Lighthouse a great place for steak in Northwest Indiana

So, recently I went out to dinner with all the guys on my husband's shift (he's a firefighter) and their wives. Since everyone is so busy during the Christmas season, we held off until January hoping for better attendance. And it worked. Only one couldn't make it. 

We went to the Lighthouse Restaurant in Cedar Lake, Indiana on the recommendation of one of my husband's co-workers who had been there several times. I'd heard nothing but good things about the place and had been wanting to try it since reading an article about it's opening -- which was nearly three years ago. It's about a 40-minute drive, so whenever we've gone out it often lost out to places that were a little closer and more convenient. We started out with a few appetizers that got passed around the table. Here's a picture of the onion petals - very yummy! Nice breading and flavorful dip with a zing.

Calamari, which I didn't try it. Nice presentation, though.

Next was the salad, which was good but a little too light on the dressing for me. A couple of the other girls asked for extra dressing. I should have done the same, but was half way done at that point and wanted to save room for the entree. And besides, a mediocre salad can be forgiven when the steak is as good as it was here.

Oh, and here's a picture of Aaron's soup. Can't recall exactly what it was. I want to say shrimp chowder?

So, here was my steak, the petite filet (8 oz.) It was superb. Great cut of meat. Cooked perfectly. Great flavor. The steaks are brought out on 500 degree heated plates. And you can actually cut up your steak and it'll continue to cook on the sizzling plate.

This was Aaron's steak, the 14 oz. New York Strip. I totally could have polished off one of these. Maybe next time.

Most of the diners ordered the garlic mashed potatoes. Not bad, HUGE portion, though...barely made a dent. It could feed three people.

And here's a shot of Marty's sea bass.

In our group of 16, I think everyone was pretty pleased with their meal. The Lighthouse Restaurant is located on Cedar Lake. We dined facing the lake, but on a dark, January night, there wasn't much too see. I'll definitely have to make a trip out there in warmer weather to check it out once more...and order the big steak. Visit http://cedarlakelighthouse.com/about.php for more background on the place and to view menus.