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| - To escape within the city for a dining experience reminiscent of a restaurant on the East Coast overlooking a lake, you may want to try Garfield's. It's a great escape from the strip lights and strip malls, located on restaurant row along the lakes. For a pretty location, you expect expensive prices as their competitor two doors down boasts, but you'll be happy to discover that their menu is fairly priced (not cheap, however) and despite the pricing and ambience, the best part is--you can wear jeans and a t-shirt there any meal of the day.
We valet parked, despite the parking lot being small and not a far walk in any direction (because it was there--why not?) and immediately walked through the lovely trellis, past a nice outdoor lounge near their outdoor bar, and into the indoor dining area. Their kitchen is open, which means as you pass by you can see just how clean or dirty things are around there. Thankfully their stainless steel appliances and walls were clean. I looked at the floor in the kitchen, and it was spotless--a good sign of a clean kitchen and therefore clean food. The indoor seating is strictly booths and half booths, but the star dining area is their sun room. It's a floor-to-ceiling glass atrium with a wooden floor, very popular to sit in because of the fantastic view of the lake. However, with so many diners crowding it and my lack of interest to sit amongst the bustle, I opted for a booth seat.
Their service is impeccable despite being a casual restaurant. All servers are in uniform, ones I expect in all honesty from a more expensive restaurant. Tables are clothed in white tablecloth and your bread plate has the restaurant name and the year he was knighted as decoration. They took our drink orders immediately, gave us 2 minutes to look over the menu, and we ordered. While waiting, they brought out this adorable mini baguette sliced up with tempered butter. That french bread was addictive! Perfect french bread is crusty and has that crunch outside, with a soft inside. This bread was just that. You can opt for olive oil and/or vinegar instead of butter, too. It's nice to have options for bread service. We ordered five more of those baskets throughout the meal, too. The grilled artichokes were perfectly cooked, not mushy like some restaurants tend to serve it, and thankfully had a good portion of the stem attached to eat. Anyone can cook an artichoke, but the question is the aioli that it's paired with. This garlic aioli was outstanding! It really made the dish and the entire container was empty by the time my husband devoured two large artichokes with it.
Dinner arrived shortly after our appetizers were done: a bone-in ribeye steak and lasagna. My ribeye steak was an inch or more thick, enough for two if you eat a hefty appetizer beforehand. It came with scalloped potatoes and some herb butter. The steak was nicely grilled and had that lovely char scent to it. I love the crust that the fat makes on the outside of this steak. It was so flavorful and juicy, cooked as perfectly as you can get for medium, and didn't need that herb butter it came with. Yet, I had to try it. Why serve herb butter if it didn't pair well? I dabbed a bit on, the butter having more of a foamy, creamy consistency, and ate it with the steak. It really enhanced the flavor of the meat, as strange as that sounds. Usually herb butter overpowers the meat, but this one is like it's dance partner. Consisting of sweet cream butter, lemon, parsley, black pepper, and possibly a sprinkle of salt, this was the best herb butter I've tasted and actually enjoyed. The scalloped potatoes were lovely, too. That parmesan crust on top of this cup of potatoes was yummy and the potatoes inside were perfectly cooked and not mushy at all. Great side dish. As for the lasagna, the sauce had just the right sweetness to it, yet finishes on the back of your tongue with a slight tomato tanginess we all love. The lasagna itself was delicious--a cheese and pasta perfection on a plate. My husband didn't give me a second chance to take another bite and used the bread to literally clean his plate.
Dessert was ordered in advanced because we wanted their chocolate souffle. I'm a sucker for souffle. After finishing dinner, our server put the order in maybe a minute or two before we finished eating. The wait for souffle is usually 20 minutes, so don't order it unless you are willing to wait. When it arrived, they punched a hole in the center and poured the vanilla sauce in the middle. It was good, but not the best I've ever had. Still, airy and perfectly cooked. I wanted more chocolate flavor, though, because it felt a bit on the bland side.
Overall, great meal, excellent service & ambience, and we plan to eat lunch here today. It's always nice to escape to the lakes as you are and eat four star food with five star service in jeans and a shirt. I enjoyed it, and I believe you will, too.
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