Lamplighter Tavern: Back to the Good Ol' Days

Almost all of my culinary training occurred in restaurants that were brand new or less than a year old. My chefs were of the "been there, done that" mentality and prided themselves on introducing new dishes, ingredients and techniques to their diners.

One time we even experimented with fried duck tongues. Yes, you are reading that correctly. I can report that they weren't half bad. They had a subtle duck flavor and chewy texture. 

is the opposite of the restaurants at which I had worked. It is an old school restaurant that serves up familiar, tried and true recipes. I have not seen "steak Diane" on a menu in ages and I eat out all the time. This deliciously rich and expensive dish is something you might see Don Draper enjoying while out on the town with his femme du jour. When properly executed it involves a tableside pyrotechnic show courtesy of some brandy and a lit match.

We arrived on a Tuesday, not knowing it was $10 Tuesday. There is a whole menu of entrees priced at 10 dollars with soup or salad available for a surcharge. We began with a basket of warm rolls and a glass of pinot noir and pinot grigio. The wines that are poured here tend to be on the sweeter side. My companions enjoyed them very much while I wasn't such a big fan.

We all had salad (I even went with the blue cheese dressing for an upcharge of $1.50) which was comprised of iceberg lettuce, julienned carrots and two slices of cucumber. The salads were quite basic but I enjoyed mine immensely. The blue cheese dressing was filled with chunks of blue cheese and so good that it would make cardboard edible.

For our entrees we had the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and string beans, shrimp scampi over linguine and salmon with champagne sauce, baked potato and string beans. The meatloaf was tender, well seasoned and the mashed potatoes made from scratch. The string beans were a bit overcooked and army green in color.

The shrimp scampi featured the bite size gulf shrimp (tail off), bright vegetables and a mountain of noodles. The sauce was a buttery broth that my companion thoroughly enjoyed.

The salmon appeared to be a slender serving but was actually quite filling. The champagne was a nice compliment to the fully cooked piece of fish. The baked potato and sour cream tasted like you would expect it to. I wasn't so fond of the string beans.

We capped it all off with some decaf coffee and a slice of the Bailey's Irish Cream. While the cake was tasty, it tasted like the instant yellow cake you find in the supermarket aisle. I grew up baking these Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker cakes.

The service was spotty but not because of negligence, our server was slammed. All night long I saw our lone server running back and forth between the dining rooms. When we did get to see her she was polite, efficient and answered all of our questions.

The decor is part old world steakhouse (wood, burgundy cloth napkins, cozy booths) and part local tavern (Guinness blinds, jukeboxes, electronic games, drink specials, random posters on the wall). It is an ideal place to stop in for a beer and watch the game or to enjoy steak, chicken or whatever else you might want for family dinner.

Perhaps that is what we could all use: more family dinners, around a table, with actual food. Lamplighter Tavern is the type of place where you can — just like the good ol' days.