Thursday, April 30, 2009

Dressler's (Birkdale)

For the last night of my parents' visit, we wanted to go out for a nice dinner in Charlotte. The first two choices were closed Sunday evening, so we went for a local restaurant that had a good reputation -- Dressler's.

We arrived at the restaurant, gave our reservation name, and were seated outside. It was a gorgeous day out, and we simply couldn't have picked a better evening for dinner.

We were given a seat towards the back corner -- the farthest away from the cars -- and took a look over the menu. My mouth immediately started to water once I locked-in on the "Just for the Halibut" entree. As you can guess, the main ingredient is halibut (and the guy writing the menu has a sense of humor). It's topped with crab, served with roasted red peppers and spinach. This is all on top of a chive potato cake, then drizzled with a sun dried tomato buerre blanc. Sounded good! So I ordered that along with a lettuce wedge. And my Mom ordered a bottle of wine for the table.

Our server was good, but a little pushy. My mother was taking extra time to find a bottle of wine, so the waiter came over to try to help. Big mistake. My mom doesn't want or need help in the wine department. And after she tried to give him the hint to leave, and he didn't, I asked him for a few more minutes. He was well intentioned -- but only came across as annoying and slightly pushy.

Our salads arrived, and mine was delicious. My wife had the chopped salad -- it was very good as well. Between courses, another table was served a steak entree. It smelled amazing, and I want to head back to try it. It was either the Filet Bordelaise or the New York au Poivre. Either way -- I'm going to try it sooner or later.

Next came my entree, it didn't have the alluring aroma of the steak, but man, did it taste good! The halibut was cooked to perfection. The sauce was flavorful, and a good compliment to the fish and vegetables alike. Also, there was a hint of spice on the fish. At first I thought the red powder sprinkled on the halibut was paprika -- turns out it was probably chili powder. EXCELLENT!

All in all, a very good dinner that exceeded my expectations. I'll be back.

Score:
Atmosphere: 4/5
Food: 5/5
Service: 4/5
Total: 13/15
Price: $$$$ (salad, entree, wine and tip put me under $40)

Conclusion: Want a relaxing dinner with top-notch food in Birkdale? This is the place to go.

Restaurant Info:
Dressler's Restaurant
8630-1A Lindholm Drive
Huntersville, NC 28078
p) 704-987-1779
http://www.dresslersrestaurant.com

1 comment: