Creative, new menu on the river

NARROWSBURG — The Narrowsburg Inn, one of the oldest, most venerable buildings in the area, is boasting a brand new menu, created by chef Dennis Arbeeny, available at extended hours through the summer.

Proprietor Tom Prendergast and Arbeeny introduced the ambitious menu at a tasting party held earlier this month. A receptive gathering of guests oohed and aahed its way through tuna tartare, asparagus spears wrapped in salmon and in prosciutto, lamb kefta kabobs with a cucumber dipping sauce, chicken pinwheels stuffed with mushrooms, mussels, calamari, asparagus soup, four alarm chile (truly alarming, to this writer’s taste) roasted veggies on toast, Mediterranean bead (a sort of sesame focaccio), roast pork with raspberry sauce, duck with julienne apples and shrimp in tahini sauce.

The impressive variety of new and different dishes translates into a dinner menu with mostly seafood appetizers ($8 - $10). The zuppa di mussels and a warm asparagus salad plate also appear as entrees, joining three chicken entrees, two beef, and the pork, duck, and tuna steak. An eggplant parmesan is arguably the most conventional dish on the menu.

At a subsequent visit to the Inn, my husband and I tried the hanger steak and the chicken crepenet, respectively. The hanger steak, “a recent discovery” which “lends itself beautifully to grilling,” proved to be well-seasoned slices of beef. The crepenet is a dinner version of the chicken pinwheel I sampled at the tasting party—dark meat chicken surrounding a mince of mushrooms. A rice variation and the vegetable du jour, slender stalks of asparagus, accompanied each dish. The beef at $19 and the chicken at $15 are representative of the entrée range.

The dessert choices on the night of our visit included apple pie, strawberry shortcake, chocolate mousse cake and cheesecake.

Prendergast is currently offering an elaborate weekend brunch and anticipates offering a box lunch for campers and canoers, as well as daily specials.  He and Chef Dennis are to be admired for their vision as well as their ambition.

The hours are 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, and extended summer hours, call 845/252-3998.