Cascade Inn

Last night a bunch of us went out to celebrate our friend Mary Catherine's birthday and she decided to have her birthday party at the Cascade Inn.  I had asked Mary Catherine why she choose the Cascade Inn for her birthday dinner and she said, "because it's very homey, comfortable and good, home cooked food."

I had never been to the Cascade Inn on Rt. 73 just outside of Lake Placid and was curious to see how the food was.  The Cascade Inn calls themselves "a place where the locals meet and visitors are always welcome."  Apparently Saturday night is the night to go because they serve their "famous prime rib."  There were a lot of people there and our party of 10 just added to the crowd. Luckily, we had called the day before and had them reserve a table for us.

Since there were ten of us, I knew it was going to be hard to discuss what everyone ordered so I decided to concentrate on my own order along with those sitting next to me, Marcy and Kathy. I was surprised to see that all entrees include the homemade soup of the day, baked rolls and butter, a house salad, and your choice of rice pilaf, baked or French fried potato.  I wondered why they didn't just name the option french fries and Kathy informed me, "that is a fun way of saying french fries, they must take a potato and fry it the French way."  I don't think anyone at the table ended up ordering a French fried potato, but I would be curious to see if it is anything different than french fries.

At any rate, Marcy ordered the Petit Filet Mignon, which is cooked to perfection with sauteed mushrooms.  

I asked Marcy how it was after a few bites and she simply said, "This is very good."

I had ordered the Baked Cheese Ravioli Parmigiano.  I am a cheese ravioli connoisseur.  My family makes fun of me all the time because 9 times out of 10 if it is on the menu, I order it.  I almost ordered the Chicken Parm, but felt that my assessment of the Cascade Inn's Baked Cheese Ravioli would determine if I would come back.  

I thought the ravioli was good but, I must admit it was not the best cheese ravioli I have ever had.  However, it is hard to beat the ravioli I tasted in Italy and the same goes for their sauce which is also up against Italy and my favorite Bove's in Burlington.  I might put it in the top 10.

Kathy had ordered the Chicken Cascade along with three others at the table.  The Chicken Cascade is described on the menu as a succulent chicken breast covered with a rich cherry tomato and vodka cream sauce.  

Kathy said, "This is very delicious."  The other ladies that had ordered this also thought it was really good and there became a question over the secret ingredient in the sauce.  They weren't sure if the secret ingredient was dill or tarragon?  We asked Celeste, our most excellent server, to ask the chef and she came back with the answer dill.  I guess it wasn't really a secret after all.

We had a fun evening with lots of laughs and good food.  I know Mary Catherine won't be happy with this picture of herself, but this big birthday smile sums it all up.  

Happy Birthday MC, we love you!