Brunch is back!

        Sundaylicious brunch was back in action today.  Even though I had a wonderful time in Philadelphia visiting my family, I really missed my brunch time together with Laura.  We truly look forward to our Sundaylicious brunches all week!!  One week off felt like a lifetime so we were anxious to pick a great spot for this Sunday.  The weather was calling for snow this weekend so we had planned to stay very local.  No snow actually fell, thank goodness, but man it sure is COLD outside!!  A little cold weather will not stop us however, and we braved the chilly air and went to The Independent which is in Union Sq. in Somerville, www.theindo.com.   This is a place that we go to all the time for dinner or for drinks, or dinner and drinks :)  The Independent is a very special place to us.  It is super comfy to chill in, and it is our neighborhood hang.  It has two sections, a restaurant side and a pub side, both with very different atmospheres.  The pub side is our usual hang out.  It is dark and funky, with red walls and dark wood.  The restaurant side is lighter in shade coloring, but still has that rich wood and relaxing atmosphere to it.  It has a nice bar to sit at and comfy dark wood tables line the dinner floor.  When you come to the Independent at night the candlelight sets the mood on both sides. We love the way it sets the tone for a good night out with friends.  We come here almost weekly, yet we had never really checked them out for brunch...so today was the day.
        We arrived to a full room, and the only table available was a long table near the door with stools.  This was around 12pm, and we were pretty surprised that they were so crowded.  We are a pretty hassle free bunch group so we agreed to sit there..no wait=happy girls :)   We started off with the usual...mimosas and coffee!!!

The mimosas were very tasty.  A little on the small side, but they use more champagne then OJ, which gives them a delicious flavor. 

The coffee was very rich, and came with a nice set up of cream and sugar...how cute is that cream container!!!!
         The Indie (its cool nickname) has a nice brunch menu, and we definitely had trouble deciding what we felt like.  They have sweet dishes, savory foods, brunch picks, lunch picks, and even some stuff from their dinner menu as options.  To start off the brunch we picked the donut of the day (cinnamon sugar-yum!), and a yogurt and granola bowl.  The donuts were ok.  They were a bit on the heavy side, and were in much need of a dipping sauce (Nutella!! right Amanda?).

The yogurt bowl was good.  It had a nice selection of raspberries (a big plus in our books), strawberries, blueberries, and granola.  It was plain yogurt, not vanilla, but the granola and berries added a nice touch of sweetness to it.  It was a good size portion too, enough for us to share.

For the main course Laura and I both had the Breakfast sandwich.  This sandwich is made with eggs, cheese, and bacon on a croissant.  It appealed to us because it had a good mix of sweet and savory flavors, due to the fact that it is on a croissant and not a sourdough.  I was a bit trepidatious about this bread choice, but I went with it.  It was very tasty, but I was a little underwhelmed.  Croissants in my opinion should be left to jams and jellies.  Laura however really liked it with the croissant, so she gives the dish two thumbs up.  The croissant gave it a delicious buttery taste that appealed to her.  The bacon was the true star of this dish, adding a delightful saltiness to it (however the ratio of bacon given could have been bigger). Each sandwich only had one small piece...and we all know bacon makes everything better.

Our friend Amanda, our guest bruncher today, had the eggs florentine.  She liked the dish but felt that again, like the donuts, this dish lacked a much needed helping of sauce.  Amanda has now been dubbed "The Sauce Queen"...so look out restaurants when she comes to town you better get your sauces ready cause she ain't playing around!!

As you can see the potatoes were the huge star of both dishes.  They were crispy on the outside, but smooth and delicious on the inside (and nice and salty just the way we like 'em!!).
        The portions on the dishes were big and satisfying, but over all the meal was just ok.  Everything was yummy, but nothing blew us away.  The dish of the day was actually our mimosas...so that says a lot about the food I think.  Again, tasty but not amazing.  We give the Indie 6 out of 10 eggs for food, and 7 out of 10 eggs for atmosphere.  We definitely like this place much better for dinner, and we will certainly be back...just maybe not for brunch.
    We topped off our brunch by picking up my husband Tommy and doing a quick Target run.  Then we all went to another favorite hang out of ours...Bull McCabes.  I got another Mimosa, and Tommy and Laura got a Bloody Mary.

In just a couple of hours we managed to hit three of our favorite places to hang out in Union Sq!!!  Laura and I then watched a movie at my house.  Super8...Have you seen it? no?  DON'T!!!!  It was terrible!!! But somehow a bad movie when watched with a good friend is still a good time :)  Then we ordered pizza, made some tea and got ready for Downton Abby...Have you seen it? no?  WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR IT IS AMAZING!!!!  we are seriously obsessed with this show, and I won't write about what happened in efforts to not spoil it for anyone, but this week was a gut wrencher!!! After all was said and done, Laura and I spent 11 hours together today and let me tell you it doesn't get more SUNDAYLICIOUS then that!!!