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Metropolitan, Upscale Dining from the Owners of Lemongrass - on West Street in Downtown Annapolis - Closed.


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The Post favorably reviewed Metropolitan, a new addition to the Annapolis dining scene.

Kudos to Lee Blackwood!

Pastry chef Lee Blackwood, whose background includes work at the District's Galileo and the White House, continues Metropolitan's inventive streak. Panna cotta, made with buttermilk and layered with apricots, had just the right bite. Her Pink and Green dessert pairs luscious strawberry gelato with a vivid green lime mousse tart, which was just too green for me.

But her passion fruit consomme, a cool fruit soup, with ethereal chocolate ravioli is the kind of original dish that will keep me returning to Metropolitan.

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Finally made it to Metropolitan this weekend for a joint birthday dinner with one of my good friends. Overall, the experience was enjoyable, but I have to say all the hype is a little overdone.

The space and atmosphere really are very nice. My friend and I had to sit in the bar area on the first floor because we did not have reservations (I'm helpless without OpenTable) and I really liked the white decor and comfy pillows. The service, on the other hand, left something to be desired. We had to flag down a server after sitting for about 10 minutes waiting for someone to ask us for our drink orders. Then, when our server came to take our dinner orders, I had to ask her if there were any specials (there were) which kind of ticked me off because she was more than generous with information to the people sitting next to us, who happened to be older and probably richer than me and my friend (but we were cuter).

Now, on to the food. I started with a crab claw and avocado salad, which was fine, but I'm not really sure why they used claw meat when there is plenty of delicious lump crab meat available. The salad would have been much better that way. Then, I moved on to the roasted beet salad. Now, I love beets, and will order them whenever they are on a menu. But when I order a beet salad, I want BEETS, not four little slivers of beet (which, put together, probably didn't even amount to half an actual beet) hidden under a giant pile of greens. Maybe I'm demanding, but this salad left something to be desired.

My entree, wild salmon with baby artichokes and mushrooms was also fine, but it was just so...plain. It wasn't even sauced, and the artichokes and mushrooms were minimal. Maybe that's the point of this place. I don't know. But even with teeny portions, you'd think they'd be able to come up with food that's a little more dimensional.

My dessert was the highlight of the evening. Fruit consomme with chocolate ravioli. The Post reviewer had it right -- it's worth going to Metropolitan just for this dessert. It's heavenly, and the portion is huge unlike the other courses.

The owner, I believe his name is Gavin, sat at the table next to us and talked to to the older, richer people for about 10 minutes. I was disappointed that he did not at least say hello to us and ask us how we were enjoying ourselves. Besides the people next to us, there were two other occupied tables, and it would have been a nice gesture for him to say hello. Again, maybe too demanding on my part.

Bottom line -- I would give this place another try, but with lowered expectations.

Anybody else have a similar experience?

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I've only showed wine there - seemed small and a little bit "hip" for Annapolis. Haven't heard a negative thing about the food though.....

This is owned by the same people that own Tsunami's in Annapolis and I have had many-a-good meal at Tsunami's. My guess is let these guys settle in, mature, and develop a personality and then go back. Or, just head to Tsunami's and check their sushi out - delish!

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sunday night this restaurant gave me a new insight into my relationship with dining. that the space is very well done has been mentioned before, but i don't think that acurately describes the charm of this space. exposed brick all around, deftly lighted to make everyone more attractive, this dining room screams romance. there is also a heated roof deck for smoking, lounging, or whatever.

the wine list focuses on boutique vineyards, and interesting varietals and is priced extremely reasonably. i saw many bottles that were being sold for 60-70% of what they would command in this market. justin, one of the wine stewards, could not have been a more gracious host. i liked the fact that the managers were attired with a nod towards hip.

once i was told that sundays are 1/2 price wine night (all bottles under $100) i knew that it was going to be a two bottle night. my guest and i had three courses and shared a cheese board. the amuse bouche was a very literal interpetation - fois gras ice cream and strawberry pop-rocks. some might view that as gimickery but it was very fun. other courses of note: pancetta wrapped day boat scallops, with a trail of crushed pistachios, and mango foam; lamb loin with winter vegetables.

