Out to Dinner

We went out for dinner yesterday to celebrate Terry’s birthday. (It was actually Saturday but the weather was not conducive to a drive across the county as heavy rain moved in late in the day.)

When you've had so many, they tend to become a bit ho-hum and neither of us has ever made a very big deal out of a birthday. That may, however change as we start passing 60, 65, 70, etc.

We went west on Route 6 to Galeton, PA to a restaurant that was new to us but has been in operation since 1932. The Log Cabin is just that. An old log cabin that is very unpretentious on the outside and decorated in the tradition of such places: mounted animal heads--and animals-- on nearly all the walls along with wilderness prints. A fireplace on one end of the room and a cathedral ceiling with exposed beams of pine poles stained dark with age rounded out the décor. The Sirus radio was tuned to a classic oldies station playing songs of the 50s and 60s at a volume that was not intrusive and, in fact provided just enough noise to offer privacy from other diners’ conversations. (If they had a bar, I could have sat there all day just listening to the music and drinking Killian’s Red.)

The menu was surprisingly extensive although short on pork. They offered a variety of appetizers plus an excellent salad bar. Several very appealing and quite lethal sounding fruit flavored mixed drinks were listed on the little sandwich board on every table. The wine list was large enough and had many local offerings. (The Finger Lakes region of NY is just a hop, skip and a jump over the mountains.) They had Killian’s Red on tap so I have no idea what other beers they had in bottles. Eight or so different “seafood” offerings (I put that in quotes because it included walleye and trout as well as haddock and salmon), all of which sounded excellent, were matched by chicken, beef and pasta dishes.

Terry and I shared a large bowl of French onion soup that was quite good and then helped ourselves to the salad bar. I ordered the salmon with blueberry sauce with a baked sweet potato that was served with a tiny cup of pumpkin butter. Terry had the Steak Alaska—a medallion of beef filet smothered in an Alfredo sauce rich with crab, scallops and shrimp—and a baked potato.

I must say that I was impressed with the excellent food preparation and unique offerings. When the meals were served the proportions were just right. Unlike many restaurants where you are likely to get helpings that will last a week, the Log Cabin presented a meal that you could enjoy without having to cart any home. In addition, Terry’s medium rare filet was still red in the center as it should be and my salmon was still flaky and not cooked to mush. (And the blueberry sauce was to die for!)

Following dinner, we had our choice from the dessert tray that today included a peanut butter meringue pie along with its more familiar lemon flavored cousin, chocolate cake with peanut butter icing, triple chocolate cake, red flannel cake, chocolate brownie sundae and apple pie. Terry chose the lemon meringue pie while I had the brownie sundae.

We were there at 1:30 PM on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon and business was slow. Two family groups were just finishing up when we arrived and another couple arrived just as we ordered dessert. There were signs that they were expecting a busier evening hour as a larger table for ten was set up as we ate. The waitress and two women, whom I suppose were owners/managers of the place, were very friendly.

We will definitely be returning to The Log Cabin for additional samplings of their menu. The walleye on the menu alone makes it intriguing.