Distilled on Jefferson — Restaurant in Lexington

Over Valentine's Day weekend, Fat Man Reviews went to Distilled on Jefferson in Lexington, KY, a chic joint serving southern inspired food.

I had the Caddish, a cocktail made with Silas Jones bourbon, Vida Mezcal, Cointreau, and peach. The peach was upfront and light, then the smoky mezcal and bourbon finished. The drink was sweet, light and refreshing. My fiancé tried the Lavender Lemonade, made with Wheatley Vodka, Lavender, Butterfly Pea Tea, Lemon and Soda. It was vodka heavy with bit of lemon.

We tried the Tempura Catfish, made with Spicy Yuzu Mayo, Chive, Scallions and sliced radish. The catfish batter was light, and fried to a nice light brown but was a little mushy in the center and also needed salt. The mayo was great and not overly spicy, and the radish added a nice crunch for texture.

I tried the special of the night, a 18oz South Dakota Rib eye with red potatoes, Brussels sprouts, herb truffle butter and cognac au poivre sauce. The rib eye was cooked to a perfect rare, had good meat to fat ratio, but it was a little chewy and slightly under seasoned until getting to the center. The truffle butter added a nice salty earthy flavor and the cognac sauce was wonderful with a great pepper flavor and a slight tang. The Brussels were sautéed perfectly but unfortunately the potatoes were a bit under done, but did have a good sear on them.

My fiancé tried the Aged Duroc Pork Chop, a 12oz bone in chop dry-aged for 21 days. It is served with Gorgonzola gnocchi, arugula, Broccolini, demi-glace and red onion marmalade. The pork was absolutely fantastic, perfect temperature, tender and juicy. The gnocchi was amazing, seasoned well with light chew. The arugula and Broccolini were perfect and the marmalade was also fantastic. It was sweet and fruity tasting while helping round out the dish. I highly recommend ordering this entrée.

Distilled offers lunch and dinner with various sandwiches, salads and entrées. They have a full bar and offer craft cocktails. Service was wonderful and the staff were very knowledgeable. The Fat Man says that Distilled on Jefferson is Fat...

Worst Service in Lexington!

I was there Dec 9th with a large group. It was a Tuesday night and the restaurant was basically emtpy aside from our group. The head waiter was the most rude, pretentious server I have ever experienced. From the begining of the meal, he was basically pushing us out the door. He treid to make us order our appetizers, dinner and desert before he even too a drink order. Every question we asked was met with a condescending single word answer, and he basically mocked the non-english (Italian) members of our party. When we asked for bread to have on the table, he basically said no, and that it would be brought out between the appetizer and dinner. I even called the restaurant to complain, expecting a call back from the manager - I heave heard nothing.

One star for the food, which was very good.

**UPDATE January 2016

After my previous post I went back to try Distilled and give them another shot. My wife and I went there for our anniversary and were surprised at the much different experience we had. The server was attentive, courteous and very accommodating. To start we split the beet salad and the TempuraI which were both fantastic and the proportions were a good size. I had the Paella special which is one of my favorite dishes. This version did not disappoint, with plenty of shrimp, mussels, shrimp, sausage and a good portion of rice. My one negative, was this was Extremely salty. It wasn't so apparent early on, so I'm not sure if it was at the bottom of the plate, but it was to the point that I almost couldn't finish. My wife has the snapper, which was very flavorful and a good portion as well. I would recommend giving this place a shot. And try the...

We went here (party of 3) due to the ironclad reviews. They were unfounded at best. The hostesses were cold and disinterested in a crowd dressed like they were lost in route to a Texas Roadhouse (my fault) but then things got downright cringe. Bread is presented nicely, but the butter is a tasteless cream, no salt offered to flavor it. Went on, Ordered the meatball appetizers and one was raw, like raw ground beef browned on the outside raw, so raw it mushed with a knife instead of cut and the whites of fat still in tact. Waitress took it off the bill and reordered the side for us. This time, 2/3 meatballs were fine but the third was ice cold on the inside. Again waitress took it to the kitchen to show them the error in production of the appetizer. Entrees come out, ordered the hanger steak, medium. Shims was tough, way overdone. The steak was beyond well done, chewy and tough, laborsome to chew. Garbled through and resisted the urge to ask for A1 to wash it down. Go for the desert menu because it’s what I do for foodie reviews… ordered one of everything. By far the best part of the meal, the sorbet was 10/10. They were out of the crème brûlée though, and proceeded to take more off the bill due to that and the prior meatball disaster. From sitting to leaving took 2 and a half hours, waiting extensively on food and drinks despite a 30% occupancy of the facility. Not sure what happened but my experience was grossly inadequate compared to what...