Hovering above a Downtown hotel, Goodale Station is the rooftop restaurant operation associated with the local Canopy Hilton. The Canopy family of hotels has been described by its CEO as being upscale; below Waldorf-Astoria but above traditional Hiltons and Embassy Suites on the swank rankings. And while you can expect Goodale Station to be a little ritzy too, it’s forging its own path with an entrance that leads to its exclusive elevator to the establishment.
As it should, the rooftop restaurant plays host to walls of windows that exploit the towering viewing opportunities. The view puts guests eye-to-eye with Columbus’ picturesque skyline features and offers a perspective from which even the sky itself looks bigger and more majestic. The windows also bolster a pronounced commitment to hard surfaces and angles at Goodale Station. It offers a clean, streamlined look and a vibe in which sounds resonate rather than sink in.
The menu too tends toward clean and streamlined, with starters and sharables mixing it up with a handful of developed entrees. As the menu selection also cycles through changes at a pace that reflects seasonal ingredient availability, it’s wise to be adaptable when it comes to preferences.
Certainly, there will be a fresh salad option. The Goodale Caesar ($12) seems to enjoy a fairly stable place on the menu, perhaps because Caesar salads are so (justifiably) popular in Columbus. It’s built on crisp romaine that’s bedecked with the requisite punchy parmesan, focaccia croutons, and a dressing that ties it all together with a pronounced garlic accent.Â
For the more adventurous soul, there is also something on the lines of Salmon Tartare ($19) to serve as a sharable. While the familiar steak tartare might be built with minced raw beef and an egg yolk, Goodale Station starts with seafood, leveraging a sushi-grade, velvety salmon that provides a luxe textural contribution with a little zip from pickles and a faint sting from horseradish cream and a whole grain mustard. The dish is highlighted with bright little pops of trout roe, perhaps a hat tip to the traditional egg yolk element. It’s served with rye crisps.Â
The cuisine isn’t limited to continental influences though, the menu also features something on the lines of Szechuan Beef ($15), studded with cashews that are something more than token players. The nuts make a significant buttery contribution to a mix of beef, broccolini and rice puffs (like the cereal). It doesn’t quite come together, despite the best efforts of a binding, slow-burning chili oil.Â
For main course options, the menu includes a diverse selection that ranges from a plant-based Bucatini entree, to a homespun pot pie. The Tea-Smoked Duck Breast ($31) provides an ample portion of the delicate bird (well, delicate in the culinary context), imbued with complex, tea-leaf smoked flavor courtesy the preparation process. It’s teamed with the house version of a nicoise salad – soft greens studded with egg, potatoes, olives and the concentrated punch of dried tomatoes.*
You can’t have a rooftop operation without a robust bar, and Goodale Station fulfills that requirement with a glitzy menu of cocktails that range from traditional (Margarita) to something on the lines of a Fancy Nancy, based on a tranquility-inducing vodka infused with chamomile and finished with elements that include elderflower liquor, lemon and yuzu.Â
Goodale Station can be found atop 77 E. Nationwide Blvd. It’s open daily at 4 p.m., and serves Sunday brunch starting at 10 a.m.
For more information, visit goodalestation.com.
All photos by Susan Post
(Editor’s Note: Photos were taken at a different time than the review, and due to the seasonality of Goodale Station’s menu the Duck Breast was no longer available. The fall menu includes the Short Rib (pictured above), Monkfish, Mushroom Ramen and more.)