When I heard The Exchange Restaurant opened in downtown Homer last July, I was anxious to pay it a visit. It’s owned by a gentleman who owns several businesses in the area, two of which are restaurants I had alreadyreviewedin Cortland and liked. The Exchange is very different from the other two and I like it much better. It’s very large with a half dozen different dining areas as well as a large bar/counter. The décor is modern with white walls, grey ceilings, and black chairs. When I’m inside I get the feeling that it’s upscale without being pretentious.
They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner on various days. I compared the lunch and dinner menus, and they are virtually identical except the Entrée section for dinner has thirteen items compared to only two at lunch.
After being seated, I immediately noticed a pad and pencil on the table. It’s a smaller menu to “Create Your Own Exchange Salad” and is much too long to detail here. There are two sizes, small ($14) and large ($18) with extra charges for some of the “proteins”. You can choose from eight “greens”, fourteen “proteins” which includes tuna, salmon, chicken, and steak, twenty-four Fruits and Vegetables (really!) a half dozen cheeses, ten “Crunch” and eight dressings.
I was already impressed before my server even arrived.
At one lunch I ordered, from the “Soups” category, African Peanut Stew ($10). It was thick and incredibly flavorful with a strong peanut taste from peanuts as well as sweet potatoes, chickpeas, kale, and a homemade vegetable broth. I’m happy to say that this same soup is offered at dinner with no increase in price. Much of the food is homemade, including the soups.
In the Handhelds section I selected Game Burger, ($15.50). It’s a combination of lamb, local bison, and beef and was lean. The burger was a half inch thick with a generous slice of tomato, a piece of Romaine lettuce, and some whipped feta. It was so thick I soon gave up trying to think of it as a “handheld” and surrendered to my knife and fork. This too, is available at lunch and dinner with no change in price. I really enjoyed it.
A more manageable Handheld is a Mozzarella Tomato Grilled Cheese sandwich,($14.50 lunch and dinner). It came on a flattened croissant, with some green onions, pickled onions, and a balsamic glaze. I enjoyed this too.
With dinner, I received a dish of complimentary homemade bagel chips with a ramekin of homemade lemon, dill butter. I made quick work of these…. after I ate the first, I found them addictive.
One of the dinner entrées is Firecracker Scallops ($32.75). I asked if the scallops were from a bay or the sea and learned they’re sea scallops. I usually prefer their smaller cousins which are more tender but I ordered these anyway as I wanted to get a seafood item into this review. I was happily surprised. I received five, very large scallops, with seared edges, that were the most tender I’ve ever had.They were so large I had to quarter them to conveniently eat them. They were served with relatively mild “firecracker mushrooms”, tender asparagus spears, and perfectly seasoned mashed sweet potatoes. There was a tolerably hot sauce covering the plate.
Another evening, I chose a different entrée, Short Ribs, ($31). I took one of the two home with me and enjoyed the other which had a reasonable ratio of fat and fall-off-the-bone beef. They came with an interesting vegetable combination: very large, soft, chewy butter beans and some slightly al dente green beans.Large, homemade, perfectly cooked tater tots were a wonderful complement. The last night I was there, in late March, the chef had decided to add a ramekin of homemade horseradish. It was fine but I didn’t think it was necessary.
There’s a large dessert and after dinner drink menu that lights up when you open it. I chose the evening special, homemade blood orange pie with homemade pineapple whipped cream. It was like a rich, delicious cheesecake.
The wine menu is impeccable.It has a complete offering of all the major red and white varieties and includes countries of origin, vintages, and fair prices with fair markups, as well as six ounce and nine ounces glass sizes.
Wines by the glass range from $8-$12 and bottles from $28-$250 and there’s a large selection between $20 and $40. Beer is more limited. I had to ask my server who went to the bar to check availabilities.
Tid Bits: Parking available on site
There are three unisex restrooms: the middle one is large and has a diaper changing foldout table.