LaHood Steakhouse - Cardwell
Author: The Traveling Diners
LaHood Steakhouse - Cardwell
The Traveling Diners
The LaHood Steakhouse is located in one of the most historic places in Montana. There are some claims that Sacajawea was captured by a Hidatsa raiding party in LaHood Canyon. In August 1805, the Lewis and Clark “Corps of Discovery” camped roughly at the site of the restaurant. Father De Smet camped very near the site when traveling through the area with the Salish tribe before founding St. Mary’s Mission.
The LaHood restaurant has been located at the site for many decades and was regarded as a very good steakhouse, but in September 2021 a fire destroyed the venerable steakhouse. Phil Lalich rebuilt the restaurant and reestablished the restaurant as a high-end, gourmet restaurant.
The Traveling Diners recently visited the LaHood Steakhouse and had a wonderful meal. Since it was a special occasion we went full out and ordered appetizers, entrees and desserts. They were all executed very well! And we did not leave hungry.
The first thing we noticed was the view. We were seated near a window with a stunning view into LaHood Canyon. I have traveled through that canyon many times – since I was very young and have always thought it was beautiful.
We started the evening with 2 appetizers shared among the Traveling Diners: creamy polenta with mushroom confit and pork belly with a huckleberry sauce. I have had polenta many times and the LaHood polenta did not disappoint! I have found pork belly to be a risky order – many times it is done poorly. LaHood served an excellent pork belly with plenty to share among all of us; the huckleberry sauce was an excellent addition – subtle but extremely tasty.
We all had a different entree so we could really sample the food: prime rib, walleye fish and chips, salmon, and shrimp scampi. The medium cut of prime rib was quite large much of it went home with us. It was well-cooked and came with a variety of sauces.
There was no skimping on the walleye fish and chips. There were six large pieces of fish; the “chips” could be regular french fries, sweet potato fries, or any other side on the menu.
The salmon was a large salmon served with the chosen gremolata sauce. The salmon was very good and gremolata was excellent and the salmon was served with asparagus.
As good as the other entrees were, perhaps the best meal served was the shrimp scampi served with linguine. There were 5 large shrimp served with the linguine. Everything was done to perfection.
One of the Traveling diners had a salad with dinner; the rest of us had French Onion soup. The salad was very good – the soup was superb. Rather than a large crouton with cheese on top, it came with regular crouton bits and cheese melted into the soup. I would go back for the soup.
I did find that the french fries were a little soggy and pretty mediocre – certainly edible but not really the same quality as the rest of the food.
We ordered a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white. Both wines were very good quality and complemented our dinners very well.
All of the diners asked for take-home boxes while saving room for dessert. It was worth it: the Swedish cream infused with blueberry sauce and the blueberry cake served with huckleberry sauce were a favorite, but the pumpkin cheesecake with pecan crust and fresh plum and peach tarte was also good. They were all well done and all were consumed.
Our server was a delightful young woman with a lot of personality. She helped make it a memorable evening.
The LaHood Steakhouse is a high-end restaurant and, as such, is not inexpensive. However, we were very surprised to find the price of the meals to be reasonable – especially in relation to the quality of the food. I would say the restaurant is priced moderately.
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: The Traveling Diners
Image 1 Caption: The Entrees: Prime Rib, Walleye Fish and Chips, Shrimp Scampi and Salmon with Gemolada Sauce
Photo Credits: The Traveling Diners
Image 2 Caption: French Onion Soup
Photo Credits: The Traveling Diners
Image 3 Caption: Swedish Creme, Blueberry Cake with Huckleberry Sauce, Pumpkin Cheescake, Plum and Peach Tarte
Photo Credits: The Traveling Diners
