The Henderson Castle Restaurant

Wow major disappointment looks like a run down house. Wait staff seemed not experienced food was not made as request. A lot of people running around like chickens with truer heads cut off

Part I of II
I’d like to offer this review primarily as a form of constructive criticism for the management at Henderson Castle, and to offer praise where it’s due. After all, it’s important to highlight the good with the bad.
After deciding on a surprise valentines weekend away from the hustle bustle and expense of Chicago, Kalamazoo seemed like an ideal destination. Wineries, breweries, small-​town vibe, friendly locals and a bit of history.
The special Valentines dinner at the very picturesque Henderson Castle seemed perfect for the occasion. Overall, my girlfriend and I had a good time and to be honest, the downsides of our experience were more amusing than disappointing.
I booked online well ahead of time for the Saturday 5:30pm seating for two (only options left available being 5:30pm and 8pm). I got a voicemail from a staffer the day before to inform me that their online system had not caught up when I placed the booking and the 5:30pm slot was in fact full when my order was submitted, and that I would need to confirm for the 8pm instead. A bit of an annoyance but no big deal. It took me 4 tries over three hours to get someone on the phone to re-​book us. I left a message on the first attempt. Answering your business line should be a priority. Imagine all the lost revenue because your phone goes unanswered.
So on attempt #4, I spoke to a staffer who was able to get us in for 8pm but asked for credit card details again. Nope. Not being charged twice. You have my payment from the original online booking. She said she’d look up the order and if there was an issue, she’d call back. Ok no problem. So a couple hours later, a different staffer calls me in response to the voicemail I left on attempt #1, to rebook us for the 8pm. Insert face-​palm moment here. But it’s all good. We’re booked and excited for a fun dinner!
Definitely some pieces missing from this booking and reservation system. Time to get your IT guy on the case!
The venue itself is gorgeous. A stunning old house atop a hill with a round turret that is really picturesque. And the results of the snowfall from the night before completed the picture. Some exterior faćade lighting would really give this building the night-​time look it deserves, but unfortunately this didn’t exist. Just a suggestion ;)
The plastic bouquet of flowers at the door seemed a bit recycled and gawdy. How about some fresh ones for valentines dinner guests to enjoy as they arrive?
The doorman/​host was hilarious. A bit over-​acted and certainly ‘dressed the part’ but a super nice guy and really professional. I will refer to him herein as ‘The Monsieur’.
On check-​in, my name was nowhere to be seen in the 8pm group, and was penned in at the bottom as I watched. Oops. There’s that amazing reservation system at work again!
They weren’t quite ready to seat us yet, and you could tell the staff were quite overwhelmed and stressed. We found a place to hang our coats and then stood in the foyer wondering what to do while we waited. I watched Monsieur with the french suit and amazing moustache do his thing to my amusement.
After a bit we spotted a tiny bar behind the front desk and asked if we could enjoy a drink while we waited. How about offering this to guests while they wait if you know you’re a bit backed up from the previous seating? With a smile, the lady staffer suggested we check out the ‘man-​cave’ which was down a small staircase just off the bar area. We headed down there and enjoyed our drink next to a couple of bored kids who were watching some riveting Netflix series on a laptop. I’m guessing they were the kids of some mom&dad upstairs enjoying their romantic dinner.
After a short wait, Monsieur came downstairs, bowed and and announced in character to the kids, the couple playing chess, and my girlfriend and I that ‘I believe someone down here has a reservation’. How about «Mr Nott? Are you in attendance down here?» Too funny.
So we follow him upstairs to our table. It’s a quiet and well-​appointed dining room with light dinner music and candles on the tables.
After a short while, we order a bottle of the house Merlot. It takes more than a decent amount of time to arrive, and the poor waitress struggled to get the thing open after dropping her bottle opener. (Free advice for others: if you are in a restaurant that is struggling with service and your waitress seems really nervous and appearing to be treading on eggshells, put her at ease. Make a joke. Tell her it’s ok. We did so and you could tell she appreciated it). The wine was pretty good, by the way.
Continued in Part II

SAVE YOUR MONEY — WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!! I made a reservation (which took 20 minutes on the phone) for my wife’s birthday dinner well in advance and even called to confirm the day before. Then, 5 hours before our reservation time, they call to tell me that we will not be able to eat in the main dining room, but in the ballroom instead, and that there will not be any on-​site parking due to Christmas activities. Not great, but ballroom looked okay and there is on-​street parking not too far away. We arrived a couple minutes before our reservation time, but they weren’t ready for us and the staff seemed disorganized as they were also giving tours of the castle. Eventually we were shown to our table and told someone would be with us. We waited for over 30 minutes with absolutely no acknowledgement (no «be right with you», no water, no menus, nothing!), had them shuffle a tour group past our table, and watched as other guests waited with no service either. Since we had a Groupon that was going to charge us a mandatory 18% gratuity for this horrible service, we got up and left. Ended up at Rustica in downtown Kalamazoo and had a wonderful dinner with great service there!

