Civilization in the Arizonian wilderness!

I had no expectations food-wise when I went on our week long trip to northern Arizona.  There were supposed to be 28 restaurants in Page (population 7,252) but they were all fast food joints or overpriced BBQ places.  There wasn't even a decent bakery in sight.  The one Big John's Texas BBQ we tried turned out to be a takeout place disguised as a restaurant - the ribs were tasteless.  After four days of this fare, I searched the web in desperation, and a good thing I did.  

We were headed to the Grand Canyon on the fifth day and I found a posting on Yelp! about the El Tovar Dining Lounge in the historic lodge of the same name in Grand Canyon Village.  One hiker talked about the roast duck that was so good that he ordered a second one to take on the hike with him the following day.  Unfortunately, the website recommended booking six months in advance for a dinner reservation!  With nothing to lose, I decided to try my luck and emailed them for a reservation.  Whoopee!  they emailed right back with a choice of dining times on the same evening.  What luck!

The delicious meal made up for the previous four days.  The green chili and roasted corn chowder served in a tortilla bowl provided some distinctive local flavour.  The tortilla was crunchy and dense - not sure if it was fried or baked, but it wasn't greasy.  (I was thoroughly sick of the fluffy white bread that pervaded in all the restaurants here)

Then came the pièce de résistance - the roasted half duck!  It lived up to its reputation!  Skin was crispy, meat was tender, the merlot blackberry demiglace just right - and it was an Arizona-sized portion even though this is a classy restaurant.  Unlike the young man reviewing on Yelp!, we couldn't finish a half duck and still have soup and dessert and a bottle of wine.  Indeed we had enough leftover for a picnic lunch on our hike the following day. 

To top it all off, the restaurant has an excellent reasonably priced wine list (and a reportedly great view of the canyon during the day).  The lemon creme brulee dessert was of the same calibre.  We've discovered civilization in the midst of the Arizona wilderness!