Queen's Feast, restaurant No. 3

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It's Charlotte Restaurant Week -- when restaurants offer 3-course (fixed menu) meals for $30. I've made it my mission to hit up at least 5 participating restaurants in 7 days. I hypothesize I will gain 20 pounds by the end of the week, but hey, it's all in the name of research. Here's goes..

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Date: Tuesday, Jan. 27

Restaurant: Noble's

What I ate:

  • Appetizer: Braised Noble's Bacon on Local Field Pea Cassoulet
  • Main: Coq Au Vin
  • Dessert: Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

Summary: The restaurant looks like a European villa with leafy chandeliers, tall columns and veranda-like details.

The meal started off with a simple bread basket. The bread was not note-worthy, though all the bread is made in-house. It was room temperature and served with plain olive oil. Sad...I do enjoy a good bread basket. Oh well...on to the appetizer!

The cassoulet contained "pommes puree, Noble's Pancetta Crisp" and a mix of peas. The thick slices of soft pork on top of the potato puree and peas contained layers of fat throughout which made the dish extremely flavorful. This appetizer was one of the most unique so far among all the Charlotte Restaurant Week places I've tried.

For my main dish, I had the Coq Au Vin. The description of the dish on the menu read: "Red Wine Braised Chicken, Creamed Spinach, Pearl Onions, Mushrooms, Fondant Potatoes, Red Wine Chicken Jus." I never order chicken at restaurants because I consider chicken a boring meat and it is often times dry. I decided to go for it this time because the description sounded so promising. Unfortunately, this dish wasn't my favorite. The leg of chicken was dry and I found myself having a hard time getting it down at times. A big gulp of wine helped. Oh well...on to dessert!

Now dessert was GOOD. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte name does not do the dessert justice. The actual torte was "Japonaise topped with Peanut Butter Mousse, Chocolate Cake and White Chocolate Bavarian, Salty Candied Peanuts." Heaven on a plate. I could have inhaled a whole tray of this stuff it was so good.

Verdict: The food was good, but not excellent. The redeeming factor of the meal was the dessert. Service was great and our waiter was extremely educated about the menu and food. Go if you wish, but perhaps try the other entree option, which is a flounder dish.

More Queen's Feast reviews:

Restaurant No. 1: Oceanaire Seafood Room

Restaurant No. 2: The Capital Grille