I found the Henderson Castle restaurant to be a very interesting and historical venue for a quiet and well served meal. Our waitress (Molly) was attentive and pleasant, meeting all of our needs.
We chose the seven course meal via Groupon but felt the meal was worth the full price.
I especially cared for the pumpkin bisque and the crème brûlée. The courses were modest but left us full at the end.
We intend to come to one of the mystery dinners in the near future.

Weeds in the parking lot and flower beds. A dead plant on the door step but I kept going. It was a special event for a group of friends. We ordered off the French menu. I had a ham and cheese– not special, soggy, burned. I hope French people are not eating this. I tired to go to the lady’s room. I had to take my 85 year old sister down stairs with a tattered carpet and a laundry basket of dirty laundry to walk by. How can you not have a restroom on the same level as a restaurant. To top it off on the way out we got the mini tour for $ 5 and a full sized adult rat ran across the steps.
The building is lovely but it is not being taken care of. Pick another place to eat.

You guys, this place sucked. My first clue should have been the dusty artificial flowers, the grease streaked mirror over the buffet in the dining room, or the «hotel food» for the 5 – 7 course tasting menus. It got worse as the service got less and less responsive and the food was downright bland, stale, lame, you name it. I am in a state of shock that they feel they are justified to charge what they do and present themselves as a fine dining establishment. PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND GO HAVE A NICE DINNER AT ONE OF THE BREWERIES IN TOWN AND YOU WILL HAVE MORE FUN AND HAVE BETTER EXECUTED/​CREATIVE FOOD AND RECEIVE BETTER SERVICE.

Henderson Castle has potential, and maybe at one time in its storied history it would have rated much higher as a restaurant or cool spot. And it is cool, but it’s not living up to what it could be.
Food — The seven course meal my lady friend and I sat down to was good. Was it 50 dollars good? No. There were 0 vegetarian options, very few gluten free options, and for such an expensive plate, the food was not much better than your local TGIF or Applebees. It IS better than those horrid establishments, be clear on that, but not enough ahead of them to warrant its price tag.
Drink — We chose the wine flight. Henderson Castle «makes» six wines, three red and three white, and they were decent, though our waiter didn’t know anything about any of them other than «I like the sweet ones.» I tried to order a cocktail, an old fashioned, and was told they were out of that drink. How that’s even possible is beyond me.
Décor — This is where HC shines. It isn’t a castle, but it has enough trappings of one to warrant the name. It’s beautiful there, inside and out. I wish I’d seen it for the first time at a wedding or some kind of event because I really did love the feel of the place. It’s just too bad that the staff does not live up to their environment. I don’t mean to sound too harsh with that because everyone was very nice and competent to an extent, but I had higher expectations for that space.
Overall, Henderson is worth seeing, but I doubt I’d return for anything short of a catered event. Great space, poorly managed.

I purchased a Groupon for my mother for a Spa Day at Henderson Castle, including a massage, hot tub, champagne and strawberries. The Groupon was $ 160, with an additional $ 60 in fees and gratuity. Although my mother loved her massage, the rest of the day was a disappointment. The room her massage was in had no air conditioning. The hot tub was not on the roof, but in the adjacent facility and was tiny, filled with murky water and bugs. Additionally there was no hand rail and her guest fell while entering the tub! They were also out of the (paid for) strawberries. What I had imagined as a relaxing day was ruined. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!

I ate at Henderson Castle this week. I anticipated a better than average dining experience. I was sorely disappointed. The restaurant interior is faux Victorian. Thrift store artwork adorns the horribly painted walls and chipped and worn woodwork. The silk flowers, cheap and flimsy stainless flatware and diner style china are not indicative of the fine dining restaurant that they purport to be. Every dish of our 11 course tasting menu was mundane and poorly prepared. Some courses were just bad. The plating lacked any visual stimulation.
The truth is that I have eaten better meals in non-​pretentious roadside joints. The service is friendly and our server certaintly made an effort to treat us well. That being said they do not have first quality professional wait staff. At any price this restaurant would have been a disappointment. They pretend to be an old style fine dining establishment but they do not have the skill and ambiance to deliver

The hubby surprised me with a weekend stay here for our anniversary, and I couldn’t have been more excited. I giggled this place, and loved finding all the stories about it bring one of the most haunted locations in Michigan, of course I got excited, and the old/​eerie building itself helped play with the mind in that regard.
First, our room was a little disappointing. The mattress was hard and the bed squeaked (not something you want on your anniversary night), the fireplace didn’t work, and instead had an electric one in front of the original. The plus about the room, heated bathroom floors! since it was our anniversary, the staff sprinkled rose petals all over and had chocolate covered strawberries and champagne waiting for us.
Dinner was delicious. My hubby picked this location spicificalky for the French chef (I’m a fan of anything French). The meal was, I believe, like 8 courses; each plate simple and beautiful and delicious. They also offer a course of wines so you can try a few different types with different plates. Husband didn’t care for them, but I had no problem helping him out. Breakfast was awesome! I hate hate hate eggs, but ordered the French Toast with eggs. OMG, the best freaking eggs I have ever had. Almost worth the drive back.
We didn’t leave the grounds, but did take advantage of the couples massage. Was not impressed. The massage was average, and the guy who gave me mine went straight from my feet directly to my face! Eeekkkkkk! That ruined the whole thing for me. There’s a hot tub on top of the castle, but we never made it up there.
The building is beautiful, and at night after the staff had left and all the lights are out, the dark and online stories defenatelly mess with your mind. Didn’t have any paranormal experiences.
The staff was very polite and friendly
Our visit cost us a little over $ 500 for the night, our meals, the massage and romance package (rose petals, strawberries, Champaign). Not worth the price, still a nice romantic date, but if I’m paying that much, I want to sleep on a new matters with a bed that doesn’t squeak all night, and a working fireplace. I would go back, but only for the food, not to stay.
I give this place 4 because of the building and food.

