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Showing posts with label brunch places. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brunch places. Show all posts

Harry & Izzy's - Brunch

3:41 AM | Labels: , , ,


What is the deal with brunch in this town?  If you want to plan on going somewhere, and getting actual brunch type food AND make a reservation (and having booze doesn’t hurt), Indy is a tough place.  We had relatives stopping for a visit as they passed through town, and it was a fairly large group, so we wanted to make sure we had a reservation somewhere. A lot of places simply don’t take reservations and on weekends, wait times can be endless at the usual suspects.  I don’t usually go near a “chou” restaurant on the weekends, even though they are regular haunts for me during the week.

After doing some research, I was excited to see that Harry & Izzy’s has brunch on Sundays! There’s a real brunch menu and everything! They also take reservations, and serve alcohol, and as a bonus, the north side location is like 3 minutes from my house. I was surprised I haven’t heard about this option before—I wonder if they have always had brunch.

The brunch menu isn’t huge, and you can order off of their regular lunch menu as well (they actually didn’t bring the brunch menu until I asked for it).  Hubby and I agreed to get a couple of different items and share them. I had the steak and egg wrap ($10) and hubby had the steak and egg sliders ($15).  The wrap was good—there were a couple of chunks of beef tenderloin (I would say all in all it was close to the same amount of meat that is in the sliders, but for a significantly lower price), lots of scrambled eggs, queso blanco, and homemade cilantro salsa. There was also some pico de gallo on the side.  All in all, I liked it. The meat was pretty tender, the eggs weren’t dry and the salsa that was inside gave it a nice fresh, slightly vinegary flavor. I added some pico to most of the bites as well, and the tomatoes took the acid level even a little further. If I could make it better, I would cook the meat perfectly medium rare and then chop it into slightly smaller pieces—often you took a bite only to pull out a very large piece of the beef. They gave you a choice of a fruit cup or potatoes—I had the fruit and it was good fresh fruit. I liked that it wasn’t all melon (fruit cup pet peeve).

Hubby’s sliders were basically the same thing you get on the regular menu which we have enjoyed several times, except these also had some scrambled eggs and creamed spinach on top. Sort of like a mini steak dinner with eggs on top. They were good too and the meat here was cooked to order so they were nice and medium rare. This was not the case with my son’s beef medallions plate (from the kid’s menu)($10) which he ordered medium rare and they sent out well done. The boy knows what he wants though and promptly sent it back. I am not sure why they couldn’t cook his properly because they were basically the same pieces of meat that were on the sliders.

My father-in –law had the breakfast sandwich ($9) which looked really good as well—it had scrambled eggs, this time with bacon (or you can have sausage), cheese, and served on asiago cheese bread. I didn’t get to try it but he seemed to really enjoy it. I had a bite of hubby’s potatoes and they had a decent flavor. I don’t get that excited by roasted potatoes at restaurants, but these were seasoned well.

All in all, Harry & Izzy’s is a good option for a Sunday brunch meeting all the criteria I mentioned above. The food is pretty solid (if not overly exciting) and they can make you a good mimosa or bloody mary.  And you can make a reservation. I will certainly store it in mind for future such needs. Now, you guys tell me, what are your favorite brunch spots around town? And which ones take reservations?

Harry & Izzy’s
4050 East 82ndStreet
Indy  46250
317/915-8045
www.harryandizzys.com



