Lunch and Tendrils Restaurant at Cave B

Lunch at Cave B’s Tendrils (http://www.cavebinn.com/tendrils-restaurant.php) in Quincy, Washington at the Gorge, was the perfect spot for lunch (and a great opportunity for my first restaurant critique blog entry). 

Tendrils Menu

We left Crystal Mountain Resort at 8:15 this morning and made both the Sunset and Paradise drives before we started the six-hour drive home from Mt. Rainer.  Tendrils was the perfect stop and proved to be the much needed break from a day of driving.  We got there just a little before 3:00 and had the place to ourselves.  I was given my choice of tables on the patio overlooking the Gorge and the Columbia River. 

I had ordered the American Kobe Beef Burger minus the bun and bacon.  Jacque ordered the Street Tacos, and we shared a cup of the soup of the day.  We both ordered a glass of Syrah to enjoy with our lunches.

The Syrah was awesome!  A nose of dark cherries, and a light cherry finish without any heavy tannins.  Nice legs, and a great wine for sipping on the patio, it complimented my burger well.  Note: I was a little disappointed that a restaurant at a winery did not offer wine flights.

The soup of the day was a hominy green chili soup.  It was in what tasted like a chicken broth, with hominy, green chili, and cilantro.  It was very tasty, but I might make it a little different.  I would consider pureeing the broth, hominy, and green chili together.   I would then add maybe some fire roasted diced green chili on top as a finish.  Sitting on a patio in ninety-degree weather, I am curious how my version would be if it were served chilled – will try it, and let you know in the future.

My burger -- it was ‘good’, could I tell that it was Kobe beef? Probably not.  The house chips were awesome, and I am thankful that the plate was not filled with them – some restaurants think you need the equivalent of three bags of chips.  Jacque seemed to really enjoy her Street Tacos.  Lots of pork, with cilantro topping them off; at first she tried to compare them to the tacos we get from the local taco wagons, but later had to admit that they were much better.

Street Pork Tacos

Kobe Beef Burger - minus bun and bacon

Hominy Green Chili Soup

Since this was both lunch and dinner for us, we decided to finish our meal off with the Lavender Crème Brulee.  If you start to follow my blog, you will find that Jacque will often opt for Crème Brulee, when available.  In this case it was served with ample fresh fruit, and real whipped cream over the top.  It was nice and light, had great texture, the brulee was done well, but I am not certain where they get the lavender part from, because the taste was lacking it.  Don’t take me wrong; it was a great dessert and finish to a really good meal.

Lavender Creme Brûlée

So long as the food is not rotten, I believe that dining is maybe only thirty or forty percent about taste, the rest being ambiance, presentation, service, plus, plus, plus.  For the $100.00 this meal cost after tip, the view and ambiance was great, the presentation was lacking, but?  With that said, we would probably go back and try their dinner menu.

Jacque enjoying the view