1906 Pine Crest Inn

Fat Kat's birthday was a couple weeks ago and we decided to use one of our restaurant.com coupons and try 1906 Pine Crest Inn in Tryon (www.pinecrestinn.com). The menu online looked good and we're always up for an adventure. Pine Crest Inn is just outside of downtown Tryon in a residential area. It is a pretty typical inn with a main lodge building plus a few exterior buildings housing more inn rooms. The main building has a nice, big porch of which several people were taking advantage, with the main restaurant inside. The restaurant has a cozy, somewhat rustic feel, but with elegance. I was somewhat surprised to see very few people in the restaurant at 7:00 on a Friday. In fact, I believe we were one of only two or three occupied tables. Supposedly, the people out on the porch were part of a dining party, so perhaps that explains it. Since this was a birthday celebration, and knowing this is an upscale restaurant, we were prepared to let out the stops!

I will say upfront that the service throughout the evening was impeccable. No fewer than four different people attended to our needs without feeling overbearing. Water was kept full, plates cleared, more bread delivered, and a personal tour of the bar for Fat Kat to pick out a beer! This restaurant has a AAA 4-Diamond award, so I would expect the service to be at that level.

We decided to get some shrimp cocktail as an appetizer - a rare treat for us. It is insane to me to pay $9.95 for all of six shrimp with some horseradish mixed into ketchup (really all cocktail sauce is), but boy oh boy, it's SO good! At this point, I will digress a moment to talk about the bread. Bread, to me, is pretty much second only to a donut. Done right, it is yeasty, soft, warm, and delicious, with perfect flavor and chew. Done wrong, it is dry, crusty, and tasteless. When we first arrived, we were quickly brought two good sized rolls. They had melted butter and a little seasoning salt on the top. While the flavor was fabulous, the rolls were very dry and crumbly. I was very disappointed because it seemed like they had potential. Later, when asked if we wanted some more, I hesitated, unsure of if I wanted to spread another three foot radius of crumbs all over the table. But, we said, "sure!" and I'm so glad we did. The second batch of rolls were sheer heaven. Same great flavor as the first ones, but warm, soft, and yeasty. I told the Bringer of Bread that she could just go ahead and wrap up a dozen of those for me! She laughed, but I never saw my Bag O' Bread. Hey, never hurts to try.

On to the entrees.....I will say I thought the prices were a bit steep; but this is a 4-Diamond restaurant, so I suppose I should cut them some slack. I was slightly put off because the prices on the sample menu on restaurant.com ($13.95 - $19.95, with two at $24.95) were significantly lower than the prices that evening ($21.95 - $26.95 and six listed at $27.95 - $29.95) . That is one reason for the loss of a fork on my rating. Even the prices on their own website are quite a bit lower. I thought the prices should've been knocked back about $5 per entree lower. Fat Kat and I have eaten at a LOT of upscale restaurants. We don't mind paying for quality. This was quality for sure, but I still thought it was a overpriced. It was very good, but Tryon isn't NYC. And especially with the bread inconsistency. Things like that at a restaurant like this (and prices) should be darn near perfect every time.

Ok, back to the entrees. Fat Kat and I both struggled to make a decision. Prices aside, everything looked great. I finally settled on the Marinated Atlantic Salmon ($27.95) which came wrapped in phyllo and had a dill cream cheese sauce. It had sides of roasted vegetables and marinated mushrooms. Fat Kat opted for the East Coast Little Neck Clams ($22.95). Those were served with linguine and a white wine sauce. Fat Kat is STILL raving about the clams! So, those were a hit. My salmon was done very well. My only wish was that it came with a a little more sauce (there was one tiny drizzle across the top). I know it is a restaurant no-no to over sauce a dish, but I like my sauce! So, perhaps it is just a personal preference. Also, although we both got seafood dishes, there were several meat dishes from which to choose.

We saved room for dessert (I packed up half of my entree to go home), because after all it was a birthday celebration. No birthday is complete without a dose of sugar! There were about five choices, but Fat Kat and I both honed in on the Amaretto Cheesecake. I make a killer cheesecake and was pleasantly surprised that theirs was excellent. Great flavor and a creamy texture. Lots of yummy noises were coming from our table over that! In retrospect, we should've split one, but we managed to polish off both of our servings.

Our overall impression was that we were glad we tried it, but would likely not go back when there are so many equal or better choices in the Asheville area which is closer to home for us. It deserves the 4 forks though for quality of food and service. It lost a fork for the overpriced menu, bread inconsistency, and a bit of a shopworn look of the decor. The walls were a dark brown paint with a textured finish and you could see places where the paint had worn off and the white plaster was showing through. Again, I thought it was very good, but for a 4-Diamond rating and for the prices they were asking, I expected near perfection and it was definitely a level below that (except for the service which was perfect). If you're in Tryon though (and especially if someone else is paying!), definitely check it out. Worst case, grab a dessert and a drink from the bar and enjoy a nice evening on the porch for a lot less money!