fancy for fries, she placed an order for them along with that day’s special, pork belly tacos.
Pork belly is something that I’ve only seen on TV, so I was curious to see how it looked in real life.
I played it semi-safe and ordered the barbecue beef sandwich.
The pork belly arrived on three dainty taco shells, looking almost like edible art. My barbecue beef came open face style that was accompanied by pickled beets and onions that were to die for.
Our meal was super delicious, filling and reasonably priced. After a wonderful lunch and lots of gossip, our server had no trouble tempting us into a shared helping of bread pudding.
They make various kinds of bread pudding and that day, we were served the peanut butter and banana bread pudding. It was fresh, wasn’t too sweet and the different flavors danced on your tongue.
If you can’t spend all afternoon at Black Market like I did, visit the downtown eatery for dinner. They have a full dinner menu that is sure to excite any diner. They also have a full beer and wine list and serve brunch.
This restaurant is nothing like I’ve ever seen and in my opinion has lasting power because of its simple and cozy décor and delectable and exciting cuisine. Black Market is definitely high on my list of awesome Indianapolis restaurants.
