- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Battery Park Bistro
Category: Restaurants American (New) American (New) [Edit]
22 Battery Park AveAsheville, NC 28801
(828) 253-2158
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
2 reviews for Battery Park Bistro
2 reviews in English
-
Review from Judah L.
Charlottesville, VA
Cool dog friendly place
-
Review from Briana C.
Asheville, NC
9/21/2007
I suppose when our waiter (who was very nice and the only reason I'm even gracing this experience with a second star) informed us that the chef was on vacation and half of the menu items (including basics like romaine lettuce for the Caesar salad, both of the featured soups, and chicken salad) were unavailable, we should have run for the hills immediately and not looked back. Given the fact that we were on a limited time schedule and had a decent coupon, my co-worker and I decided to brave it.
To start, I ordered a red wine off of the Bistro's fairly good, yet pricey, wine list. While we attempted to review the menu and enjoy our drinks we were bombarded by screaming death metal rock music blaring out of the kitchen doors, which was only made worse by the fact that it was competing with the lovely jazz "atmosphere music" being piped into the dining room. I commented to the waiter that "somebody was sure rockin' out back there," however, and the offending noise was immediately turned off (or at least down). Amazingly, there appeared to only be only the one stressed-out sous chef and the lone waiter staffing the place at 1:00 on a Friday afternoon. We were informed that the head chef was away on a cruise and had left the staff "unprepared." Call me crazy, but doesn't every grocery store in town carry romaine lettuce?
While we waited for our order, another patron sat down and ordered a sweet tea and was delivered un-sweet tea. This is certainly not the end of the world, but then we received our orders... My friend ordered a reuben, which she reported as being fairly good, but nothing special. At the suggestion of our friendly waiter, I ordered a bistro burger (cooked medium well). The first thing I noticed was that the fries that accompanied both of our meals were undercooked, unsalted, and limp with oil. Luckily after I assembled my giant burger, I decided to cut it in half before taking that first big juicy burger bite. When I drew the knife out of my sandwich I had a strand of curly red beef dangling from the blade. The inside was completely raw! The waiter sent it back to the kitchen with great apologies and then went on to tell an approaching table of newcomers about the unavailable menu items. As I awaited the return of my burger, the now giggling duo abandoned their table bound for another restaurant as soon as the waiter disappeared through the kitchen's swinging doors. At this point I was ravenously hungry and wishing that, we too, had staged a disappearing act. My burger returned several minutes later still cut in half (only overcooked now) and with the same sliced half-bun that I had sent back (only now it was stained a sickening brownish pink from the previously bleeding burger). We finished our lunches and went back to business feeling unsatisfied by the experience, and , well... a little bit ill I must admit.
Overall, this was one of my least pleasurable downtown Asheville dining experiences. I would love to say that I will go back another time when things are running a bit more smoothly, but quite frankly I don't think I have the stomach for it. I sure hope the head chef enjoyed his cruise...
