Depuy Canal House Inn

We went to celebrate Father's Day a week late as a group of 7 ranging from age 11 70.  We had heard about this place for many years and were eager to try it because of Chef Novi's fantastic reputation.  

The ambiance was beautiful: rustic, eclectic, wide board planks, intimate carved out spaced rooms.....all the things that made the atmosphere unusual and special.

The service was perfect: attentive, helpful, not overbearing.  No problem taking a family photo, fielding questions from the peanut gallery or complaints from the 70 year old Father who was being honored.  The Grandpa felt the bloody mary was too spicy so the server took it upon himself to have it removed from the bill.  We loved the server's style and he appreciated our group's dynamics from the beginning.  Many kudos to our young red haired server for being attentive, funny, and flexible.

The food: eclectic.  The fish and meat were fantastic.  Nice portion sizes, good and unusual side pairings......waffles with not sweet chocolate sauce for the steak?? It worked .  We all made some eyes at each other for Grandma ordering carrot ribbon pasta with ricotta??? It was delicate and delicious with the bolognese sauce.

The duck sausage empenadas were fine.  We make our own and have wonderful friends who own an Argentinian restaurant so we are spoiled in our expectations.

The desserts were thoughtful and delicious.  The signature chocolate and olive oil cake were a hit amongst the 7 of us .  It was not overly sweet and one the olive oil gave it an interesting texture and creaminess. The majority liked the blueberry tart.

We would recommend it for a special occasion given the limited menu and price.  We would definitely go back.  The 70 year old Matriarch has already called it for our next Father's day celebration.  If that is not a ringing endorsement, then I do not know what is!

We recently spent four nights in the High Falls area.  We had nice meals at the Northern Spy, Beekman Arms, and Rock and Rye, but nothing came close to the Canal House.  We were delighted to hear that it had reopened since we had celebrated Thanksgiving with our family there many years ago.  I read a review complaining about the food and service, and I am wondering if we were eating at the same place?? John Novi, along with CIA staff,  has carefully chosen the best possible recipe of each menu category, such as the fabulous arugula salad served in a rice paper pastry with this "to die"  for cauliflower soufflé on the side.  The pasta and fish entrees were so delicious, and we also had a cheese course with slices of local cheeses as well as a cheese John has made himself. My sister found the foie gras to be better than she had in France!   As for the reviewer that complained about how long he waited on the soufflé, an experienced diner realizes that the soufflé order is placed early in the evening because of time to prepare.  This chocolate soufflé was the best that I have ever eaten.  We were pleasantly surprised with this remarkable meal that will long be remembered.  From the enchanting old inn to the interesting photos on the walls in the bar to the beautiful place settings, it is a delight.  It is a place locals and tourist should cherish.  It cost no more than any other good restaurant in the area. John deserves your support with his gallant undertaking and the area needs this exquisite restaurant.  Oh, and check out the candles sticks and the slate placemats and the antique half-moon canape dishes.......I could go on and on!

Went for Easter. The building is fantastic. Check out the kitchen if you can.. I've never seen anything like it.

The food was not good. I wanted to like it so badly. But it was dish after dish of weird combinations and poor executions.The foie gras had a very strange texture and was completely overshadowed by the sogginess of the french toast. The brisket in the empanadas was mushy and tasteless. The soaked bagel in the lobster roe broth just didn't make any sense at all and was not pleasing. Then to serve it with clams with melted american cheese over them? I couldn't finish it. It was disgusting. There was nothing likable about the dish. The cheese plate was very nice actually. His maitake cheese was particularly delicious, and somehow the avocado even worked with the plate. But then it was served with focaccia (more like puffy pizza dough) with actual tomato sauce and pesto. The pesto.... great. But none of it made any sense together. Serious clashing going on. Why would I want to eat basically pizza at the same time as my cheese plate that has avocado, caramelized clementine, honey, etc? It's just weird. The desserts were great. And not that it normally matters to me, but the server was really kind but definitely nervous and borderline unprofessional.

Maybe this stuff made sense in the 70's. I don't know. But no matter how I tried to look at it, I just didn't "get" it. Cool place, bad food. Sorry Chef :(