Thursday, July 25, 2013

10 01 - Brunch

One of the things I get asked a lot is for good recommendations for brunch.  It’s a hard question for me to answer because most of our options aren’t really places that have a special brunch, they are just places that serve good breakfast and lunches all the time (and most of which don’t take reservations, so they can be a pain to go to). I have found a few places, but not too many that I really like so I was excited when I was perusing the 10 01 menu lately and saw that they are now offering a Sunday brunch.

I have heard pretty good things since they have gotten their new chef, Dan Dunville. I still haven’t had an opportunity to try the other meals yet since he has been onboard, but saw several things (particularly some of the specials) that looked appealing for another visit.

I ordered the breakfast flatbread ($9). It was a very thin, crispy crust topped with sausage gravy, bacon, scrambled eggs, and a blend of 3 cheeses.  Overall it had a good flavor (needed a little salt).  The eggs were cooked well, not dried out the way scrambled eggs tend to be. The bacon was tasty as well and you just got a hint of the sausage flavor in the sauce.  My only complaint was while the eggs weren’t dry, overall the whole thing was just a little dry.  There wasn’t a lot of the gravy (although you wouldn’t want too much or you’d get a soggy crust) and it could have used a bit more cheese.  But I liked it. Between hubby and I, we ate it all up. I think he preferred it to what he ordered.

Hubby got the huevos rancheros ($9), which were flour tortillas topped with over easy eggs, black beans, salsa verde, sour cream, and cilantro. While they did a nice job with the salsa—it had a fresh, well-seasoned flavor, hubby wasn’t a fan of the whole black beans. I guess he is kind of traditional, but he prefers them refried in huevos rancheros.  I think they were just doing something a little different.  Nothing special about the tortillas. Overall, it was not bad. Mine was better.

My son ordered the open-faced sirloin and eggs ($14). He is a bit of a steak fanatic so we went with it.  They normally do the egg sunny side up, but he isn’t a fan of a runny yolk (I know, it’s pure craziness) so he got it fried hard.  He actually really liked it and devoured quite a bit of it and even asked for more bread to eat it with because he wanted it to be an actual sandwich with 2 pieces of bread. I was a little surprised that the sirloin was not in the form of a steak, but was more like sliced roast beef.  The menu just said “roasted sirloin.” The meat was very tender and tasted pretty good (although it wasn’t particularly rare) but it seems like they might want to word it in a different way. It was even more misleading when the server didn’t mention this when my son specifically asked for his steak medium rare. My Dad had the steak and cheese omelet ($11) and it had the exact same sliced meat in it. That description was even more off. 

My daughter had the yogurt and house made granola with fruit and liked it ok. The granola was good and had the right balance of nuts to other stuff and the right amount of sweetness that was balanced out well with the tangy yogurt. Not my ideal breakfast (never been a granola kind of girl) but if you are into that sort of thing, this one was pretty good.
Honestly, the biggest disappointment of the meal was the service.  Even though the restaurant was not very busy, our service was not very good.  And you could see the servers standing around chatting with each other. Our server was not particularly friendly either. There was actually another server (manager maybe) that came to check on us a couple of times who was much more on the ball.  Also hubby was annoyed by the “mimosas for 2” for $15 which turned out to be not as good a deal as just ordering them individually for $3.50.  The orange juice was fresh squeezed I think as opposed to my parents’ straight orange juice that had no pulp in it at all, but still it wasn’t a good deal.

10 01 is an option for brunch if you are looking for a true brunch menu and a place where you won’t have to fight a crowd. The food isn’t bad, but nothing about the experience wowed me. I do intend to go back at some point for dinner and see how it has changed since the last time I was there.  Anyone else been recently?

10 01 Food & Drink
1001 Broad Ripple Avenue
Indy  46220
317/253-1001


2 comments:

  1. We go to 10-01 quite regularly and enjoy it quite a bit. The menu has definitely improved under chef Dunville and it's worth a try. Food has ranged from good to excellent, though I think they're still fishing a bit for the right price points. Their appetizers are a real strength and many make for excellent entrees too.

    Service has been a very mixed bag. Much of the staff is incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, but there are a few who are much less engaged. And even with the better staff there are times when they just disappear. In general it feels like they're still figuring out whether they're a midrange or higher-end restaurant

    While there are definitely more polished restaurants in town, 10-01 has enormous upside. It still feels like they're growing and improving which is fun to watch. Probably a bit more inconsistent than many places, but on the good days it's a wonderful experience.

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  2. thanks for your thoughts. I am definitely going to have to try it for dinner one of these days. Heard the fried chicken is good! Wish the service could be polished up.

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