Restaurant Review: The Old House & Agave Lounge

The Old House & Agave Lounge

By: Laurel Gladden
Published online: Monday, November 12, 2012
Appeared in: Pasateimpo

Whenever a Hollywood starlet gets a haircut with bangs or a pro baseball team starts wearing retro uniforms, you’ll hear people repeating that timeworn adage “What’s old is new again.” After a stylish remodel last year, the Old House, the restaurant at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa, is what’s both old and new again in Santa Fe.

Among other things, that recent face-lift created the Agave Lounge, a space with low, moody lighting; trance-y lounge music and smooth jazz; blond wood flooring; sleek contemporary tables; and bar stools upholstered in chic light-toned fabric. Southwestern touches pop up here and there, in woven rugs, studded leather chairs, and wood-paneled walls. The formal dining room of the Old House still sports slightly cheesy mid-1990s Santa Fe décor, including wall-mounted pots and drums and hefty chairs of carved wood and leather. Service is attentive — professional but not snooty or uptight, friendly without veering into lackadaisical, folksy territory. Running things in the kitchen are London-born executive chef Tony Smith and chef de cuisine Evan Doughty from California.

While on some evenings you might spot only a handful of diners in the Old House’s dining room, the Agave Lounge is almost always busy. Wines by the glass or bottle; a nice selection of beers, including several on tap from local breweries; margaritas; and other creative cocktails are available. The lounge has its own dining menu, but you can order items from the main menu and enjoy them in the more casual, bustling ambience of the bar.

That said, don’t dismiss the bar menu outright. Each weeknight, a special appetizer is offered at a promotional price. The crab cake, lobster, and Kobe-style beef sliders — served on tender, buttery buns — are perennial favorites and make satisfying snacks. On the other hand, the nachos — a hefty heap of tortilla chips, black beans, pico de gallo, stretchy melted cheeses, saucy roasted green chile, and other de rigueur toppings — easily feed two or three people.

In a bizarre twist, the shrimp Caesar salad was more about the shrimp than the salad. While I enjoyed the firm-fleshed jumbo crustaceans, I longed for more than a handful of greenery — or at least less of the gloppy, garlicky dressing. The Black Angus cheeseburger is a hot, greasy, delicious mess that barely stays within the confines of its soft bun, especially if you add multiple toppings like bacon, green chile, and a fried egg.

Over on the Old House side, things are neater and more subdued. In the soft-shell crab appetizer, supple briny meat lurks beneath a layer of sturdy, crispy crust. Otherworldly Gouda grits overshadowed the “firecracker” shrimp, despite their spicy name and flavor. One evening’s soup, red pepper and tomato, had a deep but bright tomato tang and a fabulous smoky-charred flavor — just right for green-chile-roasting season. The heirloom-tomato salad was an end-of-summer daydream. Large, mature leaves of watercress presented a complex flavor of bitter greenery and licorice; tender house- made mozzarella offered a rich, creamy counterpoint.

If it’s available, take advantage of the Old House’s prix fixe option. This allows you to choose any appetizer, entree, and dessert on the menu for a fixed cost — with the understanding that some of the pricier items are subject to a small up-charge. You’ll pay $2 extra for the soft-shell crab appetizer, for example, $5 for the beef tenderloin, and $7 for the aged rib-eye.

Some main courses fared better than others. Not always yielding easily to the fork and knife, the beef tenderloin didn’t live up to its name. The rib-eye, aged 28 days, is an intensely beefy, hard-to-finish entree accompanied by a rich green-chile macaroni and cheese. Also on the indulgent side was a dish of tender pappardelle, peas, mushrooms, and veal in a creamy marsala-based sauce. The crisp chicken Catalan — stuffed with vegetables and manchego cheese; sauced with tangy, nutty romesco; and set atop flaxen pearls of Israeli couscous — seemed like health food by comparison.

The Wine Spectator Award-winning wine list is a somewhat daunting tome. Servers are happy to offer tips and help make selections, though. Ours pointed us to a Hahn pinot noir, which suited the range of dishes at our table and also turned out to be a bit of a bargain.

For the most part, desserts — like the annoyingly ubiquitous molten chocolate cake and an overly firm, oddly gelatinous crème brûlée — are fine but totally skippable. There’s nothing wrong with stuffing yourself with a stuffy old-school dessert, but one of the Old House’s tiny complimentary chocolate or caramel treats makes a fine small finish to a big meal.