I’ve been vacationing at Lincoln, NH for 18 years now. This is more that just a special place in my heart. Beautiful New England scenery, fun and unpredictable ski slopes and hearty home-style meals; what more could I ask for? Oh yeah, Ice cream for breakfast. Last night after a cold afternoon of skiing, I visited my favorite New Hampshire eatery: The Common Man. The Common Man started in Ashland, NH but now has 8 locations around New Hampshire. The second Common Man location opened in 1985 in Lincoln, and I have been a patron there since 1992. It’s a wonderful family run restaurant with North East rustic offerings like chicken potpie, baked macaroni and cheese, and the uncommon baked apple. But delicious comfort food aside, the ambiance is what really makes this place special. In 1985 the Ray family moved an old barn onto their property in Lincoln and without losing its old rustic appeal turned it into a lovely restaurant that makes you feel like you never left grandma’s house. They have red and white checkered napkins, and lace lining the windows.
They sell Life magazines and evening post advertisements from as far back as the 20s for $2 a piece. And a sign near the kitchen reads, “If you’re not proud of it…don’t serve it.” A philosophy that should be at the front of every chef’s mind. I ordered the Almost escargot and the Roast Prime Rib.
The almost escargot were mushroom caps baked in garlic herb butter inside an escargot dish topped with browned cheddar cheese and puff pastry. For less than $5, it was a beautiful appetizer. Tasty mushrooms swimming in butter and cheese with delicate pastry on top. I ended up having to share with the table more than I would have liked.
Next was the Prime Rib: wonderful red medium rare, with a nice little horseradish cream and butternut squash and wild rice pilaf on the side. The squash was nice and fresh and the steak was perfectly cooked and tasty: the perfect comfort food after a cold New England day. We didn’t order dessert, but the check came with a generous pile of their homemade white chocolate chunks, which were very fudgy and good.
We didn’t have dessert until the next morning when we visited Udderly Delicious, a small Ice cream shop on Main St in Lincoln. At 9:30 am my friend Max and I couldn’t help but order a banana split make-your-own-sundae from the Ice cream bar. She gave us our “one scoop” of chocolate ice cream on top of a split banana, which looked more like two scoops to me, and we brought it over to the sundae buffet.
We topped it with homemade marshmallow fluff, caramel, peanut butter sauce, and whipped cream. The only non-homemade toppings they had were all the candies and nuts; we took a few Oreos, walnut chunks, sprinkles and strawberries.
Somehow, it was perfection. How can Ice cream on a 16 F day in the middle of December at 9:30am be so good?! But it certainly was that good.
If you ever find yourself on I-93 at exit 32 in Lincoln, NH, stop a while and get a good bite to eat at one of these fine establishments. Gustatelo!
The Common Man
TheCMan.com
10 Pollard Road
Lincoln, NH 03251
(603) 745-DINE (3463)
Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shoppe
121 Main St.
Lincoln, NH 03251
(603) 745 6668
