Dining

Give your mother the day off this Sunday and treat her to brunch at one of Indy’s restaurants that bridge the breakfast/lunch gap in style.

The First Friday Food Truck Festival on May 4 attracted a crowd eager to try foods from more than 25 trucks. The looming promise of a thunderstorm (later fulfilled) didn’t keep hundreds of people from attending the event outside the Old National Centre. Hungry patrons endured long lines in the hot weather for the best of the Circle City’s mobile restaurants.

The vegetarian BLT from The Owlery in Bloomington, thin strips of crispy fried tofu served on thick-cut farm bread with tangy house mayo, fresh avocado, and—well, you know the rest.  Frozen-treat bicycle cart Nicey Treat’s Nice Dream popsicle, fresh-squeezed orange juice around a creamy vanilla

Rockville Road’s status as a destination for international eats recently grew by one cheery and intriguing eatery, Tandoori King (7220 Rockville Rd., 317-240-8000), which is billing itself as an “Indo-Pak” restaurant offering both classics of Indian cuisine and some not-so-common Pakistani specialties. We stopped into this spacious storefront restaurant last week to try it out and were charmed by neat rows of napkins folded into glasses atop all of the tables around us. We also found ourselves intrigued by the little labels on the lunch buffet promising goat dishes and egg curry. But since it was dinner time, we put ourselves in the hands of our pleasantly gruff but no-nonsense waiter, who laid out a whole meal for us including a crisp iceberg and cucumber salad on the house and heavenly light and flaky garlic naan—some of the best we’d had in town.

Starting next week at Spencer Farm (7177 E. 161st St., Noblesville, 317-776-1560), strawberry lovers can taste summer’s favorite tender-fleshed crimson treat in their ripe, juicy glory. Guests can roam the patches and fill a flat or head to the cashier and purchase them already picked. When Kyle Spencer founded the farm, in 1982, he was just a young farmer renting ten acres for u-pick strawberries. 30 years later, Kyle and his family now run a 45-acre farm—adding already picked strawberries and fresh baked goods (pies, hand-dipped ice cream, and fudge). It’s not just about the strawberries, it’s about what the experience brings to a family. “We have many regulars who came as children and are now bringing their own children,” says Spencer.

By the look of the hordes of people piling into last week’s grand opening of Poccadio Grill (1045 Broad Ripple Ave., 252-5911), the new Moroccan quick-eats spot in Broad Ripple, you would have thought they were offering free flights to Marrakesh. Nope. But owner Anass Sentissi (also chef/owner of Saffron Cafe) did offer free bocadillos (sandwiches) to the first 1,000 guests. Lucky insiders received soft, crusty baguettes stuffed with a variety of heavily spiced accouterments.

In our weekly e-newsletter this past Tuesday, we noted that Kelties in Westfield has closed. That is not the case, though the owner intends to close in September if she does not sell the restaurant. This news means that diners who relish high-quality comfort food should make their way post haste to Westfield.