I'm a native Charlottean but have lived in Southern California for 6 yrs. When I get back to CLT, I really look forward to some traditional Southern cooking. Dish was a big disappointment. They have the menu items down pat but fall down in the flavor and preparation department.
- Fried green tomatoes were bland and "hard." The are lightly battered in an unseasoned flour and served with a dill/horseradish dipping sauce. A seasoned corn meal batter would've been much better. The tomatoes were thinly sliced but were "hard" (way too young). Since they weren't that good it didn't bother me that they only give you about a third of a tomato.
- Collard dip sounded like a cool idea but... They basically take a traditional spinach dip and substitute collards. The menu says served hot, but ours came cold (not room temp but cold) and clearly straight from the fridge! The pita wedges were put on the grill for a few seconds, but were not grilled enough either.
- Pork chops were very tough and grilled with a heavy handed too-sweet maple glaze
- Salmon patties were cooked way too fast and ended up nicely browned on the outside but way undercooked and soupy on the inside.
- Pot roast was tender and pretty good
- Collards were fresh but over-the-top sweet. Who wants sweet collards anyway? A hint of sweetness I can see, but these were just not good.
- Squash casserole was nicely flavored but the squash were cooked to death
- Finally, the deviled egg had been boiled so long, my egg white was actually hard
The place was almost full when we visited. I'm guessing that any repeat patrons are eating here because it's in a trendy locale, and they've probably never had good and true Southern cooking. You certainly can't get that at Dish!