The Castle Rock tribe on the Riverwalk is beautiful to look at, disappointing to eat at | Food & Beverage
CAstle Rock River Road isn’t quite Pueblo’s, so don’t go out with the same expectations. However, there is a very cool city park nearby, access to trails, and a cluster of restaurants along Wilcox Street, where luxury apartments flourish from ground-floor retail.
The decor inside Tribe on the Riverwalk would make you think you’re in a ski town or Denver’s fine dining. Large, beehive-shaped Edison bulbs hung from the thin trunks of aspen trees; animal hides on elegant leather sofas; fur cushions and high-back velvet chairs; a cute mural of a deer overlooks a bright dining room with wood tables painted white to match the subway tiles below a long bench on one wall; and an unfinished industrial vibe, with pencil measurement marks still on the concrete pillars from construction. Very chic. Expectedly expensive. But unexpectedly disappointing.
I knew we could be in trouble at lunchtime when a sweet and aromatic coffee arrives. I don’t like flavored coffees, I wish there was a warning, like “hey, we use New Mexico Piñon coffee, we don’t serve plain coffee, are you refreshing with that?” I think it’s a bold move for a place that does breakfast every day, regardless, and doesn’t have an express menu. At least to Bloody Mary, with Hatch green chile vodka, tastes perfectly on point, fantastic with the spice. This is our highest point to enjoy. Our order i Breakfast donuts it arrives, not as doughnuts, but as dense, rich, puppy-like balls, over-fried and smelling like fish oil. You think they fried it in the same (old) oil as the Alaska cod fish chips on the lunch menu. The scant amount of Meyer lemon cream can’t mask it, and a side of blueberry jam is also hopeless at a rescue. Not even the 14-year-old with us will eat them.
The other: smoked salmon an “everything” potato waffle., decorated with onion cream and salmon roe. A conceptual dish, playing with lox and bagels, on the surface, but it just doesn’t work as a super moist and quite soft waffle, it lacks the spice and seasoning of an everything bagel, and the fish does not taste like a quality product; it’s sharper, more fishy than normal. Another concept dish that intrigues me on the menu I read is goat cheese brulee, a sweet cream cheese frosting, burnt with a thin coating of sugar and sweetened with honey, and garnished with raw pine nuts plus small chunks of pineapple. I can see the point and it’s creative, but the flavors just don’t blend into anything amazing, and the pieces of toast (no oil/butter) served with it are burnt black on some edges, faintly grill-marked. half, and barely toasted on the other side, as if it were a study of different times on a grill, all in one piece. (Pay attention to details in cooking or painting to see obvious problems.)
Finally: The Southwest Hen Club the sandwich partially redeems the meal, thanks to the rather tasty seasonings that feel more Mediterranean than Southwestern, though a black bean dip is a big help to the overall flavor, with some sharp red onions. But the chicken pieces are pretty dry, and although I like paprika flatbread (again, in concept), it falls apart pretty quickly and makes for a messy meal. In contrast to “donuts”, side fries are in below-Red side, too blonde, but otherwise pretty decent. In general, there are many pitfalls to the great atmosphere, style that does not deliver substance.