I was torn apart about Vera Mae's. On one hand, it deserves "A" for an effort and cool European lounge interiors, on another hand there are plethora of delinquencies.
If you've end up in Muncie, IN you have been doing something wrong/right (pick one). I know that for many travelling professional picking right place to eat, while on the road, is a hobby of a sorts. It is certainly an entertaining activity for me. Here is my feedback:
Positives:
Let me start with positives. Decor of the place is nice. Old Europe atmosphere, cozy chairs, linen tablecloth, surplus of silverware on the table, uniformed and well-trained/behaved waiting staff. As a result, "the form" of a proper restaurant is there. After all, we do eat with our eyes as much as with our taste buds. I also have to say that the house wine (one of the Californian's cabernet that I have ordered) was a decent selection. It had robust taste with delicate nose, powerful middle, and nearly non-existing end. For the price, it was good pairing for my meal.
Now let's get to a constructive criticism:
Price! I am sure that a professor of neighboring Ball State University could afford a meal or two in Vera Mae's, however an average of $60/person for a full meal is a bit excessive for a casual diner, IMHO. This review would turn sour very fast if I'd have to pay my own $60 for a meal I didn't _fully_ enjoy. Did I clean my plate? Yes. Could I have better meal of a same type in Muncie, probably not... so in other words, I was forced to pay $60, because I didn't have an alternative. Perhaps it's good business model for some, since I can't imagine that rent in Muncie is too high and therefore less customers equals less work for the kitchen. However 90%-empty dining room @ 7 PM of ANY day of week is telling, especially that neighboring restaurants were reasonably full(er). Word of advice to the owner - drop your prices a bit. You might have mere mortals visiting your establishment on occasion and spending cash to subsidize your next educational-gastronomical trip to France. Paying attention to actual French cuisine, to its ingredients and traditional pairings, to cooking techniques and sauces, to real bred (that is not Costco quality) and not just to how pretty it happen to look, might help. I would suggest thinking about taking long long trip, and concentrating on food preparation and techniques. I am sure you can figure out how to expense it as "market research."Plan B" is to order Julia Child's book on amazon.
So what about the food? Food itself was all right. I would give it C+. I really wanted it to be French inspired but instead it was "Faux French". Kind of like Japanese deserts that are pretty and intriguing looking with utterly disappointing weak delivery in the department that matters the most - the taste itself. Can you eat it? Sure! Is it good, it's all right. Is it $29/per entrée worthy - absolutely not! Price tag sets up an expectation that a bit too high and then fails to deliver. No amount of forks on the white linen and French names on the menu or generous portion sizes will compensate for an average taste. Food decoration also lacked fineness. Again, if you call yourself French(ish) and you ARE one the most expensive establishments in the town I'd expect better attention to delivery/details of every meal. Not bad, but not excellent either. Overall taste of the food was flat and underwhelming, and mainly because of high expectations and anticipation which are set/implied by an atmosphere/interior and prices on the menu. The seared tuna appetizer, that I had, was lacking proper sauce, and had excessive amount of weak-tasking vegetable relish. Salad that accompanied the main course was cafeteria quality. Literally, the spring mix from the grocery store with two cherry tomatoes thrown in. The dressing was all right, but nothing special to off-set cafeteria look of the salad itself. Lamb kebob lacked any kind of spice, and that "seared" quality that one would expect form a dish called kebab. It also lacked well-paired garnish. Rice that it came with, was fine by itself, it just didn't play well with the meat, in my opinion. However I did like the au jue, which saved that meal for me. The beautiful layered chocolate mousse was flat on the taste, no expected caressing delicate flavor, no texture variations, just the look. It reminded me grocery store deserts more than a French desert... and it was over-decorated. Less is more, in this case, as far as I see it. I have absolutely nothing good to say about coffee. Couple of button clicks on the Starbucks machine in my office can produce better cup of coffee than whatever I had.
So, if you are all about form and not so much into intricacies of food itself - Vera Mae's is your friend. If you have corporate per diem to burn and tired of Midwestern fried food - Vera Mae's is your friend. However, leave your expectations of foodie-quality restaurant behind, it looks better than it tastes or costs. read more