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First off, let me qualify this review. Black Butte Lodge Restaurant was delightful and the food was good, service was perfect. I gave it 4/5 stars in its class. It is a higher priced, higher quality experience, this isn't a 4/5 little mom and pop greasy spoon. It's a 4/5 fine dining experience, and that's pretty darn good. See below how they could have nailed that last star...
We started with a tempura asparagus appetizer with a delicious pesto, really really good. I had the wagyu striploin and milady had the alder smoked salmon. We topped the dinner off with a lemon drop for my gal and a mule for me.
The wagyu was 10/10 for meat quality, suuuuper tender, but maybe a 6/10 for presentation--although cooked to the proper doneness requested, so maybe 7/10. My steak was slightly over room temperature by the time I got it and didn't really have any good char or searing on it that you would expect out of a $35 piece of beef. There didn't appear to even be salt or pepper on it, but maybe they did that on purpose to let the meat shine by itself. I'm not sure. It was good but could have been much better. The whipped potatoes were perfectly done, creamy and the perfect accompaniment, and the broccolini was delicous and crunchy and fresh. The salmon was phenomenal, probably they best I've ever had in a restaurant, no joke. Couldn't speak highly enough about it. The smashed fingerlings and sautéed leeks with it were also incredible. That dish was done perfectly. For desert we had a sourdough chocolate cake that came with a scoop of vanilla bean icecream. Ok, not fair yall, that's my favorite icecream (I know, lame right? Vanilla my man? Your fav? Oh yeah). That doggon cake was to die for, and I am not a desert guy normally. Finally, the lemon drop was reportedly perfect, and my mule was middle of the road far as a mule goes. I like a bright, spicily gingery mule with a pucker of lime. This one was half the size a normal mule is and it was a bit flat. It was serviceable, but not $12 worth.
All told, price was fair and as expected for a higher end dinner. The service was also as expected for this kind of atmosphere, excellent. We will come back again and will be recommending The Lodge to others. Hopefully they put an artist on their steak grill next time like they had on their salmon station this time. Ugh, that salmon...
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Been coming to Black Butte for 40+ years, let me start with that. Never had a bad meal or service previously, and always enjoyed the million dollar view of the cascade peaks in the distance.
This Friday my wife and I took our son, his wife and our two grandchildren to celebrate a wonderful week spent together enjoying one of our favorite places. Everything started off fine, friendly greetings, decent table with views, etc. the waiter seemed a bit busy but we were happy and tolerant, and he finally took our drink order. We had enough time to know what we wanted to eat but he scooted away for our drinks and didn’t ask if we were ready to order as he should have.
We eventually placed our orders and the grandkids were starting to get impatient. Our salads arrived so we shared bread and salad and we were hanging in there. The waiter started apologizing for the slow kitchen, using a new menu as an excuse.
I personally was quite tolerant of the delay because our grandkids were extraordinarily sweet and many patrons complimented us on how cute they were.
Two things happened that changed my rating from 3-4 star to one star. First, a table of 4 people who came in at least 30 minutes after we were seated, got up and left after being served, paid up, everything. I had not yet been served my main course yet. Secondly, when we received our bill, we were automatically charged a large party gratuity even though we were 4 adults and two toddlers. It had taken 80 minutes to get our main course and a party arriving long after us was served and left before we were served. A tip, quite honestly was not in order.
At this point, I doubt I’ll ever go to the lodge for dinner again. After complaining to the manager on duty this evening, I never got a succinct explanation how a similar size party comes in 30 minutes after you and leaves 45 minutes before you can finish your...
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The new lodge is beautiful. The setting is amazing and I was really looking forward to trying it as the old lodge was dated.
Our server was sweet but the service seemed slow and scattered. The pricing was surprisingly reasonable for a resort. We ended up with a lot of minor issues and a few major issues unfortunately. Hopefully this will serve as helpful feedback.
Shrimp and poke... Literally comes with one small shrimp? Charge more and put at least three on or remove the one shrimp and just have a poke dish.
Caesar salad was okay but nothing special. I asked for some fresh ground pepper which they brought me a salt and pepper shaker. They don't have fresh ground pepper? No fresh Parm on the salad as well which would be an easy touch.
Halibut was good and properly cooked with a nice plate presentation. But they managed to almost ruin it by putting some burnt bok choy garnish on. I would still order again.
Pork chop was full on raw. Like mushy pink and inedible and dangerous. Served on cold polenta.
Kids meals were fine except for the small bowl of pasta that comes with no side seems to not economically jive/match the cheeseburger sliders and fries that the my other child ordered.
The server was equally grossed out by the pork and made it right by removing it from the check. I told her I didn't need to see the manager but I was surprised the manager didn't stop by just to check things out and apologize.
Hopefully they are just working some bugs out at this stage. Could have great potential but currently unrefined and not a place I would be in a hurry to come back to. I think with some small changes and improvements they could really make...
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