Metropolitan

11/13/09

Divine Dining

by Wesley Barron at Citysearch

After having just transfered here from the East Coast, I was looking for a dining experience similar to NYC. Metropolitan is it. I was surprised to find out that the restaurant has been open for 14 years. If it's this cutting edge now I can't begin to imagine what the response was in Salt Lake City in 1995. After having a glass of wine and some yummy sliders at the super hip u-shaped bar we moved into the dining room. Crisp linens accented with a neutral color palate and interesting artwork. (Truthfully the whole place is artwork) My companion and I were greated promptly but without the snootyness that I had become accustomed to back East. Friendliness goes a long way after a hard day. We picked a sampling of half portion appetizers to share (thanks for offering this option because I personally love to eat), all were beautifully presented and absolutely delish! The stand out was the Metropolitan Mushrooms in a crisp potato cylinder with a truffle oil infused potato puree and a just right red wine reduction. I had the veal chop (which was over the moon) and my friend had the Scallops, seared to perfection. We shared an exceptional bottle of wine and sampled a few desserts, the fig cake was unreal. Along with great food was attentive but unobtrusive service and very interesting ambient music in the background. All in all a great experience, one that I will remember and use as a barometer for the remainder of my stay in Salt Lake City

• Pros: Veal Chop, scallops, super hip bar, great service
• Cons: none to speak of

05/22/09

Don't waste your time!

by lababe at Citysearch

Went for lunch today during Dine O Round to see what all the fuss was about. My husband ordered the famous bison burger that was very undercooked and strangely seasoned. He couldn't even finish his plate! Then when I ordered the fig pizza I was told they were out of figs! I switched to the caesar salad. My caesar salad was topped with chicken that had NO flavor along with a caesar dressing that was much to heavy on the anchovies (and yes I like them in moderation!) While the service was good, the atmosphere nice the food is simply sub-par! Save your money and go elsewhere for better food and at a much more affodable price!

• Pros: Service was nice but...
• Cons: Food was horrible and overpriced!!

01/13/09

Diminishing Quality

by mkr429 at Citysearch

Today was my fourth visit to the Metropolitan.

My first visit was during Fall Dine-O-Round, when the restaurant was rolling out their new lunch menu. The Bison burger was great, and I don't even like burgers. I was excited to try some other lunch menu items, and thoroughly enjoyed the caramelized onion and fig pizza with fontina and goat cheese during my next visit a couple weeks later. When I came for dinner a month later I was worried to find the menu had a limited number of non-seafood options, but enjoyed the entree I selected.

Today I came back for lunch. We selected the restaurant from a few options based on my recommendation - naturally I had high hopes that the food would be as good as I remember. I was disappointed to see the quality of the food has diminished considerably. The salad tasted like unwashed weeds. The oil and cream in the soup had separated by the time it was served. The bite of panini was as good as I remember, but the sweet potato chips were sporadically salted so that you either got a very bland or very salted bite. Similarly, the delicious fig pizza I once enjoyed has been replaced with miniscule amounts of fig paste, under-cooked onions, and cheese with an excessive amount of fatty prosciutto. The pizza was peppered in a manner similar to the chips, causing a coughing attach mid-meal.

If there weren't so many great options in Salt Lake, I'd give this place another try to see if today was just an off day. But as of now, I plan to look elsewhere indefinitely.