Review of Churchill’s
Posted on 10 March, 2010 | No Comments
By Staff of Como Whine and Dine
Thank you to our reader, Drew, for the wonderful review of Churchill’s. Since we had not yet reviewed it, we were very excited to hear his take. Here it is:
Several Weekends ago my Wife (henceforth referred to as B) and I decided to try Churchill’s for the first time. I hadn’t heard much about it until some of B’s coworkers recommended it. The restaurant itself was a bit tricky to find. It’s within the Holiday Inn Select (by the Columbia Mall) and has it’s own entrance on the north side of the hotel (facing Hwy 70). We entered from the south side of the hotel and had to walk a ways through the hotel until we found it.
We made a reservation ahead of time, but the restaurant was not busy anyway and I think we could have gotten right in (it was the weekend after Valentine’s Day, so we were expecting it to be a little less crowded as most people went out the weekend before). I got the impression that it was normally much more crowded and it says on the web site that reservations are recommended.
We found Churchill’s Menu(http://www.holidaycolumbia.com/pdfs/Churchill_Menu/Churchills_Dinner_Menu.pdf)
to be diverse and inviting. We both had a hard time settling upon one specific item we wanted to try and I for one would try different items in subsequent visits because they all sounded delicious. Churchill’s seemed to be prepared for the Wine Lover, though I don’t know much about wine to offer specifics. I love beer, and Churchill’s was ill-prepared for my tastes. They had a moderately diverse selection of domestic lagers and standard offerings, but nothing I wanted to drink. I would love to see a draft IPA offering in future, perhaps some bottles of some of the richer beers: Imperial Stout, Double IPA, Barleywine, etc. To Churchill’s credit, the Mountain Dew was delicious =)
The Meal:
They brought warm bread to the table with the water. Accompanying the bread were 3 types of delicious spreads: butter, honey butter and raspberry butter. We started with the Oysters Rockefeller, one of B’s favorites. It consists of Baked Oysters with spinach and cheese. We both thought they were very good, though we both like Jack’s version better (+bacon!). Next time we go I think we will likely try the Brie in puffed pastry, another of our favorites. Post appetizer the waiter brought by a gift from the chef, a small plate with rye bread, a dill-heavy sauce and smoked salmon. It was light and delicious and a lovely gesture.
For Salads, B’s meal came with the Churchill’s salad: Bibbed lettuce, fresh mozzarella, tomato and balsamic vinaigrette. It was exceptional, especially considering it’s simplicity. My salad choice was the Salade Épinards, a brandied spinach salad. I was unaware when ordering this item that it was both a warm salad and that it was prepared table-side. I loved the flavors but would get the standard salad next time as I thought the spinach salad was just a bit too much flavor, was a bit too filling, and a bit too much of an ordeal having it made table-side.
B’s main course was the Canard Aux Framboises, a roasted duck with raspberry demi-glaze, asparagus and yukon gold mashed potatoes. The plate was way too much food for B, 2 full duck breasts and a generous helping of sides. B claims that it was likely the best dish she’d ever had, and I thought it was magnificent. My meal was the Beef Chianti: A filet of beef tenderloin with chianti reduction with shitaki mushrooms and blue cheese, and the same mashed potatoes and asparagus sides. The steak was perfectly prepared and had an excellent flavor. For dessert we had a dark chocolate creme brulee and the Bananas Foster. Though the creme brulee was delicious, it was completed outclassed by the Bananas Foster. It was a table-side preparation / performance in which they combine bananas, rum, butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar and vanilla ice cream. I’ve had this several times in the past and thought that this was the best I’ve had, highly recommended.
The Service:
Our waiter knew what he was doing and had clearly been doing it for a long time. Our glasses were never empty, the meal had a nice pace and everyone was very polite. That said, I have some complaints. Our waiter had a cold and we both thought it was impolite for him to be working. I don’t know the reasons he was still working, but he should have been home recovering from his illness while someone else covered for him. Despite his illness, we felt he did an excellent job. We also ended up feeling that the interaction between the staff was too overt. The intricacies of waiting on the tables should be discussed in hushed voices, not projected across the restaurant. This could have been due to some new employees or something akin to that, but could have been handled better.
The Price:
Our meal ended up being ~$100 before tip which we felt was a very good deal for the caliber of food offered.
Overall:
B and I have sampled nearly every restaurant in Columbia, so I’m surprised we’d never been to Churchill’s. Our favorites restaurants for special occasions or super-nice meals have been Jack’s and CC’s City Broiler for a long time. While my review was critical on some areas of our meal, we loved it and I think that Churchill’s will be a significant contender for our business in the future.
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