Here's the thing about Iron Hill. It's got great beer, and it's a good place to go for happy hour where you can get decent food. With an added bonus of outdoor seating...what more could you ask for?
I have been to Iron Hill in Media and West Chester many times, but never really took a good look at their vegetarian options, and if any of their food is made locally.
So the first thing I notice this time is that on the menu, they have a little green circle with a "v" for items that are vegetarian. Nice. I like that. It makes it a little easier. There are also "Gluten Free" and "Kids Gluten Free" menu items. Wow.
One half a page in the menu has "Healthy Selections", which are things like salmon, sirloin, grilled chicken and black bean cakes (burger without a bun, essentially), all under 600 calories.
The Kennett Square Mushroom Soup: Roasted White mushrooms, Sherry and Cream was certainly a local and vegetarian option, and it sounded good. The Ale and Onion au Gratin: Dark Belgian Ale, Gruyere, Paprika and Crouton was another vegetarian choice. Of course, all the beer was brewed there in store as well. The waitress did note that some of the items on the menu had recently changed. So far so good. For vegetarian apps, you could choose between a Bruschetta or Asparagus Tempura.
The waitress brought out our Light Lagers, and you can't really go wrong there. She also placed out a basket of what looked to be a white herb focaccia bread, with some butters. Neither of us really ate the bread. I went right for the main entree, which was the Southwestern Black Bean Burger: housemade with black beans, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, corn, tomato, pepper jack and roasted green chile aioli on soft bun.
The bun was white bread, and I had asked for a wheat option, but she said this was the only choice they offered. Everything else about the burger was healthy and superb, it's a shame the bun couldn't follow suit. I had been tempted to try the Vegetarian Black Bean cake: baby arugula, avocado, sweet corn relish, lemon vinaigrette sounded good, but I think I needed to have a bun to go with that, so I opted for the Black Bean Burger. The burger tasted very nice, and hearty. It was a good choice for me. It was a pretty big portion, but I managed to finish everything on my plate. The burger came with a side salad, which, for an extra $2.50 I turned into a Mesclun Salad: Granny Smith Apples, Pistachios, Dried Cranberries, Vermont White Cheddar, Red Onion and Orange-Vanilla Bean Vinaigrette. That was one tasty salad, and that Orange vanilla bean vinaigrette had just enough kick to put it over the top. A terrific blend of salad ingredients. Delish!
My husband went with the Carribean Spiced Chicken Breasts: Black Beans and Rice, Golden Pineapple Chutney, Sautéed Spinach and Mango Coulis. He complained a little about the spinach and beans and lack of something fried on his plate, but seemed to enjoy his meal enough. Slowly, he is eating more and more vegetarian foods. Instead of a side of fries, he'll opt for a salad. Since my diet changes in September he too puts more thought into his food choices and asks questions that he never asked before. He still hasn't gotten around to ordering the meat-free items, but I guess old habits are hard to break. I won't give up!
Iron Hill fails to disappoint once again. I haven't had a meal there I haven't liked. It's consistently good, and seems to be making a genuine effort to offer healthy, gluten free, and vegetarian choices!
