Restaurant review: The Coach House in name only

Latest version of fine-dining spot doesn't live up to reputation of renowned predecessor

By Howard M. Snyder hsnyder@herald-leader.com

The Coach House has been a fabled restaurant in Lexington, whether open or closed, for decades. Since the early 1970s, when the ”new“ Coach House was built, it was the place to be and be seen. Back then, it was called Stanley Demos' Famous Coach House. But Demos retired in the 1980s, and the Coach House has dwindled ever since. The restaurant has changed hands multiple times; once it reopened as a ­German restaurant. That didn't last long. Now, it has reopened as The Coach House and, for the most part, it has dwindled.

On Tuesday night, we were seated right by the kitchen door. I suppose they were saving the more coveted tables for the onslaught. Only three tables were occupied while we were there.

Our dinner started with soup, a crab bisque ($4 for a cup) and salad ($5). I wanted the fried green tomato salad, but it wasn"t available because of the nationwide tomato scare. We both got the mesclun salad.

I'll start with the salad. While it looked fresh at first glance, it wasn't. There was a noticeable refrigerator taste in the greens. I'm not sure if it was rot setting in, but it had certainly taken a turn. The champagne vinaigrette was barely noticeable on my salad. My dinner companion ordered balsamic vinaigrette on the side, which helped, but it wasn't enough to cover up the obvious stale taste.

The crab bisque was tasty. But the taste I was looking for wasn't there. It was lump crab in a cream-based soup. However, the delicate crab flavor and cream were dominated by maple syrup or flavoring.

The only thing I could taste in this creamy, not-too-thick soup was maple. It wasn't bad, but I expect to taste crab in crab bisque.

For entrees, we ordered the bone-in rib-eye steak ($29) and lamb chops ($27). The steak was marvelous. A large rib-eye was ordered plain (no sauce) and rare. We wanted to taste the beef. This piece of beef would have passed anyone's test. The beef was juicy, firm but tender, and it had a nice charcoal-grilled flavor. It was one of the nicest steaks I've had in a restaurant in a long time.

The lamb chops were a different story. I should have ordered them plain as well. The sauce on the meat, a black olive and roasted garlic reduction, was so overpowering that you couldn't taste the lamb. It didn't enhance, like a good sauce should do, just overpowered.

Desserts were nice and, with the exception of one, all were chocolate. I ordered chocolate crème brûlee ($5). This was good, but it was made in advance.

On the best crème brûlees, the sugar topping should be hot and the custard should be cold. This dessert was rich and had a nice, mild chocolate flavor, but the hard, crusty sugar topping had been done at the same time the custard was made. It was garnished with a sliced strawberry. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the preferred way.

The peach tarte tatin ($6) was delicious. Puff pastry shells, small ones, were filled with tiny peaches that seemed to have been poached in a light syrup.

Desserts and excellent service aside, I would keep this place in the dwindled category.

Dinner for two, including a glass of cabernet sauvignon ($6) and a virgin Mary ($2.50), tax, but not tip, was $95.93.