C&O

Date
7/16/09

Location
East end of the Downtown Mall
515 East Water Street

What I ate
Vegetable soup
Roasted chicken with sweet potato souffle
Chocolate praline torte

Who went
Larson, Sarah Collins, Graham

Website
http://www.candorestaurant.com/index.html

Thoughts
Before I start, I want to say that my thoughts on this meal as I get further from it. That isn't to say it was bad, but the more I think about it, the less harsh my criticism gets. The meal was definitely my least favorite of the Restaurant Week meals, but that's setting the bar pretty high; it wasn't at all a bad meal. Also, thanks to my fellow diners for coming through at the last minute so I didn't have to eat alone.

My soup was decent, but pretty boring. I would've gone for the gnocci, but the other three chose that and I wanted to make sure we had a sampling of all of the offerings if possible; I apparently chose incorrectly. The chicken had some good flavor, but was just overcooked, making it dry and tough. It probably could've been saved were it covered in the gravy (which didn't do much more than add moisture) but the chicken was left to stand on its own. That said, the sweet potato souffle was one of the most delicious things I had all of Restaurant Week. Between that and the lasagna from the night before, I have realized that I actually do like sweet potatoes and will have to start cooking with them. The dessert was really well-done - the cake was rich and chocolatey, and the little toasted praline slivers gave a great crunch and taste to the crust. I also got to taste the blueberry and peach cobbler, which was even better (albeit slightly) than my torte.

Other than the dry chicken, the only thing that really disappointed me was the service. It wasn't bad for most restaurants, but for a place with the reputation of the C&O, it didn't seem up to par. The wait staff seemed disappointed we weren't ordering drinks. I understand that they probably made more profit with drinks during Restaurant Week than the food because of the food deal, but I really hope a waiter could have a better poker face. Our quarters were a little tight, but not a problem once we actually got seated. All in all, a good, but relatively disappointing offering for Restaurant Week.

Recap
Pros - tasty sides, delicious dessert
Cons - dry, overcooked chicken, mediocre service
Overall - It was a good meal, but it just wasn't great. Everyone I've talked to seems surprised because they've always enjoyed their visits, so I won't write it off, but there are a bunch of other restaurants on par with the cost here that I'll visit before coming back to C&O.