Leave Satisfied at the Uneven Gunther & Co.

Posted On November 19, 2018

I like going into a meal with little to no expectations. If I can be as impartial as possible before embarking on nice dinner, I feel it makes for a more honest reaction to the experience. I don’t even like to look at menus before I go, so I can soak up everything at once. Of course, my wife is the opposite, and wants to decide what she is having before we even make reservations. That’s the fun of going out to eat though, everyone has their own take, and their own way to experience.

This being my first visit to Gunther & Co., I certainly had very little expectations. Other than the fact that scenes from “House of Cards” were filmed there, I had heard very little about it.

As we entered, we were greeted warmly by a hostess in the bar area. The bar is large and, U-Shaped, the best bar shape known to man. Most seats were filled at the bar on a chilly Friday night. My wife and I were led to our table in another room, which like the bar, is expansive. What appears to be an old factory of some sort has been renovated into a one and a half story restaurant, with a large open kitchen where the chef was calmly leading his team. A living wall of greenery is at your side on the stairway, and though it adds a nice touch, having those greens be edible and used in the meal would be even more impressive than typical houseplants.

We were seated at a two top, in between two other couples who were at different stages of their meals. Though properly staggered, one couple eating their entrees and the other having just ordered, the tables were so close that I felt we were interrupting their meals. It was a very quiet first ten minutes at our seats as the three couples got comfortable being in close quarters.

That ten minutes does stick out to me clearly though, as that is how long we waited for our drink order to be taken. After a long week, getting my first drink order in, a few minutes after sitting down, is important to starting out on the right foot. This did not set a great tone for the meal, but 5 minutes later I was sipping on a well made, if a little weak, Knob Creek Old Fashioned.

Though they seem to have a stellar cocktail program, none of the cocktails seemed to be what I was craving at the time, and the server didn’t seem to know, based on my preferences, which cocktail I would like, so I instead chose to imbibe on a classic, which lets me know if the bartenders really know their stuff. You know, in case I want a second cocktail.

On the same menus as the cocktails, Gunther & Co lists the offered dishes for the evening. Yes I said menus, plural, and I am still confused by it. One menu lists dishes they serve all day, and another menu that lists what can only be ordered for dinner. This set up did nothing to make our decision easier, as we did take awhile to zero in our choices. The server took our order and we settled into our seats, getting more comfortable with the close quarters of our companions after a few sips of bourbon.

Our first course we split “Caesar Burrata” and what I am calling “Octopus Cassoulet”. The Burrata was uninspired and unnecessary.  In the restaurant world, the Caesar salad is a bit of joke, no chef wants it on their menu, but they are forced to because it sells so well. I assume same goes for flavorless cheese as well. It is seemingly beneath the palate of a professional chef, and very little effort goes into it, and it showed here. The dish came out with the burrata sitting on top of a few tiny leaves of romaine, lightly dressed surrounded by crushed up pieces of crostini. Sometimes a dish just needs a tweak to improve, but this just needs to be scrapped. Overall, it was sad and bland but thankfully the only culinary miss we had.

On the other end of the food spectrum was the Octopus Cassoulet. It was the hit of the evening. The Octopus was perfectly tender, sitting on a bed of perfectly seasoned duck fat cooked white beans in a charming cast iron pan. Both my wife and I remarked we could have eaten it all night. A home run of a dish.

I ended up ordering goat cheese ravioli from the “All Day” Menu, while my wife picked the Thai Hot Pot off of the dinner menu. Again, these were two really well executed dishes.

The ravioli, though small in portion, was a perfect fall dish with a buttery and delicious squash puree, roasted deilcata squash and roasted mushrooms. My wife, not fond of goat cheese, was worried she would not like it, but even she overcame the tangy goat cheese and enjoyed it.

The Thai hot pot was just that, HOT. Served in a preheated ceramic bowl, and well spiced, it was hot in every sense of the word. The spicy, yet, well balanced curry broth held a generous portion of fresh mussels, clams, rockfish, scallops, and shrimp, while a side of white rice made the dish whole. The ceramic bowl kept the soup steaming hot for the entire time it was eaten. A very impressive dish, on an eclectic menu, it certainly stood out as something you can’t easily find in Baltimore.

Our dessert was a frozen salted caramel tart. So frozen, every time we used a spoon to cut into it, it made a loud clang against the plate. Certainly awkward and probably not as intended, but for the life of us, we could not cut into it without nearly breaking the plate. It was rich, and cold, and a satisfying end to a meal.

Overall, a bit uneven of an experience, from OK service to mostly delicious food, I can see why this place is successful. But for the prices paid, I expect a little more refinement from the staff and perhaps more spacious seating.