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| - This place is solid. After perusing the January Charlotte Restaurant Week menus for the Lake Norman area the menu offerings at BLOCK really stood out to me. I'd never heard of the restaurant before and did some research looking for reviews. There weren't a lot and I hope folks come to check it out because it's a little hidden gem in the middle of the Vermillion neighborhood and worth driving out to try. It offers a Johnson & Wales-trained chef, a lovely cozy interior, with 7 tables of 4 and 4 tables of 6. Very chill atmosphere. The only downside to the interior of this pretty restaurant are the acoustics, it was a little louder than I expected.
Service: A+. Seriously. We were served promptly by people who took pride in providing great service, we were checked in on by our host and server and when I asked for extra remoulade at one point the server somehow seemed to request it of someone with her eyes because it was brought to me before she even left our table! We'd gone to two other restaurant week meals this week at very well-known, upscale LKN restaurants and both places could learn a thing or two about service from BLOCK.
Food: I only wish I could have tried more because everything at our table was very good to excellent. I took pictures of everything see below.
Appetizers: 5 of the 6 of us got the crab cake appetizer (100% lump crab cakes served with a Creole remoulade sauce). I was surprised to receive 3 mini crab cakes (I'd expected 2) on a nicely spiced remoulade with a little side of nicely tangy coleslaw. At $8 on the regular menu this is a great deal for an excellent app. My husband got the Spicy Thai Chili Calamari - fried calamari with banana peppers in a Thai chili sauce. I was interested to try it because fried apps tend to come with a dipping sauce on the side. The chef was right, no dipping sauce needed because they were perfectly seasoned and delicious, exactly right. $9 on the regular menu. If I'd realized no one was going to order the grilled avocado with pico and feta cheese balsamic reduction I'd have ordered that, but I'll try it next time we go.
Main Dishes: We were able to try everything on the Queen's Feast menu. Part of the reason I chose BLOCK was because they offered a 10 oz blackened filet mignon. A lot of bigger places are dropping to 6 oz and I had the feeling that if they weren't being cheap on the sizing that there weren't going to be cheap on other things and I was right. The filet was perfectly cooked to the temperature I requested and the seasonings were correct. Some places oversalt their food to tease your palate into thinking it was better, BLOCK seasoned the meat correctly. $27 on the regular menu. My husband chose the Beer BBQ Pork Chop -14 oz French Cut Pork Chop with roasted rosemary potatoes and sautéed spinach, $17 on the regular menu. He said it was excellent. Another person chose the Charleston Shrimp & Grits - stone ground grits, blackened shrimp, bacon, red and green bell peppers, garlic, in a cream sauce, $16 on the regular menu. The grits were creamy and the shrimp was flavorful. The person who ordered the Atlantic Dijon Maple-Glazed Salmon - sautéed spinach and sweet potato puree, $17, was asked how she would like it done. I think she was a little surprised to be asked, salmon usually just comes out "cooked" and she didn't choose correctly, when it came out it was a little too raw for her taste. She sent it back to be warmed up and it was back out again in two minutes... the service here really is done well.
Desserts for the table included a Tuxedo cheesecake, Turtle cheesecake, carrot cake and a spiked banana pudding. Cheesecake and carrot cake slices were generous.
At the end of the day, Restaurant Week occurs to give restaurants the opportunity to show their stuff to patrons who might not have known about them or given them a try. We had a great first experience here and we will be back again another evening. I'm also interested in trying the brunch, I like what I've read. I hope the restaurant finds success, I'm not sure how long it's been open but I'd sure like it to stick around, it's a great little find. Give it a try!
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