Ambience enhances Migis Lodge dining experience

Migis Lodge, a 125-acre resort with 35 immaculate cottages circling Sebago Lake, inhabits a gorgeous part in Maine.

As we left the dining room after a recent dinner and passed an always-burning fire in the "living room" fireplace, the evening light had turned the lake silver and silhouetted a distant, lone canoe and its occupant between tall pines.

That tranquility gives quality of place to this place of quality, adding a unique atmosphere to a meal that was good but not outstanding.

Men and boys are required to wear jackets at dinner, except during the lobster bake held every Friday night at the edge of the water. Women dress up too, and guests socialize at tables on the porch of the main lodge or at tables under the pine trees before dinner starts.

Almost all the folks eating dinner are guests of Migis Lodge. Depending on the season, they pay between $215 to $385, per person per day for three meals and luxurious accommodations that include daily wood and ice delivery and the use of boats and other facilities.

Of course, expectations for dinner, not to mention breakfast and lunch, are high for this crowd. For an outsider, $40 covers a five-course meal that can be enjoyed with an advance reservation (which will likely be unavailable if the resort is full).

Dinner plates feature a pine branch with a pine cone inside a green band, neither very elegant nor too casual. That aesthetic seemed to rule the atmosphere, keeping the food straightforward, the service casual but highly competent, and the evening all about low-key satisfaction.

Drink orders are taken by the "bartenders," who circulate in the dining room with cocktails, beer and wine.

Wines offered by the glass included what I was told was the house wine, Leese-Fitch Cabernet Sauvignon (all wines offered by the glass are $8), a California red from Don Sebastiani & Sons that was medium-bodied and packed with red fruit.

Alaia from Castilla y Leon in Spain features Prieto Picudo, an indigenous red grape, and Redcliffe Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, is a citrusy white that might be a good choice with lobster.

Wines sold by the bottle stand on two tables near the entrance of the dining room.

A "relish" tray preceded everything else, providing a snack of carrot and celery sticks, black olives, cottage cheese and gherkins. Other nights, it might hold pickled watermelon rind, other olives and corn relish, according to manager Scott Malm, who started working in the Migis dining room in 1988.

The changing menu started with a first course of grape juice, grilled jerk chicken with pineapple and cucumber salsa, roasted vegetable-stuffed mushrooms or pate with currant Dijon sauce.

The promise of crusty French bread with the pate was kept with soft white bread toasted to a crisp, but the quality of the bread rolls and not-so-French bread was poor.

The small slice of pate had the rough texture of its description as country-style, and it was excellent with the tangy mustard and currant sauce, a sliced gherkin and a strawberry. Two mushrooms filled with cheese in addition to bread crumbs, carrots and zucchini were modestly enjoyable.

Roasted corn and pepper soup had been thickened with flour and had a good mild taste, improved by a few twists of the table's tall pepper mill, a great feature in the dining room.

A salad of spotless baby greens ordered with hazelnut dressing kept hazelnuts unfortunately in the background, but its grated carrot, seeded cucumbers and cherry tomatoes were fine. Cumin took precedence in the dressing on a salad of greens and black beans, roasted peppers and cheese.

A trip to the chef's table for a freshly cut slice of juicy sirloin allowed my companion to load up on steamed, buttery asparagus and roasted small red potatoes that I thought could have been crustier. A reduction of red wine, shallot and rosemary added to demiglace and finished with butter, cream and pepper hit up the sweetness of the beef.

The golden egg-dipped halibut came in a pool of what the menu called "wild berry beurre rouge." It reminded me of jam omelets I ate as a kid – the hot sweet jam enriched by loads of melted butter. But however much I liked that combination then, it only obscured the flavor of the delicate fish.

Boiled lobster was also served from that chef's table. Rack of lamb and a vegetarian dish with penne, along with pan-fried deviled chicken breast coated with mustard and crumbs, were also on the menu.

At the table in the corner of the dining room, dozens of plates were already prepared for people looking for dessert, from little cylinders of "chocolate decadence" (dense fudgy chocolate with raspberry sauce) to plates of grapes, kiwi and strawberries with slices of 4 or 5 ounces of mild blue cheese, brie and a Swiss cheese.

House flatbread was the night's best savory baked good, crisp and dry. Good coffee ended my meal on a high note.

Key lime pie, carrot cake and berries with whipped cream were other possibilities.

N.L. English is a Portland freelance writer and the author of "Chow Maine: The Best Restaurants, Cafes, Lobster Shacks and Markets on the Coast." Visit English's Web site, www.chowmaineguide.com.

Migis Lodge