While we were visiting with Rich’s family down in Indiana, we happened to find ourselves at a ‘Lifestyle Center’ in Nobelsville filled with shops and restaurants.
We had all planned to meet and have lunch together, but things happen and plans get changed; so we found ourselves there with Rich’s mom and brother and sister-in-law a bit before we could expect his other brother, sister-in-law and nephews to arrive. Feeling a bit peckish, we decided to go to Houlihan’s – a place we hadn’t been to in quite a while. What a nice surprise! Gone was the faux Irish Pub or the Jazz-Age retro look we had known – replaced with truly cool décor – kind of updated American Steak House meets Casual Dining – this image is the best I could find on ‘da Google’ – the lighting shown is a touch more harsh than we experienced.
The food was a surprise as well – with the menu offering a nice assortment of small plates perfect, in my opinion, for sharing for lunch. And share we did…
Rich and I each ordered a fire-roasted asparagus and gorgonzola salad with walnuts and truffle oil on a bed of greens that looked and smelled so good I had started to demolish it before thinking to take a picture – oops! We also split an order of stuffed and fried mushroom caps with horseradish sauce – a still lovely holdover from older menus – and a really great batch of calamari served with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce and fresh lime to squeeze over all. mmmm. Rich’s brother went for the salmon small plate (sorry, I didn’t get pics) and his mom and sister-in-law both had the baked potato soup – another holdover, I think, from older menus.
Such a surprisingly nice lunch! I had walked in expecting burgers and chicken finger salad or what have you, and walked out very pleased after a really nice meal sampling a little bit of several really well thought out and moderately priced little bites of goodness.
I could go back – NOW! – but sadly, Houlihan’s seems to have left the North Shore for the time being. If you haven’t been in a while, and do have one nearby – check it out – and please have a fire-roasted asparagus salad for me 😉