Prime Bistro & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Morehead City

We went here to celebrate a special occasion. I expected a wonderful experience, but left disappointed. When we arrived at the restaurant we were pleasantly greeted by the matre'd and seated. The inside entrance area is a little dark. We ordered the "house-water" while waiting for our server. The restaurant has very few tables dining at this time, but began seating more tables as the evening went on. The restaurant floor plan is open & dark giving it a cold vibe that did not contribute to the ambience. There are a couple of areas sectioned off by low partitions (for lack of a better word). The decor was also very dark & average. I had to use my phones light to read the menu. We were taken to the back of the restaurant and offered a table or partial booth, both near the kitchen door, order system and drink pick-up at the bar. We decided to sit at the partial booth. I use a cane and was concerned it would be in the staffs way, but was told it would be fine. My cane was knocked down by one of first staff members that came to the table & I laughed it off. The matre'd placed a purse hook on the table for me. Two of us ordered mixed drinks. The drinks were fine, but what is the purpose of placing very thin dried orange slices on both drinks?

We ordered & shared the $26 King Crab Stack appetizer. It was served w/out a serving utensil for the table and was lacking flavor. There was very little crab and I never found the yuzu-basil vinaigrette, not even on the serving plate after finishing. Extremely over priced.

The best part of our meals were the salad & soups. One person ordered the $15 Roasted Beet salad and said it was very good. Two of us enjoyed the $16 Lobster Bisque.

The $39 Lobster Truffle Mac was the better of our three entrees, but needed more lobster. The house-made pasta was a little thick, but otherwise nice and cooked al dente.

The MP $85, 14 oz. Dry Aged NY Strip prime was ordered rare. The overall steak was a little overcooked & though. The steak itself was cooked just over rare, towards med rare, and the ends were cooked closer to well done. I ordered a $53, 7 oz. Filet (certified Angus Beef) cooked med rare. My filet was closer to rare, but I prefer it that way. The filet was served with what appeared to be sliced Cross Hatching on top that made it shred when you sliced into it. My filet was topped with long scallions wrapped in what appeared to be a thin cut/ shred of pepper skin or tomato skin. It was out of place & served no useful purpose. I ordered a Cognac Cream for my filet that was unimpressive & lacked any Cognac flavor. I stopped using the sauce after a few tries. We ordered two sides as they were served in dishes for the table (family style) We ordered the ($13) Roasted Brussel Sprouts & $13 Duck Fat-Fried Fingerling Potatoes. The brussel sprouts were slightly undercooked and lacked flavor. Oddly, the potatoes were dry & crumbly inside, and lacked seasoning/flavor. We ate very little of the potatoes. I decided to mentioned the potatoes to the server at the end of the meal, but did not want her to mention it to anyone (I didn't want it removed from the bill). However, Gillian did say she spoke with someone & it was removed from the bill. I think someone with a jacket, possibly management, came to the table once. Considering the entire experience, we did not order dessert. They did bring each of us a warm chocolate chip cookie, each was served in a bag. The cookies were okay & tasted like pre-made, store dough you pop into the oven. Our server, Gillian was pleasant and explained how the menu was intended to work. This seems like overkill considering their menu & how many times we could hear servers explain the menu during our meal. I'm not sure how many times different staff members reached across me to either place something, remove something or refill a drink during our meal. Considering the area we live and the food, this was not a gourmet elevated...

What an outstanding experience. From the moment we walked in we were greeted so enthusiastically and warmly, and we felt from that moment on that we were the most important customers in the restaurant. The folks who work here must be so carefully selected for their passion for hospitality and it really shines through.

The atmosphere is just perfect; quiet, elegant, restful and comfortable. Our server, Gillian, could not have been more hospitable and accommodating. She was beyond patient and never rushed as she explained the extensive cocktail, wine and food menus and her knowledge of all was truly impressive. But above all else, her enthusiasm, attention to detail and ability to appear at just the right moments and, just as importantly, to leave us alone when not needed, was spot-on. Gillian is absolutely a people person, a people pleaser, and loves what she does. We will ask for her every time we return.

