Thursday, May 12, 2011

3 Sisters

In continuation of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives week, I recently visited 3 Sisters which was also recently featured on one of the recent Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  I had been to 3 Sisters once before, but pre-blog days, so I thought it was a good time to give it another try.  What I remembered about this place from before was that they had a pretty extensive menu, use a lot of high quality healthy ingredients, but that I hadn’t been inspired to return for several years.
The restaurant is set in an old Victorian house in Broad Ripple, and I like the homey feel and squeaky wood floors (I love a good creaky floor). The service staff was pretty friendly, although possibly a little harried.  I think the DDD publicity has been good for business.
The menu has been re-vamped since the DDD visit, with notations on the menu pointing out which items were featured.  The BFF ordered one of them, the D’Nai, which is a crusty French roll covered in house roasted ham, sautéed kale and jack cheese.  So, this sandwich is enormous. As in, you can’t pick it up and eat it; you pretty much have to use a knife and fork. And not only that, but they actually brought her a steak knife because apparently a regular knife is not enough.   I liked the flavor of the kale—giving it a distinct cooked greens taste, a little more robust than just spinach.  The flavor of the ham was interesting, drier like in sliced pork tenderloin almost, but with a decent flavor.  But it was a little too dry for me.  I really liked her side of potato salad (again, a huge portion), but with a nice mustardy flavor (you could see the grains of mustard in there). Only a little bit of celery, mostly large chunks of potatoes.
So for my entrée, I went with breakfast because we were eating on the early side of lunch.  It was the “Mom” scramble with 3 eggs, red onions, “exotic” mushrooms, avocado, and Swiss cheese (around $7).  See-- all those things, good.  Together, they are also good, but not blow you away good—the exotic mushrooms were seemingly mostly Portobello and creminis, and there was a little too much red onion in there for me—and really big chunks of it.  But I tend to like a scramble better than an omelet because they are less dried out, and that was the case here.  It came with a side of toast, which was warm and heavily buttered (I chose sourdough from the list of options). Again, it ended up being quite a large portion.
I also got a side of the powerhouse potatoes ($3 for the small (!) portion), which I enjoyed—they were like home fried potatoes with lots of herbs, onions, garlic, bits of tofu and cheese on top.  They were tasty, and I enjoyed the herby kick to them.  So often breakfast potatoes are very bland.  The onions and garlic livened them up as well, but were better than the onions in my scramble because they were smaller and more cooked.  They were served with an extremely fresh tasting salsa on the side that was awesome on its own and awesome with the potatoes—totally took the potatoes to a higher level with the acidity and slight spiciness.  I was glad I went with the small portion though (they have two sizes), because there is no way I could finish these (even with help from BFF) let alone any more.
Which brings me back to the whole enormous thing. I get a fair amount of grief for complaining that portions are too large, but seriously, these were insane.  Normally, when I want feedback on a lunch I have with the BFF, I email her later and ask her for her comments. This time, an email was waiting for me when I got home in which she said while she thought the food tasted pretty good, that the portions were so ridiculously large that they must be throwing a ton of food away, which bothered her.  And this place reminds me of a place that could easily be in Berkeley—very hippy-ish. Lots of vegetarian and even vegan options and lots of healthy veggies mixed into everything.  So it sort of seems slightly incongruous that they put this kind of pile of food in front of you.  But maybe it’s just me.  My advice would be to go with a compatible friend and split a couple things. There will be more than enough.
So overall, my take on 3 Sisters was pretty similar to my first visit—I appreciate the variety, healthy fresh food and care going into the food.  It is hearty, and will certainly fill you up.  A good option for breakfast  or lunch if you like ‘em large.  Again, out of this world?  I would say no.
3 Sisters Café
6360 Guilford Avenue
Indy  46220
317/257-5556

3 Sisters Cafe on Urbanspoon

11 comments:

  1. Erin, you're not alone in the portion size complaint. The U.S. in my lifetime, has become one of the most obese nations on earth. How often, for fast food, have you heard, "Supersize That?".

    Our defense is ordering two appetizers served in courses. Also, a number of Italian places are offering half sized portions. I just want an 8 oz. sirloin steak, so I do it at home. Euphoria does reasonably sized portions and gets complaints via "Open Table" that the portions are too small. "Quality over Quantity" does not seems to reign especially in the Midwest.

    How do the French, Italians and others consume four or five courses? Simple! Portion size, a leisurely pace, decent wine and mineral water. Again, it's not how much, but how good? Stick to your guns on this. We are!

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  2. It does take some work to find the website but here is it: http://www.3sisterscafein.com/


    I agree about portion sizes at this place. I have been there twice and both time seen a lot of food leave the table and head for the garbage. It's sad.

    I really like the homey atmosphere, especaially on a Sunday morning for brunch.

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  3. So glad you reviewed something other than the corn cakes with lemon curd.

    I get it, they're good...now can we please eat and review another one of their dishes? LOL

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  4. Here's the link: http://www.3sisterscafein.com It was sixth on the Google results I found.

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  5. Erin, you're not alone in the portion size complaint. The U.S. in my lifetime, has become one of the most obese nations on earth. How often, for fast food, have you heard, "Supersize That?".

    Our defense is ordering two appetizers served in courses. Also, a number of Italian places are offering half sized portions. I just want an 8 oz. sirloin steak, so I do it at home. Euphoria does reasonably sized portions and gets complaints via "Open Table" that the portions are too small. "Quality over Quantity" does not seems to reign especially in the Midwest.

    How do the French, Italians and others consume four or five courses? Simple! Portion size, a leisurely pace, decent wine and mineral water. Again, it's not how much, but how good? Stick to your guns on this. We are!

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  6. Erin - They do have a website now. I thought it was odd, too, when I first heard they would be on DDD. But, I found it a few weeks ago when we were meeting some friends there for dinner.

    www.3sisterscafein.com

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  7. I am picky about ham. I can't stand thick slices of it. How was this as far as slicing?

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  8. So glad you reviewed something other than the corn cakes with lemon curd.

    I get it, they're good...now can we please eat and review another one of their dishes? LOL

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  9. I certainly support smaller portions and strive to eat healthier, but there's no reason you have to clean your plate... I often bring a container (ok, it is usually my wife in her bag) and will bring something home for a snack or another meal. Granted, there are times when that might not work out (if you're not going to be able to refrigerate the leftovers, etc).

    Any rate, I love seeing Three Sisters get some press - they've been putting out quality food for a long time and IMO there are many good options on their menu.

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  10. If I can, I take leftovers home, too. But this was one of those cases that it clearly would've not been good after sitting for awhile in the fridge (and how is one to know that will be the case w/out ordering?).

    I was more irked by what I saw as a major disconnect between a purported eco-responsibility ethic (our server even mentioned that they offered compost-able take-away containers)and the offering of enough food to feed at least two people, maybe more. That "sandwich" (which, I don't know, if I can't pick it up, it isn't a sandwich) was ridiculously huge! This is an instance, for me, that highlights what places like Taste, Keystone Cafe, and even the Chous do so much better in that regard.

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  11. Thanks for your patience all, as blogger took this post down for awhile. I managed to piece it back up myself, but hope this conversation continues.

    Leslie- the "ham" was sliced sort of medium. Not shaved thin, but not super thick either.

    and to Alison and Ali, thanks for finding the website for me. I have adjusted the post and added it to the end.

    -Erin

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