Smash is an awesome place to go if you like wine! You can order over 30 wines by the glass and even by the 1/2 glass if you would like to try out a few. OR even better, get the wine flights if you like a particular type of wine, and you'll get 3 1/2 glasses to compare and contrast. I got the Left Bank/Right Bank flight (btw, their website is not up to date) and this gave me a chance to taste 3 wines from different areas in the Bordeaux region for $18. I thought this was a great deal for the quality of wines I got! Ok, enough about wine.
Their strong suit, food-wise, is their nibbles. Perfect to pair with wine (or without)! We had the Marcona Almonds w/rosemary and sea salt. I could tell they warmed the nuts in the oven with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary to bring out the oils and it was delicious, warm and perfect for nibbling on with a glass of wine! We also had the hummus platter which was very good as well, although the hummus was a bit thick for my tastes (think paste in a jar). I started with the organic onion bisque w/gouda that was their take on French onion soup and I have to say, although a nice change of pace, fell a bit short of the original.
Our entrees left something to be desired. I got the NY steak, which came sliced and fanned which wouldn't be my preference. This is such a lean cut that it probably would have been better whole but I understand they did it for presentation. My gripe is that the Cab sauce, which you would think would be the one thing they would knock out of the park, was not very good! I couldn't really taste the wine or the sauce, really, for that matter.
The desserts sounded delicious and we got the molten chocolate decadence cake w/Stoli vanilla ice cream and huckleberry coulis. It was very good!
The service was great, especially from the bartender, who was very knowledgeable and helpful.
I will bring my wine drinking friends back to smash!
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