mesh on mass avenue

another amazingly satisfying meal at mesh!.meshis by far one of my favorite local eateries in the indianapolis area. this time i was going in celebration of my birthday, and with my fiance therefore trying new items on the menu. we were seated promptly which was amazing because it was mother's day. the staff was attentive and prompt. we began our delectable journey with the mushroom strudel. this was the first time my fiance had been to mesh, therefore he was instantly shocked by the prices- which to some may seem a little high but i feel are easily attainable for the quality and quantity your receive. the mushroom strudel was $9. that's another thing i love about mesh, the pricing is similar to european's in that they don't use the .99 or .79 crap which is really just a buffer to make the food seem cheaper. (side note: i've spent much time traveling in europe and therefore have attained a knowledge of the culinary style.) when the mushroom strudel arrived my mouth dropped to the floor. i was expecting a little patty sized cake of mushrooms in bread and cheese. however i was surprisingly greeted by an aroma of local wild mushrooms with fresh made goat cheese in a flaky phyllo dough. it was almost the size of a 6inch wrap filled entirely with wholesome goodness. the strudel sat among a creamy but refreshing tomato bisque aside the most perfect frisee salad with a lemon vinaigrette. it reminded me so much of the food i had while traveling in southern france. replicating this dish by serving it aside the frisee salad with the vinaigrette, i was in heaven. this could easily sustain as a lunch course, for 9 dollars i was delightfully surprised. then our main course came. the menu may seem a little odd, but the staff is very friendly and understanding when answering questions. because my fiance is less adventurous than i we ordered steak frittes. this is simply steak and fries. however atmeshit is a prime cute peppercorn crusted 12oz steak whose juices cover you palette with the first bite. aside a pile of hand cut french fries with a fresh parmesano crust. there are fancy dipping sauces included such as a horseradish mayo, however they are served on the side and can be substituted for a simple ketchup that they make in house. we decided to split this each having a serving of a 6oz steak, which although quite a battle neither of us could finish or portions and ended up with leftovers, which could easily serve another person. i ended the meal with my special birthday treat. a bread pudding with white chocolate hand made cherries and raisins bathing in a bourbon whiskey sauce and glaze with homemade vanilla ice cream. with is normally 7dollars however it was my birthday so it was free! please do not normally attempt this meal. we sat for a good fifteen minutes trying to leave however we were so pleasantly filled that we just sat there and enjoyed the urban atmosphere. do not let the appearance fool you.meshis simple, delicious, with an upscale twist. in the end its all about the food andmeshtrumps all.


-----24 nov, 2011-----

fusion deliciousness!.meshis a fusion restaurant, combining high class dishes with the comfort of soul food, i had the slow braised sandwhich which was amazingly delicious and the fries are to die for.

mesh's fish tacos disastrous. i've been going tomeshsince it began. been there for brunch, lunch and dinner many times with groups or just me and my partner.

we decided to try the fish tacos on the lunch menu. a total disaster. not only are they over-priced but the alleged "tacos" are actually more akin to french crepes. as soon as you try to pick them up, the fish contents and the 'taco' falls apart, dissolving into a tasteless 'mush.' the waiter apologized and said others had complained and the chef had been told. well, i guess the chef 'didn't get the message': crepes in the french style are not tacos! i've had fish tacos in other establishments which are far superior. it's a great dining place but 'ditch the fish tacos' !


-----29 jan, 2012-----

improve wait and reception staff. what is it with mesh? when you do get the attention of your waiter, chances are, he or she may disappear for long stretches and appear clueless. i would vote down both the wait staff (i've had too many negative experiences with friendly but inept and inattentive wait staff) and the immature reception people who sound like my 14 and 15 year old nieces and nephews.


-----29 jan, 2012-----

improve standards of reservation and host staff. canmeshdo better than barely-out-of-teen girls with high pitched rapid "valley girl voices" to take reservations and also the same, greeting you at the front desk? twice now, my reservation, confirmed by phone with name and cell, have been lost by these girls. when i arrived with my party of six, although the reservation had been made 24 hours in advance, they had no record of it. i was livid and said to whom i made the reservation; as it turned out with much apology, they took us on the fact that my name was in their system, having been there no less than a dozen previous occasions. on another occasion with the party of four, about five months later, the same snafu. this time i demanded to speak to the manager and explained it was not good pr for them and that others had made the same complaint several times. the mgr was at a loss to say what went wrong, gave us two rounds of free drinks in compensation and after a fifteen minute wait, got us in. clearly someone is not overseeing the duties of these young staff persons.


