At Boltons Landing, stick with the burger

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Recently while in Barren County, I took the opportunity to try out Boltons Landing, the best restaurant in town, according to one local. Glasgow is a steadily growing community, so I was eager to see if patrons were being well served I entered incognito, stealthy and ninja-like, and was shown to a cozy two-top in an enclave of tables adjacent to a separate room and also a larger dining area.

There were antique pots, ornaments and other housewares and pieces of art to accompany the grandma-style dining settings at each table.

A very pleasant Veronica approached and offered me a drink diet as always and asked if I wanted any starters.

Ill take the breaded fried mushrooms and a Caesar salad, I said.

After a very reasonable few minutes, she returned with my drink and I ordered my lunch entree. I was tempted to go after the World Famous Burgers as the menu implored, but I felt that an appetizer and salad would put me way over the buckle, so I went conservative with pan-blackened catfish and some broccoli. Normally you get two sides, but since I was going with the $1 upcharge for a Caesar, I only got one.

The mushrooms came out moments later with a pair of angel biscuits. The biscuits and butter were on small metal saucer that was placed atop the table candle fixture to keep warm. Clever idea, but be careful one slight nudge and its Humpty Dumpty all over the table. Obviously I found out the hard way, and to add insult to injury, I burned my fingers on the saucer trying to put it back up on the candle duhh.

So I pop down a mushroom after dipping it in some horseradish sauce and pop it right back out because it was piping hot, always a good thing. A minute or two later, my Caesar showed up. Not a bad little salad, but there was either a little too much dressing, or the dressing was especially sharp. Lots of cheese, which I love, and I practically finished all of both the salad and the biscuits and mushrooms.

Then the main event was laid across the table. On first sight, I failed to remember that I was only paying $7.75. That would explain the disappointing portion (and Im always talking about eating light). Now Im not saying it wasnt a good effort. It actually looked OK, but then I bit into it and discovered that their idea of blackened meant burnt.

Yeah, the little guy was dried up and crispy, and it wasnt the Cajun seasoning. The broccoli was great, though, and luckily I was practically full from the appetizer, biscuits and salad.

Throughout the meal, Veronica was right on time filling my drink and inquiring if I was happy. Im a sucker for a smile so I basically faked it and said it was great. I dont doubt they would have fixed the problem, but unfortunately I wasnt in a position to wait long.

I eyeballed a few other entrees as they passed by and can honestly say I just made a bad menu decision. They had great-looking pastas and yes, the world-famous burger did look great as well.

The atmosphere and the service was great and Id definitely recommend the restaurant, though probably not the pan-blackened catfish, to anyone in the area looking for a good, reasonably priced (I paid $14.15) meal.

Well let the sting of this set in and revisit the esteemed Boltons at a later date to make a final judgment.

Our anonymous reviewers specialty is burnt catfish. Contact Managing Editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235 for any comments about this or any other review. New restaurants get an eight-week grace period before being reviewed.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700