Walloon Lake Inn — Restaurant in Melrose Township

The food and service were as usual. I bring people to this restaurant a few times each season. This year twice in June alone. It will be my last visit. I had reserved an outside table well in advance. This morning, Melissa called to confirm the reservation and indicated it was only 60 degrees there and windy. She asked if we would prefer an inside table. She represented she would give us a window table (they overlook the lake). After consulting my wife I indicted that would be fine. When we arrived, we were shown to an elongated table next to a post in the middle of the restaurant. I advised we were told we had a window table promised to us. Mellisa then came out and told us we could not have a window table but were welcome to sit outside. Since I had told our guests who had yet to arrive that we were dining inside, that was not acceptable for reason they would not be dressed for a 60 degree, windy dining experience and so we accepted the table. The restaurant was quite busy and so our food was a little slow coming out of the kitchen. Not terrible and we did not complain because it was so busy. At a few minutes before 6:30 we were given our bill even though we had not finished our desert. At a few minutes after 6:30 Melissa arrived at the table and informed us that we only had the table for 2 hours and our time was up - the next party was waiting. A few minutes later - after my wife hurriedly took her last bite of dessert, we were escorted out. I can understand the Inn wanting to have their table back at the appointed time, but on this occasion the delay was caused by the slowness of our food being served - in turn caused by how busy they were. So while the food and wait staff are excellent, the treatment we received was far less than acceptable. I won’t be going back. I won’t be taking friends and family there again. For several years I have introduced many friends and family to this restaurant. The indifference shown us first by offering a window table and then ignoring the promise, and then demanding the return of the table at the end of two hours when the food was delayed coming out of the kitchen leaving us without enough time to eat it, is unacceptable — especially considering the prices they charge for their food.

PS. A window table was available the entire time we were there

PPS: just saw the response. Excellent fiction writing. You missed your calling. Let’s just say we are both satisfied that I won’t be using your...

After a very underwhelming experience at a very popular restaurant in the area the previous night, we decided to try out Walloon Lake Inn, and we were not disappointed.

We prefer to eat very early, so we made an online dinner reservation for dining room opening at 4pm.

We were warmly greeted, and shown to our table, where there was ice water already waiting. Our server explained that they had a deal on from 4pm -5pm, 3 courses for $60 per person, an absolute steal considering you could order anything from the menu, bar the last three most expensive entrees.

Between the two of us, we opted for the crab and truffle gnocchi and tempura fried ahi tuna rolls to start. For our main courses we chose the braised shot rib and seafood risotto, followed by crème brûlée and turtle cheesecake for dessert.

Every single course was spectacular. I’m not usually a huge fan of gnocchi as it can be quite stodgy, but it was absolutely delicious. The texture, the flavours, the little morsels of crab and the fragrant creamy sauce, it all worked so well together.

The seafood risotto was exquisite. The plump juicy scallops alongside the meaty shrimp was a real winner. The brisket however, was the start of the show. Tender, meaty, and juicy, it melted in your mouth. The juxtaposition of the cold apple fennel slaw, with the steaming hot brisket was utterly divine. The creamy cauliflower and potato mash finished off an already delectable dish.

By this point we were absolutely stuffed, but couldn’t say no to dessert. It was hands down the best crème brûlée I’ve tasted, (and I’ve had a few)! Not too sweet, with the most perfect sugary crack a firm tap of your spoon.

We would most definitely return to Walloon Lake Inn, and would highly...

As a “foodie” who has worked and dined in the most wonderful fine dining establishments we were delighted to stumble across Walloon Lake Inn. After a full day of exploring the area my husband and I were looking forward to celebrating our anniversary dinner. We excitedly approached the podium expecting to be seated in the nearly EMPTY restaurant. Phillip greeted us giving us the once over glance. I immediately responded, “forgive our appearance we’ve been exploring the area all day”. Recognizing this was a fine dining establishment I immediately asked Philip “Are we dressed ok? Do you have a dress code?” His reply “No, we don’t have a dress code.” He then proceeded to pretend to look at his IPAD reservation system in his nearly EMPTY restaurant stating “We don’t have any availability until 7:45 pm (it’s currently 6:10). Phillip, then proceeded to offer a recommendation of their “sister” restaurant which offers “more casual” dining. Phillip, I have worked with Culinary Olympic Gold Medal chefs, have attended Societe Escoffier dinners (look that one up). Instead of giving us your fake, smarmy attitude just let us know we didn’t fit the picture of your expected clientele. I’m a big girl and can take it. I respect establishments that say upfront suit and tie required…can I make you a reservation for another time? We’d love to have you back. I guess my Clark flip flops in your fine establishment didn’t fit your expectations. The reality is I won’t/don’t patronize establishments that behave as bad as you did! Btw, did you put your pants on one leg at a time today? I did too! Peace, Phil (Phill, Pill, Fill) not sure how someone of your status should...