The Coeur d'Alenes Restaurant

My daughter and I stopped in for lunch, after discovering that The Coeur d'Alenes Restaurant was just around the corner from my office.nnWe both ordered lemonade, which tasted home-made (almost certainly not from a mix or bag full of lemonade-flavored syrup).nnMy daughter ordered the house quiche, with Havarti, Swiss, White Cheddar and Asiago cheeses, spinach, Crimini mushrooms, roasted peppers in an egg custard and house-made pie crust. We traded bites of our respective entrees, so these are my opinions: The quiche was very creamy, with tender, fresh ingredients and just a hint of spice in the after-taste. The crust was tender and flaky. The slice was generous in size without being gigantic.nnI had the fish filet, a hand-breaded Alaskan fish filet with lemon caper aioli. This entree consisted of two reasonably-sized pieces of Panko-breaded white fish, which was exceptionally moist and tender, mild in taste, and with a crust that was very crisp and flavorful.nnBoth entrees came with a small organic garden salad and choice of house-made dressing. The greens in the salad were perfectly fresh, and the small tomatoes must have been locally-sourced, as they tasted just like, well, tomatoes, a feat which many grocery stores and their globally-sourced produce vendors have yet to master. The dressings were mild but flavorful, and sparingly-applied, rather than dumped all over the vegetables as if to drown them, a common practice in many restaurants.nnFor dessert, we split a chocolate mousse. The mousse was surprisingly smooth and creamy, with a chocolate flavor that was subtle, rather than overpowering or syrupy, and a level of sweetness that did not make my teeth ache -- again, somewhat unusual.nnThe portion sizes also stood out, in that they were not enormous, and this too was a welcome deviation from the arms race of portion-sizes that seems to have finally begun to lose its charm in many progressive restaurants. We were both full when we finished our salads and entrees, but we still had room to split a small dessert, and this after we both finished nearly everything on our plates (I helped my 10-year-old daughter with a little of her salad, mostly to get another taste of those tomatoes and the pleasant dressing).nnWe understand the motives behind ever-increasing portion sizes, but we don't actually need to take leftovers home (our doggies are well-fed as it is), and we don't relish eating to the point where we feel stuffed in order to avoid leaving food on the table to go into the trash (our collective dumpsters are way TOO well-fed). Having worked in many restaurants when I was younger, I feel it must be a deliberate (and in my opinion, courageous) choice on the part of the chef to serve such moderate and reasonable portions, and in speaking with our server, this seemed to be confirmed. She mentioned that the chef monitors each plate as it comes off the table at the end of a meal, to see which items are left uneaten, and to attempt to discern whether it is the portion size or the item itself that is responsible for food being left behind. If this is true, it represents wisdom on the part of the chef, as keeping food costs under control is a sure way to help keep pricing reasonable.nnWe look forward to returning for dinner soon from our home an hour north of Coeur d'Alene.

It was okay.