ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 11, 1997 TAG: 9704110024
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: dining out
TYPE: RESTAURANT REVIEW
SOURCE: DOLORES KOSTELNI SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Three cheers for the new Charcoal Steak House, now under the ownership of former Hotel Roanoke chefs Wayne Knowles and Brian Murtagh.
Or should that be a cheer and a half?
On the one hand, Knowles and Murtagh have done wonders in brightening the once somber Williamson Road institution with fresh paint, better lighting and white tablecloths, while maintaining its cozy retro-decor left over from the restaurant's earlier days in the 1950s.
The dining room still has the small dance floor, and on a Friday night we enjoyed mellow tunes from a piano and bass.
And there are some good meals to be enjoyed here. The menu includes many of the favorites that have been popular at the restaurant for years. Knowles has added variety to the selections with some stylish new lunch and dinner specials.
But on the other hand, reality does not always equal expectations.
The major glitches come from the kitchen production not harmonizing with the menu.
For example, ordinary fried white potatoes replaced the fried sweet potatoes that were specified with two lunch sandwiches, and let it be known, the sweet potatoes were the only reason these dishes were selected. Despite the sweet potato absence, a nicely packed smoked turkey baguette ($5.75) couldn't have been better. The grilled salmon sandwich ($6.25) was not so great.
According to Knowles, "The salmon is basted with a cafe de Paris butter that contains 23 different ingredients. These include capers, curry, and A-1 sauce." This powerful condiment overwhelmed the salmon and after two tastes, I had neither the courage nor the stomach to continue eating it.
Another disappointing lunch dish featured tender, tasty fried chicken livers ($5.95) with rice and a watery mushroom gravy that lacked any visible mushrooms.
Thumbs up for two main course lunch salads. Greek chicken salad ($6.75) with pieces of warm and tender grilled white meat, crisp lettuce, pitted Kalamata olives, and plenty of briny Feta cheese is a sure-fire winner. The grilled seafood salad ($8.50), a soothing and delightful dish, contains an avalanche of sliced almonds blanketing several smoky scallops and shrimp on a bed of salad greens all dressed with a delicate Valencia orange vinaigrette.
Generally, lunch at the Charcoal Steak House can be quick or leisurely, whichever you prefer, and prices ($4.50-$11.50) range from a great value for soup, salad and a half sandwich, to moderate for a top-notch entree salad.
At dinner, plan on spending most of an evening here because everything is prepared to order and this type of service takes time.
A nice way to start dinner is by sharing a plate of appetizers, such as tyropites ($3.95), the Greek phyllo puffs filled with Feta and Parmesan cheeses. The Grecian tray ($5.95), featuring an assortment of stuffed grape leaves, tyropites, Feta cheese cubes and Kalamata olives is another consideration. A less desirable choice, the miniature crabcake ($5.95) with two sauces, comes with a mayonnaise-based tartar sauce and a puddle of ketchup. The cool temperature didn't appeal to me at all. The French onion soup ($2.95) thick with caramelized onions and a surface of baked cheeses, was served at cooler than room temperature, as well.
Main courses range in price from $9.95 for ground sirloin with blue cheese to $24.95 for the surf and turf.
Best bets for main courses are the veal rib chop ($24.95), a hefty piece of excellent meat grilled to perfection and the filet Oscar ($19.95), a bacon-wrapped filet mignon topped with luscious crab meat. Less desirable are the soft grilled lamb chops ($19.95). These were almost cold and lacked any signs of grid marks made by a hot grille. A choice of side dishes, either oven-roasted red potatoes or pasta, filled out the plates.
The Sunday brunch ($13.95) has great possibilities. You start off with the delightful mimosa, the orange juice and sparkling wine refresher, while nibbling on outrageously huge and equally delicious cinnamon buns. The array of foods holds something for everyone.
The brunch items I would return for include a crispy-skinned baked Mediterranean chicken enhanced with a nice balance of herbs; the fresh asparagus spears, skinny as a blade of grass and dressed with a lemon vinaigrette; and the already mentioned cinnamon buns. I would avoid the hard and tough tortelloni (an oversized tortellini) sitting in a chafing dish of Alfredo sauce. This fresh pasta needed poaching time in simmering water before bathing it in a sauce.
The dessert carousel ends all meals on a sweet note with slim slices of lemon chess pie; moist, richly seductive chocolate layer cake; creamy cheesecake; a fine spice cake speckled with flecks of carrots; and a bowl of sweet fluff that has little flavor. Dessert prices range from $2.95 at lunch to $3.95 at dinner.
So, if you have a soft spot in your heart for the Charcoal Steak House, you will find it probably offers enough good food for a satisfactory lunch or dinner. But I think Knowles and Murtagh can do better. Chefs of their caliber ought to be serving food that we would all beat their doors down for.
I hope they will make this happen.
Charcoal Steak House
5225 Williamson Road
366-3710
Hours: Tuesday, 5 p.m.-10 p.m.; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday, 5-10 p.m. Sunday brunch, 10:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m.
Prices: Lunch, $4.50 -$11.50; dinner, $9.95-$24.95.
Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover, Diners Club
Reservations? Strongly recommended for the weekend
Nonsmoking section? Yes
Handicapped accessible? Yes
* Dining Out's evaluation of a restaurant's accessibility to the handicapped is provided by the nonprofit Blue Ridge Independent Living Center in Roanoke.
LENGTH: Long : 107 linesby CNB