SoBro Café

I met a friend for lunch the other day at SoBro Café. It’s the beginning of the year, and like so many, I may have overindulged a bit over the holidays, so I am looking for places where I can still eat out and be somewhat healthy. SoBro Café sort of seems like one of those kinds of places. Because you know I am not giving up going out to eat.

I ordered the mushroom skillet ($10.49), which was fried potatoes on the bottom and was topped with sautéed mushrooms and onions, two eggs, goat cheese crumbles, and diced tomatoes. Before you say, “hey, fried potatoes aren’t very healthy,” I will say I only ate like two of them, just to try them. I really liked the flavor of the dish—they used some truffle oil on the mushrooms, which some people get all worked up about, but I don’t mind its use in moderation. I love truffles, and the essence of it was a nice add. The mushrooms were cooked well, and there were lots of tender onions too. For some reason, I spaced telling them how I wanted my eggs cooked (and they didn’t ask), so they were a bit overcooked, but honestly, I will eat an egg just about any way, so I was fine. But next time I would ask for them over easy. I loved the kick from the goat cheese and the acid of the tomatoes. It was a nice combo. And wasn’t too bad health-wise, since I didn’t eat the potatoes. On that subject, I wished they had been a little crispier, but if they were, it probably would have been more of a temptation, so that was ok. 

My friend ordered the “shrimp po bro,” which was their take on a po boy. Shrimp was not fried, which added to the healthy aspect, and it was served on a hoagie roll with kale slaw, and a tangy remoulade sauce. They say it had an Asian twist, and I will agree. I thought it was good, but the bread was a bit big for the sandwich. I liked the acidity of the sauce on the sandwich though, and the shrimp were cooked properly.

All in all, I would say that I was able to meet my needs to go out to lunch and eat fairly healthy. I like that you can order off the brunch or lunch menu, and I like how warm it was in there on a very cold day. I was sad not to order the biscuits and gravy, which I love, but again, trying to stay healthy, right?

What are your favorite go-tos when you want to try and stay a bit on the healthy side for lunch but you still want to go out?

SoBro Café 

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/920-8121

www.sobrocafe.com 

SoBro Café - Revisit

Wow, it’s been ages since I have been to SoBro Café. It was my Dad’s birthday and he wanted to go somewhere new (for him) and in Broad Ripple so I figured I would take them to SoBro.

We started with an order of hummus and pita ($7.99). I like hummus a lot and had never had it there—it was a spicy version—it tasted like it had a bit of extra paprika and tahini in it. It was a little dryer than some hummus can be though—there is just a lot of variation in consistency in hummus, so it sort of depends on how you like it. There was some toasted pita as well. I enjoyed it and the slight kick it had.

We ordered the hummus because I convinced my Dad that the mushroom pannekoeken ($6.99) was too small to be an entire lunch (from past experience and it even says so on the menu). I think they are making them bigger these days though, because I think it is just fine for a light lunch now. I had a bite and it is a tasty little pancake filled with Swiss cheese, corn, and sautéed mushrooms and topped with tomatoes, avocado dices, and sprouts. I like this dish, because it has some richness from the cheese and mushrooms but feels somewhat healthy at the same time. Plus, there’s avocado, so you know I’m going to like that.

I had the sunrise wrap ($12.49 with avocado added). I like a good egg wrap and they do a good job with this. It is stuffed with scrambled eggs, Smoking Goose ham, cheddar, tomatoes, spinach, avocado, and garlic aioli (I held the peppers, although there still seemed to be a couple in there). It was nice and gooey, which is how a wrap like this should be. The eggs were cooked well and were plentiful. I also liked that the wrap itself was a bit crisp on the edges—like it had been lightly grilled. It also wasn’t overly thick and doughy—something I don’t love in a wrap.

My mom had the chicken salad sandwich ($9.99). Their chicken salad has cranberries, pecans and gorgonzola cheese in it. So if you have been following me, you know I hate nuts and fruit in my chicken salad, but I love blue cheese in nearly anything. I tried just a small bite and it was not bad considering. My mom seemed to enjoy it.

It was a rare nice day so we sat outside. I appreciate the outside seating but there is a ton of traffic noise out there because you are really close to the road (most used set of BlueIndy cars I have seen to date). And the chairs are strangely uncomfortable. Service outside gets a little iffy too just because the servers are running in and out—if you’re in a hurry I would recommend staying inside. But it’s a nice local place with a pretty wide-ranging menu including vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options if any of those are your things. You can also feel like you are eating lots of healthy ingredients, and let’s face it, we should all do more of that.

