Weathervane, West Lebanon, NH
Weathervane has been our tried-and-true dinner destination for years, but my husband and I usually don’t sit down for lunch there. Last week we were quite hungry and driving by the restaurant, and we made an impromptu stop.
If you live in New England (or on the east coast and like to travel) you’ve probably been to Weathervane and you know that it’s a chain restaurant. But as far as chain restaurants go, I find them a bit less kitsch than Applebee’s or Chili’s. I have heard people compare it to Spongebob Squarepants’ Krusty Krab, but that’s fine by me. Weathervane is definitely not a place to be taken too seriously.
Walking into the restaurant, we see the usual hanging wooden sea creatures and nautical knick-knacks. (Cue the Mr. Krabs jokes in 3,2,1..) It’s also kind of dim in there, which makes me wonder if their angle is to make us feel like we’re eating from the inside of a lobster boat. We sat down at one of the many large sorta-rustic-ish wooden tables and were able to get our drink orders in quickly. The waitress was prompt and knew the menu well. I mentioned before that we usually go for dinner. I generally order the chicken strips and fries for dinner because the portion size for the price (under $12) is so ridiculously huge that there’s always more than enough to take home, and I’m a big fan of leftovers. This time for lunch I ordered the grilled salmon sandwich at my husband’s recommendation, and he ordered the fried calamari. He usually gets some type of seafood when we go to Weathervane, and growing up in Maine has made him a good judge of what seafood is good and what stinks (sometimes literally). We’ve never been disappointed with the quality of the Weathervane seafood.
When we got our lunch, I was very pleasantly surprised at the size of the salmon sandwich. The fillet was at least 5 oz.- probably more. It was grilled with a beautiful crunchy char on the outside and nice and flaky on the inside, and though the waitress had kindly warned me about the Cajun seasoning it wasn’t overpowering. The sandwich was almost too big for me to finish, and for $9.99 I thought it was a great value. The fries were okay, although I don’t like how they always resist any amount of salting and actually seem to repel it. I respect calamari but can’t stand the texture of it so I didn’t eat any, but my husband enjoyed every last bit of them.
Despite the franchisey aspect and the indisputable fact that the restaurant’s design is pretty corny, Weathervane is one of my favorite chains. The seafood is fresh, the service is good and the menu is priced very reasonably. Although it’s mostly a seafood restaurant I know plenty of people who just plain don’t like seafood, and Weathervane accomodates by offering steak, burgers, chicken and pasta as well. Good deals, good dishes!
