River Station, Peoria

Well hot diggity damn!! Finally I get back to Peoria for a period of time so's I can do some eating!! I've been back a few times, but fairly quickie trips that didn't really call for any reviewing of restaurants. Not that I didn't eat, but in all honesty, it wasn't review-worthy.

Tonight me and the wife had us a date. We dropped off the kid at my folks house and headed down to the newly-reopened River Station for a 7:45 dinner reservation. I have to admit, I don't remember what the place looked like inside, seeing as how I believe I was only there like twice before they closed. But it sure looks nice inside now! They're getting some business, that's for sure. We were not called to be seated until about 8:15 or so, but they warned us that things were running a bit behind. It gave us lots of time for people-watching, which was fun stuff. Lots of nicely-dressed cougars, and men who looked like they either stepped off a boat or off the golf course.

When we were seated at a nice river-view table (which made the extra wait okay), our waiter, a nice young man named Jake, got us going with our drinks and discussed some of the features of the menu. We declined appetizers, choosing to save room for the dessert. River Station does a salad bar at your table-I've never been a part of something like this before. Lots of iceberg lettuce, followed by whatever toppings you told the waiter to put on, including something he referred to as "sour cherries". Looked like big raisins to me, but they were tasty! A clever addition to a salad. I had a balsamic vinaigrette which was just dandy. Jenny had ranch. She asked for French, but that's okay. Jake offered to get some, but Jenny ain't picky.

Our entrees arrived in a very timely fashion. Jenny ordered the lobster and crab ravioli, and the one I took off her plate as a driver's fee had large chunks of said shellfish, and the white sauce, while not overpowering, complemented the dish. My dish was called chicken saltabocca, which was a couple of grilled chicken breasts wrapped up in prosciutto and mozzarella, sitting in a dark wine sauce. Very tasty, indeed!! It was recommended to me by my father-in-law. The sauce was my favorite part of the meal, just yummyness. It was sauce that I could have on the side and dip waffle fries into and be content.

Dessert...ahh, dessert. Very enjoyable, if a bit on the expensive side. Jenny had The Caboose, which was a couple different ice creams layered on top of each other with some other stuff on it, with a piece of almond brittle sticking out. Yummy! Mine was some sort of chocolate ganache with lavender ice cream. Lavender!! Weird that I was eating something that had made bathrooms smell better for decades. I must have forgotten about the ice cream, because I commented that it tasted "herbal". It sure was good, however. I will look for this in other places. The ganache was utterly rich in chocolate delight.

I am glad the River Station has returned. To me, it really ties the riverfront together, having a well-known spot with historical significance. And free refills on soda!!

River Station-you made the "HIT" List!!!