I can’t believe we have lived (back) here 6 years now and this is
our first trip to Broad Ripple Brew Pub in that time. I have been in the past, years and years ago,
but I can’t even begin to tell you what I thought of it then it has been so
long. Someone recently told us the
Scotch eggs were good though, and we really enjoyed them at MacNiven’s, so we
wanted to try them.
We also had the kids with us and they are pretty kid
friendly as well, although our server didn’t bring us a kids’ menu until we
asked for one. Honestly, the service, or
lack thereof, was actually the first thing I noticed about the place. There was no one around anywhere, just a lot
of signs saying “enter through other door” and “seat yourself” and a pile of
menus on a center table. After we did
seat ourselves, it took awhile before anyone approached us too. I wouldn’t say service is a strength, that is
for sure.
We started with the Scotch eggs though ($6.75) and they were
good. It is a boiled egg covered in
sausage, breaded and quickly deep fried.
The sausage was a little different from the MacNiven’s version—it was
more like country sausage—not quite as spicy.
They also served them with a garlic ranch dipping sauce. The sausage part was nearly as thick as the
egg, and honestly I prefer my egg ratio to be a little higher, but the flavor
was good and the outside crust was good and crunchy. The ranch was very garlicky, and that was a
nice change of pace from your traditional ranch. If I had to choose which one I liked better,
I would probably choose MacNiven’s, but these were very good too.
Hubby and I were a little overwhelmed by the sheer size of
the menu—there are a lot of options on there—and ended up splitting a 12" specialty
pizza ($11.50). It was the portabella
pizza and had portabella mushrooms, provolone, mozzarella and feta cheese (we
had them skip the roasted red peppers).
The flavor of the pizza was very good—again, lots of garlic and the
different flavors of cheeses made it more interesting than a lot of pub pizzas. The mushrooms tasted like they were roasted
and had a deep earthy flavor. The feta
was a good addition because of the saltiness it added—especially once it is
cooked. The crust tasted good—it was
seasoned more than your standard pizza crust. The only problem was the classic
soggy in the middle problem. You really
had to eat it with a knife and fork because the middle was so gooey, if you
picked it up, the topping would have slid off.
It was kind of a shame, because if it had a solid crust, it would have
been a pretty darn good pie.
The chicken fingers that my son had were not impressive
(they rarely are). They seemed pretty foodservice to me. He mainly just finished up the Scotch eggs
instead. My daughter had a half order of
nachos off the appetizer menu and was perfectly content. All in all, for a pub, the food was pretty
good (at least the adult food was). The
service was pretty lacking although our server perked up a little when I asked
her opinion on some of her favorite things.
The menu is large though—really large.
I know a lot of you guys eat there, so let me know about your favorite
things.
Broad Ripple
Brewpub
842 East 65th
Street
Indy 46220
317/253-2739
