The Blue Heron Restaurant at The Landing — Restaurant in Bunker

We always love to check out off the beaten path-style restaurants. This one was no exception. :-) We read about it in an MO Restaurant Guide-and my husbands family recalled the chef (Bobby King) and had eaten his cooking before he began the restaurant. So we were eager! '

It seems the actual restaurant either burnt down or was relocated because when we went to find it, it was nowhere to be found-at least not by google maps...but it was fixed with one phone call-where the nice lady told us it was located inside the beautiful event center on the property.

When we arrived, we didn't wait long to get seated-but the noise level inside, not to mention the number of patrons allowing their young children to run wild and scream about (pet peeve), was not appealing when paying a big $$ for a meal.

The atmosphere was a bit different-with several landings. It almost looked like an amphitheater with a big desk at the bottom....a little different.

We were seated at a VERY SMALL table-shoved up against a wall -mind you, my husband is a big and tall man so this made it hard for us to have any space for our food/beverages.

The waitress was pleasant and quick, refilled beverages promptly but seemed to miss when we both said "no onion" in our salads. I can tolerate them so I went ahead and ate it, but my husband would not touch it nor did he want to say anything so.... the salad was fairly good: it included good stuff, not just your run of the mill iceberg. It was a worthy salad and also included a breadstick.

We ordered the crab stuffed filet with fries and glazed carrots and also the Coleman's Chicken, and garlic butter mashed potatoes.

When the food came out-my husbands eyes were immediately disappointed to see the filet looking much smaller than the 8oz which he ordered. He also felt there wasn't much crab inside of it for the hefty price tag of 46.00.

The sides were small, and all served in separate bowls-which while dining on such a small table made it more difficult to maneuver. The mashed potatoes tasted like the garlic butter idaho freeze-dried potatoes which I get for a $1/at DG...so those were meh but the rest of the sides were good!

My chicken-which was stuffed with some kind of artichoke dip appetizer (on the menu) , topped w/swiss cheese, mushrooms, and a wine sauce was AMAZING!!!! SUPER DELICIOUS!!! I loved it. $20. and reasonably priced.

We would definitely return to this restaurant but probably only for a special occasion, as the cost was higher than average comparable restaurants we've dined with.

Although I only gave this place 4 out of 5 stars, I would recommend it for a special meal because in the end, the food was mostly quality and...

They have run everyone else out of business on the kayak/raft business with politics and money. So, you are stuck if you want to float at Van Buren or buy your own, like we have!! Read further about their restaurant....I have always heard from the locals that the owner is greedy & has run all the smaller mom/pop shops out of the kayak/canoe business. I don't like monopolies!! They've always had good food! Just returned from a long weekend there & they were having a singer during dinner hour till 10ish Saturday night. We went & spent $40 on food & drinks & then our waiter kept asking us, in about at 15 minute period, if we would like our check? I kept telling him, no, & the last time he asked, he said his manager wanted us to pay our tab & move so they could get more diners in. I was appalled! There were no extra tables on the deck below & they weren't giving us any options It was pay your bill & fend for yourself or leave!!! We have traveled all over the U.S. & been to 7 different countries & I have never been asked to leave so an establishment could sell more food! (Especially while we were still ordering drinks!) I asked to speak to the manager. He very pointedly told me, again, with no apology or kindness, or even a smile, that we needed to pay our bill & move. I asked him where he planned for us to sit & he very grumpily told me he would get us a table put together. I even heard the hostess asking the gentlemen behind us if they would pay their bill and move & those guys told her "No". I looked around & they said they had "not even bought dinner". They were just there for drinks, but, they were still paying customers & they were not leaving. PLUS, they knew the owner!! So.....they were not moving & that was ok. I guess the owner is sooooo greedy & they are basically the only nice restaurant in town, plus the majority of his business is tourist, so he's not worried about repeat customers!! We have bought our own kayaks now, so we don't give them that business & now, you couldn't pay me to ever go to their restaurant again, or stay in their hotel or go to their indoor music river center. When some one is that greedy, hateful & downright rude to customers, I will never spend another dime at any of their establishments. One of these days his business ethics will come back to haunt him!! P.S. We ordered the "Sister Chicken" with 2 chicken breasts & sides.....the sides were good size, but, the chicken breasts were about 2 oz. each, with noooooo...

We did not stay at The Landing but we did attempt to eat at the Blue Herring. We were seated and ordered our drinks first. The first glass of iced tea brought to my husband had something stuck on the outside of the glass. The waitress quickly replaced it and no big deal. Since we were dining on the deck and it was warm outside, the ice was melting in our tea. We ask for more ice for our drinks. They brought a glass of ice that had lips still imprinted on the glass so I ask for another one. After the 4th dirty glass I decided we couldn't eat there. I ask if they have a dishwasher and the hostess said "they do but he evidently wasn't doing a very good job of it." The hostess then went each table that was preset with glasses and silverware checking the glasses removing 5 water glasses that I suppose were also dirty. By this time our appetizers had arrived, which we did not eat and left on the table. We told the hostess we were leaving and she said just a minute and I will get your ticket. Surprised I ask if she expected us to pay for our meal and she said yes. I told her we were not going to pay for something we didn't feel we could eat because of the dirty glasses. She told us if we didn't pay our waitress would have to pay for it. How stupid!!! I told her I was sorry but I was not paying for a meal I couldn't eat. She then said she would pay for it and I said o.k. They ask us to wait and talk to the manager or owner Andrew. He came out from the kitchen and ask what was wrong. I told him about the dirty glasses and we did not want to eat there. He said we would have to pay for our appetizers and drinks because they were served to us, even though we didn't eat them or drink our drinks. I ask him how many dirty glasses would he have to be served in to before he wouldn't want to eat there and his answer was, "as many as it takes". He was very rude to us and offered no apologies what so ever. Folks, I'm just saying, if the drink glasses are that obviously dirty, just imagine what the kitchen looks like.!!! I will say I am 60 years old and have eaten at a lot of places, but never have been...