Ryland Inn - Landmark Tavern, Weddings & Events — Attraction in Readington Township

Our daughter's wedding was in the Coach House on March 12, 2022. The night before she and her bridal party stayed onsite in one of the houses. She and her fiancé worked with Danielle throughout their engagement. I will review my experience of the tasting dinner (which was held two months prior to the wedding), the Pelham House, Coach House day of event. Off the bat I will say that this event was entirely gluten free and I know for a fact that people enjoyed every bite completely unaware that nothing contained gluten. The tasting just blew me away! The preparation, presentation and level of service was so much better than I thought any large-scale wedding venue could deliver. The options were wonderful and it seemed there were no bad options. Flexibility was offered to pair proteins with different sides but honestly, the plates were thoughtful and we did not think substitutions would make anything better. The wines offered were not mind-blowing but certainly not the worst either. One of my favorite parts of the tasting dinner were the gluten free beignets with chocolate and raspberry sauce. I've actually dreamt about them since that night but alas, they were not on offer at the wedding. The Pelham House provided wonderful overnight accommodations for the bridal party and the moms joined the morning of the wedding for hair and makeup. Everyone said how comfortable the beds were, the bedrooms all had en suite baths and there was plenty of space to gather. The kitchen is fully equipped and you could cook but I picked up and brought in a catered breakfast. When I arrived on Friday to check in and drop off items I met Ted, concierge who was throughout the event the epitome of service. He really gave me confidence that despite the unfavorable weather forecast everything would be looked after - and it was! The Coach House has lovely outdoor space adjacent to it which given there was snow the day of the wedding went unused. However, on this wintry weather day we were gathered in a warm, inviting, space with dozens of candles ablaze in the fireplace and snowy scenes visible through the many windows. The ceremony was perfectly set up and then the space was efficiently converted for the reception while guests enjoyed the amazing cocktail hour in the spacious room across the hall. Everyone was very impressed with the quality, amount and array of food. Honestly, I think folks would have been happy to just have the cocktail hour go on all night. The reception was dinner and dancing, a lot of dancing which was so much fun! Knowing how good the food was I made sure to sit and eat every delicious bite. Being parents of the bride, my husband and I were well tended to and I believe the guests were also. I think we were also pretty low-maintenance as with so much talking and socializing all we drank was water. There were 138 guests at this wedding and I will say that it felt the space was at maximum capacity so keep that in mind. Upon guests arrival, they were greeted with warm cider which many appreciated. I regret that during the cocktail hour, even with signature cocktails passed (wine was poured also but I never saw that offered) there was quite a line at the bar. One other thing to note is that the restrooms are adequate but there is no ladies lounge. This worked great for this couple since they wanted folks on the dance floor not hanging out in the restroom but it is something to keep in mind if that's important to you. However, if someone wanted a break from the music, the space where the cocktail hour was held was open and available. Danielle, Emily, Zach, Ted and the ENTIRE service staff always answered our questions, calmed our concerns and did their jobs exceptionally well. High marks for cleanliness, the overall aesthetics of the entire property. The staff is clearly highly skilled at delivering a positive wedding day experience where the couple, family and all guests make wonderful and lasting memories and I am grateful to each one who had a part in...

Having been customers of the Ryland Inn before it's sudden demise in 2007, my wife and I were pleased to hear it had reopened but were quite skeptical that it could be of the quality we had enjoyed in years past. I'm glad to say, that skepticism was unfounded and we had a fantastic dining experience there last night.

Upon arrival, one has the choice of self-parking or taking advantage of the valet service at the front door. As we entered the restaurant for our 6:30 reservation, we were greeted and seated promptly. Our main waiter greeted us within a couple minutes with menus and wine list in hand, pre-dinner drinks arrived quickly, and fresh warm rolls were added to our bread plates. As a Gin & Tonic drinker, I enjoyed that beverage with the Ryland Inn's self-crafted tonic, which was very good, while my wife sipped a Martini.

For appetizers, my wife had the Composition of Autumn Squash while I had the Spanish Octopus. The Autumn Squash was excellent with the only observation being that the pumpkin seed crisp that accompanied it could have been more flavorful. My Spanish Octopus was stellar. And while I realize not everyone is an octopus eater, if you ever wanted to try it, this is the place to do so.

