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| Dinner and dancing overlooking a lake equal romance, or at least the potential for same. |
| Although the name makes it sound like a seafood restaurant, the Lighthouse's Continental menu focuses on steaks. Nevertheless, the chef's seafood special ($19.95) rainbow trout in a bιarnaise sauce with shrimp, calamari and bay scallops was one of the more enjoyable dishes. |
| The restaurant certainly doesn't look nautical; the Mediterranean-style stucco exterior with red clay roof reflects a previous incarnation as a Mexican restaurant. |
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Little anomalies such as these don't necessarily detract from the Lighthouse experience, although they don't add to it, either. Nevertheless, the view after dark, plus candlelight, a high-gloss wooden dance floor, live music and heavy beef add up to a pretty enticing combination. |
| The Lighthouse provides a new dimension to the restaurant scene in the booming, seamless suburbs of Rockwall and Rowlett, which are saturated with barbecue, cowboy steakhouses, Mexican food and as many chain restaurants as quickly poured concrete can support. The Lighthouse isn't cutting-edge, but it is a step up in setting and menu from typical family dinner bell places. |
| As is typical in so-called dry areas, where liquor-by-the-drink sales are prohibited except in "private clubs," guests who want to order wine or other spirits at the Lighthouse must join the very nonexclusive club. There's no fee; all that is required is a swipe of a driver's license. |
| While the bar area is noisier than the main dining room, it offers a view of Lake Ray Hubbard. There also is patio dining, which can be lovely once the sun has gone down and the ragged, weed-overgrown shoreline fades to black. Mood-setting lights from houses and marinas on the opposite shore dominate after dark. |
| The menu includes some winners and a couple of losers. Winners include the 18-ounce bone-in rib eye ($29.95), juicy and deliciously seasoned with an herb crust and nice char. The 12-ounce cognac filet mignon ($26.95) was a disappointment, however. The meat was fine, but the sauce looked like canned mushroom gravy with a taste and gummy consistency to match. |
| Winners and losers shared an appetizer sampler plate ($21.95 for three people), which included nontraditional though succulent oysters Rockefeller, crispy fried calamari and crab cakes that tasted as if they'd been prepared on a factory assembly line. Without a discernible flavor of seafood, the cakes almost could have been school cafeteria fare. Yet an appetizer special of escargots in a cognac sauce ($11.95) was Old World delightful. |
| Blackened ahi tuna with a Dijon mustard sauce ($22.95) sounded promising, but the overbearing sauce obscured the flavor of the fish. Sticking with the classics does offer some assurance. Lamb chops ($28.95) weren't thick enough to be the promised double cut, but they were a rosy medium rare, and gnawing at the little rib bones to strip away the last morsel of meat is always a satisfying denouement. |
| A couple of the salads are worth noting, in particular the romaine and spinach. It's tossed with a house dressing combo of blue cheese and ranch ($6.95), but caramelized walnuts and a slice of sesame seed-studded goat cheese are what give it pungent character. Also good: shrimp and artichoke salad ($9.95). Fresh artichokes, instead of bottled, would be nicer. Still, the mixed greens with vinaigrette dressing, piquant capers and a couple of plump grilled shrimp elevated the effort. |
| Cappuccino cinnamon ice cream pie ($7.95) has become the house dessert in the two months the Lighthouse has been open. An espresso-laced, flourless-style chocolate cake ($6) would have been bitterly, sweetly wonderful save for a green mint icing. Where'd that come from? |
| The well-constructed wine list offers lots of choices. Most bottles are under $50, with many between $25 and $35. And there's a long by-the-glass list. |
| Service is provided by young, inexperienced staffers who are nevertheless charming in their enthusiasm and disarmingly willing to answer questions and do whatever they can to make you like the Lighthouse. |
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An extensive Sunday brunch with made-to-order omelets, meat-carving stations and other big hotel-style offerings is now available, making the Lighthouse one of the swankest spots on the lake. Published in The Dallas Morning News: 04.13.01 |
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