The Admiral

So for starters let me say this has been our go to 5 star fav restaurant for going on 3 yrs now. We ate there last night and I’m sad to report we will probably not return. We had a sad break up with our first love: the moment we walked in our hearts sank to see the booths with sexy curtains had been replaced with a new boxy mainstream design of booths filling up the space «better» per say. The loungey banquette had also been removed in order to cram in more tables. The blinds were open… if you’re a frequenter you know this is a no no for a restaurant you «disappear» in. But the bigger no no was what the natural light unveiled– dirty surfaces and air vents and falling out ceiling tiles… all of which I had rarely noticed until now but could not keep my loving eyes off in this visit. The defining piece of décor in my design opinion is the neon «dive» sign that hangs proudly in the corner of the main room. I asked the host what happened to it and he struggled to find it after promising it was still around… oh there it is over there (hiding beside the kitchen sandwiched at the end of the bar), it’s just not turned on he said. Should’ve left at that. But nevertheless we love the admiral so we sat down. As we were looking at the menu we were joined by some unwanted friends who made their way with all six legs across the menu to help us decide what tasted the sweetest. Yes. Ants. After notifying the server he wiped down the table and window sill where they were coming from and that was basically the last we heard from him. The next person who came by explained a couple menu items and then asked are you gonna order something. Just overall broke our hearts. I wanted to cry. From what has always been my favorite plate to eat and room to eat it in, the service was rude and unusual and I could’ve salted my flat iron it was so flavorless. Oh and did I mention they raised the prices and reduced the portions. Sounds like the owner may have gotten a bit greedy to squeeze in more tables, charge more and offer less all across the charcuterie board.

We were so glad to have a dinner at the last night of staying Asheville. It is very small place and kinda dark lighting. It creates nice cozy atmosphere.
We had a Mac and cheese for my daughter. It was nice. Then we had fried oyster, fried smelt, duck conflict, and quill. Everything was so awesome. We really loved seasoning for duck and quill. The duck got Asian flavor to it and the quill got Mexican flavor. We had best dishes that we had. The fried oyster and smelt were very light not greasy.
You must try this place if you are at Asheville.

The food scene in Ashville is among the best I’ve ever come across, with natural, local and delicious being common denominators. The Admiral, however, is even more than that. I can confidently say that the meal we enjoyed here was among the best dinners we’ve ever had. Everything was spot on, from service to drinks.
We dined later on a weeknight and it was plenty busy, call ahead and save yourself the wait.

What a great find in Asheville! We were visiting for a week for a cycling race, and found this gem on our last night. We sat at the bar, and enjoyed the company of the bartender. He recommended some great dishes which I’m reluctant to recommend because I hear their menu changes weekly. For my main course, I had scallops which were prepared perfectly. My husband had the pork chop which he is still talking about a week later.
If you are in the area, make sure this is on your list of restaurants. You won’t be disappointed.

I can’t review the food but I want it on record that being from out of town reading Unilocal,it was one of the only places still open, we drove ten minutes from the hotel to find that Unilocal was wrong, they stop seating at 9:30 (we got there at 9:37) and close at ten. The hostess wasn’t that welcoming as she casually told us they won’t be able to serve us… the place was packed not a table in the place or seat at the bar to be had. Plenty of outdoor but none near the fire and it was a bit cold and rainy anyhow… A little disappointed as we only have a couple days in town and we aren’t bothering making an effort to attempt that dive (y) spot again.
Ten minutes there, 5 minutes of being inside, ten more of figuring out what might possibly be open in town, and ten minutes getting there, we found parking and got our late dinner around 10:30 or so somewhere downtown which we felt forced into… Be warned when in Asheville nothing good seems to be open too late and the attitude everywhere you go just seems so off-​putting to say the least.

I always feel bad leaving bad reviews, but this place got on my nerves…
I guess I don’t get it. I have an affection for small plate places with beautifully crafted cuisine, but my experience at The Admiral was the low-​point of this trip to Asheville (which in reality means it was an overall great trip!). I want to say right off the bat that most of what we ordered was prepared wonderfully and that our server was delightful. However, price/​portions, wait time, and the snooty-​enough host each cost this place a full star.
I’m really shocked that this establishment charges what they do with a straight face (Wait… I paid HOW MUCH for what turned out to be 2 ½ tiny, roasted figs?). Add my scallops entrée, and I basically paid about $ 24 for one cup of perfectly prepared food. The curried fried chicken my partner had tasted great, until he hit a bone in what he thought was a breast and found far more red/​pink meat than should be served to humans. He just left the rest of it on the plate and we were done.
The wait time between having out plates removed and receiving out check gave us ample time to plan what we’d be eating for «real dinner» after we left. It even beat out the wait time between ordering and receiving our gourmet kids meals. :)
The first time we tried to dine here, the host told us they closed at 9:30pm and «yeah”-ed every word I uttered to my partner about it not being cool to order so late (we were there an hour and a half before actual closing and he told us there was an hour wait and then they closed). Way to make us feel welcome! With undercooked chicken and inflated prices for bread and veg, I assumed one would attempt to make up for it in atmosphere.

