Buckhorn Inn's food service and Gatlinburg mountain views are impressive | Grub Scout
A couple of years ago, The Grub Spouse’s stepmother gave us a gift certificate to Buckhorn Inn in Gatlinburg. Last week, The Spouse and I finally got around to cashing it in on a mid-week wedding anniversary outing. We made reservations for dinner at the inn on the day of our actual anniversary, and in the process, we learned that the dining room is open to the public — not just overnight guests — for dinner. As a result, I decided to document and share our experience.
Dinner at Buckhorn Inn is offered on a prix-fixe basis, meaning that each night’s meal is served at a set price — in this case, $40 per person. The menu for our dinner started with five-onion soup served with bread. The entrée featured roast rack of pork topped with a peach barbecue sauce and accompanied by a duchess-potato casserole and steamed broccoli. Dessert was a brown-butter almond torte with brandied cherries.
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Other nightly menus for the week we visited included entrees such as fire-roasted chicken in a tomato-mushroom hunter sauce; tandoori salmon with tzatziki sauce; date- and soy-braised Beef au Daube; and broiled Atlantic cod with a citrus beurre blanc.
We headed downstairs to the spacious dining room a little before 7 p.m. and found our pre-assigned table for two next to one of the windows overlooking the main grounds of the inn. During the day, this same vantage point serves up an awe-inspiring view of nearby Mount LeConte. The dining area of the 80-plus-year-old inn is lovely, featuring wood floors and area rugs, timber rafters and general aesthetics that manage to blend elements of quaint country inn with upscale accommodations.
Our server took our cocktail order, and shortly thereafter, the entire service team began shuttling out the first course. The onion soup was subtle in flavor, not quite as pungent as most French onion soups I’ve experienced. The top layer of cheese was also minimal, but neither of those factors detracted from this starter in the least.
The rack of pork was superb — substantial in both thickness and flavor and easily cuttable with a standard butter knife. The barbecue sauce enhanced without overpowering, benefitting from understated flavor and a hint of peach fruitiness. My square portion of layered potato casserole was cheesily delicious, while the steamed broccoli was tender and good.
The cake-like torte wedge was well-prepared, topped with almond slivers, a cherry compote and a dollop of whipped cream. The most notable flavor to hit my palate was that of the brandied cherries. It was a strong note to close out a meal that was more than worth the $40-per-person price tag. The gratuity for this meal was included in our overall bill for our two-night stay at the inn. I’m not sure whether non-overnight guests are free to add the gratuity of their choice or if that is automatically tacked onto the bill.
I’ll note that Buckhorn Inn also serves breakfast, which is included in the price of accommodations for overnight guests. And the kitchen succeeded in starting our days off as tastily as they ended our anniversary meal. Our first morning lineup included biscuits and blueberry amaretto coffee cake followed by a choice of pancakes, an omelet, eggs cooked to order (served with a breakfast meat) or a yogurt parfait.
The Spouse got the omelet — made with three eggs, mushrooms, onions and Gruyere cheese — and a side of cheese grits. Meanwhile, my stack of three thick-but-fluffy pancakes, dressed up in real butter and maple syrup, sent me to carb heaven. The two accompanying strips of bacon provided a savory respite from all the sweetness.
Our second breakfast started with biscuits and banana-nut muffins with cranberries and included a choice of eggs Florentine or a whole-grain waffle topped with blueberries and accompanied by a side of bacon. The Spouse took on the massive but delicious waffle, while I relished the eggs Florentine — two poached eggs served on top of crusty toast with spinach and mushrooms and topped with hollandaise sauce. That came with a side of hash brown casserole.
Whether you choose to dine at Buckhorn Inn for dinner only or as an overnight guest, you can count on food service that’s as impressive to the taste buds as those mountain views are to the eyes.
Buckhorn Inn
Food: 4.75
Service: 4.75
Atmosphere: 5
Overall: 4.75
Address: 2140 Tudor Mountain Road, Gatlinburg
Phone: 865-436-4668
Beer and wine service only
Hours: Dinner served at 7 p.m. nightly
This bed-and-breakfast inn, located in Gatlinburg’s Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community, serves expertly prepared dinners for both overnight guests and the general public.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Gatlinburg restaurant review: Buckhorn Inn's food and views impressive
