| rev:text
| - Went there on a date night and wasn't disappointed! We've been looking for restaurants in Charlotte that remind us of the Northeast, and George's definitely fits the bill - stylish, casual, great menu and fun wine list.
We sat outside, on the lovely patio that faces the common fountain (shared by Brio and Del Frisco's). The atmosphere really did feel a little bit Parisian, down to the small lights hanging from the awning to the wicker furniture. Really a lovely environment to have a french meal.
We leveraged the house wine specials and had a carafe of the Sauvignon Blanc, excellent value and a good light white wine to start the evening. After a lot of debate, we settled on the green salad with dijon vinaigrette and the mussels in white wine. I've had a many renditions of this dish (including memorable versions in SF, Boston, and Spain). This was a very straightforward rendition, but the mussels were fresh and the broth was quite pleasant (and dippable). Salad had a bit too much dressing but was good otherwise.
For our main meal I couldn't resist and order the steak frites (hanger steak with blue cheese butter). To me this dish is a true bistro test - if you can't cook a good piece of meat and make french fries, forget about making trout almondien or Beef Burgundy. The hanger steak was excellent, medium rare as ordered and clearly seared in a high heat environment. Fries were addictive (good sign) but over-salted. Oh yes, the blue cheese butter was as decedent as it sounds. My wife had the lobster ravioli special - 2 giant ravioli's made with 3 oz of lobster meat, served in a shrimp and tarragon sauce with a tomato coulit. Simply put, it was amazing - not a traditional bistro meal, but superb (and a great deal).
For desert, we split the lemon tart - while the filling was very good and obviously fresh, the shell was slightly burned with really took away from the dish.
Service was very well paced - some would say slow, but for those looking to enjoy their meal (and their company), it was just right. Our server was professional, gave us good suggestions, and wasn't obtrusive.
Overall I'm really happy that this restaurant has opened and hope that folks visit often because we need more local places like this!
|