The Pleasant Valley Inn is definitely on that list, a restaurant doing something very interesting that I judged incorrectly before eating their food.
The sign outside the Pleasant Valley Inn says it’s a fine dining establishment.
Walking into a restaurant like that in my traditional garb of blue jeans, sneakers, and a worn Dickies shirt with my logo felt inappropriate. They let me come in before they opened, so maybe they did that so I could eat their food without being seen by their nicer, more put-together guests. At least that’s what I thought walking in.
What I found inside was something completely different.
This is a crew who took over the Pleasant Valley Inn, a former fine dining establishment. I love that it has more of a neighborhood feel, if you know what I mean. I expected to walk in and find filet mignon, baby potatoes, and overpriced crab cakes. I figured I’d be greeted with a relish tray on the table. Instead, I found a menu with chicken wings, a poke bowl, and Cajun shrimp drowned in butter, and I was there for all of it.
The poke bowl was fresh and delicious: creamy, salty, thick, and refreshing, with a lovely crisp from lightly fried nori.
The Texas BBQ shrimp was a big hit. Shrimp drowned in Cajun BBQ-seasoned butter and juices, served with slices of toasted baguette. Comfort food at its finest. Sharp, buttery, spicy, crazy good.
Then the wings, tossed in their house sauce with buffalo and garlic Parmesan and topped with shaved Parmesan. Super delicious. Buttery, sharp from the vinegar, and salty.
This was a very pleasant surprise. I thought it was going to be fine dining and found something totally off the wall and incredible.
I think this is one of my favorite parts about visiting restaurants I’ve never been to: going in with something in mind, a judgment, judging a book by its cover. In this case, it was judging a book by the name of the restaurant, then walking in and finding something completely different, delicious, and unique.
The crew is putting out not just different food than I expected but a variety of it, from barbecue shrimp to a poke bowl. Neither was a mess. Both were delicious, true, and unique. Neither was phoned in.
Definitely a must-visit when in the area.
📍7979 State Route 54
Hammondsport, NY
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