Restaurant Review: SLC Dine O' Round

Salt Lake City is having a Dine O' Round, that is similar to Restaurant Week in other metro areas. Unfortunately, there are only about thirty spots involved. These types of events are generally semi-annual and a great way to try those great or classy spots in your area, especially if you are generally on a budget or are apprehensive about taking those risks often involved with the pricier eateries.

The first spot up in Salt Lake i decided to try was the Metropolitan. After seeing the Metropolitan about a year ago, I found it a bit pretentious, with it's large window fronts covered in velvet curtains creating an uninviting inaccessible aura. Despite these initial impressions, we decided to try it out for lunch this week. They were advertising a Dine O' Round lunch for $10 and I felt that a risk I could afford. Unfortunately, that lunch cost way more than was advertised.

The food itself was less than impressive. I ordered a mushroom panini with sweet potato chips. The caraway foccacia was buttery and perfectly crisp. The mushrooms had a great flavor topped with fontina cheese, sweet onions and spinach. It was paired with sweet potato chips, which sounded like the perfect pairing, however, I imagine the chips were left too long in the fryer or were not served quickly enough. I found them a bit soggy and salted improperly. The nice thing is that they were plated nicely.

My friend Kim ordered a tomato salad which consisted of various types tomatoes, burrata, basic, aged balsamic, and fiore di sale. Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese that consists of mozzarella and cream, which gives it a unique soft texture. The salad was similar to the italian caprese. Fiore di sale is an Italian version of a hand harvested sea salt. Kim found this salad flavorful, light, and satisfying. The perfect combination for lunch.

My fellow diners ordered the Dine O' Round special which was a green salad to start and a bison burger with pomme frites (aka french fries). We expected a nice lean grilled bison patty, but instead it was more like a bison Sloppy Joe. For a self-proclaimed restaurant of handcrafted new american cuisine, the Sloppy joe is old news.

So now, I'm dropping the hammer on the metropolitan. The service at the Metropolitan shot for the stars and fell very short. The presentation was over the top. They tried to serve everyone at the exact same time, however, they were not able the maintain the heat or freshness of the food. I cannot be excited about a restaurant that sacrifices the food for "service." Furthermore, despite eating our food only took about 15 minutes, we were surprised that we were at the restaurant for an hour and a half and not because we were so caught up in conversation. The food took such a long time that we became so frustrated since we are all professionals and I'm very aware of how much my time is worth. When the check finally came, it took another twenty minutes for our cards to be processed. This left a bad taste in our mouth, that I still cannot shake.

The Metropolitan is not for the metropolitan woman. The cost , the service, and the experience makes this a place to which I would not care to return.