Dining Out: McCormick & Schmicks (Southpark)
There is really only one word for this place: Spectacular!
I have been a frequent visitor to McCormick & Schmicks for well over a year now - having tried virtually every item on the menu. At one time, I had tried everything on the menu but they change the menu frequently. The prices are more than what I typically spend on dinner but the lunch menu is very similar and much cheaper - although not cheap. Lunch will run about $15-$17 per person. A full dinner with appetizers, entrees and dessert will run around $50 per person, before any alcohol.
My wife and I went there the other night in what was planned to be a pre-Indiana Jones meal. Unfortunately, we engorged ourselves so much and took so long doing it, we did not feel like a movie afterward.
The ambiance is very upscale and the staff very professional. The staff is always very knowledgable and willing to ablige whatever desire that you have.
On this visit, I had a decided to splurge a little. I had a 2 lb Whole Main Lobster stuffed with lump crab meat. It was outstanding. It was pre-split down the middle for me so that the meat was extremely easy for me to get to. As I said before, it was simply amazing.
My wife had a Steak and Shrimp Combination, but as you may recall from prior post, she does not eat seafood, so the shrimp were for me. The combination also came with McCormick & Schmick’s Signature Creme Brulee - again for me, my favorite dessert.
The shrimp were large and also stuffed with lump crab meat. This was the first time I had had these, and as usual, I was very pleased - delicious.
One thing I usually do is to order the Potato Croquet as my side item. I did so this time, and it was cooked to perfection. As you take a bite of the croquet, you have to wonder how the chefs at McCormick’s are able to prepare food this amazing while competitors can not.
When it was time for dessert, I was still excited to see the Creme Brulee placed on the table along with the Cheesecake that my wife ordered. Again, the Creme Brulee was outstanding. I will stop short of saying that this is the best Creme Brulee I have had, because it is not. But, it is near the top of the list. Of course, I do not recall ever getting a bad Creme Brulee.
My wife throughly enjoyed her Filet Mignon as well. I routinely go with friends that do not eat seafood and they all rave about the steaks. For those who have ever heard the phrase, “never eat steak at a seafood place”, can throw that advice out the window at McCormick & Schmicks. I will agree with most seafood places, but not McCormicks. Of course, if you eat seafood - get seafood.
Since I have literally visited this restaurant 100’s of times, I will list out some of my favorite dishes too:
Oysters On the Half Shell - always extremely fresh, and always extremely delicious. This is one of the few restaurants that I will actually eat raw oysters at. I do not trust most restuarants to handle the oysters properly - especially some of the “dives” around town that proclaim to be raw bars. Don’t get me wrong, I will drink a few beers and eat a bucket of steamed oysters at those places, but I am not eating a raw one.
Ahi Tuna - Sesame Seared
Halibut, with Roasted Garlic Butter
Swordfish, with Boiled Red Potatoes and Lemon Butter
Atlantic Salmon, Roasted on a Cedar Plank with Northwest Berry Sauce (THE BEST SALMON I HAVE EVER HAD, BAR NONE)
Yellowtail Flounder, Permesan Crusted with Lemon Caper Butter
Desserts: Pretty much all of them are great
Upside Down Granny Smith Apple Pie
Cheesecake
Cholocate Bomb
Creme Brulee
Tags: Charlotte, Seafood, Southpark
June 19th, 2008 at 2:59 am
please remember, wcnc (local nbc station) did an interesting package on seafood restaurants in the charlotte area where the fish they ordered was tested (dna) and to my horror M&S FAILED spectacularly. so, unless you are craving the best apple pie in charlotte (no kidding, it’s really great) avoid this place. they charge A LOT and then intentionally LIE about the fish you order. it really p’d me off when i found out about this . . . . wcnc did a great job.
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Thanks for pointing out this report. I did a good deal of reading on all of the studies they did, and it seems most of the restaurants failed - at about an 80%+ rate. It seems to be that most restaurants but the blame on the suppliers - none of whom I saw were named. My guess is that it was the suppliers. I could not imagine a national restuarant with the prestige and noteriety of M&S putting their reputation on the line by doing this on their own. I do not think that they “intentionally LIE” as you implied.
There there were smaller restaurants (without a name to protect) that the manager came right out and said that the fish wasn’t what it said.
The General Manager of M&S stated that they have begun to order the fish with the skin on so that they may more readily discern the species of fish. Given the overwhelming failure rate among all of the restaurants involved, it will not change my decision to go to M&S. It is still the best upscale seafood restaurant I have tried in Charlotte (there are a few that are on my list that may compete with them).
It is also worthy to point out that the NC Department of Agriculture views this substitution of one fish for another a violation of state and federal law and has vowed to take action where appropriate. They said that they would investigate the restaurants and suppliers in the WCNC report, but to my knowledge, no charges were ever filed against any of them. I might also point out that this stroy was over a year ago. One would think that would be ample time to do this simple investigation.
Oh yes, the apple pie is great. Although, I will keep eating the Creme Brulee - it is my favorite.
You can see the full reports here:
http://www.wcnc.com/6newsextra/investigators/stories/wcnc-052107-jmn-fish2.934c5a34.html
http://www.wcnc.com/6newsextra/investigators/stories/wcnc-052207-krg-red_snapper_INV.968f25ad.html
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-071107-krg-fish_advancer.674d57df.html