It's Time to Check Out Iron Horse in Royal Oak

These days it seems like most restaurants in Metro Detroit open with a big flash.  They over advertise and get the word out before they have had any time to work out their kinks and perfect their menu. It's almost unheard of for a place to quietly open and start growing by word of mouth, but that is exactly what Royal Oak's newest restaurant Iron Horse has been doing.  The space opened last December but somehow I didn't hear about it until last week.  I'm glad someone finally turned me onto it because I had one of the best meals that I have had in a long time and I am already itching to go back for more.

Before I tell you about the menu, the space, and the drinks, I need to tell you about the esquites. Esquites is a traditional Mexican snack that features roasted corn. Iron Horse's version includes fresh roasted corn, avocado, jalapeno, mayo, cilantro, lime juice, chili powder, queso fresco, and flash fried corn strips with an optional meat of your choice.  I had the meatless version and loved every single bite of it. It was finely diced and tasted great as a dip on chips or as its own snack on a fork.  I have never had anything like this and cannot describe how refreshing the taste was. This is a must try when you visit the place.

Since I was getting a Mexican appetizer I choose to order tacos and nachos to share with my dining mates.  Iron Horse offers a variety of Mexican options but their menu also includes sandwiches, subs, burgers, pizza, and ribs. The most striking thing about their food was how fresh all of it tasted.

The nachos had tons of fresh cheese and veggies heaped onto them.  You have the option of adding meat to the nachos, but  I went for the meatless version. I am not a vegetarian, I just tend to eat that way.  Look at those huge slices of avocados in the picture, it was simply divine!  The nachos came with a variety of salsas including a super hot version called the ex-girlfriend. This sauce was given it's name because at first it tastes sweet, almost like ketchup, but it quickly becomes fiery hot, much like an ex-girlfriend!

I also ordered the mahi-mahi taco.  The taco was going to be the true test of the restaurant. I love a good fish taco but most places do not do this well.  Fortunately for me, Iron Horse killed it. The shell was crunchy but not too hard and the mahi-mahi was grilled and seasoned to perfection!

I also ordered one of Iron Horses's featured drinks called The Angry Ginger.  This drink combines Serrano-infused tequila, muddled strawberries, Cointeau, simple syrup, and fresh lime juice.  It was the perfect mix of sweet and spicy.  The restaurant has a lot of unique drink choices, but this one was so good that I stuck with it when I was ordering my second round. I should warn you that you should not eat the whole Serrano pepper in one bite, it has a huge kick, I learned the hard way!

Iron Horse is located at 316 W 4th St. Royal Oak, Michigan. You can check out a full version of Iron Horse's menu here.  I suggest that you get in there and give Iron Horse a try before everyone figures out how great the place is!

~S