Hotel Review: Equinox Resort In Vermont Dining Options

This is part two of a quick mini-series of posts on our brief stay at the Equinox Resort. You can read part 1 with a review of the rooms and other amenities here.

There are two main restaurants at the Equinox. Chop House is the upscale steakhouse and Marsh Tavern is the more casual 3-meal restaurant.

Chop House is very small with only about 15-20 tables. If you want to eat there during your stay, you’re best to book early. The ambiance is certainly upscale, though it certainly has the trappings of the historical building it resides in. The fireplace, engraved with the year the building was constructed was burning a welcome fire on a cold night when we arrived. It was the centerpiece of the original Orvis house, where the Green Mountain Boys used to meet. We were dining with a large party and secured one of only two large tables in the restaurant.

The service was slow throughout the evening, though considerate. We had the kids with us, and the waiter was apologetic when it took a while to bring out their food. The food quality was very good throughout the meal, which made the service times more tolerable. But, it was definitely not a short meal.

For starters, we ordered shrimp cocktail, and a tuna tartare. The tuna was wonderful. It was served with soy sauce, ginger and wasabi, traditional sushi accompaniments, and some house-fried potato chips. The seasoning on the tuna was tasty. The dish was elegant in its simplicity.

We also enjoyed a seafood platter that mixed some traditional New England items (Lobster) with snow crab, green-lipped mussels, oysters and shrimp.

We had a few glasses of sparkling wine and then transitioned to a Red Zinfandel I wasn’t familiar with. We’ve enjoyed wines from Turley before, but never the Rattlesnake Ridge from Howell Mountain. It was exceptional. The slow service time and high quality of the wine lead to multiple bottles being ordered for our large party, and all thought the wine was exceptional.

Dinner consisted of a prime strip steak for me, while Michelle dined on a salmon dish prepared on a piece of cedar. The plate presentation on her dish was imaginative. Somehow in the shuffle, the picture of my entrée didn’t get saved to my computer, so you’ll just have to imagine that I enjoyed it (which I did). Both of our meals were enjoyable.

The star of the side dishes was a macaroni and cheese with lobster served in a cast-iron skillet.

For the kids, there was make-your-own hot chocolate, which went over as a big hit?

We dined at Marsh Tavern as well. The dishes were the type that you would expect in New England. On the heartier side for winter, plenty of root vegetables, and such classics as shepherd’s pie. The room is lit by gas lamps, the tables and chairs wooden and resembling the theme and origin of the building. User error on camera duty had most pictures fail for this part of the post, other than the beautifully crisp puff pastry on this interpretation of pot pie and a really tasty dessert.

In short, this was a completely different experience from Chop House. We had a phenomenal waitress who was attentive and kept the pace of service moving for the kiddos. The pricing is much more affordable here. For all those reasons, we preferred the Marsh Tavern during our stay.

Breakfast was served in the main ballroom not too far from the lobby. Due to our SPG Platinum status, breakfast was free. It was buffet service, where the waiter took your order for coffee, juice and any eggs to order. On the busiest of days they had an action station set up for omelettes and waffles. The buffet was plentiful and the kids really enjoyed it. When there were items they desired but couldn’t find on the buffet (pancakes one morning, for instance) the waitress was quick to grab an order from the back, no charge. When there was a bit of extra room one morning in the dining room, they even set up all the kids (6 in total amongst the extended family) with their own table so they could feel like adults.

There are places to eat around town, but we did find good meals at the Equinox. Breakfast was always enjoyable and the Marsh Tavern took great care of us. It was worth doing Orvis to experience it, I think. The price tag does give me some pause, as it was by far the most expensive meal we had. While we did enjoy venturing out to other restaurants in the area, you can be plenty satisfied with the culinary options Equinox has to offer.

The post Hotel Review: Equinox Resort In Vermont Dining Options was published first on Pizza In Motion.

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