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ITHACA, NY — I hardly ever, if ever, voluntarily dine at a motel restaurant except I discover myself out-ot-town and staying in a motel removed from different eating institutions. Dwelling at dwelling, in Ithaca, I normally don’t select to eat at a motel restaurant. Nevertheless, I do go to the Royal Courtroom restaurant which is a part of the Meadow Courtroom motel on Route 13, each few years to replace Instances readers.
Let’s begin with some generalities that haven’t modified since my final evaluation 4 years in the past:
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Evenings it has a loyal clientele on the bar and within the restaurant and a big portion of seniors comprise each cohorts.
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There’s a ‘50s really feel concerning the place, partly as a result of patterned wall-to-wall carpet, the plastic tablecloths, the small basket of synthetic plastic flowers on every desk, paper serviette squares, pendulum Tiffany-type lamps and wall paneling. One of many house owners, not understanding I used to be reviewing, instructed me she was in her fifth decade of working the restaurant and a waitress instructed me she, too, had labored there 45 years.
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I consider a lot of the meals choices as consolation meals.
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The menu hasn’t modified a lot aside from the anticipated rise in costs over time. (Dinner entrées are $12.95-$25.95).
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It’s noisy at time for supper because the regulars on the bar typically get a head begin on the diners within the adjoining eating space.
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The meals is reliable and well-cooked with out using many seasonings or flavorings. I consider it as if the cooks desirous to be on the protected facet and never desirous to offend anybody.
Throughout lunch, the Reuben sandwich is genuine, served on marbled rye with corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut. It’s predictable and nice. One facet dish is included and I selected coleslaw which is home made with minced cabbage and tasted prefer it had sugar in it. All in all, a non-spectacular however satisfying lunch.
The spinach salad was served with sliced hard-boiled egg, some mushroom slices, and crisp bacon crumbled and strewn throughout the highest. The portion wasn’t massive however completely cheap for lunch time.
One night I selected a particular that isn’t on the menu: “Pork Osso Bucco,” which puzzled me. I’ve had many Osso Buccos in my life and all have been from veal, i.e. cow. Osso Bucco, a traditional Italian dish originating in Milan, is the hollowed bone between the leg and shoulder of the animal. The veal is often slowly braised in a broth of white wine and seasoned inventory, together with greens. This entrée, which may have been known as pork shank, was tender and did appear sluggish cooked, nonetheless, as a substitute of being provided in a skinny broth it was smothered in a heavy tomato-based sauce.
One other time for supper I had a salmon filet which was cooked completely — not really easy to do with a fish that’s thick on one finish and skinny on the opposite. It was juicy with out being fatty and was accompanied by broccoli.
I just lately ordered Portabella Mushroom Supreme ($13.95) and loved it. Nevertheless I want there had been extra of it. The mushroom was fairly small and was topped with roasted crimson pepper and spinach. My companion and I agreed, due to the scale of the portion, it might have been extra applicable at lunch time.
On Saturday evenings a “sluggish roasted prime rib” is featured for $24.95. It was a beneficiant portion of tender meat though it was fatty. It was very nice, although I’d have most popular some identifiable seasonings of some type.
The wine menu wants assist. Not providing a Dry Riesling or a Cabernet Franc within the coronary heart of the Finger Lakes, for my part, is a severe error of omission. There are lower than a dozen complete wines on provide and none is obtainable by the bottle. You’ll be able to order wine by the glass ($6), half-carafe ($17), or carafe ($34) nonetheless you gained’t know the nation of origin, the vineyard, or the classic. Really, even with the restricted providing, the long-term servers I queried didn’t know the worth of a carafe which led me to imagine that the clientele right here orders beer extra typically than wine and, actually, there are greater than twice as many beers on the menu. As soon as I ordered “Sauvignon Blanc” solely to have the waitress return from the kitchen to ask me to make one other choice as none had been chilled.
There’s a nationwide motel chain that touts itself as a company that includes “no surprises.” I consider The Royal Courtroom that method: no main ups or downs — only a steady-as-you-go purveyor of comfort-type meals and drinks at inexpensive costs.
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