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| - All right, I' am sure I am going to catch some flak over this review, so let me just say read through to the end before passing judgement. I've been to The Old Fashioned twice and while my meals have been good, it hasn't been anything to shout about. Maybe I'm ordering wrong, or my expectations are too high.
The first time was on an early Saturday afternoon around 3pm. There was no wait, but it was fairly crowded nonetheless and we sat at the bar. I had the beer cheese soup and the spinach salad with hot bacon dressing. The salad was large but a touch out of balance; it sort of felt like a big pile of spinach. In addition, it was delivered with no dressing and took well over 5 minutes to flag down a server to get it. The soup was great in flavor and thickness but I found the popcorn garnish a touch contrived and honestly distracting in flavor; oyster crackers would be better. Maybe I should have just asked? (Aside: I don't recall what my companion had.)
The second time was on a busy Sunday evening, and I went specifically to get the Scandinavian roast chicken special since it sounded so original on my first visit. I'd say it was a bit of a let down. We started with the cheese curds and they're a little salty, but easily the best I've had. Great stuff, particularly the dipping sauce that came with. The smashed red bliss potatoes were good and the gravy flavorful. Accompanying roasted carrots and parsnips were great.The sausage currant dressing was wet enough to have been stuffing (I am not sure it it was cooked in the bird or in a dish) and splashed with a good ladle of gravy. It was ok; the sausage and currant flavors were mild and I think those flavors could have been more assertive. The chicken was a good portion but if the menu didn't tell me the spices I would not have known. It was supposed to be cardamom, cinnamon and juniper which are all strong flavors but they were unnoticeable in the meat and barely noticeable on the skin. The skin itself was not crisp at all and perhaps a little oily; the flesh of the bird a touch greasy. Maybe they're using some kind of organic / local bird and I'm not used to it? I almost felt it was a capon rather than a chicken. Hrm.
My partner on the second visit had the salmon salad with tarragon vinagrette. I got to sample that and thought it was excellent, with crispy bacon, cold poached salmon and finely sliced red onions over mixed greens. There may have been some pecans, but I do not believe my bites had any. The tarragon vinaigrette was spot-on in flavor and surprisingly thick; it makes me think of cold Bearnaise in both appearance and richness. It seems unlikely, but I would definitely recommend this dish.
Dessert was a brownie served with grasshopper ice cream separately and we shared both. The brownie itself was nothing to write home about but the ice cream came drizzled with creme de menthe and was very good.
As I said at the start, I think I'm just not choosing wisely here. Alternatively, perhaps I'm used to non-jazzed-up versions of these things at real supper clubs up in the northwoods and am a little put off by a quasi-hip reinvention. I suppose I'm going to have to try the burgers, which all look fabulous. Prices seem remarkably good across the board now that I think about it. They could probably raise prices a buck across the board and it would still be a good value. I'm going to give it another go and see what happens.
Cocktails:
Visit 1: Brandy Old Fashioned, sour. Good, flavorful, strong.
Visit 2: Brand Old Fashioned, "press" (soda and sprite). Not as good; weaker in both alcohol and flavors. I blame the soda. Stick to the classics, right? =)
One final note: I'm a modern guy and sometimes fail to carry cash; it's 2012, you know? So I got a drink at the bar my companion simply wanted water. I asked to have it placed on my dinner tab. I was told they don't do that here. Ok, no problem, here's my card, just charge it. I was told there's a $10 minimum for a charge. It's not the bartender's fault those policies were in effect, but perhaps when the hostess indicates you can wait for your table at the bar she should mention these (frankly ridiculous) policies. I was pretty embarrassed in front of the woman I was dining with. While I really should have had some cash on me -- I was running late and it was pouring rain so I missed going to the ATM, so I'm partially at fault -- it still doesn't excuse it.
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