Bardo — Restaurant in Charlotte

Absolute waste of money. This restaurant is a joke masquerading as "fine dining", a wannabe Michelin star restaurant, and falling so short. Do not even think of spending your money here.

The menu was themed "Nostalgia", and it's the most pathetic attempt at being creative you could ever imagine. The chefs thought it would be a good idea to "reimagine" dishes that were common for people to eat during their childhood around here.

Let's start with the first:

Tuna casserole with black olive, dill and shitake. It was suppose to be an echo to an already very boring dish. Well their take was just a lightly cooked tuna, with some sprinkles of the mentioned accompaniments, none of which added anything to the flavor. I've had better and more creative tuna dishes at mid-grade sushi restaurants.

Next we have, no joke, "Vegetable by the foot" - these chefs, who keep in mind charge you 100 dollars for 5 plates, seriously came up with a dish that is inspired by Fruit by the foot. Yeah that's the one I'm talking about, the high fructose corn syrup red number 9 loaded puree. Well their take on this was beets and black garlic chèvre. It sounds fancier than it tastes. Basically just an overcooked beet with slight flavor. Certainly not worthy of being a main plate. Oh, and by the way, the amount is very small. I've eaten at Michelin starred restaurants with similar plate themed ordering and they were more than this.

Thirdly, we have another amazingly creative dish - Meatloaf tartare. You heard that correct, this dish was inspired by possibly the most boring dish of all time. Your mom's meatloaf. It said it consisted of meatloaf spices and vichyssoise style sauce, and something was supposed to be fancy ketchup. It barely tasted like anything. Again not worthy of the price for entry.

Alright, and for the fourth and final food dish, wait for it, "Chicky nuggies". That is not misspelled either. They call it "chicky" nuggets, and it was supposed to be inspired by chicken nuggets. Well let me tell you, my high school cafeteria had better chicken nuggets. These were described as having boudin blanc tomato and malt vinegar. Very bland, light breading and not in the good way.

And finally, the dessert, we have the wonderfully imaginative Dirt "cup", obviously inspired by the usual children's party "Dirt Cake". And inside it was said to have aleppo, mango, watermelon, and tajin, but it basically just tasted like a bunch of mid tier chocolate. The flavors mentioned on the menu, like most of the other dishes appear to just be written on their as fancy fluff, in a weak attempt to sound elegant.

My group tried the wine pairings as well, paid for the upgraded option, and it was just meh. Nothing really complimented the dishes or tasted particularly amazing.

It seems like they just read a "how to open a tasting menu restaurant for dummies" and are just doing what they need to do to appear believable to the public. A facade of fancy. They would get laughed out of any international foodie community. There was zero nuance. The tasting menu restaurants I have been too all were very interesting and creative. Places where entire flavor combinations come together to provide not only taste, but an experience.

I will say the wait staff was pleasant and attentive, but could have been a bit more genuine when explaining the rehearsed lines for plate descriptions.

Please Bardo, step up your game. I know they say Charlotte is the Applebee's of cities, but that doesn't you have to be the applebee's of...

They tried. We had the pleasure of going to Bardo when they first opened. It was a wonderful gastronomic experience! We were excited to return now that they have converted to a full tasting menu. However, our excitement waned immediately upon arrival. The new street graffiti aesthetic is a far cry from the simple elegance the space previously embodied. It's not that the art on the walls is bad, it just seems so forced - out of place. I actually really enjoyed the music selection. They played several of our favorite songs and several throwbacks I hadn't heard in years. The problem is the music is SO LOUD 📢. Most tasting menu restaurants give you a menu so you know what you are eating. Bardo does not. The servers attempt to explain the menu, but the music is so loud you can't hear them. When we asked the server to repeat herself, she said "WHAT?!" Then I asked if they always keep the music this loud. She responded, "WHAT?!" It was like talking to Lil Jon. "Have you ever considered turning it down so we can hear each other?" To which she just shook her head and walked away. Okay, not a great start, but we'll roll with it 🤷‍♂️. I ordered an old fashioned. The server talked me into trying "Bardo's version of an old fashioned." It was not good. An old fashioned is sweet. This was bitter, closer to a Manhattan than an old fashioned. The first course arrived shortly after. I'd love to tell you what we ate, but they didn't give us a menu and we couldn't hear our server. It was good enough, but not magical. The next dish was good, but a small portion (tasting menu, obviously). I started thinking about how much I would enjoy being somewhere else and eating something else. That is a BAD SIGN 🛑. The star of the menu was the jellyfish noodle curry. It was FANTASTIC! It was followed by a fried rice that was the most lack-luster course of the night. It looked unappetizing and tasted like frozen store-bought fried rice with wasabi peas thrown on top. It reminded me of the food people made when they were stoned in a dorm during college. Again, it tasted fine, but it looked and tasted like it cost less than a dollar to make. Finally, dessert: a cream covered cookie. It did not look good or taste good. After the meal came to an end, I couldn't WAIT to leave...but I had to, because our server was off helping other tables. I couldn't get her attention, because the restaurant had filled up since our arrival and now everyone was SHOUTING 🗣️ so they could converse over the music. It was like being at Suite in the Epicentre (anyone remember THAT place?!) I realize this is a long review. I don't mean to come across as harsh, but I had very high hopes for Bardo and was completely let down. They have so many independently cool elements going for them, but when combined they just don't fit. It feels like they are trying so hard, and it just isn't working. If I'm going to spend $300+ on a meal, I want to know what I'm eating and I don't want to have to shout at my date. The whole point is to enjoy the food; the service and ambiance should enhance the food. At Bardo, these elements detract from the food. I can think of a dozen restaurants in Charlotte that are twice as good for half the price. I believe Bardo will survive on the fact that its location is in the trendiest part of town, and it has one of the few tasting menus available nearby. However, until they change the menu AND turn the music down a few notches, I won't be...

I've recently been hearing so many good things about Bardo (including that it's the best restaurant in Charlotte), that it was the obvious choice for my birthday this year.

There were 11 of us that went. Some wanted to try more of the menu than others, so we split the table in half. My half tried the entire menu (13 small plates). Right now the menu is: oysters, scallops, lamb neck, mushrooms, shishito peppers, ribeye, octopus, veal shortbread, beef tartare, egg and grain, crudo hamachi, sunchokes, and sardines. I loved everything with one exception: the sardines. They were better than other sardines I've had, but I'm really not a fan of sardines.

If I had to pick my favorite dishes, I would pick the scallops, the Tempura Maitake (mushrooms), the beef tartare, and the Spanish Octopus as my top 4. I would order all of it again though (minus the sardines).

They also brought me a complementary squash dessert for my birthday which was amazing.

This style of food is not something you'll find elsewhere in Charlotte. The plating is gorgeous. I honestly had no idea what I was eating most of the time (even after they explained the dish), but I didn't care because it was delicious. The preparation styles were incredibly unique.

We also got a couple of cocktails — Putting Down Roots and the South Mint 75. They were some of the best cocktails I've ever had. Incredibly unique and delicious.

The price is on the higher side, but I would expect it to be a lot higher for the quality of food that's being served. Small plates are about $10-20 and they recommend at least 2-3 per person. We paid about $50 per person including tip and cocktails (only half of us got a cocktail). Other small plates restaurants around here are much more expensive for not nearly as good of food.

I think our group size was less than ideal. I think you're better off coming with 2-4 people. The service was great and they were very accommodating to us, but figuring out how to share and split checks with that many people is hard.

I'd agree that this is Charlotte's best restaurant. I don't know anywhere else where I could order everything on the menu and love it all. Everyone should definitely give this...