Brae Loch Inn (Cazenovia)
Location: Cazenovia, NY
Date of Visit: July 31, 2011
Time of Visit: 6:30pm
Website: The Brae Loch
Hours of Operation: M-Th 5-9, F-S 5-10, Sunday Brunch 11-2, S dinner 4-9
Company: The Ginger, Marmar, Parpar, and Petchy
So...it has been a long while since we got one of these up here. Sorry 'bout that, folks. It's been long enough that I finally got myself hitched to the Ginger six months ago. It's been an OK time, I guess.
Anyhoo, we ventured out to the Brae Loch Inn in Cazenovia for the Ginger's birthday din-dins. Our party consisted of myself and Ginger(of course), her parentals, who we will call Marmar and Parpar, and her sister the other Ginger(or Petchy, if you prefer). We had just spent the day in Sterling for the Rennaissance Festival-which was a blast, by the way....definitely make a trip out that way if you have not already-and were ready for some food.
Oh-a little background: Marmar and Parpar used to go to the Brae Loch every year for their wedding anniversary-as it is an Inn, they would stay for the weekend. We, however, were just there for the evening. Also, the Brae Loch was the site of my first date with the Ginger, so overall it has a special significance for all of us.
We ventured out to Cazenovia on a Sunday evening and arrived at around 6:30pm. Apparently on Sundays they have live music at the Inn, so although we ate inside, we could still hear the Irish/Scottish folk tunes mixed in with the gentle strains of "Iris." The dining room upstairs was a relatively new, family-style, tartan enrobed one. Seriously, there was tartan everywhere: on the windows, on the tables, on the waitstaff(who were a very sweet and helpful bunch). Tartan as far as the eye can see. The ambience was......I had mixed feelings about the ambience actually. While the lighting was pleasantly low, the lamps above the table were surprisingly Applebees-esque, and although we dined by candlelight, the sugar in the center of the table was colored.....not particularly to my taste, although Ginger liked it. But she gets excited about sugar in general, so take that with a grain of salt. Or sugar.
OK, now the important part: the food. Duh. We began with a Glenora Reisling for the table, along with an order of bruschetta and a dozen steamed clams with drawn butter. The bruschetta came in six pieces: garlic toast with a generous mound of tomato, basil, and garlic on the side of the platter, and also featured shaved parmesan and hummus. I had never seen hummus as part of a bruschetta dish before, and neither had any of the rest of us. The hummus was a little on the bland side, but when coupled with the parmesan, bruschetta, and toast, it was quite tasty: a good mixture of color, flavor, and texture on the plate. And it was fun to build as well. The clams were great, of course; clams are always great, and these ones were large and done perfectly, with clarified butter and no other seasonings. In addition to our appetizers we also had a bread basket on the table which featured some crusty Italian bread, herbed butter, and chocolate chip scones. It was a little weird to have the scones in the basket, and I thought they were OK at best, but Ginger loved them. See above sugar comment.
After we had ordered our entrees and discussed various aspects of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the salads arrived. We had all asked for the garden salad, with the exception of Petchy, who had caesar. Hers was the typical Romaine salad with croutons and caesar dressing, while the rest of us received an interesting blend of lettuce, mandarin oranges, black olives, red onions, craisins, seedless cucumber slices, and croutons. We all got crumbly Bleu cheese dressing, except for Ginger, who didn't get dressing. Weirdo. The salads were tasty in general, although I could have done without the onion.
Dinner came in a timely fashion; here is what each of us ordered and a run-down of the flavors etc:
I had Shepard's Pie, which was killer: a perfectly crispy crust-to smooth mashed potato ratio. As someone who hates lumps in my potatoes, I appreciated this dish. The potatoes were also spread on the top of the dish rather than piped; this gave the meal more of a homestyle flair than a refined CIA impression. The inside of the pie had a great mixture of gravy, ground lamb and beef, and traditional Shepard's Pie vegetables. The filling was mild in flavor, which I kicked up a notch with some ground black pepper from the table. As Shepard's Pies go, I would recommend this one; nothing was overdone, it was very simple and very tasty.
Ginger ordered King Crab legs, which came with a vegetable side and a side of galley fries, which we discovered are simply thick-cut, homefry style potto slices. The crab was done well and came out hot-it's always good to see a full pound of crab on a plate. After teaching my silly wife how to get a full leg out of its shell, we discovered that the crab was some tasty bittles. The vegetables consisted of green beans -which were perhaps a bit overripe and tough as a result-and some nicely roasted red peppers, and tasted very fresh. The galley fries looked very cool but were palatially unimpressive-they were a little less crispy and flavorful than I would have liked. Overall, I would have stuck with the crab legs, but gone with a different side dish.
Petchy ordered lobster mac-n-cheese, which was really good. The dish consisted of Cavatapi pasta smothered in a four-cheese Mornay sauce, lobster(naturally) and was topped with bread crumbs and pancetta. The noodles on top were crispy, and those underneath were creamy due to the sauce. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had personally gotten more of it....is that selfish of me?
Parpar got the Caledonia Chicken, which was topped with spinach, a creamy artichoke sauce, as well as other Mediterranean tasty goodness. The chicken was moist and well done. If it weren't for the fact that I don't usually order chicken when I go out to eat, I would certainly order this dish.
Marmar was served some Lazy Man's Lobster claws, and once again, they were typically prepared lobster claws. Other than that, they were tasty and had the traditionally expected buttery flavor that lobster is known for.
Perhaps the most interesting culinary aspect of our evening was the haggis. None of us had ever eaten haggis, so I decided to give it a whirl. It was served with mashed potato, and was very bland, but other than that it was...different. Texturally, the dish was very strange, and featured chunks of liver that were prominent among the other ground ingredients. Overall, I would order this again, but I would take it to go and add some crushed red pepper and other spices to make it more flavorful and interesting, as I did with the left-overs. Do not fear the haggis!
After dinner, we got some Talisker 10 year Scotch for Marmar, since she is very much into that sort of thing, and I had my favorite: Bailey's with cream on the rocks. A perfect after-dinner drink, and most excellent.
On the whole, it was a wonderful outing, and I expect that Ginger and I will eat at the Brae Loch again, perhaps with some frequency. As far as the food is concerned, we preferred the winter menu to the summer menu, since traditional Scottish food tends to be best enjoyed in colder weather. The combination of staff, ambiance and food was wonderful, and I highly recommend the Inn to anyone who happens to be in the Cazenovia/Syracuse area.
