Melody Lodge

This place used to be the best in the area, within miles! Times have changed. Unfortunately they have raised prices and cut back on portions. I can see doing one or the other, but both? Have you ever had a order of mussels where you can count them on one hand? We were tempted to ask if they ran out, or is they lost half the order on way from the kitchen! Over priced and just a handful of mussels! Also on bar menu they really cut potion size and eliminated the vegetables. You never got a lot of veggies anyway, but at least it completed the dish, what’s it cost them for a few pieces of asparagus. Seems they lost customers over the changes and I can see them losing more., especially with a few other places in town with new culinary chefs.

While on vacation in Speculator, my boyfriend’s family and I visited Melody Lodge twice during the week – once in the tap room and once in the dining room.
I got an entrée Caesar salad in the tap room and it was wonderful. Caesar is my favorite and I had it at several of the other restaurants we visited, but Melody’s was the best. Also great prices in the tap room with equally great options.
Tonight we had dinner in the dining room. Our waitress was a little awkward but service was nice – they kept our water glasses well stocked. I ordered the Aspen Chicken with a side of penne. My only complaints were (1) the chicken was slightly dry and (2) there was too much food! The meal started with warm bread and marinated carrots, which was followed by appetizers (basil pesto and red pepper flatbread – delicious), and then most of our meals included a side salad or soup. All of this was before getting a large entrée with meat and carbs! I was stuffed before I even got to my Aspen Chicken – but it was with delicious food, so I shouldn’t complain!

First time here. Great choice. Beautiful views with a true old fashion drink was very relaxing on the porch. Had homemade bean and bacon soup that was fabulous. For dinner the fish and chips was excellent.

This place is busy so we found the last two seats at the bar. We ate from the tap room menu which is smaller portions. I had the grilled salmon with rice and my husband had the quiche with side Caesar salad. Both were very good. Portion sizes from the main menu looked much bigger. I was still hungry so ordered their blueberry pie ala mode which was amazing. Four stars because service was a little slow. It was super busy so we didn’t mind much but later when the bar cleared out we still waited 20 minutes for the bar tender to take our card to pay the bill. At that point we had been there for 2 hours so were getting antsy.

Very beautiful view of Lake Pleasant from the dining room. For an appetizer I started with the scallop special with shallots in a cream sauce — excellent. The salad was the Vinaigrette salad which was very tasty with it fruit and nut combo. As an entrée I had the Steak George which was a recommendation by many of the other reviews I read. I ordered it medium and was a little on the rare side, so I suggest you order accordingly. It was very tasty, but the blue cheese topping was a little strong for my taste. Go with the mashed potatoes as the side.
Wrapping the meal up was a slice of their famous Banana Cream Pie. Its different than most in that it is layered bananas with vanilla pudding on top, so you really get the taste of the fresh bananas.
Service was excellent with a very attentive wait staff. Great place!

This review is a Testament to you Unilocalers!
Last Sunday, I hosted a fifteen member dinner party. Owner, Jill could not have been more helpful directing the orchestration for this event, albeit remotely.
Views, Vistas and the Marinated carrots. Wow.
Well loved, cozy chalet like restaurant. A warm welcoming fire greets you upon entrance. Intimate lighting. Lots of wood interior. A trip to the Adirondacks is complete, after a day of sun and lake time, and a savory meal atop this mountain peek.
In a small hamlet, this restaurant shines atop the other offerings. Not boastfully, but proudly and in community.
Simply put, real people, running a real restaurant. More power to them.

The boyfriend and I went camping last week at Piseco Lake… or should a say glamping. Glamour camping. Although we had a tent set up next to the lake but we had to eat some fancy (not campfire) meals out. One of those meals happened to be Melody Lodge and it was fantastic.
Melody Lodge has the rustic/​wooden lodge appearance. There 2 sides: dining and bar area. The dining is supposed to be a quieter and fancier setting while the bar is supposed to be, well, a bar. They have a couple TVs and meant to be more casual. But really the only difference is that the bar has the specials, bar menu, and dining menu while the dining room only has the dining and specials menu. Go to the bar! more options… though you’ll miss out on the cozy fireplace.
We started off with marinated carrots, bread and scallops with orange spice. Bread was soft and difficult to stop eating. The carrots were marinated in mix of olive oil, tomato sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper and it was sweet but with a kick. Scallops were fresh and tender. Main courses we had was london broil and half duckiling. Duckling was juicy! The london broil was cooked medium and was also delicious. My only criticism is that it was a tad tougher than I would have liked. Finished off our dinner homemade with carrot cake.
The service was okay. Our waitress was friendly but coming in closer to the end of shift, I felt that she was not as attentive as she could have been. Food was out quickly and we were never left to wait too anxious for out food.
Overall, if you decide to hit up a tiny camptown like Piseco, drive the extra 10 miles to Speculator and have dinner here. It’s worth it!

A trip to Melody Lodge is the highlight of annual trip to Lake pleasant. The food and service is great. The steak George is my favorite and in my opinion one of the best steaks. If they have blue berry pie for dessert ask them to save you a piece. It is the perfect ending to a great meal.

