Thursday, January 29, 2015

Szechwan Garden - Revisit

I met my friend @wibia for another birthday lunch. We both like Szechwan Garden, and I have been itching to get back there since the last time I went and had the salt and pepper squid. I said then that I really wanted to try the salt and pepper fish (#115 on the menu, $15.95) so this time I did.  We also had the shredded roast duck with pan-fried rice noodles off of the lunch menu (the one on the back of the dim sum menu) ($4.95). I also had a taste of his hot and sour soup.

So, I was pretty right about being excited to try the salt and pepper fried fish. I had enjoyed the very peppery (and salty) seasoning on the squid before, but the squid itself was too chewy for me. The fish was thin and tender and much more appealing (and I like squid when it’s tender). I love the little crumbles of toasty garlic on top of the fish. The pieces with those on top were the best—they gave it an added nutty flavor. The fish was a thin white fish—maybe tilapia? They give you a lot, particularly since there is no veggies or anything with it, so I would recommend sharing it with others and/or with a dish heavier on veggies. They do give you a side of rice to go along with it.

The noodle dish we also shared is one of @wibia’s favorite things at Szechwan Garden I think. I’ve seen him order it a couple of times. It’s a nice dish as well—the super thin rice noodles are sautéed with bits of the roasted duck, egg, scallions and a few pieces of red pepper. It’s a better accompaniment to the fish than rice I think, just because the noodles have more going on, and add a bit of moisture to an otherwise kind of of dry meal. I really liked the bit of egg of course, and the scallions added some flavor and texture to the dish. We did add some soy to it, which brought the flavors out even more.

The quick bite of the hot and sour soup was tasty too—had the right balance of spicy and sour and nice bits of tofu and mushrooms and egg. My favorite thing—the broth isn’t gelatinous like some can be.

The menu here is huge, so I am pretty sure there is something on there for just about everyone. It would be fun for someone to start a blog and eat their way through that menu. Now that would be a feat.

Szechwan Garden
3649 Lafayette Road
Indy 46222
317/328-2888



Monday, January 26, 2015

3 Sisters Café- Revisit

This was another lunch in my birthday quest and it was also the lunch that broke my (fairly short-term) resolution to lay off white flour and white sugar. I just needed a sandwich and this is one of my favorites (even though I originally picked the place based on the availability of many salads and egg dishes). I also hadn’t been to 3 Sisters since they moved to their new location across from the Kroger in Broad Ripple. I love that they found another old house to move into, and the interior has much of the same charm of the first place. I can’t quite tell if it has the same amount of seating—there may be the same amount of tables, but it seems a little more cramped inside. They were doing a very good business on the day we were there, even though it was fairly early on a weekday.

I have eaten here a fair amount—a good friend really likes this place, and would make me go with her a lot. Honestly, it took me awhile to latch onto a menu item that was a truly craveable one for me, but I found it. And it’s fairly simple idea, but they just do it so well, it makes my mouth water thinking about it. So, they have a “make your own” grilled cheese option (base is $7)—you get to choose two cheeses and then they have a whole list of things you can add for an additional charge. So, my perfect sandwich is Swiss and Gorgonzola cheese with spinach and bacon (each an extra 75 cents). I know it’s simple, but something about it, and the way they toast the bread so perfectly. It’s super buttery and cooked just the right amount of crunchy. They put the right amount of toppings on there so it isn’t too spinachy. And just the right amount of cheese so it isn’t too cheesy either, but still plenty cheesy. The gorgonzola adds that little bit of bite to the flavors. Also, the bread itself is the right thickness and firmness to be perfect. It’s just a “when planets align” thing for me. I also always get the side salad (no cucumber) with their buttermilk ranch.  The salad is an extra $1.50 as a side, but it is a good size and they use lots of fresh mixed greens. I love their buttermilk ranch—it isn’t that fakey stuff that comes from the grocery store.  I like it on the greens and I like to dip my sandwich in it.


Everything I have had here is fresh and good, but this is the thing I go back to again and again because it’s so tasty. Other stuff hasn’t drawn me back in so much. It’s a big menu though, so I would love to know your favorite items (those powerhouse potatoes are pretty darn good too).

3 Sisters Café
6223 North Guilford Avenue
Indy  46220
317/257-5556


Thursday, January 22, 2015

Rook - Revisit

One of the good things about having my birthday around Christmas (ok, and pretty much the only good thing) is that my birthday lunches manage to get spread out over a few weeks because people are busy and all those damn snow days didn’t help either. But on the brightside, my birthday was like 3 weeks ago and I’m still enjoying the benefits.