One of our all time favorite restaurants! We stopped here on our road trip to Florida and it was amazing! The food was so good and we continue to talk about this place all the time.
Hopefully one day we can go back again!

Omg — do not miss this place. Small but amazing service and taste! Everything was amazing — unique-​small plate so you can taste many.

Holy smokes. This place just blew my socks off. It was awkward retrieving them from the bar but at least they didn’t land in anyone’s drink.
I read some less-​than-​perfect reviews about the service– not our experience in the slightest. Our waitress was incredibly nice, attentive and flexible. Super cool.
The food was insane. Everything was fantastic; most impressive to me was the Chianti from Siena and the rabbit pasta. The last time I had that combo was in Tuscany and the Admiral totally nailed it and brought me back.
If I could nominate them for some awards, I would. I absolutely loved my experience there and I bet you will too.

I heard a lot about this place and there were awesome reviews. My boyfriend wanted to take me to a nice dinner, so we agreed on The Admiral. The corn bisque and oysters were amazing! Kudos to the chef :)
Unfortunately, our server made us feel very uncomfortable from the beginning. We ate appetizers, with a beer and left. Server missed out on some money. We wanted to do a 4-​course and taste the menu.
I’ll try again next time I head to Asheville.

My husband and I love this small nondescript restaurant. Although the building isn’t much to look at, the food is absolutely 5 stars. My husband is notorious for sending back an improperly cooked steak. We have eaten here twice and both times the ribeye came out cooked to perfection. Thank you!
We have also tried their pork chop, rabbit bolognese, octopus and sweetbreads. Everything has been delicious and we plan on making eating here a habit when we are in town.
We highly recommend this joint if you know good food!

We visited The Admiral during the fall color period. I was able to get a late reservation mid week. Here’s my dining report.
The building from the street is nothing to look at. It looks like someplace you’d buy a carburetor or order plumbing parts from. However, you enter from the side which has a patio along the side with a tiny parking lot. Inside, it’s a darker red-​walled affair with the kitchen immediately in front of you and a diner like layout. A bar replaces the dining counter. Booths lin the long wall with a row of four top tables filling the gap. It’s no wonder that reservations are needed, there isn’t a lot of seating. It’s a cozy ambiance, not very dark. The staff was energetic in a hip cool way.
While we waited for our table, I ordered an Admiral Manhattan. Bulleit bourbon with chocolate bitters, brandied cherries. It wasn’t too sweet. The drink was smooth with a velvety chocolate taste. A single cherry at the bottom, a prize for the finish. We were seated before my drink was even ready at a booth. The bartender was happy to send the drink over and didn’t even mention about settling at the bar.
For appetizers, we ordered bread and butter and the yakitori octopus. The bread came out warm with a cold generous pat of butter. The bread from City Bakery was delicious, nicely warmed, not toasted hard, and cut into nearly inch thick slices. I buttered the first piece and then cut chunks of butter and let them sit on the other pieces. Letting them warm before future buttering. The olive oil wasn’t heavily applied and I thought I wanted more before I just came to enjoy what was there and realize the bread was great as presented.
The yakitori was great. Two kabobs with three pieces of octopus each. The octopus was grilled and lightly charred. The octopus had a great taste, not overly seasoned. We both remarked how the octopus was cooked without being chewy at all. It came with some brussel sprouts which were slightly firm for me. The octopus was allowed to taste like octopus without being overwhelmed with sauces or seasonings. I’m glad there was a kabob for each of us otherwise there would’ve been words.
For the meal, we had a three small plates rather than entrees. We ate a late lunch and there were too many intriguing small plate options. The entrees we saw come out, looked like very good sized protein portions. The rack of boar ribs did call out to me, but I agreed to go for the small plates trio.
We started with an interesting version of paella. Mussels, large shrimp over a wild rice with a flavorful tomato based sauce. It wasn’t as cooked together as a traditional paella, but we also didn’t have to wait a half hour for it. The mussels were good, but I felt like the shrimp stole the show. Perfectly cooked, I made the mistake of eating too many mussels and my wife had gotten most of the shrimp. The wild rice was really flavorful with a slight tooth for texture.
The braised short rib came out next. Cooked to perfection and not sauced. It had an array or parsnip chips and sat atop a sweet potato mash. The savory bites of short rib along with the sweet potato and then a crunch of parsnip made for great bites. It’s a great well constructed dish.
For the final plate, rabbit bolognese was brought out. Another great dish. Home made pasta with a nice meaty sauce. The carrots were nicely cooked, allowed to keep some firmness for an added layer of texture. The sauce was rich and although the meat didn’t seem especially rabbity to me, it tasted excellent. It wasn’t very spicy. The pasta was cooked just right. Just another excellent multi layered dish.
We didn’t get dessert because we were nicely stuffed.
Overall impression of The Admiral? It’s definitely earned the top spot. Each dish was great in its own regard. Nothing cute or clever, no gimmicks. Simple dishes, executed well. Visually each was lovely. Each small plate incorporated texture and taste for multiple layers of gustatory pleasure. I’d go the small plate route again. There’s just too much to taste and try not to. You’ve got to respect a kitchen that can put together 5 dishes in a row, each done fantastically. Each of the three small plates was probably one of the best I’ve had of that type and definitely memorable. And the service was prompt and friendly.

