July 2016 - Eat it Charlotte

Address: 1601 Elizabeth Ave, Charlotte, NC 28204 The Customshop is a popular restaurant located in the Elizabeth neighborhood that offers both small, (almost) tapas style dishes, along with regular sized main courses. My evening (luckily?) included three other guests allowing me to taste a variety of dishes. I will admit I had high hopes for this place as soon as I walked in, as it looked very modern and lively. Unfortunately, not unlike a Friday night at last call (long time ago, long time ago {looks around}), looks can be deceiving, and good can turn to ugly rather quickly. In the present day, I tend to rate places in my head as I am eating, Customshop started strong, but the score seemed to fall with every bite. The meal began with me loving the décor and the atmosphere, and ended with me wanting my hunger back... The Good: The interior of the restaurant is very nice; it reminds me of a place I would find in a bigger city like New York. Elizabeth is a nice neighborhood and the Customshop atmosphere does it justice. It was crowded, especially for a Wednesday night, so if you go on the weekend it is probably best to call ahead. The bar adds to the environment nicely, it is roomy and inviting, a perfect place to grab a drink if you are in the neighborhood. The meal started out great, the bread was some of the best I have had, it was extremely light and crisp, a classic focaccia. We ordered a couple of items on the menu: the octopus (shown above) would have been great, had it not been cold. I'm not sure if that's what was intended, but the temperature took away from what could have amounted to some pretty sublime flavors. The Brussel sprouts were also on their way to amazing for about three bites, and then unfortunately, they took a sharp turn to almost sickeningly sweet. The sprouts are coated with a maple syrup, something I liked all of a second until I realized I wasn't eating dessert. To be honest, I can't say I particularly liked any dish; I just disliked some less than others. The Bad: The food was the worst thing about this eatery, as I mentioned previously, I didn't enjoy the majority of my meal. My least favorite item was the Spicy Tuna Meatballs (pictured below) in a perfect world they would be removed from the menu and any copy of the recipe would be burned to avoid it falling into the wrong hands. The strangest part about the dish (or maybe me..) is that I kept eating them, somehow expecting the dish to improve. The meatball didn't taste like tuna, beef, or pork, it was close to indescribable, but I have settled on 'not good.' The sauce further hampered the dish, it was a thick marinara with an almost paste like consistency, decorated with a few root vegetarian . The Braised Pork Belly was also a major disappointment, I love pork belly, but this one was extremely over cooked/dry. I actually left some on the plate, until asked by the waitress if I wanted to finish it: anyone who knows me knows that if I leave food on a plate you should check my pulse, because It doesn't happen often. The fact that I left pork belly, one of my favorite foods, just sitting there until I felt compelled to eat it out of courtesy, says something. My guests had both ordered two main courses, the Smoked Duck and the Scallops A La Plancha, both were not met with rave reviews. The duck clearly disappointed; the first bite verdict was that it was a bit chewy. As this is not someone I have ever seen complain about anything, the duck must have been pretty bad. The scallops were met with slightly better reviews, but the person only had had scallops twice (in her LIFE!) and stated she liked the others much better. It is in my experience that if while eating something, you say a similar dish at a different restaurant is better, than it isn't that good. I compare that to being on a date and thinking, "this person is OK, but the person yesterday was way better," probably not the best endorsement of the situation. My wife tried one and said it seemed as if they were slightly undercooked. Overall the food experience was not a good one, and for the price not a value either. The Ugly: I am going to double down on the food here and then expand, because it is warranted. To recap, the octopus was cold, duck was chewy, meatballs were awful, pork belly was dry, brussel sprouts were overly sweet and the scallops were undercooked. The amount of disappointment in this meal can not be overstated, it is as if I were a child and waited all night for Christmas morning only to run down stairs and realize I was Jewish (I'm part Jewish by the way, so please don't send letters). I was expecting another Soul GastroPub, but I ended up with a high priced, over-engineered, well-plated, tasteless pomp creating the most unfortunate of circumstances. The Verdict (Casual Dining) 5 out of 10: This score may be more generous than the food warranted, but the bar and atmosphere help lessen the damage of the poor meal. If you have been dying to try Customshop, go for a drink before heading to another spot in the area. It is probably a good idea to stay away from the food to avoid disappointment, but if you must, try the octopus and place it close to the ambiance candle.