Red Lion Grog House

Season Greetings my fellow foodies! Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is just around the corner! We have been roasting our brains thinking of some new and exciting recipes and other content that we will be featuring soon!

Everyone knows that I am the late night food guru for Mealightenment. I am combing the streets at some point between the hours of 11PM and 3AM looking for fantastic food at a good price.
On a typical Wednesday night I received a phone call from my late night food companion Greg. Greg is the big man with the bigger appetite that appeared with me in the Izzy's Ruben Challenge. He was ready to eat, and I didn't want to eat the standard taco, slider, or greasy spoon diner food that I've became accustomed to my late night menu options. We began scrounging around on Google, and found a place called the Red Lion Grog House. After perusing the menu, we decided to give it a shot. They are open with a full menu until 1 AM. We headed to the Fountain Square district of Indy. This area is becoming a common ground for good eateries of all types! It is a must stop through place if you are near downtown and looking for something a little different to eat.

The Grog House offers an American/English menu style. With (crab) Scotch Eggs, Deep fried macaroni and cheese bites, chicken wings, and chips and curry sauce being just the appetizers, I knew that my pallet would be sated after this trip! When you enter the Grog, as Greg and I dubbed it, you go through 2 doors and enter a low lit feeling bar. The style is very relaxing and offers a comfortable feel.

The Red Lion Grog House opened in 2009. They offer live entertainment weekly, and every major sporting event is shown on seven widescreen televisions. They describe themselves as conveying an English atmosphere with an Americanized feel. The owners goal is to offer a new concept of the American Grog while still honoring the heritage of their founders from across the pond.

I personally think they hit the nail on the head with this. As soon as Greg and I sat down, we had our server right at our table. Our drinks never found the bottom of the glass, and he was quick about making our favorite drink of choice (irish car bomb).  After he brought us our drinks, he helped us guide through the menu, and gave us a few suggestions. I was tossed up with a few of their choices. The Shepherd Pie, Beef Wellington, Grandma's Meatloaf, and the Bubble and Squeak were all calling my name. He suggested the Bubble and Squeak to me after he described the dish better than the menu, and said it was his favorite at the place.

For starters, we decided to go with the Crab Scotch egg, and a large bowl of chili. Both of these items were delicious. I felt the chili had a very unique blend of spices, and a good amount of white cheese melted on top (I personally prefer cheddar on chili, but that's just me).  The chili was very meaty and had a generous amount in every bite. The chili had a little bit of a greasiness to it, but with all of the meat and cheese, you couldn't avoid it.

The Crab Scotch eggs were delicious, and were served with a wonderful aioli that tasted like lemons and spice. Greg's description of the scotch eggs consisted of,  "It's like they took a crab cake, and wrapped it around a hard boiled egg!" If you can't tell, food excites this man to no end, and he really likes crab cakes! He was thrilled with the dish to say the least.

Exactly when we finished our appetizers, the main courses came out. Greg ordered the Beef Wellington. It is a 9 oz Sirloin cooked to medium and covered in a mushroom and Dijon mustard sauce. Served open-faced between two puff pastries with a side of our seasonal vegetables. When I could get Greg to tell me what he thought in between bites he said, "This is the most tender sirloin I've ever had in my life; I've never had anything like this before; This Beef Wellington is seasoned so well, and is obviously well aged." Other than that, the only thing I could get him to say was, "Mmmmmmmmmmmm."

The Bubble and Squeak came out looking like a pile of deliciousness. A traditional English breakfast dish with an American twist for dinner. Hash browns, cabbage, onions and carrots pan-fried together,  topped with pan-seared and braised roast. This was a large meal in itself, and I loved it. The gravy was amazing, and complimented it quite nicely. I was extremely happy with it, and had to give kudos to Chris, our waiter, for suggesting it. I ordered a side of mashed potatoes with it, because I think everything is better with mashed potatoes.

All and all, the Red Lion Grog House was a fantastic experience, and I will be going back again.  Here is a link to Red Lion Grog House's web page and contact info. As always my fellow foodies--EAT ON!

~JT (or as my friends know me....Devin)