2 /5 Mason Gervacio: The Mill at the Kasteel…
A culinary experience I personally gravitated around for about three years. Today, however, suggests that maybe we shouldn’t meet our heroes.
My wife and I stayed at the Auld Holland years ago, and I’ve delivered countless meals for DoorDash from this restaurant. It has always been a personal landmark when passing through town for work. I’m not sure why it took so long for me to order a meal for myself, but the day had finally come.
I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere, inside and out. It’s a comforting welcome to Whidbey Island after a long drive from larger towns around the Puget Sound. I was somewhat confused to see a neon sign with a foliage background (like one of those photo op walls influencers gravitate towards). Personally, it took me out of the old European home aesthetic that seems to be the original idea.
I ordered take out, because I like to eat in my hotel room alone like a weirdo when I travel. I wasn’t quite ready to eat just yet, so I SCHEDULED for the food to be picked up at 4:30 pm. It was to my surprise that the food was promptly cooked and placed on the pick-up counter shortly after I placed the order at around 3:15 pm. I confirmed this with the server who gave me the bag when he said “it’s been sitting here for a while”. He said that when they see a ticket, they just cook it and don’t pay attention to the scheduled time on the ticket. I don’t want to sound overly critical about the service, but I would suggest that the cooks make the food a little closer to the pick up time to keep it hot for the customers.
Moving on to the actual food; and this is where I became significantly more disappointed by my experience with this restaurant.
I’m not a chef by any means. Nor am I a butcher. But I’m fairly certain that the steak I received was a NY Strip rather than a Ribeye. That was a big red flag for me based on the cost of this steak.
However, on a more positive note, it was cooked relatively close to what I asked for which was a medium rare. It was tender and didn’t taste half bad. The gristle gave me a silent jump scare as I chewed, but I personally don’t mind it.
Vegetables and the mashed potatoes were cooked. That’s always a good sign… Sarcasm aside, they weren’t anything to cry about. I really enjoyed the gravy which worked very well with the mashed potatoes and vegetables.
I ordered a side cinnamon roll, and received one and a half rolls. The half roll looked as if it was cooked like a French toast. Interesting, but unexpected. The taste was pleasant, but the side of syrup made me question whether I actually had the correct order at that point.
Overall, I will probably stay within driving distance of The Mill at The Kasteel from now on. The takeout service was disappointing, and the food was questionable but edible.
