Review: Iron Barley in St. Louis

The dining room at Iron Barley has a lineup of horseshoes mounted on top of the molding along one rough wood wall – about a dozen of them, not nearly large enough for the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales. But they're displayed with the points up, so that the good luck that accrues to them doesn't run out the open end.

As a group, the horseshoes are one of the rather funky decorations, including some wood work, iron lamps, posters and such, offering a rather rakish air to a South Side establishment where a loyal clientele gathers for beer and well-prepared food in a moderate price range. No entrees over $20; all the entrees sampled by the Guru were quite tasty.

Informality rules at the Iron Barley, but it's a warm and friendly informality as opposed to the slovenly informality that is on display at many establishments.

The menu, though usually pleasantly and effectively straightforward, occasionally slips into cutesy in its headings, a tactic that the Guru considers beneath its dignity, the sort of thing unfit for a restaurant that obviously cares so much about food. It should care more about language. Restaurant-lovers are grown-ups. They order "sandwiches," not "sammiches," a term most have not used since they were mimicking third-graders, usually theirs.

End of lecture.

We sampled the Iron Barley menu both at lunch and at dinner, and were extremely pleased both times. Overall, there's a wood-smoked touch that adds aroma, the service is brisk and pleasant, there's an interesting choice of meals and a considerable imagination in spicing. Large portions, too.

For example, on one visit, the soup of the day was an Italian chicken soup with roasted chicken that adds a delightful flavor to the bowl, already filled with a variety of vegetables like spinach, tomato, celery, onions and a number of other good things. The wheel-shaped pasta was delightful, and the soup, with a sharply pleasing overtone of black pepper, was a real winner. The stock pot is a great beginning for so many soups, and the one at Iron Barley is obviously well-tended.

Both chicken and prime rib are described as oak-roasted, and the half chicken was glorious, perfectly cooked, benefiting from both the aroma and the flavor of the wood and earning a lovely smokiness. The skin was nicely crisp and the meat was deliciously tender. It arrived with mashed potatoes under a rich gravy that showed touches of tomato.

A German dish of schnitzel and spaetzle was another winner, though the schnitzel began as a pork tenderloin rather than the usual veal, a point that the server specified when we ordered. The large, thin, well-hammered cuts of pork, under a light batter, were fork-tender and quite tasty, and the meat arrived with a delightful gravy that was helped along by the presence of some pieces of bacon and onions. The spaetzle, a type of German dumpling, was light and highly enjoyable, with the gravy adding another flavor factor.

Interestingly, and important as well, the house and Caesar salads come in both small and large sizes; the house salad had a large mixture of greens like mache and romaine to complement iceberg lettuce, plus green onions and a nice blend of other vegetables topped by a sweet-and-sour dressing that was a little on the sweet side. Smoked salmon and steak also make additions to salads.

One of the many highlights of Iron Barley is the fact that, in a move not often seen in St. Louis, real barley comes out of the kitchen as a delicious side dish, cooked with roasted vegetables, and as a dessert in apple barley pudding that is like a bread pudding, and quite tasty. I'm sure they also have mushroom-and-barley soup, a long-time favorite of mine, and I hope its availability and my presence coincide one day.

The impressive menu begins with barbecued shrimp and steamed mussels in a tomato or a cream sauce are dandy appetizers, and other entrees include roast pork, pasta, a couple of steaks, a Spanish fish stew known as zarzuela, hot smoked salmon or trout.

Super-stuffed sandwiches, regardless of name, are outstanding, whether served in a rather structured 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. lunch hour, or all-day offerings, accompanied by a side order. The Hill Pig involves roast pork and cheese (think Philly cheese steak with pork instead of beef) with onions, all dripping with gravy into a messy, but glorious experience. Hot roast beef and cheese is very good, and choices also include a variety of hot dogs, standard sandwiches like ham and cheese and that oak-roasted chicken, plus peppered pork and an impressive, indigestible effort called "the Ballistic Elvis," that starts with roast pork, continues with most of the ingredients left in the kitchen and finishes with peanut butter.

In addition to the barley and vegetable creation, sides also include some delicious caraway-seeded cole slaw, potato salad, green beans and smashed potatoes with gravy.

Which brings us to dessert, with four "blasters" on the menu. We tried the "peanut butter blaster," and it was excellent, with a frozen cheesecake base atop an Oreo crust with peanut butter ice cream, lots of dark chocolate, a jalapeno-laced strawberry sauce and about a ton of whipped cream that had some Tennessee whiskey involved. It was enough for two, or maybe even three.

Iron Barley, a solid choice for a meal so good you'll forget what a bargain it is.