We were on our way up to Chicago but weren’t going to make it in time for lunch so we decided to stop in Lafayette. We decided it was time to try something other than Triple XXX (even though it is delicious) so I hit up twitter for some advice. Apparently next time we need to try South Street Smokehouse, but this time we took we tried Heirloom (thanks @thatdickscott and @demhos). We knew we were in for a decadent weekend of eating and this looked slightly lighter than some of the other choices.
It’s a cute restaurant right on the square in old downtown Lafayette. The interior is full of wood and is quite charming. It’s very large and on this particular day, not very crowded. We were given a nice table in the window. It’s not a particularly big menu for lunch but it’s quite appealing. There are a couple apps, a couple salads and several sandwiches.
I had the “chickawich” ($10) with a side of a soup of the day, which was a corn chowder. I thought my sandwich was delicious. It was a fried chicken breast on a brioche bun topped with provolone cheese, pink aioli and house made pickles. The chicken was super tender and the breading was super crisp and crunchy. It had a great texture. While provolone doesn’t inherently add a ton of flavor on its own, I liked the gooey factor that the cheese added. And the chicken was crisp enough it help up to this as well as the pink aioli. I really liked the pink aioli—so much so that I asked for a little extra on the side to dip hubby’s fries into (and we both added a little extra to our sandwiches as well). The housemade pickles were really good on it too. Added that little bit of acid that you know I love. And they were thick cut and tasty. I could have eaten several more of them for sure.
My soup didn’t fare as well—there was lots of corn in there but the soup was very thin and surprisingly bland. I had a couple of bites and gave up. Hubby’s Cuban was just ok. The bread was good and the choice you want to see on a Cuban, but the dominating flavor of the sandwich was the pulled pork—it really tasted more like it was meant to be a pulled pork sandwich, which isn’t inherently bad, but a let down when you’re looking for that mustardy pickle-y kick. It was supposed to have soppressata on it, but we didn’t really get much of that. There was also some provolone cheese on there, but not enough to make a real impact as far as texture or flavor. Here’s the thing about this sandwich—I think they should just embrace it as a pulled pork sandwich, rather than trying to make it an alternative Cuban sandwich that makes you miss what makes Cuban sandwich a Cuban sandwich. Or change it up a bit.
We both enjoyed the thin crispy fries though that came with hubby’s sandwich. They seemed housemade and were heavily seasoned. They were particularly tasty dipped in the pink aioli.
All in all, I enjoyed this place. I would happily eat my sandwich, with a side of those fries, again. I would be intrigued to try their pork tenderloin as well. Hubby may be slightly less enthusiastic, but it’s a nice alternative to Triple XXX for something a little different. Hey people, what else do you like in Lafayette?
Heirloom
102 North Third Street
Lafayette, IN 47901
765/807-0422
