Restaurants in the middle of nowhere that are EXCELLENT
Oct 19, 2008, 7:50 pm
#63
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PIT/CNX
Programs: UA dirt... and btw, THE innovator of the phrase 'gate lice'. Yeah, that's right.
Posts: 2,874
Oct 19, 2008, 9:28 pm
#64
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Programs: QC, QF, Avis Preferred, BW Crown Club, Priority Club
Posts: 1,451
Sounds of Silence - Ayers Rock Resort
If you ever get a chance to visit the Big Brown Rock in the middle of Australia, make sure you pay the premium and have dinner at Sounds Of Silence.
The food is awesome, the scenery spectacular
The food is awesome, the scenery spectacular
At the Sounds of Silence experience you can dine under the canopy of the desert night, while your very own storyteller shares tales as told in the stars
Sunset canapés.
Your journey begins on a lone sand dune. A path takes you to an uninterrupted, three hundred and sixty degree view of this vast landscape. In front of you is the fabled Uluru; behind you are the domes of Kata Tjuta and, possibly the most spectacular sunset you have ever seen. Here you enjoy sparkling wine and a selection of delectable canapés.
Dining under the sparkling outback sky
As the sun sets, you feast on a BBQ buffet of authentic Australian delicacies examples include barramundi, kangaroo, emu and crocodile, bush salads and classic desserts, complemented by some of Australia's finest wines.
Stargazing
Attention then turns to some of the world's best stargazing, as our startalker takes you on a tour of the spectacular southern night sky. As you wind down after dinner, you are offered a choice of tea, coffee or port. In winter, guests gather around a campfire to savour a special treat of hot mulled wine.
Sounds of Silence is highly recommended, and we encourage every visitor who comes to Voyages Ayers Rock Resort to join us for this unique event.
Your journey begins on a lone sand dune. A path takes you to an uninterrupted, three hundred and sixty degree view of this vast landscape. In front of you is the fabled Uluru; behind you are the domes of Kata Tjuta and, possibly the most spectacular sunset you have ever seen. Here you enjoy sparkling wine and a selection of delectable canapés.
Dining under the sparkling outback sky
As the sun sets, you feast on a BBQ buffet of authentic Australian delicacies examples include barramundi, kangaroo, emu and crocodile, bush salads and classic desserts, complemented by some of Australia's finest wines.
Stargazing
Attention then turns to some of the world's best stargazing, as our startalker takes you on a tour of the spectacular southern night sky. As you wind down after dinner, you are offered a choice of tea, coffee or port. In winter, guests gather around a campfire to savour a special treat of hot mulled wine.
Sounds of Silence is highly recommended, and we encourage every visitor who comes to Voyages Ayers Rock Resort to join us for this unique event.
Oct 19, 2008, 9:49 pm
#65
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Metro Detroit
Programs: DL Plat, NW Plat
Posts: 708
Less than an hour from TVC, in the little town of Ellsworth, MI, are TWO of the region's best - The Rowe Inn and Tapawingo
Worth the drive
Worth the drive
And I'll add an entry- Vito's Ristorante in Punta de Mita, Mexico. About 40 minutes outside of Puerto Vallarta. Maybe the best northern Italian food I've eaten outside of Italy. The restaurant is located in the backyard of the family's home-which has been transformed into a little version of Italy. Menu changes daily when the chef/owner goes to the market to see what's fresh. I highly recommend this place.
Oct 19, 2008, 10:20 pm
#66
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: SoCal
Programs: AA, USAir, UA
Posts: 868
Another great restaurant in the middle of nowhere:
Johnny McNally's Fairview Lodge, Riverkern, CA
Home of the 40 oz. porterhouse and the 24-oz filet mignon, cut from flavorful butter-tender local beef....that will make that piece of meat you paid big a$$ dollars at Ruth Chris's or even Morton's or Peter Luger seem like 2nd rate shoe leather. Sure, the place is rural cafe casual... But you are not here for overpriced "atmosphere" and snooty waiters but good food...especially the MEAT. (although local rainbow trout is darn fine too!)