My friend Suzanne took me to Rook, because I had been itching to try their ramen. You know I have been complaining about why Indy doesn’t have a ramen bar for months now (even if according to David Chang, ramen is dead, I prefer Peter Meehan’s take. “Long live ramen!”). Anyhow, at least for now, you can get your fix at Rook. (They say they will be changing their menu routinely, so no guarantees how long they’ll have it).

We started with the mushroom dumplings ($5), which have been on the menu for a while, and which I saw on another visit, but did not get to try. I have been wanting them ever since. I was not disappointed. The dumplings were tender, but with a really nice seared side that remained crisp because it wasn’t soaked in the sauce—the sauce was in the bottom of the bowl. It was a “san bai su” sauce, which is a soy-based sauce that tasted also of vinegar and ginger. It also had a touch of sweetness and a slightly smoky taste as well. After we had eaten the four dumplings, I did not hesitate in picking up the bowl and dumping the sauce directly on my last one. The dumplings taste nice and meaty, even though they are filled with mushrooms.

I ordered the ramen tonkatsu ($14), or ramen with pork cheeks. It’s a darn tasty ramen with a truly silky (as the menu says) pork broth. The broth is the big deal with ramen and this one is done really well—lots and lots of flavor. There was a nice little bit of fat on top of the broth adding to that richness. There were two big hunks of very tender pork cheeks in the soup--I appreciated how tender it was, you could pull it apart with your chopsticks. This has not always been the case with pork I have had in ramen. Of course, I loved the 5-minute egg in there. It was super delicious and if you want to talk about something that was silky, that egg yolk certainly was. It was also drizzled with a sauce—guessing this was the black garlic soy. There was corn in there, and sautéed veggies (cabbage and carrot) and some pickled mustard greens. I liked getting a crunch from the greens and the sautéed veggies. The only part I wasn’t sure about was the corn.  I guess it is often in ramen, but I just couldn’t decide how I felt about it. Maybe if it were super fresh right off the ear super-crisp. I couldn’t decide if it added anything for me. And of course, there were the noodles, which are my favorite thing about the whole dish (well, next to the egg) and which were plentiful and had soaked up lots of that delicious broth. A perfect lunch for a cold winter’s day.

Suzanne had the bulgogi rice bowl ($13)—it was served in the style of a bibimbap with a bowl of rice topped with flank steak, pickled cucumber, kimchi, avocado, bok choy and pork cracklings. You can also add an egg as well (and who wouldn’t? You’d have to be crazy) ($1.50).  This was also a really good dish. The only thing I have about dishes like this is you really gotta mix them up and dig in to get all the flavors together. The bite I had with some kimchi was nice and spicy with a bit of crunch—and I loved the pork cracklins sprinkled on top giving it a surprising crunch but without the use of nuts, which was kind of nice. It also gave a nice salty kick. I also thought the avocado was a nice touch, as you may or may not know, I view avocado as a nearly perfect food. The flank steak is cooked a fair amount, but with a nice caramelized crust to it. It’s a very good dish as well. It’s hard to say which I would have liked it better based on the couple of bites of it I had,
but I would happily eat either.

I was happy to see the varying menu Rook has for lunch—I was also happy to see table service, the artwork on the previous white walls, and the fact that the place was jammed. Most of the time we were there, pretty much every table was full. The service is fast though and the tables tend to turn over pretty quick. I love all the creative dishes being served, and now with the alterations to service and décor (and the fact that they have beer AND wine), I look forward to trying it, and the even more expanded menu, for dinner.

Rook
719 Virginia Avenue
Indy 46213
317/759-5828


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Coalition

Over break, the family and I found ourselves up in Carmel running an errand, and it was lunchtime, so of course, I wanted to go somewhere new. I remembered that Coalition had opened nearby, and a couple of you guys had liked it, so we decided to give it a try.

This is a place where you walk in and order at the counter and they bring you your food. There are a lot of menus hanging on the wall so you don’t have to stare up at one menu with a bunch of people. They also have beer and wine, which is always a plus in my book. It was really, really cold in there, which was my only gripe about the experience (and to their credit they did say they would turn up the heat when I asked). The people working there were very nice and seemed very knowledgeable about the food when I asked a few questions about what was in certain things.

