Northside Kitchenette - Breakfast

Hubby and I recently hit up Northside Kitchenette for breakfast—my last lunch had been a bit lackluster, but the breakfast menu had looked good. We were torn on what to order and agreed to split the eggs Benedict ($10) and the breakfast burrito ($10). We also enjoyed some mimosas, because, well, why not?

Both were good, but the eggs Benedict was our favorite. I liked the variation of using regular sliced (and perfectly crisp) bacon on the English muffin instead of Canadian bacon, which isn’t my favorite. The eggs were poached exactly right with firm enough whites, but a delicious runny golden yolk. And I liked the “slightly spicy” garlic Hollandaise. I wouldn’t really call it spicy per se, but it did have a little more flavor than the typical Hollandaise. All the breakfast dishes were served with very crispy seasoned diced potatoes that were good—I liked that they were really crisp, more like they were deep-fried than pan-fried.

Hubby had the southwest breakfast burrito, which was stuffed with eggs, chorizo, green chili salsa, jack cheese, breakfast potatoes, and pico de gallo. The chorizo had a nice amount of spice to it and added a good flavor. The burrito was kind of “filled out” with more of the potatoes inside, which I picked out because I didn’t feel like I needed even more potatoes. Hubby wished they filled it out with black beans or something instead—it would have added more to the flavor and added a little more moisture, which the whole thing could have used as well.

The service was friendly and efficient—much better than the last time I came. In the cold weather, the restaurant seats about half as many people (without all the outside seating), so I guess it is probably a little easier to manage. 

In my last post about Northside Kitchenette, I was wondering if breakfast would be strength for them and it turns out, I think it is. I could easily add this place to my rotation of regular breakfast spots. I heard from many of you that the biscuits and gravy are good as well, so we have a goal for the next visit.

Northside Kitchenette

6515 N. College Ave.

Indy  46220

317/253-1022

www.northsidekitchenette.com 

Northside Kitchenette - Revisit

I hadn’t been to Northside Kitchenette in awhile, so when my two favorite Pilates instructors wanted to meet there for lunch, it sounded like a good idea. I had been in a phase of craving some greens, so I liked that they have a half sandwich/half salad combo. I also like that they make their dressings in house, which makes a side salad even more appealing to me.

I had the crusty grilled cheese with bacon added and side salad combo ($11). We also shared a side of fries ($4.50) On a side note, I had a bottle of Pellegrino as well that ended up costing $6, which seemed a little excessive (half the price of my lunch), but I digress.

The food here is good. I can’t say in the 4-5 times I have ever been really wowed by anything though, although I do like their salad dressings. My sandwich was three kinds of cheese (cheddar, Swiss and American on Asiago cheese bread.  The bread itself had a strong flavor of toasted cheese and then the cheese inside was nice and melty. The added bacon gave a little more texture and salt, and I would recommend it. A tomato slice might not hurt either, but then you’re really just kind of creating your own sandwich I guess.

I liked the salad-it was a fairly simple salad—just mixed baby greens with some diced cucumber and diced tomato—but the greens were tender and I appreciate that they were nice mixed baby lettuces and not just standard romaine or iceberg. As I mentioned, I had the buttermilk herb ranch dressing on the side and it was very good with the greens and to dip the sandwich into. Normally I am a blue cheese dressing kind of girl, but it had horseradish in it and I wasn’t sure exactly how I felt about that.

I remembered liking the fries more than I did this time. They were crisp, but they were heavily seasoned with what tasted basically like seasoning salt, which isn’t my favorite flavor, particularly in large doses.

The food was good and the place was pretty busy, which unfortunately I think led to fairly slow service. Our server was right there when I first sat down (as the first to arrive) but then when we were all there, it took a long time to place our order, get our food and to get our check. The whole lunch probably took 30 minutes longer than it should have. But overall, it’s a decent Broad Ripple lunch option—and one I tend to forget about. What about you guys? Have you been recently? What are your favorite items—apparently they have recently changed the menu a bit—curious to know if there are some items that really stand out, because while I have never had a bad meal, I really haven’t found a knockout item yet.

Northside Kitchenette

6515 N. College Ave.

Indy  46220

317/253-1022

www.northsidekitchenette.com  

Northside Kitchenette

Let me start by apologizing for the lack of pictures on this post. I do have them, unfortunately, I had already loaded them onto my computer shortly before I had some major problems and had to leave it in for repairs.  So, I won't tell you how hard it has been for me living without a computer for over a week now (hard), but I will make you a deal--when I get it back, I will post the pictures then.  Unorthodox I know, but I hate for them to go to waste.  So if you want to see a few pics, check back in a week or so. *****Ok, obviously I have gone back and added the pictures....enjoy!******

Ok, as for the review, I have been mulling this place over in my head for the last week or so (I actually went twice because I am so torn about it).  Here's the thing.  There are many things I like about it--the ingredients are really fresh and high quality...the interior is modern and clean and the service staff is pretty spot on.  And even the menu is really appealing (and quite large).  But here's the deal, the food just didn't wow me, you know?  There was nothing that was downright bad, and a few things that were interesting and good, but overall, I can't get myself really excited about it.

