This was one of the strangest dining experiences I have ever had. I would never go back, but I am happy I went because I have story to regale people with for the rest of my life. Note: I only dined there, so I cannot speak about the hotel aspects of the place.
I made reservations, which were unnecessary since my guest and I were the only people in the entire place. It is strange to sit alone in a huge dining room, with 12 other tables, completely set, waiting for people. We were there about 2 hours and no one ever did.
After being seated, the chef came to the table to "explain" the Jordan Inn dining experience. They have no menu, instead they cook what you want--if they have it. Okay. The chef said he had some fish, chicken breasts, and delicious beef filets that he himself butchered. We order the the filets. The chef indicated that the first course would be a salad, then would come a soup course, then entree and finally dessert. He announced these courses, we didn't get to yeah or nay them or parry for something else. Need I say we never heard a price for anything during this interlude.
After we ordered the waitress took our drink orders. They have a very limited selection of good liquor--for instance their premium vodka is Sevdka. But cheap liquor is better than no liquor for an experience like this.
We were heartened when we received the first course, a salad. I admit the salad was stupendous. A sweet and sour combination of onions, apples, cherries, and greens. In the end, the salad was the cruel highlight of the meal. Cruel because it raised a glimmer of hope that the dinner would not be the disaster we all sensed. Oh god, if we had only stopped with the salad!
But we didn't . The second course was soup. We were advised that the chef's homemade cream of cabbage soup was well known and loved. To me, it tasted like warm water that cabbage had been cooked in. While it was creamy looking, it was thin and almost tasteless. To put a good spin on it: tastelessness is better than tasting vile. I can say with assurance, it did not taste vile.
Following the soup, we were served the chef's specially butchered filet Mignon. Well, I think he meant he butchered the sole of a leather shoe, because that is what mine looked a tasted like. the filet was rectangular and very tough. It had almost no taste. I ended up hiding large portions of it in the mashed potatoes so it wouldn't look so obvious that I ate little of this specially butchered meal. I haven't had a steak like that since Salisbury steak day at the high school cafeteria. That is not a compliment.
After the steak, came the dessert round. We received a quarter inch slice of Eli's chocolate cheesecake drizzled with Hershey's chocolate sauce. Given the size of our slices, I would guess the Jordan Inn was able to serve about 100 diners from a standard 10 inch cheesecake.
After our dessert plates were taken, we awaited the bill. Remember, we had never seen a menu or been quoted a price. By the time dinner was over, I was philosophical about the whole thing no matter what it might cost. It was an experience that I could bore my friends with for years to come.
Finally, the bill arrived--$70 for 2, including liquor. This would have been exceedingly cheap if the meal had been worthwhile. As it was, it seemed very expensive for a good salad.
I am not even going to talk about the fairly decrepit status of the building, because its an old place and maybe water stains and peeling wall paper are your thing. read more
