We arrived in the early evening at our weekend rental, and just like many upstate houses we’ve rented, it was in the middle of nowhere. We tried to take note of some restaurants along the way, but in reality we had settled for the idea of grabbing pizza for dinner and calling it a night. Lo and behold, the landlord’s house instructions mentioned their fortune in being close to the Country Inn, and gave directions on how to get there.
From the outside it was quite intimidating, causing us to do a quick scan of the parked trucks for shotguns sticking out and NRA stickers. “Let’s give this a shot, how bad can it be?” we agreed, and we parked. The bar section looked like a biker bar but the restaurant section looked decent. Along the walls they displayed their impressively wide selection of beers we were unfortunately not in the mood for that night. We ordered some food and were quite surprised.
We started with a squid and tomato salad which was delightful, followed by a brussels sprouts appetizer cooked in orange and balsamic. Both convinced us that we were not in a scary bar that only offered buffalo wings.
R ordered the fish special and was very pleased that the fish was not overly salted the way we’ve often found in even the best places. Served over wild rice, this was light and flavorful, and definitely a winner.
I ordered the eggplant parmigiana lasagna, which I thought was simply layers of eggplant parm, but it came with the noodles so it was a little dry. I could have used a little more tomato sauce but it was good enough. We were stuffed after our appetizers and very happy.
We wondered how Olivebridge could afford to serve high quality food when not many upstate restaurants could pull that off. We got our answer when we got our bill. The fish was $20 and the lasagna was $24. I guess that’s the only way you can afford a decent chef – by charging NYC prices. You get what you pay for, of course. We’ll be back to visit this one if we’re ever in the area.
Country Inn
1380 County Rd 2
Olivebridge, NY 12461
(845) 657-8956
Pingback: Red Onion, Woodstock NY | DopamineJunkie.org
Extremely overpriced for this type of dining experience. While the food can be decent, it can sometimes be sub-par (burgers temperature often a problem, Brussels sprouts with orange and garlic didn’t work, and nothing is that memorable to keep you coming back.) When we first started frequenting Country Inn, the chef was actually quite good and the servers greeting you made the impression that while dining here, your experience could only be thoroughly enjoyable as the staff aim was to please. Since, the owner’s daughter has taken the reigns in the kitchen, food quality has slid many degrees and the service is no better then what one might experience as flaky and uncaring. At $20 something entrees, you may leave feeling underwhelmed, wondering why you just forked over all this money for uninspired food that pretends to be something it’s not. They may trap you with their location since there’s nothing else to be found in the area. When I’m too tired to cook and Country Inn is on the agenda, we brace ourselves for the same old pricy pub grub and we groan at the prospect of a lame dinner. We once paid $15 for 15 mussels! Normally a bucket of mussels is generous in portion as mussels costs $2 per pound. When we complained, the owner could have cared less and did nothing to correct this issue with us. His attitude is that he has the right location and doesn’t need to please anyone. So, we try to go out of our way to give restaurants in Rosendale, Woodstock or Saugerties our business.