Obviously the whole restaurant review process is subjective, particularly when the reviewers are not only considering the quality of the food but the decor, the staff, and the overall gestalt of a dining experience. Certainly there are some aspects of the experience that are more objective such as the freshness of the vegetables or the quality of raw fish. But this review, we will warn you in advance, is among one of our more subjective.
The food at the Jarrettown Hotel isn't bad. Of course if you tell your wife her new haircut "isn't bad," you should probably duck. It is an "Italian" restaurant. The quotes here signify an overall theme to the menu, but not, in our opinion a true taste of the cuisine of Italy. This is where Two gets opinionated. Drive down the road and look around you in this bucolic Bucks~Mont neck of the woods. What do you see? Is there much of anything left in its pure state? Look at the Mc Mansions being built. The Tudor styled mock colonial country french melange that passes for some taste of Europe or Early American style. One and Two drive by a restaurant in Willow Grove that bills itself as an American French Fusion Asian Bistro. What on earth is that? These restaurants and houses and malls are all like a Disney world illusion...like the land of make believe.
The once classic stone inn that houses the Jarrettown Inn is still stone. There are parts of its original charm left inside. But what dominates is high end mall decor. It is restaurant design on suburban steroids. Think granite and brass. There is nothing Italian other than a Chianti or two. There is no stepping across the thresh hold to Italy. But sadly, the limbo is complete because there is no sense of the Inn's history either. Then open the menu. Italian 101.
Any restaurant calling itself Italian first needs to realize that bread is life and life is bread. Bread should be fresh. Sometimes bread should be warm. Bread should never ever be tough, dry, and stale. You guessed it. The bread was tough, dry, AND stale. And there was no olive oil to resuscitate it in.
One ordered the antipasti. There was nothing bad about it, but nothing memorable and nothing that wouldn't be available at your local market. The Caesar salad that Two ordered with grilled shrimp was not bad. No complaints other than again, nothing special. Two ordered the salad as her entree but the waiter brought it with the antipasti which made for too many vegetables spread across the bar. Then much much much...much later the waiter brought the pasta that One had ordered after the Caesar was long eaten so that One ate his meal solo. The gigantic bowl of pasta was topped with what was making a valiant effort to pass as fresh tomato sauce. The main dish took so long to arrive that dessert was out of the question.
In some settings the ambiance is so pleasant that waiting isn't such a chore, but when the decor, menu, and food are conspiring to send the diners into the same nether world as Two enters when she even gets close to a mall, most pass. We are sure that many will like this place. After all, if there weren't demand for twice removed from their sources cuisine and architecture, then places like this wouldn't be so popular as witnessed by the full dining areas.
The food at the Jarrettown Hotel isn't bad. Of course if you tell your wife her new haircut "isn't bad," you should probably duck. It is an "Italian" restaurant. The quotes here signify an overall theme to the menu, but not, in our opinion a true taste of the cuisine of Italy. This is where Two gets opinionated. Drive down the road and look around you in this bucolic Bucks~Mont neck of the woods. What do you see? Is there much of anything left in its pure state? Look at the Mc Mansions being built. The Tudor styled mock colonial country french melange that passes for some taste of Europe or Early American style. One and Two drive by a restaurant in Willow Grove that bills itself as an American French Fusion Asian Bistro. What on earth is that? These restaurants and houses and malls are all like a Disney world illusion...like the land of make believe.
The once classic stone inn that houses the Jarrettown Inn is still stone. There are parts of its original charm left inside. But what dominates is high end mall decor. It is restaurant design on suburban steroids. Think granite and brass. There is nothing Italian other than a Chianti or two. There is no stepping across the thresh hold to Italy. But sadly, the limbo is complete because there is no sense of the Inn's history either. Then open the menu. Italian 101.
Any restaurant calling itself Italian first needs to realize that bread is life and life is bread. Bread should be fresh. Sometimes bread should be warm. Bread should never ever be tough, dry, and stale. You guessed it. The bread was tough, dry, AND stale. And there was no olive oil to resuscitate it in.
One ordered the antipasti. There was nothing bad about it, but nothing memorable and nothing that wouldn't be available at your local market. The Caesar salad that Two ordered with grilled shrimp was not bad. No complaints other than again, nothing special. Two ordered the salad as her entree but the waiter brought it with the antipasti which made for too many vegetables spread across the bar. Then much much much...much later the waiter brought the pasta that One had ordered after the Caesar was long eaten so that One ate his meal solo. The gigantic bowl of pasta was topped with what was making a valiant effort to pass as fresh tomato sauce. The main dish took so long to arrive that dessert was out of the question.
In some settings the ambiance is so pleasant that waiting isn't such a chore, but when the decor, menu, and food are conspiring to send the diners into the same nether world as Two enters when she even gets close to a mall, most pass. We are sure that many will like this place. After all, if there weren't demand for twice removed from their sources cuisine and architecture, then places like this wouldn't be so popular as witnessed by the full dining areas.
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