Raleigh Restaurant Week - My First Stop...Oro.

I love going out to eat.  If I had endless amounts of money and all the free evenings in the world I would get dressed up, go to a new restaurant, drink fab wine and try new dishes.  BUT…that’s not too realistic so I wait for wonderful weeks like Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week.  Oldies, goodies and newly opened restaurants choose a $30 pre-fix menu of a starter, entrée and dessert to entice diners to join them for a showcase meal.  There are a few restaurants on the list I have been wanting to try; Oro, Krave, Blue Mango, Capital Club 16.  

We decided to choose Oro.  Before Oro we hit up a few of our favorite downtown spots for drinks – Busy Bee & The Oxford - Perfect for a mini downtown happy hour before our meal. 

We approached Oro and immediately I thought….NYC financial district.  This 2-story, all white, minimalist space is nestled in the first floor corner of the PNC building downtown.  The restaurant has the feel of a modern art museum, slightly cold, open yet filled with energy from its patrons that mimics a lot of NYC business district restaurants.  We walked in and were greeted by the hostess and taken to our table – 2^nd floor with a good view overlooking downtown and the main floor of the restaurant.  Our personable waitress reviewed the RRW (Raleigh Restaurant Week) menu and took out drink order.  To fall in line with the trendy atmosphere the wait staff all used iPADs to take orders, fancy.  The good thing about RRW is that the menus are somewhat limited and you can easily take a “divide and conquer” sort of approach when ordering.  To start, we ordered Truffle Mac-n-Cheese and Vegetable Spring Rolls.  

 

The spring rolls were filled with julienne veggies and placed on top of a bed of spicy chili sauce.  The mini rolls were crispy and refreshing - the sauce adding nice flavor to each bite.  The Mac-n-Cheese was made with a blend of yellow and white cheddar and infused with herb seasoning and truffle oil.  The macaroni had a warm, gooey and creamy texture but seemed to lack a lot of flavor.  The truffle oil was more oil than truffle and honestly seemed very box-macaroni basic.  

We had high expectations for our entrees.  Again, we were strategic in our ordering.  We overheard the couple beside us saying the Hot Pot was bland, so we ruled that out.  That left the chicken breast, triple bean cake, salmon and braised pork.  Since we had chicken the night before the choice was easy – pork and salmon!

The pork was tender, juicy and served with diced carrots, potatoes, snap peas, onions and shitakes.  The braising technique made for a fall-off-the-bone meat but the dish was very low risk when it came to flavor.  The salmon looked beautiful on the plate.  Rich pink color of the fish on a bed of bright green lentils added to the dishes appeal.  The fish was cooked to perfection, a light sear on the exterior yet moist and tender when you cut into it.  This dish also was raising the truffle oil flag.  The bed of lentils was dressed with truffle oil which seemed to overwhelm the flavor of the fish.  To add fuel to the truffle fire, the lentils were a tad under cooked.  All-in-all just ok.  

Now it was time for the highlight, the dessert course.  I have probably told you before so you know, but if there is bread pudding on a menu, I have to order it!  Oro had it – Banana Bread Pudding! Caramelized bananas, warm bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream and a caramel sauce….heaven.  We also had a vanilla crème brulee on the way as well.  Desserts arrive – gorgeous.  The presentation was the best all night. 

I spoon into the gooey bread pudding grabbing ice cream, banana, pudding and….cold.  Sigh.  One of my pet peeves is when hot food is cold.  I really want my hot food hot and cold food cold – not the other way around.  The flavors lacking from the pork were present in the dessert but the temperature was not.   We took a few bites to enjoy the flavor and finished our wine. 

Overall my first Oro experience was sub-par.  It could be the restaurant week not working in their favor, due to high volume and mass produced meals, but as it stands I would go back to grab a drink and a nosh and that’s about it.  But try it for yourself and let me know what you think.  If your experience was better let me know and we may take Oro on a second date!