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SoBro Café

3:23 AM | Labels: , , , ,

This is a review in which I am actually including two visits—my first was for brunch with the family and the second for lunch with a friend.  We ended up there for brunch with the kids recently when we wanted to hit Taste with the kids, but when we got there, the line was out the door and none of us had the patience for it.  At SoBro, we sat right down and were greeted by a friendly server.  It was between 11:00 am and noon on a Sunday, and the only menu option at that time was the brunch menu, which was limited to 6 or 7 items, but luckily there was something that appealed to everyone. 
I had the fried egg sandwich ($9.50 with bacon), hubby had the biscuits and gravy ($6.95) (they also have a vegetarian version), my son some scrambled eggs and toast and bacon ($5.95), and my daughter the “French kiss” toast ($7.25).  I didn’t notice a children’s menu at all, so they were just ordering off the regular menu (although there were a few kids in there besides mine).
My fried egg sandwich was tasty, although simple.  I didn’t ask for the egg to be any certain way, I sort of thought I would see how they do it, and they fried it fairly hard (boo) but the flavors of the bacon, the avocado, tomato, lettuce, and cheese were all good.  I would recommend sourdough bread (which is what I got) because the wheat that my son got alongside his eggs was a little hard.  There was also a generous portion of home fries with the sandwich--they were fine, the ones that were the crispiest I liked, but I have to admit, I am not generally a home fries kind of girl anyway.  It is hard to find any that have ever really gotten me excited.
The best item by far on the table though, was hubby’s biscuits and gravy (I hate it when he out orders me).  There were two biscuits cut in half and covered with the chunky, sausage filled gravy.  The sausage was nice and peppery and I loved the thinner gravy.  Usually I am not a big fan of biscuits and gravy (and really a lot of gravy in general), because of the over-thickened, fakey, taste that so many of them have.  This gravy was great. Thinner, like I said, and exceptionally well seasoned.  It had a fair amount of peppery spiciness.  I also really liked the fact that the biscuits stood on their own and remained crispy under the gravy.  Honestly, I clearly preferred hubby’s breakfast to mine (even though mine was fine too).  Luckily, there was plenty for us to share.  Hubby, who is a big biscuits and gravy fan, declared this may be his favorite in town.
The French toast was very popular with the kids, and I am pretty sure they would both get this on a return visit. It is supposed to come with cream cheese and strawberries on top, but my daughter asked for them on the side.  She did end up spreading the cream cheese on several pieces and enjoyed it together.  I think she might even let them make it the way it is listed on the menu next time.  I had a little bite.  It was basic French toast to me—nothing that made it stand out from what you might make at home, other than I have never topped mine with cream cheese.  The eggs and bacon were also straightforward—my son ordered them scrambled.  Your basic scrambled eggs with some pretty tasty bacon alongside (although now every time I see bacon on a menu, I am hoping for Smoking Goose, I love that stuff.)
So the next visit I met a friend for lunch, and was disappointed to be told as soon as I sat down that they were out of their specialty Dutch Pennekoeken, which are listed as “pancakes” but which I am told are a lot like crepes actually.  They have several savory options, and I love a good savory crepe.  Sadly, I didn’t get to try one this time. So we split an appetizer of corn fritters ($4.50) which were like little pancakes themselves, but with chunks of corn in them and made with at least some cornmeal I would guess.  I liked the chunky bits of corn and the sweet flavor, but they were maybe just a tad dry.  They were served with a spicy black bean dip as well as a flavored sour cream which I really enjoyed.  The sour cream had an extra tangy flavor (lime perhaps) and it added good moisture to the corn cakes.  They also brought us a side of their sweet potato fries (which are baked actually) on the house ($3.50 or $2.25 with a sandwich) because they felt bad for the fact that they had run out of pancakes.  I think these are one of the things that are not housemade, and to be honest, they didn’t really wow me.  They did have a nice crunch for being baked, and I appreciated that. I also liked the thick homemade ketchup alongside.  I did appreciate the gesture though—they certainly wanted to make us happy.
After re-evaluating my options, I settled on the Tunisian Melt just because it sounded intriguing (and our server said it was one of her favorites) ($8.25).  It was an open faced sandwich (Texas toast) topped with tuna salad with potato chunks, sprouts, a little spinach, boiled egg, a lemon caper dill sauce, harissa (a type of chili sauce), and topped with melted cheddar cheese.  Sounds kinda strange huh? But it sort of made me think of a Niçoise salad kind of flavor which sounded really good to me. And I really quite enjoyed it. The tuna part itself was not like your traditional tuna salad kind of thing (which I NEVER order by the way)—it wasn’t mayo based the way so many are.  I really liked the salty, tangy lemon caper sauce and the texture variation of the eggs and the potatoes.  It was slightly warm with the melted cheese.  I appreciated the fact that it was something very different from most sandwiches you see around and I thought the flavors pretty much worked.  There was a lot going on, but I enjoyed it. I would get it again I think, although hopefully at some point I can get one of those pancakes (anyone had one?)
One of the nicest things about SoBro café is how friendly the staff is—our server was super friendly and apologetic about the pancake situation and knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the food.  Another person (manager/owner?) came by several times as well to refill our drinks and check on us.  I also liked the cute little statues that hold the checks at the end.  The food is nearly all homemade, and there is creativity being demonstrated, which I like in a lunch place.  So often sandwich menus look identical, and there are some deviations here (although there are plenty of standards as well). I would love to hear what you guys think of the place if you’ve been.
SoBro Café
653 East 52nd Street
Indy 46205
317/920-8121
www.sobrocafe.com


