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March 2023 by MCD
It’s a nice place with very good service but a bit underwhelming on the seasoning. The foie gras was excellent and seasoned well, the beef tartar could have used more salt and pepper. I’m not OK with the crostinis as the only salty thing on the board. The steak and lamb were good but not amazing; again, under seasoned protein doesn’t excite as much. Generally, red meat can handle a lot of salt, simply said, and it does need it. I don’t have the picture of the lamb because it originally came out a little raw and had to go back to the oven. The drinks (each worth $15) were not strong enough for my taste. Their service is excellent though. When I was waiting for my lamb they brought a little cheese platter with home made tomato jam; it was delicious. The quality of ingredients is impressive but they’re pricey: ca. $215 for two people (4 cocktails, no desert or coffee), and they don’t have espresso which is always a little disappointing to me. They’re not perfect on the flavor profile but they’re trying. The issues I’ve described can be fixed very easily, if they decide to upscale their customer experience even more.
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February 2023 by Michael Fuller
Great spot for a nice dinner! Cozy warm vibe. Staff were outstanding, drinks were awesome. Nice outdoor patio space for when it warms up too.Dietary restrictions: Super accommodating with food allergies. They made sure of ingredients before serving anything.
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February 2023 by Brandon M.
Specialty cocktail menu was amazing! The espresso martini was delicious. The ambience of the small space is intimate.
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January 2023 by cherwarfield
This place is pretty unassuming from the street but boy is it worth it. The bar vibe is super cute and the food is delicious!
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January 2023 by Jon P.
Horrible. Has gone way down hill since it first opened. Ordered 4 dishes and not one was good. Avoid at all costs.
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January 2023 by Genesee S.
Very disappointed in this place. The atmosphere is great, wonderful porch, and cute inside but the food is not good. We ordered a charcuterie board and was given a meatloaf and 'liver cheese' (which just looked like brown pudding). We ordered the lobster and crab risotto and that had no flavor. Not sure why this place has such good reviews. Very disappointed do not recommend.
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January 2023 by mourada2023
For many years, this place has been by far, our favorite restaurant in town. Unfortunately last night dinner was total fiasco and we are not very likely to write off our short list.
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December 2022 by Kelsey W.
The food was great! Cocktails were delicious as well. We sat at the high top on the patio. It was heated and covered. This is bar style seating but worked great for us and still felt private.
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November 2022 by Lex Spencer
It is one of my greatest joys in life to experience establishments like The Admiral. You can tell upon walking through the first door that time, energy, thought, and creativity went into every small detail to make this restaurant what it is.The staff is knowledgeable, kind, courteous, and timely.The food.. oh the food. My first time having steak tartare. It was phenomenal. So many satisfying textures and flavors on one plate.My girlfriend and I always split food when we go out which is why we ended up having two appetizers and three entrees as a party of two. I got the gnocchi dish which was unfortunately just over the line of too salty. It was just a pinch too much in the broth. I appreciate the heavy hand though because all too often I eat under seasoned food and pay a hefty price for it. The gnocchi itself was flawless.If you are looking for a more casual experience with fine dining level food look no further. You've found it.
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November 2022 by Alexis Spencer
It is one of my greatest joys in life to experience establishments like The Admiral. You can tell upon walking through the first door that time, energy, thought, and creativity went into every small detail to make this restaurant what it is.The staff is knowledgeable, kind, courteous, and timely.The food.. oh the food. My first time having steak tartare. It was phenomenal. So many satisfying textures and flavors on one plate.My girlfriend and I always split food when we go out which is why we ended up having two appetizers and three entrees as a party of two. I got the gnocchi dish which was unfortunately just over the line of too salty. It was just a pinch too much in the broth. I appreciate the heavy hand though because all too often I eat under seasoned food and pay a hefty price for it. The gnocchi itself was flawless.If you are looking for a more casual experience with fine dining level food look no further. You've found it.
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November 2022 by Jessica G.
