admiral

didn't like it. i could not hear myself think the room was too noisy, too dark to even read the menu and i forgot to bring my flashlight. the food is hit or miss and expensive, the wait staff doesn't seem to appreciate what it means to be a server with personal attention to detail. i am a chef, and go out for the atmosphere most times (if i want reallygoodfood i cook at home with just picked food from our farm), and this place has none other than that of a busy loud bar. they are popular however and do agoodbusiness. evidently most folks are not near as picky as i am when i am ready to spend over 80 for two to go out to dinner.

very happy. my wife and i had heard manygoodthings about the admiral. finally we decided to give it a try. i went online and made reservations using opentable. it was a very easy process and we made reservations for 9:30pm for the following sunday. imagine our surprise when we got a call from the hostess asking us to move our reservation up to 7:30pm. we were very happy about that, since 9:30pm was sort of late for us and our 8 year old. we had no wait, and we were shown to a table as soon as we walked in. the atmosphere was great for evening/night dinning. our waitress was friendly and attentive. there is no children’s menu; however our 8 year old was able to order a grilled cheese and potato wedges, which she enjoyed. i was very happy with my order of house smoked duck, mole, fingerlings, orange compressed fennel salad, salty peanuts, and sesame seed espuma. i have a fennel allergy and our waitress was more than happy to serve the orange compressed fennel salad on a separate plate for my wife to enjoy. the duck was wonderful and the mole sauce was superb! my wife ordered the black angus rib-eye, pimento mac & cheese, green bean casserole, mushroom gravy, marrow butter, pecorino. the rib-eye was cooked perfectly and the marrow butter was amazing! it was the first time i had tried marrow butter and i was not disappointed. we finished the meal with the lavender brulee with sea salt which can only be described as deliciously fresh. total tab with meal, 2 drinks, and tip was around $90. service was excellent and restaurant was clean. parking can be an issue, but the attentive staff, restaurant cleanliness, and quality of the food make up for that small issue. the menu changes often, so be sure to look online to see the food selection. we are looking forward to returning.

bad reviews i don't understand. i must say i have wanted to try admiral for a long time and finally got there. for those of you who have been by and thought omg not here, stop and go in it is that good. i must say it was a total surprise. we started with an arugula salad with humboldt fog which was magnificent. next i went with the escargot and bone marrow close to the best i have had ever, simply outstanding. my wife went with the crab carbonara, i did try it was top notch. i went with the fried quail, i would have never guessed in a million years that texas pete could be turned into delicious syrup. it too was so good. i had 3 items i wanted but now i will have to go back for the other two. they were the tenderloin tartare and the smoked duck. if you want a great meal at a verygoodprice for what you get this is the place. the staff makes you wait for nothing very attentive. i would recommend reservations because it is packed. 9.5 of 10


-----26 may, 2011-----

omg i have to go now!. i have to go here asap, i have never read such banter between reviewers. it has to be thatgoodor that bad. i will have a completely open mind about the voyage. i will post my findings soon.

way to slow!goodfood, but not worth the wait.

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 particular bar tender, 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. the bar tender acts like you should be feeling entitled to eat there and thatgoodservice 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!!

great and unique dishes. went on a busy night (seems like that might be just about every night?) and waited for 45 mins for a seat at the bar. note to self: reservations are needed if you don't want to wait.

tried the steak tartar small plate (hubby liked it, not my thing), sweetbreads (interesting but don't know if i would get again), quail (yes the best thing we had) and a large plate of buttermilk chicken (good but not omg great). there were two of us and this was more than enough food, we ended up taking half the chicken plate home.

would recommend going because 1) their plates are unique and i haven't found similar things elsewhere 2) the quail! 3) their cocktails were reallygoodtoo

not what's it's cracked up to be. my husband and i are asheville natives. the admiral came highly recommended from several friends as one of the best, newer restaurants on the scene. we made reservations for our 24th anniversary. were we ever disappointed.

let me say that the service was impeccable. the gentleman who waited on us was personable and professional. however, if i am going to pay $24 to $30 for a large entree, i expect to not leave hungry. my husband ordered the swordfish. i ordered scallops. i gingerly ate my entree in about 3 minutes or less. there was little more on it than an appetizer portion of seafood. moreover, my scallops were overly salted - something that is a no-no for delicate seafood. my husband's swordfish came in a slightly larger portion, but he, too, left hungry. his swordfish was nearly cold ... certainly nothing outstanding.

