Undercurrent Restaurant — Restaurant in Greensboro

Of course, the most important thing about a restaurant is the food, and that is where Undercurrent falls short. The flavors are inspired, but undercut by cheap ingredients at times. My fiancé and I were here recently for dinner and started with the bread service. Now, I expect a bread service at a "fine dining" restaurant to be excellent, but this bread service would have been found wanting at olive garden. The bread has a terrible crumb and was greased by some cheap oil that left an odd greasy feel in your mouth. The butter...well... isn't butter, but margarine, and utterly flavorless. The olive oil is a silly blend that tasted stale and mixed with other oils to keep the price down; expected, but not great.

On to the appetizers, we got the brie bake. It was actually great. The brie was well cooked and the prosciutto gave it a great salty note, the pastry crust was fantastic too. I really enjoyed the tobacco-y figs that lent a nice complex flavor to the brie-prosciutto-pastry combo. The pear compote added was very interesting, but not really my thing. Nonethless a fantastic appetizer, things were looking up.

The entrees we selected were the trout and the fried chicken. Nothing particularly difficult here. The chicken was great, with a nice flavorful crust and a fantastic sauce with (i think) mashed parsnips and goat cheese under it. All around a great dish with the one major problem that it was over $20 for very little chicken. The trout, then again, had a few inherent problems. First, the crust on the trout was a bit chewy or mushy and poorly seasoned. Second, it was topped with what I can only describe as canned pineapple reduced with some spices (??). It was truly strange, particularly with the southern inspired feel to the rest of the dish.

Last we followed up with dessert, I ordered the pecan praline cheesecake and she ordered the blondie. The cheesecake itself was fantastic, and handily was better than Cheesecakes by Alex. A fantastic texture with an interesting heterogeneous crust and a nice cherry sauce that unexpectedly went well with the cake. A few bites of the crust were a bit chewier than I'd like, but great nonetheless. The blondie on the other hand was confusing, the blondie itself had very little flavor which, paired with the many many hazelnuts, made for a dessert that tasted like just hazelnuts. The ice cream on top was good, but again totally overpowered by the hazelnuts. I am also disappointed in the use of readiwhip when even Starbucks now uses "real" whipped cream.

The atmosphere of this restaurant is fantastic, with a beautiful interior with columns, art, and a chill vibe. Our waitress was also fantastic and gave us kind, fun, and prompt service. I really enjoyed the experience of eating here, but the food itself was a let down. I truly hope the chef and the owner can improve the food as I would love to come back and find an improved menu, the bones of it seem great, but I think cost-cutting got in the way.

All of this with 2 drinks added up to about $150. I can confidently say you can get a superior meal from Green Valley Grill for a...

“Downtown” plus “fine dining” plus “farm to table” seems like a winning formula for getting away with overcharging and underwhelming, but Undercurrent actually gives patrons reason to take those buzzwords at face value. Excellent food, competent service, and a comfortable atmosphere combine to make for a decidedly decent dining destination.

Though many of Greensboro’s downtown eateries tend to be a bit cramped, Undercurrent is fairly spacious. The main dining area features columns, high ceilings, and large windows that offer a view of the cityscape. The ambiance doesn’t compare to that of Print Works, and more space between tables would have been nice, but it still made for a cozy dining environment.

The menu here is narrow, but it does not lack appeal. Soups, salads, small plates, large plates, and entrees make good use of seasonal fruits and vegetables (they are big on compotes here), and the dishes are complex without seeming too pretentious to succeed. For my first visit, I opted for a garam masala rubbed duck breast. It came at the desired doneness and was plated beautifully atop rice and vibrant veggies. The duck had a nice char, and the accompanying blueberry puree added some welcome sweetness to play off of the dish’s savory components. My companion went with a red snapper dish on special and was equally satisfied: the fish was cooked well, and the sides (okra and a farro tabbouleh, if memory serves correct) seemed to suit it nicely. For as good as the entrees (and the fresh bread) were, however, dessert may have been the highlight. A white chocolate-blueberry bread pudding was gooey, rich, and decadent, but both the freshness of the berries and a sprig of mint kept it from tasting like pure sugar.

Both service and pricing here were what was expected given the level of food. The former was attentive without being overbearing. The latter was high but not exorbitant. Our entrees ran in the upper $20s, and portion sizing was adequate.

Undercurrent isn’t for the faint of wallet, but unlike certain other high-priced concept eateries, you will get what you pay for here, and you will most...

The food is incredible!

Let me start by saying my husband and I don't go out to eat often. I have very high standards when it comes to food. I cook everyday for my family. I have a hard time spending money on dining out when I am perfectly capable of making food as good or better myself.

We ordered the lobster spring rolls as an appetizer. I ordered a spinach salad with goat cheese and walnuts that was delicious. I ordered the ribeye and my husband ordered the swordfish special. We ended up switching plates because he was jealous of my ribeye. Both plates were excellent.

My husband and I sat at the bar for dinner despite the restaurant being almost empty because it was early. My husband had a couple of the seasonal cocktails from the menu which he found to be very tasty. I wanted to order wine. I asked the bartender for a Cab suggestion and he asked what I like. He responded with a suggestion that I didn't really care for after I tasted it (bottle was opened too long). No problem, but I asked for more guidance, explaining that I was unfamiliar with most of the Cabs on the menu. The bartender's response was, "oh, that's because we try to choose things that aren't available in stores." That was all of the guidance I was able to get. He just kept asking if I was ready, almost to the point of being impatient. It took me a few minutes to decide because I had no idea what I was going to get when I ordered, but it wasn't more than 5-6 mins. So, I took a gamble and luckily I ordered a good wine. The rest of the service was okay, but we did have to wait a while for our check. I do think it's worth mentioning that there was a lady behind the bar for a short period of time while we were there. She was very personable and super helpful when my husband ordered his second drink. I wish she was around when I...