The Davidson — Restaurant in Cincinnati

We went to the Davidson yesterday after the Opening Day parade. I’ll start with the positives. I thought it was great that they allowed us to order off of the bar menu earlier than usual to accommodate so many people already in the area. We had originally gone to Vie Vita but they weren’t seating until 4pm (which is their loss) so we ended up at The Davidson. So positives for the service. The front of the house was nice and fast and got us seated right away. We ordered the bread with 3 butters and the arancini and both of those were divine. I will comment that in my opinion there was not enough bread and I had to order a second portion of bread to finish the rest of the butter. But the cacio e Pepe butter was absolutely incredible and I would buy that by the gallon in stores if I could. The arancini was absolutely delicious and the sauce it came with was great as well. Our server was great as well, kind, friendly and knowledgeable. We loved the decor and the music choice was great as well. But unfortunately this is where the positives end for us. I ordered the Chicken Au Vin and it left a lot to be desired. The mashed potatoes however were delicious. There weren’t very many choices on the menu at all in my opinion and I felt sort of forced to get the chicken considering I don’t eat seafood. I feel The Davidson could use a menu update as they offer very little selection in their offerings. My mom got the Mushroom Bisque and said it was too salty. Our waitress took it back to the chef and he agreed it was a bit salty. My son got a kids meal (which again, had only 3 choices) and he got the pasta with butter and cheese. The butter on the pasta tasted old in my opinion which was strange considering that the butters we received with our butter and bread was fine. So we unfortunately had to send that back as well. He received a cheeseburger afterwards and it was unfortunately pretty burnt but considering we had sent back the pasta and soup, we were uncomfortable sending that back as well. Also myself and my son ordered lemonades and they were so sour, we could barely drink them. They tasted as if they put lemon concentrate and a little bit of water with a tiny bit of sugar in a container and served it. We then asked for sugar to put in my sons lemonade and unfortunately the sugar had hardened to the point it was just one large clunk in the package. So at this point for me, I would come back to The Davidson maybe for drinks and appetizers but not for the food. I would go somewhere else. For the $100 I spent on food and tip, I feel there is a better menu selection and tastier...

Update: The Hamachi Crudo was fantastic. Great combo with the blood orange, EVOO, and basil. The Brick Pressed Chicken Au Vin was one of the best chicken dishes we have had. The chicken was juicy and the sauce divine. This is fun, energetic place with really good food.

We had a reservation for two in the bar area at 6pm and were seated right away. We were heading to a show after. Our server Derek (I think that was his name - it should have been on the receipt but was not), was lovely and attentive. He explained the menu and had some suggestions. Our booth in the bar was very comfortable and it was much more quiet than the main dining area. The place is very attractive for sure.

We started with two Bellini Spritzes. The were pretty, but a little too sweet for us. We then ordered the eggplant upon reading reviews that we must order it. Well, "they" were right and we thought it was the best dish of the night. Even if you don't think you like eggplant, just try it. It's prepared tableside, smokey and the flavor combination is out of this world. We also chose the Tuna Tartare Cones. What a unique and whimsical presentation of classic tartare flavors! If you look at pictures, you only see the top. There is the pointy bottom of the cone beneath the wooden holder that holds the cucumber and creme fraiche. It is supposed to be one bite, but we found it hard to jam the whole cone into our mouths. But even in two bites, we would order this again and again.

Our mains were the Scallops Grenobloise and Vodka Rigatoni. The rigatoni sauce was fabulous. It is a reasonable portion. The rigatoni was definitely al dente. There was not much sausage in the dish. Now, don't think I'm weird here, but I read reviews that said the scallops were just drowned in brown butter. Pictures showed the same. So when I ordered the dish, I asked for the brown butter on the side. Derek explained that the amount of butter was used to soak the crouton in and said he would have to check with the kitchen. Well, let me tell you that I made the right call. The scallops were cooked perfectly...in butter. The crouton was toasted..in butter. The beans were not cooked enough for us as they were almost raw, and there was only about 2 tbs of squash puree on the plate. We did drizzle a little more butter on the dish, but no way did it need all that was offered. It would be a perfect dish if the beans were cooked about 2 minutes more.

We will go back to try more because the venue is very pleasing and the eggplant is enough to eat...

We tried Davidson for the first time and I’ll start by saying we loved the vibe of restaurants as soon as we walked in. I will say the music was a little too loud to the point where I had trouble hearing the hostess, server and my husband. We were seated by the bar so not sure if the music was just louder in this area of the restaurant.

To start I ordered the Margherita- it was good and had a bold flavor profile. We ordered the Carpaccio and Moroccan roasted eggplant which is prepared tableside. Both were amazing, the eggplant took me by surprise and I kept going back for more.

As a mid course we order the roasted tomato cannelloni which was creamy and delicious. We were between this and the vodka rigatoni and it did not disappoint.

For our entrees, we ordered the Scallops and Steak. We added a side of mash potatoes. The scallops were tender and the butternut puree complimented the scallops perfectly. The steak was cooked to perfection, juicy and you could cut it with a butter knife. The cognac au poivre was delicious. We could have skipped the mash potatoes- we weren’t a fan of the gravy use. It was ordered as a side dish but the gravy clashed with the flavors of the entrees. The fries that came with the steak frites were also undercooked.

We ended the night with double expressos.

All the service staff were incredibly nice and professional. There were periods throughout the evening where it was apparent that this was a new restaurant still working out the kinks. For example, the cannelloni was dropped but there was no silverware on the table. So we had to wait for our server to bring additional silverware and ultimately a manager walked by and noticed we had none. All in all, the food was delicious, and the atmosphere was great. We...