I wasn’t really sure how much to get and I didn’t realize they potentially have a lunch option with a smaller pizza, but hubby and I just ended up getting our own pizzas, which was fine with me because we tend to go to opposite sides of the pizza menu if left to our own devices. For instance, I went with “The Athenian” ($10.50) which consisted of a pizza with roasted Indiana Amish chicken, kalamata olives, pine nuts, mozzarella, feta cheese and pesto sauce. Ok, there’s supposed to be roasted red peppers too, but they aren’t my favorite items in general, so I had them leave them off. It was really very good—the crust was thin and crisp but not at all burnt and even though I was worried there might be too much on the pizza, it was portioned just right. I appreciated the meat option with the chicken, but honestly, I think it would have been just as good without it. I really liked the crunch of the pine nuts giving the whole thing a great texture—and there were plenty of olives, which are one of my favorite things. There was a fair amount of cheese, but not so much that you lost the flavor of the pesto and toppings. It was really quite good. Both hubby and my son really enjoyed it as well.

Hubby’s pizza, on the other hand, was “The Teamster” and was topped with red sauce, sliced of meatballs, mozzarella and giardinera ($9.5). This was an interesting combo as well—it was unique and I liked the kick both in spice and acid from the giardinera (which is an Italian mix of pickled veggies that often include peppers to give it a little heat). The meatballs are also housemade and were pretty tender, even after being heated again on the pizza. Again, meatballs aren’t typically my favorite things, but these were seasoned pretty well and were good with the giardinera. My only complaint about the pizza was the crust didn’t hold up as well to these toppings—not sure if it was the sauce or the heavier ingredients, but it got a little soggy towards the middle. Hubby loved it though and went back and forth about whose pizza he thought was better.

My daughter had a pasta dish—the baked macaroni ($7.50). This is their version of mac and cheese. It was actually fusilli pasta—you know the corkscrew shape—and it was in a cheesy sauce. It’s described as baked with a breadcrumb crust, but I would guess this was just pasta that was tossed in the cheesy sauce and then topped with some breadcrumbs—it just didn’t have that crustiness that comes from a pasta that is baked. It was okay, but didn’t really meet up to the expectations I had in my mind. It’s an easy dish to get kids to eat though.

My son had the kid’s portion of the pasta rosso ($5)—which is your basic spaghetti with red sauce and is topped with some shreds of mozzarella. They do make their red sauce in house, and it isn’t bad. I didn’t eat a ton of it to really analyze it, but there was certainly nothing negative about it that jumped out at me. It’s a good-sized kid portion and he seemed happy enough with it.

All in all, other than having to wear our coats the whole time we were in there, we were pleasantly surprised by Coalition. Hubby commented that if it were near us, we’d put it into our pizza rotation for sure. I am intrigued by the sandwiches too. Anyone tried one of them?

Coalition
365 West 116th Street
Carmel, IN 46032
317/817-0800


Coalition on Urbanspoon

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Sunrise Café - Revisit and New Location

On those occasions when hubby and I wake up after a long night and really want a good greasy breakfast, we often debate where to go—it’s frustrating in this town because often, on the weekends, breakfast places tend to be so dang busy.

For years, my extended family routinely went to Sunrise Café over by the Fashion Mall. A couple of years ago, the space was taken over by First Watch. After a few months of being displaced (although they have other locations around town), Sunrise re-opened at 71st and Shadeland. My parents now frequent the new location regularly, but for some reason, hubby and I have only been a few times, and I have to say, the last time was just ok. The food is very much the same as the original location, I’d say. The interior suffers a bit compared to the all-wood sports theme of the last locale, now being a large space with fewer tables, and sparse décor. And the few wood-based sports items they brought from the old locale, just look strange now on the stark walls (and are generally pretty well worn). The service is still friendly and fast, and there’s never been a wait at the new location. So, we appreciate that we can pretty much always go get that kind of breakfast whenever we want.


On this past visit, hubby and I both had the basic breakfast—two eggs (we both like them over easy), bacon (ok, or sausage, but I always get bacon), hash browns, and your choice of homemade toast ($8.99).  This place has cooked a few eggs in their day, and cooked our eggs just right—nice and runny. I’ve had some ups and downs with the bacon here, but this bacon was really tasty. Crisp enough and more importantly, had that salty bacony flavor. There is nothing worse to me than tasteless bacon. And you see it a touch too much. The hash browns are well, hash browns. They're my favorite breakfast potatoes and not many people do them around town. They were crispy and I was happy. I like their toast as well—I go for the sourdough. They pre-butter too, although I question how much “butter” in actually in there.  Like I said, this place qualifies as a greasy spoon type breakfast, but I like it.