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Black Market

2:26 AM | Labels: , , , , , , ,


We lost a couple of good restaurants in Indy lately but I have to say, I am relieved to have Black Market, because it looks like we have replaced them with a good new one.  Based on my first visit anyway, this one’s a keeper.

I usually don’t try a new restaurant this quickly (it had only been open a week and a half at this point), but it was a friend’s birthday, and his choice, so we happily obliged. As of our visit, Black Market still didn’t have its sign out front, so you sort of feel like you are sneaking into some secret restaurant—it’s tucked away at the end of Mass Ave (near R Bistro) with just a plain black awning out front.  And get this; they have their own parking lot—a very nice benefit for a downtown restaurant.  There is also a small outdoor eating area. When we walked in, we were warmly welcomed, the door opened for us, and we were told to have a seat wherever we liked.  There is a long communal table and then several other tables for 2 or 4.  But the main feature of the room is probably the long bar that takes up nearly half of the restaurant.  Also the enormous black board just inside the door which lists all the menu items as well as the specials (they also give you a regular menu so you don’t have to read anything off the board except the specials).
There are several small plates and then larger plates and several sides.  We started with the ceviche appetizer (a special--$12) and the beef tongue cocktail ($8).  The ceviche was delicious even if I would call it more of a seafood tostada perhaps than what I imagine with classic ceviche.  It was marinated  seafood—chopped shrimp and scallops mixed with cilantro and lime and served over cabbage and on a crispy tortilla.  There was also a lovely fresh cilantro crème fraiche/sour cream sauce drizzled on top.  All these things were awesome together, but you can see what I mean when I say it was more like a tostado or taco with a crispy shell. Usually ceviche is just the fish and something to scoop it up with; this was much more than that.  It was a perfect summer starter.
We also shared the beef tongue cocktail.  Not having a ton of experience with eating a lot of tongue (ok, I have re-written that sentence several times and there is just no way to say it that doesn’t come out sounding a little weird), I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect with this one, but it was really good as well.  The tongue was cut into little cubes and had a slight crisp edge to them.  It was served mixed with cubes of beets and horseradish cream sauce and with several thick fried potato chips alongside for scooping.  The beets and cream adding nice variation in flavor and texture to the tongue itself, but the tongue was so good—I went back for several forkfuls of just those little nuggets—in some ways the richness of them reminded me of cubes of pork belly.   I was impressed—I have never seen an appetizer like this in Indy, and it was a refreshing change of pace.
For our main dishes, hubby and I agreed to share a couple of things—I ordered the veggie option-- Fried Egg on Toast ($11) and hubby ordered the pork schnitzel ($16).  The fried egg dish was also very good (and you know I love a dish with a perfect runny egg).  It was thick sliced toast that had been grilled, and therefore had some color to it, topped with melted cheddar cheese and roasted small tomatoes that had that mellow smoothness that roasting gives to veggies (and fruits in this case).  There was still the touch of acidity but it was balanced by the roasting.  There was also some crispy kale chips (which by the way, I had just made for the first time myself last weekend at my house using Katy She Cooks’ recipe) which were nice to add a slight edge of saltiness and bitterness and crackly crunch.  I have to say, my instinct when I see an egg like that is to reach for a salt shaker, and there wasn’t one on the table.  So I decided to go with it as is, and it was perfectly seasoned.  No additional salt or anything else needed.  It was served with lightly dressed greens (ok, my one complaint on the dish is that I would have liked a little more dressing on these).  The whole dish was simple, but with some subtle tweaks. 
