Adventures in Cazenovia: Lincklaen House
My final full day in Cazenovia was wrapped up nicely with dinner at the Lincklaen House. The building is rather imposing from the outside, like a manor house, but on the inside the atmosphere is very classy and welcoming. While we perused the menu, a waitress came around with a basket of freshly made popovers which we were all very willing to tuck into. They were obviously fresh, toasty, and eggy; just the way a popover should be.
I started with a baked brie appetizer, and frankly it was the best I’ve ever had. The puff pastry crust was flaky and good, the brie was exceptional, warm, melty, creamy, and just slightly tangy. Included alongside the brie was a selection of nice crackers, fresh fruit (the honeydew melon was excellent) and a few odd leaves of salad. Underneath the whole thing was a delicious hot pepper jelly which tied the entire dish together in a way I couldn’t have foreseen.
For our entrees, everyone else opted for a salad with steak or salmon on it, however, wanting to test the limits of their menu (plus to quench a wicked spice craving I was having), I had a chicken enchilada. It seemed out of place on a menu rife with dinner club classics like prime rib, baked escargot, and beef tenderloin. Upon arrival at our table I was surprised to see the size of it. It was like a spare tire wrapped in a flour tortilla and drenched in sour cream. I immediately knew what to expect; this was a very Americanized version of the enchilada. It was stuffed with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, onions, under-seasoned grilled chicken, and a ton of white rice. In my opinion, rice, especially plain boiled white rice, has no place in an enchilada. Overall it was very filling and big, but very bland and loaded with way too much sour cream.
While their menu could be pared down to remove some of the weaker entries, I feel that what they do well here, they do very well. Additionally the service was great and the atmosphere was, though elegant, not constrictingly so. Most importantly, everyone left content and happy and the price as definitely about half of what you could expect to pay in