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| - Table and Market was so impressive on our initial visit that we went again just a week later. While the second visit didn't quite live up to the first, it was still quite enjoyable.
On our first visit, we started with the cod bites. They were crispy, steaming hot, had a well-salted batter, and the cod itself was perfectly cooked and tender. The remoulade they came with was an excellent accompaniment, adding creaminess to the mix and a hint of tang.
We'd been craving a burger so I went with the Steak and Sunny Side Egg burger. It comes on a brioche bun with bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, pimento cheese which I substituted with pepper jack, and of course a runny egg. The good: coarsely ground, well-salted beef patty. Egg was sunny side up as intended. Bacon was delicious and perfectly cooked. Brioche, which I'm not convinced is the best choice for a burger, was terrific anyway. The not-so-good: diced onions belong nowhere near a burger. Give me thinly sliced onion or give me death. Mayo was inexpertly and excessively applied to the lettuce (?!) in dribs and drabs, which in my opinion ruined the appearance of the burger. Either serve it to me on the side in a ramekin as the burger gods intended, or spread it thin on the top bun itself. The patty itself was cooked past my requested medium, to at least medium-well.
Overall, with some judicious mayo reassignment to a napkin and the careful repositioning of diced onion for total burger coverage, it was really delicious and I'd order it again in a heartbeat. There's nothing quite like burger juices and egg yolk dripping down your hands and disgusting your fellow diners. My wife got the turkey burger and said it was really good, but that's not my thing.
For a side, I got a side salad which was a lovely little garden salad with their house-made Greek dressing. They clearly care about their produce because it was all fresh, crisp, and delicious, and a perfect portion for a side salad (not too small, not too big). This concluded our first visit.
For our second visit, the trouble began when I ordered a Hop, Drop & Roll, which I was told they were out of. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like 80% of the time when I order a beer that comes in a can or bottle and it's not on draft, that the restaurant is always out of it. Is this just a Charlotte-area thing? Is it a nationwide epidemic? I don't know but it bugs me. Instead I went with a Hopness Monster which I had on the previous visit and is a solid IPA.
For our starter we got the fried pickles. These were the thickest pickle chips I've ever had in the fried application, which is a good thing. Whoever works their fryer knows what the hell they're doing, because they were cooked as expertly as the cod bites from the previous visit. They came with a chipotle aioli, which was very tasty and helped to make up for the fatal flaw of the pickle chips: they weren't very pickle-y. No briny splash of flavor when biting into them, and in fact they weren't even very salty like a pickle should be. I don't know if they just weren't pickled for long enough or what, but luckily with the well-seasoned batter and tasty aioli, we still ate the plate clean.
The biggest letdown of the night was my entree. I got the Low Country Boil, which as everyone knows is shrimp, andouille sausage, red potatoes, and corn on the cob in an Old Bay broth. The good: the shrimp were PERFECTLY cooked. Not a hint of rubber or under-doneness. This is a testament to the kitchen. The corn on the cob was corn on the cob, which is always good if unremarkable. The sausage was well-seasoned, though I do like my andouille a little more garlicky, but that's personal preference. The bad: everything else. The potatoes tasted completely unseasoned, and there are few things worse than plain, unseasoned boiled potatoes. The broth was thin, insipid, and just not at all flavorful. The sourdough crostini was served in the bowl, which meant that half of them were already soggy. Not a good look. Overall it just wasn't a tasty or cohesive dish. My wife got the chicken breast which was really well-cooked based on the bite I had, with a nice crispy skin.
Overall Table and Market has a lot going for it, and we'll definitely be back. I'll just be better prepared with knowing what not to order, and what to ask for when I get another burger.
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