The Inn and Spa at Thorn Hill in Jackson, NH

http://www.innatthornhill.com/


My husband and I headed up to Jackson, NH to celebrate our 5th anniversary. What an experience that was!!!! If you want to get away to a romantic and quiet inn you should definitely consider going there! It's the perfect place to get engaged, celebrate a birthday or anniversary or just to get away and eat amazing food! The package comes with afternoon tea, a 3 course gourmet dinner, a full breakfast in the morning, and a beautiful room with a huge jacuzzi tub.

Our first dining experience was tea. We spent a little too much time shopping at the outlets in North Conway (about 15 min south of the inn) so we got to tea around 4:30. They had a large table set up with all kinds of teas and all of the fixings. I chose the strawberry tea. The teas were all loose teas you had to brew either in one cup or a whole pot. As soon as you opened the canister the smell of strawberries and other fruit filled the air. I brewed just one cup and decided to go back and brew a whole pot. The tea was a pretty pink color and was perfect. It was sweet, but not too sweet. It didn't need anything in it. They also had cookies and pastries set up on the piano. I had several coconut macaroons and a piece of pastry. It was a great way to start our night there.

Our dinner reservation was at 6:30 so we headed up to the room to check it out. It was so pretty, with a huge bed, an enormous jacuzzi tub, a fire place and other great little things in the room. After we changed into appropriate clothing we went down to the dining room. We were seated a table for 2 in the main dining room that overlooked the porch and the mountains. Our waitress was so great! She was professional as well as down to earth. The table was set with a lot of glasses. They brought us water right away. It took me a while to look through the enormous wine menu, but I eventually chose a bottle of wine that wasn't extremely expensive and something I thought I could drink. It was called Il Mimo and it was DELICIOUS! It was just perfect. It was a perfect bottle to get for dinner. I loved it so much I got another bottle for the room. The bottles had survived a devastating fire that had taken place in 2001 and had a little label telling the story.

After she brought the wine and gave us a sample, then a full pour, she came back with the bread choices. She brought a choice of a cheese bread stick, a delicious garlic roll and some kind of bread. My husband chose the garlic roll and I tried the cheese stick. The cheese stick was very good, not too strong. The garlic roll was delicious! There was a pretty piece of butter in the middle of the table decorated with sugar crystals and chives. After trying to read the menu and figure out what we wanted we ordered. I decided to start with a corn soup and for the main course I decided on the raviolis stuffed with fresh ricotta and mushrooms, with a side of fiddle heads, tomatoes and asparagus. My husband (not knowing a whole lot about gourmet food) decided to start with the closest thing to a salad that he could find. I think it was called organic leaves on the menu. He ordered the filet mignon for dinner. I wanted to order that, but we decided with help from the waitress, to try two different meals.

The waitress came back with the silverware we would need for the starters. The starters took a bit to come out, but I think that is what gourmet places do. She surprised us with an amuse bouche of pea puree and bacon. It came in a shot glass type glass. It was cold, but delicious. The bacon really added to the cold, soft green pea puree. The faces of the other couples around us that got it after us were great!

The starters came out with a presentation for mine. The bowl came with 4 halves of a shrimp placed in the center of the bowl. The waiter then poured dark mustered colored soup in the bowl around the shrimp. I do have to admit that I thought I was getting something similar to corn chowder so I was a little shocked when this is what was presented. After one bite I was in love! The soup was delicious and the shrimp were also wonderful. My husband's salad had huge chunks of blue cheese in it. The greens were fresh and crispy. Our waitress came back with more bread so we both got a garlic roll to dip in the soup and salad dressing.

After we were done the starters the waitress cleared the table and brought us the silverware we would need for the main course. My main course came out and I was a little disappointed in the size of the raviolis as the waitress said they were larger than they were. It was freshly made pasta filled with ricotta and mushrooms. In the middle of the bowl was a stewed tomato, fiddle heads, asparagus and other steamed veggies. I have never had freshly made pasta before. It has a much different texture and taste than the store bought kind. It's lighter and more yellow in color. The filling was delicious as well. The fresh cheese and mushrooms were just right. All of the veggies in the middle were also very good. They were al dente. I have never eaten fiddle heads, I think of them more as weeds that grow in the forest. They were surprisingly good. I would not pass them up if I saw them on a menu again. My husbands meal was artistically placed on his plate. There was a garnish of green puree on his plate with fresh spinach leaves (both left untouched). The potato was a small pancake under the small . It was covered in a thick sauce. After trying to figure out what was on his plate he toppled the display over and ate. The meat was succulent and cooked perfectly.

The dessert menu had several choices. Not knowing what a lot of it was we chose a chocolate sampler and an apple one. The trays came out with 3 bites of different flavors. On my apple dessert was an apple fritter bite, a shot of something green and an apple parmesan salad. The apple fritter was small, but nice. The salad had a large piece of parmesan cheese with julienned apples under it. The shot glass was difficult to figure out. It wasn't very tasty, but I couldn't leave it. I knew it would be a very long time before I got to experience something like this again so I drank it down. The chocolate plate came with a bigger shot glass with what appeared to be toasted marshmallow a top a thick chocolate pudding and a chocolate cake bite with a frozen strawberry in it.

Before the bill came I excused myself while the waitress asked my husband why we had come to the inn for the night. He told her why we were there and she brought us one last dessert decorated with chocolate hearts. They were rocky road bites. They were a peanut cluster covered in milk chocolate. They were quite good!

The next morning we had breakfast in the dining room again. This time we had two waiters from England. They were very attentive to us from the moment we entered the room. They brought the best coffee I have ever had over first with water. The coffee had a great taste with no bitterness at all. The breakfast menu was small, but there was something for everyone. I ordered the omelet of the day, which was filled with fresh goat cheese and mushrooms. It also came with a side of freshly made multi grain bread and potatoes. My husband ordered a stack of silver dollar pancakes, which came with homemade maple syrup, berry chutney, and Canadian bacon. There was a juice bar as well as a buffet filled with fruit, yogurt and muffins as well.

The took a bit to come out, but the dining room was full and busy. My omelet was delicious! It had a ton of goat cheese in it. The potatoes were a little on the oily side, but still delicious. The bread was thick and full of grains and nuts. I took the berry chutney and added to the bread a spread. It was quite good. The pancakes were large for silver dollar ones. It was just right for my husband.

The Inn at Thorn Hill has won numerous awards. It cannot be compared to any of the other dining experiences I have blogged about on here. It was an amazing culinary experience.