Yesterday a group of friends and I decided to go to Camlann Medieval Village for dinner. I wasn't sure what I was getting into, other than it was "a dinner from the middle ages". I have attended fabulous Renaissance Festivals in Larkspur, Colorado, so I knew what to expect with this experience, and I wasn't wrong, expect for the service.
When we arrived we discovered that the site was a set of buildings that appeared to be from the Middle Ages around 1300. We wandered around a bit and concluded that during the day the site serves as model village where visitors can see what life was like in the middle ages, probably with demonstrations and presentations. As we were wandering around, we discovered a jousting ring and noisy goat in a pen. When we arrived at the "inn" where dinner would be held, we found out we were the first ones from our group to arrive.
After being greeted by the host, we waited for our friends to arrive. When the host confirmed that we were "10, right"? We said we had one more. This must have bothered him, because he then said that "when you make a reservation at a restaurant, for more than six people, you always call one day in advance." We had called earlier that day and the person we spoke to took our reservation. What was the issue now? The host said, "we will serve you, but we maybe short on some things, because you did not give us advance notice." Okay..
If the kitchen didn't think they could serve us, they should have said so over the phone.
When we were waiting for the final people from our group to arrive, there was a couple outside walking around. The host thought the couple was part of our group. There's nothing wrong with this theoretically, however, when the couple walked around and came in view again, the host thought they were our friends, again! He was obviously impatient.
The dining room was dimly lit by two chandeliers and there were candles around the room. The fire place was out, but the building smelled vaguely of smoke. I wonder if the fire was lit earlier in the night. Although our reservation was for 7pm.
Once we were seated the host presented the drink options: mead, ale, cider, wine or grape juice. Sadly coffee wasn't introduced to Europe until the 1600's.
The appetizer was rastons, a medieval bread dish. The main meal was a choice of chicken, salmon, or pork. There was also a meat pie.
For dessert there were three options: Cherry, Plum or custard.
When the server brought the courses, he would wait for us all to quiet before explaining what the dish was. It always took a few minutes for everyone to quiet as we were a pretty talkative group.
The serving utensils were a knife, a spoon, and bread trencher. Which, was somewhat awkward. I'm glad I washed my hands! I would have rather had a wooden plate. Especially when the server informed us that we would each be getting "half a bread plate" so a half moon, instead of a "full bread plate" because we didn't give them a day's notice, and they were short on food.
Honestly, if you are short on supplies, but agree to have people to your restaurant advance notice, don't make them feel bad for coming. If the restaurant didn't feel that they could accommodate us, they should have said so in the first place. The way the server chose to explain things implied that it was our fault for not giving notice. Their website says that "Dinner reservations are requested" but perhaps if they only order food in regards to reservations, or estimates, rather than having a fully staffed kitchen every day, they should require reservations. The bill was $40 per person.
Overall, I found the experience interesting in regards to the authenticity. But due the service I am disinclined to return.
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