Shine — Restaurant in Hendersonville

Shine has a few things to work on before it truly shines.... I went for a meal with a few friends last night. We all said it was a 'confusing' experience, all in all. They waited at the bar for a table and we're ignored by two different bartenders and never approached to see if they wanted a drink while they waited. The facility is beautiful, from what I saw. I only went into the first floor, but they have put great touches into the decor. My mussels were fantastic. A delicat sauce with a hint of saffron, paired with a nice aioli drizzled over the top. However, when my friend if they had any gluten free options for a large selection of sandwiches, and when they didn't, we're offered some other options from the menu that 'might' have been gluten free. One of those was a tortellini dish. My friend ordered the burger anyway, no bun. Asked is she could pay an upcharge for a side salad instead of the other side options. Told no, she would have to order a full size $6.00 salad if she wanted that. She declined. When the food arrived, the duck fat french fries were excellent. The housemade ketchup was the bomb, and supposedly the aioli was too. But when the burgers arrived, the one that did have the bun was about an inch smaller than the bun all around. Not proportional at all. It seemed like a very small burger for the price. The one who didn't have a bun got the same small patty, with two almost white tomatoes set on top of about a 2 inch small pile of shredded iceberg underneath. Did not bring ANY condiments until requested. Brought checks without asking about dessert. We had to prompt. The reason it was so confusing was that it seemed so inconsistent. I SO want this place to be amazing, but you won't get repeat business if the answer to your guests questions is always no, and you can't accommodate mainstream dietary conditions.

Edit - 3/4/22 They have definitely worked on their menu, their staff, and Shine has developed into a really good spot. Always busy, Love the cheerwine bourbon slushie! I did still hear the bartender tell someone that they couldn't add meat on top of one of their salads last night. Seemed like a pretty basic request, but I guess they don't want to do that. My blackened Caesar was good. The spice level wasn't too intense but was enough to taste. A little too much dressing for my taste but I meant to ask for it on the side and forgot so that's my fault. Wine by the glass list is good and varied. They have definitely improved since my first visit when...

We tried this place after walking in downtown Hendersonville and seeing the restaurant. Not too sure we will be back for dinner. We had previewed their menu prior to our visit so we knew it would be a bit pricey so we weren’t shocked when the bill came. We were greeted well at the hostess station. She stated that she saw we reserved seats in the cellar but asked if we preferred to main dining area. We should have probably sat up top but really it was extremely loud down stairs and up. When we were sat, you could tell that the wait staff were in deep. It took a fairly long time to get our drinks out due to only one bar tender and a packed cellar. Our waitress started off very dry and almost rude but again, we could see that she was being overwhelmed. As the night went on and the room cleared out, she was able to be a little more attentive and was really nice. As for the food… it wasn’t anything that made us excited. Pretty run of the mill food. We had the tar tar which was actually nice and we had the oysters on the half shell. They were good but supper small. The tray comes out with horseradish, cocktail sauce and a single use Tabasco bottle. We would have loved a mignonette with it and a little more horse radish. The braised beef had a reduction that was just off. I know that it was not this but it was like it was A1 reduced with a jam/jelly (which I’m sure was the wine reduction). It can with a few pieces of broccolini and the spare rib sat on a very very thin layer of potatoes. My wife had to ask me for my steak knife to get the meat separated. I was unsure if I wanted the ribeye or the porter house. Our waitress sad the ribeye was the more popular so I went with that. It was cooked well just lacked season. It came with a side of mixed veg which looked like a rough chop of an Asian stir fry. No season on those but super oily. And it came with a bit of mashed potatoes that again, no season. There is no salt and peon tables either. We had several cocktails throughout the meal. Nothing special, pretty standard. Word of advice, skip the in house barrel aged pour. It is white dog that has been “aged” for 5-6 months. While the barrel took the edge off of a raw spirit. Don’t pay $14 for a pour of white dog. The highlight of the evening is the key lime pie. It was great. Lime zest throughout the filling and the sweet cream on top cut the tart just right. Try that pie, you will not regret it. Again, not sure we would be back for a dinner, or at least not a special occasion dinner, but we might come back...

We tried Shine in Hendersonville for the first time as a family—my boyfriend, our toddler, and I—and unfortunately, we won’t be returning. We had driven in from out of town, about an hour away, hoping for a great meal and experience, but left disappointed.

Our experience started off decently. Our waitress seemed very knowledgeable about the menu, which she had memorized. But as the meal went on, her attitude changed noticeably. My boyfriend waited an unreasonably long time for a refill while she stood behind our table chatting with other staff. He had only eaten half of his sandwich and needed a drink to finish it, but instead of checking on that or offering a refill, she asked if he wanted a to-go box. When he responded that he’d like a refill, she brought it back and slammed it down on the table with clear attitude, and was short with him the rest of the meal. Her name was Naomi.

As for the food: my boyfriend said his French dip sandwich was just okay, but the fries were great. I had the heirloom tomato salad—which was amazing in flavor but too small for the price—and the oysters Rockefeller. The oysters were clean but disappointingly small, and the portion (6 oysters for about $20) felt underwhelming. My son had a grilled cheese with fries and fruit, which he enjoyed. However, the restaurant only serves drinks in glass mason jars with no lids, even for toddlers, which made things a bit tricky.

We also tried two desserts: the banana pudding (a featured special) and the crème brûlée. The banana pudding was a huge portion but had almost no sweetness. My son (who loves banana pudding) wouldn’t eat more than two bites, and his dad didn’t care for it either. The crème brûlée was decent, but the style was off. It was very deep with minimal brûléed sugar on top—more like a pot of custard than the classic dessert we were expecting. The custard was fine, but the caramelized sugar is the star, and there just wasn’t enough of it.

Our total came to around $120 for two adults and a toddler, and we ordered from the more affordable end of the menu. For that price, we expected something a lot more memorable—in a good way. While there were a few positives, the service and portion sizes just didn’t justify the cost. We were really hoping to love it, especially after making the trip—but sadly, we...