Kenai Riverside Resort Food & Social
The end of the day’s adventures means it’s time to relax and socialize. This part of the day is certainly one of our favorites. Every evening we host entertainment and food focused on recipes we love to share and can’t wait for you to try. All our meals focus on local, hand-caught (sometimes by you if you wish!) local catch and local cuisine.
Because our meals are always done with a consideration of what’s fresh and what’s recently caught we don’t offer a fixed menu and we focus on traditional family Alaskan food fare. We provide well-balanced healthy meals with a variety of choices and always a daily specially prepared protein selection. Common menu items are (needless to stress “fresh”!) Sockeye Salmon Burgers, Halibut Fish & Chips, Reindeer & Moose Sausage appetizers, Wasabi Halibut risotto, blacked salmon and halibut taco’s and much much more. And we love sharing these recipes. So, if you’re interested in learning how to make any of them we’d be delighted to show you.
Enjoying meals together overlooking the mighty Kenai River, trading the day’s stories and adventures, and on most days of the summer offering music from local Alaskan musicians never gets old. It’s a fantastic time to socialize with your hosts, guides, musicians, and people from all over the world.
While it is difficult for us to accommodate every dietary need we do offer a large selection of food choices and snacks 24 hours a day 7 days a week for you to enjoy as you wish. We also provide community BBQ grills that you may use if you would prefer – but we suggest you leave the cooking to us! Traditional hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, sandwiches, and other American fare are always available at any time.
Breakfast & Lunch
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and we’ll make sure you get it started properly. We will provide a variety of lighter fare options such as granola, yogurt, fresh fruit, bread, and jams and we’ll also provide some special entrees that can change daily but often include New Orleans French Quarter beignets, bacon & eggs, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and eggs Benedict.
On most days you’ll be enjoying lunch while out on your adventure on trails or on the boats. However, for anyone remaining behind or arriving on their first day there will be several hot options provided. Also, a variety of lunch meats, bread and more will be provided so that everyone can make their own lunch. A variety of cookies, fruits, chips, bacon mac-n-cheese, and other items change daily but will be available throughout the day.
Nightly Social & Dinner
Social time begins at 7:00 PM around the campfire with appetizers and a chance to show off your pictures from the day. It’s also a great time to discuss plans for tomorrow’s activities with your guides, take a look at the weather, make preparations on gear, travel, and more. And it’s a great time for us to learn more about you. Our visitors may arrive as guests but inevitably everyone parts as friends – and usually, it’s not goodbye but “see you next year.” This is what we live for and why we started in the first place.
For those still interested in fishing a bit more you’ll always be just steps away from the river where a rod and reel will be waiting for your use.
In your accommodations, you’ll always have a large pitcher of ice water available for your use throughout your stay and refreshed regularly.
We also have a large smoker on site that we use to constantly smoke salmon. If you would like to see how we brine and smoke salmon, have us help you do yours, or simply use the smoker we’d be glad to assist.
We use both wet brines and dry brines to cure the salmon prior to smoking. This is a mixture of salt and sugar placed on the fish for the dry brine or put into a solution of water for the web brine. After brining for around 24 hours, the brine will be rinsed from the salmon and we will allow the fish to rest while the pellicle forms. Once formed we will fill the smoker and begin the 6-8 hours smoking process. When that is finally finished we will vacuum seal and freeze your smoked salmon for your trip home.
Once brined and cured smoked salmon can be vacuum sealed and frozen where it can last for more than a year, but you’ll likely eat long before it expires. And it will give you a reason to come back and get more!