Eighty-Eight At the Elms

We had such a great experience at the Elms hotel; this was the one bad spot. No one in the restaurant seemed to know what they were doing. We were seated and it was 10 minutes before anyone greeted us- even though there were two servers leaning on the bar chatting. After we finally got water, we waited 30 minutes before we got drinks, and this was only after we reminded our waitress (who offered to bring us the wine list after we already placed our order).It was another 45 minute wait before we got our food. My pasta was inedible- this is not an exaggeration. It was so dry that I couldn't eat any of it. Clearly it had been sitting while other food was prepared. They removed the item from our bill, which was appreciated. My boyfriend's potatoes were good, but that's about it.  If you are staying at the Elms, either plan on bringing your own dinner or maybe try the Tavern. Do not waste your time or money (even with the pasta removed, our bill was expensive) on 88.

My boyfriend and I were staying at the Elms for a little mini vacation and we hadn't actually been planning on eating in the in-house restaurant but when we were comped breakfast for one of our stay's mornings, we figured why not.  The place was utterly devoid of people when we showed up at nine AM on a Wednesday for breakfast.  Oh well, I suppose I didn't expect much else there given the random day of the week.

I picked out the eggs benedict with the creamed asparagus while my boy chose the pork ciabatta.  Both came with herbed home fries.  These were, hands down, the best part of the entire meal.  I honestly could have had a plate full of these and be more satisfied than I was with the benedict on the same plate.  The problem with the benedict, you ask?  It came out with a broken, gelatinous yolk and totally uncooked egg whites on one half.  That is a definite no-no.  I sent it back and when my new plate returned, they has overcooked the egg yolks, more like over medium, rather than the beautiful runny yolks one expects in a benedict.  Also, the english muffin base was unseasoned and thick enough to over power the eggs and sauce.  And the asparagus was anything but creamed.

My boy's dish was better.  He enjoyed his ciabatta sandwich and the fries.  Otherwise, really the only other thing I can say about the place was that they seemed to handle the food problem pretty decently.  I give them props for remaining calm and pleasant.  With all that said, I would probably not come back.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Elms Hotel including the food. Our dinner in the bar gave us the option of both bar and dining room menus. Lots of options with small plates too. The food was very good and priced appropriately. The only glitch was our order went in right after a very large party. The staff was great and kept us informed and bought us dessert. Breakfast buffet was $10 and plenty of food and choices. We love both the hotel and the spa and plan to go back.