METROLAND

Country Pleasures
By B.A. Nilsson

Abeel’s Restaurant 910 Rock City Rd., Milton, 602-0220. Serving lunch Tue-Sun 11-3, dinner Tue-Thu 3-9, Fri-Sat 3-10, Sun 3-8. MC, V.

Cuisine: continental

Entrée price range: $14.29 (sliced grilled beef) to $17 (N.Y. strip, duck breast or others)

Ambiance: country dining

Tony Abeel had his eye on this location for quite some time. Even as he and his wife, Julie, were running a restaurant in St. Johnsville, way over in Montgomery County, they were wishing they could get back to the Saratoga area.

The place in Milton had been a restaurant many years before, but for the past decade or so it was a shop selling food-service equipment. It became available a couple of years ago, and the Abeels quickly worked to acquire it and get it back into shape for the kind of eatery they had in mind. A year and a half ago, they opened.

Think Saratoga area and naturally you think about taking advantage of the August madness. Some places seem to be in business only for that reason; others cash in on the season with higher prices.

The Abeels have no such plan. Julie wasn’t at all bashful about telling us their philosophy when we stopped by for dinner one night not long ago. “We really want to take care of our neighbors,” she said. “That’s why we don’t try to cater to the racetrack crowd.”

Sure, they got some last year, and I would suspect that those who ventured forth to find the place were surprised and rewarded—surprised at the good food; rewarded by the more-than-reasonable prices. Not to mention the triumph of finding a place that’s pretty well tucked away.

It’s near what serves as my back way to Saratoga: I take Middle Line Road, which ambles north from Route 67 in Ballston Spa to Route 29 just outside of Saratoga. But take it only to the second four-way stop. To your right, the cross street is Geyser Road; on your left (and that’s where to turn) it’s Rock City Road. Follow it. You’ll soon see Abeel’s on the right.

As a hungry traveler, you’ll find immediate reward at the small salad bar. “People are usually hungry when they get here,” says Tony. “I want to give them a little something right away.”

It really is just that: a salad bar. Not one of those so-many-items-it-hurts assemblies. Start with some leaves for a green salad. When we visited, it was iceberg lettuce only, but Tony assures me there’s usually Romaine and spinach there, too. Then decorate the salad with any of the common accompaniments. “We often get customers who don’t want onions or don’t want tomatoes on their salad. This way, everyone gets what they want.”

You could argue that there’s room enough in this restaurant for a much larger salad bar and more, but the generous size of the place gives each table a more intimate feel. If you want to be closer to others, spend some time at the bar (cocktails, not salads), which you’ll pass through as you enter, but which is maintained as a separate room.

The something-for-everyone menu spreads its selections over four pages, one of which lists lighter fare. I might argue with the designation of chicken parmigiana as such—breaded, fried anything topped with cheese sits a little heavily with me—but the $10 entrée gives a more-than-generous portion over a mound of pasta, which gave us enough for a follow-up meal. And it’s the real thing: breaded in the kitchen, as opposed to the chain restaurant style of using cryovac-sealed, pre-breaded stuff.

Also on that list are a hamburger with fries ($5.29), baked or fried haddock ($11), a popular hot turkey dinner ($10), and more.

If you’re looking for something lighter still, the list of appetizers presents a number of standards—clams, shrimp, chicken wings—along with a good, classic crock of French onion soup ($4.79) that’s a reminder of the rich, complex flavor you only get when the brew is homemade.

Oriental pot stickers ($6.59) boast a pork filling, a pungent dipping sauce, and a small side of perfumed rice. Stuffed mushrooms ($5.79) are more complicated than is typical: They have a sausage-and-pepper stuffing and a snowcaps of melted Swiss.

Two pages of entrées cover a range that runs from a $15 vegetable Napoleon (grilled veggies topped with pesto) to a $17 grilled New York strip. Duck breast ($17) is served with a sherry-enhanced duxelle; pork medallions ($17) are joined by portobellos, vinegar-soaked tomatoes and feta cheese.

Given any menu to contemplate, my wife immediately checks out the chicken dishes and exults over the most boring-sounding preparations. Fortunately, neither of Abeel’s listings sounded dull: Chicken Mediterranean ($15) adds artichoke hearts, tomatoes and olives, with a garlic-enhanced white wine sauce; the chicken and sausage pasta ($14.79), which Susan enjoyed, mixed chunks of excellent sweet sausage with the chicken bits and some colorful peppers in a bed of fettuccine, finished with a rich garlic cream sauce.

The menu has been evolving, and the current one features lighter sauces and some changes in preparations of duck, salmon and trout. The rainbow trout is baked, split open and served with a buttery sauce flavored with thyme and Mandarin orange slices, which mixes well with the easygoing flavor of the meat. And it’s served with head and tail intact unless you request otherwise; if you request otherwise, why are you bothering even to eat fish?

Every community needs an Abeel’s to fight the rising tide of chain restaurants and general mediocrity, so this little corner of the county is fortunate. Service couldn’t have been friendlier, and I have a feeling that you’ll soon be part of the family when you make this a regular stop.