The Heirloom Room: Creekside Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Gatlinburg

The only higher end restaurant that we could find that wasn’t a steak house. We had late reservations at 9:15. We arrived at 9 thinking we could head to the bar to wait (that’s usually what we do).

We made reservations on the website- I think Resy was the platform it directed us to.

The host was awesome. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ She was using a reservation sheet (aka paper with hand written times and availability on it) we weren’t on there but I told her how we made them. She was very accommodating. We could tell she was busy helping the servers. They seemed to be short staffed. There were a few larger parties and two 2 tops. I think this is a newer restaurant.

The gentleman taking care of us was Tim. Tim was cool. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We ordered drinks. In my option they were not well prepared drinks. I think there is a lack of experience behind the bar there. It will get better in time because the potential is there. 🤞 The drinks were definitely sweeter than I expected and not chilled completely. So I ordered another drink and it was a Tito’s martini pretty basic (wanted gin but the selection was slim) but also not prepared correctly. Almost room temp and basically no dilution. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

On to the food! I think the chef that created the menu did a great job. It has a lot of potential but for the price it should be served hot and not almost room temp. We had the Scotch Quail eggs. Prepared perfectly (flavor and crunch) but not served hot.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Buratta with chow chow tapenade was awesome!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

House smoked frog legs with onion rings and southern ketchup (ranch) flavor was ALL RIGHT but that I mean on point and smoked to perfection- fall of the bone tender but again room temp. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Potato cakes with cilantro mint chutney. This was a weird one for me… the chutney was absolutely amazing all the flavors you’d want in an Indian cold dish like chaat. I think that was the direction…. The potato cakes taste very much like pumpkin to me. Not a bad flavor by any means but took me off guard. But again the dish was not served warm. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think this place had a lot of potential. Only time will tell. I would also NOT RECOMMEND FOR...

I cannot rave enough about our visit to The Heirloom Room two nights ago. It was my wife's birthday and we wanted a special meal -- and wow, did we get it. We started with drinks, and while my wife took it easy with a tonic and lime, I went for the old-fashioned with bacon fat rinsed Buffalo Trace -- definitely a fascinating taste experience!

We went with the wild boar croquettes to split, and they were absolutely delicious: crispy on the outside, with delicate meat and leeks inside, along with silky, delicious gruyere. We ended up discussing the problem of invasive wild boar which are apparently a problem here in the Smoky Mountains area. All I can say is, let's all agree to turn them into as many of these croquettes as we can eat -- problem solved, right?

For dinner my wife ordered the bone-in pork chop along with duck confit roasted root vegetables, and I had a spiced venison tenderloin that came with a delicious bernaise and fingerling potatoes, and on the side a vegetable masala pot pie. I was lucky to get a bite of each of my wife's choices and they were fantastic. I ordered the venison medium rare (you can't really have good venison cooked beyond that, because it's so lean), and it was absolutely spot-on perfect. I've had venison many times, but this was by far the best I've ever been served in a restaurant. The veggie masala pot pie was also inspired, and a nice sweet and exotic play against the spicy venison rub.

For dessert my wife got the pecan pie, and I the apple almond tart. Both of them were incredible -- and amazingly, not overly sweet. Delicately balanced and every bite was heavenly.

In short, we had an unexpectedly tremendous experience at The Heirloom Room. It's truly a dining destination in Gatlinburg. The only thing I'd have changed would have been for the twentysomething guy at the next table to be respectful of a fine establishment and his fellow dinner guests by removing his ball cap at the table. Sigh. But it couldn't detract from a truly amazing dinner -- thank you to everyone at this...

We were in town Thursday to celebrate our anniversary, staying at the Rocky Waters Inn, and decided to stay on the property and go to The Heirloom Room for our anniversary dinner.

I love the decor, from the cozy waiting area, to the dining area, it all blends so well together and gives a more upscale, chic, cabin vibe. The tables by the window with the view, and it was still warm enough to have those windows open so you could hear the water, which was super nice.

While I would have preferred to hear the items they were out of when we sat down, that was really the only downside to the dining experience. The service was on point. Very attentive, but not intrusive.

The drink menu was very nice, with a good selection of cocktails, wines, and liquor available. I opted for a glass of wine.

We started with the wild boar croquettes, which were quite tasty. The dish presented beautifully as well.

For our main course, we shared the hangar steak. I was already in a steak mood, however they were out of the dry aged, so we pivoted. It was cooked perfectly medium/rare. We shared sides, the heirloom carrots with tahini, could have been cooked just a little more, they had to be cut with a knife and still crunchy. The fingerling potatoes were nicely seasoned and had a nice crispness on the outside while the inside was softer, so in my opinion, cooked perfectly. The ciabatta bread and butter were delish!

We were so full we couldn’t add dessert, but I will say the blackberry cobbler looked amazing.

We went the next morning and had a light breakfast. We didn’t really want a whole lot and shared yogurt with granola, fruit, and pastries, all which were delicious and plenty to fill us up without being stuffed.

We will definitely return the next time we...