admiral

very happy. my wife and i had heard many good things 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 firsttimei 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.

the admiral lives up to the reputation.. this restaurant is going for it. dining alone (i'm traveling) gives you moretimeto 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 the bar tried 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.

kelly denson view all posts by kelly denson kellys website related posts: review: barley's taproom & pizzeria - asheville barley's taproom & pizzeria in asheville is a renovated 1920′s... review: sweet & savory - wilmington everytimethat i go to wilmington, i tend to... review: streets deli - chapel hill imagine one of our beautiful, picture-perfect carolina spring evenings. the... related posts brought to you by yet another related posts plugin . --> tagged as: asheville , beef tartate , cheese plate , farro verde , hickory nut gap farm ,

riding on the high seas. having failed to make reservations like intelligent people would have, we were offered some seats along the back wall "bar" until a table became available. the bartender found his way over to us with no delay and offered us some cocktails, and we wasted notimethere; each going in for a manhattan. they were fine renditions and we didnt hesitate to hit the repeat button a couple more times before the night was through. eventually, they found us a table and we got down to business.
we started with the morrocan sausage, which we dabbed in rotation between the harissa and the chermoula, along with something that looked a white hummus(?!). regardless, all made for a happy palette and our server picked up on our 'wanting to lick our plates clean' vibe and offered us some grilled chunks of bread to mop up the saucy remains, which we rabidly accepted. reclining in a wonderful haze of things had, and things to come, it seemed like notimebefore our main course were presented. as with the morrocan sausage, the plating here deserved a moment of silence. but just a moment, and then; off to the fork and knives. my rib eye was wonderful; thick as a cockney accent, cooked to a perfect medium rare, (just as i had asked for it) and the pommes aligot (a fancy way of saying cheesy mashed potatoes) made for a great dolloping companion along with their steak sauce; seated on the outer edge of things. the purple potato chips and halved quail eggs were interesting additions that i quickly warmed to, along with the more traditional green beans, which i made short order of.
as for the guest of honor, her scallops were a thing to hold up like a toast for all to see but even a few cocktails in she avoided going that route. unfortunately though, after a bit, she made a rather sour face, informing me that the lentil were terribly over-salted. i know she likes salt, so for her to say that mustve meant they were way over the top. i took a bite and yes, they were blown out. a shame really, because the rest of the spread was truly inspiring. im not too proud to admit that her brussels turned me into a scandalous thief either. its also of course worth mentioning the service, which was a group effort but on the whole; impeccable. when youre spending well over $100 for a meal you want every aspect of it to reflect that, and that was certainly the case here. the dimly lit, low key vibe was a stark and welcome contrast to the usual stuffy, bourgeois atmosphere that generally accompanies a menu like this. overall; (discounting the one misstep) a striking success.

grade: a- (we agreed that the admiral does indeed make for a nice companion piece to its divier neighbor just across the way; the double crown.)

bad reviews i don't understand. i must say i have wanted to try admiral for a longtimeand 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 very good price 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 that good or that bad. i will have a completely open mind about the voyage. i will post my findings soon.

excellent!!!! and it is the best thing next to.... having been on the road for a month, and sampled really great food in va, dc, nyc, and other cities....this is going down as the meal to beat on this trip.
had read some of the critical reviews here and elsewhere, so we weren't expecting the perfect experience we received.
two "tastes" or "small plates" are plenty per person. we were so delighted with our four that we pushed it and ordered the tartare which left us way too sated to sample their otherwise appealing desserts.
our service was as excellent as the food, inobtrusive but willing to volunteer helpful suggestions. there was a gap between our originally ordered four and the tartare, but great opportunities for observing the scene made thetimepass quickly. tables are spread out enough to make for easy conversation without inadvertently eavesdropping on your neighbors.

poor food, service likewise. thursday night, 7/25/13. prompt service with water and appetizers. octopus/quail egg dish included several items; all tasted the same (fried). waited one hour (>60 minutes) thereafter for entrees. my wife and i had "heritage farms pork chop" with etc. had great difficulty in cutting pork chops with steak knives provided. meat was flavorless. did not have thetimeand courage for dessert.

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 ourtimeand enjoying every single bite. thetimecame 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 longtimeto get the reservation, i totally get it. in turn, there were other tables and bar seats 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.

alltimefavorite. 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 onetimei 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 the bar and 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!

amazing food, terrible service. we always go back to the admiral because the food is incredible. the menu is creative and i've never been disappointed by a dish. the service, however, has been terrible everytimewe've eaten there.

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 the bar had 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 longtimeto bring our tab and settle the payment. during thistimethe bar area 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.

get in early!. the food is always amazing. if you sit at the bar, the bartender is probably the best in town. the menu is on constant rotation, which is awesome, but it does create the one and only drawback to dinning at the admiral...if you get a late reservation they may be out of the meal you want. the lasttimei was in they had run out of two large plates, one small plate, and a few desserts. if you get a reservation for a decent hour this is far and away the best restaurant in asheville.

good food doesn't have to be convenient. ok people. this place is tiny for the quality and demand that they are serving up. and as americans we have come to expect "the world revolves around me" type of service. the admiral is not only about delicious food its about experiencing it with people you enjoy. expect a long dinner with an actual appropriate waittimein between courses. this is something most restaurants lack and so when you come here expect it. i think its a shame that eating has become merely a necessity and not atimeto relax and stimulate the senses which are too often put on the back burner these days. the food is unbelievable. put your comfy underpants on, stop whining and enjoy a type of restaurant which is near extinction in this fast-paced world.

the admiral review. you really are mistaken with this review. how can you possible judge a place negatively by phone or lack of response? i think you are derelict reviewers if this is how you do business. for goodness sakes, in thetimeyou spent trying to interrupt the excellent service by answering your persistent calls, just jump on your scooter and go there and live a little. please! this is one of the best places i've even eaten and the people there are great, even to us "out of towners"! apology required!