This is a review of the restaurant only…read more
It's time my friends! Another episode of the Good, The Bad, and the Ugly!
Let's start with the Good! There's lots of good here. First, anyone willing to risk running a restaurant in a place like Worthington is tops in my book. This is a tough place to be, and not a lot of people here. A very under-served population.
The location is quaint, clean, and picturesque. The staff was very nice and friendly. The bar is well-stocked, particularly with what seems to be every flavor of V1 Vodka they make! A very good sign.
The menu is small, but that's a Good Thing!! I would rather have 10 choices, all done perfectly, than 100 done poorly.
The chicken sandwich was A++. Perfect. The fries were good too. I like mine a little crispier (more on that later), but they were in the ballpark. The roll the sandwich was on was fantastic.
Also, my wife and I were very excited for the upcoming Drag Brunch! In Worthington! Get down with your awesome selves! (Alas, the tickets were already sold out!!)
OK, enough of the raving, now on to ....
The Bad: These folks are clearly still in the "just getting started" phase. The staff is great, but it's clear that they're having some communication issues. Those kinds of issues cost money. If the management gets that under control, they'll survive. That just takes time.
The buffalo wings were just meh. A little undercooked so they weren't crispy at all. Not in an unsafe way, but not as cooked as you'd like them, chewy skin. The Blue Cheese dressing tastes like bad Blue Cheese dressing from a food service bucket. The sort of Blue Cheese dressing you'd expect at a truck stop in the middle of Nebraska. Sort of sweet and tangy, like shelf-stable Wishbone. Really disappointing. The wings did seem to be decent quality, just needed longer to cook. The spice level was nice. I'll chalk these up to growing pains.
Oh no, here it comes...
The Ugly: There is poutine on the menu. Or so they claim.
This is the sort of poutine you would get if you *described* poutine to a person who had never seen nor tasted it. Here's that description: Take french fries, put cheese on them, then gravy. That's missing a LOT of key details.
Did I mention that I'm Canadian? This poutine is like promising an Italian a nice plate of Spaghetti and Meatballs, then serving them a can of Spaghetti-o's. Sure, it's pasta, and meatballs, and sauce....
The fries were not nearly cooked enough to hold up to cheese and gravy. As a side for a burger, no problem. The fries are the right type and quality, but Poutine fries need to be cooked a little longer so they don't turn to mush. The cheese seemed to be mozzarella, and the cook *broiled* it onto the fries. Broiled cheese? Are you nuts? OK, OK, I'm calming down. This is still salvageable.
Wait, what is this flavorless, white... is it ... gravy? Are you sure? It looks and tastes like country gravy that should have bits of ground up sausage and gets served over a biscuit for breakfast. Poutine gravy is brown! BROWN I tells ya! Even vegetarian poutine gravy is brown! Swear to dog, next time I'm in Quebec I'm bringing back an industrial sized tub of St. Hubert gravy mix and donating it to the Goldenrod (You think I'm joking. I am not.) GYAGH! Better yet, next time I'm going to Quebec I'm going to grab the head chef, drive them to the first Casse-crout past the Derby line, and feed them a proper (paper) plate of poutine.
OK, deep breaths. Deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth.
I accept that (in spite of being only 4 hours drive) finding the perfect Canadian ingredients here in Western Mass is almost impossible, and I will never find perfect Poutine here. I am a poutine snob, and I know this. But Please, please, for the love of dog, Goldenrod, fix this. Fresh cheddar cheese curds need to be at room temp, placed on hot fries, covered in hot brown gravy. You want low moisture cheese, it's *not supposed to melt* or if it does, just barely. If you want to elevate it some, go for it. Add some fresh herbs. Offer to toss in some BBQ short rib or bacon bits. But (in my best Joan Crawford:) NO. WHITE. GRAVY!!!!
To the owners/chefs: Google "Poutine" & "Sherbrooke". Look at the pictures. All of them. From every restaurant. Do you see a single broiled cheese curd? Do you see any white gravy? No? OK, now you know.
The Wrapup: Alright, I know I practically had a stroke there about the poutine, but here's the end of the story. The Goldenrod is a new restaurant, and it's good. Not great (yet,) but good. Want them to be great? Eat there. Often. Tell the boss what's good and what's bad. Success breeds success. This place has massive potential and needs encouragement.
Overall, 4 stars. Tons of potential. Eat there!