Matt C.
Yelp
We love the Oak in Raleigh- it's a go-to for a good steakhouse experience: great steaks, impeccable service, and delicious, creative sides. We were excited to try the sister shop in Charlotte on a recent business trip.
We won't be back.
The front of the house: great. Hosted promptly and seated at a nice window table. The service: also great. Knowledgeable, personable, not overly fussy when we wanted to talk more than order. Therefore, two stars. But let's talk food.
Martini: nothing exciting. Not anything that came across as "crafted."
Special flash-fried "Lobster Bites": the clarified butter was a nice touch, but once you got to the bottom of the paper cone, it was State-fair territory.
Scallops: Delicious, and the puree they were plated on made sense.
Steaks: Okay, so I may come across suspect that I love the cheapest cut on the menu, the flat-iron. I always get it medium rare, and it's delish. The Mrs. always gets a filet (don't judge). My steak came out warm, and medium rare, coast-to-coast, looking like immersion-cooked perfection. The filet? Medium. But cold. Like, straight out of the low-boy cold. And sauces, because heck, I paid for them: weird. Pink bearnaise that had a skin on the top of the ramikin, cold, thick, almost like a terragon (and cayenne?)- flavored mayonaise.
We let the server know, and she promptly took the filet back to have them refire another, even though we just wanted to let them know, hey, not really what we expected, and didn't ask for a recook. In five minutes we got back a freshly-fired and carved filet, smothered in bearnaise (5oz filet calls for an 8oz ladle, no?), which was so warm it had curdled. The fresh pile of frites that now dwarfed the new steak were screaming hot. Message received, guys.
Brussels Sprouts on the side: again, not the best, but passable. Pickled red onions make everything brighter, even if they are out of place in a dish.
Frites: we love the truffle oil, but miss the beef tallow fries a the Raleigh store.
Maybe this was an off night to go to Oak, but with a variety tried-and-true of American Steakhouse experiences in the immediate area, Oak in CLT is a pretty expensive risk to go back and give a second chance.