Welcome home to The Phoenix

HARRISVILLE — I've driven along Route 3 near Harrisville many times and noticed signs for Lake Bonaparte.

Finally, I found a reason to go there — The Phoenix bar and restaurant, located a mile and a half off Route 3 on Hermitage Road. Look for a log cabin next to a boat launch on the southeastern shore and you're there.

It's an off-the-beaten-path fun place with a friendly staff, pretty good food and a great setting.

There's a story to The Phoenix. The original seasonal restaurant was destroyed by fire just before Christmas in 2005. The chefs and owners, twin brothers Gary and Jerry Manford, constructed a new log cabin restaurant that opened last June. This year, they opened soon after the ice on the lake went out. And the busy summer season is now upon them.

A stop at the bar was required. It occupies about half of the small building with a dozen or more comfortable bar stools and a great view of the lake. No darts. No pool. No TV.

Lots of good conversation, though. Our congenial bartender, Meredith, started it off with me, as I waited for the rest of the WDT Reviewing Team. She's from "Lawville" (that's Lowville, if you're a native). Health science major at Ithaca College. Goalkeeper for the Ithaca Bombers soccer team.

I didn't want to blow my cover, so kept my chatter fairly general. But in lieu of TV and CNN Breaking News, I did break the news about Michael Jackson. Donna, the seasoned solo waitress, confirmed it with a text message from her daughter. A couple next to me, having dinner at the bar, struck up a conversation about Russian vodka.

The rest of the reviewing team was now in place at the bar. Big, frosted mugs of Mic Light draft for $2.50 and top-shelf mixed drinks for $3.50 could have glued us to the bar forever, but duty called.

While we were at the bar, we had a chance to look over the menu — casual stuff like wings, poppers, tenders and burgers, but some more serious stuff like steaks and seafood and huge lobster tails. We grabbed a table right next to the bar (because that's where they all are) and placed our order with Donna.

We got a dozen little neck clams ($7.95) and a snow crab basket ($12.95) to share.

The clams weren't the sturdy gray-shelled plump-meat littlenecks we're used to. They were a strange white variety from overseas, thin-shelled and short on clam. Dunk them in butter and they were fine, but you had to chew real slowly and savor each bite.

The snow crab legs were fine, too small to crack with the nutcracker provided, but you could easily rip into them with a tine of your fork. No butter needed here; they had a naturally sweet sea flavor on their own.

The salads that preceded our dinners were adequate with crisp iceberg lettuce, flavorful grape tomatoes, last week's cucumber and a variety of commercial dressings. I lucked out and got the last of crumbly blue cheese that night and doused my greens with oil and vinegar. Quite nice.

A quartet of bikers in full monogrammed leather regalia and handkerchief hats had taken over our seats at the bar. They were having fun, but after a few beers a certain degree of carelessness set in. We heard Meredith matter-of-factly say, "Watch the f-bombs, now, guys."

Steak dominates the menu: sirloin, porterhouse or rib-eye.

A 20-ounce charbroiled porterhouse ($19.95) was ordered medium-rare. It was medium-rare at the bone, but more like medium-well throughout the rest of the steak. Not a big deal, it tasted fine.

I guess the 20-ounce thing led us to believe it would be a big, thick hunk of meat. And while it took up a good portion of the plate, it was a bit thin.

The rib-eye ($17.95) was tender and tasty, cooked to a just-right medium — pink, not red, no blood. It was an honest 12-ounce portion.

The chef (not sure if it was Gary or Jerry — they were both in the kitchen) did a perfectly fine job of steaming the large 8-ounce lobster tail ($17.95), lopped in half and served in the shape of a horseshoe.

I ordered grouper ($12.95), sautéed in lemon and garlic butter. It was a touch dry for my liking, and heavily dusted with paprika. Could have used some of that butter drizzled on top. A squeeze of fresh lemon helped.

And it was a touch small for grouper, we thought. I associate grouper with the thickness of haddock. It looked more like tilapia, a rather flat fish also on the menu.

We were excited when we heard that caramelized onion and caramelized carrots were offered as sides.

Unfortunately, the onion was quickly sautéed with a light burn on the edges, not cooked long enough to soften and turn brown and release its natural sugars and caramelize. It was merely sprinkled with sugar, a little distracting since the onions were placed on top of the steak, and you got a few granules of sugar with each bite of meat.

Same with the carrots — baby carrots blanched and sprinkled with sugar. Broccoli was the best of the three veggies, but had a watery taste, a la previously frozen.

The fries were billed as "homemade" and were hand-cut, but they had come out of the fryer a while ago. We appreciated the garnish on each plate, a slice of fresh apple and strawberry.

Gary came out of the kitchen and told us his brother had made apple pie earlier that day. Or was it the other way around?

We gave it a try, and it was great — apples cooked just right, lots of cinnamon and a flaky, dark brown crust. Good job, Jerry. Or Gary.

Also tasting fresh were the coconut cream pie and key lime pie. Both had nice crusts.

The key lime pie was noticeably sweet, considering key limes are generally a bit more tart than regular limes.

And how can you go wrong with a brownie sundae? A large hunk of moist, chocolatey brownie was covered with a big blob of vanilla ice cream and lots of chocolate syrup. It was big enough for two.

Dinner for four, excluding drinks, rang up at $111 before tip.

We thank Meredith, Donna, Gary and Jerry for their genuine north country hospitality. They made us feel more like guests in their home than customers in a restaurant.

The Phoenix is a relaxed place — a lake house of sorts with lots of atmosphere — to come as you are, enjoy some food and brew ... and of course, the view. If you've got a kayak or canoe, bring that along too. There's lots of deck and dock space for relaxing outdoors.

By the way, restrooms are in a separate building just outside the restaurant, clean as can be, available to boaters as well as restaurant and bar patrons.

I don't remember where I was the day Elvis died, but I'll always remember where I was the day Michael Jackson died.

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

The Phoenix

14353 Hermitage Road

Harrisville, NY

543-7463

A neat little log cabin restaurant on the shore of Lake Bonaparte, serving food and brew. Great atmosphere, great staff.

HOURS: Noon till whenever, Tuesday through Sunday

Closed Monday

RATING: 3 FORKS