Another View of Above

When I heard about Above restaurant opening above Eden Gourmet, I was excited about a new eating-place in the neighborhood -- anything to do with food excites me. I looked at the menu online and was thrilled about the small plates. I loved the tapas-style menu Voro used to have.

So, when my friend recently made reservations at Above for her birthday, I was curious and excited -- well, kind of. The thought of a fancy restaurant on top of a supermarket was a strange concept, but since I love Eden Gourmet, how bad could the restaurant be, I thought?

I had been to the pizzeria last year (before the cafe space was converted into the bar area of the new restaurant) and thought it was ordinary. The space was too big and reminded me of a cafeteria. My daughter's pizza was quite forgettable, and my pasta was bland and required a lot of salt.

Upon climbing the stairs from the supermarket, we walked into a wood-paneled, dimly-lit dining area. It was quite full and the aromas were intoxicating. We asked for our table and were met with confused faces. They couldn't find our reservation -- well, eventually they did and asked us to wait, since our table was not ready. We decided to wait at the bar and have a drink. It was packed and reminiscent of a sports bar due to the combination of the big flat-panel televisions and the wood paneling.

After waiting in a corner for 15 minutes and not getting our drinks, we were called to our table. We didn't have to walk far, since our table was right in front of the entrance doors. We had the pleasure of welcoming everyone who entered the restaurant, as they brought in a gush of cold air for us.

We sat for another 15 minutes before I got up to ask the hostess, who stood right behind us, if someone was going to wait on us. Our young waitress came a few minutes later, and we ordered drinks. She informed us the martinis would be a while, since the bar had run out of glasses. Well, we suggested that the bartender pour our drinks in another glass. I ordered a glass of Malbec, which was delicious!

I was happy to see no dish priced above $25 on the menu. We looked at the specials and ordered. I decided on two small plates from the special menu: a flatbread with fig jam and roasted duck and goat cheese. The crust was thin and crunchy. There was too much jam on the bottom, and it made the pizza too sweet. The shredded duck was good, but the gamey flavor didn't contrast enough with the sweetness, probably because the jam was overpowering. The goat cheese provided nice bites of salty creaminess.

I also ordered a risotto with black truffles and shaved grana. It was watery, bland and the rice was undercooked. I kept sprinkling salt on it before finally giving up and calling the waitress.

In the meantime, my friends ordered a watercress salad with grapefruit and endive. I liked the crunchy endive, and the salad dressing was appropriate. Next came shrimp and asparagus, probably the best dish on the table. It had a delicious sweet and savory barbecue flavor. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and complemented the asparagus well. Clams ordered from the special menu were forgettable. I liked the red and golden beets. The charred goat cheese looked good but didn't really taste charred. The honey drizzle around the cheese and the beets was too sweet, but overall the dish worked. The lasagna from the special menu was actually delicious, but cold. Then there was the roasted fig salad. The plate was piled up with frisee, blue cheese and, of course, the figs. It was quite good, but I would have sliced the figs instead of keeping them whole.

Next came orecchiette pasta with wild mushrooms, mascarpone and arugula. Like my risotto, it was bland and needed a copious amount of salt. The arugula was watery and didn't have the familiar bitter taste I love so much.

We decided to talk to our waitress; well, we waited for her. After 10 minutes and questioning two bus boys, I called the hostess behind us and complained about the two bland dishes and the cold lasagna. She apologized profusely and offered to take the two dishes off our check and reheat the lasagna. She was also kind enough to send complimentary desserts to all of us. The two that stood out were the coffee-glazed chocolate cake with cappuccino ice cream and a nutella crepe, both delicious.

I'm not sure what to make of our disappointing experience. It could be that everyone there, including the kitchen staff, was having an off day? But I'm not sure I have the patience to go back and give it another try.

Monica Puri Bangia is a cooking coach and writes a daily food blog on www.sharingplate.com. She focuses on quick, healthy weekday meals. She also contributes to The Local.