Perhaps I chose poorly from the menu, or perhaps I'm just picky. Either way our dinner at Country Cat last night didn't leave me planning to go back. \r
Our group goes out monthly to a new restaurant to try it, have been doing this for 7 years now, and this was my first visit to Country Cat. It's worth noting the service was good (not great mind you, but good), very friendly, mostly prompt and attentive. A very minor nit, and one many ""open floor plan"" restaurants face, the kitchen aromas fill the restaurant; last night when we walked in we were met with a wall of ""smell"" (I say smell not fragrance or essence because it was an overwhelming 'fishy' odor that initially put me off due to it's strength).\r
After settling in this is where the real disappointment begins. Our table ordered an assortment of salads, starters and meals along with mixed drinks, beer and wine. Everything showed up in a timely manner and together (+points). First penalty, many (maybe all) the mixed drinks were iced (now i know times are tight, but this does two bad things - 1, it reduces the drink to about 20% of it's volume, and 2, it waters down the flavors almost instantly) - lesson learned, stick w/ beer or wine here. On the appetizer, this is purely a personal taste thing, but I ordered the mushroom ravioli - wow, really NOT good. It's hard to describe it, but the texture was a bit like what i imagine that slimy stuff is on jellyfish on the beach, and the taste... well, it had layers of taste... which just went from bad to worse. Maybe that was an off night for the ravioli, maybe it's just not my palatte... hmm.\r
Now the main course, for which I had high hopes, I ordered the ""whole hog"". On a side note, my wife ordered the braised beef and absolutely loved it. Two others in our group ordered the chicken, and had a similar reaction. My meal though - well here are the good points, it came on time... the pork chop was two bites worth, about twice the size of my wristwatch face, the pulled pork portion, average, but the worst was the piece of pork belly - tough and tiny. Oh, and all in all for two of us, our dinner bill topped $100.\r
So will I be heading back to Country Cat, maybe, sometime in the future, when I don't have anywhere else to go, and I want an $8 beer, sure, but I think that will be a LOOOOOOOOONG time from now. Sorry Adam, I think you have some house cleaning to do here.
Pros: Service
Cons: Overwhelming food smells, middle of the road tastes
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