Fine Dining Without Class: Barley Island

Fine Dining Without Class: Barley Island

Guest Food Critic Ashes

When Bo and Chicken asked me to be a guest writer for their blog

my first response was “Holy Ass Crackers!”

My second response was a little more refined.

After all The Hubs and I decided that tonight

we were dining without class…

  

The Hubs and I purchased our first home this year and as such we have been the proud homeowner’s of mountains of junk mail from the previous owner as well as receiving all sorts of coupons and such from companies as a “Welcome to the Neighborhood” promotion. We just so happened to receive such a coupon from a local eating establishment located in the heart of downtown Noblesville. It’s a small building nestled between a “modern” looking strip mall and the chamber of commerce building. That’s right folks, I’m talkin’ bout Barley Island .

We had never been but decided to give it a shot. I mean a coupon for buy one get one free entrees and locally made beer? Uh, sounds like a win-win sitch-e-ation to me!

First things first, parking is almost non-existent at Barley Island . There is a small alley like space between their building and the chamber of commerce which holds about 7-8 parking spots. If you can’t get in there you are forced to street park around the square downtown. Luckily we (The Hubs) managed to parallel park my car for me in a rather tight spot and we were on our way.

Like any good drinking establishment this place was dark.

Absolutely no natural light due to the lack of windows and very little artificial lighting on the inside. Barley Island offers “family dining” but we wanted the full experience and sat in the bar area. We sat on bar stools at small table near the jukebox which was a mistake since the jukebox was being used by the regulars to play craptastic country music.

We were quickly helped by the local brew master and bartender Mike.

He was really nice.

Since Barley Island is known for making their own brew

the hubs decided to try one.

He wanted something as close to Blue Moon as possible.

Mike produced a lovely glass of “Sheet Metal Blonde”.

The Hubs took in the aroma and promptly took a taste.

It

Was

Delicious!

I on the other hand was driving

and had a coke,

but it was still delicious.

We scanned the menu and saw all kinds of yummy meals. Bars, taverns and pubs are known for usually have huge portions and generally yummy cuisine in my book. So I was excited to see a club sandwich on the menu. I also saw that they had waffle fries….yummy!!!

I ordered the “Pub Club” and the hubs ordered the “Black and Blue Burger”. We both ordered waffle fries (which was a little extra since the sandwiches usually come with chips) with our meals and waited excitedly for our food to arrive.

While waiting for our food we took in the environment.

There was no smoking and no dive feeling from the bar area

(which was really small for a place that makes their beer).

There were 2 flat screen TVs with the same sports station on placed on either end of the bar.

This building use to be an old livery so a lot of the old charm was still present in the building.

We noticed a cooler behind the bar with six-packs and growlers of the beer that is made there.

On top of said cooler was a moose head. . .

              with empty beer bottles adorning each antler.

                                  Talk about classy!

When our food arrived it looked amazing!!

A huge pile of waffle fries and my club was dividing into four parts and each part was a triple decker!! The hubs burger was huge and looked super tasty! It was at this point the hubs was wanting something else to drink having finished his Sheet Metal Blonde. He asked for something darker and the bar tender suggested the “Dirty Helen” which in 2009 had won a gold medal at the country’s largest beer festival. The hubs agreed to try it and said he knows why it won a gold medal since it was so full of flavor.

We took our time and finished all of our food. We were way too full for desserts but it looked like they had some listed on the menu. Since we had a buy one get one coupon the meal came to a little under $30 (with gratuity).

Although the ambiance left something more to be desired The Hubs and I agreed that the drinks and food were so good that we would be making Barley Island a part of list of places to get a good meal.

As we left the building The Hubs gave me a dollar to let me play a song on the jukebox.

I was gonna put all those country lover’s to shame

and blasted “Hotel California” as we left.