Ostrich and cobras and hares, oh my!

You won’t find these creatures lurking in the dark woods here in Maine (well, maybe the hares), but if you have a taste for adventure, you could find them on your plate at Eureka Hall restaurant in Stockholm.

Say you’re in the mood for broiled cobra in a Thai curry sauce. Maybe you have a hankering for ostrich breast with Cajun spices. Perhaps you’re just jumping to try kangaroo. If so, Eureka Hall is your kind of place.

“People just love coming here,” chef Paul Parsons said. “There’s quite a variety and the unique things like the snake – it’s all because of that ‘Survivor’ show. All the kids were talking about [trying the cobra on the menu] in school.”

If your taste is more meat and potatoes than snake ‘n’ bake, don’t worry, Parsons has a dish for you, too. In addition to the more eclectic items on Eureka Hall’s menu, he also cooks familiar favorites, such as lamb chops or scallops, with a twist. On a recent Thursday, Parsons stuffed giant scallops with crab and scallions, pan fried them and topped them off with a Frangelico cream sauce. He also prepared grilled salmon, chicken marsala and shrimp cocktail. Then he turned around and broiled cobra fillets in a curry sauce.

So what, exactly, does cobra taste like? Not chicken. Parsons says it tastes like cobra, of course. It actually is more like calamari, only chewier. The ostrich is very similar to a lean steak. And the kangaroo? Tastes like lamb with a milder flavor.

“I know this seems like strange stuff to be serving in Stockholm, Maine, but people are really into it,” Parsons said. “This has been fun. People have really been open to trying new things.”

So open, in fact, that people from all over Aroostook County and beyond travel to the village, which is nestled in a valley about 10 miles north of Caribou (the city, not the meat). Diners may initially come to try the unusual dishes, but they return because everything on the menu is so well-prepared.

“I give a lot of credit to Paul,” said Bob Rankin, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Suzy Anderson. “He’s drawing them in here with his unique items. Some people raise their eyebrows when they see some of the things on the menu, but more often than not, they’re willing to try it.”

When they moved to Stockholm several years ago, rabbit fricassee and grilled ostrich were the furthest things from Rankin and Anderson’s minds. When Anderson’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the couple started splitting their time between Kennebunkport, where they owned the Chase Hill Bakery, and Anderson’s native Stockholm.

When they first bought the then-decrepit Eureka Hall, they thought they might manufacture frozen Maine food products in the space to make up for the income they were losing by being out of the bakery. But then they decided it would be better for everyone if they moved to Stockholm full time.

“It was an easy choice. We decided to sell out down there,” Rankin said.

The only problem was that the historic building they bought, which once housed a bowling alley, jail, barber shop, pool hall, variety store, fire station and the town hall – at the same time – had fallen into severe disrepair.

“It was the worst looking building in town,” Anderson said.

So they got started renovating the back part of the building into living quarters, still unsure of what the front would hold.

They initially thought they would have a little lunch counter or coffee shop. But when a full-service restaurant on nearby Madawaska Lake burned down, they thought there may be need for another.

“That kind of opened up the door for other opportunities, certainly a restaurant and a tavern of some sort,” Rankin said.

Though the bakery was the extent of their prior food-service experience, they opened up a full-service restaurant in fall 1998. Anderson does all the baking, and Parsons, who is originally from Michigan and has worked in restaurants in Las Vegas, Seattle and Dallas, came on board as the chef about two years ago.

“It was a pretty good menu [before he started], but we’ve been branching out, you could say,” Parsons said.

They started out with printed, plastic-covered menus like most restaurants have, but the menu changed so frequently once Parsons started that Rankin now hand writes and photocopies the menu. The only constant at Eureka Hall is the freshness of the ingredients and the innovative preparation.

“[The customers] don’t seem to balk at the items on the menu,” Rankin said. “They’re willing to try it, so it’s proving to be a bonus for us. … I try to describe things to people at the table and that takes a lot of the anxiety away.”

The d?cor of the restaurant, filled with antiques and memorabilia that change with the seasons, is as eclectic as the food. During a recent visit, Rankin was dressing a mannequin in a ski outfit, Anderson’s father’s handmade cross-country skis were propped up in a corner and posters and decorations with a winter theme filled the walls and shelves. Diners can eat at linoleum-topped metal tables with matching chairs or a diner-style lunch counter along one wall.

Or they can go downstairs, to the Side Track Tavern, located in the former bowling alley. Using wood from the lanes, Rankin created a bar and handicapped-accessible ramp. Since he’s a NASCAR fan, there is plenty of racing memorabilia on the walls.

In addition to full dinners, there’s a tavern menu downstairs. Because Eureka Hall is located a stone’s throw from ITS 83, the tavern offers quick meals such as burgers and pizza, and warm-ups such as chicken stew and chili for snowmobilers.

“Sledders tend to like that sort of thing as opposed to a big dinner,” Rankin said. “There are exceptions to that, of course.”

Snowmobilers aren’t the only ones who stop at the tavern, however.

“It gives a place for the locals to come,” Rankin said. “We think of it as Stockholm’s version of ‘Cheers,’ where everybody knows your name.”

Eureka Hall’s popularity has caught on with locals and not-so-locals alike. In Aroostook County, where a half-hour drive to the store is a quick trip, people think nothing of driving more than an hour to try one of Parsons’ meals or Anderson’s delicious rolls and sinful desserts.

“Aroostook County, being the way it is geographically, you have to travel distances to go anywhere,” Rankin said. “We think nothing of going to Fort Kent for lunch or Presque Isle. It’s a way of living up here. You travel.”

The whole dining experience at Eureka Hall, from the friendly service to the unusual menu and decadent desserts, makes a visit to Eureka Hall worth the trip.

“What they’ve done out in the dining room is great and Suzy bakes all the rolls and desserts fresh,” Parsons said. “People are starting to come from far away. … If you have good food, they’ll come.”

Eureka Hall is open Thursday through Sunday only. Dinner starts at 4 p.m. During the winter, the tavern opens at noon Saturday and Sunday. For reservations or information, call 896-3196.