Sid R.
Yelp
Bought a Groupon for a three course dinner at Afton House Inn. Read the Yelp reviews after buying the Groupon, or I wouldn't have bought it. After eating dinner at the Afton House last night, I'm glad I didn't read the reviews first, and I am very happy that I went.
To be honest, the Groupon was no deal. It was $70 for two three-course meals, and that had to be ordered off a special menu with limited choices. The same dinners could be had from the regular menu for the same price. So, no savings.
Having said that, the meal was excellent. My wife's caprese salad was fresh and as inventive as a caprese salad can be - served on skewers with grape tomatoes and mozerella balls accompanied by really peppery greens (the greens were peppery, not that pepper was added). My caesar was excellent - sadly, no anchovies, but almost no one does those any more. Lettuce was very fresh and crisp, parmesan was freshly grated, and the dressing was excellent. There's almost nothing that makes a caesar great, but it's really easy to screw one up - and this one was really good.
We both ordered the short ribs with mashed potatoes, horseradish, and green beens. The horseradish was the real deal - no crappy creamed horseradish here - and was a small dollop on top of the ribs so my wife could scrape it off and put it aside as she doesn't like it. The ribs were very tender and incredibly flavorful. There were two very large boneless ribs, so we each brought one of ours home. The green beans were perfectly cooked; crisp tender with an amazing sauce. To me, the star of the dinner was the mashed potatoes (I'm always a sucker for the side dishes, anyway). I have always fancied myself a cook, and, in particular, the maker of some of the best mashed potatoes this side of heaven itself. With a tear forming in my eye, I told my wife, "these are as good as mine." The tear streamed when she quickly and wholeheartedly agreed.
The apple dumpling dessert was equally good. By this time, neither of us was a bit hungry, but the dumpling was so flaky and perfectly caramelly (if that's a word), that it was impossible not to eat it all.
Afton House has a credible wine list with some fantastic wines on it. It isn't long, but it does run the gamut of almost every varietal and region of the world. There are some very expensive wines. There are also plenty of very good wines from less expensive producers - for instance, the Bridlewood Pinot Noir from the Santa Ynez Valley in California is a good pinot noir at a very attractive price on their by-the-glass and by-the-bottle menu.
Needless to say, both my wife and I were very happy with our experience last night. We shall certainly return and will occasionally bring friends with us.
We surely can't speak to the comments about conferences and the hotel that are in the other reviews, but we sure did like our introduction to the restaurant last night.