If you’re looking for a straightforward breakfast without a wait, this is a good place to keep in mind. It’s not going to blow your mind, and it isn’t trendy, but it’s solid.

Sunrise Café
7387 North Shadeland Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46150
317/288-5303





Monday, January 12, 2015

Hellas Café

When I go to a silent auction, the first things I always gravitate toward bidding on are restaurant gift certificates. I snatched up the Hellas certificate because it is close to my house and believe it or not, I don’t think I have ever been there. It’s been open forever, but somehow I just haven’t managed to get there.

I love the way they have taken an old school Pizza Hut building and turned it into a Greek restaurant—and other than the dropped ceiling inside, you would never know based on the interior. It’s cute and warm—it has a nice ambience—darkish (hence, the somewhat blurry pics) and with some mellow live music on the evening we were there. Our server was very friendly and other than one mix-up with the kitchen, she was very efficient.

We started with some hummus ($7.25) and Saganaki ($7.65). Both were good. The saganaki was probably the table favorite, my kids also being fans of the show you get when they light the cheese on fire (OPA!). The cheese was nice and melty, as it is after being set on fire, and had a nice kick of lemon from the lemon used to douse the flames. As a side note, they have great pita, grilled perfectly so it’s just slightly crisp on the outside but still soft and warm inside. I think they grill it with a bit of oil, or even butter, because it has a little extra flavor on the outside. It was also good with the hummus, which had a nice flavor—it was a thicker version than many, which isn’t a bad thing—just depends on what you like. You could really taste the garlic though, which makes me happy.

I ordered an appetizer for my main dish—the spanakopita ($7.45). Honestly, this was the only dish that was a little disappointing for me—and this was the dish that took a little longer to get. I think I threw them off, ordering an app for a main. They apologized profusely and offered a free dessert. Anyhow, it was a large piece—like a square piece of pie—instead of the smaller pieces I am accustomed to. Because it didn’t have all the sides and corners of a smaller piece that is wrapped around itself, the phyllo on the outside wasn’t as crispy and crunchy as they sometimes are. The flavor of the spinach and cheese was good; I just missed more of the crunch.

Hubby had the lamb kebab dinner ($20.75) and it was really, really good. Quite possibly the best lamb on a stick I have ever had. You could taste the herby seasoning and the lamb was cooked to order—exactly medium rare, just as hubby asked. It was tender and delicious and not chewy at all. We were both impressed with this meat. The sides were also quite good—they had those roasted Greek potatoes that are cooked with lots of olive oil and garlic and have nice crispy, browned exteriors. The insides practically melted in your mouth. It also came with a small Greek salad that was simple but tasty--a nice acidic vinaigrette with a fair amount of feta. 

Both kids had gyros—one had the kid’s version ($5.75), which comes with fries, the other the adult ($8.65) (pic is the adult portion). They give you a ton of the meat, which you can see being shaved just through the kitchen window. They both really enjoyed it—it was very tender and juicy. My daughter commented it depends on how you like it—some people might like it with more crispy edges. This one is not that type. The toppings, which she asked for on the side, were fairly minimal as far as sides go (one slice of tomato, a sprig of parsley and some chopped red onions), but they gave a nice little cup of tzatziki that was really delicious—one of the brightest and freshest I have tasted. Maybe more lemon than most? In any case, it was possibly the best I’ve had.
We all really enjoyed this place and look forward to going again. (P.S. Kids eat free on Tuesdays.) The people working there were very friendly. I will try something new for dinner next time, but I’m pretty sure hubby will be ordering that lamb. Do you guys eat there? What are your favorite things?




Hellas Café 
8501 Westfield Blvd.
Indianapolis, IN 46240
317/257-6211



Hellas Cafe on Urbanspoon

Saturday, January 10, 2015

7 years and counting.....

Hey you guys! Today is my 7-year blog-a-versay! SEVEN years. That’s a long time people. It’s been a good run, and for now, I plan on continuing. I thank all of you that read my posts and comment there or on Facebook or twitter. I am also grateful for all of the really cool people I have met and often shared meals with, which I otherwise wouldn’t have, because of it. Several of you have even become good friends. There’s always a few people that I guess just can’t stand me too, but the positive feedback I get far outweighs them. And that’s what matters right? (Insert Taylor Swift song here.)

