What is it about amazing views that makes any dinner 298% more delicious?
Brasada Ranch Resort is situated on 1,800 acres just northeast of Bend, and views from the property are among the most amazing I’ve seen anywhere in the world.
The cozy dining area at Brasada’s Ranch House.
After stepping inside the Ranch House Restaurant, I just wanted to sidle up to one of the massive windows and stare open-mouthed at the grassy fields, meandering creeks, and jaw-dropping Cascade mountain views.
Since my mouth was already hanging open, I figured I’d put it to use sampling from the Ranch house’s impressive wine list. The restaurant’s pneumatic wine dispenser allows them to keep 18 bottles of high-end wine available by the glass at all times, and guests can order a 2 ounce, 4 ounce, 6 ounce pour. I had a great time sampling crisp Willamette Valley pinot gris, scrumptious Italian red blends, and everything in between.
Once we picked favorites and ordered a couple bottles for the group to enjoy during the meal, we got busy ordering appetizers.
The scrumptious quinoa & kale salad!
The sliced Spanish Serrano ham was a perfect complement to the Spanish wine I’d chosen, and the blend of nicoise olives, marcona almonds, and manchego cheese was a tasty way to kick things off.
The med platter was another good choice, pairing hummus, baba ganoush, tzatziki, house flatbread, and an array of organic veggies.
The salad menu was particularly impressive, and I had a tough time choosing between the wild arugula salad with apples, bacon, blue cheese, walnuts, & roasted shallot vinaigrette, or the organic quinoa & kale salad with medjool dates, pistachios, artichokes, red wine vinaigrette. In the end, I did what any smart diner does – I persuaded someone else at the table to order one so I could order the other and mooch bites. Both were scrumptious, particularly the quinoa & kale, which was an amazing blend of flavors and textures.
Though the dinner menu at Ranch House isn’t huge, they make up for it by offering a wide array of nightly specials. I opted for a steak special that included asparagus and a colorful assortment of roasted potatoes. Several colleagues picked the salmon and said they enjoyed it immensely, and the woman who ordered the ranch house mac-n-cheese appeared to be swooning with each bite.
Mmmm….chicken pot pie!
Other offerings included burgers and sandwiches, along with down-home-cookin’ items like meatloaf, braised short ribs, and chicken pot pie.
Stellar views aside, I enjoyed the atmosphere at Ranch House. It’s small and intimate, with an impressively large stone fireplace at the entrance to the restaurant. The dining area manages to be casual yet upscale, cozy yet communal. If you’re coming out for dinner, be sure to give yourself some daylight hours just to meander the grounds and take in the gorgeous scenery and peaceful setting.
And don’t forget to save room for homemade s’mores that you’ll roast over a fire pit on the deck. It’s the perfect way to cap off a meal at Brasada’s Ranch House!