The schnitzel was also very well done. Probably the best schnitzel I have had.  Someone had spent some time getting this right.  The pork was pounded flat and seasoned with egg and breadcrumbs—and some cheese I am guessing.  But the beauty is, it was cooked through, but was also still exceedingly tender with a nicely crispy pan fried crust.  It was served with a slaw of cabbage, apples and lemon.  The slaw was a great accompaniment because it was a little sweet, but mostly tangy.  A bite of the pork with the slaw together let you know someone back in the kitchen had thought about what they were putting together on the plate and had good reasons for it.  Again the dish was inherently simple, but so well executed.
We also got a side of the spaetzel and the fries (both $5).  The spaetzel was my least favorite thing of the evening.  It really had little flavor and just sort of felt like carbs that weren’t worth eating. Our server had told us it was lemony, but I didn’t really get any lemon flavor from it (or really much of any flavor).  We also had the fries which were served with a lemon sage aioli.  You know how I am always complaining when restaurants (particularly ones that are trying to be more than just your standard restaurant) only serve ketchup with fries?  Well, this is the reason why.  You get a dip like this, and you realize how lame ketchup is.  The fries themselves were tasty—hot and crisp, not exactly mind-blowing on their own, but with that sauce, wow.  My only complaint? There were a lot of fries and we could have used another ramekin of sauce.
I only had a couple bites of our friends’ dishes but my quick thoughts are this: the black market burger (made with lamb and beef) ($13) was good. I liked the nice fire roasted flavor in the meat, and that it wasn’t cooked to death.  It was quite juicy.  I also liked the pickled tomatoes and goat cheese topping giving it the right balance with the rich, smoky meat.   What I didn’t like was the bun was a little too big and dense to eat the burger easily—my friend cut it in half to eat it.  Our other friend had the herb roasted lamb ($18) which was not exactly what we were expecting either, but was still good.  It was sliced and heavily seasoned—almost like fancy gyros meat.  It was served with a similar creamy sauce that you would get with gyros too.  It was good, but could maybe use a little more description on the menu—as this would not be what I was wanting if I ordered “herb roasted lamb.”
We had a dessert-the banana bread with butterscotch and chocolate whipped cream ($5).  This was a dish that didn’t look that good when it was sat down on the table—it was basically a banana muffin with the butterscotch sauce and the whipped cream on the side.  I feared the muffin would be dry, but a mix of all the flavors together was terrific.  You could taste the banana without being overwhelmed by its sweetness.  The desserts may be a little on the small side compared to what we are used to in Indy, but I liked that, although I shared it, I could have eaten the whole thing myself.  It was just the right portion.
Overall, this is a place that is certainly going into my regular rotation.  I don’t think they take reservations, so at some point, it might be more difficult to get into, but we had no problem.  I was also really impressed with how well the front of the house was working.  Our service was spot on all night, never a delay in anything.  Our server gave us honest and really good recommendations. She knew what she was talking about.  I would say this kind of service would be impressive in any Indy restaurant, but particularly one that has only been open just over a week.  You really ought to go check it out.
Black Market
922 Massachusetts Avenue
Indy 46202
317/822-6757
www.blackmarketindy.net


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The Garrison Brunch

8:33 PM | Labels: , , , ,

Ok, I have to admit, I have been itching to try this place since one of you guys mentioned they have really good fried chicken (I told you, I have a little problem with fried chicken). And because it is known for its Sunday brunch buffet, I always think of it when it’s some sort of brunchy holiday like Easter or Mother’s Day. But on these days, it is nearly impossible to get a reservation. So I decided to just pick a random Sunday, invite the family, and have a nice family brunch on some non-holiday Sunday.

