I met a friend for lunch on Friday at Cahil’s Café, the new occupant at the Antiques Center in Leonardtown. I think this is the third (?) attempt at a restaurant in that location. It survived for a long time on its “Tea Room” theme, but lately there have been attempts to put in a “real” restaurant. The location is a bit of a hindrance, tough to get into from traffic, separated from the heart of Leonardtown, next to a car parts store, so some hurdles to overcome. I had heard some good reports (actually from the same friend) about the food so was glad to accept the invitation to lunch.
You still enter directly into one of the two dining spaces which is sort of awkward, resulting in a “Tah Dah!” entrance. Boom. There you are. And the room is small enough that tables are quite close together, making any conversation that you would prefer not to share somewhat difficult. The protection against this is when enough tables are occupied, your conversation gets lost in the others. There is another dining space that perhaps would be a little more discreet. The remains of the Victorian/Tea décor is still evident, but again, you play the hand you’re dealt.
Currently Cahil’s is open for dinner Friday and Saturday only, with lunch (11 to 4) every day, including a Sunday Brunch. We were seated at a table in the corner which was relatively private for a little bit until another part arrived. Subjects of conversation changed. There is a small card on the table with quite an impressive list of teas, some traditional, some a bit frilly (I think there was a chocolate in there, I’m not sure). The menu itself is a do-all, covering lunch and dinner options, through Starters, Salads, Sandwiches, Entrées, and “Finishing Touches”. The menu proclaims that (sic) “EVERYTHING is house made (okay, we don’t churn the butter…yet”. Without going through the menu in detail, most any wish will be met with a choice or two, including some interesting dishes (Spanikopita, stuffed shells) Prices are mid range, salads under ten (unless you add shrimp or chicken), sandwiches and entrées, about $12.
With the prelims accomplished, we were approached by a server and asked about drinks. The wine list that was produced had some interesting wines on it, along with some fairly high prices. Many were in the eight or nine buck range. We selected a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Noir. We were also informed that they were out of (a subject of the next post) the Salmon Sliders that my friend had enjoyed on the previous visit. The first glasses of wine arrived and eventually disappeared keeping the conversation flowing without so much as cracking the menu. Our server who had a delightful British accent, checked once, and the second time she said “I can see you are taking your time, so when you decide to order (I wish you could hear this in person), just raise a finger. Do NOT snap your fingers, just raise a finger and I’ll come over). Midway through the second class of wine we finally decided on food, raised a (index of course) finger and selected a couple of sandwiches. I took the “Roasted Beef Tenderloin” and the other a “Classic Chicken Salad’. My friend uses chicken salad as a bench mark much as I do “the drink” for the bar, or veal piccata for Italian places.
The food arrived not too long after ordering. I was kind of wondering how a “Roasted Beef Tenderloin” might appear, given a tenderloin doesn’t have much fat. I peeked under the bread (which MAY have been house made, but really didn’t look it) and found slices of beef that appeared to me to be more from a pot roast cut than tenderloin. The mean was uniformly gray and had lots of fat marbling. It wasn’t tough, and was the most likely the reason that it had fairly good taste, and the horseradish cream zipped it up a bit along with the peppery arugula. It certainly wasn’t what I expected. The chicken salad’s appearance immediately brought to mind the Iconic (to me, at least) Straub’s Chicken Salad (from St. Louis), as it was composed of chunks of white meat, and probably sour crème or yoghurt or some combination. But, unfortunately that’s where the parallel stopped. There was no “crunch” involved like celery or green pepper, just chicken and the white stuff. Good taste, but could have been punched up a bit. It was served on a (chosen) rye, albeit it was that “swirled” style of light and dark which I do not care for. It just ain’t right..
Anyway, we opted for some special homemade desserts, a strawberry Charlotte for my friend, and a sucker dessert for me, bourbon chocolate pecan pie. (you can choose whether it’s P-kan or p-CON).
The Charlotte was huge, light, and quite delicious. I thought my pie was sort of on the dense side and maybe just a little overcooked, although I managed to lay waste to it.
What made the lunch was the service however (for once, thank you God). Understanding what the table wants (to be left alone in this case), and just down to earth face to face communication (what would you like to drink). No stilted “Hi I’m…”, or “may I suggest” she just took care of business in an unobtrusive way. I think her generation and (apparent) British background helped immensely. The food was good, although I hoped for better, and even my companion admitted it wasn’t up to the previous experience. Of course in that case it may have been that second time is never as good as the first kicking in..
I want to go back again, and it will be for dinner. Lunch is a preview, dinner is the show. Which is why you should be
DFD
i don't know how this got so long, sorry, three more things to relate, but there will be a Tuesday for that...
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