Cafe Pamlico — Restaurant in North Carolina

Reply: (Deleted previous comment due to character limit, I’m sure this review is in your very detailed records)

again, the attitude is not necessary. in this occasion and our last, i have never once been rude and i don’t need it from you.

we called to make our reservation at the time you stated, we arrived a couple minutes prior. when we arrived, we were told that there was a 20 minute wait. this was after we had made sure, over the phone, that we would not have to wait. we were told that we could sit at the bar and wait but as we were both not of legal drinking age, they offered us to sit at our table but that no one would be with us for around 20 minutes. again, not the biggest deal but definitely not what we were expecting after it was made clear that you all would be ready for us at 745. we did in fact wait an hour and 15, for our appetizers/salad, an additional 15 for the food with no servers coming by to check up on us other than when food/drinks were brought out (no refills, no checkups).

i stated, that from the moment we had an issue with the food we were bombarded with dirty looks, not from when we sat down, you are misquoting me. the hostess was incredibly nice and the server was up until the incident. as for the salad, it tasted how it tasted, i don’t care what your “100% sanitation ratings”, etc. has to say about that.

your reason for meeting was “refusal to pay for food ordered”, which is just unfortunately untrue. never once did i say “just not feeling it”, don’t contort my words to make what i said seem disrespectful and well rather uncouth. i came across to you as nice as i could and i stated that the food wasn’t as described. if you are going to point out the fact that i didn’t describe the exact reason as to why it was different than my expectations, than just know that that wasn’t my point at all in my review. i was remarking on your attitude about the ordeal, not what was wrong with the dish. and if you must know, the dish was covered in edamame, which was not detailed on the menu. the noodles were different than i thought, but that is 100% wrong on my end, i didn’t realize what gemelli noodles were.

(i noticed this on read back but not once was any offer of fixing our issue offered, as you stated “if there is any issue with any item, we guarantee to replace or provide it with our compliments”, he simply stated that he would go get the menu and told us that there policy was that if we the dish came out as ordered on the menu, than there was nothing they would do to accommodate any guest.)

i’d really not like to go back and forth with this but i stated multiple times and so did “mr. turner” that we would be fine paying for it if nothing could be done. whether you were listening or not, is a separate issue. again, the nasty looks, you have no way of proving whether that was true or not, which is why i’m dropping the statement altogether as it is meaningless and again, not the point. we are talking about your attitude, the rest is just the icing on top.

i will make my attitude even clearer towards you because i don’t appreciate the disrespect or attempt of defamation when all i was, was respectful towards you. the need to call me an “entitled young woman” and state that my ever changing mood was the reason for my lack of interest in the food, is again a great showing of the kind of character you have. in an adult world, shitty behavior, gets people clapping right back at you. and your need to go on some big spiel in reply to my one bad comments in a sea of good comments, as you have stated numerous times, shows how shitty your behavior is.

the note, well that was just funny (and clearly true)

i chose to eat at your restaurant, because of the great reviews and the professional atmosphere and i left this review for the lack there of.

with all regards, your unhappy customer that is presumably wrong because of their lack of enthusiasm...

We came here for our anniversary. Overall it was a good experience, but I have some small complaints that drive me to give four stars rather than five.

The bad: Our server took a long time to greet us. He was very gracious to us though and apologized for the delay, but twenty minutes in fine dining is a bit astounding. The portion sizes were a bit small. Yeaaahh, I know, fine dining is known for small portion sizes. I get that, and it's why I'm not super heartbroken over it, but I was still pretty stunned by $13 for two scallops, and my partner saying not at all if he was satiated by his dish (scallop carbonara). I got the filet neptune and I feel that the portion sizes of the meat was a tad stingy for the $65 price tag. The steak was also a bit tough and overcooked. I didn't think it was dire enough to warrant sending it back, but the last few bites of that steak was like chewing leather. I saw from a review after our dinner that you can get tap, bottled spring, or sparkling and you are charged for bottled or spring. We were not offered tap, so we unfortunately were charged $14 for spring water and were unaware of the cost. Also, I'm not really gonna factor this into my review, but I feel it does warrant being mentioned: Some of the responses from the owner regarding people's negative reviews are very unprofessional and distasteful. People are allowed to be dissatisfied and the courteous way to respond is to not trash them and insult them. Defend your business by all means, but some of these complaints were perfectly valid and I was astounded by how the owner chose to respond with some very cruel and pompous comments.

That aside, the good: The food was really good! Bread and oil was good, the lavender lemonade was good. The tuna tataki was super tender and the crust was great, and the clam strips were "10/10" according to my partner. He had the scallop carbonara and he enjoyed it, meanwhile I liked the filet neptune a lot. Scallops were great. Lobster bisque was also very creamy (curious, is it actually lobster bisque? The menu says it has crab but doesn't mention lobster). Partner said that the tiramisu was perfect. The atmosphere was very pretty too-- we didn't get the outdoor seat we wanted but we were seated next to a corner window where we could see the water, the sun going down (beautifully red!), and the colorful sky. There was also a small flower vase and candle among the place settings and cloth that were nice.

Overall, this place was really nice. Some small complaints here and there, but rarely do I have a perfect dining experience, so I can't be too upset. Going to brunch sometime does sound very appealing, but I think it'll have to wait for our next...

My husband and I were married at the Inn 10 years ago so it has a special place in our hearts. We recently returned for our 10th wedding anniversary. While there we had 2 breakfasts (included with your room) and a dinner at Cafe Pamlico. The service was top-notch. Shout-out to Aylah, Justin, Willow and Sailor. The breakfast menu was fresh and exciting - lots of different options. I enjoyed a tangy lox bagel (salmon cured on-site) with fried capers one morning and a crab omelette with sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese and spinach the next. I wish the omelette had been a tad bigger, but Justin graciously brought me an additional side dish; I couldn't resist ordering a fried egg topped with their homemade hollandaise. They also have an extensive list of breakfast beverages and cocktails. It was enjoyable but I probably wouldn't return for breakfast unless staying at the inn. The evening of our dinner, Sailor made the generous accommodation of giving us an indoor table contrary to her original plan. We had dressed up and frankly wore too heavy of clothes. Willow presented the nightly specials with ease and clarity. Having worked in fine dining I know how challenging this can be for a server. I enjoyed a blood orange Moscow Mule off the mocktail menu and my husband ordered a local craft beer. They also brought out a basket of ciabatta with a lovely balsamic - tasted like a reserve. This was actually my favorite part of the meal. We started with the cafe lobster and spinach dip appetizer. I would have liked a bit more flavor as well as a bit more lobster. For an entree I simply had to have the kale caesar - boasting heirloom tomatoes, garlic and bacon - topped with a crab cake. Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed with the salad. I enjoy a bite! from my Caesar salads with lots of anchovy and garlic, neither of which I was able to detect. There was also very little bacon on the salad. The crab cake was delicious but on the smaller side; I would have ordered more food had I known. I will say that the quality of the food itself is top-notch, and they even grow some of their produce and herbs on-site. Their seafood especially is of excellent quality, which brings me to my husband's entree. He ordered seared tuna - Market Price $40 - which was accompanied by (coconut?) rice with a mango pico of sorts. He was tickled with his choice. This is a nice venue and great for a...