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Niko's Lodge Restaurant Review
Lauren had been wanting to try a place that she had seen advertised many times in a local coupon magazine. Described on their website as "A comfortably unique wilderness lodge setting... nestled into the edge of Campton Forest Preserve", Niko's sounded like a pretty good choice for diner on a cold January night, so we warmed up the car and headed to Wasco. Although the parking lot was mostly empty, two giant iron caldrons were piled with oak and burning warmly -- a bit of the wood smoke added to the "wilderness lodge" theme -- and the thoughts I usually have when I notice such things as a marked lack of cars, were pushed aside. Inside and beyond the hostess station, there is a dining room to the right, and another dining area in the bar to the left. The bar area had a fireplace, so we chose to eat there. It did seem odd that the outdoor area had real wood burning, whereas the one inside was a gas version; I didn't mind, as it added some aesthetics and real warmth, too. The first thing that I noticed -- it was impossible not to -- were seven or eight large television screens throughout the dining room/bar area. All were turned on and tuned to different channels. The volumes was turned to a lower level and I was thankful that there were only three other tables with diners and about four other patrons at the bar; I could only imagine the cacophony resulting from a full room of revelers, imbibing heavily and cheering for their favorite teams. Normal conversation would be all but impossible in the room. Good thing it was quiet on this evening...
Our waitress was smiling, friendly, and prompt in getting to our table. Lauren's glass of wine -- smallish for its $7 price tag -- and my vodka arrived within minutes of our ordering them, and we toasted to the hopes of warmer weather as we checked out a menu with too many items. There was a Baker's dozen appetizers, a half-dozen entrée-sized salads, seven items under the category Wood Burning Rotisserie (their specialty I assume), eleven of Niko's Favorites, seven Seafood Entrées, an even dozen Pasta Bowls, ten Select Entrees, four half-pound Sizzlin' Burgers, and nine different Sandwiches. That's 67 menu items (about 47 too many): from stir-fry to steak and everything in-between... and can it all be expected to be always first-line fresh when business is slow? We decided to go for the basics. Wanting to try the Calamari ($9.99), just for comparison, -- we generally choose calamari for this purpose, as most restaurants offer it -- we did just that. And I can definitely say that Niko's was an excellent rendition: a mammoth portion of very lightly breaded, crispy and tender morsels. For dinner, Lauren ordered one of the half-pound Burgers with mushrooms and Swiss cheese ($9.99) and I chose the Chicken Malibu: a "10-ounce filet topped with ham and melted Swiss cheese" ($10.99). Both came with fries, dill pickle spear and a tiny ramekin of slaw. Neither sandwich was dressed with any kind of mayo, and although tasty, both sandwiches were quite dry. They were also quite huge and neither of us could finish. My fervent hope for 2010 is that restaurants everywhere begin to figure out that sending unfinished meals home in foam containers is, besides a waste of resources and money, simply the result of overly large portion sizes and something that should definitely be avoided whenever possible. And it can be; reduce the portion sizes and reduce the prices of the entrees. Even without a fragile economy, such a practice not only makes sense, it should lead to better attendance rates. But this is a topic for another article on another day... Overall, Niko's Lodge provides decent service, large portion sizes (a good thing if that is what you seek) and good food at average-to-a bit-high prices in a relaxed setting that is comfortable and definitely lodge-like. I give Niko's Lodge Three Zins. Note: Although we were unable to obtain one,
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