Food Critic

March 2, 2009

Food Critic

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By DAVID BALL For the CJ The Commonwealth Journal Mon Mar 02, 2009, 10:01 AM EST

Renfro Valley Lodge

I-75, Exit #62

Renfro Valley, Ky.

Category: Dining Out

My meal: Country-fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and a roll.

My mom and brother had joined us for my birthday last month at the Renfro Valley The Lodge. We’d heard about the Lodge ever since we moved into the area and we’d just never made the drive over. This seemed to be a good time and the wife and our party had worked up quite an appetite.

We pulled in at around 2 in the afternoon and were pleased that there were plenty of parking spots available. The handicapped friendly entrance and plenty of tables for diners make this eatery a pretty popular stop for folks in the Renfro Valley area. We arrived around 2 p.m., entered past the gift shop and found a nice table in the non-smoking dining room.

Our waitress, Anna, gave us menus then took our drink orders and she was back with those drinks in a flash. The menus had the family-style fare that you would expect to find in a good southern restaurant but it lacked variety. I did find a country-fried steak item with mashed potatoes that sounded good and requested it with a side of corn and an unsweetened tea.

Back to the menus for a moment: although limited, the dinner menus did have fried chicken and pot roast entrees available after 4 p.m., so diners may want to take this into account.

We sat around and chatted on world events, what a good child I’d been and how well I’d retained my hair and, before you know it, smiling Anna had our food on our table. Everything looked good and my potatoes were steaming hot. My wife had ordered the meatloaf and fried apples and she was ready to sample as were we all. Thanks was given and the dining started ... my country-fried steak was pretty good as were the mashed potatoes and gravy. Everyone seemed to be cleaning their plates and quiet at the table ensued. I did try one of the dinner rolls with that fake butter stuff that I detest, it was cold and the butter wouldn’t melt on my corn so there was no chance with the roll.

Is real butter and cream that much more expensive than that fake stuff? I don’t mind paying more for better food and I doubt if very many folks would choose the fake over the real thing if given the choice. ... Oh, well, I didn’t say anything at the time because I am a good child, you know.

Plates cleaned, conversation at a lull, Anna returned to bus the table and we had a chance to chat with her a bit. Seems we were lucky to get a meal at all ... this was the last day The Lodge would be open until spring ... March, I believe. Hmmm, I hoped the kitchen staff were not in too much of a hurry. The wife asked if any desserts were homemade (fat chance) and if there were any left. The Lodge only offers a few sweet items but one of them, a blueberry cobbler, was indeed made on premises. We said we’d have to think about it and were preparing to pick up and leave when Anna brought me a piece of the cobbler with a lit candle ... nice touch. The song was sung, wishes were extended and I confessed to my 39 years as we each tasted that piece of cobbler. Pretty good I must say.

We had a very nice time and the food was decent family fare. I was being feted so I’m not sure what our four meals cost but I can’t imagine it would have been much more than $40 plus tip for all of us. We had time before my mom and brother needed to head north so we stopped across the street to Renfro Valley to see if anything was open. We were lucky and found a fudge shop to finish out the day.

All in all a very good time was had and I recommend the trip to all ... just remember to wait until spring.

To see previous reviews visit our Web site at:

http://www.somerset-kentucky.com/

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