Tue 23 Dec 2008
High Marks For Iron Horse
Posted by TJ under Iron Horse Grill, Priusville
Ten years since turning the old Pleasantville station house into the Iron Horse Grill, the eatery still excels, says the New York Times.
A decade before, writes M. H. Reed in “A Place That Still Has the Whistles and Bells,” Philip McGrath leased the charming old station house in Pleasantville, scrubbed down the thick river stone of the facade, remodeled the waiting room and ticket office into a quietly impressive, comfortable dining room and took over the kitchen of his Iron Horse Grill. The restaurant worked then and still does, although the village has blossomed and grown into a bustling destination.
We wrote:
Located smack in the middle of the village, Iron Horse Grill wears its train past proudly; the name itself is a reference to the train that first rolled through P-ville around 1846. It’s not hard to envision the old waiting room, people seated along a long wood bench that takes up almost the entire western wall. A miniature electric train adorns a shelf near the entrance. You can see the trains fly by out the window, though you can hardly hear their rumble.
Entrees run around $28-30, and Iron Horse was still pushing a winter menu over the weekend–root vegetables, , braised meats, hearty soups, full-bodied wines.
The room was surprisingly packed for 6 p.m. on a Saturday, but never got uncomfortably loud.
The Missus had the duck with spiced yams and I had a Chatham cod over potatoes with a beet coulis around it. Unfair as it may be, we always end up comparing suburban restaurants to those in the city. Iron Horse kind of invites such comparisons, with its classy decor, ambitious menu and not inexpensive checks. The Missus thought her meal was city-level in terms of ingredients and presentation, and a bit lacking in terms of flavor. I thought the cod was a tad bland, even for cod, but the beet coulis brought it to life.
Geez, was that my last dinner out with the Missus?

April 27th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Well, I hope you Prius owners haven’t gotten out the pencil and calculator and figured out that you have been ripped-off by Toyota. “Yuppies” don’t like to hear things like that.
Cod? Last time I caught a cod, off the coast of Nova Scotia, it was full or round worms! I haven’t eaten cod since. $30.00 for something that should be in a “Puss ‘n Boots” can is frightening. Buy a Ford F-150 4×4 and look down your nose at the Prius drivers. Sometimes you can even get a neat up-skirt view! You can haul a lot of cat food in it, too.