The Elderberry House — Restaurant in Oakhurst

We’ve eating at The Elderberry House (EH) quite a few times including a New Year’s Eve. In the past, the food and service has been exceptional. With Thanksgiving coming up we decided to do something different and go to EH for Thanksgiving dinner.

The reservation was made several weeks before and noted that we had one person in our party with Celiacs (needs gluten-free). EH called us a few days before to confirm our reservation and that there was one person who needed gluten-free accommodations.

On Thanksgiving Day Eve we arrived early so that we could order a cocktail. The bar was busy and so when it was time for us to be seated our drinks hadn’t arrived so the waitstaff offered to bring our drinks to the table. So far so good.

The first three courses were progressively more delicious than the previous one. Then the third course arrived. It was a foil gras torchon served with bread. The gluten-free bread was small and looked like part of a hamburger bun.

On the fourth course when our gluten-free party was given tortellini they were smart enough to asked the waitstaff before eating it. It was quickly taken away. In the meantime while we were waiting for the gluten-free version to arrive, I had no utensils so I waited until the waitstaff returned with the gluten-free dish to ask for utensils. This was the second time I had to ask for utensils. There would be third time before they started bringing utensils prior to the food being served.

The sixth course was turkey breast with leg meat confit. Both were incredibly salty. I could understand the confit possibly being salty but the turkey breast? It was at best difficult to get down but when paying around $500 for dinner for two we decided to get through it.

The seventh and final course was a pumpkin parisienne sucré which I quite enjoyed but for the gluten-free person they got the same thing but without the “cake”. Needless to say that was disappointing for them.

Then the bill came and our cocktails were not included. So doing the right thing we brought it to the waitstaff’s attention. They came back and said that they had taken $10 off. It was a little surprising to me that such an upscale restaurant wouldn’t have made more of an effort. In retrospect I do regret a little being honest but it’s done now so after posting this I’m going to let it go.

Overall there were great moments but there were also moments where we were left wondering what was going on; to have inconsistent service, our gluten-free person feeling like they got less than the standard meal and then a feeble attempt at the end to make things right. I’m really hoping that it was an off night but will not be coming back here...

The service and atmosphere here are excellent, top notch even, but the food is just okay. For the high price I expect the food to be perfect and it wasn't.

The meal was served in a pre fix style instead of al la carte and I got the 3 course meal which came with 3 extras as well. It was $110. The sorrel sauce in the amuse bouche was horrendously salty. I love salt and don't shy away from it, but this was just inedible. This was like someone made a mistake measuring the salt and tripled the recipe. I couldn't even finish 1/3rd of it. The following salad was nice, the pea puree was almost too salty as well but not nearly as extreme and instead it balanced the bitter herbs well. The hamachi crudo was excellent, zero complaints, no notes. The house made bread was nothing notable but it was good.

The Ribeye was fantastically tender and cooked perfectly to the temp I requested. The steak was paired with morel mushroom and ramps, both of which were disappointing. I've had morels countless times and really love their unique flavor, these tasted like they were fried in steak grease. There was zero mushroom flavor (let alone morel flavor), only meat flavor. Similarly ramps are fantastic the way they are, instead these were pickled which really destroyed their delightful garlicky onion taste. Also there was only 1 small ramp and only 3 tiny morels. I can get steak anywhere, give me more ramps and morels!

After the main course was a strawberry curd dessert, essentially a lemon bar but with strawberry and rhubarb with a sesame crust. It was simple and I mean that in a good way. The curd was refreshing after the heavy steak and it's texture was divine. Five star dessert.

The last extra treats were pear and blueberry pâtes de fruit, basically house made gummies. They were a nice thought though neither tasted much like their respective fruit and the pear pâte was much more bitter than I ever would have expected for a fruit dessert. It was kind of metallic. Having never had a pâte de fruit I'll just assume that's how it's supposed to be, I guess. Could be better. I can't help but imagine a welch's fruit snack with a touch of angostura bitters would be better.

I suspect this place is capable of better though I won't be back. All the little extras from the chef seemed like experiments that weren't quite polished yet, though they nailed most of the main portions...

My wife and I have had dinner and have stayed at the castle multiple times over the years, Anniversaries Birthdays, etc.

We decided to have our 25th wedding anniversary there and the experience we had trying to set this up was disappointing and disheartening.

The lack of professionalism by the young banquet coordinator was disturbing.

We were told we would have a contract proposal the next day after our visit to the property.

After the 3rd day with no promised email, we called 3 days in a row, each day having another staffer promise a return call the same day after making the call.

After talking with management on day 7, My wife was transferred to the banquet manager and experienced excuses and sadly some lies.

We were verbally quoted a price of $1000 for the venue use on an "off day"...Tuesday, that would allow us to have a DJ without conflicting with their inside dinner guests on our initial visit plus $140 per guest for dinner and appetizers.

When we finally got the contract, the banquet manager added $2000 to the venue cost as what we perceive as a vindictive gesture.

The dinners at $100 to $200 per person and accomodations at $500 to $1000+ per night are both wonderful experiences and well worth it, however, sadly, the young lady fell far short of our expectations.

My wife's hearts desire was and still is to renew our silver anniversary wedding vows at the Eldeberry and stay 2 nights at the Castle, however, I no longer share this desire because of the way she was spoken to and the time it took to receive the additional $2,000 slap in the face for going to management for mitigation.

I remain hopeful that upper management or the owners will reach out and make things rite.

If an apologetic and satisfactory resolution is provided, I am willing to honor my wife's desire to share our special day there and I will submit a favorable follow up review.

Blessings!

Jeff Crane

The owner responded 5 days after my review and said he/she would call me...

I will update further after my conversation...