SoBro Café

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/920-8121

www.sobrocafe.com 

SoBro Café - Revisit

Recently on a Sunday, we were leaving the Fairgrounds with the kids (Lego Brickworld) and we were all starving. We intended to go to Taste, but they were too busy so we ducked around the corner to SoBro Café and snatched up the last table. I hadn’t been in quite awhile, but was anxious to try the biscuits and gravy ($7.99) again, as it is one of my favorites in town (I even wrote about it recently in the newest edition of Edible Indy.) Hubby and I decided to share this as well as the “Good Morning” wrap ($8.99).

As before, I still love those biscuits and gravy. One of the things that makes them so good is that the biscuits underneath are so dang delicious. They are fluffy, but dense enough to stand up to the gravy.  The gravy tastes heavily of the breakfast sausage being used. The thing I like about it is that it isn’t overly gloppy the way gravy sometimes is. It has a lighter, slightly thinner consistency. My son tried it for the first time and his eyes lit up. Pretty sure I know what he’ll be getting next time we go.

I was glad we split it with something else though, because even though the gravy is not as heavy as some, it is still too much for me to eat an entire plate. The “Good Morning” wrap was a good match. It was scrambled eggs with sautéed mushrooms and cheddar, as well as spinach (I had them hold the red peppers) and garlic aioli. This was certainly not as heavy as the B&G. I really liked the addition of the garlic aioli, which added to the moisture level and upped the taste level as well, giving it more than just the tastes of the individual ingredients. I am a firm believer in some sort of sauce or spread to tie sandwiches and wraps together.

The kids had a bison burger ($10.49) and the French toast ($6.99). Both were quite happy. I would be interested to try the bison burger with everything they normally serve it with, as my daughter just wanted it with cheese. It was a good-sized burger though and the meat was lightly seasoned and very moist—and you have to be careful with bison not to cook it too long and totally dry it out.

I was happy that our service didn’t waiver throughout the meal, even though the restaurant was very full. Sometimes you worry in a place with such a small kitchen when it is so crowded (and there were a couple of large parties). Our food came in a timely fashion and our server was very friendly.  And for those of you looking for brunch spots where you can also have a drink, I had a lovely mimosa with my meal as well. 

I am looking forward to getting those biscuits and gravy again soon.

SoBro Café

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/920-8121

www.sobrocafe.com 

SoBro Café- Revisit

I thought I would write a little mini-update about SoBro Café because I went back today for lunch with a friend and got to finally try the Pannekoeken-which were what I wanted the first times I went, but they were out of them or weren’t serving them.  I got the “farm fresh” version which contained egg, bacon and cheese ($5.75).  I asked how the eggs are done and normally they do them scrambled but I asked if they could do them with runny yolks.  And they did. And it was delicious.  It is basically a crepe, with a nice crispy edge wrapped around the egg, nice small pieces of bacon and I think a couple of types of cheese. Simple and perfectly well-cooked.  I liked the little garnish of bacon slivers on top as well.  My one complaint is that they served it with a little garnish of lettuce and I would have liked it if it were slightly more than a garnish and had some dressing on it.  Also, the portion is fairly small, even for me, so I would recommend ordering a soup or some other side if you have a larger appetite.

My friend, who has been gluten free for many years, was jealous of mine, although we chose the place because they serve all their sandwiches on gluten free bread as an option and he seemed to enjoy his as well. 

So I wanted to update you all because I really enjoyed the Pannekoeken—even if I wished I had just a little more to eat. Also, my friend, who has just been discovering how many gluten free restaurant options are out there, will appreciate any more recommendations you all might have in this area.

SoBro Café

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/920-8121

www.sobrocafe.com

SoBro Café

This is a review in which I am actually including two visits—my first was for brunch with the family and the second for lunch with a friend.  We ended up there for brunch with the kids recently when we wanted to hit Taste with the kids, but when we got there, the line was out the door and none of us had the patience for it.  At SoBro, we sat right down and were greeted by a friendly server.  It was between 11:00 am and noon on a Sunday, and the only menu option at that time was the brunch menu, which was limited to 6 or 7 items, but luckily there was something that appealed to everyone. 

I had the fried egg sandwich ($9.50 with bacon), hubby had the biscuits and gravy ($6.95) (they also have a vegetarian version), my son some scrambled eggs and toast and bacon ($5.95), and my daughter the “French kiss” toast ($7.25).  I didn’t notice a children’s menu at all, so they were just ordering off the regular menu (although there were a few kids in there besides mine).

