Folksy Aubrey's keeps on keeping on

CAPE VINCENT — Eating options in this little village on the tip of Lake Ontario have dwindled over the winter months. The Carleton has "For Sale" signs in its windows. The restaurant in Roxy's Hotel will close at the end of the month when the building undergoes extensive renovations.

But Aubrey's Inn is still open, right there on the main drag facing the water. It's been there for years and years, satisfying local residents in the wintertime and a flood of tourists in the summertime.

It's a clean and folksy place, perhaps a little dated, but that adds to the charm.

Speckled '50s Formica tables dot the dining room floor. Booths line the exterior walls, with large windows providing wraparound views of downtown. A nautical-themed mural takes up an entire wall.

The bar area, totally separate but visible from the dining room, had a fun-loving crowd the weekday night we were there.

The menu is rather casual, but contains a good number of choices that display a bit of kitchen creativity.

Appetizers are pretty much from scratch — not a freezer-to-fryer selection in the lot.

Choose from stuffed potato skins, Buffalo shrimp, steamed clams, or our picks, a chicken quesadilla ($6.99) and Aubrey's blue cheese dip ($5.49)

We really enjoyed the quesadilla, which was filled with diced chicken, onions, peppers and tomatoes and melted cheese. A tasty starter, accompanied by standard salsa and sour cream.

The cheese dip was rich and filling, but it had separated so it didn't look the best.

The crisp, crunchy homemade potato chips that accompanied were very good, sturdier than regular chips. They stood up well to the thick, cheesy dip.

Salads do not come with entrées but are available as an add-on for $2.29. We didn't take advantage of this option, but did notice some very nice dinner salads: Caesar, cobb, julienne and the intriguing "CBLT chopped salad" — chopped greens and chopped chicken tossed with bacon, red onion, tomatoes and their salsa ranch dressing.

Four beef entrées run the gamut, from a grilled burger to a grilled strip steak; sautéed liver to filet mignon.

We got the filet mignon medallions ($15.99), three generous chunks of tender beef in a whiskey peppercorn sauce. The whiskey taste was definitely prominent and a little distracting when it flowed into the vegetables on the plate.

We did enjoy the veggies, a nice medley of broccoli, green beans and carrots and summer squash. The foil-wrapped baked potato was a bit dry, but sour cream and butter from a cute little basket on the table took care of that.

There are four chicken entrées, too. We went with the most creative, Santa Fe chicken ($12.49), a good-sized perfectly-grilled breast topped with salsa (the same salsa served with the quesadilla) and melted pepper jack cheese. The cheese had a bit of a delayed bite to it. Baked potato and veggies accompanied.

Several of the seafood entrées were fried (beer-battered shrimp, fried haddock platter, fried clam strips), but we spotted garlic shrimp Alfredo ($12.99) under the pasta category.

This was a good find, large shrimp in a creamy garlic-basil-Alfredo sauce, served over a bed of linguini. The six tail-off shrimp had a nice snap as you chewed into them. The sauce was truly rich and creamy.

Also from the pasta portion of the menu, we ordered a highlighted item, chicken riggies ($13.99), described as rigatoni pasta sautéed with tender chicken, marinara sauce, red peppers, fresh basil and mozzarella.

It was good, and a plentiful portion, but not exactly as described. Penne pasta was used and the sauce was a tomato cream sauce (much like a vodka sauce). Dried basil was substituted for fresh. The chicken consisted of little morsels of white and dark meat, about the size of your thumbnail. There was no evidence of red peppers or mozzarella.

If you want something less fancy-schmanzy, there's spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna and chicken Parm on the menu.

Dave, our server, was an attentive, mild-mannered young man with good knowledge of the menu. He did his job well.

We tried two desserts that he indicated were made at the restaurant, apple pie and cherry pie ($3 each). While they seemed reasonably fresh and had a decent crust, they were not exactly what you'd expect as a "homemade" pie — more like Mrs. Smith's handiwork kicked up with a few dollops of whipped cream.

The total for two appetizers, four entrées and two desserts came to $86 before tip.

In general, we were pleasantly surprised with our visit to Aubrey's. The kitchen staff appears to have their act together and will fare well during the busy tourist season ahead.

You can contact restaurant reviewer Walter Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

Aubrey's Inn

126 S. James St.

Cape Vincent, N.Y.

654-3754

A clean and folksy restaurant in the village of Cape Vincent, on the tip of Lake Ontario.

HOURS: Dinner served 4 to 8 p.m. daily, open a bit later on weekends

Breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week

Appetizers are primarily from scratch — try the chicken quesadilla.

Entrées show good kitchen creativity — we enjoyed their garlic shrimp Alfredo.

RATING: 3 1/2 forks