The Garrison is located at Fort Harrison state park in one of the historic buildings. It is a lovely setting and the restaurant overlooks a bit of the golf course. There is a nice deck that had a few tables on it. It was too cold the day we were there, but hopefully they let you sit out there when the weather is warmer.

We made our reservation for 11:00 and at the time, I didn’t realize that is when they open. There were people lined up to get in at 11:00 (without reservations). Slightly annoyingly, they didn’t open at 11:00 promptly, but shortly after. But we had a very large group (16) and they had set up a very nice table with carafes of water, iced tea and lemonade which I thought was a nice touch. They serve other drinks (including mimosas) that you can order from a server.

So the spread here is Midwestern cuisine—a giant buffet of breakfast and lunch items. Breakfast-wise, there were scrambled eggs with cheese, fried potatoes, bacon, sausage, eggs Benedict, French toast and a omelet and waffle making station. Lunch-wise there was fried chicken, fried catfish, pork tenderloin slices, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and au gratin potatoes, a couple of veggies (think corn and green beans), and cherry cobbler as well as a carving station with ham, roast beef, and a whole salmon. There was also a case with warm bread items (biscuits, dinner rolls, etc).

Separately, there was a full fruit and salad bar, and a large table full of various desserts (mainly cakes and pies), and my kids’ favorite part—a little kids cart (at their level) with chicken strips, pizza, more of the mac and cheese, and cookies. They just liked the idea of being able to “help themselves” (sort of) even though I think several of the adult items were the things they actually ate.

So I tried several things, and I will say, I did enjoy the fried chicken. It was especially good when you got it right when they brought it out and it was steaming hot. The dark meat and wings were the best I think because they were slightly moister (although even the breasts weren’t bad). There was nice seasoning on the crust giving it a nice flavor. The catfish was not bad (a few too many bones in my piece). I also enjoyed the eggs Benedict—I was surprised at how runny the yolks still were considering it was a buffet. The flavor was nice, although they were a tad dry (not quite enough Hollandaise). The mashed potatoes were quite creamy and had a bit of cheese, and the mac and cheese wasn’t bad either. The carved roast beef was far too done for me, but the jus served alongside had a nice, purely meaty flavor. The salmon, while fully cooked through, was still quite moist since it was the whole fish. Several people at the table really enjoyed it.

I found the desserts sort of blah, even though the spread looked very impressive. But there were a lot of the same cheesecake with slightly different toppings and a lot of cream pies. I tried several, and none of them really stood out to me. The kids certainly enjoyed them though, even though I was a little nervous about my son with the nut allergy as there were quite a few things that were obviously peanut/nut oriented on the table (and I am pretty sure some of the cookies on the kids cart were peanut butter which was a little scary) But he stuck with chocolate cake and was fine.

All in all, we had a nice meal and my teenage/20 something nephews certainly got their money’s worth! And it is nice to be able to have a big family gathering and people can just get what they want when they want. The food was all a little better than what I expected, but not so good that I crave any one thing. But I am sure at some point we will go back—and maybe a hike through Fort Ben after.

The Garrison
6002 North Post Road
Indy 46216
317543-9592
www.garrisonresort.com

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FARMbloomington

4:42 AM | Labels: , , , , ,

Recently, the BFF and I took a little road trip down to Bloomington for a getaway—to eat, drink and just have a break. Food wise, my main goal was to eat at Restaurant Tallent (which we did, and the review will come soon), but since we aimed at getting there by lunch time, we also decided to give FARMbloomington a go as well.

The interior of this place is quite kitschy in its farm paraphernalia, but honestly, I sort of breezed over it because I was pretty hungry. You do get the feeling that someone has had the genuine desire to create a causal farmhouse feel, but has just taken it maybe one step too far.

