Chris W.
Yelp
The inn is gorgeous. No doubt. Servers were nice, but we were there for the food. That's where the rubber meets the road. When asking for recommendations on the appetizers, I got the impression that no matter what you ordered, they would tell you it was the best ever. Hmm. My husband's entree was divine, he tells me. Haddock. Well prepared. I'm vegetarian and ordered the veg. main, a sweet potato dish with mixed veg and tempura battered fried tofu. Sounded interesting and I was game to try it. The sweet potatoes were nicely done, the mixed veg was okay. Nothing special. The tofu was ridiculously poorly thought out. For a restaurant with such a high price point, I would expect the chef to put more effort into imagining a well balanced, flavorful dish. If you don't already know, tofu is neutral. It doesn't have much of a flavor. It's typically seasoned by/with whatever it's cooked with. You can steam it, bake it, blend it in desserts, fry it... If you are going to dip it in a batter to fry it, the batter should be seasoned and flavorful, otherwise it's completely unnecessary. This seems like cooking 101 to me. However, this batter was bland, as neutral as the tofu. For $30+ for the dish, I was disappointed with the lack of skill, effort, and creativity. I had a bite, as did my husband, and neither of us liked it. I ate the sweet potatoes and veg and left the rest of the tofu. When our server came around, I told her the tofu was poorly executed. She apologized but that was it. After the entrees, we split a dessert and she brought the bill. I was, at this point, angry that she didn't comp anything. When she came back w our credit card, she finally addressed the issue and said, "Since the tofu didn't work out, I owe you a dessert next time you're in." Are you kidding? We are visiting from out of state and won't be back. She said she'd pack it to go. We were leaving the next morning and had no interest in an extra dessert. We asked if they could figure something else out (cut the price of the meal, comp the wine or dessert), something we shouldn't have had to do if their servers were trained to really take care of their guests. About 5 minutes later a woman walked over and introduced herself as the manager. She said she had comped my entree and apologized that it was not satisfactory. Thank you. That should have been done immediately after I complained that it wasn't satisfactory. So... if you are a foodie- if flavor, balance, and texture matters to you, whether you eat meat or not- skip little fern. There's just better food out there. If you want a high priced meal in a beautiful setting give it a try.
