A Beautiful Evening at Castle Hill Inn

The one meal I was really looking forward to was our dinner at the Castle Hill Inn. I made the online reservation a week earlier. It’s located on scenic Ocean Drive, about a 10-minute ride from town.

The plan was to go a bit earlier to enjoy The Lawn. They have lawn chairs scattered around the back lawn. It’s the perfect setting to enjoy a drink and watch the boats pass by. It was too windy for that though. We headed right in where we were seated in one of the main dining rooms off to the side. We were the first ones seated in that room.

The dining room is located inside a beautiful mansion overlooking the Narragansett Bay. Apparently it was the former home of marine biologist and oceanographer, Alexander Agassiz, who is considered the father of modern oceanography.

They offer a prix fixe menu consisting of 3-4 courses. You can get the wine paring as well. I went with the 4-course option which included an extra appetizer. I had to try as much as possible! I decided to do the wine pairing as well.

We were offered two types of bread to start. A whole grain bread and a sourdough bread, both locally baked.

The bread was served with a lightly salted butter and an olive oil butter with coconut oil. We ended up asking for more bread for that delicious olive oil butter.

The first wine of my wine pairing was served right before the amuse bouche. It was a white Rioja from Spain. It was an awesome way to start the meal.

I honestly do not remember the description of the amuse bouche. It had soft creamy savory component topped with pickled red onion, pine nuts, and potato crisps.

The first appetizer arrived. Pan Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras with pickled green strawberries, caramelized peanut brioche, and rhubarb. Yum!

My appetizer was the Braised Octopus Terrine with uni, toasted potato bread, lardo, and Fresno chiles. It was very good and the chiles added a bit of a spicy kick to the dish.

My second appetizer was the Pan Seared Georges Bank Scallops with cauliflower, romesco sauce, and green almonds. The scallops were cooked perfectly.

Another white wine was served for my next course.

Our entrees soon followed. The first dish was the Slow Cooked Angus Ribeye with bone marrow bread pudding, roasted onion, fiddleheads, and “oeufs brouillés” – a fancy way of saying scrambled eggs.

The ribeye was cooked a perfect medium rare and the bone marrow bread pudding was very moist.

I tried the Fresh Blackfish (Tautog) with sundried tomato, couscous, and Japanese eggplant for me. It was the special catch of the day and you don’t see fresh blackfish too often.

The fish was firm and it had a nice mild flavor.

The fish was served with a Chalk Hill Chardonnay. So Good!

It was at this point that the sun began to set and we still hadn’t gone out on the lawn yet. We ordered our desserts and quickly went outside for a couple photo opportunities.

When we came back inside our desserts were ready. We tried the carrot cake. It was a modern twist on a classic. It was made with walnut mousse, carrot caramel, and carrot-orange sorbet. He like it, but wished it was just a big slice of good ol’ carrot cake. The carrot-orange sorbet was delicious.

I had to get the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Soufflé with vanilla bourbon anglaise. Mmmm it was delicious!

The souffle was warm and soft. It was incredible with the vanilla bourbon anglaise poured over. An anglaise is a light pouring custard made of sugar, egg yolks, hot milk, and vanilla that’s used as a dessert cream or sauce. Amazing!

We concluded the meal with some chocolates and I enjoyed a small glass of sweet port wine. A perfect way to end a delicious meal.