Dining at the New Gold Class Cinema at the Domain
The idea of shelling out $29 per person to see a movie is not immediately appealing. But if you like to indulge yourself a bit, I must admit that an evening at Austin’s Gold Class Cinema can be intriguing.
Each screening room is limited to forty seats max. All are huge, overstuffed, and can recline to an almost horizontal mode (foot rests of course). They even provide blankets. The best part is the green button that is situated on the tray between each pair of seats. Press that and a server materializes to take drink and food orders.
The idea is a kind if upscale Alamo Draft House. Well, a very upscale ADH.
The chef is solid and the menu items have been designed with a nod toward dining in subdued lighting. I appreciated this because in my last experience at ADH, I tried the queso. It was good but sitting there in almost total darkness, more if it got on my black shirt than in my mouth. I emerged from the movie and a Mexican woman pointed at my shirt and blessed herself. Apparently, the random drippings of cheese had arranged themselves in the profile of a prominent Catholic icon. Who knew?
But no queso at Gold Class. Probably wise. I tried the Caesar Romaine Spears which consisted of sturdy slices of romaine lettuce which could be dipped in an asiago cheese sauce. Sensible and tasty. The Calamari proved to be a bit more difficult. I had trouble getting whole pieces of calamari into the wonderful Wasabi aioli. Then I tried Niman Ranch burger sliders. They were smaller, which made them easier to eat, and quite good. Marge tried The Margherita Pizza (which the chef had made in a cooking demonstration prior to our movie) and the Bali Salad made with mango, papaya, pineapple and banana. These dishes were to accompany the exotic locations in our movie: Eat, Pray, Love in which Julia Roberts spends time in Italy and Bali.
The pizza was good but not great and the Bali salad was an absolute delight. Better still were the Beignets which came with chocolate and raspberry dipping sauces.
The menu price points were on the steep side ($17 for the sliders) but again, if you are craving total indulgence then that or the price of admission (less if you become a member) probably won’t faze you.
This is an entirely and eminently comfortable viewing and dining experience!
goldclasscinemas.com.
