Metro Restaurant

We visited on a Thursday night for dinner for my wife's birthday.  When we got in, we received good service where both the hostess and waitress were very pleasant.  The atmosphere was very pleasant and relaxing with wonderful seating, lighting, and background music.

When it came time to order we wanted to get a glass of wine with our meals, neither of us knowing too much about wine types & flavors, I figured I'd ask our waitress.  She knew nothing about their wines, and constantly had to look back at her notes just to see what the wine was called.  So we each ordered a glass hoping for the best - and she told us we'd have to let her know so she'll be able to help the next people.

We then ordered our food and when we got it we were somewhat disappointed.  Neither of the meals were super impressive - it was almost like the restaurant was trying to be creative, but it wasn't working out for them.  Neither of the meals were inedible, but for the $20+ dollars we payed for each, I expected MUCH better.  The little desserts, however, were delicious.

All in all we enjoyed the experience, service, and mood, but since we came to get a wonderful meal and left disappointed in our food, I have to give it 2 stars...we were way more impressed with Blue 5 for a downtown Roanoke experience

Before you discount my one star, please note that the other 4 star reviewers are reviewing on atmosphere, bar, and in some cases sushi...so here goes...Oh my...such high expectations from the first few minutes..very cool lighting...awesome ambiance...a stellar menu..really feeling like this was a good choice for the couple I was hosting at a conference. Hmmm..... then the reality. My two guests ordered steaks from the restaurant's  extensive full page menu of steaks, toppings, sauces, and sides. One ordered medium well and one ordered medium rare. I ordered the lamb shank. Well the medium well steak came out well done and the medium rare steak came out as a well done brick that required a chain saw to cut. It was a NY strip, however it was shaped like a boat's hull -pointy at both ends and wide and curved in the middle - never saw a steak cut like that, but nice and thick - easy to cook medium or rare. It was literally dry as a chip, not a drop of juice and completely stringy... well well well  done. We very nicely asked for a redo and were told "its a french cooking method" that results in a char on the outside. Ok...really??? don't insult my intelligence. I've been cooking steaks for 20 years at my house with a nice char on the outside and a juicy red center. It's not rocket science. This piece of meat was a travesty. So they took it back and promised a new one right away. Fifteen minutes later, a new one appears exactly the same way. Literally this was the driest piece of shoe leather I have ever seen served. This is a high end restaurant and Ponderosa would have done better. The second time, after we showed the waiter that it was exactly  as dry and done as the first piece, he said, "Well it's dry aged and dry aged beef can be dry." Are these people serious??? Morton's steak house, Capital Grille, and tons of other steakhouses serve dry aged beef and its juicy and delicious. This beef looked like it had been boiled and placed on a plate. Hideous!!! What an embarrasment for me trying to take my guests to a nice place.  The travesty on a plate caught the attention of our neighboring table, who watched my guest try to hack this piece of meat. They had ordered the lobster paella which was served cold. They were fine diners from the Roanoke area and were highly disappointed in the Metro food as well. So I paid $293 for two steaks and a lamb dish, a bottle of wine , a cup of soup and sushi... way overpriced - way under delivered. On the bright side...the crab soup was decent - not fabulous - but decent. The sushi was reportedly good as was the truffle mac and cheese. My lamb was okay - but also served lukewarm and coagulated as if it had been sitting a long time...Oh...did I mention we waited forever for our entrees???..will not go back, despte the cool lighting and fabulous ambiance. Maybe ok for a drink at the bar. On another good note, after the second ridiculous NY strip came out, the waiter took it off the bill. However, while it was CLEAR as a bell that this steak should not be served (really I cant stress how much of a joke this meat was), the waiter never acknowledged that yes, in fact, it was unacceptable. That bothered me.

Had an amazing experience yesterday for a Saturday lunch. Amazing food and even better service for the group of 7 I was with.