Canal Bistro - Brunch

I had a brunch meeting on a weekend with a small group, and we decided to try Canal Bistro because they take reservations. On the weekends, I just don’t have the patience to wait an hour to eat. I had never been to Canal Bistro for full on brunch, so it was almost like going to a new restaurant.

They have a very large menu of choices for brunch, although there are several areas that are variations of similar items—various breakfast sandwiches/pita wraps takes up half of the back page for instance. It’s nice to see some interesting things on there though. I ordered the Mediterranean frittata ($11). It is described as a frittata with leeks, roasted tomatoes and spinach topped with feta, sundried tomatoes and basil. So I sort of pictured a frittata that had the first three ingredients mixed in and the other stuff baked on top. This was more of a (huge) piece of frittata with everything baked inside. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t really get much of the cheese flavor. The whole thing was decently moist, but just a little on the bland side. They should throw some olives in there. It’s huge though. I also ordered a side of bacon, which was crispy and delicious.

Oh, and if you like a mimosa or bloody Mary with your brunch, they were $5. And you can get your mimosa made with a range of various juices. I had a mango one and it was very nice.

My daughter had “The Classic Fool” breakfast plus one egg (she got it sunny side up, but you can get it however you want). This is a bowl of slow-cooked fava beans mixed with olive oil, tomatoes, onions, parsley and fresh lemon and then topped with the egg. The egg was cooked nicely and she enjoyed the dish. It was nice that it had a touch of acid to it.

All in all, while the dishes didn’t blow me away, this is a nice spot to sit outside and have brunch. The menu is quite large, and I look forward to trying something else next time.

Canal Bistro

6349 Guilford Ave

Indy 46220

317/254-8700

www.canal-bistro.com