Moat Mountain Smoke House & Brewing Co.

hudsonvalleyslim

Massachusetts

2.5/5  rDev -37.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 1 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $

I'd been here several times, but not in the last coupla years, and a buddy was raving about it. So after a day hiking the Whites, I returned. And remembered what I hated about it. The service is horrible. Incompetent. I excused it at first 'cause it was dinner rush. Took me maybe 20 minutes to get a beer. Another 20 to get a menu, and another 20 to order food.

In fairness, the beer (Iron Mike Pale Ale) was fresh & excellent. The pizza was fine as well. Anyways, I'm ready to settle up, the place has emptied out and the waitress/bartender is doing some busy work. After 30 minutes of trying to get her attention unsuccessfully I walked out. Thanks for the free beer and I'll never be back.

(September 21, 2008) OK, I lied. I've been back a coupla times because I generally like their brews. The service was spotty - a big improvement from the past. On this visit the first bartender was an @$$hole and the second very friendly and cordial. No Iron Mike (kind of the 'go-to') but the stout was great and I enjoyed the Golden Dog Pilsner as well - very flavorful.

This place has so much potential, being a brewpub-smokehouse-inn. A Chicago blues band would make this my dream place. They gots the brew down. Food is OK bar-quality food. On a barbeque scale, not so much. Try the pulled pork on raisin bread... Haven't stayed overnight so I can't rate that. Service has mucho room for improvement. Service reflects on management, so.... well, I ain't gonna tell you how to run your establishment. Unless you pay me....

09-25-2005 22:35:26 | More by hudsonvalleyslim

Hautacam

Connecticut

2.8/5  rDev -29.6%
vibe: 1.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | food: 3.5 | $$

Sat at the bar, which is kind of ugly and unexpected in the White Mountains...kind of sparse-metal-no color kind of look. I think the bar top was concrete, or something that looks like it, with some shiny shellac on it. The stools were really uncomfortable ...there was loud ,sucky club music playing...this is shit that I never comment on, but it kind of sucked.
The beers were good...but the selection wasn't so great. Had the Hefe and their Pale ale.

The bartender wasn't very friendly and didn't realy seem to know much. She changed into the role of waitress and the next bartender was much better.
Had the smoked pork sandwich and fries and they were pretty good.

08-06-2008 23:44:01 | More by Hautacam

wesleyhighley

Massachusetts

3.03/5  rDev -23.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$

If this were just a restaurant and not a brewpub I'd drive by. I really like the beer, but I prefer the Woodstock Station Inn for a White Mountain brewpub experience. The concrete bar is cool with ceramic mugs hanging from the ceiling - I have had plenty of time to look at them while waiting for service, even when the bar is slow. The food and beer is reasonably priced, but noting to write home about.

If you're on the eastern side of the Whites and you've just come out of the Forest or off of the slopes and you want a beer to reward yourself, this will fit the bill. Aim for off-peak hours if you want a seat at the bar.

One thing that is nice - they have a huge parking lot. Unfortunately, the ample parking is the only thing that really stands out in my mind about Moat Mountain.

12-30-2010 04:42:24 | More by wesleyhighley

MusicaleMike

Pennsylvania

3.08/5  rDev -22.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | food: 2 | $$

I met one of the brewers of this place at the ACBF and I really liked him and his beer. My expectations were quite high. I brought along some dear friends, hoping that they would join me in discovering a "diamond in the rough".

When me arrived we were seated quickly out on their "porch". The porch is indoor and yet it is obviously an addition to the original house. There was a beautiful view of the White Mountains from our table. That was the nicest thing about the atmosphere. The bathrooms were pretty gross, and the rest of the place seemed normal. The bar was comfortable looking.

Our waitress was not very good. Other than seeming in a bad mood, she did not know whether their stout on tap was a foreign-style stout or an American stout. When I asked, she said she didnʻt know and then left. But not to find out about my question; she left to wait on another table. Then when the servers brought out the sampler to my friends, she did not tell them which beers were which.

The food was not good. I got their specialty (the south carolina smoked pork) and it was drenched in this sauce and I could hardly tell that this was smoked meat. My friends and I were pleased with the selection, just not the quality. No one liked their dinner. The menu was great, and it even listed the vegan dishes, which really appealed to my two vegan friends.

