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Boston Restaurant Blog -- February, 2008

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Sunday Brunch at the Old Mill, Westminster, MA

Last weekend I went on a family brunch outing to the Old Mill, an historic restaurant in Westminster. I have been going to the Old Mill since I was maybe 5 years old, though I hadn't been to their brunch in several years. One reason for this is that we weren't very impressed by the food at their brunch buffet the last couple of times we went. I have been there for dinner a couple of times over the past few years, and found this to be as good as it ever was, but I wasn't sure what kind of quality we would encounter at the Sunday brunch buffet over the past weekend. Well, it turned out that on this day, at the very least, the food was as good as I remember it being when I was growing up. And this made us all pretty happy, since the colonial atmosphere at the Old Mill is something truly unique and special.

We were brought to a table in the back room (or the side room, depending on which way you look at the place) that feels like a sun room, with an indoor garden along one wall and large windows affording views of the mill pond out front. As soon as the waitress took our drink orders, we were off, heading to the buffet table to grab everything from scrambled eggs to bacon to blueberry-filled pancakes to French toast to lasagna to corn fritters shaped like tennis balls to pecan rolls to carved roast beef and on and on and on. For me, the fruit and vegetable trays went largely unnoticed, but others helped themselves to a wide variety of the more healthy fare. None of us really had room for dessert, but we all did our part to get rid of their homemade pastries and sweets. Nearly everything at the buffet table was at least as good as I remember it being back in the old days, although the bacon was a bit undercooked and one of the dessert cakes tasted like it was as old as the restaurant itself.

After we finished eating, we wandered through the wonderful old building, stepping on creaky floorboards and standing in front of the roaring fire, before heading downstairs to their gift shop. I am generally not a big fan of gift shops, but the one at the Old Mill is quite nice, especially with all the nooks and crannies that come with being housed in a building that dates back to the 18th century. Once we finished with the gift shop, some of the group went back upstairs to feed the ducks that were standing on the frozen mill pond, while the rest of us reluctantly got into the car and headed on our way. I could have stayed out there all day, feeding the ducks, listening to the rushing water from the stream and waterfall, or simply wandering through the tree-shaded grounds, but that will be for another day. And based on our assessment of the food at the Old Mill's Sunday brunch, that day could be soon.

If you would like the address for the Old Mill, here it is: The 1761 Old Mill Restaurant, 69 State Road, Westminster, MA 01473. The phone number is (978) 874-5941.

Related Blog Entries: American restaurants, romantic restaurants

Posted by MH, Boston's Hidden Restaurants, on February 14, 2008.
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