Lodge Restaurant-castle Hills, San Antonio, Texas Restaurant Details

Food:

Beautiful and romantic place. My husband took me there for our anniversary/ valentine's day. He called a week in advance to make reservations, and he explained to the lady that answered the phone that he had a gift certificate and asked if it was ok to use it during the holiday. The lady said yes, and went ahead and reserved our spot. We were finished with our romantic meal (the food was excellent!), and it was time to pay. My husband placed his card and the gift certificate on with the bill in the booklet. At this time, I wasn't aware that my husband was going to use a gift certificate that his mother gave him for our anniversary. The waiter came back and told him he couldn't use the certificate because it was a holiday. My husband told him that when he called he asked and they told him he could use it. The waiter went to get the manager, and when he came to our table he came with a poor attitude. My husband explained the situation to him, and he threw the certificate down on the table as if to say, " I don't have the time to deal with this". He brought on the attention of other guests and caused a scene as if we were trying to get away with something. He was very rude! Later, he sent the waiter to go get the gift certificate from my husband and said that the Chef said it was ok to take it.
I felt so bad for the way we got treated, and felt sad for my husband as he was trying to make this day very memorable(first V-day as husband and wife). When we left, we had a bad taste in our mouth for the way we were treated. Everything would have been fine if we were told in the beginning that my husband couldn't use it on this day, and he could of made reservations for another day.

Again, great food...horrible manager and overall bad experience. Would not recommend spending this kind of money for that kind of treatment.

Food:

I ate there for lunch. The only bad thing I expeirenced was extreemly slow service. I had a salad with candied pecans, pan seared salmon, and deconstucted cheesecake. The salmon was perfect, while the salad and cheesecake was excellant. It took 1.5 hours to eat this little, but was very romantic, and cheap at just $20 with drink and tip.

Food:

Celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary here...never been to a restaurant like it! It was STUNNING, from the moment we pulled into the driveway. Amazing staff, INCREDIBLE food, and RO-MAN-TIC! Absolutely loved this place. Great for all romantic and significant dates. Highly recommended!

Food:

Super Duper expensive. If you like having your fra gras with a bit of escargot then this is the place for you. The food was great and the service was top notch, but don't expect to get out of here spending less than $50 per plate. When my wife and I ate there the bill was about $150.

Food:

Every once in a while, you get a reminder that there are some chefs that are making an effort to bring educated and thoughtful cooking to the Alamo City. Jason Dady is one of the most successful of these, and his now five-restaurant army began with The Lodge, his flagship restaurant located out of the way in Castle Hills. And it seriously is out of the way and pretty easy to miss - located in a converted house down a narrow driveway, we weren't sure if we were at the restaurant or driving down the narrow walkway of some guy's house.

Most of the seating is upstairs, and we were seated in a bedroom with three other tables. The room wasn't built to accommodate twelve people, so the echoing acoustics weren't the best for more than one table. Coincidentally, we happened to be the only occupied table during the meal, so it wasn't an issue.

Our party came for the tasting menu. We originally intended to get the wine pairings, too, but our server suggested that - for the money - we could instead get a couple of bottles of wine and get more overall. Part of me missed the delicate and intricate flavors that each of the selected wines would highlight in each course, but a bigger part of me just wanted more wine, so I approved of this choice.

Because I have hit Yelp's 5000 character limit on more than one occasion in the past, and because the entire menu is listed on the restaurant's website, I'm not going to describe each course in detail, but rather share some thoughts on each dish:

Amuse-bouche was steak tartar on toasted brioche. While good...

Course 1: The scallop was perfectly cooked, and was a favorite of at least one person at the table. It was also served over a piece of toasted brioche. I like toast, and it worked in both dishes, but it seemed a little early in the meal to be duplicating concepts.

Course 2: small servings of potato bisque, mixed greens(with green apple, walnuts, and tossed in champagne vinegar), and a grilled goat cheese sandwich. It was nothing earth-shattering, but served as a nice warmup for the rest of the meal.

Course 3: the creamy orecchiette pasta with corn and parsley that was served under the duck confit was claimed to be a Dady specialty. I thought that was an odd claim to fame, but nice.

Course 4: instead of the artichoke barigoule mentioned in the online menu, it was replaced by one made with cauliflower, citron, and candied carrots. It was earthy, homey, and complimented the wonderfully fresh salmon.

Course 5: I don't agree with a palate cleanser being counted as a course, but the lime-flavored ice dessert topped with lemon zest had a thin mouthfeel initially, but the zest kicked after a second

Course 6 was the dividing dish of the meal, with some believing the grilled smoky flavor of the quail went too far (I liked it). Between the farrotto, roasted apple, and pear pasta, there were a lot of big flavors in the dish. I appreciated the boldness of it, though don't think it really fit with the overall flow of the meal. It was cool to learn that the quail was raised just down the road, too.

Course 7 was a simple tenderloin with a grilled tomato, slice of potato, and Espagnole sauce (I think). The tenderloin was a good as it gets, though I thought my potato was underdone.

Course 8: Chef Dady loves his Nutella cake, offering it at four of his restaurants. You can't go wrong with caramel sauce and peanut butter mousse.

Were we in a different city, I might have to think harder to consider the star rating for The Lodge, but in San Antonio, the meal was unparalleled, and I don't think I would be exaggerating to claim this to be the best meal in the city. With impeccably fresh ingredients and a trained eye for preparation, it's easy to see how Chef Dady was able to build a strong stable of restaurants upon the back of The Lodge. There's nothing wrong with simple home cooking, and I've certainly enjoyed my fair share of Tex-Mex while in San Antonio, but sometimes you need a reminder that food can serve to be more than sustenance - it can be a form of art. The Lodge is this reminder.