The beer was good. I had the maibock, and then I tasted all the beers on the sampler. I loved the ones that I had had before, like the wheat and the pils, but the others were not special. I did not like their IPA. I really liked their dunkel weiss.

Anyways, I think that if I were in N. Conway, I would go to the bar and have some beer, but would not really make this a staple in my local restaurants. It just was not what I wanted from a dining experience.

07-19-2008 22:12:27 | More by MusicaleMike

FightingEntropy

Minnesota

3.4/5  rDev -14.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4 | $$

Finding a hotel in a brewpub is too good to resist, so we didn't. Took a while (a lot of phone call tag), but eventually reserved a room in the upstairs above the bar. When the reservation was made, we were told to talk to the bartender when we arrived. Paid the bartender like a tab, and we had a room, which was cozy, clean, nice and a great location.

After settling in, we headed to the bar for the night. Started really strong. Hoffman Weiss was good and my wife liked it right away, and the appetizers were fantastic. Vegetarian chili with Thai peanut sauce--unusual, but really fun. And the NE Hushpuppies with maple syrup were the best of the entire trip. Very cool.

And then we ordered more. Sampler of the remaining beers were all good but nothing really stood out, even the barleywine. Not many places will have a barleywine this time of year, so we were excited at first. It seemed under attenuated or something similar. Just a bit off. Decided to try a local brewery Tuckerman's Headwall Alt and couldn't finish the beer because it was so bad--switch to Smuttynose IPA to finish the night. Not sure if the Tuckerman's was the beer itself, or if the line had gone bad--not good at all even though the beer has slightly better reviews online. Nachos looked really good from a far, but were only mediocre up close and personal.

So, overall, a good stop but very mixed. In part, the start seemed very strong and above expectations that the tail off was disappointing. Not a place I would go out of my way to repeat coming from Minnesota, but if your heading up to the White Mountains from a NE locale, it's a reasonable room in a good place. Also, since we're vegetarians, we might not have taken advantage of the "smoke house" enough to rate the food. Staff was friendly was friendly and gave a great recom for the Peaches restaurant down the street for breakfast.

07-08-2011 16:00:36 | More by FightingEntropy

far333

Connecticut

3.45/5  rDev -13.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Stopped in on a Friday night on the way to a NH ski weekend. Big roomy place in an old converted house. Service mishaps began with a crowded waiting area and no hostess in sight for over 15 minutes. We were able to get two seats in the bar and got a few beers quickly.

Tried quite a few styles, good selection available - brown ale, pale ale, porter, stout, red, export lager - but I must say that none of the beers were anything special. None had much aroma or body, and flavors were muted. The pale ale was billed as hoppy by the server but it was nearly an extra pale. The red was billed as robust and aggressive, but it was timid at best. I couldn't tell if the stout was dry or imperial. The porter was tasty but could have used more roasty flavor. A request for a taster glass was met with a confused look and a finger point to the 8-glass sampler plank hanging on the wall. A taste of the export lager indicated that it might be a tasty selection, so we ordered it, but the server brought the red instead. We chose to drink it and remain silent about the mistake rather than waste a fresh beer.

The saving grace was the food, which was very good. The chili nachos were huge and loaded with chunks of delicious smoked pork. The meatloaf dinner was better than homemade, and the steak frites arrived perfectly cooked and dressed.

Had to wait a while to pay and leave since the server disappeared for ten minutes and then had to be signalled with a flare gun to come back to our area. Consider it a good place to stop for a tasty bite with some fresh local beer as an accompaniment, but not a beer destination.

03-14-2010 17:07:20 | More by far333

brewandbbq

New Hampshire

3.48/5  rDev -12.6%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Located on rt 16, heading out of North Conway near Intervale, on the left.
Moat Mountain has rooms for rent in addition to being a brewpub.
The interior is sparsely decorated with the most prominant decor being the mugs hanging above the bar.
One side is the bar with the other being seating for the restaurant.
Both sides have the same menu, with the dining area being much more comfortable and quiet.
The seats in the bar area are somewhat rediculous,- fold up type metal chairs with narrow wooden slatting. Pretty uncomfortable.
The bar has a poured concrete top with a poly coating, and is wrapped with old doors below.
The brewhouse is visible down below, although I have never seen it in action.
Usually there are six on tap, with the Weiss always a safe pick, as well as the Stout (if they have it), and the Porter.
In addition to the house beers they have several guest taps.
There is usually a rotating seasonal flowing as well, although for the last several months it has remained the "Fall Bock" (as of March 19th).
Beers range from mediocre to very good, get a sampler or be selective.
Food is on the spicey side, with smoked food being thier specialty.
I highly recommend the BBQ Rueben, a brisket sandwich second only to Redbones.
They offer yam fries or cajun fries, which are very good, as well as homemade pickles, which are great.
Lots of other choosings also.
Service can be spotty, so be warned and take time to chill.
The Moat is now 100% smoke free.