-----29 jan, 2012-----

great food marred by noisy venue. mesh's offerings are consistently good. when the owners took over the former failed "scholars inn" and transformed it for the better i will admit, still, the designers failed to take into account the high decibel level of noise which makes conversation impossible; this is a consistent complaint i've heard from many friends who dine there. you practically have to yell at your dinner companion to be heard.


-----12 dec, 2011-----

relatively consistent but amateur reception. i've been tomeshno less than a dozen times both for its sunday brunch and for many dinners. despite the liabilities of the poor acoustics which renders conversation almost impossible due to the high level of noise, their offerings are consistently good, in particular my favorite, "steak frites."

if i offer any criticism, it is in the crucial area of reception and welcome. i can't count the number of times we've been greeted by a sullen or indifferent host at reception who creates the impression when a guest walks in, of 'oh, what do you want?' surely considering this isn't some cheap dive, the cunningham group should train its staff more effectively. a cold or indifferent initial experience has the potential to turn off diners. it is unfortunate that in the (much-needed) re design of the former scholars inn, no consideration was made for the terrible noise level. overall i would offer this:

train your waiters and receptionists better. some truly seem as though they are bewildered teenagers even though i know they are much older.

celebrating the end of finals last evening for our son. started the evening with 3 of their creative signatures drinks. they did not disappoint!appetizer of calamari was outstanding. teriyaki slaw was a perfect bite with crunchy calamari. i had steak frites and fries which were fantastic! flavor was deep and delicious. they had me with the aioli! my husband had the lamb. it was flavorful and tender. son had duck confit. duckidant! directors cut cabernet sauvignon is a favorite at home so we were happy to see on menu. server was super nice and attentive and ambience was superb! we had heardmeshwas slipping a bit... not true! definitely on pointe tonight! wonderful kick off to our holiday!

always an excellent choice. i recently recommendedmeshon mass as the perfect date night dinner. i can't wait to get some feedback because i know it will be great! the food is always creative and perfectly seasoned. the servers are top notch. the back patio is perfection when it's available.

superb in every way.. i have written over 920 restaurant reviews to date and out of all of those, only 13 of them had wow'ed me to the point of me declaring/voting them as my "favorites."meshis now number 14 on my list.

mesh, you did everything perfect last night. from the person being kind and caring in my reservation process to all 3 people at the hostess stand quickly shutting up and giving us their full attention when we walked up to our excellent, excellent server whose name i can't remember for the life of me. the whole evening was excellent. first, on sunday nights they apparently have all of their wine bottles 50% off. schweet. however, the one thing that made me scratch my head that night was that the wine menu was already cost-adjusted to represent the half off savings. a california chardonnay, which our server declared was a "steal" because other places in town were selling this particular bottle for up to $300, was now just $36. we looked it up online and sure enough, it was running anywhere from $76 to $140, so i'll be darned, he was right.

up next, the appetizer came out which was a sort of bruschetta smothered with goats cheese, arugula and blackberries. excellent flavors. then came the coupe de grace with my wife getting the crabcake and myself getting the ny strip steak. i didn't realize how much i love ny strip steaks over ribeyes lately, but this place confirms the tender and juiciness are all still there. the sauce on the top was semi-sweet, but went perfectly with the great beefy flavors. the waiter happily obliged my request of substituting potato puree ( a fancy way of saying mashed potatoes) with the bleu cheese mashed potatoes. these things were absolutely terrific as well. not too strong, not too weak, just right. the fritters (all two of them) were the star of the show even with so little of them and i'd love to learn how to make them.

the perfect finale to our meal was that although we politely declined dessert (our secret agenda included going to graeter's afterwards), our perfect waiter brought us the bread pudding dessert anyway saying that we couldn't leave without it. compliments of the house. this was such a kind and thoughtful gesture and it was almost as if he knew my wife lusts after bread pudding in the first place. crazy. of course it was excellent and amazingly, he said that they used graeter's ice cream on top of it all! it was almost too good to be true.

our bill came to a high $114 or so, but it was worth every penny. there was nothing i would change and nothing that they could do better as everything was already the best. i'd come here every day if i could andmeshis one of indianapolis' few gems in fine dining.

what a great place. we stopped in this place one evening while aimlessly roaming mass avenue. we were a bit underdressed, but we were warmly greeted and welcomed. we loved the ambiance right away. i had the steak frites which were truly delicious and i would absolutely order again (reasonably priced too at just $20). my friend had the salmon with a beet puree that was just devine. we opted for dessert which we rarely do, but having had such a wonderful meal we couldn't resist dessert. we shared a chocolate terrine that was so heavenly we ate every last bite and licked the plate (just kidding). absolutely the best meal we have had in indy in a very long time. we will be returning with friends and family! better price, better service, better food in downtown indy-meshis currently one of our top choices.

