admiral

the admiral lives up to the reputation.. this restaurant is going for it. dining alone (i'm traveling) gives you more time to observe. this smallish restaurant has hype with references from anthony bourdain and lots of ashevillians (ashevillites?). this is dining with a capital d but is still staffed with down to earth yet professional servers.
drinks- the cocktail list is well versed with eclectic choices and the staff works hard on each and every one of those drinks, as i witnessed. the dark and stormy (a rum based moscow mule variation) was great, with house made ginger ale, not ginger beer, and garnished with large chunks of gingered candy. asheville is a beer city and the staff was proud to serve wedge brewery beer on tap. wine drinkers will be satisfied, as well-nice list.
the menu included off-beat choices like frog legs and steak tartare but i opted for the roasted bone marrow and seasonally available soft shell crab. an asheville acquaintance had highly recommended the tartare and i visited the admiral intending to have it, but my attention was drawn to soft shell crab. as i sat at the bar, i'm pretty sure the young lady sitting next to me at thebartried very hard to keep her back to me as i consumed the bone marrow, escargot appetizer. the gigantic half cow bone was roasted and served with a few escargots, and deep fried nettle leaf and a red pepper pesto. i think the red pepper pesto was more presentation than taste but that's a minor comment as this dish completely fed my inner carnevor. the soft shell crab was fried and served on top of rice noodles and scallions in a savory sauce.
i didn't have desert but they looked good.

my new favorite restaurant in asheville. i came in with high expectations, due to it's long standing reputation as 'the best restaurant in town'. i sat at thebarafter a short wait. the bartender was attentive and hilarious, menu was highly inspired, and the food was out of this world. i'll definitely be back.

bartender/mixologist, russ...outstanding! stopped in for a quick bite, it rarely disappoints. we had three small plates to share between the two of us. it was plenty except that it is all so delicious, you hate for it to stop coming. service there is always comfortable and prompt, hospitality southern. crazy frustrating to get reservations unless you think about it a week out, but sitting at thebarsuits us. sooo, we try to visit even without the elusive reservation. it is always worth it and the service at thebarmakes up for the 'dinner on a barstool'. yummy!

i am happy but sad to see the consistency with the reviews. i agree, the food is creative and delicious. i have seriously eaten everything on the menu but unfortunately my last visit to the admiral ruined my taste buds forever.
like i said i have eaten everything on the menu so you can imagine how many times i have visited. my boyfriend and i ordered about three plates each; taking our time and enjoying every single bite. the time came for dessert. the server approached us with the dessert menu and said, "if you order dessert you will need to hurry it up. we have people waiting to sit here." sure, sure, just like myself i waited a long time to get the reservation, i totally get it. in turn, there were other tables andbarseats available for us to sit, especially since we just dropped $250 bucks. i was very appalled and disappointed. we nicely asked for the check and headed downtown to french broad chocolate lounge for dessert.
i hope the owner will take these reviews seriously and make some changes.
i will miss going to the admiral.

this hurts to write this. i want to start off by saying i have visited the admiral several times and the food is amazing. i am definitely on a budget, considering my job but when i can afford it this would be the place i want to eat. i know reservations are hard to come by so generally i will sit at the bar. this review has nothing to do with the food, the food is excellent, creative and fresh. chef moss is a genius in my opinion. there is one particularbartender, who i am not going to mention by name but he/or she is pretty awful. i have gone several times and have the same experience with the same person. thebartender acts like you should be feeling entitled to eat there and that good service isn't a necessity. yes, i understand that i don't spend 150.00 by my self but just because i'm not ordering tons of food doesn't mean i shouldn't receive fair service. i have worked in customer service, sales and the restaurant field all of my life. don't you understand that you work on tips and only make 2.13/hour in nc? you would think that people would want to or be happy to serve you. needless to say, it's always a cold experience and i feel like i am inconveniencing that person by ordering. i still tip 25 percent regardless because hey, we can all have rough days right? i have a reservation for when my dad comes in a few weeks and i will be eating at a table to avoid the discomfort. i have spoken to several co workers, friends etc...and they have had the same experience. this restaurant is awesome guys don't let bad service ruin your experience!!

all time favorite. i'm not interested in bourgeoisie ambiance or needing the waitstaff to treat my like british royalty -- all i want is delicious, creative food at a reasonable price...the admiral has consistently delivered exactly that over the past two years we've been going there, whether it was dinner-for-two or a party of 10

service seems to get a bad rap from some on here, but we've never had a problem...friendly & attentive enough, accommodating & helpful...even that one time i walked in during dinner rush with no reservation, had just gotten out of the woods hunting, dressed in head-to-toe camo -- they found me a solo seat at thebarand i proceeded to have an amazing meal whilst talking hawg huntin with one of the owners...now that's something you won't get at 99.9% of the "gourmet foodie" restaurants out there, i'd of been denied service or at least looked at like i was hillbilly trash...but not here!

took my now-wife here on our first date, and was nervous as she grew up only eating cheeseburgers/chicken fingers/french fries and hated vegetables...she had no clue what half of the items on the menu were, but by the end of dinner she had discovered she loved asparagus...now she eats numerous foods i would have never expected, all thanks to ya'll...and after 35 yrs of personally hating brussel sprouts, their chef changed my mind!

