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| - Sea Level's entrees are where it's at. The oysters are a bonus. The sides, you can do without. The menu is constantly changing so take the menu on their website with a grain of salt.
The swordfish ($33) was perfectly cooked served with brussel sprouts, carrots, pecans, a vinaigrette, and topped with fried onions. Surprisingly the flavors melded well and the meal left me satisfied but not overstuffed. My fellow diners ordered the grilled salmon ($25), which was decent. Though my fellow diner who ordered the paella ($30) absolutely killed it and left the cast iron it was served in absolutely spotless!
We also ordered 3 Sea Level oysters ($1.75)/each), flavorful but much smaller than the Delaware Bay, NJ oysters ($2.50) which were ginormous and silky smooth but didn't have much flavor. The sauce accompaniments were plentiful: horseradish, red vinegar, onion/oil/pepper, cocktail sauce, and lemon!
The salmon tartare ($12) had dill aioli and jalapenos, served with charred bread. Not my favorite flavors for a salmon tartare. The sides: tater tots ($5)(perfectly fried and filling!), roasted root vegetables, steamed pork belly ($5.50/each)(stay away!), and duck tacos ($5.50/each)(too saucy) were all forgettable compared to the mains.
Sea Level NC tries to be a cool fusion restaurant with Asian/Mexican flavors like "pork belly steamed buns" and "duck tacos" while serving up fresh seafood but it should really just focus on the seafood. Decent for a business meal but falls short of being on a regular's list.
Service was quite nice though instead of checking my reservation for 4, the maitre'd assumed I was a party of 2 since I had arrived early with only one fellow diner. I really appreciated that our server helped us fill our glasses because we were seated in a deep booth while the water was at the other end of the table. Sea Level is nestled between a parking garage and in the side of an office building, with a dark/awkward outdoor seating but once inside has rustic feel with the exposed ceiling, hightops, booths, and brick walls.
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