English Ivy’s

Well this week we are back on a regular schedule. Last week we had lunch on Tuesday because I had a dental appointment on Wednesday to get some teeth removed.Well the procedure was so successful I have to eat soup until my dental project is finished.Ivy’s offers three soups at all times. A soup du jour, a house Black Bean soup and Chili. Their soup of the day was a Southwest chicken, so I ordered a cup of that and a cup of black bean soup. The chicken soup was really good. A slightly creamy base with a touch of tomato and a bunch of cumin. In addition to chicken ,it had  black beans and corn.Evidently, to a lot of folks you add cumin, black beans and corn and you automatically have Southwestern food.Regardless of what you called it, the soup was good;and I believe I’ve had it before;and I believe it is made by Gordon Food Service.It is not uncommon for joints that offer three  soups to buy ready-made soups; especially for the changing soup of the day. I am reasonably sure the black bean soup was made in-house. While not as good as the chicken soup it was pretty tasty. Although I must say I have had better. But at $2.75 per cup, with two packs of crackers it was a bargain.

Patrick; the eternal culinary question mark; had a grilled Portobello mushroom sandwich.It was actually two baby Bella caps grilled then glazed with a balsamic vinaigrette.Since I couldn’t sample it. I had to rely solely on Pat that it was as good as it looked. And it came with a full garden and a side of french fries for only $6.75.As for beer their selection seemed rather limited. I got the feeling that this was more a hard liquor cocktail place than a beer joint. They had three beers on draft. Two domestics and Blue Moon.They offered SunKing cans;but they were out.So I opted for the Blue Moon and Pat had a MGD 64 with tomato juice.That’s right a red beer;a bloody beer or a poor man’s bloody Mary.Come on don’t knock it until you try it.

As for the pictures you’re just going to love them. You see, I forgot to take any of our food. Usually I catch myself after we start eating; however; this time I did not even think of the camera until after we were done and the dishes were removed. But don’t worry I got some background shots and Pat drew a picture of his sandwich.So in addition to an original review of  a local eatery you get an original drawing by Pat, a true Renaissance man.