Pleasant House Three Oaks: British Comfort Food in Southwest Michigan

Last weekend, we went on our annual February jaunt to Michigan. A few years ago, we stumbled on the Magical Ice Fest in St. Joseph and loved it so much that we have returned every February since. *Weather willing, of course!* Each time we return, we try to explore a little more and uncover new gems that we did not know about. We first learned about the village of Three Oaks after reading about it on the Chicago Foodie Sisters blog. After reading about Carrie's culinary experiences in Three Oaks, we knew we had to visit.  Over the summer, we visited Froelich's and picked up some goodies for the beach. Froelich's is definitely a foodie wonderland! This time, we visited Pleasant House for their meat pies. When my husband eyed these treats this past summer, I knew we would be back!

From the outside, Pleasant House looks like a venue worthy of any gourmand. When we walked in, we noted the refined pub-like atmosphere. Pleasant House is one of those places where you can sit back and relax for awhile. The restaurant definitely has a comfortable setting.

The menu is simple--but when you make meat pies as good as the ones at Pleasant House, you do not need many items on the menu. If you bring the kids with you, their choices will be limited. Frankly, as a child I used to eat meat pies--so I would have been in heaven. My daughter, however, does not eat meat pies. However, she does enjoy bangers, so she was happy with the banger. There also were chicken fingers for the kids. We did coax her into a sampling one of the meat pies. She enjoyed it, but I do not think that she would order it on her own. Of course, she missed out!

Pleasant House crafts its own beer in house. So, you may want to partake during your visit. My husband enjoyed the craft he chose. Most of the other patrons were kicking back with Pleasant House Beer as well. So, don't skip out if you are a beer fan! They also have a couple of Michigan wines to choose from as well as coffee and Yorkshire black tea as well as some other beverage selections.

For my meal, I chose the Chicken Balti Pie. The meal looked like it jumped straight out of a foodie magazine. The crust was perfectly flaky and I enjoyed the curry flavor of the chicken. I had the Coriander Chutney on the side which paired very well. I am a pretty petite person but I somehow managed to take this delight down! The pie was filled to the brim with chicken in curry and tomato.
The chicken was very tender--perfect!

My husband ordered the Premium Pasty with the Red Wine Gravy. His pasty was full of beef, rutabaga, potato and onions. Another beautiful meal that tasted great and was filling!

Often when I eat a more foodie meal, I feel hungry afterwards. Not so with these wonderful pies! Another wonderful thing to know about Pleasant House---you can buy frozen pies to take home. They do take a little while to bake, so we did have to wait a bit at the restaurant for our pies. So, if you love the pies but don't want to sit at the restaurant, you can bake some at home! Plus, can you imagine serving these at a dinner party! Impressive!

My favorite part about traveling is finding places like Pleasant House---the unexpected treasure. Since we travel up to Michigan a couple of times of year, I am sure we will back!