Road Trip--The Story Inn

The Story Inn has been on my list for quite awhile but we just never managed to get down there—it is in a somewhat secluded little town (um, called Story) near Nashville, Indiana.  It just so happened this summer my daughter went to camp nearby so hubby and I decided to go spend the night and have dinner the night before we were due to pick her up.

The restaurant/inn is a really charming little place with creaky floors and supposedly a resident ghost. We rented one of the rooms in an adjoining building.  It was very rustic—if you want a country type getaway for a night, this might be your cup of tea.  Honestly, it was a little close to camping for me, and I if you knew me, you would know I am not much of a camper.

The restaurant has a fairly limited menu, which looks like it changes seasonably—honestly, this was one of the days that it was about 103 degrees outside so I was having a hard time committing to a really big meal.  I just have a hard time eating a ton when it is that hot.  I started with the “blue lady” salad (named after the aforementioned ghost).  It was a salad of mixed greens, blue cheese, grapes and walnuts with a blueberry vinaigrette ($7.50).  I am generally not a fan of really sweet salad dressings and was a little wary of this one, but it was really good. Possibly because blueberries aren’t so inherently sweet as other types of berries—it also seemed to have a nice balance of acid in it.  The nuts and blue cheese are always one of my favorite things--and when I make my own cheese plates, I almost always add grapes as well—so really this was a nice assortment of things I really like together with a nice dressing. I would get it again.

For my main, I decided to go with an appetizer—the BBQ pork sliders.  For $8.00, this was a really good deal and the homemade bbq pork was really tasty—it was super tender and juicy—it had sauce mixed all the way through that had a nice tangy kick to it.  My only complaint was it was just a little too salty—and it could have used something alongside (slaw or something) to balance the flavors more and give it a little texture.  It was just a little too one dimensional, just the meat and the bun (which were nice and soft but weren’t anything that you couldn’t get at the grocery).  It was certainly a generous portion, and more than enough for people to share as an appetizer.

I also shared a fair amount of hubby’s eggplant parmesan ($21) and it was really tasty.  The eggplant was super crunchy breaded, but what I really liked that not only was it still crunchy even with the marinara, but you could also really taste (and see) the eggplant in the crust.  It seems like eggplant is often lost in a sea of sauce and cheese in this dish, but this one was one of the better versions I have had.  The sauce was chunky and clearly homemade and had the right sweet and slightly acidic flavor.  There was a decent amount of melted cheese as well, but not so much that it felt like you were just eating a big gooey plate of cheese.

We shared a dessert—a dark chocolate pot de crème ($5.50).  It was fine but nothing really amazing. I was looking for a darker chocolate flavor than this—I really like the bitterness of really good dark chocolate and this was mostly just sweet.

I liked the atmosphere of the place visually.  The thing that kind of freaked me out is that it was strangely quiet.  There were a fair amount of people, but no one was really talking besides for us. There was also no background music, which it really seemed to need.  There was also only one server for the whole place, and while she was nice, there was no way she could be everywhere she needed to be in a timely fashion.  I imagine it is hard to staff a place like this out in the middle of nowhere, unless they have reservations.  But they were certainly a little understaffed.  It is a cute place, but I sort of felt like it was a bit of an off night.  I am not sure what high season for a place like this is (Fall maybe?) but they didn’t seem quite ready for the small crowd they had.  The food was good though, and I might be intrigued enough to go again.

Who’s been and what did you think?

The Story Inn

6404 State Road 135 South

Nashville, IN 47448

812/988-2273

http://www.storyinn.com