Joel Palmer House

04/16/08

A response to the previous review

by ptweiler77

I am an employee at JPH and just wanted to let you know our employees are treated very well. The gratuity is added in on the bill, but we all are compensated, front and back of house. We also have medical and other benefits available to us. So please, don't avoid trying us out based on someone's impression the employees aren't treated well. The fact is this is just not true.

12/13/07

The service charge does not go to the servers!

by ismith07

Just FYI the service change they add on instead of tip does not go to the servers or the kitchen staff (unless you include the owners). They do pay a bit more than minimum wage to servers but still.

The food is mostly uninspired. Support restaurants that treat their employees well instead.

• Pros: Nice house.
• Cons: The service charge does not go to the staff!

12/03/07

Great example how to enjoy wild mushrooms

by rogersargent

I have eaten here several times , each time everything was great . The cost of the meal is high .After reading the other reviews which were negative ,somehow it dosent fit. I have sent a lot of people there and no one has a bad experence.

Take the time and try it yourself .

• Pros: Great example of Oregon Food
• Cons: Little Pricy

11/09/07

We won't be back

by laramie12

We really had high expectations of this restaurant but were sorely disappointed. After a day of wine tasting we were both hungry, we both opted for the mushroom madness menu being foragers ourselves. Here the mushrooms did not disappoint but the menu did. The first course of "risotto" was like over cooked Mexican rice with truffle flavor, every time i have had a good risotto it is creamy and runny with the flavors of the broth and essence of mushrooms, this was so thick the chef was able to plate it in a quenelle, I don't even think they used arborio rice. The soup was a stunner, matsutake mushrooms and nori; very good. The other soup, wild mushroom kind of blah. We had the tasting menu and these bowls of soup were like 12 oz. both creamy and filling. Filet was good in concept but this thing was like 10 oz. how am I suppose to eat this hunk of meat after 3 full size app courses? It only gets better, my wife had the stroganoff, the beef tasted old (slightly sour), the mushrooms were gritty with sand and there was a tree leaf in her dish... yes a full sized partially decomposed leaf from the forest floor, she actually pulled it out of here mouth and lost her appetite. We relayed out complaint to the server and they took it off the bill. dessert was forgettable, with raspberry coulis, whipped cream and a mint leaf (never seen that before). The craziest thing was that as soon as our plates were picked up the next one came out immediately, just back there keeping warm under the heat lamp, we felt rushed, no time for conversation or any time between all these rich courses. Like other reviewers we thought the food was good but too rich, portions too large, too tired and not refined enough for the price. At the end you don't even have to worry about calculating a tip, it is automatically included in the tab at 18% and added to the bill. We didn't feel like fighting any more we just wanted out. Its too much of my time and $175 I will never see again.

• Pros: Cute house, good mushrooms
• Cons: Tired food, overpriced, not really a tasting menu but 5 full plates

03/23/07

A wine-country must set in a historic Dayton mansion and serving inspired Northwest cuisine.

by Contributor

In Short
For years, the Joel Palmer House sat in the center of Dayton as a faint memory of the town's founding father. In 1996 it was bought by restaurateurs, and today anyone can enjoy the historic grace that fills the dining rooms. A Northwest-inspired menu is paired with an impressive list of local wines. Menu items include juicy crab cakes made with thick portabellos and a mildly gamey elk tenderloin, served with black chanterelles and a sweet juniper-berry sauce.

• Pros: local wines
• Cons: location

10/16/06

Best Mushrooms and Wine

by southeasterner

Dinner was a scrumptious finish to our tour of Oregon Wine Country. The mushroom tart is divine, and the pork loin was the perfect fall dinner. I also recommend the white chocolate and cherry bread pudding. The only problem with dinner was that I ate too much. But, I'd do it again. Service was attentive. The wines are quite expensive compared to retail, so it may be worth paying the corkage fee.

• Pros: If you love mushrooms, you will love the food here.
• Cons: Great wine prices, but expect to pay double retail.

09/07/06

overpriced for quality of food

by dussault

Tried making reservations on the net, never received a reply. Had to make reservation by phone.

This was suppose to be a special Dinner for our 37th wedding Anniversary, this restaurant was of my choosing, I'm lucky my wife did not divorce me.

We chose our entree leaving the rest up to the Chef/Owner.

My wife ordered Seabass, her favorite dish, not only was the fish not fresh, I suspect it was not real Seabass, the flesh being much to grey and fat. My Pork tenderloin was acceptable but the sauce was to salty. What really blew my mind was when the waitress came over to take away our plates, she never questioned the fact that my wifes plates had not been touched.

To add insult to injury, they automatically add 18% gratuity.

The evening was not memorable, but as Wll Rogers said, good judgement comes from experience, which mostly comes from bad judgement.

Michael D.

07/14/06

A great little restaurant to visit in wine country.

by hhl

Four of us dined at Palmer's last night (July 06) and had wonderful entrees - my husband raved about his pork tenderloin, the sea scallops were delicious and the crusty copper river salmon was also ranked highly. The mushroom risotto was wonderful - maybe some truffles in there - and mushrooms added to entrees added delightful aromatic flavors. We sat outside which was very comfortable with nice garden views. The service was very good. The home made blueberry ice cream and peach tart were a treat. The mushroom tart was a bit salty I thought.

After reading the January review I was concerned about our restaurant selection but fortunately that proved quite overblown. If driving an hour through the countryside from Portland to Dayton, is too much for you - don't do it. While we didn't eat inside because the garden was too inviting, we did check out the interior of the restaurant, and yes it is an historic house. They do have some separate rooms for private parties. It didn't appear cramped to me as the Jan. reviewer suggests, but quiet and intimate.

• Pros: Delicious food with interesting sauces and ingredients, easy to find, good service
• Cons: a distance for most of us

01/25/06

Overpromised/Underdelivered

by markobear1

After an hour drive from Portland, we were escorted to a table right by the front door. It was cold and cramped. The service by the young waitstaff was very attentive and personable .

The menu was at least 30% more than the website pricing indicated, which would not have been bad had the food been up to snuff. The sauces had too much salt and the mushrooms specialties were just buried in the food instead of being highlighted and embellished. The food in and of itself was only mediocre.

The unanimous vote from our party was way over-priced and way underdelivered.Save your money and the gas.

We won't be back!

• Pros: waitstaff, home-like ambience
• Cons: Food, Distance, Cost/Value

07/20/05

Overpriced mediocre cuisine & bad attitude :(

by macallan18

Cuisine very rudimentary. Mushroom and meat dishes were of a "Sizzler" quality - Filet ordered med-rare sent back twice as it was med-well. No appology, in fact server disdainful and rude. 6 disappointed people - Do yourself a favor -- dine elsewhere

• Pros: understaffed, mediocre-poor cuisine
• Cons: poor service, overpriced, servers bad attitude