Tulip Noir Brunch

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