In olden days, on sparsely traveled rural roads, bandits would lay in wait to stop travellers and steal all their money. Nowadays, such entrepreneurs are more effectively discouraged. But then and again, there's Big Sur. Big Sur is a little gap in the road with some genuinely delightful scenery and overpriced establishments catering to the tourist trade. On the other hand, there's also the River Inn. I was really surprised when I ate there; the place had better food than I'd expect in civil- ization, let alone the middle of nowhere. And the prices weren't that bad, either. I started out with a cup of cauliflower soup. Not from a can; this soup was home made from the real stuff. Main part of the meal was lamb shanks, perfectly cooked and with no obnoxious lamb flavor. The mashed potatoes were home made, the mixed vegetables were just right, too. My companion, who's eating low carb, had an 18-ounce steak (which disappeared very fast) and a green salad. She remarked that the greens weren't bitter. Unfortunately, neither one of us had room for dessert. To give an idea of prices, the lamb entree was about $12 and the steak about $22. River view included. Lenore Levine P.S. I also bought a scarf at an arty store near the Inn. When I paid for it, they demanded I.D. in addition to my credit card? Isn't this against the policy of the company? And why would they want to do such a thing, anyway?
California
Big Sur's River Inn
NNTP-Posting-User: clb Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu ba.food:35409 Felis C. wrote: >In olden days, on sparsely traveled rural roads, >bandits would lay in wait to stop travellers and >steal all their money. Nowadays, such entrepreneurs >are more effectively discouraged. But then and >again, there's Big Sur. > >Big Sur is a little gap in the road with some >genuinely delightful scenery and overpriced >establishments catering to the tourist trade. >On the other hand, there's also the River Inn. >I was really surprised when I ate there; the >place had better food than I'd expect in civil- >ization, let alone the middle of nowhere. And >the prices weren't that bad, either. According to my brother, it's one of the few places where service is up to what he considers normal standards. >I started out with a cup of cauliflower soup. Not >from a can; this soup was home made from the real >stuff. Main part of the meal was lamb shanks, >perfectly cooked and with no obnoxious lamb flavor. >The mashed potatoes were home made, the mixed >vegetables were just right, too. I had ribs when I was there a few years back. They were pretty good. >My companion, who's eating low carb, had an 18-ounce >steak (which disappeared very fast) and a green >salad. She remarked that the greens weren't bitter. > >Unfortunately, neither one of us had room for dessert. > >To give an idea of prices, the lamb entree was about >$12 and the steak about $22. River view included. Not bad when you consider the ride those raw ingredients have to make to get there. Another place that is OK is Cafe Keva - this is the cafe at Nepenthe. The mocha-in-a-bowl is yummy and the rest of the food wasn't bad. Ocean view included. >P.S. I also bought a scarf at an arty store near the >Inn. When I paid for it, they demanded I.D. in addition >to my credit card? Isn't this against the policy of >the company? And why would they want to do such a >thing, anyway? To check and see if it's your credit card, I think. I usually only get that when I am shopping in student-infested areas. CLB ------------------------------------------------------ Charlotte L. Blackmer http://www.rahul.net/clb Berkeley Farm and Pleasure Palace (under construction) Junk (esp. commercial) email review rates: $250 US ea