Johnny McNally's Fairview Lodge, Riverkern, CA
Home of the 40 oz. porterhouse and the 24-oz filet mignon, cut from flavorful butter-tender local beef....that will make that piece of meat you paid big a$$ dollars at Ruth Chris's or even Morton's or Peter Luger seem like 2nd rate shoe leather. Sure, the place is rural cafe casual... But you are not here for overpriced "atmosphere" and snooty waiters but good food...especially the MEAT. (although local rainbow trout is darn fine too!)
Oct 19, 2008, 10:39 pm
#67
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: BHD/DUB
Programs: BA Gold, TK*G, EI Elite
Posts: 7,622
Gastropub, been around for years (before gastropubs were the in thing) in the middle of the Fens to the north east of Cambridge, that has won numerous awards for it's food. You have to book way in advance. I've been taken to it a couple of times in winter and it's totally in the middle of nowhere in so much as you drive down lane after unlit lane and finally along the top of a dyke, without so much as a house or signpost for what seems like miles.
Oct 20, 2008, 12:27 pm
#68
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,925
Middendorf's is in Manchac, LA. Unfortunately they were hit with flooding during Ike.
http://www.middendorfsrestaurant.com/
http://www.middendorfsrestaurant.com/
Oct 20, 2008, 12:35 pm
#69
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Birmingham, AL
Programs: CO Plat, NWA Gold, Delta, Hertz #1, PriorityClub, yadayada
Posts: 274
Hitchin Post Saloon and restaurant
3640 Las Vegas Blvd North
Las Vegas, NV 89115
Opened in August, they are way up in the middle of NOWHERE but have an excellent chef and the food is fab. 24 hours a day you can get all items on the menu. Excellent steaks. Amazing, considering it looks like a biker bar next to a no-tell motel in front of an RV park. BTW, that is precisely what it used to be (well, the motel and RV park are still there, but the bar is now a restaurant)!
Las Vegas, NV 89115
Opened in August, they are way up in the middle of NOWHERE but have an excellent chef and the food is fab. 24 hours a day you can get all items on the menu. Excellent steaks. Amazing, considering it looks like a biker bar next to a no-tell motel in front of an RV park. BTW, that is precisely what it used to be (well, the motel and RV park are still there, but the bar is now a restaurant)!
Oct 20, 2008, 1:45 pm
#70
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
Now I'm going to have to do some research, as the name of the place I'm thinking of escapes me. Maybe you know this place stut.
Gastropub, been around for years (before gastropubs were the in thing) in the middle of the Fens to the north east of Cambridge, that has won numerous awards for it's food. You have to book way in advance. I've been taken to it a couple of times in winter and it's totally in the middle of nowhere in so much as you drive down lane after unlit lane and finally along the top of a dyke, without so much as a house or signpost for what seems like miles.
Gastropub, been around for years (before gastropubs were the in thing) in the middle of the Fens to the north east of Cambridge, that has won numerous awards for it's food. You have to book way in advance. I've been taken to it a couple of times in winter and it's totally in the middle of nowhere in so much as you drive down lane after unlit lane and finally along the top of a dyke, without so much as a house or signpost for what seems like miles.
Is this the place?
Oct 22, 2008, 6:30 pm
#72
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,589
My metric for "great restaurant in the middle of nowhere" is Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino California. Of course any great restaurant cannot be in the middle of nowhere (and make money), so being in a tourist destination that is food conscious helps. Better described at http://www.cafebeaujolais.com/
Oct 22, 2008, 11:39 pm
#75
Moderator: Delta SkyMiles, Luxury Hotels, TravelBuzz! and Italy
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 26,544
RST, Mn, finally has a good restaurant. Go for the Walleye Pike Cakes with home-made tartar sauce. A great dish that I'll never find in my home town. The restaurant is Chester's, two blocks from the Mayo Clinic. A terrific restaurant