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| - Balsam Inn is a restaurant, I've been meaning to try for quite sometime. Having read so many wonderful reviews, a outstanding review on The Gazette as well, and most of all the menu stood out for being simply delicious.
Now from my point of view being there for lunch, I truly loved it! In almost every aspect. Which I will go into details about. There was one big drawback, which I will explain in a bit.
We began by placing our order for the appetizer and main dishes all at once. Only one of us ordered an appetizer, which was a Caesar salad prepared to perfection! Crispy, cold, fresh Romaine lettuce, gently coated with a light but very tasty house made dressing, a perfect crunch to every single crouton and a salty bite of fresh Parmesan shavings. Lastly sprinkled with small but generous amount of homemade bacon bits. Portion size was perfect as well.
As our main dishes. We ordered the pork Osso Bucco, an the Charcuterie platter, which is a descent size to share for two. The platter consisted of the following: House made ricotta, House made salami, their wood fire oven flat bread, arugula, a tangy/sweet tomato relish, a lovely aged cheddar cheese, entire types of olives, roasted eggplant, zucchini, and fennel. All this finished by a very light dressing of balsamic vinegar. Superb each and every bite!
*Note! (This is where they loose points for me) Our meals, which were only two dishes, arrived 40 minutes later. Sadly, our waitress did not advice us at all of any delays, nor apologized.
Yes, the restaurant was packed, yet.. I think 40 minutes completely unacceptable!
After 40 minutes of us very patiently waiting, I approach our waitress to ask,"How much longer must we wait?!" She was polite in stating that our dishes will be arriving in five minutes. Which they did. After the long wait.
As for desserts: We ordered one Tiramisu, and a fresh cherry(Available in season only) puff pastry tart, with a delicate scoop of almond flavouried ice cream. Both desserts were excellent! The tiramisu was creamy, descent amount of coffee, a good taste of the real Mascarpone, and rich. Again, outstanding!
In terms of the service and ambiance. As I walked in, I fell in love with the decor. It's a good mixture of vintage, with elegance, but casual at the same time. No need to dress fancy. The chairs were quite comfortable, the tables are a good size, and the bar is absolutely beautiful. In fact, every touch of this restaurant from the wood fire oven to their bathroom is unique and again beautiful.
Our waitress was incredibly professional and friendly. She began by speaking very clear about the lunch specials, asking each question very politely but always adding a tiny touch of laughter and humor. Which was the right touch!
Overall, I would highly recommend The Balsam Inn. The food, the ambiance, the service was perfection that it made me completely forget about the long wait for our main dishes. Having said that, if you are limited on time, or can't risk a long wait. Sadly, I would recommend to think twice if you'd like to try The Balsam Inn.
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