I was craving seafood and wanted to try a different place. So, this was our first time there. When we arrived it appeared very busy for even a Saturday night, so we were worried we would have to wait long for a table.
We were told it would be a 15-20 minute wait. Not thinking that was too long, we put in our name. We sat on a couple of the comfortable chairs near the hostess booth and noticed all the warm colors as well as the small fireplace nearby. They played an eclectic mix of music; some from the 70's, 80's, and today. Some were cover bands, but a few were the original artists. We were pleasantly surprised when only five minutes later, they called our name.
Despite the restaurant being so busy, it still felt like a warm, intimate sort of place. Plenty of seating for large parties as well as smaller tables and booths for couples and small families and lots of warm cozy lighting.
We were seated at a table in the back room that had a sort of winery feel to it. The walls had bricks and stones with some mahogany wood for shelves and in-wall storage of wine bottles and glasses. There was a large screen television, although it wasn't in use at the time.
The restaurant seemed very clean as was our table which had silverware wrapped in large white cloth napkins. There was also a square candle in the center with a nice warm flickering flame. We were handed our food menus as well as the drink menu as we were seated.
To drink, my wife chose a red wine, a Pinot noir, I chose water. To start, we shared the lump crab and shrimp stuffed mushrooms appetizer with creamed spinach and panko breadcrumbs.
The dish came out nice and hot with a spoon to take out each stuffed mushroom. These were smaller than I anticipated, but full of flavor. The crunchy panko breadcrumbs, the tender juicy shrimp and crab, the savory creamed spinach all on top of small button-sized mushrooms.
For our entrees, my wife chose the wood-grilled filet mignon 6 oz with roasted mushrooms, broccolini, Yukon mash, and red wine sauce. I wanted to have the wood-grilled shrimp and grits, but I don't like chorizo and when I asked for it to not include chorizo, I was told they couldn't make changes because it's pre-made. Instead, I decided on the sesame-grilled salmon salad made with organic greens, mango, jicama, lemongrass sauce, wood-grilled red peppers, and toasted sesame dressing.
My wife had asked for medium-rare, but when they said it would be red in the middle, she opted for medium which they said was pink in the middle. However, when she got it, it was gray in the middle with very little pink, otherwise she enjoyed her steak, it still had some juiciness to it and the mushroom sauce was tasty. She liked the broccolini texture and taste as well as the Yukon mash.
My salad had a full sized salmon filet on the side of a bed of greens with toasted sesame dressing on both the greens and the salmon, sesame seeds on the salmon, and lemongrass sauce drizzled on the greens. I had asked for no jicama, but it was still on it, so I ate it anyway. The salmon was warm, tender, juicy, and flaky with perfect seasoning. The greens with the mango, jicama and lemongrass sauce were on the sweet side. I tend to prefer my salads to be more savory than sweet. A little sweet is okay, but this was more sweet than I was used to. Regardless, I ate it all. While it was still somewhat tasty with its sweet and tangy dressing, I'm not sure I'll get it again despite the fact the salmon was excellent.
Our server, Katherine, was very professional, friendly, and helpful. She did try to show us dessert shooters, but we weren't hungry enough for dessert, so we just asked for the check. We received the check a short time later and left after we finished paying.
It was an overall positive experience, we will return at some point, I will just order something different next time. read more