Keltie's

Dinner at Keltie’s started out in a very positive way—with a hostess who was almost giddy with excitement that we had never been there before. She told us, “I love first timers!” I have to say her enthusiasm, and the fact that the restaurant was quite busy at fairly early hour midweek, made me optimistic that this could be a great meal.

We waited a bit to get our drink orders taken, and then when the drinks were delivered, our server quickly rushed through the specials, and explained, “There is no catch of the day. The fish didn’t come in. But there is salmon and other stuff on the menu.” Probably not what you would call the most polished service for sure. There were several delays, including one that annoyed me most, waiting until I was almost done with my entrée to be brought my second glass of wine.

Anyway, as for the food, like I said, there were some high points (and some not so high points). We both ordered a salad to start—I just went with the toss salad which was greens with shredded cheddar cheese, tomatoes and croutons. (We just went for salads instead of appetizers because the server informed us in advance that the desserts were made in house and were all really good.) All the dressings were house made, and I chose the blue cheese. The dressing was served on the side and was really good—had nice crumbles of blue cheese throughout—and not just like 2 giant chunks like you get sometimes. They flavor was very good. Hubby thought the same, as he had the wedge salad, although he had to ask for some extra dressing because there was so little actually on the salad. The croutons on my salad were kind of tasty—sort of like deep fried croutons. Darker than normal and really extra crunchy. I liked them. The shredded cheddar did nothing for the salad, but the worst thing about both of our salads was the tomato wedges served on both. Half of the tomato was pure white. No one should have sent those out the door. Especially in the summer in Indiana.

We went with what the server described as the signature dishes of the place. Hubby with the Beef Wellington and I had the “Beggars Purse.” I liked the Beggar’s Purse. It was basically puff pastry that was filled with what they called chicken salad. It was tender chunks of chicken in a thick chicken-y gravy kind of sauce (according to the menu with blue cheese as well although I didn’t taste it). It was served with a mustard sweet chile sauce on top and cranberry compote around the edge of the plate. The puff pastry was nice and flaky and I enjoyed a bit of the mustard sauce with it. I think the cranberry compote pushed the sweet factor over the edge a bit though and I didn’t really eat much of it. Maybe if it was indeed more blue cheesy, that would have cut the sweetness more. But all in all, I enjoyed this dish, even if it sort of reminded me of what you might be served in a country club in the 80s.

Hubby’s Beef Wellington did not fare as well. For some reason, his puff pastry wrapping the beef was very soft and didn’t have the flaky crispness that my dish had. There was also an onion marmalade on top that was also a little on the sweet side for us. Actually, hubby ended up just pulling the meat out of the shell and eating it. On the bright side, it was cooked nicely medium rare.

We went with the bread pudding for dessert. It was very tasty and aptly described by our server as being like a free form cinnamon roll with whipped cream and caramel sauce. It was nice and soft and we really enjoyed it. The desserts were certainly big enough to share.

Sadly, while the food had its high points, the service the rest of the evening left us with a less than enthusiastic feeling about Keltie’s when we left. I appreciate the fact that they are going out of their way to make everything in house, but there seems to be a lot less attention spent on some items versus others. However, the interior is warm, and sometimes it is nice to order some old school dishes like these (although I would be interested to see what the seafood specials would be if they had them). If they can get the service issues worked out, and maybe just give the food going out a little more attention, this could be a worthwhile stop when you’re in the mood for a little drive and something a little old school.

Keltie’s
110 South Union Street
Westfield, IN 46074
317/867-3525
www.kelties.com