moreover, the food was solid for this price point. some of the presentations landed on the precious side of artful. the lobster risotto was overdone to the extent that i was convinced that the cook on the pasta station had an off night or was really pissed about the four top that was seated 5 minutes before close.

none of the slight misteps from the kitchen mattered that much to me. the space, the service, the wine list, and the 1/2 prices wines gave this place a spot on my list of new favorites. i realized that i would rather have food that is a 7, and service of 9 on a ten point scale, than the other way around. i am so enamored of this place that i am headed back this sunday, with 4 freinds in tow, for dinner. even adding in the cost of a hotel room (i would not even think about driving back to dc after 1/2 price wine night), this a bargain according to my sensiblities.

eta: posting from the opentable computer and without spell check, sorry for the spelling.

Edited by starfish
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Finally made it to Metropolitan this weekend for a joint birthday dinner with one of my good friends. Overall, the experience was enjoyable, but I have to say all the hype is a little overdone.

The space and atmosphere really are very nice. My friend and I had to sit in the bar area on the first floor because we did not have reservations (I'm helpless without OpenTable) and I really liked the white decor and comfy pillows. The service, on the other hand, left something to be desired. We had to flag down a server after sitting for about 10 minutes waiting for someone to ask us for our drink orders. Then, when our server came to take our dinner orders, I had to ask her if there were any specials (there were) which kind of ticked me off because she was more than generous with information to the people sitting next to us, who happened to be older and probably richer than me and my friend (but we were cuter).

Now, on to the food. I started with a crab claw and avocado salad, which was fine, but I'm not really sure why they used claw meat when there is plenty of delicious lump crab meat available. The salad would have been much better that way. Then, I moved on to the roasted beet salad. Now, I love beets, and will order them whenever they are on a menu. But when I order a beet salad, I want BEETS, not four little slivers of beet (which, put together, probably didn't even amount to half an actual beet) hidden under a giant pile of greens. Maybe I'm demanding, but this salad left something to be desired.

My entree, wild salmon with baby artichokes and mushrooms was also fine, but it was just so...plain. It wasn't even sauced, and the artichokes and mushrooms were minimal. Maybe that's the point of this place. I don't know. But even with teeny portions, you'd think they'd be able to come up with food that's a little more dimensional.

My dessert was the highlight of the evening. Fruit consomme with chocolate ravioli. The Post reviewer had it right -- it's worth going to Metropolitan just for this dessert. It's heavenly, and the portion is huge unlike the other courses.

The owner, I believe his name is Gavin, sat at the table next to us and talked to to the older, richer people for about 10 minutes. I was disappointed that he did not at least say hello to us and ask us how we were enjoying ourselves. Besides the people next to us, there were two other occupied tables, and it would have been a nice gesture for him to say hello. Again, maybe too demanding on my part.

Bottom line -- I would give this place another try, but with lowered expectations.

Anybody else have a similar experience?

Our experience last spring was totally different, but we are older, not rich, nor, are we cute. We arrived just after they opened on a Saturday for a class of wine (had reservations at Lewnes that night). We asked if they would seat us at the roof deck bar. We were led upstairs by a lovely young lady who told us we were the first customers of the evening and to sit where ever we liked. We were also told the bartender would be with us in a moment. It was an extremely hot day and we decided to sit on one of the lounges under an overhang to stay out of the sun.

The bartender actually came out from behind the bar and brought us a wine list. We asked him for suggestions and he gave us several in various price ranges. We ordered, he brought the drinks, and sat down with us and talked. (He was very young). After spending about fifteen minutes talking to us he left to set up the bar and help out a waitress who was setting up tables on the roof deck.

We paid our check, left for our dinner reservation. We will make a point to have dinner there on our next trip to Annapolis.

P.S. Lewnes was a disapointment. Not awful (we loved the bar and bartender there too) but just not up to the expectations we had from others.

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So the Metropolitan is alive and kicking and has been for a bit, we should revise the title of this thread.  I went for brunch last week.  I had the fried chicken sandwich.  I would have liked it better sans pickle, but I am on the no-pickle side of the fried chicken sandwich debate.  It wasn't bad with the pickle, and I like some pickles, it's just no pickles is better IMHO.  That didn't stop me from wolfing it down though as I had gone to the gym earlier and was hungry.  They have good burgers and I particularly like the lamb burger.  The fries are good.  They have live music frequently.

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