Went her for a nice dinner out with the little lady and this place came highly recommended on Unilocal so we thought we’d check it out. Since they were not taking reservations at the time we had to get on the wait list when we arrived. No biggie, it took about 40 minutes for us to be seated but we were ok with camping out. The layout of this place is a little odd in that the building was obviously at one point in it’s life a crappy diner or dive bar or both. The inside has a mix of Booths, tables and counter top seating along the bar area and outside walls. Once we were seated though I guess we got the «leftover» seats as we were parked in a cramped corner with a small strip of counter space, facing a wall. Our chairs were basically bar stools and not very comfy on the back. I figured since we hadn’t set reservations we’d just have to live with the crappy seats while we watched other 2 top tables lounging in their 4 person booths and 4 person tables. Oh well, better luck next time I guess… The server we got must have been having a off night since she started off by forgetting our drink order. She was speedy on the water refills but slow about taking our orders. We were kinda perplexed because the place was probably at, if you took into account the empty patio, less than half capacity. Once we finally got around to ordering we got the mega cheese board and the paella and duck adobo. We sat for a good 30 – 45 minutes eating our cheese board that promptly came out and chatting before the waitress came back over and gave us the «I’m feeling a little ditzy tonight, can you please remind me of what you ordered?» line. Which is basically code for «oh shit, I forgot to put your order in». So we reminded her and she happily moseyed off to actually enter our food order. This lead to the highlight of the evening which was the food itself. The paella was some of the best I’ve ever had and the Duck adobo was absolutely out of this world. My only complaint was that the portions were a little on the skimpy side but about what you would expect at a «high end» restaurant. After we finished our meal and waited for our ditzy waitress to not bring the check I had to ask for we decided we’d spent enough time there and skipped desert. All told our meal probably ran a good 1 ½ to 2 hours which is ok I guess if that is what you sign up for but not ok when your waitress forgets to put your order in.
All in all, ambiance was crappy sitting facing the wall on a bar stool. Service sucked. Food was amazing… If you go here be sure and make a reservation well ahead of time and ask for a table or a booth.

This is a great spot for dinner and drinks for romantic evenings with your significant other or for groups. I’ve been here several times & each visit I get the beef tartare, and my husband gets the rib-​eye. Their menu is based off meat dishes but there are a few vegetarian options (highly recommend the apple balsamic salad, yum!)
We visited on a Thursday night with a group of 6, and although they couldn’t seat us for 45 minutes past our reservation (very limited seating,) we were able to sit at the bar where they comp’d us a delicious appetizer of cheese & fruit. Our server was Abby and she was wonderful and so accommodating.
This is a definite must for locals & a treat for tourists, too!

The Admiral is an unassuming place. From the outside, if you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t even think to stop there. But once you enter, you find a cozy dive bar with tables and booths for serving food. But you came here just for the drinks, you would be missing out. Because the food here is fabulous.
I only ordered a few appetizers instead of a full blown entrée, but judging from those, I can say with certainty that there’s not a bad thing on the menu. The attention to detail they have and the flavors that they have in their food leave diners with a gourmet experience.
The service is also very attentive and helpful.
Asheville is one of those towns with an exciting buzz about it with lots of places to check out. The Admiral should be atop of your list.