My fried egg sandwich was tasty, although simple.  I didn’t ask for the egg to be any certain way, I sort of thought I would see how they do it, and they fried it fairly hard (boo) but the flavors of the bacon, the avocado, tomato, lettuce, and cheese were all good.  I would recommend sourdough bread (which is what I got) because the wheat that my son got alongside his eggs was a little hard.  There was also a generous portion of home fries with the sandwich--they were fine, the ones that were the crispiest I liked, but I have to admit, I am not generally a home fries kind of girl anyway.  It is hard to find any that have ever really gotten me excited.

The best item by far on the table though, was hubby’s biscuits and gravy (I hate it when he out orders me).  There were two biscuits cut in half and covered with the chunky, sausage filled gravy.  The sausage was nice and peppery and I loved the thinner gravy.  Usually I am not a big fan of biscuits and gravy (and really a lot of gravy in general), because of the over-thickened, fakey, taste that so many of them have.  This gravy was great. Thinner, like I said, and exceptionally well seasoned.  It had a fair amount of peppery spiciness.  I also really liked the fact that the biscuits stood on their own and remained crispy under the gravy.  Honestly, I clearly preferred hubby’s breakfast to mine (even though mine was fine too).  Luckily, there was plenty for us to share.  Hubby, who is a big biscuits and gravy fan, declared this may be his favorite in town.

The French toast was very popular with the kids, and I am pretty sure they would both get this on a return visit. It is supposed to come with cream cheese and strawberries on top, but my daughter asked for them on the side.  She did end up spreading the cream cheese on several pieces and enjoyed it together.  I think she might even let them make it the way it is listed on the menu next time.  I had a little bite.  It was basic French toast to me—nothing that made it stand out from what you might make at home, other than I have never topped mine with cream cheese.  The eggs and bacon were also straightforward—my son ordered them scrambled.  Your basic scrambled eggs with some pretty tasty bacon alongside (although now every time I see bacon on a menu, I am hoping for Smoking Goose, I love that stuff.)

So the next visit I met a friend for lunch, and was disappointed to be told as soon as I sat down that they were out of their specialty Dutch Pennekoeken, which are listed as “pancakes” but which I am told are a lot like crepes actually.  They have several savory options, and I love a good savory crepe.  Sadly, I didn’t get to try one this time. So we split an appetizer of corn fritters ($4.50) which were like little pancakes themselves, but with chunks of corn in them and made with at least some cornmeal I would guess.  I liked the chunky bits of corn and the sweet flavor, but they were maybe just a tad dry.  They were served with a spicy black bean dip as well as a flavored sour cream which I really enjoyed.  The sour cream had an extra tangy flavor (lime perhaps) and it added good moisture to the corn cakes.  They also brought us a side of their sweet potato fries (which are baked actually) on the house ($3.50 or $2.25 with a sandwich) because they felt bad for the fact that they had run out of pancakes.  I think these are one of the things that are not housemade, and to be honest, they didn’t really wow me.  They did have a nice crunch for being baked, and I appreciated that. I also liked the thick homemade ketchup alongside.  I did appreciate the gesture though—they certainly wanted to make us happy.

After re-evaluating my options, I settled on the Tunisian Melt just because it sounded intriguing (and our server said it was one of her favorites) ($8.25).  It was an open faced sandwich (Texas toast) topped with tuna salad with potato chunks, sprouts, a little spinach, boiled egg, a lemon caper dill sauce, harissa (a type of chili sauce), and topped with melted cheddar cheese.  Sounds kinda strange huh? But it sort of made me think of a Niçoise salad kind of flavor which sounded really good to me. And I really quite enjoyed it. The tuna part itself was not like your traditional tuna salad kind of thing (which I NEVER order by the way)—it wasn’t mayo based the way so many are.  I really liked the salty, tangy lemon caper sauce and the texture variation of the eggs and the potatoes.  It was slightly warm with the melted cheese.  I appreciated the fact that it was something very different from most sandwiches you see around and I thought the flavors pretty much worked.  There was a lot going on, but I enjoyed it. I would get it again I think, although hopefully at some point I can get one of those pancakes (anyone had one?)

One of the nicest things about SoBro café is how friendly the staff is—our server was super friendly and apologetic about the pancake situation and knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the food.  Another person (manager/owner?) came by several times as well to refill our drinks and check on us.  I also liked the cute little statues that hold the checks at the end.  The food is nearly all homemade, and there is creativity being demonstrated, which I like in a lunch place.  So often sandwich menus look identical, and there are some deviations here (although there are plenty of standards as well). I would love to hear what you guys think of the place if you’ve been.

SoBro Café

653 East 52^nd Street

Indy 46205

317/920-8121

www.sobrocafe.com