definitely my go-to spot. i'm surprised i haven't written a review aboutmeshbefore, given that i come here about once a week. it's a great place for basically any reason to go out -- lunch, dinner, wine, martini, dessert.. they do everything right and on top of that, their service is always excellent and friendly. you'll always find a friendly local crowd to network with, or you can go outside to the patio in the summer where they have these great fireplaces and set up. whenever my friends and i plan to meet up, we think ofmeshby default because it's always wonderful. highly recommend this place if you haven't been -- you'll keep coming back.

very impressed. took my wife and daughter tomeshfor dinner on new year's eve. it was our first time there, and it did not disappoint. we were very impressed with the ambiance, the wait staff, the food, and the tab.meshis definitely on our list of "go again" restaurants. we highly recommend it!

i want more!. was hesitant to try themeshbecause of the higher prices but so glad i took a chance and honestly can't wait to go back. based on my experience i will gladly pay those prices for food that was so delicious that i'm still remembering the flavors a week later. arrived around 6pm and the service was excellent. place was clean, roomy yet personal, and buzzing with guests. i opted for the pork belly as an appetizer and the grilled shrimp as my entree while my friend choose the salmon for their entree. i did not care for the oil dipping sauce for the bread (was much too bland); however, things quickly turned around with the beautiful presentation and juicy flavorfulness of the pork belly. and i don't think i have the words to describe my entree dish to do it justice. beautiful, flavorful and texturally fun. and the portions did not disappoint, which is my biggest fear when dinning out. my friend's salmon was huge! thank you for a wonderful experience.

i agree with the previous user comment about poor reception and staff. whenmeshfirst opened we loved it but since it has been gaining popularity we haven't been back because of the bad attitudes we have been greater with-- specifically one night there were three ladies at reception who steadily ignored us while chatting amongst themselves. when we finally got their attention and they found out that we didn't gave a reservation they rolled their eyes, told us that it was well over an hour wait. when we asked of we could sit at the bar they basically said good luck with that and went back to ignoring us. the bottom line is the food is not so stellar that i am willing to be treated like it is a favor for me to be served at mesh.


-----22 feb, 2011-----

very good! nice atmosphere and nice beer selection.

excellent lobster bisque!. we're out-of-towners and themeshmenu piqued our interest. i started with the lobster bisque, which was absolutely delicious! for my entree, i had the applewood chicken salad. i was really surprised at the size of the salad--it was huge! i was able to finish only half of it after the soup and complimentary bread. it was delicious, though! if i could do it over again, i would have tried one of the smaller salads with my soup, or just the entree salad alone. my partner enjoyed the cuban chicken sandwich, but thought it needed some extra zing. the mango jalapeno relish didn't have enough kick for him. overall, we had a good meal!

thank goodness for mesh!. we only live a few blocks away, and we are thrilled to welcomemeshto the neighborhood! the food is sensational, the decor lovely and the service good. what makes it a stand out is that we can stop in for a po-boy and a beer (check $15 bucks) or a three course gormet meal (check $100 bucks). they do both really well.

delicious every time. i've been tomeshthree times and each experience has been great. the service is consistently good, presentation is wonderful, and the food is always delicious. atmeshyou'll pay more than the usual chain restaurant, but you'll be glad you did.

tasty, somewhat uppity. i had the filet mignon and it was cooked perfectly. my only slight complaint is the atmosphere of the restaurant.meshis trendy and definitely comes off as a little uppity to those of us who are looking for great food in a relaxed and comfortable location.

two thumbs up!.meshon mass is a great place to stop in for dinner, drinks, or just a quick bite from their bar menu! my first visit tomeshwas just after christmas. i was very pleased to see that they have a $2.00 bar menu. it is hard to find a non-chain restaurant with a special as great as this menu. the $2.00 menu offers sweet potato chips, pretzel bites, three different sliders, three varieties of flatbreads, and three kinds of tacos. each item is only two dollars!
i ordered two fish tacos…which were delicious! each taco consisted of a lightly seasoned fish fillet topped with slaw and a cool mayo-based dressing. i love fish tacos and these are now at the top of my list. my husband ordered the shrimp po'boy, which came with sweet potato chips and a chive mayonnaise. these sweet potato chips are crunchy and flavorful and the mayo is refreshing and tasty. whilemeshdoes have a full menu of salads, burgers, sandwiches, and steaks, which other members of our dinner party ordered and loved, the regular menu can get a little pricey.
on our second visit to mesh, my husband and i ordered only from the bar menu. this way we were able to sample more of mesh's selections. i will also add here thatmeshon mass has a rockin' sweet tea; not so easy to find here in the midwest.
i highly recommendmeshon mass to anyone looking for a delicious and affordable bite to eat.