I was staying at the Biltmore Inn nearby so I decided to try out this spot since it was close by. It’s a very chill and casual restaurant. But the presentation of the food looks like it’s from a $$$ restaurant.
Ordered: naan & hummus, mussels, pork belly, duck adobo, crème brûlée.
Although it was called naan, it’s actually regular pita bread. The hummus was very creamy and full of flavor. There is nothing bad I can say about the mussels. It was fresh and delicious. Pork belly was cooked and seasoned perfectly minus the awfully sour avocado cream/​sauce used as a garnish on top. Duck was tender and sweet. Very delicious. It also came bamboo (green) rice that was creamy but unique tasting. I was disappointed in the crème brûlée. It was way too sweet by itself and the sugar on top just made it worse.
Although the these were small plates, I thought the portions were pretty big. It could be eaten as an entrée.

Very simply, it was the best meal (of this type… excluding BBQ) I’ve ever had in NC. Everything was cooked perfectly and the service was present but not in-​your-​face.
First of all, this is clearly a former dive bar. Enough of the old vibe has been retained. This is good.
They’re doing the «mixology» schtick with the cocktails and it works. They’re a little heavy-​handed with the booze, so the flavors are a little unbalanced, but hey… more booze.
The best way to win at The Admiral is to stick with the smaller plates and just have a bunch of those. The cheese plate was so good it was bonkers. The swordfish (something I don’t eat a whole lot of) was the best I’ve ever had. And so on & so forth. It was all excellent and I wouldn’t hesitate to put up with the lousy West Asheville parking to go back.
Another important thing to note is that this place is casual. I’m not saying I’d show up in a tank top and flip-​flops, but shorts & a collared shirt are fine.

Solid 3 – 4 stars but far from a 5.
I was very irritated upon arrival when I found out the DJ didn’t start til 11:30. I had made a reservation for later than 9pm but the person answering phone suggested 9 to eat and enjoy dancing afterwards. I can understand this if we were a large party but just the two of us finished our meal in an hour. I was very sad we would have to wait over an hour to dance, so we got a ride home.
The cheese plate was fabulous, drinks were awesome, ribeye was tasty but very fatty. The strawberry dessert was nothing exciting but tasted good.
All in all a nice meal. Admiral still a solid joint but a tad overpriced. If I’m going to spend $ 35 on a ribeye, at least give me a whole potato with the pimento cheese.

Last minute reservations. Success. Walking into this place it seriously reminded me of like a diner. Sort of like a dark ass seafood diner. They have real candles on the tables, which I thought were pretty and that it helped set the mood of the restaurant and that they were not like those fake ones that flicker. Definitely, this place was geared toward more of a date type-​esque crowd.
So let’s get to the food:
I ordered the beef tenderloin tartare for the «ii» dish. This dish was $ 16. Because honestly, who cares about the fist? The dish was majority all bread, not going to lie. They did have this interesting egg with it though that was on top of butter. I enjoyed that. The tartare I felt wasn’t bad. I didn’t have any complaints, but it just irks me that the price of the first was pretty out there. I know, it’s tartare. It’s supposed to be expensive. Whatever. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but it was the first thing my eye hit when I was going down on the menu.
The «iii» dish I had was the pork chop. I have to intervene on this one as this actually wasn’t the best pork chop I had. And at $ 29, it should have been. The inside of the meat I felt was over cooked as it came out dry and not as scrumptious as it could’ve been. The flavor was lacking, but they added a mustard type of topping along with a potato/​grilled onion base sauce. The sauce was good, but the pork chop standing on its own just didn’t cut it for me.
Let’s just say this restaurant is aiming for the crowd of lovers, dates, and somewhat social gatherings and not as much on food. Because mainly, I went there just for the food and to see what all the hype was about, overall it was okay to me. It’s not worth it to me, and I don’t mind paying that price for good food. I’ve done it over and over again, but I think this place might be over-​hyped.

To my fellow Foodies: please, please… I beg you… do not let the «dive like» exterior/​interior and slightly shady characters who may be loitering nearby… deter you from enjoying the wonderful experience that is The Admiral! There is a reason this restaurant has the top slot on Unilocal – it’s really terrific, for real!
Given that Asheville is a fairly short drive from Atlanta, we visit here often. My husband is a former chef from New York and I just love to eat – so, good combination (maybe not for my scale, though :-). Anyway, we love food and appreciate the Asheville dining scene. The Admiral is one of our favorites. Here’s what we had:
Starters: Duck Rillette, Arugula Salad and PEI Mussels – all fantastic!
Dinner: Seared Diver Scallops and Ribeye – loved it.
Unfortunately, we didn’t leave room for dessert, but looking forward to it on our next visit. Happy Eating!!!