Some surprises at Watertown's Ramada Inn

The Ramada Inn at the intersection of Arsenal Street and Interstate 81 has been around for a long time.

While the outside has a dated look, we were immediately impressed by the welcoming lobby all decked out for the holidays. A flip-on fireplace was glowing off to the right. Bar patrons were glowing in the large lounge to the left.

Straight ahead is the dining room, totally separate from the lounge. It's a colonial-looking room, wainscoting with patterned wallpaper above, dark maroon carpet, lots of nooks and crannies for privacy.

The menu offers something for everyone — a nice selection of hand-crafted appetizers, steaks and seafood (haddock, salmon, scallops and shellfish), creative chicken features, and several basic Italian dishes (lasagna, ziti, spaghetti and meatballs).

And if you're not looking for a full-fledged dinner, there's a "Lighter Section" with deep-fried finger foods, soups, sandwiches, burgers and wings.

Wendi, our waitress, got us started with a basket (a real basket) of warm rolls wrapped in a cloth napkin. While the rolls were just OK, Wendi's service throughout the night was outstanding.

We sampled four of the five appetizers. The only one we didn't try was shrimp cocktail.

A dozen steamed clams ($8.95) were the strangest littlenecks I've ever seen — the shells were absolutely white and had the look of porcelain. The clam meat was pretty small, no plumpness at all, but tasted fine dipped in the melted butter. The plate was nicely garnished with fresh lettuce and a decoratively cut lemon.

Roasted garlic bruschetta ($7.50) — four good-sized pieces — was way more than one person could handle. Very nice crusty ciabatta rolls were sliced in half and mounded with diced tomatoes, onions, olive oil and herbs. Everything was held together by a slice of melted mozzarella.

We didn't taste any mellow roasted garlic, just the sharp, annoying taste of jarred garlic, and lots of it.

We all agreed that the baked Gouda ($8.95) was exceptional. Warm, delicious cheese oozed from flaky, buttery puff pastry. Underneath, a sweet, yummy praline sauce added an interesting dimension.

Perhaps it could have used more onions, but the crock of French onion soup ($5.25) boasted a rich homemade stock with a noticeable touch of sherry and a nicely browned gratin of cheeses on top.

Someone in the kitchen is going the extra mile to make sure each dish is attractively plated and presented — not just the appetizers, but the salads, entrées and desserts as well.

Salads were excellent, a lovely spring mix with goat cheese crumbles, slices of orange, bits of pineapple — simple and elegant, not over-filling. Sweet, homemade balsamic house dressing was most enjoyable, as was tangy homemade Thousand Island dressing.

We were impressed by the chilled glass plates with large white doilies separating the salad plate from the charger underneath. Wendi also impressed us by serving each course with her nonserving arm behind her back and never having to ask, "Who's got the Gouda?" or "Who ordered the Thousand Island dressing?"

And I probably don't have to tell you, every entrée was placed in front of the proper guest, no questions, no guesswork, preceded by "Excuse my reach."

Chicken Francaise ($13.95) was described as a "tender, juicy egg battered breast sautéed in a light lemon butter sauce." As it turned out, it the chicken was actually quite dry, more like breaded and fried, lacking any kind of sauce that might have helped moisten it a bit.

It was served over "chef's special rice jardinière." It didn't seem to have any vegetables in it, as "jardinière" would have led us to believe, and really wasn't very special.

Broiled salmon ($16.95) was fine, a good portion with a good flavor, accompanied by red-skin mashed potatoes and colorful but rubbery previously frozen vegetables that definitely detracted.

Frenched lamb loin chops ($17.95) were very tasty and perfectly cooked, but weren't exactly 1 1/4 inch thick as described (more like 3/4 inch), and were definitely not "Frenched," or the meat would have been cut away from the bone, leaving it exposed.

We were disappointed with the seafood marinara ($18.95), "clams, mussels, scallops and shrimp over a bed of linguini tossed with marinara sauce."

A big pile of thin spaghetti, not linguini, was surrounded by small clams and mussels and really small, overcooked scallops. The seafood was nicely arranged; however, there were no shrimp and the marinara sauce over the pasta was definitely not tasty.

Desserts were nicely presented, with lots of plate painting and the effective doily under each glass plate.

Death by chocolate ($4.95), an enormous portion of three-layered chocolate cake, was jazzed up with raspberry squiggles decorating the plate plus neat little mini-chocolate chips in the icing.

Cheesecake ($4.95) was noticeably sugary, drizzled with raspberry sauce.

Cherry pie ($3.95) was noticeably flat but thoughtfully warmed without our asking.

The only dessert made in-house was marvelous. Chocolate truffle ($6.25) was a tasty brownie topped with lots of vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a sprinkle of mini-chocolate chips.

Total tab for four came to $129 before tip.

The Ramada dining room also offers early-bird specials from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Choose from ham steak, fried haddock, chicken Parmesan or spaghetti and meatballs for $8.95. Dinners come with soup or salad, potato and vegetable plus pudding for dessert. Add a glass of house wine for $3.

You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

Ramada Inn

6300 Arsenal St.

Watertown, NY

788-0700

www.watertownramada.com

HOURS: Dinner 5 to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday

Lunch served from 11 a.m. the same days

Baked Gouda in puff pastry was a wonderful appetizer.

Salads were excellent, a lovely spring mix with goat cheese crumbles, slices of orange, bits of pineapple

Chocolate truffle, a tasty brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and mini-chocolate chips was our favorite dessert

RATING: 3 FORKS