Colonel Blackinton Inn, Attleboro MA

After our not-so-memorable trip to Castle Hill in Newport, I was starting to question myself: are my standards too high? Am I too picky? Are my date nights so infrequent that I have unreasonable expectations when it comes to restaurants? Whether the answer is yes or no, Scott and decided that for our next night out, we'd stick with what we knew. So when it was time to decide on a place to celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary, the choice was simple: The Colonel Blackinton Inn in Attleboro.

The Inn, located at the outskirts of downtown Attleboro, has been under the current management (same group that runs Luciano's in Wrentham) since 2003, and has consistently been a popular destination for the area's discerning diners. For us, personally, it's been the background for some pretty significant occassions: a farewell party when I left my first real job; our wedding rehearsal dinner; baby shower; birthdays, funerals and now anniversaries. So, it may just be my emotions getting the best of me, but can't help it... I love this place.

After enjoying a glass of wine on the patio (staff was more than gracious when we asked if we could take our drinks outside), we settled into a corner table in one of the four dining rooms. The Inn, as you can imagine, is a converted home. So the dining is cozy, comfortable and full of charm circa early 1900's. The attentive, but not overbearing, staff adds to the charm. When our waiter approached, I thought to myself, "This is the same waiter we had the last time we were here (over a year ago)." Call me a cynic, but I was taken by surprised when he said, "Welcome back. I remember you two."

Onto the food. We've never been disappointed by the food at the Blackinton, and this trip was true to form. We feasted. The prices aren't cheap, but the amount of food, and the quality is well worth it. Crusty, rustic bread and warmed kalamata olives are complimentary to start. Then entrees are served with two sides and a salad. My eyes were apparently much bigger than my stomach, because I opted for a starter of escargot (yummy, and complete with that tong thing that Julia Roberts used in Pretty Woman). Then onto my salad and one of the specials: filet oscar. Medium rare filet, served with garlic mashed, al dente asparagus, lobster meat and a hollandaise. Just perfect. Scott got his usual NY Strip... said it was one of the best he'd ever tasted, and that's really saying something!

Stuffed, we skipped dessert, but enjoyed our last glass of wine, reminiscing about all the memories we've made at the Inn. Looking forward to many more...


The tab:
Atmosphere – 8
Service – 8
Food Quality – 8
Presentation - 8
Average Entree Price - 24-36
Kid factor – 6
Website: www.colblackintoninn.com

Castle Hill Inn, Newport RI

We recently visited Castle Hill Inn in Newport; a place I'd been excited to visit for way too long. Needless to say, we were a bit disappointed. Call me lazy, or just short on time, but I'm copying and pasting, verbatim, the email I sent them a few days after the Memorial Day weekend.

Good morning,

I'm writing in response to the email I received regarding the season's opening of The Lawn. My family spent Memorial Day weekend in Newport, and as a special treat, my husband and I planned to have dinner at Castle Hill on Monday before heading back to work on Tuesday. My aunt and uncle are regular Castle Hill patrons and speak very highly of your establishment.

We were excited to have a night out, and in preparation, I had looked at your website and was excited to see that the Lawn was opening for the season over Memorial Day weekend. We were even more excited when the weather cooperated on Monday - it meant we could dine outside and enjoy the scenery and a casual dinner.

Unfortunately, when we arrived (6:15 pm), we were told that they were shutting things down outside and that if we'd like to have dinner, we would need to eat inside. Neither of us were looking for a formal, 3-5 course meal, and felt under dressed for the formal dining room. The staff were very pleasant and suggested sitting at the bar and enjoying the sunset, but we opted to head downtown, and ultimately had a very nice dinner at 22 Bowens (an affiliate of Castle Hill, I believe).

The reason I'm writing is not to complain, per se, but to express my disappointment in not being able to enjoy the night out at Castle Hill we'd been looking forward to for weeks. Seeing the Lawn promoted on your website, and then finding out that it wasn't an option (certainly not because of bad weather - it was beautiful out on Monday evening) was frustrating. Then to get the email below (I received a promo email announcing the Memorial Day grand opening of the Lawn) the day after returning home felt like salt in the wound!

There's no need to reply to this email. We'll likely return to Castle Hill at a later date for the dinner we missed out on this weekend. I wanted to bring the issue to your attention, though, as I fear others will misinterpret your advertising as I did.

Thank you for your time and attention to this note.

Sincerely,
Tatum McIsaac

In case you're wondering, we haven't heard back from them. And the night we went to dinner, the weather was perfect. Low 70s with clear skies for miles. Unfortunately, all we'll remember of Castle Hill is it being Dark 'n Stormy.

The tab:
Atmosphere – 9 (breathtaking views!)
Service – 7 (nice enough when they told us we couldn't eat outside)
Food Quality – Don't know.
Presentation - Didn't get there.
Average Entree Price - 3-5 course pre-fix, $75-$95. Lawn menu: $24-$40
Kid factor – 3 (unless your child is meltdown averse and loves foie gras)
Website: http://www.castlehillinn.com