I have also eaten a lot of really great food, and a slightly lesser amount of really terrible food, but it’s all been in the name of research, so it’s totally worth it. I love sharing what I find with you, and I love that you guys still want to read about it.

Please let me know what amazing places I have been missing—or what places you disagree with me on. Or whatever you want to let me know. I have watched the evolution of my blog and blogs in general, and I want to stay current and interesting enough that you want to keep reading it.

Cheers to another year!


Erin

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Freshii

My daughter and I went after Christmas sale shopping at the Fashion Mall and while we were there we decided to grab some lunch. We went to the food court and tried the only place we haven’t been to yet, Freshii. To be quite honest, I chose it because it didn’t have a line and I felt like I needed to try and go a little on the healthy side after the gorging done over the holidays. A salad seemed like a good idea.

I ordered the Cobb Salad and substituted red onions instead of corn. The salad also included avocado, tomato, blue cheese, bacon, and chicken. I ordered mine with blue cheese dressing. I like the way they mix the salads—they put all the ingredients in a plastic bag and shake it up to mix the ingredients together. I was disappointed when I sat down and started to eat it because as far as I could tell, there was no avocado at all. I searched and searched. So I went up and asked for some and she gave me a little teeny wedge in a paper cup. I understand that avocado is an expensive ingredient but this made me sad. I love avocado. They did give me a lot of blue cheese, which I appreciated. But these salads aren’t super cheap (it was around $9-10) and on top of that, the bacon was chewy and a lot of the romaine part of the lettuce was wilted and had black and brown spots on it. If you’re gonna be a salad-type place, make sure your lettuce looks good. That’s all I’m saying. Maybe you’re better off with their burrito-type options, I don’t know.


My daughter got the children’s chicken and cheese quesadilla and an apple juice for her lunch. The quesadilla (I think it was around $5) looked good and my daughter said she liked it well enough. The cheese was white cheese and there were some nice hunks of chicken in there (a lot more than in my salad). Honestly, it looked a lot better than my salad.    
 
I guess it’s better than a lot of mall food court food—it’s at least healthier, but it’s to bad they can’t give you more of the really good, “fresh” ingredients and keep on top of their produce.  And it isn’t cheap—for the 2 of us with 2 drinks, it was over $22. The people working at the counter gave me what I wanted without complaint, but I can’t say they were overly friendly. 

Freshii
The Fashion Mall
8702  Keystone Crossing
Indy  46240
317/660—8110


Freshii on Urbanspoon

Monday, January 5, 2015

Spoke and Steele

Anchovies
Always game to try a new place, hubby and I decided to hit up Spoke and Steele, the new restaurant in the new Le Meridian hotel downtown. It’s in the old Canterbury spot, but you would never know they were the same place. It was a touch sad for me, because hubby and I spent our wedding night at the Canterbury, but change is the only constant right? Anyway, the new digs have changed things around, putting the clean and maybe somewhat sparse dining area in the front of the building, and utilizing the big pictures windows onto the street as part of the dining room. The woodwork’s been painted white and it has a much more modern feel. It may feel kinda cold and generic too.

It’s early days for this place, but I would say the service needs a fair amount of polishing—actually maybe some straightforward training. Our server was extremely friendly, but offered little help with the menu and never came to fill our wine (the bottle was brought to us already opened). I heard another server giving a lot more detail about the food, including explaining that there is a cheese and charcuterie option that is not on the printed menu. (Also, I find it strange that it is not on the menu as it is a major portion of the online menu and much of the press surrounding the opening of the place).

Food-wise, I think the menu could use some rearranging also. There is a section called “shareable city plates,” a section called “small plates” and then one called “large plates.” You would think that the sharable plate section would be more things that are, well, sharable items you would want to eat to start your dinner. Several of them came across as things that would be more properly termed side dishes—a shareable portion of a side dish, yes, but not something you would want to share as your only app. The one exception to this, and one of the highlights of our meal, was the fried white anchovies with shishito peppers ($10). It was an interesting dish—if you ate just an anchovy or a pepper on its own, it was nothing exciting, but a bite of each one and some of the Cholula citrus aioli was a wonderful combination. The peppers aren’t spicy, but gave a soft, slightly pickled contrast with the very crunchy anchovies. And the aioli flavored with a good amount of citrus and hot sauce was exactly the right complement. Again this was what I expected with a shareable plate. 

