Windows Shoppers

See the new menu at the Ramada Inn's restaurant

Lisa Sokolowski

It always seems to rain on the Fine Arts Fiesta. It's as if colorful umbrellas want to be a piece of quickly moving artwork, jazzing up Public Square.

This year was no exception.

But, on Saturday, instead of bumping umbrellas with the rest of downtown Wilkes-Barre's patrons, we snuck into Windows, a restaurant in the Ramada Inn on the Square. It boasted a new menu, so we had to check it out.

To our surprise, the restaurant doesn't come out to the hotel's main wall to overlook the Square. Instead, the windows look into the Ramada's hallway, last weekend filled with graduation party guests. Still, a seat by the window is always prime real estate.

We opted for mini chicken cordon bleu ($5.95) as an appetizer, and we were awed by the presentation. Instead of mini slices of chicken, we were greeted with battered chicken balls with warm cheese and oozing on the inside. The honey mustard sauce that accompanied was phenomenal. We hoped it was homemade, but the fear that it might be jarred kept us from asking.

The list of entrees boasted Americana, but not varied, choices. There were two steak options (a 12 oz. delmonico for $18.95 and an 8 oz. sirloin for $12.95); two crab items (crab stuffed flounder for $14.95 and pan seared crab cakes for $18.95); pan fried pork chops for $10.95; an 8 oz. broiled salmon for $13.95; and a roasted half chicken for $12.95.

A choose your own pasta section is on the menu, letting you match your favorite pasta with your fave sauce. And printed under that section, calling us, was chicken parmesan over fettuccini ($12.95).

The salad section is well stocked, also, offering a crab cake salad ($9.95), grilled salmon salad ($9.95), and a chef salad ($7.95). Our eyes were drawn to the chicken Caesar salad ($7.95) with dressing on the side.

The speed of the kitchen was incredible. Our app came with five pieces of chicken, and before we could finish them, out came the salad that accompanied the chicken parm. Before that was done, the entrees were at our table.

The chicken parm was simply incredible. The soft poultry was swimming in mozzarella cheese, and we wouldn't have had it differently. Less fettuccini would have been appreciated, though. After eating our fill, there was still enough left over for two more dinners.

The chicken Caesar salad came with a huge portion of crusty (in a good way) chicken on top of a very fresh bed of lettuce. The dressing was mild, without a strong taste of anchovies like some Caesar dressings. A side of soft mashed potatoes with a hint of garlic was ordered with the salad and was definitely tasty.

And since we weren't ready to go out into the rain, dessert was necessary. The chocolate spoon cake was three layers of soft mousse that, for lack of a better term, melted in your mouth. The reason for the word spoon in the name still remains unknown since the dessert didn't come with a spoon, and we used a fork to eat it.

The peanut butter pie was as good as the name sounds. A graham cracker crust topped with peanut butter filling (with peanut butter chips) and chocolate with a dab of whipped cream. Delicious.

Here's the only complaint of the evening: Although it made for consistency, every plate was garnished with a purple flower. The art of presentation is always greatly appreciated, but a new color or a different flower type would have been a good addition to the new menu.