Roister Restaurant

Reviews 3

JE

Jeremy Brown

This review is possibly in part a response to the growing trend in restaurants toward a more casual experience ((that in my opinion just allows the restaurant to ignore the traditional expectations that make dinner a more seamless and courteous experience... i.e. we serve small plates so that means you order all your food at once and we will send it whenever we want.)) but I guarantee that this particular restaurant takes prevailing Attitude over the top. Please also note this comes from a person with a 20 yr career in restaurants. Pre arrival: They dont accept reservations. You must but a ticket, as though they are theatre. This makes sure that you pay us even if your child has the flu. Utter Pretension! Amuse Bouche: The couple joining us was late. Sent a text to me as they couldnt call the restaurant (way to cool for a phone number). More pretension. Not amused. Also no written signage and the address number is above a door that is not the entrance. (More disamusement) First course : We are severely oversold with a recommendation of 4 bites or small plates, 2 medium plates, and 1 large plates for 4 people (heading for large plates says these serve for 2 to 6 ppl). We thankfully ignore this advice. Bites: Wine comes in tumblers because "were casual". Music is loud mix of whatever. We hear Rage agaist the machine, Eminem, theme from a-team, juice newton, and Vince Gill all in one seating. Small plates: Bites and small plates we ordered all come at once. The wedge salad is unrecognizable as the lettuces are completely smothered in the "ranch" dressing. The ranch is so spiced with mustard and possibly horseradish that the salad tastes of nothing else... also the yolk of the listed 7-minute egg is not at all runny. Say meduim boiled if you cant pull off proper 7-minute or buy a sous vide with the profit from your $13 heavy-handed salad. Also had a beet salad which was unremarkable for $6... or the $15 which they charge (hello roister, 2003 called. They want their beet salad back... oh wait... I forgot you were so 2020 you dont have a phone). The chicken toast was tasty, but why should I be forced to cut up a tartine into bites for the table when it is listed under "Bites" on the menu. Also I should mention that bites, small, medium, and large plates is only the verbage of the server given to assist the understanding of our limited minds as there is no structure or verbage on the actual menu. Explanatory headings are 2003. As are beet salads. Large plates: We have the shrimp and grits and chicken. I start with the chicken. It is tasty. Three ways. Chicken salad served in a bowl, cold, without toast, lettuce or accompaniment (It is quite nice... for ladies who lunch); fried thighs and legs which are decently good with a white gravy less inspiring than the one my grandmother had for every breakfast; and braised breast which I thought to be the best thing we ate. Shrimp and grits... The grits were creamy and the crab curry was not without interest, but the "key west pink shrimp" were inedibly past their prime. Give me frozen Korean farm-raised-on-feces if you cant manage fresh; at least then I know to avoid them. Three of the four of us ate one. We left three on the plate. We told the server that they were not good and maybe she should mention that to the kitchen. She said, "ok". We paid $31. Dessert: We stayed for dessert because our planned leisurely gastronomic adventure had now only taken up 1 hour 10 minutes (and $350). We had milk ice cream and cookie dough. When I was young we were poor and had ice milk instead of ice cream. There is a reason that there is a price difference. After dinner: Check dropped before the we even finished tasting the dessert. 20% tip is included and charged as the bill on your card not a tip. This is sketchy legally. If you want to be Danny Meyer just raise prices and be done with it. Mediocre food. Poor concept. Ordinary. Expensive... Pretentious... but in a casual, laid back, cool, humble kind of way.

ST

Steve Wyatt

Great overall, but it failed in some things. We had the Kitchen tasting menu; overall the $400 + we spent for two was a great but not an exceptional experience I hoped to have. We flew 3,000 miles to eat here that night based on reviews. We live in the Seattle area, so we are accustomed to great food, but like to fly to great places to stay and eat. I am a very exacting diner as I grew up in the fine dining food business, but chose an occupation that allowed me to dine ( but not cook) in great restaurants without regret. We had a first course that was excellent as was the service. Oysters and radish salad was great. I loved this course and could find no flaws. The only real flaw was with their take on Asian cuisine. The Boudin potstickers dumplings was very good, but the dumpling dough was a bit tough compared to the finest in the world. They did not glaze it properly either. I have eaten in several finest dumpling Asian places, and well I loved the stuffing, the casing was a bit thick but not tough. To be a world class restaurant, they need to improve here. The worst dish of the night was the the Crab Rice dish. Again this was not bad, and I am sure many loved it. But again I have had a similar dish in top places in Norther Thailand and along the west coast. My criticism centers around use use of Calabrian peppers. I love these peppers, but in Asian dishes they are a sharp note when an accented sharp is needed. But let me offer a constructive critique, the Carolina yellow rice and crab was great, but shift this to a riff on paella and not fried rice. Get rid of the coconut, and embrace Southern Europe flavor. It is rare when the 3 play works, but the 2 play is what creates great flavor profiles. Good try but this failed. The Chicken Course was Outstanding! Both my wife and I grew up ( 60+) years ago in the south and both of us were stunned by this. I watched as the chefs cooked this course, and it was simple yet elegant as they cooked fried chicken, biscuits, and greens. This was by far the best part of the dinner and worth the price alone. My grandmother was a great cook born in 1898 in the Deep South. She taught me southern comfort cooking, and I saw her hand again I n this dish. I told my wife that my grandmother would turn in her grave to know hoist much I spent on chicken, greens, and biscuits, but I like think this part of the dinner brought back her to my mind. Worth every penny, I hope you enjoy this place as much as I did. Best Steve W

ST

Stephanie Adams

Not a good one... We went because of their menu online.. Guess what that was not the menu at the restaurant. Also per my booking the a la carte menu allowed for allergies and dietary restrictions to be taken into consideration where as the Chef tasting menu would not be altered. So I went with the a la carte menu. I paid the extra deposit to sit by the kitchen and not in the dinning room. The evening started off with the server asking about an dietary restrictions. So great we are headed in the right direction as we dont do dairy or fried. When we asked to make some accommodations to the menu the chef was unwilling except to make some spinach not with cream. The best part is we would not have gone if the menu on the website was at least correct. We had way more options onthe current website listed on their site. It is humorous that they would not accommodate when they clearly stated the differentiation between the a la carte menu and the chefs tasting menu online and on top of it dont have the correct menu posted. The manager was nice but seriously what a put off when you have to watch the manager and waiter ask the chef in front of you (because it is an open kitchen) and see him deny any requests.