Edit 6/3/06

Will Gilson now has an Imperial Stout on tap, which is quite delicious, but no growler fills are available.
Moat has added some new tables and chairs in the bar area, and somehow has managed to find more small, uncomfortable chairs.
A fresh coat of paint livens up the decor, but service is still spotty.
Last visit included a bartender/ waitress that allows you to set your own table as well as never comes back .
The food was solid as always, but fending for yourself for refills during the meal is rather inconvenient.
She also never came back to see if the food was ok, and our request for the check was forgotten about as she was on the phone.
The check was eventually slapped down on the table as she passed by without an acknowledgement or thank you.
Rudeness and lack of service are inexcusable when the area is less than half full of patrons.
I recommend more than ever to eat on the dining side.

03-20-2006 12:07:12 | More by brewandbbq

kaimcm

California

3.63/5  rDev -8.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Stopped in this place knowing nothing about it, just drove by. Initially thought Id just get a beer but ending up eating as well and I am glad we did. The place itself leaves much to be desired. It almost feels like they just got bored and didnt finish building/decorating. Im not looking for candles and tableclothes but the bar area was kind depressing. We sat on the patio however with a nice view. The woman who sat us was very nice and friendly, our waitress however was of little help. She said one of their rotating brews was Belgian, I asked what style, any more info, etc...she stared blankly then said Belgian again. We did the sampler of 8 beers, 5 oz pours for 8 bucks. A great deal but mediocre beer. A weiss, brown, lager, pilsner, pale, stout, belgian, blueberry. The brown, wiess, and belgian where the best but none were very good. I had a smoked pork bbq plate that was delicious. The lady had a steak with carmelized onions that was also nice. The beer was boring, but the pork was great. Overall, a decent place in a little touristy town, but not worth going out of the way for.

10-01-2005 22:35:13 | More by kaimcm

waughbrew

Massachusetts

3.7/5  rDev -7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4

A big white house conveniently located on the white mountain highway. Top two floors are inn rooms that were full even upon my summer visit. Family-oriented friendly place. Many different rooms have a lot of tables that were also all full when I visited, but the wait was only 20 minutes. Those minutes were passed in the bar area, which has a view through big glass windows of the brewhouse in the basement.
Most of the place is colorful and bright. The room where I ate dinner had a big blue mountain/water mural around it.
I was surprised to find a number of German styles on the beer menu, which included seven house beers and five guest taps. About 20 different bottles were offered, mostly crap but had the super local Tuckerman's Pale Ale. The house beers were a weiss, a dunkel weiss, pils, vienna lager, a maibock, a pale ale, and a brown. Guest taps were guiness, Smutty IPA and barleywine, Bass, and some other one.
House brews were nice, nothing spectacular.
Food menu made my mouth water - a lot of flavorful plates including nachos, BBQ, etc. Most things in the $7-$10 range, some entrees were more. I had a BBQ pork sandwich which was good as well as the fries and pickle that came with. Our waitress was very pleasant, helpful, and answered my questions knowledgably.
Overall a cool place to be. Nothing really amazed me about the place, but everything was good enough for me to want to go again.

08-16-2004 16:45:01 | More by waughbrew

mschofield

Massachusetts

3.7/5  rDev -7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4

Looks pretty much like you'd expect from a house turned into a restaurant and brewpub. Different rooms for the different sections. The floor is cut away in part so the brew tanks can go from the cellar to the 1st floor. Weird tables that look like shallow sinks from a 1950's kitchen.
Weiss, blueberry wheat, Dunkel weiss, Pilsner, Iron Mike Pale Ale, Brown, Stout and Maibock on draft. $3.25 a pint, $4 for an imperial pint.
Food consists of BBQ, burgers and mexican. Service is all right, tag team style where whoever comes by is your server, it gets slow even if the place isn't crowded.
Worth the visit in the North Conway area.

09-17-2004 20:52:18 | More by mschofield