Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill
Review guidelines:
1 Fork = I would rather eat dog food.2 Forks = I would eat there if I was starving.
3 Forks = Not bad; someplace I would occasionally consider eating.
4 Forks = A good place to eat; I will put it into my rotation of places I dine frequently.
5 Forks = One of my all time favorites!
One caveat to note – I am allergic to fish and seafood, so if you are looking for those recommendations, you will have to consult someone else.
Because I have a daughter-in-law with Celiac and a really good friend who is Vegetarian, I will try to point out whether those options are present when I review a restaurant.
October 14, 2015 - Lunch
Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill
3501 Lexington Rd.Harrodsburg, KY 40330
800-734-5611
Shaker Village is a working historic site which includes an inn, restaurant, exhibits, tours of the grounds and buildings, carriage rides, and riverboat rides. This is a one stop shop for visitors. Seasonal events include an arts and crafts fair, visit by boat to a heron rookery, bicycle ride, fall festival, artists’ studios, and Christmas teas – to name a few. With 34 Shaker structures, built from 1809 to 1875, the site is home to Kentucky’s largest National Historic Landmark and the country’s largest private collection of original 19th century buildings.
The dining at Shaker village is great. Since they operate an inn on site, they are open for breakfast lunch and dinner. During the Christmas season, they offer a special lunch buffet as well as tea time. Both are excellent. During January and February, they close the main dining room and open a smaller one called the “Winter Kitchen” where the menu is a bit more limited, but the food is still great.
The occasion of our visit was more sightseeing with my cousin and her husband, visiting from CO. For small parties, reservations are usually not required except on busy festival weekends. Our visit was very last minute and we had no problem getting a table, even with a busload of tourists there.
The lunch menu consists of their standard Shaker tomato soup, soup of the day, several sandwiches, salads, and a couple of hot entrees. Because I was on a mission to have my relatives try a long list of KY foods, I chose the hot brown so they could taste it. Hot brown aficionados can attest that there is a wide range of recipes for the KY favorite which include the good, the bad, and the ugly. Shaker Village hot brown was on the upper end of the good scale. The turkey was real, roasted turkey, not deli lunchmeat. They also included country ham – which tends to be optional on hot browns. The mornay sauce was perfect….an excellent choice. I also ordered a small cup of the soup of the day which was a potato concoction. It was delicious also. All the lunch meals come with the famous Shaker cole slaw and corn sticks. I could make a meal just on those two items! My cousin’s husband ordered the Trustee’s Lunch Sandwich which consisted of home smoked pork shoulder, fontina cheese and sweet pepper relish grilled on buttered brioche bread, served with potato salad or fresh fruit. He pronounced it delicious! My cousin ordered the Fried Green Tomato Salad which included fried green tomatoes on baby spinach with ground country ham and white cheddar cheese, served with Tabasco ranch dressing. She enjoyed her choice as well.
Service was excellent; even though the dining room was crazy busy with the tour bus guests. Lunch for three including tax and tip was approximately $50. However, we were expecting to have to pay admission for a tour. Somehow we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the main buildings, grounds and artist studios for free!
Check out all that Shaker Village has to offer at: http://shakervillageky.org
Gluten Free Options – none advertised.
Vegetarian Options – none advertised.
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