My husband delivers around the Midwest area and noticed a billboard of The Henderson Castle. He wanted me to check this place out. They do wine tastings, dinner, bed and breakfast, and wedding events/​events. We were on our way home from Traverse City and thought we would drop by.
Henderson Castle was built in 1895. It is a large privately owned home located on the West Main Hill. It is overlooking downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan.
I was in awe when we pulled up. The building is so old and gorgeous!!! As we entered, we were greeted. The employees were still trying to get things together. There was also workers renovating the other side of the room which they also explained and apologized. I only had to wait 5 minutes to be seated for a wine tasting.
It’s $ 9.00 for 6 tastings (three whites and three reds). Sat near the window in the dining area. What a beautiful view of the front yard and patio.
I wasn’t pleased with the sweet red, however I did love the Meritage 2011 which is a dry red wine (consists of cabernet franc/​merlot/​cabernet sauvignon). Their wines are produced and bottled by Fenn Valley Vineyards (Lake Michigan Shore).
I didn’t feel rushed with the tasting and the server was very helpful and knowledgeable on their wines. She would asked what I liked and didn’t liked about them.
At the end I purchased a bottleof the Meritage for $ 29.00 (whites are $ 24.00).
It was a nice experience. They even let me venture around and take pictures of the building inside and out!
I know I haven’t been here to stay for the night or dined in. I’m sure it is good (I would return to try both one day). But I do want to rate the service of the wine tasting and thought it was great!

My wife, a couple friends and I decided to try this place for dinner since there was a Groupon for the 11 course meal for 4. I went into this meal with an open mind and hopeful thoughts even though a few of the food reviews were less than glowing. Unfortunately, you can now add my group to that list of poor reviews. For one, the 11 «courses» are a stretch. The portions are incredibly small on most dishes and one of the courses is, wait for it, COFFEE. Or tea or espresso. Most of the courses are standard so I’ll focus mainly on those, however the lobster bisque was beyond pathetic. 3 out of the 4 had no lobster with one having a minuscule piece. The soup itself looked and tasted like something you would get from a Campbell’s Soup can. The broth was thin and had very little flavor. So the appetizer options are escargot, frog legs, and steamed crayfish. The escargot was fine but nothing special. The frog legs had absolutely zero flavor and the crayfish, which was supposed to come with melted butter, did not and had very little substance. My wife had the chicken Marsala for an entrée and she ate about half because it was mediocre at best. One of us had the rabbit, which he said was okay but was a little dry and the portion size was that of an appetizer. I had the beef tenderloin and added a lobster tail cuz, hey, who doesn’t like surf n turf? Well, the lobster tail was maybe 3 ounces at best and the bearnaise sauce on top of the steak seemed to have congealed on the way out. The steak itself was cooked properly and was okay. Nothing special. The last in our party had the Cornish hen which was also incredibly small and dry. The rest of the course after that were actually pretty good. Now what I wasn’t expecting, probably due to lack of reading the Groupon, was for the tip to be added on to my bill, which was 18% based on the actual total of the bill. So, even though our server was less than stellar, she automatically got a $ 65 tip before we could even say something. I have no problem tipping great service, but was not happy that a preset amount was basically given to her regardless of the quality of service that was provided. All in all, I’m glad to have tried it, but definitely will not be going back and will advise my friends to avoid it as well. I’d rather go to Webster’s or Zazio’s and have good food that is worth spending that kind of money. I feel bad for anyone that would go here and pay full price. Clearly they don’t like their mouths or their wallets.

Great fine dining. Had a groupon for two for the 11 course menu for a fantastic price which justified the opulence if the menu price. Some reviews here are complaining about portion sizes of the amuse Bouche of the petit four… It’s ELEVEN courses people. How much food are you really trying to cram in you? The main dishes were liberally sized and amazing. Both of us had the tenderloin, his with bearnaise and mine with red wine reduction. Amazingly tender and flavorful as was the lobster bisque and the tomato bisque. Salad was dressed in a very tasty dressing. The only part we weren’t amazed by were the appetizers. My frog legs were a bit bland and his crayfish were apparently very salty. Will have to try the escargot next time!