Today’s restaurant for the Breakfast Menu is 3 Sisters in Indianapolis Indiana.
The wife and I were on a little getaway to Indianapolis. We were on our way to Terra Haute to see my cousin graduate with her Doctorate and we were in need of vittles. A quick search of eateries in the area returned info on 3 sisters. It is an eatery that has been featured on Food Network’s “Diners Drive-ins and Dives” and is regularly a contender for one of the best breakfasts in the city according to their urban newspaper Nuvo, and UrbanSpoon. I read a few online reviews of the place and decided it looked like the place for us. This is a TBM first road trip review, and I couldn’t have chosen a better establishment.
Restaurant:
3 Sisters is a cozy little restaurant in what used to be a house. It has outside seating on plastic furniture on the porch. It seemed quaint despite the bustling pre-lunch crowd that greeted us as we arrived.
There were a variety of people there from older women and families to young couples. This is typical to the crowd we see at many of the other places we attend. I overheard one of the regulars complaining about the crowd, saying that it was the result of the place being featured on Diner’s Drive Ins and Dives. He was sure that the crowd would eventually die out and made it sound as though the bustling business was an intrusion. This sentiment sounded very Cincinnati to me, so despite being 180 miles from home I didn’t really feel alien, I guess entitlement can live anywhere.
The service was a little slow, which I attributed to the crowd. There were many tables empty outside, including the one we were eventually seated at, but for some reason they weren’t cleared or set up until right before we were seated there. There didn’t seem to be too many staff members available to streamline things like that. I didn’t mind it so much, and even expected it thanks to the fact that it was mentioned in one of the Urban Spoon reviews that I should expect a wait.
The menu was pretty eclectic. They offer multiple vegetarian options as well as many egg dishes and breakfast fare. They also offer sandwiches and wraps. They have Corncakes instead of pancakes, and also offer baked goods.
The Food:
I ordered a 3 egg dish called the Florentine, with a half order of the thick sliced Vanilla Cream French Toast. My wife ordered the Lemon Corncakes with Fresh Seasonal Berries and a side order of the Calico Hash Browns.
The verdict:
The food was good. I loved the Florentine, which was flavored very well with basil and other seasonings. The Spinach was sauteed instead of added fresh and uncooked. I prefer this because it helps bring out the flavor. It was my favorite part of the meal. If that was the high then the French toast was the low for me. It was kind of mediocre, was a little upsetting. It was made with thick bread and the batter didn’t seem to be very tasty, in that I could barely taste the egg. It wasn’t as bad as some national chains, but it was definitely not as good as I expected. One thing that I did to make the French Toast better was add some of the Berry Sauce from the Lemon Corn cakes, which I will discuss in a moment. The Berry really opened up the flavor of the dish, and they should offer it as an option with the French Toast all the time. I really felt like the flavor of the French Toast was inconsistent, and I LOVE French toast so this hurt my feelings a little.
The Lemon corncakes were fantastic. They were corny but had a lemon zest to them. I loved the fruit inside. My wife thought that they were a little dry but said that she kind of expects that from Corncakes. She said she really liked the fresh berries. It came with a berry sauce that was very delicious. I know it had blueberries and blackberries and I couldn’t get enough of it on the corncakes and my French toast.
The Calico hash browns were also very good. I have never had yellow potatoes in hash browns before. I have also not had hash browns shredded in the manner that these were. Rather than shredded into thin strips these were actually shredded kind of thick, which gave them a very different texture. I loved it, and my wife and I enjoyed them without adding ketchup like we usually do to hash browns.
Coffee Commentary
I decided to add a special section to all breakfast menu reviews that feature my wife’s assessment of the coffee. She is an avid coffee drinker, and while she isn’t a snob she can usually tell you the difference between the good stuff and swill. For 3 sisters she said the coffee wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great. She said that the flavor was decent but it was very weak. She said it reminded her of the coffee at other chain restaurants and that there was nothing special about it. She gave the coffee a 2 out of 5 Cups rating.
Overall Experience:
I give the whole experience 4 out of 5 broken eggs:
The food was great. I was upset by the French Toast but the other dishes were really good. The service started slow but it picked up as we got seated. I really loved the Florentine and the Corncakes. I would definitely come back again if I was in the area and in the need of a solid breakfast experience. It was nice sitting there and the wait wasn’t too long. The staff was friendly and I could see myself returning to that place to try the different egg dishes.
For more information on the location:
3 Sisters Cafe
6360 Guilford Ave,
Indianapolis, IN 46220
Phone: 317-257-5556
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11am-8pm
Website: www.3sisterscafein.com
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