The Vintage Inn

HH

HHHHH – perfection HHHH – excellent

HHH – good HH- fair H – poor

201 W. University St., Siloam Springs

Turnaround time: 10 minutes for appetizers, 20 minutes for entrees.

Although the decor at the Vintage Inn is charming, and the service is pleasant, the food leaves much to be desired. We made this disappointing discovery one spring afternoon when we ventured to Siloam Springs for a business lunch.

We were greeted pleasantly when we entered the parlor of the Inn, which is a restaurant and bed and breakfast located in a restored building across from the city park. The dining rooms are decorated beautifully in Victorian decor, and even the restrooms are charming. Although we were momentarily thrown when our hot tea was served in a Chinese tea kettle, the overall pre-meal experience was outstanding.

The appetizer was the best part of our meal. The mushroom caps ($4) were absolutely delicious. Stuffed with crab meat, baby shrimps and two cheeses, they were the perfect consistency and taste. With this wonderful start to our meal, we wondered what the main course would bring. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.

Being partial to seafood, we passed on the steak special of the day and ordered the shrimp scampi ($10), which is featured in the “Specialties of the House” portion of the menu. The dish came with four jumbo Gulf shrimp, complete with tails, on an embellished bed of rice. We eagerly dug in but were disappointed with the dish.

When my dining companion took her second bite of the entree, she discovered an object that tasted so unpleasant that it caused a shiver of repulsion to coast down her spine. As she attempted to rinse the unpleasant taste from her mouth, I fished one of the strange white-and-brown objects we suspected to be the culprit out of the rice. When we asked a waiter what it was, he replied “Um, it’s a noodle, I think.”

We ended up just scraping the sauce off and eating the three remaining shrimp. Hours later, we could still taste the strange dijon mustard sauce that coated everything in the shrimp scampi. On a positive note, the accompanying peas tasted pretty good.

After that experience, we hesitated when our waitress asked if we would like to see the dessert tray, but we were still hungry and remembered the perfection of our appetizer.

It was a tough choice, but we decided to forego the caramel apple pie and try the chocolate mousse (our personal favorite) instead.

It looked deceptively beautiful when it arrived, and, once again, our hopes soared. But looks can be deceiving, and we soon discovered the mousse was not so much a mousse as a pudding. And we both decided $3 was a little pricey for a cup of chocolate pudding — not even a good pudding at that.

Overall, we thought the service was good and the atmosphere was nice, but the food was … well, bad. We left disappointed. We had entered knowing that we would be able to give a good review and exited with a reminder of that old cliche, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”