Continuing with the new brewery/restaurant theme, we recently tried the new Daredevil Hall, which just opened in the Ironworks building, which, yay, is right by my house. Apparently Neal Brown is in charge of the kitchen, so that is always intriguing,
It’s a pretty classic brew pub type menu with a nod toward things German—spaetzle, sausages, etc. But I was lured in by the Instagram photo of one of the burgers on the menu, so I decided to get a burger. The picture depicted two patties that were smashed and thin….and you know I like thin burgers. I had the brewery cheese burger ($12) with two thin patties, remoulade sauce, lettuce, tomato and pickle. This was a very good burger. The patties were nice and flat as promised and I liked that the bun didn’t overwhelm it and kind of smoshed down into the burger. The sauce was good, but kind of thin—I used the garlic aioli that I asked for with my fries and smeared a little of that on there too. That burger was really good though—really juicy and just the right proportions. Actually, I think because the bun is nice and soft I might be able to do a single and still enjoy it as much. I look forward to trying the other burger on the menu though, with a big hunk of beer cheese in between the patties. The fries have potential for sure but were cold when they came out. I think if they were cooked just a little longer and were hot, they would be outstanding. It’s early days, so hopefully the kitchen is still figuring it out.
My son is a poutine hound and enjoyed their version ($10) with fries, cheese curds, and lots of gravy. He thought the gravy was a little bland though, and while he ate it, there are others in town he prefers (amazing the variety of poutine we have in Indy now). The biggest disappointment was hubby’s spaetzle dish ($10). It was fired spaetzle noodles with cheese curds and mushrooms. He liked the roasted mushrooms, but the spaetzle was dry and the cheese not very melted (it came off in your fork in one big glob). And overall, it was a pretty bland dish—not a lot of flavors going on here. Hubby really enjoyed his beer though, and part of my burger.
All in all, like I said, I see potential here. I think the kitchen is likely still finding its groove. But I highly recommend the burger, and I am sure we will be back to get more of them soon. They have a couple of good brunch items on the weekend that I would like to try as well.
They were doing a nice business and our service was pretty good. I suspect this place will do well—it’s a nice add to Ironworks for sure and I appreciate that its family friendly. What else has everyone tried? I would love to hear feedback on other menu items.
Daredevil Hall
2721 East 86th Street
Indy 46240
317/757-2888
We've been twice. First time was a couple weeks ago and we shared the crispy brussels sprouts, crispy cauliflower caesar and crispy chicken wings. I guess we have a thing for crispy! The brussels were amazing, the cauliflower salad was an interesting twist on a caesar, while the wings were underwhelming. They were certainly big and juicy, but there was absolutely nothing crispy about them and the sauce seemed like a standard Frank's hot sauce preparation. I expected better.
ReplyDeleteSecond trip (Saturday) we got the brussels again and added the burrata and the endive & pear salad. This time the brussels were still tasty but cooked to the edge of too crispy (this coming from one who loves good charred brussels), the burrata was *DELICIOUS* and the endive & pear salad was well executed, if a little heavy on the dressing.
I love Daredevil beer and the menu has a lot of promise so this will remain in our rotation. I just hope they keep working out the kinks so we can get a consistently great meal.
Just a heads-up that your link to their website is a 404. Thanks for the review - I'd seen that this place was going in, but forgot all about it!
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