"Recently I ventured into The Campbell House (Crowne Plaza) to join some friends for the Sunday buffet. Kudos to co-owners Stephen Dawahare and Joe Montgomery, for the ambience exudes the former glory days of this Lexington landmark.
This gave me the notion of finding restaurants that could fit my "express business lunch" timeframe during the workweek. On our first visit, my guest and I were told by a member of the dining room management that the three entré specials were chicken Parmesan, steamship round of beef and pork barbecue. Then the server arrived, intoning my pet peeve: "And how are we doing today?" Unfortunately, this set the tone that reflected a weakness in training and guest attention. The litany of server slips is woven throughout this review.
As our goal was the express lunch on our first business visit, we were met and seated, then our drink orders were taken before we proceeded to the buffet ($10.95). The bountiful buffet offerings of meats, starches, veggies, two soups and various salad items, including a mixed Caesar, potato salad, and the usual toppings for a mixed salad, were presented.
The steamship was thinly sliced and carved to order with au jus and a choice of horseradish or "horseradish sauce" - a mild mix of horseradish and sour cream. The beef was both tender and flavorful. The chicken Parmesan was excellent, not over-baked or overrun with cheese. Unfortunately, I can't be as kind concerning the third entré. The manager represented it as barbecued pork, which was over-roasted pork tenderloin, over-sauced and misrepresented as pork barbecue. We were thinking either pulled pork or spare ribs.
On a second visit, my guest had not been to the restaurant, so her perspective was fresh, and as I had, she found the ambiance in the lobby to be very warm and inviting. She ordered from the menu while I went to the buffet where I found chicken noodle soup, chili and lots of greens, along with tuna salad and egg salad. No Caesar this time, but the entrees included a Pullman ham, chicken with a tomato-based spiced sauce over it and smothered pork chops.
The ham with honey mustard was very tasty and sliced to order at the carving station. The other two entrees were disappointing, mostly due to the disguises caused by over-saucing that left the palate wanting more water.
My guest ordered a tuna salad sandwich on wheat toast. She found the wheat toast nicely toasted; however the tuna had a strong relish taste with lots of egg white and a soupy mayonnaise dressing. She was offered a choice of chips or fries, which were laced with a heavy grease smell, though the seasoned salt was sufficiently light. She thought it might be good if Kilbern's would offer a small fruit cup as a third side choice.
We then attempted to attack the dessert table, which had two offerings prepared on-site, and on both visits, some prepared cakes and pies. Other desserts have been bread pudding with a bourbon sauce and a cobbler that the server could not identify on the first visit. I could not identify it either after eating some. On the most recent visit, we were told that it was a strawberry-rhubarb cobbler, but there were no strawberries. Another service experience occurred when I approached the server to ask for a dessert fork, as all of my flatware had been taken earlier. She looked at me as though she had never heard of such a thing, even after I said it is like a salad fork. It would be nice if servers could be trained in cutlery.
Kilbern's does offer a private dining room for business luncheons, along with some meeting rooms in their lower level. All in all, I can say that on both visits it was possible to have a quick business luncheon and be out of The Campbell House in less than an hour. I think the biggest chance you will take is going on a day when the entrés are not acceptable. On the first trip, two out of three made the cut; on the second trip, one out of three was acceptable in my view. On that day, I recommend ordering off the extensive and fairly priced menu.
Give Kilbern's a try, and let's hope it works for you.
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