Blue, oh Blue, you didn't leave me blue during Restaurant Week. Thanks for that!
Blue was the only of my three Restaurant Week stops that was successful. Why, you ask? Well, one of the main reasons is because Blue offered a nice variety of their standard menu items on the Restaurant Week menu. No subtractions, no reduced portions no half-assed attempts at bringing back customers. Normal portions and great food. Four of my girlfriends and I made a reservation at Blue before heading to a show at the Stage Door theater. Here's how it went down.
Ambiance: Blue is just pretty inside. They have a lovely bar, spacious tables and an overall upscale "chill" atmosphere.
Service: Our server was great. Dealing with a table of five women is probably not the easiest task of the night but he did well. He was friendly, polite and offered great suggestions.
Strawberry Cheesecake Martini: Meh, I've had much better martinis from Blue. It was a little too strong and had bit of a burning aftertaste. This is all on me though, as I made the choice to order a martini with cream in it. Next time it's back to dirty.
Tega Hills Mixed Green Salad: Delicious. Organic mixed greens (according to our waiter grown in Tega Cay especially for Blue), chunks of goat cheese boursin, roasted tomatoes and a tasty vinaigrette. This was all topped with a pistachio tuile, which looked like a cookie and tasted like a crouton.
Alaskan Halibut with a Lobster Succotash: I'm copying exactly what was in this dish straight from their menu "pan-seared, potato-crusted halibut over lobster, corn, fava beans and tomatoes in a creamy lobster broth." It was delectable, friends. The halibut was moist, perfectly encrusted and perfectly balanced with the succotash. I would have loved a bit more lobster, but who wouldn't?
Sticky Toffee Pudding w/Salted Caramel Ice Cream: Our waiter mentioned to me that he hasn't seen anyone actually finish the "cake" part in this dessert. Now I know why. While the salted caramel ice cream was beautiful with the sticky toffee pudding, there just wasn't enough to go around and cut the sweetness of the cake part. The dessert was generous and tasty, but I needed more 'scream. And by the way, if they offered to sell this salted caramel ice cream, I would buy it in a heartbeat.
*Note to Blue, your food was great but please don't tease us with a list of desserts on the Charlotte Restaurant Week website that you aren't going to serve. While the desserts were great, I and some of my fellow diners had our hearts set on a few of the desserts listed online but were not served that evening. Sad face.
Overall, this was a very, very good meal and a great deal for Restaurant Week. Adding up all of the components, this meal (post tax, pre-tip) would have normally retailed for roughly $60 and I paid $41. Would I pay retail for this full menu, sure, I probably would. I just wouldn't order all three courses in one sitting.
See ya soon, Blue. I'll likely be the girl in the corner hoarding the chocolate martini and two desserts.