Prime Bistro has a very creative and inspired cocktail menu full of fun drinks, and a very well thought out wine menu with some very good and comfortably priced selections.

The menu is extensive, inspired, and very innovative. There are so many dishes we wish to try on a return visit.

We started with a cheese charcuterie board and I have to say, where most restaurants who serve charcuterie boards present boards that are so sparse on feels shy picking for fear of taking too much from their fellow diner(s), this board was bountiful and filled with generous portions of four wonderful cheeses, a fig puree, baguette toast points, macadamia nuts and olives and by the time we had worked it over we feared we would have no appetite left for all the wonderful dishes still to come.

We then enjoyed a Beet and Goat Cheese salad (wonderful) and a French Onion Soup--interesting, it had some sort of creative twist that tasted a bit off to me. Not my favorite FOS, probably wouldn't get it again. But, when you experiment with new things and celebrate an innovative chef, some new things will be wonderful discoveries and some might not hit the mark. We still all need to keep experimenting!

We then enjoyed a pasta with a pork ragu and a pasta and scallop dish. Again, we found the former a little off for our liking but loved the latter.

The pace was relaxed because Gillian observed we wished for that, but we were never, ever left waiting to gain Gillian's attention when we needed it.

This is not an inexpensive restaurant, but it is truly a very good value nevertheless.; two cocktails, a modest bottle of wine, a charcuterie board, two appetizers and two entrees set us back $200 plus tip. Had we not ordered so liberally I would think most couples would come in under $200 with drinks. Not a weekly event for many people, but for some a very special occasion and for those of us more fortunate a wonderful tool in the toolbox to put in the rotation of our dining endeavors.

We drove about 40 minutes from New Bern for the experience and have no regrets. We will be regulars in spite of the considerable commute, and we only hope Gillian and the rest of the truly wonderful staff will...

This was our first time eating here, and we were pleasantly surprised. This is a fine dining establishment. As a former head chef, I can honestly say that many of the things we ordered were delicious. We ordered a bone in filet, an A5 wagyu filet, and a 45-day dry aged ribeye. We had 2 inconsistencies with the cooking temperature on our steaks, but it was not a drastic fault. Unfortunately, the dry aged ribeye had a lot of gristle that was left on the steak. The A5 wagyu filet was ordered medium rare and came out partially medium rare and partially rare. The ribeye was ordered medium, and it came out rare to medium rare. The bone-in filet was spot on. The steaks were lightly seasoned just enough to highlight the natural flavors of the steaks, which is a wonderful touch for a steak lover. We ordered 2 soups, a lobster bisque and a french onion soup. Both of these soups were amongst the best we have ever tasted. Each soup was nearly perfectly executed in our books. We also had 2 appetizers. A wonderfully cooked blooming onion that was not greasy, and it was perfectly crispy on the outside while soft and tender on the inside. We also had a marrow filled bone that came with a cherry mustard. The mustard was a wonderful accompaniment to the fatty bone marrow. It cuts through the fattiness while not being overwhelming. We ordered 2 sides that were served family style. A twiced baked potatoe and Boursin whipped potatoes. Speaking of the Boursin whipped potatoes, we found them to be delicious but wished they were Robuchon mashed potatoes instead. While the texture and flavor were good. They lacked that extra creaminess one gets with Robuchon mashed potatoes. The twiced baked potatoe we were not large fans of. We found the cheese topping to be a delicious mixture of what we believed to be gruyère, Monterey Jack, and cheddar cheeses. Sadly, we did not taste much else. When one thinks of twice baked potatoes. They think of cheese and bacon. If there was bacon, we did not taste or see if. We also ordered 2 mixed drinks, one a house special that tasted like a cookie and cream shake with a light alcohol addition. It was an amazing find. The other was a zero alcohol drink called an Orange Blossom lemonade. It was refreshing and light and cut through the fattiness of our meal splendidly. Finally, we ordered 2 desserts. Which we found were okay, but my wife and I did not really enjoy them on a personal level. Overall, this was one of our more enjoyable...