The town of Highlands, fashioning itself as an upscale touristy spot in the mountains, has several…read morefine dining restaurants. Most are along its main business district, but Oak Steakhouse is located about a 10-minute drive away atop a nearby mountain. It is worth the drive.
I had made reservations for a Friday night a couple of months in advance, as I wasn't sure how quickly this booked up. About a month out, they texted me to alert me that the restaurant had been subsequently booked for a wedding rehearsal dinner, so they had to cancel our reservation. While not ideal, I don't begrudge them the opportunity to sell out the whole place and make a better profit. I checked and was able to book the evening before that (a Thursday) instead, so that was fine.
The restaurant is part of the Skyline Lodge. You arrive and parkin the common lot. The lodge forms forward-facing U around a courtyard. You walk through this courtyard to access the restaurant at the back. There was a sign to help with finding it.
We were greeted at the host station and shown to our table. They appeared to have a dining space that projected out the back of the hotel on a high ridge. The views were great, and probably even better if you sat at a window (we didn't). We could still see the fall leaves in the sunset from our table, as well as some more distant peaks.
I'll note what was, to me, the only negative about the experience here. All the interior surfaces are flat and hard. The tables are not overly close together, but there is enough seating such that crowd noise from people talking gets loud. Really LOUD. So loud that we often could not hear our server (through no fault of hers). It was a relief after we left to get into a quieter space outside. I'm not sure if there is really a solution to this, but it was probably the second loudest restaurant I've ever dined in (Two Urban Licks takes first place). And to be completely fair, the noise sometimes subsided if enough tables quieted down in tandem. But generally the noise was almost constant.
Our server showed up promptly and was very helpful. She seemed chatty but the noise cut some of that short. She cautioned me about something involving the wine, but I couldn't hear what. Before she returned, I was a bit worried that she thought I wanted a bottle instead of a glass, but thankfully she returned with just a glass. We were able to order and the food came out at a good but not rushed pace.
We intentionally tried to limit our order a bit due to our hotel's lack of refrigerator space for leftovers. We split a small salad (which we both liked, but which was quite modest after the split). A small salad here is definitely a serving for one. When our entrees came out, the server said something about noticing that we did not order a side, so they gave us complimentary fries. We think these were truffle fries, but we could not hear her description. It was nice of them and the fries were quite good.
As for the entrees, I got a filet and my wife got the trout. We both liked our dishes. My steak was well seasoned and cooked as requested. She said the trout was among the best she's had in a long time. We broke down and got a dessert - the chocolate cake. This was larger than expected, but quite good.
We both enjoyed the meal here a lot, aside from the noise level. The quality of the food makes up for it.