may i say that the malbec and the wedge wheat beer were very good!

the entrees came with nothing - no salad, no bread, nada. the admiral should at least offer a small side salad and a nice crusty european bread to accompany these outrageously priced dishes.

again, do not misinterpret me. we eat at a lot of different restaurants - different styles, different tastes, different price ranges. therefore, we understand thatgoodfood comes with a price tag. however, when it comes to value = price? the admiral lacks severely.

the jokes on......me. i recently had dinner at the admiral in west asheville and couldn't help but think that someone was playing a not so elaborate joke on me. the restaurant is simply a stew pot full of contradictions...some of them wonderful...some of them infuriating. i love the idea of serving "gourmet" food in what looks like a dive bar. the ceilings are low, the lighting is low, the service is ok, and there is definitely a "hip" vibe. the restaurant is always full of customers but i think this is mainly due to fact that the dining area is small. it always appears full. now for the food. it is expensive and uneven. my dining mate and i each ordered a small plate and a large plate. the quail was delicious, perfectly cooked and flavorful. the muscles weregoodbut nothing special. there are an infinite number of restaurants that serve or have served muscles diablo. the only thing that made these somewhat special was the mound of pesto thrown on the top. my dining mate ordered the skirt steak pho. at $25, we expected something wonderful. the steak was perfectly cooked but unfortunately it was swimming in a flavorless broth with overcooked rice noodles. there were a few condiments on the side but, again at $25, i felt like i was being asked to put this meal together for the kitchen. go to doc cheys, you will get a much better noodle dish for 1/3 the price. we also had the wild mushroom plate: 3 smallish wild mushrooms sitting in a pool of bacon flavored grits. it was tasty but for some reason the mushrooms were tough. i couldn't help but think that they were dried mushrooms that hadn't been soaked long enough. were they actually dried and not fresh? who cares, they were tough and chewy.

the service was competent but mechanical. the servers acted as if they had been through this torturous experience a million times and were going through the motions. they had a long night ahead of them and they weren't going to expend a lot of energy in the early part of the evening. when the server asked how everything tasted, my dining partner said that the pho was not very good. the server, who either didn't hear or didn't care, thanked us and brought the check.

i think most people really want to like this restaurant, unfortunately it is too expensive for me to continue to experiment.

best food in area so far.. this is a really interesting place with great food. it may not be for everyone though. first it is a cinder block once gas station in a less fortunate part of town..limited parking etc.
if upscale ambiance is a requirement don't go here. no table cloths, relaxed service, nothing fancy to say the least. but the food is truly exceptional. this is a fairly young chef who is trying some aggressive combinations but with a very classic sense. some plates are a little busy but the flavors work almost every time. the menu changes every few days and your standard computer paper sheet will have a date on it. that is not to say that this place is really seasonal of local or sustainable. they use great products and treat them right. it is more seasonable and local than not but for example they serve a humboldt fog salad when local goat cheeses are abundant, even a very similar one, domestic but not really local.
they are doing a true gastropub menu, some sous vide some maltodexterine powders, some xanthan gun, lecithin thickening, but nothing over the top or pretentious.
i love this place, you don't have to get dressed up to eat great food, the drinks are great, the prices are reasonable to low. but there are some problems. the water is undrinkable, the service is ok at best, the food does not come out of the kitchen all at the same time. on one trip we got the soup and salad 10 minutes before the rest of the appetizers. maybe they thought that was what we wanted, if so they need to get someone in there who has more experience, or they could have asked. the fact is the atmosphere is pretty relaxed and that is not always agoodthing. but the food more than makes up for any other shortcomings.

admiral- best kept secret. and we thought nobody knew about it. oh well i guess the secret's out. okay, so it is a bar. it looks like a dump. everything about it makes you want to run away. but, wait! the food is amazing! probably some of the best food in asheville.goodservice. great food. don't judge a book by it's cover.

a side of veges with your sandwich, what agoodidea!. very creative sandwich of the day, which also provides a more affordable option to the entre selection. although the prices are a bit steep, the prices are worth it. the food is great.