Jason M.
Yelp
I found myself at Copper House for a family birthday party. I've been to this restaurant's sister location, Copper Kettle Cafe, in Hartsdale and had a good experience, so I was looking forward to seeing what this spot had to offer. Note, this review is based on my experience as a party guest, serving about 60 of us with a prix fixe menu.
Copper House is located in West Harrison, not far from downtown White Plains. We arrived at noon, which gave us time to have the restaurant to ourselves before they opened for dinner at 4pm. I was trying to assess the entrance and aesthetics - we walked into what looked like a sunroom but it was kind of empty; I'm not sure if that was the main entrance or not - it didn't feel like it as it was kind of empty. The main dining area was pretty spacious; there was a bar that lined one of the walls, and light blue on the walls which played against the light wood tones to make the space open and bright.
Our prix fixe menu started with some apps: eggplant rollatini, meatballs, and stuffed clams. The eggplant rollatini was pretty good, but I wasn't a fan of the meatballs - they were super tough, almost as if they were frozen prior. For pasta we had a choice of rigatoni vodka with prosciutto or bucatini with red sauce and mussels. I chose the former which again wasn't that good - the portion was small, the vodka sauce tasted like jarred with no prosciutto, and the pasta was gemelli instead of rigatoni. Someone else in my party had the bucatini which I noticed was actually spaghetti. For main, we had a choice of short ribs pizzaioli, shrimp scampi with risotto, and chicken parm. I went with the scampi. Again, this wasn't that good - the shrimp were a decent size, but tasted like they were frozen prior. The risotto was gluey and had mushrooms, a common pairing but one that was not relayed to me when ordering. The plating was also strange, most things were served in bowls or plates that were smaller than standard dinner plates.
If there was anything to salvage this experience, it was the service - everyone was friendly and they were swift to take orders and make sure were taken care of. Overall, I didn't think Copper House served good food - however, you have to put that in the context of my experience being a medium sized party held off-hours with menu items that they do not typically serve; I don't know what their experience is handling private parties. Even with this context, it was an experience here nonetheless, and I can't bring myself to giving them more than 2 stars. Since I had such a good experience at Copper Kettle, I'm curious to see how a typical dinner service is - until then, I'll think twice about recommending this place.