Finally made it to the Penrose Room

20 years in the Springs and I finally made it to the most highly decorated restaurant in the Rocky Mountain region.

My wife took me as a surprise for my 50th birthday.

It was, of course, fabulous.

The after-glow has worn off, though, so I can dispassionately deconstruct:

– It was the most we’ve ever spent for a dinner for two ($240, with tip). (Closest was the Don Cesar on St. Petersburg Beach. It was close to $400 for four. Fortunately, that was for a review for The Tampa Tribune, so the paper picked up the tab.)

– My expectations, given the recent Forbes Five Diamond award, were sky-high, and, in almost every way, those expectations were met. My stuffed Colorado lamb was the best lamb dish I’d ever had. My wife’s fresh water bass with morels … ooh, those sauteed morels … heavenly. The goat cheese and beet app reminded me of the best salad at the now-defunct Blue Vervain in Manitou. The crab bisque, with a nice chunk of Dungeness crab meat at the bottom, was as good as Ryan Blanchard’s lobster bisque, which is saying something.

– The service was perfect. Chatty when we wanted to chat. Quiet when we didn’t. They do that silly thing when you go to the rest room, swapping out your napkin and placing a new one with tongs.

– The view was lovely. We were in the side room, overlooking the lake. The surrounding trees were dolled up with Christmas lights. And while we danced to a jazz trio in the main dining room we could look out and see the city lights. Truly stunning.

– But … this wasn’t the best meal of my life. That’s probably because I’m a nut for seafood. And although the aforementioned soup got me warmed up, I would have liked to dig into a tremendous seafood main course. Chef Bertrand Bouquin loves fish and does fine things with them, but I want my shell fish. I want a scallops, shrimp, lobster or crab dish main. That way, I can get a meat dish, my wife can get the seafood and we end up with our surf and turf. (OK, foodies, go ahead and mock.)

So, what was my favorite meal ever. Maybe the first time I ate at Plate World Cuisine.

But expectations were lower. It’s not a fair comparison, really. But I remember being blown away.

Still, after all this deconstruction (read whining), I have to admit that the Penrose Room deserves its stars, and I’m glad I finally got there. Now, once I win the lottery I go on a quest to try the 21 other five-stars.