Having narrowed down the wine list to three choices, I asked the sommelier for his opinion of the three. Without doubt, he chose one over the other two and no, he did not pick the most expensive of the three. In fact, although all were priced closely, he picked the least expensive noting he had recently sampled this wine and thought it was one of the best wines he had recently tasted. He was right. This 2005 Muga Rioja "Prado Enea" was excellent.

For entrees, my wife had the Long Island Duck while I dined on Horseradish Crusted Salmon. Both dishes were plated and presented well, cooked to perfection, and tasted fantastic. Accompanying our entrees we had Creamed Spinach and NJ Corn & Polenta as side dishes. These too were cooked and seasoned perfectly and were so good, I found my self scooping more and more onto my now empty plate even though I was fairly full at this point. This also speaks to the portion size of the sides which was plentiful.

Our entrees cleared, we sat chatting, sipping our wine, and both noted that while attentive and there to pour what remained in our decanter just as our glasses were almost empty (a positive), there was absolutely no pressure to order deserts or turn the table. In fact, not until our wine was almost gone did they even hand us the desert menus. I found this quality of service top-notch. Able to sit, talk, digest, and enjoy our wine without any pressure was the pinnacle of the stellar service we had received all evening from the entire wait staff. And kudos to the wait staff for their attentiveness and professionalism throughout our meal as poor service, even with great food, would never bring us back a second time.

Dessert didn't disappoint either. We shared a cheese board featuring local chesses with fruits, roasted nuts, and honey accompanied by a Sauterne and 20 year old Port - also both very tasty.

In case you hadn't come to this conclusion yet, this was one of, if not THE top dining experiences we've had in many years. The Ryland Inn is back ... and in a more stellar way than it's previous...

My husband took me out to The Ryland Inn this past Valentine's Day. It recently reopened with a new chef, Anthony Bucco. I am not sure that this is the best time to review the restaurant since it was a fixed menu, four course meal at $99/pp. In addition, there were three seatings, so we did feel a little bit rushed to get in and out.

The decor was excellent - pretty much what it looked like before all the pipes burst several years ago. The service was excellent. I appreciated the less snobby, more friendly attitude of the new wait staff. As I mentioned, however, they were hustling and bustling to get us in and out of there fast because of the 3 seatings that night. Our reservation was for 7 o'clock, so I imagine we were the middle seating.

The food was good for the most part. I had arugala salad with poppy seed dressing, organic scottish (I think) salmon and it was cooked to perfection. My husband had the poached egg on polenta and the filet mignon. They also gave us a pre-appetizer which consisted of about two bites of duck liver pate. I thought it was delicious, but my husband who is a big eater said it was too small to taste. Then they brought out the dessert. It consisted of an a brownish cake, topped with some kind of extruded geletin-like chocolate in a swirlyque with a tail off to the side, topped with an oval scoop of coffee ice cream. I'm embarrassed to say that my husband truthfully announced to the waiter that the dessert "looked like something they had found in the yard somewhere". At which point the couple next to us, who had just finished eating the same thing burst into laughter and said they had thought the exact same thing when they saw it!

Now, I think for Valentine's Day, the dessert chef could have at least had something red in there, instead of three colors of brown in shapes that resembled different consistencies of you-know-what. So somewhat disappointed with the dessert.

But the biggest disappointment of all was when we got the bill. They charged my husband $14.00 for his glass of Johnny Walker Black scotch. (He switched to beer once he found out the price). IN ADDITION, THEY ALSO CHARGED HIM $1.00 FOR "ROCKS" BECAUSE HE ORDERED IT "ON-THE-ROCKS"! Now that is a first in my book! And how petty to be nickled and dimed over a drink.

I had had three glasses of white wine at $10.00 per glass.These were perfectly measured. Personally, I hate when a restaurant does that. It makes much more sense not to be so stingy on the drinks. They make the most profit on these anyway and if they want people to come back they should just pour a generous drink in the first place.

I'm sorry to give this restaurant an average review because it used to be outstanding. But being rushed through dinner, eating what looked like excrement for dessert, and being charged for ice cubes just doesn't...