Stone's Public House

After checking out the Warren Center, Andrew and I headed over to Stone's Public House (also in Ashland) to meet up with his parents for an early birthday dinner (for Andrew). We were also on a bit of a reconnaissance mission, as Stone's was a strong candidate to be the location for the rehearsal dinner next year:

Another fun fact about Stone's - it's rumored to be haunted!

Andrew and I were the first ones to arrive, so we ordered drinks at the bar. A hard apple cider that I had never heard of was on the menu, so I went with that as my choice. Little did I realize that it came in such a big bottle - this lasted me all through dinner!

The menu offered some interesting twists on old favorites, so we went with the fried calamari with curried slaw (Sidenote: I thought the menu seemed to veer slightly towards summer items in terms of what ingredients were used as accompaniments):

It was an interesting twist, and we had no problems clearing the plate, but we all agreed that we prefer a marinara or aioli dipping sauce instead.

We were all in agreement that Irish soda bread that came with the bread basket was quite tasty, as Andrew demonstrates:

For our entrees, Charlotte and I opted for the Flat Iron Steak With Blue Cheese, Tomato-Corn Relish & Roasted Sweet Potatoes - I was impressed by the fact that the corn was obviously fresh fromn the cob. And, the seasoning on the steak was delicious!



Andrew and Tom went with one of their favorites, Fish and Chips With Extra-Chunky Tartar Sauce. To be honest, they weren't impressed and found the red tomato sauce that accompanied the dish to be oddly sweet, like a sweetened homemade ketchup (their words):

The four of us opted for four different desserts, and we were all very pleased with our choices!

I had homemade Apple-Cranberry pie with vanilla ice cream - it was quite good, although I will say that 1) I thought the scoop of ice cream was quite stingy (loving ice cream with each bite of my pie) and the caramel sauce to be overkill (as it overshadowed the more delicate taste of the pie) - that would be the baking snob in me! :)

Charlotte loved the Carrot Cake with Caramel sauce (they must have a jug of that stuff) that was a special that replaced the Gingerbread on the menu:

Tom had no complaints with his Chocolate Molten Cake with ice cream:

And early Birthday boy opted for one his favorites - cheesecake - in the form of a Turtle cheesecake with tons of caramel and whipped cream on the side:

Overall, the food was pretty good and the atmosphere of the place reminded me slightly of the Publick House in Brookline. I wouldn't mind coming back and checking out one of their sandwiches on their bar menu next time or one of the cheeseburgers that a woman at the bar was raving about.