Carmel's at Grove Arcade

Carmel's ( www.carmelsofasheville.com ) is at the corner of the Grove Arcade in Asheville where Anntony's used to be (I've now officially lived here long enough to refer to things where they "used to be"). I had read a good review of Carmel's online and was anxious to see if I agreed or not. Fat Kat and I made dinner plans with some friends for a Friday night. Carmel's does not take reservations for parties fewer than six, but we got in at 7:30 without any wait. If you do have to wait, there is a pleasant bar inside along with lots of tables outside. Also outside, there was a band playing, just like they did when Anntony's was there. It was a nice night and a festive atmosphere - we were ready for some good food, good company and celebrating the onset of the weekend!

One of the first things we noticed was that the round tables for four were a bit small for the plates that we saw being brought out. A minor complaint that simply resulted in a bit of plate and glasses chess. It would be nice though if you had enough room to accommodate a bread plate and dinner plate at the same time. The bread brought out was warm, crusty, and delicious. Two types - a plain french bread type and a more hearty variety with sunflower seeds. I am normally not a fan of seeds in my bread, but with a dab of olive oil, I loved both of them! More was quickly brought once the basket was emptied.

The drink list was good sized and interesting with a variety of flavored martinis and specialty mixed drinks. The beer and wine list was not terribly extensive, but good enough to satisfy our table. The martinis were a bit pricey at $9, but that is not unusual these days. However, I opted for a hard cider at a more paletable $3.50.

I had a hard time making up my mind for dinner. I saw no fewer than six things that had my mouth watering. Prices ranged from $17 - $26 for the entrees, which I find reasonable for a more upscale restaurant. I will warn you that the serving sizes, while certainly ample enough, were not large. I normally take home half of my meal but in this case, easily finished my plate.

I finally decided on the pork tenderloin entree with red grape port sauce, butternut squash-caramelized pear puree and asparagus. Fat Kat went with the ribs, which I had read were excellent in the other review. They came with a hoisin glaze, a brown sugar and ginger sweet potato puree, crispy green beans (read: fried), and asian slaw. Both entrees were fabulous! One of our dinner companions had the filet mignon, which came with a spinach-potato layered side and baby green beans (not fried). The other one had the scallops, which came with mushroom ravioli, and asparagus. I had read in the same aforementioned review that the scallops were good, but not as good as the ribs, but you would never know based on our friend's reaction. She thought they just might be the best she'd ever had - cooked perfectly! So, four different entrees - all home runs.

At this point, I will digress to the only reason I why I gave Carmel's 4.5 forks instead of 5. The windows/doors that line the edge of the restaurant are kept open in nice weather. While this normally makes for a lovely atmosphere with nice breezes and watching the world go by; when the band was playing outside, it was so loud at our table (and technically, we were inside) that it was difficult to talk. About halfway through the meal, we slid half of the windows/doors closed and that helped. I can't even imagine how anyone outside could have conducted any conversation at all. However, I will say that I loved the music - it was great. It just made it hard to talk.

Ok, back to food! I made sure I had room for dessert, which were all priced at $7. A tad steep, in my opinion. Why $6 would've sounded much better to me than $7, I have no idea. Anyway, their dessert special for the evening was tiramisu, which one of our dinner companions ordered. It came out in an espresso cup, which I have to say I've never seen before, but found intriguing. However, as he poked around in it, it had much more cream and "fluff" than cake. I personally prefer tiramisu with more cake, but hey, that's me. Our other dinner companion and I ordered the caramel creme brulee. I love creme brulee, but am pretty picky about it. I love an extremely creamy texture. This was very close to perfect. It was excellent with a wonderful caramel flavoring. It came with two brownies the size of postage stamps, but they were fudgey and a good compliment to the creme brulee. Fat Kat did not order dessert, but got a few bites of mine. He has to move fast, because I do not easily share my desserts!

The service throughout the evening was great. Pleasant and efficient. Bread and water never ran out and empty dishes were removed promptly. Our server also had a little trouble hearing us over the band, but didn't seem annoyed by it.

Overall, other than the noise from the band and the small table size, we loved Carmel's and will definitely be back. It has moved to my list of favorites for a nice evening out in Asheville.