Smoky Mountain Trout House, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

My husband loves trout.  Me?  I like it, I don't love it.  But there is one restaurant that we always go to when we visit the smoky mountains that makes us both happy--the Smoky Mountain Trout House in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  We discovered it on our honeymoon and have been going there for thirteen years.  They know how to do trout.  It's casual dining with a variety of trout dishes to choose from.  Let me tell you about the meal we had while we were on vacation last month.

Trout Fritters

We started with the trout fritters.  We always start with the trout fritters.  Do not go there without getting the trout fritters.  Do it.  They are fried golden balls of trout and potatoes with peppers and onions, incredibly moist on the inside, crispy on the outside with a creamy dill dipping sauce.  These fritters are what inspired me to send in my very first entry into a recipe contest years ago.  I tried to recreate them at home.  The waitress told us there was a secret ingredient in them.  Then she cautiously looked around and whispered it to me under her breath as she was walking away.  Unfortunately, I did not catch it because apparently, granny needs a hearing aid.

I ordered the trout cakes for my entree, which were delicious also, but basically it was the same mixture as the trout fritters but in cake form.  I wished I would have branched out.  Richard ordered the Smoked Mountain Trout.

Smoked Mountain Trout.  And yes, I know this is the worst picture ever.

I'm not sure I have ever tasted a more flavorful piece of fish.  Hickory smoked with sauteed mushrooms and onions and a little cup of bacon pieces in butter for dipping.  Sweet mercy it was delicious.  I will say that I wasn't all that impressed with the hush puppies and coleslaw, but I'm from Mississippi--we KNOW how to do hush puppies and coleslaw--so my standards are quite high.  But everything else was wonderful. 

Go there.