never had a dish that wasn't at least "good", majority of them have fallen into the "excellent" to "amazingly perfect" -- standouts have always been the beef tartare, sweetbreads, steak special, mussels...portions are more than plentiful, sides are always delicious...the foie gras-topped krispy kreme bread pudding was by far the most intriguing, decadent dessert i've ever had

having taken business clients out to some of the finest restaurants in atlanta/nyc/chicago/miami/etc, the admiral ranks up there as having one of the most creative chefs creating an ever-changing menu for downright cheap in a non-pretentious environment! just what we like, cheers ya'll!

great food, spotty service. i went to the admiral with a close friend of mine and we sat at the bar. we ordered a couple of drinks while milling over the menu and checking out what other diner's were ordering. when we decided to place our order, we stated we would be splitting an appetizer and an entree. we order the steak tartare appetizer and the pork chop entree. our neighbor at thebarhad also ordered the steak tartare and theirs came with an overflowing mound of toasted bageutte. when our order was brought to us, the appetizer and entree came at the same time. to add insult to this injury, our steak tartare came with a single toasted pita that had been sliced into small triangles. my companion asked if they had run out of baguette and a female server responded a lonely, "yes". the food was superb, but the timing of our food was a failure and the response about the grilled bread that was supposed tp be accompaning our appetizer was poor to say the least. at the end of the meal, the bartender took an extrordinarly long time to bring our tab and settle the payment. during this time thebararea heated up to an oven like temperature. i do not know if i would return to the admiral even though the food was great. the lack of atmosphere and the poor service are not enough to make me allure the food.

wow. this restaurant may well be my favorite restaurant of all time. i love to eat well but have rarely found a restaurant as creative and inspired as the menu at this dive. i love that you would never expect this jewel by its exterior. the ambiance is low key, almost run-down and reminiscent of a neighborhoodbaruntil you take a closer look. i enjoy taking in the menu and have never been disappointed at the variety and harmony that is presented in its offerings.

divebarthat takes reservations??? was cool when you could go! even locals can't walk in anymore. gotta have a reservation at the hottest dive bar...lame... food is wonderful i just can't get in anymore

amazing fine dining without stuffy atmosphere!. best in asheville, no question.

clean, inventive, and well-balanced menu. great emphasis on local high-end products.barmenu is great. service is slow unfortunately, but the amazing food more than makes up for it.

to all those that say the food is too weird or uses funky ingredients... hey, there is an outback steakhouse on tunnel rd, maybe that is more your speed!

fabulous food, cocktails, and incredible staff. had one of the best times ever at the admiral this week. first, the food is creative and experimental - it pushes the envelope, and is delicious. this adventurous approach to food may not be for everyone, but if you have a curious pallet and an open mind, you have to try it.

second, i love the staff - they were just great. we found ourselves in a predicament. it was my birthday and when we arrived at another restaurant for a 7:00 pm reservation we found that they had booked a large group from a visiting convention into the tiny space. we had no interest in being overwhelmed by the 20+ extra diners. we went to a nearbybarfor a cocktail and called the admiral, knowing that they can be very busy and that last minute plans might not work out. my wife told them about our dashed birthday dinner plans. long story short, liz and the rest of the staff made this one of the best birthday dinners ever - thanks guys!

so take it from me and ignore prior reviews griping about the admiral not taking care of customers. they made my week.

after trying out the admiral in late-night mode and being turned off by the rude bald bartender and handlebar mustache toting hipsters, i decided to give it a try during dinner hours. i was pleasantly surprised. i do think for what they are charging, they could afford some air conditioning though. to make statements about a "comfortable and relaxing" atmosphere, it's not fun to sweat while you eat...unless it's thai food. anyway, the food was creative and delicious, and the dinner staff was courteous. i will not be back for thebarscene, but i will be back for dinner!

to ashevillefoodie15:. miss/mrs/sir,

you are so sadly mistaken about the admiral! the staff at the admiral is the most warm, friendly people you will ever meet! the food is phenomenal and quite frankly can hardly be beat by other restaurants in asheville. the menu changes almost daily which in my humble opinion is genius! we eat their 2-3 times a month and absolutely love it!

to blast a restaurant for lack of customer service when you have never set foot in the door is ludicrous and quite frankly significantly lessens the legitimacy of your review! who waits until they are "starving" to call one of the busiest restaurants in asheville to order dinner? when you were told that they are "very busy"…that is an understatement…people are standing in line to eat there! if we all of the sudden have a craving for the admiral and don't have reservations…we go there with the outlook that we may not get to eat there…it just that plain and simple. i am happy to say that we have always found two open seats at the bar…but we would never unfairly accuse them of poor customer service because they couldn't serve us!

the admiral is meant to be an experience…so put on your comfy clothes and grab a seat at thebar(first come, first serve) or call and get a reservation (call several days in advance)! the groovy, lounge like atmosphere will have you relaxed and happy in no time!!! they get busy early and stay busy…thus the inability to get through on the phone.

if you truly mean it when you say that you "will never call or try to eat at the admiral again"…then you are cheating yourself out of a very unique, relaxing experience and the most scrumptious mouth-watering food ever…not to mention the outstanding customer service!

sincerely,
a loyal admiral customer

walk on the wild side. my first walk on the non touristy west side yielded my best dining find ever at the admiral. i was a wee bit intimidated by the hood and the table full of biker guys until i saw what they were eating. scallops, frog legs, duck and a big bad rib eye steak.
at thebarwe went with the cocktail special of the night: watermelon-basil elixir with ginger, limeade and healthy dose of stoli citron. unbelievably good, although most of the crowd was going with beer and shots.
we had the duck small plate, rare, thinly sliced with a concoction of edamame, tiny heirloom tomatoes in a light lemony froth. i can't wait to return to nc next month and further explore the ever changing menu.