Ishnala Supper Club is named for a Winnebago Indian word meaning “by itself alone.”  It overlooks Mirror Lake in the middle of Mirror Lake State Park.  Settlers bought the lands from the tribe in 1826 and constructed a log cabin trading post.  The Coleman family bought it in 1909 and made it into their dream home but it changed hands in 1953 when the Hoffman Brothers bought it and created the Ishnala Supper Club, as it is today.  Robert Prosser, who started work there as a busboy in 1973,  bought it in 1993 .  When we went he was at the door greeting guests.  It’s a huge place with an extended driveway to the grounds and parking lots, but if they fill there is parking where you turn in and a shuttle to get you to the restaurant and its 4 bars.  You check in and will be given an estimate on how long your wait is as they take no reservations.  The bars open at 3:30 and the restaurant at 4:00 but the line starts forming by 3:00.  We got there at 3:00 and were happy that they started letting people in about 10 minutes early.  When we left, the reception person said the wait was 2.5 hours.  It’s a machine.  There were chairs everywhere on porches and in the various bars located on many levels.

The design tried to provide beautiful views from every table but this visit the views were obscured by scaffolding around the outside I think for painting.  We were seated in the main dining room but had no view of the lake, mostly of the stuffed animal mounts that all the children wanted to jump around and pet.  The lights were lowered, the tables were polished wood and I couldn’t tell you if there was music there was so much noise and bustle.  All the servers we encountered were nice enough but the feeling was sell and move on.  I even had the server ask if she could remove my plate while the fork was in my hand.   There’s a lot of branding on everything – each glass had the name on it, the wines, the liquors, salt and pepper – you won’t forget where you are.  The food was okay, some better than others but the cozy ambiance of relaxed supper club dining was not evident to me.  This place is so well known if you’re interested in supper clubs you have to try it but I’ll say once was enough for me.

Set-Up

 

Food

We found a table at one of the bars and marveled at the number of glasses that had the cherry muddle mix already in the bottom waiting to be served.  The sign at the door said they’d already served 49,658 Old Fashioneds this season, opening in mid-April this year.    The Classic Old-Fashioned is a Wisc. favorite  made with muddled fruit, home-made mix and their own Ishnala Brandy (or Ishnala single barrel bourbon).  I needed to try it but it was too sweet for my tastes and there was not much alcohol in it either.

 

The Chief Ishnala is made with vodka, rum, tequila and triple sec, orange juice, sour mix and grenadine.  This one had more alcohol but was still to sweet for me, but the better of the two.  One thing I found irratating was that prices were never quoted for drinks.  The OF were $9.50 and the Chief was $12.

 

With the drinks we tried one of the appetizers, the Prime Spears were thin sliced prime rib of beef with a four cheese filling wrapped around fresh asparagus spears and served with a tangy bristro and Bearnaise sauce.  These were quite good and I liked both sauces.

 

Moving to the dining room, all dinners include salad, fresh rolls and your choice of potato or vegetable.  We both chose the au gratin potato.  The rolls were okay and a cinnamon roll was on the bottom.  The cinnamon was softer and tasty but an odd accompaniment for dinner.  Also crackers and spread were on the table when you sat down.

 

The included salad was fine but dull and dressing was served on the side.  The server told me her favorite was the Caesar salad so I chose that.  It came mixed and had good flavor but had no croutons.  It was a $4 upcharge.

 

The au gratin potatoes would have been quite good if they’d cooked all the potatoes in the dish.  Some were still hard but the soft ones were nice and it was topped with lots of cheese.

 

The Filet Mignon was tender premium aged beef, hand cut and grilled and came in 2 sizes, 7 or 10 ounces.  We got the larger with sides of button mushrooms and sauteed onions.   The meat was tender and cooked nicely but mostly flavorless.  The mushrooms were odd and the onions not cooked enough to be softened much less caramelized.

 

The Twin lobster tails were two 5-6 ounce cold water lobster tails from Nova Scotia broiled to perfection and served with drawn butter and fresh lemon.  The meat was nicely removed from the shell for easy eating.  Some parts had too much of the seasoning powder making it salty but overall it was nicely cooked and there was a generous bowl of butter.  The butter was in pats in a cup over a flame delivered early to the table so it had time to melt before the food came.

 

Dessert did not have a menu but rather a display tray with one chocolate thing being placed on the table.  None were terrribly interesting, I wanted to try one of the ice cream drinks but there was only an oral naming of the choices.  I took Toasted Caramel Canoe which combined toasted caramel, whisky and ice cream to make a dessert.  It was a lot of ice cream and whipped cream with a little whiskey and even less caramel.