Shell and I met up with Steve and his friend in New Paltz last night, and had dinner at The Gilded Otter. I had originally heard of the place from a friend, and we were going to go with them, but when we got there the parking lot was 100% full, leaving us nowhere to park, so we didnt stay. We went to New Paltz last night since its kind of a half way point between Steve and me.
The Gilded Otter is a restaurant/brewing company. They produce several different beers at the place, and feature it with their food. Shell and I got there a little before Steve, so we went up to the bar and got our drink on a little early. I tried their Hefeweizen beer, which was pretty awesome, and had the faintest taste of banana. I had never heard of Hefeweizen until a few weeks ago, when it was in my Sam Adams summer collection of beers I bought. I liked Sams Hefeweizen also, but the Gilded Otter’s simply blew it away. Shell partook in her drink of choice; hard cider. The Gilded Otter does not make their own hard cider, but they bring it in from Warwick, which is also a local producer.
Eventually Steve and his friend got there, and we sat down at a table. Steve and I ended up ordering a sampling of their beer. I forgot what the exact name was, but it consisted of eight small glasses of each of their draft beers, along with a card so you knew what you were drinking. They were all pretty good, and after sampling them all, I still thought their Hefeweizen was the best.
So now onto the food. The menu at The Gilded Otter is extensive, and has some classics (wings, mozz sticks, calamari, etc.) as well as some upper-scale foods you wouldnt normally find at a bar/pub (smoked trout mousse, stuffed grape leaves, and mussels.) We stuck to the classics for appetizers and ordered chicken wings. There was mild, hot, and BBQ, and we went with hot. It was a very good hot wing sauce, and had some nice heat to it. For dinner I ordered braised short ribs, which was awesome. The side it came with was horseradish mashed potatoes, gravy, and squash. I wasnt a big fan of the potatoes (since Im not a fan of horseradish), but with the gravy and squash mixed with it, I enjoyed it. Steve got an order of jambalaya, and he was pleased with the heat and spice with it. Steve’s friend and Shell both had a bowl of spinach fettuchini and a bolognese sauce, which was also excellent. We also ended up ordering dessert. Shell and I split a slice triple chocolate cheesecake and Steve had a chocolate peanutbutter pie.
The Gilded Otter is freakin awesome! The beer is great, the food is delicious, the service was fast and pleasant (Steve had fun pestering the waitress as usual), and the overall atmosphere was pretty cool. I would totally go back, and I recommend anyone who is close by to go check it out. Heck, its worth the 1 hour 15 minute car ride for me!