Anyhow, it was a Saturday, and on the weekends, they serve a brunch menu, so that is what we were choosing from. After checking out the tables next to us (if you are seated at the banquette, you are quite close to the tables on either side) we decided to split the bacon and egg pizza (I told ya, I’m a sucker for eggs on stuff). A poor young college girl with her parents next to us had ordered this pizza on her own, and was a little overwhelmed by it. It is quite large, and totally appropriate for sharing (that fact might even deserve a mention on the menu if you ask me).

So the pizza was like a thin crusted flatbread layered with a bit of red sauce (I really liked that there wasn’t too much of it), layers of quite tasty bacon, spinach, Gouda and topped with two poached eggs. The crust was obviously homemade, as it was quite uneven in shape (and totally different from the one at the table next to us) but it was really tasty. Pleasantly crispy but really thin, and still held up to the ingredients on top. I took my egg and cut it up and divided a bit of it onto each of my pieces. The bacon was layered across the pizza and was slightly crisp, but still had a nice amount of chewiness as well. I tell you what, it was really good. If I lived around there, this would be something I would probably crave on a routine basis.

One pet peeve, the napkins were really cheap and thin and they only gave you one (well, until I asked for more). A meal like this, you needed more than that. Or if you are only going to give just the one, either make it cloth, or make it more substantial. The service was a little distant, and occasionally missing, but generally we got things in a decent time frame.

But we had some wine as well; lots of girl talk, and really ended up enjoying this meal. Unfortunately, because we split one thing, I don’t have more to tell you about, but if you eat here for brunch, this pizza is yummy.

FARM Bloomington
108 East Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47408
877-440-FARM
812-323-0002
http://www.farm-bloomington.com/

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Tulip Noir Brunch

4:22 AM | Labels: , , , , ,

Now normally I am not a brunch person, not sure why, but usually just doesn’t sound that appealing to me. On this Sunday we were undecided where to go, and hubby hadn’t yet been to Tulip Noir so we headed there. They have a regular lunch menu during the week that I really like, but on the weekends, it is brunch. I am really glad we ended up there though, because I hadn’t checked the menu out first, and like I said, I am not usually drawn to the brunch type options, but this was really good.

I had one of their teas which was really nice (a loose leaf oolong) and the little clear glass teapots are nice. This place has a huge tea menu, but not a lot of cold drink options besides a few flavored sparkling waters. For my brunch, I had the “original egg sandwich” which was a whole wheat English muffin with pesto, fresh spinach, a fried egg and prosciutto. Wow, this was really good. The pesto was super fresh and tasty and tasted like it had a bit of lemon in it maybe, which I really liked. The egg was pretty hard fried, but I guess that is appropriate for a sandwich. The spinach was just plain fresh spinach, but it was just the right amount, and went really well with the pesto too. The prosciutto was just the right amount, and it was quite tender—not sort of stringy the way prosciutto can be sometimes. There was a little salad of mixed greens on the side that wasn’t bad, but as is usually the case with these little side salads, it was underdressed. But all in all, I really liked this sandwich and I would definitely get it again.

We also got a side of the rosemary roasted potatoes (Yukon gold and sweet potatoes). These were really well done. Nice crispy sides and a good amount of rosemary so that you could really taste it. Hubby had the open face egg sandwich which was a rather large piece of bread with tomato slices, smoked salmon, and scrambled eggs on top. He enjoyed it, but he thought mine was better.

The only thing someone might complain about with my dish was that it was pretty small. Perfect for me, but I figure if I thought it was right for me, it probably wouldn’t be enough for a lot of people, judging from the portions at most restaurants. Even hubby said he would want two of my sandwiches.

All in all, I really like Tulip Noir and their seasonally changing menu. Someone is working hard to come up with fresh, unique flavor combinations using really high quality ingredients. And obviously, they have a knack for it, because most of it seems to really work.

Tulip Noir
1224 West 86th
Indy 46260
317/848-5252
www.tulipnoircafe.com

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