All your past experiences with hotel restaurants and room service meals will fade into oblivion once you've eaten at the Royal Table inside the Casino Queen.

This is what every meal should taste like.

Whether it's the appetizers created especially by the chef to tantalize your tastebuds or the steaks prepared to perfection, the meals at the Royal Table are more than satisfying, and full of variety.

I can think of only one meal I've eaten that might compare in quality -- and that was nearly five years ago while dining at the Biltmore in Asheville, N.C.

Service was excellent from the moment my guest and I entered the restaurant. We were seated near the back of the room in near seclusion.

We began the meal with a selection of appetizers: lobster cakes wrapped in seaweed, mushroom caps stuffed with Gouda cheese, and beef tenderloin layered between slices of portabello mushrooms.

Each meal comes with a salad or soup, potato or fresh vegetable. Entrees range from $15 to $40.

Our waiter carried out a tray of beef cuts to show us exactly what the chef and kitchen staff would be serving that evening. Each certified Black Angus cut could be served with a choice of sauces, either in a pesto cream or a mushroom sauce, he explained. Chicken breasts and seafood entrees also were available.

We opted to skip the soup or salad and head right to the entree (I really wanted to try dessert). We both chose a steak and lobster combination, but we each selected a different sauce. He ate the pesto cream and I chose the mushroom for its variety of button, shiitake and portabello.

The meat was served medium-rare, exactly to my liking. The lobster was so succulent that it could easily be cut from the shell using a butter knife. Served with drawn butter, it was by far the best I've eaten. Delicate spears of tender asparagus filled out the meal.

Perhaps the best part of the evening's meal was that it gave me a chance to savor each course before the next one arrived, and to enjoy good conversation with my dining partner.

Reservations can be made by calling (314) 241-2628 or (618) 874-5000.

Laura Johnston is the features editor for the Southeast Missourian.