Restaurant Review: The Forge in the Forest

With the unusually nice weather lately, Steven and I decided that we should take another trip down to Carmel. It was easily one of the most beautiful days we had ever seen down there. Shelby whined most of the way down, but brightened up when we got there. Our first stop was Diggity Dog to pick up their list of pet friendly restaurants and lodging. One of the restaurants, The Forge in the Forest, actually has a menu for dogs.

The restaurant is very quaint, with a lovely outdoor eating area in the front. We were told that the wait would be about 15mins, and it was more like 30mins. We were thirsty while we were waiting, so Steven bought a glass of wine and an iced tea. We sat in the front patio waiting for a table to open up when we were told that dogs were not allowed in the front. So here's Shelby sitting with us on the sidewalk. Guests with dogs eat in the private back patio, which is also nice, but that wasn't our expectation and Steven felt like a second class citizen. Despite being disappointed that we weren't going to be eating in the lovely front patio, the reason for such a policy became apparent when the Pomeranian in the corner started barking at another dog, leaving Steven and I to ponder why everytime we see a barking dog, it seems to be a Pom.

Service was friendly, but slow. It might have been that they didn't expect such a large crowd for a late lunch. This was our first time at this restaurant, so I'm not sure what's the norm. We ordered an artichoke for $8. Steven was appalled. Surely, he didn't just wait 30mins to pay 8 bucks for an artichoke that was grown 10 miles away from the restaurant. This was the equivalent of the 5 dollar milkshake in Pulp Fiction. It became obvious why the artichoke was so expensive after we bit into it. This is a good artichoke. It's soaked for 3 days in balsalmic vinegar, then grilled. Steven ordered a burger. I ordered a grilled eggplant sandwich. Portions were huge. We ordered Shelby an all beef Hot Diggity Dog for $3.95 which I'm sure made this Shelby's favorite restaurant of all time.

Other items on the doggy menu include:
Plain Ol' Kibble — $2.50
The Quarter Hounder — $4.95
Hen House Chicken Strips — $4.95
Good Dog, 8oz of grilled steak — $12.95
and milkbone Bonies — Free, though we passed since Shelby was already eating her weight in hot dogs.

With some many other dog friendly restaurants in Carmel, it's hard to say if we'll definitely be back. There's a lot to explore. But it was certainly worth a first try (if only for the artichoke), and Shelby loved it.