The other shareable plate we got was the roasted asparagus with salsa verde, prosciutto and a poached egg. Typically, this is the kind of dish I am drawn to, but sadly this one had little flavor even with the salsa verde. I was hoping for more of a flavor punch. If I had this as a side dish with an entrée, I probably wouldn’t have minded as much, but a plate of roasted asparagus as an appetizer just seemed out of place. Side note—the dishes on the small plates section are all soups or salads, no other appetizer options.

We guessed that these sharable plates would be fairly large based on the price points, and they were, so we ordered one main to share with a side of the Mormon Funeral potatoes ($11), which was also from the sharable plates section, and not the side dish section (confused yet?). The main dish we had was the seared crispy bass with corn pudding, Brussels sprouts leaves and marinated tomatoes ($32). I loved the bright fresh colors of this dish and the fish and the corn pudding were well done. The fish had a nice crispy skin, and the corn pudding just a touch of sweetness. The marinated tomatoes tasted as if they were marinated in pure salt—I had one and almost spit it out, and I have a pretty high salt threshold. I chugged my water after that one. Not sure what happened there--maybe the lid fell off the salt shaker, but they were inedible. And this may be a flavor combo best left to summer when the tomatoes are a bit riper. If they were ripe and less salty, it would have been a nice hit of acid. As it was, we left them all, and everything that they touched, on the plate. The Mormon funeral potatoes were really quite good. They hit that “something your Gramma would have made” spot in your palate. They were shredded cheesy potatoes cooked with mushroom cream and topped with crispy cornflake crumbs. The menu said they were topped with pickled ramps—I am pretty sure they were just green onions, but regardless, I really enjoyed the pickled flavor of the white part of the onion with the rich, decadent potatoes. The green parts become too chewy and hard to eat, and don’t hold the pickle flavor as much. Maybe just using the white part would be better—or even something like shallots that would be easier to eat. Great flavors together though. Again, it made a great side dish, but not sure I would want to eat a pan of this as a starter.

At this point, we decided to skip dessert, because nothing really jumped out at us. I think there is some hope for this place—a few of the dishes were interesting, but there were a few too many misses both food an service-wise to make me want to rush back. And the atmosphere wasn't really wooing me either. By the way, what is that room to the left of the restaurant as you come in? Lounge? Bar? I'm just not really sure. Maybe I'm old, but I kinda miss the natural wood from the Canterbury days. Anyhow, we'll see, maybe we'll give it another go in a few months when hopefully things are a little smoother...


Spoke and Steele
123 S. Illinois Street
Indy 46225
317/737-1616
Spoke & Steele on Urbanspoon

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Road Trip - Nick's Junction: Roanoke, IN

I have had the good fortune to eat at Joseph Decuis in Roanoke, IN twice in the last couple of months. We always stay at one of their properties as well, and one of the perks is that you get breakfast in the morning at one of the inns. In my experience, it’s always basically the same—some sort of quiche made by the restaurant, a sausage patty and a scone. Hubby and I really like quiche, and the very nice innkeeper who cooks it for us. Last time though, we took the in-laws and the kids and my kids aren’t really down with quiche. We decided to take them to a local breakfast place (it’s the only place to go nearby for breakfast as far as I can tell) we had tried a few years back when we just couldn’t make the 8:30 breakfast time at the inn.

Nick’s Junction is a large, friendly place—it’s usually busy, but not so busy you have to wait, even with a party of 6. I went with my classic breakfast—two eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast. It was all tasty and hit the spot. Was it the best bacon I have ever had? No, but it was fine. The eggs were perfectly over easy they way I like them. I really enjoyed the potatoes. They weren’t exactly hash browns and they weren’t exactly home fries, but they had my requirement of a super browned, crisped edge and a soft interior.

My son had biscuits and gravy—he is becoming quite the connoisseur of them—they looked pretty standard to me, but he liked them well enough. He ended up asking for an additional biscuit to soak up all the gravy. He ate it all. It also came with eggs, which he had scrambled. I don't think he ate them. I don't know why my kids never seem to eat eggs. My daughter had French toast, which she didn’t really eat a lot of, but she would like you to know that she really enjoyed the hot chocolate.
All in all, it’s a good place to stop after a night at Joseph Decuis if you want to sleep in, or you don’t care for quiche. And hey, while we’re talking about B&G, where’s your favorite in Indy?

Nick’s Junction
4215 East Station Road
Roanoke, IN 46783
260/672-2977



Nick's Junction on Urbanspoon