My wife and I were fortunate recently to be invited by a friend to Sunday lunch at the Inn at Perry Cabin. The hotel is indeed beautiful as is the restaurant and the food, while not exceptional, was certainly very good.

However, the service was astoundingly bad for a restaurant with so many pretentions to quality and style and that costs so much. First, the waitress, while nice-enough, was completely ignorant of the menu. My wife asked for recommendations for both the main course and desert and was told by the waitress that she hadn’t tasted any of the items but that she was sure they were all delicious. That much I'd expect, but I was surprised that management put a waitress on the floor who was unfamiliar with the menu and who could not make recommendations.

Second, the service was very slow – even though only four other tables were being served in the dinning room. When we questioned the waitress about the service and the length of time it took to get the food to the table (including water, wine, rolls, etc.), she apologized but noted that they were serving tables outside as well. Well, being confrontational with a guest is no way to win their hearts or a great tip. Besides, I'd seen the outside tables and there were just a handful being used. Management should have been better prepared and made sure it had enough help to manage the tables and customers it had. Besides, in the case of a nearly empty restaurant, the waitress' feeble explaination made me wonder how they would have handled the situation had the dinning room been crowded as well as the patio?

Finally, there was the matter of flies – persistent, irritating flies. When we complained to the waitress she was, again, apologetic and told us they were working on the problem. While we were there, they never figured it out. Needless to say, the ambiance -- not to mention ones trust in the cleanliness of the establishment – suffers when you are being bombarded by flies.

Not quite the level of service the prices or reputation of the place promised. Had I been buying the meal, I would have raised more of a stink. As it was, it was merely disapointing and I would not return in spite of the otherwise ok-quality of the food.