August 2, 2012 The Newfound Lodge, Cherokee, NC

As  you all might have noticed, we have been a little slack in blogging. Well, not all of us have. As you have read, Greg and Lisa went to the Cork & Bean. I was at the beach and didn't get to go. I did eat some good seafood while there. And listened to some good music.
We didn't go anywhere the next week as Lisa wanted to skip The Newfound Lodge (TNL). So we did. And! this week she  wanted to skip again. And did!! That slacker!!  But I am all for getting the bad stuff out of the way so you don't dread it anymore and can get on with the good stuff. So, Greg and I decided to brave it alone and off we went.
 Pam is still at a writers conference. Good for her... I hope she's working on that next book.

The Newfound Lodge has been around for quite a while. From the statement on their sign, since the 1940's. However, it has not been The Newfound Lodge that long or under the same owners or managers since the 1940's. It used to be a Shoney's chain and just recently changed to TNL. The building has also undergone several renovations and is quite a nice looking building now. It fits in with the mountain stone and timber frame buildings often associated with the mountains. 

On Thursdays, TNL offers Indian dinners on the buffet. They offer a buffet for each meal, with different items on each. I have not eaten at this restaurant in several years. It has not ever been one of my favorites, but as Shoney's you could count on getting a decent sandwich for lunch. The buffets were also fairly OK. 

For those of you who do not know what an Indian dinner is, it consists of Bean or Chestnut Bread, Fried Chicken, Cabbage, Pinto Beans & Hominy, Fat back, Greens,  Fried Potatoes and grease. Yes.... grease. Liquefied fatback grease. Folks put this on their bead bread. I personally do not eat the grease cause I can't quit picturing it solidifying in my arteries. The grease in the food is bad enough. 

Anyway, that is what was on the buffet tonite. Plus the salad bar, for those of you who feel they need to counterbalance the grease and fried foods with some veggies to ease your conscience. Or for hardcore Indian dinner eaters.. so you could see what veggies actually look like before they're fried. 

I had no plans of ordering the buffet, I just wanted to see what it looked like. On TNL buffets, they also added Fry Bread ( at least I think that  is what it was supposed to be), Lye Dumplings, and Pork Chops. 

They also did not have Chestnut Bread (my favorite) or Beans & Hominy. Greg ordered the buffet. 

Buffet -Fried Chicken, Pork Chops, Cabbage, Beans, Greens 

Fried Potatoes, Fatback and Grease

Bean Bread & Lye  Dumplings

Not sure you can tell from the pictures, but the entire buffet, excluding the salad bar was pretty unappetizing looking. The Bean Bread and Lye Dumplings looked pretty dry. Greg said the dumplings were pretty good however. He did not eat the Bean Bread. The fatback was cooked to perfection. (I tried a little piece). Not greasy, or cooked to death. The potatoes on the other hand, were floating in grease and the ones on top had a  thick, sheen on them, almost like they had been shellacked. They looked quite nasty. Greg did not try them either due to the appearance. 

The other items on the buffet didn't look any more appealing except the Chicken. 

Greg got little portions of some of the items as you can see. I will let him tell you about his meal. I can tell you.. it is not positive. He did let me have several bites of his Fried Chicken, and it was really good. 

However..one thing to note in the picture is the piece of  Fry Bread? It is wafer thin, thinner, if you can believe it;  than a water cracker. It snapped in two when he bent it and it was extremely crunchy. I am not sure who was making the Fry Bread back in the kitchen, but they just need to quit it. All those non Indians are going to think that is what Fry Bread looks and tastes like and it will be bad for Fry Bread vendors business. 

I ordered something that I thought would be fairly light, not too heavy and easy to fix. I was not feeling my best anyway. So, I ordered the chop steak or hamburger steak with gravy, and a baked potato. 

What I got was a pre- formed pressed meat? slab of  frozen something that had a shiny, translucent, glob of something on top. It was one of the nastiest things I have seen on a plate in a long time.  The baked potato was hard.. but not under cooked hard. More like old or cooked to death hard. It could not be mashed up into a nice fluffy potato but stayed hard and lumpy. The veggies as you can see, were cooked into oblivion. The carrots and broccoli (yes that is broccoli) were faded to pastel colors with the broccoli (yes, that is broccoli) being almost translucent. I think someone had boiled them for about 45 minutes to an hour. 

I took one bite of the meat? and asked for a to go box. I was not venturing any further into that meal hell. 

Quite frankly, I would have been ashamed to serve it and ask for payment. 

Both Greg and I got salads.. mine came with the meal. Since we fixed them ourselves, they were decent. Not a large selection of items on the salad bar. In fact, not even a medium number of items on the bar. But, at least they were fairly fresh. 

We got out of there without eating a lot.. and I went straight to Arby's and got myself a kids meal. It was late and that was all that was open. I fed my TNL meal to the dogs.. they enjoyed it... but they eat dead stuff.. so what do they know? Maybe it tasted familiar. 

I did meet a couple in the parking lot who asked me if the food was good. I told them 'No!", it was the worst meal I've had in years and I recommended them to go somewhere else. Anywhere else. 

It was my turn to pick.. since Pam was not here.. and Na-bers is our next venue. See you there on August 9th at 6:30. We have to eat and visit quick as they close at 8!! What's up with that??? !!