So the first time, I went with hubby and had a cup of the potato soup ($4) and the AK's grilled cheese which sounded up my alley (and both of which had been recommended by a reader).  So the soup wasn't bad, and I liked that it had nice chunks of potato in it, and wasn't just a puree, but I immediately reached for the salt shaker, which is not something I usually do.  I did like the little cheesy slice of toasty bread they served alongisde it--particularly crumbled up into the soup.  Gave it that little extra texture and salt that helped it out.

So the "AK's grilled cheese" ($9) was actually melted brie and mozzerella and baby spinach with what are described as balsamic marinated portabella mushrooms--all on whole grain bread.  So here's what was missing for me: the flavor of balsamic.  All those other ingredients were there--and I enjoy them all.  But when you have two very rich, thick creamy cheeses and then some veggies...without the flavor of the balsamic coming through, it kind of gets lost... you know what I mean?  I did like the heartiness of the bread to break up the smooth texture of the cheese and mushrooms...but it wasn't enough to make me want to order it again.


AK's Grilled Cheese

 Hubby had the "munchie supreme" ($10) which was pastrami, swiss, dijon remoulade with a "fist full" of fries on rye bread. Again, all the ingredients were good.  The pastrami was moist and flavorful, and there wasn't so much of it that you couldn't fit it in your mouth.  Again, though, I didn't get a lot of the sauce---the Dijon remoulade, which is what I was hoping would take it up a bit.  The fries on the sandwich sounded like an interesting twist, but didn't really add that much for me (and hubby agreed).  The fries themselves were pretty good (we had a side of them as well for $3).  Handcut, darker fried fries with a decent amount of seasoning. I was bummed that they just served them with ketchup.  These fries deserved more.  Give me a little aioli or hell, some of that Dijon remoulade.  When you have some high quality fries, you need something a little above and beyond ketchup (in my opinion).

They also served housemade potato chips as a side with the sandwiches.  The chips were thick and hearty, cooked a little darker than your average chip. More like kettle chips. The thickness made them just a teeny bit chewy.  Nicely done though.  Hubby thought they were better than the fries, but I was torn a bit on that question. 

Munchie Supreme and Fries

 You know what I really liked though? The pickle spears they served alongside the sandwiches.  These were delicious.  A little more vinegary than most pickles, and with some fresh dill right on them.  I was quite grateful for this little piece of tangy vinegar flavor to balance out what was otherwise a very savory, slightly monotone, meal.

So for my second meal, I went with a cup of the mushroom soup and a half a chicken salad sandwich.  The mushroom soup was described as mushroom Brandy soup, and was aptly described.  And despite the fact that our server highly recommended the potato soup (which the BFF ordered and promptly salted and peppered), I think the mushroom soup is better.  It is still quite rich, and again, I like that they don't do pure purees, and that their soups contain some nice chunks of, in this case, mushrooms.  The soup had a nice flavor from the Brandy without being overly sweet.  Again, I crumbled up the slice of bread toasted with cheese on it and liked the extra bit of texture variation.

I also had a half of the chicken salad sandwich because it sounded interesting.  It was described as chicken with celery, pancetta and mayo and a touch of Dijon.  I was intrigued by the addition of the pancetta---I had a sandwich at Nordstrom the other day with crispy prosciutto on it and really enjoyed the crunchiness of it.  However, I didn't even get a pancetta flavor (which is more bacon-ish) from this sandwich.  Honestly, I didn't get a lot of any flavor other than the greens and the bread.  There wasn't a lot of the chicken salad and it wasn't overly flavorful.

The BFF got the chopped salad ($7) (which I would have done if she had not, but since she was, I knew she would share, so I went a different direction).  It was chopped romaine, sopressata, pepperoni, artichoke hearts, red onions, hard boiled egg, blue cheese and the house vinaigrette.  So her thoughts were, wow, there was way too much meat.  My thoughts were, wow, there was way too little dressing.  So somewhere in the middle, was a decent salad, that either needed more dressing to balance out the heaviness of the strongly flavored cured meats, or less of the meats.  Or maybe a little combination of both.

So again,  the ingredients in the food were good. I loved the pickles and the soups were interesting and obviously being made in house.  The sandwiches were clearly homemade too, but just lacking a little in the pizzazz that for me, makes a sandwich great. But there are a lot of things on this menu, and the second time I was there, there was not an empty seat in the house.  So let's hear from you guys--obviously some of you all are eating there--what is your favorite thing and why?

Northside Kitchenette
6515 North College Avenue
Indy 46220
317/253-1022
http://northsidekitchenette.com/