Base Camp Eatery

I come to Yosemite almost every October. I camp at Housekeeping Camp and always treat myself to a dinner at the Mountain Room. Maybe if I was booked at the lodge, I'd expect the resort to have a restaurant as good as the Mountain Room. But as a camper who spends all day hiking, having dinner at the Mountain Room is like heaven on earth. I think it's one of Yosemite Valley's best kept secrets! This year, the hostess was sweet and adorable. My waiter was very nice too. But I was especially impressed by my salmon dish. From what I understand, you have a new menu, and in my opinion this dish is a keeper. I've never said this before to anyone ever, but “my compliments to the chef!” The fish was cooked to perfection. The micro greens were lovely and tasty. The green sauce was AMAZING. The rice was unusually delicious, and the al dente carrots were superb. I have three (minor) criticisms: 1. You should be able to figure out a way for a single diner to order bread t having to order enough bread for four people. 2. The French onion soup was fine, but not nearly as delicious as my server led me to believe. When I tucked into it, it squirted broth all over my table. This made a bit of a mess . When I pointed out the spray of broth all over my table, my server was duly amused but he really ought to have summoned someone to wipe it away. I felt like I was dining in the midst of a small mess for my entire meal. 3. There's nothing wrong with the pumpkin dessert roll, but it essentially tastes exactly like carrot cake, and it had way too much frosting and felt more like a breakfast pastry. It's tasty but too rich, and not a very sophisticated dessert. Above all, I love the Mountain Room!

I decided to give this restaurant another chance after a disappointing first meal, especially since it was conveniently located at our accommodation in the park. Unfortunately, it took 90 minutes for our steak and trout to arrive. The waiter was fantastic this time around, but the kitchen really let him down, as his other tables also faced long wait times. Our food finally came out just as we were about to leave after an hour and a half. The entrees were delicious and served hot, but the broccolini was barely warm and difficult to cut with a steak knife. Honestly, Aramark seems better suited for running vending machines than restaurants.

Food took 1.5 hours to arrive. 3 steaks ordered 2 mid rare 1 medium, all came out mid well. Manager took 20% off the bill. $260 not worth it at all, Texas Roadhouse is better every time. Big disappointment worst and most expensive meal in Yosemite.

Our main courses took a long time to arrive. My lamb shank was luke warm and the vegetables were room temperature. I waved to the waiter and he waved back but didn't come to the table. After 5 plus minutes I asked the man busing to get the waiter and he said he would get the food warmed up. The same plate came back again with hot vegetables and slightly warmer lamb. I gave up at that point and just ate it. It was tasty, just luke warm. After that the waiter avoided our table until the check. I gave the waiter a 15% tip. My guess is my wife's order had to be custom cooked and the lamb just taken out of the oven. It probably was ready earlier than the fish dish and sat waiting and getting cold. The waiter probably was either slammed or figured to avoid the table since the tip might be poor. Either way it was a pricey mediocre meal.

Beautiful setting, pleasant staff, the room is unnecessarily loud due to poor acoustics and highly reflective surfaces. Conversation was a challenge for those of us with hearing issues.