Jen P.
Yelp
This review is for Caroline's, the restaurant at the Glen Iris Inn.
We had dinner here last night (a Tues), a party of 4, with 2 people being visitors from Spain. Before arriving, we had spent roughly 3 hours exploring the park, introducing our friends to the 'Grand Canyon of the East', stopping at all the overlooks, and taking in falls, and were looking forward to a good, solid continental meal in the cozy atmosphere of the historic Glen Iris Inn after all the sight-seeing in the decidedly damp and gray fall weather.
We had made reservations for 5 pm prior to our arrival, and were glad we did because the restaurant was almost completely full. We were definitely the youngest diners (all of us in our 50s and 60s) and had the feeling that many of the other diners were staying at the hotel (i.e. it was pretty brisk weather wise outside, and folks were arriving without coats).
Our server is the main reason for this review - being that she made up for the poor quality of the food with her friendliness and attentiveness.
Food wise, we ordered appetizers, bar drinks, mains and dessert.
For appetizers, their soup of the day was pumpkin bisque and 2 of us had this. We had asked if it was a sweet or savory preparation, and though our server said it was savory, it was unfortunately sweet - like eating a warm liquid-y bowl of pumpkin pie, complete with pumpkin pie spice. Not good. One friend got a 'small side Caesar salad' which was definitely a dinner-sized portion, which he split with the rest of us. Our other friend got the French onion soup which she thought was very good.
For our mains, my husband and I split the 20-oz prime rib, with butter-and-dill green beans and country mashed potatoes, plus a 'side salad' with blueberries, blue cheese, lettuces and other veggies. The prime rib was served luke warm at best, with an au jus that quickly congealed upon being set on the table. The meat was tender but bland, and the jus did not help it at all. The beans were very plain - no sign of the 'dill', and the 'country mashed potatoes' were just your basic mashed potatoes, which were fine. The 'side salad' was another huge portion, with lots of blueberries and nice fresh lettuce, but it was served with a sweet poppy seed dressing which just did not go well with the other flavors in the salad. Why not serve this with a light blue cheese dressing?? Overall, both dishes, the prime rib with sides and the salad, were not what we expected.
Our friends ordered the salmon filet with the beans and country mashed potatoes and the pork chop with the same sides. The salmon was not local and appeared to be farmed as it was nearly white in color; our friend ate about half of it. The pork chop was a bit better - with good flavor and it was cooked properly, but there was a huge bone in it and a lot of fat, and even though our friend ate all the meaty bits, her plate looked as though she hadn't eaten much of the pork. Another couple of misses.
For dessert, we all split a chocolate-fudge-and-chocolate-mousse concoction that tasted chocolatey and sweet, but was obviously just a bunch of things piled into a plate with whipped cream.
I had really expected more from this place, given the location, the connection to this historic hotel, and the prices. I would not recommend this place, and will not eat here again.
Note - the restaurant and inn both close as of Oct 31, as the road leading to them also closes with the first snow.