The food was amazing, definitely get the buffalo shrimp, steak by George, and the Banana cream pie is amazing! The view is Spectacular! The service is wonderful!

absolutely love this place. it is right up the road from my vacation house. they have great food!!! their service is great as well! the bar is always packed with snowmobilers in the winter and vacationers in the summer! definitely try their French onion soup and their steak… their burgers are also a hit! I never had anything bad :)

My husband and I just returned from a trip to the Adirondacks, Indian Lake area and had dinner here on Thursday, Oct. 17^th. While driving to Speculator, we saw the sign and drove up the hill to check the place out. Husband got out and looked inside and said it was just the kind of place I’d love-​cozy, big stone fireplace, great view. He had been wanting something besides the basics we had been eating.
The website suggests reservations, so we called and made plans for 7 pm that night. We were greeted by who we later found out was the owner-​super nice guy. The atmosphere was perfect for me. Candle-​lit with old hardwood floors and that massive stone fireplace, 70’s James Taylor-​type music quietly playing in the background (nice touch), tables not too closely placed. Had we timed it right the sunset would have been wonderful (if you go time it for sunset!).
Husband said that the wine list was really good, but unfortunately the owner noted that since it was end of season and they would be closing down soon for a month or so they were out of some bottles-​no big deal at all and understandable. Since we were on vacation to hike and fish, we weren’t dressed up at all, and although we felt sort of out of place, it was by our own accord and not the restaurant’s. There is no dress code listed on their website.
Our bread was served with «pickled» (for want of a better term) carrots-​very good and something that we had never had before. White house wine was sweet-​just the way I like it. Crab cake appetizer was crispy and not over stuffed with filling and barley soup was like a stew, thick and tasty. Husband ordered one of the specials, a pecan crusted maple sauce salmon dish that he really liked and I ordered the salmon with crab topping and it was really good-​again crispy and not a lot of filling with the crab. We always get our dessert to go and brought home the pumpkin bread pudding. Heated it up in the microwave and drooled it was so good.
Though well worth what we paid, it is more expensive than other places in the area.
Service=great. Food=great. Atmosphere=great. We would go back here any time and really recommend the place for anyone in the area! Would be a great place for an anniversary dinner or a proposal, even for a small wedding reception or birthday.

Probably my favorite restaurant anywhere. Beautiful location, excellent food, good value, attentive waitstaff. A true gem of a place!!!

The tourists are mostly gone.
Great, sit in the bar!
wonderful view and great lunch.

I have such a huge crush on this place. I actually came here by myself while I was staying at my camp in Wells. Some random old men at a bar recommended it to me… haha.
This was in the winter, and as I pulled up I couldn’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside because of the snow on the ground and the big porch with all the firewood stacked up.
Once inside, I couldn’t believe how classy everything was. It was not what I was expecting, and there were way more people there than I thought.
I waited about 15 minutes for a table, and was seated off to the side. The waitress was very friendly and attentive.
The menu was amazing. I ended up with a glass of wine and the filet mignon. While waiting for my meal she brought me fresh bread and some sort of glazed carrots. The entire meal was DELICIOUS! You get what you pay for, and I don’t feel like it was overpriced at all.
I cannot wait to return here for a romantic dinner one day… It had such a great atmosphere.
Also checked out the tap room bar they have there. Seems like a nice place to get a few glasses of wine.

Melody has been the «quality» place for the 20ish years I’ve journeyed to spend time with my wife’s family in Spec. The Swift family that owns it, and some other establishments in town, have energy and an entrepreneurial bent you don’t always find in an out of the way hamlet and this translates to a good level of food and service.
Tonight they were booked solid so we opted to sit in the bar. Nice as bars go except for a pretty loud bar-​type soundtrack. For «twenty four» I had the Steak by George, a huge hunk of I think NY strip smothered in blue cheese, sauteed mushrooms, crispy fried onions and a side dish of potatoes formed into kind of a pouch. My wife got a generous quarter of a duck with pilaf for «twenty two». Both were accompanied by a nice salad, bread and oil, and the interesting house antipasto of sliced carrots in a sort of sweet and sour marinade. I wanted beer and got a pint of Iroquois Ale from Adirondack Brewery in Lake George, really good.
This isn’t big city food or fine dining, but it’s a lot better than you have any right to expect in a town this size. Also the view of the lake really is amazing.

Was here this weekend for the first time in 4 years. $ 4 micro-​brews from Lake George. Can’t beat it! I’ve never seen it so crowded. Luckily we had reservations.
I got what I always had. Steak by George (not Jack’s Steak). A NY Strip with melted blue cheese and mushrooms. Covered in onion strings. The best meal I’ve had in a very long time.

It was about 5pm when we stopped at Melody lodge for dinner. We qualified for the early bird that turned out to be a great deal including salad, deseet and coffee. It also afford us an amazing sunset view over Lake pleasant and Sacandaga Lake.
The early bird specials are smaller portions. That was news to me but not all the old people that were there. It’s not a joke, old people go out to dinner early.
There was only one waiter for the whole restaurant. He was amazing. Kept everybody totally up to date and I never felt like I needed or had to wait for anything. This guy has set the bar for all other service. Let me tell you it is possible to serve 6 tables efficiently, take orders and drinks and serve everybody on time. There is no reason for crappy service in a restaurant.
Melody was a camp where young women learned to sing. I worked at a camp not far away in my day. We often would go to the bar at Melody and have beer, and it was great to go back.
I highly suggest the french onion soup. My seafood entrée was pretty good but not 5 star good. Everybody else had delicious looking meals.

This is a great place to go with family or friends. It allows one to feel as if they are in somewhat more Intimate surroundings while being out.
The menu is excellent. They have a decent wine/​drink list for the Adirondacks. And downright fantastic for Speculator.
They have some nice steaks and ribs. They really stand out in their ability to customize your order to the way you want it. They can make some great vegetarian dishes. They also really have a gourmet touch when it comes to creating side dishes.
I loved the fish here. They made great salmon and decent catfish. The Maple butter sauce is amazing. The buffalo shrimp are tasty. And I am told that they do a magnificent Rack of lamb.
They pecan encrust salmon and that’s pretty awesome. I have only been for dinner and have been impressed every time. I have heard from friends that lunch is less impressive. So, until I go for lunch I will only recommend the dinner.