If you happen to live in New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans or Los Angeles, you may well think of Montana as a culinary cul-de-sac, with great angling and awesome scenery but very little in the way of epicurean delights. And if you’ve ever found yourself settling for a dozen highly suspect chicken wings or a frozen pizza after a great day of fishing on a beautiful Big Sky stream, I understand why you might consider Montana a black hole when it comes to restaurants. But that’s only because you have not yet visited one of the West’s most iconic eateries, Laughing Horse Lodge.

You can find Laughing Horse in the tiny community of Swan Lake in northwest Montana. The lodge is only a 10 minute drive from the beautiful Swan River and it’s one of the few Big Sky restaurants that pairs perfectly with a wonderful day on the water.

I should make one thing clear right up front. The food is excellent. Actually, it’s better than excellent. Chef Kathleen Moon has a knack for pulling together amazing, delicious meals in a town that doesn’t have a viable gas station or a grocery store. But the food is only part of it.

I know you don’t want to hear that. You no doubt want me to describe, in pain-staking detail, the line-caught Ahi marinated in ginger-soy and mango salsa, seared warm & rare and served on a bed of sweet Indonesian-style Wehani rice with Asian vegetables, fresh wasabi and pickled ginger. Or the Linguine ala Pesto, which is a fragrant organic basil pesto blended with sun-dried tomatoes and sautéed vegetables, tossed with al dente linguine and topped with a parmesan crisp and fresh organic herbs from the Horse’s garden. (You’ll obviously want that paired with the wild Mexican garlic shrimp.) Or the house-aged, hormone and antibiotic free, all-natural Misty Isle Farms Ribeye, char grilled and served with your choice of delicious “back of the burner” soup or organic lodge salad, a vegetable, and Chef Kathleen’s (sometimes whimsical) idea of starch.

My wife Molly, who grew up in San Francisco and truly loves great food, would tell you to order the Polynesian salad, which consists of organic farm greens tossed with ginger-glazed pecans, gorgonzola crumbles, organic apples & dried cranberries, all drizzled in creamy Wasabi vinaigrette and topped with wild, line-caught Alaskan salmon. As a man of simple tastes, I’d likely recommend what may well be the best burger in Montana, a half-pound of ground steak on a hand-crafted focaccia bun, served with lettuce, tomato, pickle and seasoned baked potato wedges, as well as soup or a fresh organic salad.

Photo: Laughing Horse Lodge

But forget about the food for the moment. Forget, too, about the excellent beer & wine selection. I want you to focus, instead, on an establishment that not only serves incredible meals but that feels, from the top of your head right down to your toes ... well, it just feels right.

For starters, Laughing Horse boasts a genuine, rough-hewn patina with lots of wood, gracefully aged and golden, complimented by a wide variety of eclectic, and oftentimes stunning, art. There’s a piano - and occasionally, a pianist or a couple of talented local musicians - situated next to the wood stove. And then there are the dogs. Where else will you find three handsome and well-behaved golden retrievers on call in the dining room? Nicki, Cooper and Josie are usually available to lend their comforting individual auras, and to make sure that your hand, which for the better part of the day has gripped a fly rod, has a soft, comfortable head on which to rest.

Oh, and of course there’s the parrot who lives in the back room.

Photo: Laughing Horse Lodge

More than anything else, though, Laughing Horse Lodge - and yes, there’s lodging available for those who wish to spend a night or three - is a reflection of Kathleen Moon. Warm, smart, authentic, funny, thoughtful, engaged, occasionally whimsical, always unique. Somehow Kathleen’s considerable gifts have translated perfectly to the finest post-angling experience in the northern Rockies. Sure, you can find restaurants that cost more than Laughing Horse, and you might, if you’re willing to look hard enough, even find food that’s (almost) as good. But you won’t ever run across a restaurant that’s more Montana, or more perfect.

Clouds of green drake spinners dance over the Swan River a few miles north of Laughing Horse Lodge (photo: Todd Tanner).

You should go. Soon.

Laughing Horse Lodge is open from May through October. You can make reservations by calling 406-886-2080.

Editor's note: numbering among our picks for 'America's Best Fly Fishing Restaurants' indicates only the sequence in our ongoing series highlighting our favorite places to eat before, after or during a day on the water. It does not designate a rank.

Todd Tanner is a longtime outdoor writer, a former fly fishing guide, and the president of Conservation Hawks. You can watch him in the short angling films COLD WATERS and CHROME.