The Broad Running Broad

You all remember that restaurant review I mentioned in my last post?

There was no way I was going to forget about Juniper on Main. Frankly, I couldn’t forget about it if I tried. I think I might have been more excited to have lunch with Makenzie than I was about running last weekend.

Prior to my trip out I was researching restaurants to try, with my rule to myself being 1.) something unique to Carmel and 2.) something I can’t recreate at home or get in my neck of the woods. Of the options that sounded good, the one that I kept going back to was Juniper on Main.

Juniper (for brevity’s sake this is what I’m calling it going forward) is fairly young, having been established in 2018. Settled on the corner of Main Street and 1st Ave SE in the Carmel Arts & Design District, Juniper offers a generous menu of Southern Coastal fare in a relaxing environment. If you decide to eat inside, after crossing through the teal front door, you’ll be greeted by white, yellow and teal in a bright, airy space.

However, it was a beautiful day, so Makenzie and I had our lunch on the patio. This turned out to be a good choice.

Going back to the generous menu I mentioned a little bit ago, this was the first time in a long time I looked at a menu and couldn’t figure out immediately what I wanted. Everything looked wonderful, even dishes I don’t like. Did I want to try the Tybee Plantain Tacos? How about the Low Country Boil? I was leaning towards the Bay Street Pasta before the race, but afterwards wasn’t in much of a pasta mood. Ultimately I decided to go with the Moon River Burger, which entails Fischer Farm beef, pimiento cheese, fontina, bacon jam and pickled red onion on a brioche bun (I asked to hold the romaine.) The burger comes with fries, but I wanted sweet plantains instead and swapped the two.

Makenzie ordered the Charleston Style Shrimp and Grits, which consisted of smoked sausage, jumbo shrimp, caramelized sweet onion and peppers, Marsh Hen Mill heirloom cheese grits, cream sherry sauce and a fried egg.

As a side note, our portions were generous. I decided to eat my burger with utensils to avoid any messes, and each bite was just as delicious as the one before it. Everything was in a word perfect, and it turned out the sweet plantains were a better compliment to the cheese and bacon jam. Makenzie enjoyed her shrimp and grits as well.

Since I was there, I decided to order some dessert. It was a toss up between the Key Lime Stacker Cake and the Hummingbird Cake, and ultimately, Hummingbird won. Hummingbird cake is a tropical version of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and consists of crushed pineapple, pecans, coconut and banana. Juniper serves their cake with a grilled pineapple relish. I’ve never had hummingbird cake before and was wondering if one of the flavors would be stronger than the others. It turns out the flavors in the cake are all married together so one doesn’t overpower the other. I tasted a bit of coconut in the frosting, which was a delightful surprise since I love coconut.

Juniper on Main was everything I had hoped for in a restaurant, from the food to the service to the atmosphere. I already told Mom once the weather warms up we’re taking a girls trip to Carmel – yes, I am not above driving three hours if the food is good – and getting lunch there. Should any of you find yourselves in Indianapolis, venture north to Carmel and grab a bite at Juniper on Main. It’s more than worth it.

I hope you all enjoyed this review. I need to get back to doing them more often. And I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead.

Yours in writing and life,

Allison