Overall, this is a warm and welcoming restaurant that does like to change up the menu weekly. Service was excellent! The restaurant itself is darker (older furniture and half wood paneled walls). They have a great covered patio and a bunch of outdoor tables when the weather is nicer. The menu for the week is posted on their website (with prices) so price points mentioned in previous reviews can easily be found there before going. We ordered: OWL BAKERY BREAD - this was ok. It comes with very cold butter that can't be spread easily on the bread. It also has olive oil (no vinegar). PARISIAN GNOCCHI - not a favorite. The gnocchi itself was great, but the spices used were a little over powering and really tasted like a pile of grease was left in the bowl. CHICKPEA TIKKA MASALA - loved this one. Lots of great flavor and the cauliflower and chickpeas were perfectly cooked. Excellent vegetarian option! WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE - amazing! The ganache is sweet but balanced out by the apples. The streusel on top gives an added texture.
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October 2022 by Kat P.
Delicious food and great service. We enjoyed the short rib, fettuccine Alfredo, cheese board, and fried pickles. Make sure you're comfortable with the prices. We sat next to the fire on the patio and it was lovely.
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October 2022 by Tim G.
I live here and eat here about once a year. Went there with some out of town friends. Two of us had carbonara. It was nothing but fat spaghetti noodles with no cream are cheese. Two people had trout, one thought it was over done and the other thought it was OK. As always, the cocktails are terrific as is the staff. However, some thing big time is awry in the kitchen. I would recommend no longer going there until they get a new kitchen staff. I will say we told her the carbonara was not right and she did offerd to take it back. However we were with friends from out of town and really didn't want to disrupt our evening that much.
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October 2022 by Paul M
We were in Asheville with friends for a few nights and, based one the reviews on this site, we chose to visit The Admiral for dinner. Things got off to a good start with a friendly and knowledgeable server and a cocktail list that looked inviting.
Unfortunately, things never really out of starting gear. Starters materialised in before any drinks had arrived, dishes seemed to come out when the kitchen felt like dispatching them rather than in any kind of order.
The starters were ok, the shrimp bisque was rich in flavour, salads were fresh, the duck wings were cremated, tiny and memorably dokey for how insanely over seasoned they were. We’ll come back to the seasoning because this is something the kitchen at this restaurant evidently has a problem with.
Meanwhile, with the starters, bread is charged at an ambitious $8 per portion (a portion being five very small slices of so-so sourdough), meaning our group of four required two portions (as well as not being included as a complimentary extra, none is provided with the pricey bowl of soups ordered, which seems stingy and insulting).
Getting drinks service proved challenging, as our server disappeared for about 15 minutes and the woman bringing food to the table told us she wasn’t permitted to take any orders.
The main courses were confused and broadly unenjoyable. A pork chop arrived as plump as you would hope for at $50 (yes, fifty) but was incredibly over seasoned and accompanied only by a small and underwhelming portion of potatoes. The spaghetti carbonara on the other hand had not seen a speck of salt or pepper and was the single most bland and tasteless dish I have ever been served in a restaurant, Parmesan seemed absent from the dish as did any flavour from the Guanciale (which I suspect had been fried separately earlier and added only for appearance rather than the rendered fat being used to add savouriness and depth). I can’t remember asking for seasoning before in a restaurant but the server seems unsurprised with my request and arrived with salt, pepper and Parmesan, which I used to produce something approaching the promised dish - not something I’d expect to have to do in a restaurant.
The wine list is limited and an impressive exercise in aggressive marking-up. The Sonoma Zinfandel we had would have been infinitely more enjoyable had it been priced fairly, it was a shame the mark-up meant it was simply unjustifiable for us to order another bottle and we chose to go on elsewhere to grab another drink.
It’s a shame because this restaurant is evidently a pleasant and welcoming environment with some very good staff. However, the food simply doesn’t deliver and the pricing structure is verging on the offensive. I can’t recommend and won’t return.
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September 2022 by Brantley L.
Phenomenal meal and extremely accommodating staff. Our group of 7 thought we had reserved a table here for dinner, but accidentally reserved a table at a restaurant of the same name in DC. Whoops! The host got us seated quickly despite being busy. Each thing I tried was delicious, down to the bread and butter. The fish pate is something I will dream of! Our server was amazing. Super fun and kind. And the cocktails were dreamy. All the stars for the Admiral!
