Stir
Scallop & Shrimp White Cheddar Mac & Cheese
What can I say about Stir since I have such mixed feelings about this restaurant? It just opened in Charlotte and has been one of my most anticipated restaurant openings. I'm originally from Boston, so finding a delicious seafood restaurant/oyster bar in Charlotte has been a top priority.
Lots of media hype
From all of the pre-opening press and media, Stir looked FANTASTIC. The menu looked delicious, and the reviews were excellent. Once they announced opening day, I made reservations for the first day my schedule would allow. I couldn’t wait… but I was met with extreme disappointment.
“All in” on our order
When we arrived, we decided to order a wide range of drinks and food. I always want to try everything! Here’s what we had and my thoughts about the offerings:
Elderflower Sour. Vodka, St. Germain Elderflower, Monin Lime, House-Made Ginger Syrup, Cucumber. The subtle sweetness of a flower coupled with vodka & the crisp, dry sweetness of cucumber makes this drink a favorite. They add a bit of sour from preserved lime syrup & fresh ginger to give it a quenching result. It was a delicious start, and we thought it would be a great indicator of how the meal would go. Little did we know…
Stir 75. Broker's Dry Gin, La Marca Prosecco, Aperitivo Select, Fresh Lemon Juice, Sugar Cane Syrup. A refreshing spin on the classic “French 75” cocktail. Stir paired London dry gin with fresh lemon juice, sugar, & a hint of Italian aperitif liqueur, topped with Prosecco for a modern twist. It was good but not as refreshing as the Elderflower Sour.
Raw Oysters. We asked what oysters were available — and the waitress didn’t know. She had to run to the back of the restaurant to find out. There were only five types to choose from, and the options were just “average” — none of the options were overly appealing. We ordered the Blue Point. They were, as expected, fairly average. Also, something to note, the mignonette and cocktail sauce did not have any serving spoons. You have to just wiggle them out of the condiment bowls — it’s impossible to get the perfect amount.
Char-Broiled Oysters. Lemon, scampi butter, shallots, red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese. I wanted to love these, but they were overcooked and dried out.
Fried Oysters Casino. Spinach, shallots, Pernod, parmesan. Again, I wanted to love these, but they were over-battered. I felt like I was eating a chicken nugget rather than a fried oyster.
Ceviche Sampler. A sampling of Mexican, Peruvian, fried, avocado & Mahi.
Mexican: citrus cured Mahi, shrimp, avocado, salsa, cotija
Peruvian: Corvina, red onions, sweet potatoes, tiger's milk
Avocado & Mahi: Mahi, avocado, red onions, sweet potatoes, green tiger's milk
Fried: A fried ball of ceviche. The waitress didn’t know what was in it….
I wanted to love this so much. I LOVE CEVICHE. Unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about this one. I’m not sure what they did to it, but it had a chalky texture…I took one bite of each and couldn’t eat another. A bit of a disaster if you ask me.
Fried Green Tomatoes. House pimento cheese, green tomato relish, cotija cheese. The tomatoes were sliced very thin — so thin; you couldn’t even taste the tomato — just fried crunch and cheese. Meh.
Tillamook Cheeseburger. 10 oz beef patties, Tillamook cheddar, tomato, lettuce, onion, mayo, pickles, fries. So, I was HUNGRY at this point. Nothing had been satisfying. I wanted to order fish, but considering I was very underwhelmed by the food thus far, I figured a burger was a safer bet. NOPE — I was wrong. To start, I asked for it to be cooked medium, and the waitress said they were “too thin to be cooked medium.” I figured they were as thin as a patty at Shake Shack or In N Out, so OK — I can handle this. What came out were two thick patties served well done. They were so thick that they easily could have been cooked to a medium-rare. I know from experience that running a kitchen is hard work, but if you don’t know how to cook a simple burger, perhaps you shouldn’t be a chef in a restaurant.
Scallop & Shrimp White Cheddar Mac & Cheese. Cavatappi pasta, asparagus, white truffle oil. This is the dish I really wanted, but I refrained from ordering based on my experience up to this point. However, my friend still wanted to try it and... it was a DISASTER of a dish. It looks amazing. The presentation is fair, and the mac and cheese is creamy. But that’s the only positive thing this dish has going for it. The fish itself does not taste fresh. It tastes old and like it’s been frozen. That fishy flavor then permeates the entire dish. Instead of just using good fish, it was like the kitchen then tried to mask the poor quality with truffle oil…it was a failure. I love truffle, so for me to say there was too much truffle and the flavor of the bad fish still got through means IT WAS REALLY BAD.
Can dessert save it?
By the time dessert came around, I didn’t even want it. I knew it would be bad. My other friend wanted to try it, thinking something had to be good. With the reviews this restaurant was receiving, there needed to be one redeeming quality… so we ordered:
Matcha Green Tea Cheesecake. Saltine cracker crust, whipped cream, macerated berries. I’m not sure how this is even called cheesecake. I couldn’t taste the cheese. I couldn’t taste the matcha. The only thing I could taste was butter. Heaps and heaps of butter. And texturally? It wasn’t creamy. It was the consistency of firm butter — a total failure.
Chocolate Espresso Flourless Cake. Bourbon citrus caramel, whipped cream. It was a standard chocolate cake. It wasn’t anything like the menu suggested. The bourbon and citrus? I have no idea where they were…not in the cake, though. Straight chocolate, that was it.
So, what’s my verdict? 2/10. The atmosphere was OK. The servers were nice. The drinks were good. This is the only thing I recommend coming here for. The Food? Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. It’s an expensive mistake to eat here. You’ll want to order a lot of things because it all looks good on the menu, but you’ll leave thinking you should’ve just gone to Chili’s. Quality is poor, and the chef’s execution is a total disaster. I’m super bummed out about this too.
