Foodie Review: Montgomery Inn Boathouse

Yesterday, two wonderful things happened: 1) we had a visit from one of our old high school friends who’s taking a little road trip during his off week from grad school; and 2) we got to take him to my favorite restaurant in Cincinnati – Montgomery Inn.

When Spencer and I first came to Cincinnati to apartment hunt and make sure I could see myself living here, he took me to the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. We had a beer in the upstairs lounge, ate an amazing meal at a table overlooking the water, and caught the reflection from the Friday night fireworks at the Great American Ballpark. Basically it was the perfect way to start our lives as Cincinnatians (although I’m still not sure if that is the correct term).

When we were seated out on the Biergarten deck today, I knew exactly what we were going to order. Rule of thumb: if you want to get a picture of the Pulled Pork Barbecue Nachos, take it before everyone digs in! I’m telling you, I remembered five minutes after the plate touched the table, and they were already gone. Not that I’m blaming anyone. Freshly made Saratoga chips covered in cheese and Montgomery Inn’s famous pulled pork; how could you not dig in?

I did, however, remember to snap a photo of Big Ted’s Platter before Spencer and I demolished it.

That, my friends, is the most wonderful amalgamation of pulled pork barbecue, smoked brisket, and Montgomery Inn’s famous ribs, served on two amazing jalapeño corncakes with all of the barbecue sauce you could want (and that’s a lot where my fiancé is concerned)! We actually keep a bottle of Montgomery Inn barbecue sauce in our fridge because it goes well on everything: chicken; pork; beef; everything we’ve ever put it on.

But back to the Ted’s Big Platter… I’m a ribs girl, myself, so I typically begin with those while Spencer kills three-fourths of the brisket. I seriously cannot tell you how easy it is to eat these ribs because they actually fall off the bone with the gentlest scrape of your fork. Then, of course, we fight over every little bite of the pulled pork (not really, but kind of). We’re pretty good about splitting up the corncakes, which is good because they’re the perfect consistency with just the slightest bit of heat from the jalapeño. With such tasty (but messy) food, the staff knows exactly what their customers need, including multiple moist towelettes per person and these incredibly fashionable bibs. But really, they just about saved my favorite cream-colored lace shirt, which I stupidly chose to wear despite knowing we were going to eat barbecue. The wonderful food, coupled with great service and a beautiful view of the Ohio River, makes Montgomery Inn Boathouse my favorite restaurant in the city, and I’d recommend it to anyone and everyone!

Oh, and just for reference, this is what it looks like ten minutes after a Ted’s Big Platter hits the table.