Feast your eyes on: Manitou Station

Walleye and wild rice cakes

With nostalgic appeal and a desirable location, Manitou Station has potential to be a place that draws diners for a family friendly dining experience. In opening Manitou Station its White Bear Lake residing owners hoped to recall the resort era that once flourished in the community. And while the restaurant does not sit directly on the water, it is located just off Washington Square, the two-story stone and lake-blue shingled structure certainly elicits the intended lake retreat feel.

But despite the decor and building's clear and focused vision, the food vision strays. The menu, which includes items that range from pub food and pastas to prime rib and walleye, is a collection of dishes that seems to attempt to be everything to everyone. The most distinct theme that runs through it is that of an English-style pub, due to dishes like Scotch eggs, beef and Guiness stew, English fish and chips, and cheddar and ale soup.

Not one to judge a book by its cover, we tucked into a booth a for meal of comfort foods and Minnesota favorites. But sampling a few dishes—walleye and wild rice cakes, parmesan-crusted walleye, beef and Guiness stew, a "thing of fries" and the crab and whisky bisque—left us disappointed in flavors and execution.

Manitou Station is still new—after a soft opening, the grand opening was just a few weeks ago—so it still has time to focus on improving the food.