Tally Ho has been in business for over 60 years in northwest Wisconsin, the area of many supper clubs. In the early 90’s the original structure was added on to, doubling the size of the bar and enlarging the kitchen as well as adding additional dining/entertainment space. The interior still sports many of hunting club decorative touches in a comfortable space, but a tad bright for an intimate evening. All the staff couldn’t have been more welcoming and Chef Susan Birkey turns out some really nice food. I’m ready to go back!
It is a reasonably diverse menu offering Supper Club favorites but they also have several daily specials, many of which we ordered. The bar has a really good selection of Scotch but we chose to go supper club standard with an Old Fashioned but did have rye as opposed to the standard brandy.
All tables start with a tasty relish tray featuring a cheese spread, an olive tapenade, cut vegetables and crackers. The olive tapenade was one of the best I’ve had and the crackers were a nice thickness to support spreading the options. This was definitely not a throwaway.
A special that evening was a steamed artichoke with clarified butter. It was a perfect size for one and cooked perfectly. A really fun change.
Sweet corn chowder was featured that night, fitting as it’s high corn season there in August. It was accented with bacon, potatoes, red pepper and onions. It was a good creamy texture but not as corny as some, however the overall impression was good.
All entrees come with a choice of salad and potatoes or wild rice. We tried both salads. The mixed green was covered with a reasonably strong blue cheese. The Caesar was dressed nicely and they actually offered anchovies, which were very good mixed with the salad. Both options were a tasty success.
For entrees the chef’s veal special was a porterhouse chop covered with wild mushroom demi glacé and we chose the mashed Yukon potatoes at the waitresses suggestion. The properly cooked meat was slightly chewy but the sauce was yummy enough to make up for it. It was a very satisfying plate.
from the other end
The pork prime rib was another evening special and served with mushroom Marsala sauce and mashed Yukon potatoes. The meat was slightly dry but had a wonderfully roasted flavor and the sauce was rally good as were the potatoes. Overall a very good plate.
When you’re on a roll you might as well try dessert and they bring out the sample plate so you can see just what you’d be ordering. The peanut butter pie spoke to me and it really sang! Fluffy but creamy with a dusting of peanuts and chocolate sauce all upon a nice thick graham cracker crust. You can be this one was completely consumed!
Our second visit was just as good. Again we found a nice wine list, reasonable prices, generous portions, friendly service and fun specials. We started with martinis for cocktails and they were nicely done with slight shards of ice from the shaking and very dry. This visit we were served their warm rolls which were soft with a dusting of parmesan on the top and served with packets of butter. They looked better than they were – not a stand alone treat but good for mopping purposes.
As an appetizer, one of the specials that night were Maryland crab cakes for $15. They did have some breading incorporated but were overall quite tasty. They were well seasoned and accented with a bit of sriracha mayonaisse that added a fun zest to the 3 good sized cakes. Another appetizer special that night was fresh Prince Edward Isle mussels. It was a pound serving and the generous broth was wonderfully seasoned with garlic, coconut milk, shallots and Thai curry paste. Easily enough to share and very good, nicely priced at $14.
They also had a special salad that night with a poached Bartlett pear and blue cheese which you could order for $10 on its own or substitute for your regular dinner salad for $5. It was dressed with a slightly sweet raspberry vinaigrette and the blue cheese was more nice chunks than ‘crumbles’. The pear was cooked perfectly and was a great contrast with the cheese and crispy nuts. A winner here!
For main dishes, a nightly special was tenderloin tips with mushrooms, peppers and onions. The mushrooms seemed to mostly be portabellos and the meat was cooked nicely rare. Again, a very generous serving of sauce, which went nicely on the potatoes, and a winning combination of flavors. The other main dish is a regular on the menu, Maple Leaf duck with Japanese plum wine sauce. It was two duck leg quarters cooked perfectly and accented nicely by the sweet sauce. I chose the wild rice as opposed to the potatoes to go with the dish which I think it did, but the potatoes are way tastier.
For dessert we tried their Key lime pie which had a great thick graham cracker crust and a nice consistency to the filling and was overall tasty, but the peanut butter is more of a standout.
