In fact everything was sensational . . the warm welcome, the amazing craft beer, the elevated food and the friendly service. Don’t get me wrong Niagara Falls is beautiful and we should know because our hotel was right across the road from the Niagara River. After traveling almost all day on Thursday surviving on airport food & beer and then hotel food & beer last night we were looking for a relaxing night out . . where I could get a great hazy juicy IPA. Believe me when I tell you there was not a decent restaurant serving dinner within COOEE of the Red Coach Inn . . our hotel in Niagara. We looked up reviews and my wife came across The Griffon Gastropub ( one of 4 locations but the closest to us ) about 5 miles away in Niagara.
The menu looked good, the craft beer list was huge so I gave them a tingle at about 6 pm. A friendly dude answered the phone and told me about the great craft beers and stuff . . he had me hooked. When I tried to make a reservation he said they were fully booked until about 8.30pm. BUGGER ! That’s when things turned . . the guy ( might have been the manager ) suggested another of their locations in Lewiston . . The Griffon House..it was smaller, more intimate still great menu and craft beer.
HE SOLD ME ! My wife got on the blower and made a reservation here for 7pm. We took a Lyft for the almost 8 mile drive to scenic Lewiston . . home to many fine eateries we were told by our Lyft driver. We arrived a bit early at 6.50pm and could see The Griffon House was indeed a house..maybe an historic residence in this area . . with a large covered patio out front. A very friendly guy at the host desk inside greeted us very warmly . . Daniel the restaurant Manager.
It felt very cosy inside and that’s where we preferred to stay. Daniel said they would ready a table for us in a couple of minutes. AND THEY DID ! A very cosy corner booth table away from the bar. Within seconds a very lovely female server named Alex came by to help us. My wife is so understanding when we go out because she knows how important it is for me to try new & great tasting craft beers . . particularly hazy juicy IPA’s. The QR Code Menu was stuck on top of our table.
For the benefit of future diners I asked Alex our server for the regular dinner & beverage menus. Alex and I had a little discussion about hazy juicy IPA’s and I gathered she knew her craft beers. With Alex’s help I handpicked 4 hazy IPA’s to sample for free . . Orono – Tubular Bomb! Hazy IPA, Other Half – Viridian Dream IPA, Dogfish Head – Hazy-O! IPA and Other Half – Double Dry Hopped Green City Hazy IPA. Alex our server brought out the beer samples pretty quick plus a glass of cool water for my wife.
While I whittled it down to 2 winners for my evening beer quota we checked out the dinner menu. We started with Mexican Street Corn Bites ( Crispy balls of charred kernels with lime, garlic, green onion, cilantro, chili & smoked paprika mixed with a blend of five cheeses, in a corn masa batter, served with cilantro lime aioli ). WHOO HOO and that was just our appetizer ! For my first craft beer I chose the Orono Brewing – Tubular Bomb! Hazy juicy IPA and it tasted SPECTACULAR ! For entrees my wife chose Chilladas ( Three corn tortillas filled with refried bean-roasted corn salsa baked in a cast iron skillet, topped with tomatillo sauce, cheddar cheese, fresh tomato salsa & sliced avocado ).
I went with Filet Medallions ( Four prime filet of sirloin medallions grilled to perfection served over garlic smashed red potatoes topped with a charred leek butter, topped with crispy onion frizzles…served with grilled asparagus ). Our Mexican Street Corn Bites came out fast and were GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS ! Our entrees arrived and looked amazing…huge serves and so well presented. My wife enjoyed her Chilladas . . I had a taste and the flavor was perfect. My Filet Medallions turned out to be a much bigger feed than I anticipated but I ( almost ) finished it all . . the juicy filet medallions tasted so good, the flavorsome smashed potatoes with the crispy onion frizzles on top won me and the Giant Asparagus was perfect.
We both wanted some dessert and Alex checked on what was available on the night . . no printed menu but a rotating dessert menu from a bakery down the road. Alex popped back and ran off 2 or 3 choices incl Flourless Chocolate Cake and Blondie Cheesecake. The Blondie Cheesecake sounded nice so we agreed to share a slice. In the meantime it was time for my 2nd craft beer . . Other Half Brewing – Double Dry Hopped Green City Hazy juicy IPA which was a real winner ! In the meantime our Blondie Cheesecake arrived and my wife had devoured almost half before I tried it ( I was chatting with our sweet server Alex ). OMG it tasted MOUTHSATIONAL in a word. Thanks to Daniel and his staff we had a great time !
